Chapter Six: Victory at Cost

There were riots in the streets of Pendragon.

Protests were breaking out all over Britannia, done by Britannians. The footage that had been cut off was soon complete. People uploaded it and it went viral, and more people were taking up the mantle of Zero by the day. Kallen streamed through one of the messageboards, observing the fury unleashed. Members of the Royal Family had been forced to abandon their palaces and leave for safer areas. Numerous talking heads tried to portray the protests as violent defiance, but then the footage appeared.

Several more massacres happened across the empire, massacres of Britannians. This only infuriated people more and made things even worse. The Britannian puppet press was being shredded like crazy.

So yeah, Kallen was in a pretty mood as she sat down for breakfast the next day. Lelouch was cooking in the kitchen, while Nunnally was waiting. She'd had a substitute maid with her when they'd gotten out of the closet last time.

Precautions and all that.

"...Oh, Kallen, you're here," said Nunnally, looking worried.

"Um, yes, how are you Nunnally?" asked Kallen.

"I'm well," said Nunnally. "I got a bit lonely with Ms. Sayoko called out on that personal trip of hers."

"Right, I'm sorry this project screwed things up for you," said Kallen. "So what's Lelouch cooking today?" His food was good and Kallen was looking forward to it.

"Oh, he's making bacon and eggs," said Nunnally. "Like he usually does on Tuesdays. "I'm actually glad, Lelouch hasn't had time to cook for me lately with all those trips you're taking. He's seemed like he's in a better mood lately. I get worried that he doesn't have anything to motivate him.

"Um, that school project..."

"Yes?" said Kallen.

"Does it have to do with all those pictures that were posted in the school?" asked Nunnally.

Nunnally Lamperouge was a lot smarter than she let on, realized Kallen. Though it should have been obvious, in retrospect. Just because she was blind and crippled didn't make her stupid. "Actually that wasn't our original plan at all.

"We got the footage, but we knew the school would never publish it, so we posted it as a prank."

"Right, so it was you and Lelouch. I thought so," said Nunnally. "Lelouch doesn't show it, but he hates when people suffer injustice. I thought that he might have done that."

"He didn't tell you?" said Kallen, surprised.

Nunnally shook her head. "Lelouch takes care of me, but he feels like I need to be sheltered. I do try to listen to the news with Ms. Sayoko though, and, well, a lot of it is pretty bad lately.

"Clovis has been lying a lot more than usual.

"I think people have brought up things that he wants hidden and he's working to cover it up."

"You could say that," admitted Kallen, not wanting to show he true colors.

"I feel sorry for Clovis," said Nunnally, voice sad.

That took Kallen offguard. How could anyone feel sorry for him after everