Unexpected Visitor

Kururugi Suzaku, Knight of Zero

Aerial Battleship Avalon, airspace over Kyoto

Two days since the Avalon departed from Pendragon

"This is where we part ways, be careful on your mission, Anya."

"Thanks, Suzaku. You too."

"I'll be fine, I'm just going home after some time away."

"Country roads… take me home?"

"Euphie made that joke already, sorry."

"Groove street, home. At least it was before I fucked everything up?"

"…That's much closer."

— —

It was a rarity to hear Anya fetch a curse word from her vocabulary and apply it to her severe lack of expression, Suzaku wouldn't have believed the old Anya being capable of stringing together a sentence like that. Albeit it was uttered with the same enthusiasm she said her farewells in as she took off with the Mordred from the Avalon over the South China Sea, undertaking a classified mission the Knight of Zero wasn't privy to.

Not that Suzaku's curiosity was consuming him, unlike the guilt of returning to his native country, a country whose metropolis he blew up half a year ago; that guilty conscience was actually eating him up. Even if technically the thirty million lives which he took was robbed by the influence of Geass more than anything else, scapegoating the blame onto Lelouch wouldn't turn back the clock.

Suzaku understood he must pay the price somewhere down the road, just not at that moment. Right now, he had a duty far more important than atoning for the past, he had to protect the future of an innocent soul deserving a far better world than what theirs could offer.

Based on the slight turbulence that shook the floating carrier as it broke through the clouds, Suzaku estimated it would take at most half an hour for him and Euphemia to set foot on solid ground. The time was plentiful for any regular person to get ready for a trip outdoors, but as he knew at heart, the princess he escorted was more than that, more than normal.

"-Euphie, I'm coming in." Suzaku knocked on the door to the cabin he and Euphie shared, usually a locked room was his sign that she wasn't welcoming visitors.

"…Yeah! Just hop on in." Although that wasn't the case when Suzaku twisted the doorknob and was allowed entry.

Euphemia flashed him a quick smile and received one just as bright for her effort. She was slumping carelessly on the queen-sized bed. A slackened grin resurfaced over her face shortly after their greeting. She clicked on a tablet in her possession on the mattress, frequent giggles echoed out while she browsed whatever it was that entertained the princess.

"What're you looking at?" Suzaku rested a hand on the young girl's shoulder, soon to be joined by her own fingers.

"Some social media. Can you believe my tweet is almost at a million retweets?"

"Actually, yeah." Despite his best attempt, Suzaku knew there was a small dose of criticism in his answer.

"It's okay, you can be angry at me if you want. I did cause quite a scandal."

"Euphie… I'm not angry, I'm just- I'm not sure. This isn't what I wanted for us." A tug on his sleeves instructed him to rest by her side, Suzaku saw no reason to refuse.

"I dunno… maybe you're right. I wasn't thinking clearly when I broadcasted to the world, maybe it wasn't the best decision. Is it funny that I always seem to be the centre of all the controversies?" Controversy was one way to describe the consequences of Euphemia's actions, both before and after her death, but Suzaku's purpose here wasn't to argue semantics.

"You do have a knack for it… and this one isn't too bad. I'm sure people will forget about it soon. They always do."

"But they haven't forgotten me… of course not, because I reminded them." Euphemia whispered, her tablet discarded to the side of the bed and her smile forged to a frown. "Do I want to be remembered? Be infamous? Revise the texts in the history books which condemned me, or spill a new river of blood to replace the old?"

Her grip on the back of his hand tightened, not painfully so, just firmly; to make Suzaku understand that her conscious mind was still in control, but how sound she was, that he couldn't decrypt through their connection of the flesh.

"Euphie, what do you want from life?" Suzaku prodded, seeking for a hint to guide his princess on a path away from danger.

"I don't know… other than being with you, I'm so lost." At least they had one fundamental principle to work on, one that Suzaku was rather happy with all things considered. "I say all the stuff about hating Lelouch, about wanting my title back… but it's all just talk, that's all I can do."

"You don't need to be pressured to do anything more." Suzaku reassured her.

"That's it, isn't it? I should have gratitude overflowing just for being alive again, but… that isn't how I am." Cutely, Euphie blew raspberries and kicked her legs over the bed frame, contrasting their stern conversation with her childish behaviour. "I still hear the call of my curse. I still feel this yearning for something more."

"We can figure that out together, we still have all the time in the world." That was the best response Suzaku could come up with, the struggles of his pink-haired princess were beyond unrelatable despite their similar circumstances.

"Yeah, maybe… let me put those extra minutes to good use and not rattle my brain over this right now." Athletically, Euphie hopped off her bed and woke her body from its lazy slumber. "Let's go see what my dear sister Nunnally has been up to these days."

"Did she tell you anything about what's happened to her after Tokyo?" Suzaku still grappled with his deed, although it didn't show in his tone.

"She's working as an ambassador for the UFN, does that surprise you?"

"Not really." It was what Suzaku considered a fitting role for the younger sister of the smartest man he knew.

"Me neither. She said that Brother Schneizel didn't raise two eyebrows at her request for the job, so we can take it to mean many things."

"I hope to figure some of those things out soon."

"That can be your goal, I'm just here to see my second favourite sister."

Kyoto, UFN main administration building

Suzaku brainstormed lots of things he wanted to say to Nunnally if they ever reunite, a whole shopping list of them while on his way from the Avalon to the UFN headquarters. How he wished to apologize for all the grief he put her through, directly or indirectly over the year after Euphie's death. How she deserved none of the distress disposed on her shoulders.

However, not one of those ideas survived seeing the Emperor's full sister for the first time, truly seeing her eye to eye.

A wheelchair rolled up to a conference table, escorted by a short female soldier in uniform. Across from the host were her thought-to-be-dead half-sister and her former knight of honour standing by her seat, the long-awaited reunion was about to begin in solemn silence.

"I used to yearn so fruitlessly to perceive the world with my own two eyes, a beautiful world recounted to me in endless tales from my brother. Now do I fully understand, blindness can be not only of the sight, but also of the heart. And I was blinded of both."

"Nunnally…" Suzaku was completely at a loss for words. There wasn't anything he could say to disprove the accusation thrown at him.

"For the eternity that passed in a flash, for all the joyous years I've spent with my brother, I was protected that entire time from the cruel reality. Only when I am deprived of the care and shelter Lelouch once provided do I fully understand the state our world is in. Tell me Suzaku. Is it my brother's wish to tether me to his puppeteer's strings yet again?"

"…Lelouch only wants what's best for you."

"From whose perspective?"

"It'll be yours from here on out. He wants you to live your life how you see fit." That was Lelouch's will, to gift his precious sister the freedom from obligation, the freedom of her heritage.

Nunnally disguised a slightly surprised blink beneath her steadfast aura. "Is that so… and is my brother well?" She redirected to a more sensual topic.

"He is busier than he cares to admit, but otherwise Lelouch is fine."

"It does sound like him… overworking even on the Britannia throne."

"And now he is without the only person who can convince him to go to bed on time." Suzaku jokingly said, trying and succeeding at refreshing to a happier mood as Nunnally cutely covered her mouth to giggle.

Breathing through her waves of chortles, Nunnally mingled in a couple of rapid sniffs. Faint traces of tears drew a thin trail down her cheeks. "…I've missed you, Suzaku. And you too as well, Sister Euphie. In spite of all that's happened, I'm so happy to see you two together again."

Euphemia lovingly smiled back, a vague tinge of sadness in her gaze. The beckon to the peaceful days of the past was a hard reminiscence to resist, Suzaku knew that yarning for the better years all too well. "I'm pleased to be here, Nunnally."

"Sorry I didn't address you earlier, I thought it most appropriate to resolve the grudges of days gone first before diving into a fonder reunion."

"A wise decision."

"Therefore, allow me to introduce my companion." Nunnally gestured to the only unnamed occupant in the room, the girl who silently accompanied the crippled royalty. "This is Alice, my knight."

"Your Highness and Sir Kururugi. It's an honour."

The princess's bodyguard stepped forward and presented a refined bow. Strawberry blonde hair flaunted over her shoulders as she raised to a straightened stance, afterwards a mellow smile could be found not too far from her lips. Based on Suzaku's observation, she was a short teenager, roughly around her liege's age. Believing in Nunnally's judgement of people, he deemed her dependable and trustworthy.

"Suzaku, let's conclude our discussion."

"Let us."

"Whatever it was Lelouch planned to accomplish as Zero, whatever it is Lelouch plans to accomplish as the Emperor; I am powerless to obstruct his grand schemes. If he were on a campaign striving for the domination of our entire world, I would've done everything in my power to make an attempt. But as things are now, I want to believe he has set forth to rule with the betterment of humanity in mind. And… I'm proud that he chooses such a path."

Nunnally briefly paused, giving Suzaku an opportunity to interject which he didn't utilize.

"If that truly is his and your end goal, you have my endorsement to continue. Atone for the mistakes of the past with actions towards the future, that's your way of receiving redemption from the world." If it was an order from Nunnally, Suzaku would've willingly obliged. However, she voiced it as a request, a plea for aspiration.

"You have my word. We'll create a gentler world for all."

"Thank you, Suzaku. I have faith in you." Only then, only once they established which resentments to forgive and which oath to anticipate, did Nunally finally smile like she used to.

— —

"Really, if I'm being honest, it's all so annoying. How am I supposed to take care of- of that… when I'm this handicapped? At least my blindness knew when to go away. Or else, the horror…"

"…Well, if you blossomed earlier, Lelouch would need to take care of your men- I mean- your… your… thing, for you, and you won't want that, trust me. Even worse, what if it happens during the year you're away from home? Having some maid help you with the thing? No thanks."

"Hmm… I see your point. It could've been a lot worse. I thought I'd be prepared to clean myself up but… but- I-I'm sorry- I'm sorry, but this is really uncomfortable for me. -Suzaku, it's so good to see you again. With that said, can you please leave?"

"Oh yes. Your dedication to our wellbeing is absolutely appreciated and it's not your fault we didn't ask you sooner, but Suzaku, love, give us a bit of privacy, please. You know, sisters and all."

"Yes, won't you be a dear and go take a walk? I'm sure my knight will make for a good tour guide. -Please see to it, Alice."

— —

What was that about?

There surely existed more humiliating reasons to be kicked out of a family gathering, Suzaku heard the persuasion of his inner voice. He just couldn't think of any off the top of his head, or why he got the boot in the first place. What the two sisters were consulting with each other was already coated in ambiguity, the flustered and judgmental glare Nunnally shot him as she asked him to leave wasn't laced with any hints to help him understand.

On the opposite side of a sealed door, Suzaku didn't dare to disturb the delicate silence as he practiced his usual placidity beside Nunnally's knight. She was instructed by the younger princess to show him around the place, although in hindsight that didn't sound like a direct order.

It took roughly two minutes standing side by side in awkwardness before Alice broke it. "-Sir Kururugi, do you want a look around?"

"Not particularly." Suzaku honestly answered, his interest in anything not Euphemia related was lacking at best.

Alice gave him a quick nod, similarly contented with waiting for the sisters to savour their time together in peace.

The more minutes passed them by without occurrence, the more apparent to the knights that the royalties' private meeting wasn't going to conclude anytime soon.

"Sir Kururugi, may I?" Politely, Alice sought permission to speak.

"What is it?"

"I want to thank you for protecting Nunnally during the past year." Her gratitude towards him only instilled a sense of conflict in the pilot. "I understand it wasn't out of virtue alone, but nobody else could've done what you did for her."

"I could've killed her before, I thought I did at the time." The guilt he once shouldered for using Nunnally against Lelouch still chipped away at his morals, but the present was no time to be bogged down by the sins of the past.

"But it didn't happen, and that's what matters to me."

"…I see." Suzaku wasn't seeking absolution from his mistakes, although it didn't stop his subconscious from the feeling of relief.

"That's it, really. I just wanted to say what's been circling around up here." Alice said, lifting a finger to lightly tap at her temple. "It's just a 'thank you', nothing spectacular."

"You're welcome."

"Anyway…" The younger knight paused mid-sentence, her hand reaching into her pocket for a peculiarly shaped cylinder container. "Do you mind I hit my vape?"

"Go ahead."

"Appreciate it." Suzaku instinctively sanctioned Alice's request, before his brain properly analyzed the situation. By then, the air was already strained by a thick mist smelling like cotton candy.

"Do you smoke in front of Nunnally?"

"…This is her vape." Suzaku only stopped fanning the cloud permeating his breathing space when he came to a baffling realization.

"Hold on a sec, what's your relationship with her?"

Kallen Stadtfeld, Knight of Ten

Aerial Battleship Great Britannia, en route to Cambodia

Working through the lunch break… you hate to see it.

Kallen was careful not to let the grease from her fried chicken sully the pristine condition of her joysticks as she typed command lines one after another into the Percival's OS, finishing up the calibration for its newest installation. Chewing the chicken leg down to the mellows, the Knight of Ten leaned over out of her open cockpit and spit the bone shards into a waste bucket on the stepladder, careful as to not let anyone observe her crude action.

The Percival's MVS Drill was pretty sweet, Kallen admitted on more than one instance. However, she was just that much of a Radiant Wave Surger kind of girl. So even if she had to manually configure some of the Knightmare's systems to replace its main weaponry, it was a chore she was willing to put up with.

What she couldn't put up with was the patience needed to keep her wits about her while waiting for the fleet to arrive at Schneizel's facility. Staying calm and collected in the heat of attack came naturally to Kallen, she only had to keep pace with her flow and no victory could squirm out of her grasp. It was the calm before the storm that unnerved her, the only time she could be found vulnerable.

Not to say she wasn't happy having the chance to feel so anxious. It was a thousand times better to be apprehensive now before the battle than to remain clueless as to when Lelouch's enemy might strike. To take the initiative and remove a thorn that might hinder her Emperor's prosperous reign was preferred over kicking her heels on the defense.

Her duty in the mission was simple. Takeoff on Lelouch's command and take out anyone on Lelouch's command, as easy it as it came.

Thanks, Marrybell. You're too cool. Kallen uttered a wordless approval for the orange-haired girl's daring operation. If it wasn't for her new friend, none of this would be a possibility.

When they first met, Kallen wanted to believe for Marrybell to be one of the good ones, whatever that truly meant to her. Now, she could say with confidence that prospect had come to fruition.

Wiping her glossy fingers off on a napkin, Kallen got done testing the new settings on the Percival just as she emptied her bin of chicken. She climbed out of the cockpit, careful not to knock over her bucket of bones as she descended from the ladder into the hangar. Taking with her the waste, she looked for a garbage bin to dispose of it somewhere.

However, at the bottom of the steps was Lelouch, curiously glancing up at the sloppy Knight of Rounds with bits of breading sticking to her cheeks.

"You've been a hard worker."

"…Exactly." Kallen blushed a deep crimson, although her sarcastic remark kept her personality intact.

"Good lunch?"

"Giving it three stars on Yelp. Could really do with a cleaner restaurant."

"You know, I really hate it when my chefs leave a bad review, slashes my profit."

"This is one of the plights of the working class."

"That they aren't oppressed enough? Message received."

The commander and knight hearty laughed at each other's jokes. It had been too long since Lelouch demonstrated his sense of humour, not since when he tricked her with a doppelganger.

"Come with me, Kallen." After sharing their moment, Lelouch gently asked for her company.

"For sure. Let me just chuck this." The redhead hasty wiped her mouth and slapped on her mask, ready to follow her liege.

"No need, take it with you."

"Alright…? What's your hurry, buddy?"

"You'll see." So Kallen obeyed, bagging the garbage to carry with her.

Strangely, Lelouch took her down one of the maintenance tunnels out of the hangar, one not often used by non-crew members of the airship. The hallway around them darkened over the distance they travelled at a pace slightly faster than a walk as the Emperor led the way. The ambient noises behind them gradually died down until the only sound reverberating in the empty channel was that of their footsteps and machinery of the Great Britannia.

"So, where're we going?" Kallen asked, her eyes yet to adjust to the darkness of the unknown section of the deck. It was almost too dark; she couldn't see further than a dozen metres ahead.

"Somewhere private."

"Oh… I get you." Of course, it was normal for Lelouch to behave so cryptically. To Kallen, that was a part of his charm.

Suddenly, Lelouch swirled to his left through a doorway, pulling Kallen along with him. The visibility hadn't improved in the slightest. She couldn't even tell if they went down another corridor or if they arrived at a closed-off compartment. The only thing in her field of view that retained its clear outline was Lelouch himself, and even he was still cloaked in shadows.

"I want to see you, Kallen. Show me." She felt his hand going for the straps on the back of her mask, purposefully unbuckling the fasteners for her.

"I thought you said to keep on my mask at all times?" Kallen teased, the noiseless space set an endearing mood for what was to take place soon.

Lelouch spoke no more once her disguise was removed, choosing to stare intensely into her azure irises instead. Flustered but engaged, Kallen returned his passion, exchanging loving stares between the two partners in arms as the looming silence enclosed them.

Lelouch then pulled her in close, tightly embracing the slim body of his ace pilot. The heartbeat of the strategist she felt pounding against her chest was rapid, although it mismatched her own.

Actually, upon reflection, the king's heart was beating too fast. It was somewhere in the high one fifties to one eighties. It was relatively unusual for someone who should be experienced with intimacy to have the heart rate of an athlete after a high-performance workout, especially from only a hug.

"Lelouch? You okay…?" Kallen was about to dart her eye from the profound blackness in the background to observe the expression of her lover, except she couldn't.

In the distance, somewhere too far away and too dark to see, a focused hue of dazzling scarlet ensnared her gaze, trapping her sense of vision.

Ever so briefly, Kallen desperately struggled to break free, both from the emperor's embrace and the redness consuming her perception. But her effort was lost to the nothingness that spread across her very being in the next second and devoured her will, soon followed by her reasoning.

The bag of organic garbage hit the deck, but no one was around to hear its echo.

Marrybell mel Britannia, the Witch of Britannia

Aerial Battleship Great Britannia, within Cambodia borders

"—Callsign Killer Queen, your code phrase is Alpha-One-Bravo-Tango-Delta-One. Confirm."

"—Confirmed."

"—No changes to current operation outline, remain on standby until activation. Confirm."

"—Confirmed."

"—End transmission." One tap on her phone's touchscreen and the call concluded.

There was a numb pain brewing beneath her left eye, so faintly irking her at every opportune moment. How Marrybell wanted to foolishly dismiss it as a manifestation of her physical weariness. If only she could remain forever ignorant to her superhuman ability and its downsides.

It's unavoidable… it's bound to be. Marrybell gave the Glinda Knight visor in her breast pocket a sturdy squeeze, she understood she would need it before long. For all the drawbacks and troubles her cursed left eye had caused her, it was a power she wouldn't trade for anything, not when she was this deep into her plot.

They were so close now. She could taste the victory on the tip of her tongue.

"Marry… worried?" From the seat across from her in the VTOL, a neutral voice checked in.

"You can tell?"

"I am too. It's only natural." Marrybell kept her quiet, nervous in suspense.

"Waiting for the clock might be the worst feeling in the world."

"Can't argue with that." The princess levelled her head from staring down at the screen of her phone, a pair of opaque visors worn by the knight she titled 'Lyre' was what acknowledged her.

"Can you… can you take that off?" Marrybell gestured at her companion's face, she couldn't keep her dislike for the masquerade at bay to any further extent.

"I won't need this anymore?"

"It'll be all direct action after this."

Lyre nodded, undoing her painstakingly applied façade over many long hours. Underneath the layers of synthetic wig, hairnet and makeup, Oldrin reappeared with her true identity revealed. Afterall, Lyre was just a convenient character both Oldrin and Orpheus could employ depending on whoever needed to disappear at any given moment.

"How similar did I look?" Oldrin loosened her bun of hair from its confinements and fluttered them behind her back.

"You two really are twins beyond a doubt. I can't even tell at a glance." Marrybell praised the finesse and details put into her caramel-haired protector's impersonation.

"Do you think anything could've gone awry?" Oldrin asked something unrelated, her slim fingers fidgeting a single 9mm bullet as she shared Marrybell's apprehension.

"Everything could have gone awry, here's to hoping nothing will."

"How many foreign assets do we have?"

"You were briefed on it."

"So roughly twenty to thirty. Plus another dozen host operators from Grandberry."

"Sounds about right." Marrybell was in no mood for idle chatter, a fact which she conveyed to Oldrin through her evidential lack of appealing response.

The two girls stewed in the enclosed cabin of the Glinda Knight's hovercraft, their only focus was on the hands of the ticking clock, counting down to the crucial second.

Eventually, it happened. Marrybell and Oldrin's earpiece flickered alive. The wave of silent noise was soon followed by the crisp voice of their distant third member. "—Oreo 2-2 to 2-1. The bridge has visual on target, we're on-site."

One call from Orpheus was all it took to put agonizing anticipation to a permanent end.

"—Oreo 2-1 copies. Rendezvous at the marker in two." The ace pilot responded once to her brother, nothing more needed to be said.

Marrybell exchanged a resolute look with her second-in-command, passing on a message between them without spoken words. Oldrin recognized her intention immediately, that was their cue to begin an unthinkable mission months in design.

"Let's gear up."

Swiftly, the princess unclipped two bulletproof vests from the closet behind her, passing one to her bodyguard and the other over her shoulders. In return, she received a spotless assault rifle from the shelves closer to Oldrin. A duffle bag of magazines loaded beforehand was unzipped and quickly emptied into the free holsters of their armour.

"Don't forget your gas mask." Oldrin reminded.

"Toss it here." That was their last piece of protective equipment.

"Marry, ready?" Oldrin asked rhetorically. Her own enthusiasm was certified by the longsword sheathed behind her back.

"Call it."

"—Oreo 2-1 to Grandberry. Operation Dorothy is a go. Get all hands to General Quarters. Transferring command to CDO." Oldrin tuned the dial on her headset, switching the channel of communication. "—Oreo 2-1 to all foreign assets, code phrase is Yankee-Bravo-Romeo-Seven-Two-Four. Execute pattern Alpha…"

The capable operator droned on instructions to the various soldiers the Glinda Knights had under their command, but Marrybell zoned out from listening to the continuous chatter over the radio after a while. To Marrybell, the finer details couldn't bother her as much as the grand picture, and there was only one frame in her mind she wanted to see in reality.

"—Good copy, Grandberry. Fire up the ECM at my go." Oldrin gave the rifle she entrusted her life on one more check over. The elastic sound of a cocking handle snapping back in place shattered the last bits of her princess' hesitation.

"It's a requiem…"

Monica Krushevsky

"—This is your XO. General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands man your battle stations. Traffic flow has your up and forward on the starboard side, down and aft on your port side. We're approaching the area of operation, ETA five minutes." Standing in front of her own workstation, Monica addressed the airship's crew through the main circuit system broadcasting her voice.

Glancing to her side, most of her fellow navigators had slid on their masks. It was by the Emperor's order that all Royal Guards were to don the grey mask covering their entire face during any military operation. Monica herself wasn't exactly fond of the obstruction, but she knew better than to disobey such a plain command.

One tap of a button under her chin and the grey shield flawlessly slipped over her features, hiding them beneath its burnished exterior. They provided surprisingly good visibility of the outside world despite their unintuitive appearance; which she could almost be thankful for, were it not for their mandatory usage.

Actually, that wasn't totally true. Some special individuals were allowed to participate without wearing the standard mask, albeit most of those cases had their circumstances. Not counting Emperor Lelouch himself, Kallen earned herself a unique Guy Fawkes mask that she had never been seen without. Jeremiah also never wears one, instead, he possessed a cybernetic eye covering half of his face.

That left one person unaccounted for, Lelouch's Japanese maid.

Monica couldn't recall her full name, nor was she too interested in her. It was somewhat strange for the Emperor to one day out of nowhere start bringing his maid with him on multiple occasions, a behaviour the Knight of twelve never comprehended. And all she did was standing beside him, even on military operations such as this one. At most, she sometimes poured him a cup of drink when requested, nothing more.

Well… some get it better than others. Even though she thought that, Monica herself hadn't got it too terribly. She was still employed, doing roughly the same job in her field and roughly seeing the same number on her paycheck. Also, she was still breathing, which counted for something.

When she found a fleeting window to sneak one more peek at the Emperor's serene servant on the elevated platform beside the throne, that was when the ship's commanding officer caught her glance in his mystically fascinating eyes. One flash from him was all it took to send goosebumps down Monica's back.

"Dame Krushevsky, status?"

Monica washed down the shiver in her bones through force of will, careful not to mingle a stutter into her report. "Your Majesty, we have visuals on the Toromo Agency now. Bringing it on screen."

The zoomed-in view of a distant facility over the horizon was on open display. Upon closer inspection of the video feed, the tip of the aerial fortress Damocles could be spotted.

"Maintain current course."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Relieved that she didn't incite Lelouch's ire, Monica quickly went back to her duties.

That was when she noticed someone peculiar on the overview screen of her console, something minor at a glance but still required attention.

"—Err… CIC, CIC, this is Bridge, can you check the forward-side GMLS? My monitor here is showing me that one F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead is loaded?" Why would one of the Great Britannia's missile launchers be primed with its most devastating weapon when no order had come down or notifications were passed on, Monica wondered to herself.

"—CIC copies, standby." And Monica did, as an indescribable sense of dread continued to build up inside of her.

About a minute later, the intercom from the combat information center revitalized to life. "—Bridge! Be advised! I have no control over the FCS! I say again! No control over the FCS! Something is remoting my system from outside the CIC and-" Precipitously, the officer on the other end stopped talking, giving just enough time for Monica to freeze in place.

By all accounts, what the CIC was reporting should be particularly impossible. To remote into the fire-control system required the authentication of at least the command duty officer or higher, being Jeremiah at the moment. As far as Monica knew, nobody with the given authority would issue such an order unannounced, leaving only one feasible possibility.

When she dared to take a second glimpse on her console screen, only further horror followed. "—CIC! CIC! Report! I am seeing that the F.L.E.I.J.A. missile is being armed! Can you confirm!?"

"—Ye- correct! The warhead is in arming process. The aiming calculation is also underway! The FCS is targeting… it's targeting the Toromo Agency. Estimating thirty-seconds until firing!"

"—Try rebooting your system. Shut it down!"

"—Negative! It's not accepting any inputs! We've been hacked or something!" Monica could just about replace her unguided fright with distinguishable anger, now that she caught a clear picture of the situation.

They were under attack, by unknown forces with malicious intent and capabilities to carry out their goal.

"Your Majesty, your orders?" Monica blocked out the many voices which followed her initial realization from the other bridge staff. She sought the advice and approval of the king, seeing as the situation was escalating drastically.

"Contact the electrical room, kill power to the CIC." How Lelouch was managing to keep his cool under pressure so flawlessly was a mystery beyond Monica, too bad she didn't have the luxury to entertain such musings.

"—Electrical station, electrical station. This is Bridge, I need you to kill power to the CIC. Acknowledge." Monica ordered over the intercom. Her connection to the electrical compartment was clear, yet nothing came back. "—Electrical station! This is Bridge, acknowledge! …Respond!"

"—CIC, Bridge to CIC. Prepare the F.L.E.I.J.A. Eliminator." Another voice announced over the channel, the Emperor himself had taken command.

"—Bridge. Negative! All systems non-functional. I-I'm sorry, we have nothing. No control, no control! The warhead has gone critical! …It's firing! We have a missile in the air. I say again, rogue missile in the air!"

And that was the accurate truth. From the bridge of the aerial battleship, everyone could witness the flare of bright fiery exhaust bursting out of the back of a cruise missile soaring forward, its size decreasing as its distance lengthened. Just before the warhead became just a couple of pixels on the screen, it renewed its blaze with a streak of harsh pink in its wake, beaming a beacon of devastation on its path towards the final destination.

"Lower the blast shields!" Someone shouted out amidst the chaos on the bridge. Fortunately, that procedure made it in time.

When the F.L.E.I.J.A. landed over the Cambodian facility, when it landed on top of the Damocles, space itself was ever so briefly distorted. Lasting about five seconds until the eruption of pink mist swallowed absolutely everything in its path, leaving behind not even the ashes of destruction in its crater.

Prolonged silence loomed over the airship's bridge as horror-struck officers couldn't do anything except blankly staring forward, looking at the aftermath of a WMD shown on the overhead monitor. Even Monica didn't find the appropriate reaction to the attack, she had yet to properly organize the next step.

"Dame Krushevsky, status?" She didn't hear anything the first time Lelouch called.

"Dame Krushevsky, what's our status?!" Only on the second summon did Monica snap herself out of it.

"-Y-yes, Your Majesty! We're checking right now!" Feverishly, she and the rest of the crew went back to their workstations.

As Monica contacted and reaffirmed with many of the airship's compartments, she barely had a second to review how that was most likely the most intensity she ever experienced working her day job.

"-I've lost contact with the apt-side turret crew! No one is responding!"

"-Grandberry, Grandberry, this is Great Britannia. Status report!"

"-To all escort ships, scan the AO for any airborne threats."

Many shouts of urgency combined together to form an atmosphere of commotion, only professionalism and training kept the bridge from devolving into total chaos.

"Dame Krushevsky, do we have any weapon systems functional?" Over the sea of ruckus, the emperor's amicable voice stood out with a command for the Round in charge.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Forward-side turrets are up, as well as the catapults."

"Scramble all squadrons ASAP. Notify the Escort ships to set battle stations. Their target is the Grandberry." For a hot minute, Monica almost thought she misheard.

"Sir… the Grandberry?"

"Correct. Do it. -And I need a security detail securing the upper hangar, where the Glinda Knight's VTOL is." Regardless of her own confusion, the Knight of Twelve didn't need to be asked twice.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Swiftly, Monica went to pass down the set of orders. "—All units, this is Bridge. Scramble, scramble. Orders are to follow. Cyberpunk Squadron, Lotus Squadron, you have priority, standby at the front."

"—Cyberpunk 1-1 copies."

"—Lotus 1-1 copies." Following their squadron leaders, a wave of affirmation came from the outbound lineup.

It took no time at all for two teams of four Knightmares to be prepared at the two catapults aboard the Great Britannia. Monica could never confess it openly, but having Kallen and Jeremiah in the skies was easier on her heart than if she were to sortie herself.

"-Your Majesty. The Grandberry isn't responding to our hails, but they've launched multiple Chicks." That information would've come as liberating to any normal commander, but Monica was willing to bet Lelouch found himself none too pleased.

"Mark those as Bandits. Krushevsky, have two squadrons plot a course to intercept, the rest will set a perimeter."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Monica replied positively before turning her attention back to her console. "—Cyberpunk Squadron, Lotus Squadron, the catapults are clear, you have green light. Linkup with AWACS Gigabyte." The flashing beacons representing the eight KMFs soon took flight away from the airship.

"—Cyberpunk, Lotus. Your orders are to intercept incoming Glinda Knight KMFs, they're hostile. Weapons free." She heard the AWACS announce. Like before, every pilot in the sky acknowledged the orders which were passed down from Emperor Lelouch.

Monica studied the blue dots on her map diligently. The bigger ones representing the airships and the smaller ones for the Knightmares. From what she could tell, the Grandberry was roughly mirroring the same arrangement as their flagship, sending out a dozen frames towards the Great Britannia.

Although a trifling misalignment of the flight formation on the tactical map was bothering her, she left the correction up to Gigabyte. "—Lotus 1-1, check your position, you're too close Cyberpunk Squad—"

"—Woah- woah! Check your lock-on, Lotus 1-1. You have me spiked. Careful with your—" So very abruptly, the communication from one of the Cyberpunk Knightmares cut off, at the exact same time as his IFF signal.

What had taken place in the split second between the Percival moving out of formation and the aftermath would've been obvious to any bystander watching from the sideline. But to the crew of the Great Britannia, it was so puzzling to the extent that nobody knew how to react to the outcome.

"Kallen…!" By the muffled and staggered shout coming from the emperor, the world around Monica kicked back into motion.

"—Friendly fire! Blue on blue, blue on blue!"

"—Shit-! She has me locked! What's with this bitch—!" Looking out the window onto the vast open sky towards where the friendly fire incident occurred, another explosion could be spotted. "—Mayday, mayday! I'm going down!"

"—Dame Stadtfeld! Check your fire, Stadtfeld!" The more distinctive voice was that of Jeremiah, with a dose of bewilderment and dismay mixed in. "—Your orders, Your Majesty!"

When the Orange man famous for his unfaltering loyalty to the Britannia Emperor asked him for the next step, no assistance came. Momentarily, Monica plucked up the courage to peer at the silent king sitting on top of his mighty throne, hoping to find an answer not just to Jeremiah's pickle, but the entirety of the predicament they had been tossed in.

However, all she could read from the captain's expression was poorly concealed distress.

"—Jeremiah, disengage! Distance yourself from the Percival!"

"—Negative! She's shooting to kill! I can't maintain—!" Another volatile explosion off in the distant sky flashed in calamitous red and slowly yet surely tumbled down in the direction of gravity, the slightly bigger dot of the Sutherland Sieg was crossed off with the four-letter word signalling its destruction.

"…JERRY!" A woman's scream, distraught and traumatized was her tone, breaking the short silence.

"—Lotus 1-1 is hostile. Engage, engage."

"—1-3, watch your six, the Glinda Knight movers are fast approaching!"

"—They've missile lock. Break left, break left!"

"—Gigabyte, updates? We're not gonna last long out here."

Not too soon after, the radio chatter from the survivors of the two squadrons joined the fray in an uproar. Monica tried as she may, but the multitude of fighters outside the window clashing against each other on the chaotic battlefield was too much to keep track of.

"—Do not engage! Lotus and Cyberpunk Squadron, do not engage the Percival. Breakoff, retreat!" An order issued by the emperor himself didn't even have its desired effect on the mayhem afar.

"-Y-Your Majesty! We have confirmation of unidentified assailants onboard! There're multiple cases of friendly fire between the security teams!" Another operator on the bridge revealed additional unwelcomed news, even before the foul taste of the last update had diminished.

"…Marrybell! Where is she? Where is the eleventh princess!?" Lelouch shouted, not bothering to hide his bitter frown any longer.

Just as the captain finished issuing his demand, a very irregular noise started to resonant in the bridge. For a hissing coming out of the ventilation ducts, the sound was exceedingly loud, loud enough to warrant a concerned look at the shafts overhead by many of the crew.

"—Bridge, Bridge! Hostile contact all over the place! Requesting immediate backup!"

From the vents, a cloud of white, condensed smoke poured out. Flooding into the room from every direction in the blink of an eye.

To Monica's painful realization, the mere act of breathing suddenly became intolerably difficult the moment her skin and lungs were exposed to the toxic gas. It felt as if her eyes were set on fire and stung by bees. Her control over her tear ducts was defeated by the burning sensation as she cried and spit on the inside of her mask, weakly slumping down on the deck shortly after.

"It-it's t-t-tear gas!" Over a fit of spasmodic cough, Monica ripped off her dark mask and tried to drag herself up to her console, looking for the controls to the ventilation that was meant to be under her control.

However, amidst the awful cries and wheezes of the crew members. Monica barely perceived the mechanical whir of the doors leading to the bridge sliding open. Her instinctual optimism told her to be delighted at the timely rescue, but what was left of her rational mind warned her that such coincidental help was one in a million.

Whoever it was, they were the ones who gassed the Great Britannia's crew. Monica understood that, except she was too weak and disoriented to act upon that knowledge.

"—Bridge! This's Security team Delta! We've spotted Princess Marrybell en route to you! We're pinned by heavy fire, requesting support!"

Her legs gave out beneath her again, causing her collapse by the console a second time. Her desperate gaze naturally looked up towards the ceiling as the cloudy mist started to dissipate. Beyond the hazy gas were the windows covered by the blast shields lowered earlier, except something about them stood out as quirky to Monica even when she was under some extremely unfavourable conditions.

The blast shields were too reflective; like they were polished to a mirror sheen. Every stream of light to hit those surfaces were bounced back, including an angle on the view of the intruders standing menacingly by the entrance.

It was Princess Marrybell and some incognito soldiers in gas masks. The only reason Monica recognized the royalty was because she yanked off her mask, and a strangely bizarre red glint ruptured from her left eye.

The beam of crimson ricocheted off all the mirror-like surfaces surrounding them, creating a maze of shimmers tapping every corner of the room they occupied. Monica's sixth sense screamed at her to avoid making contact with anyone of the streaks, yet her eyelids betrayed her at that most critical moment.

"-Marrybell mel Britannia enslaves you! Soldiers to the crown, you shall do my biddings!"

— —

Author's note

Impossible, this story actually has a plot and isn't just a mess of character drama? Wow.

I'm actually kinda excited to write the following arc with Marrybell as the antagonist, I hope the twist didn't come off as too jarring since I've been dropping hints all over the place. If you really don't like my portrayal of Marrybell's character, sorry about that, but you might not enjoy wasting time with my questionable writing as much for a while.

More of Marrybell's plan will be revealed, but I think it shouldn't be hard to guess what she's really after, with how often I divulge into her head.

My biggest problem with this premise is how Lelouch even allowed any of it to happen. You'll see some explanations in the future chapters, but I'm gonna have to ask you to believe that Lelouch isn't omnipotent and points to him making mistakes in canon as my excuse. I know it's kinda hard to accept that Lelouch can be outwitted, but pls, let me have this one.

Team Euphemia won't see too much screentime in the next couple chapters since I don't want to split the focus between the subplot and main plot, just so everyone knows.

Thanks to everyone who checked out my story, I wanna say that this thing is pretty successful given everything involved. So it really makes me happy knowing that people like checking out my stupid brain spew with Code Geass. So yeah, big numbers good.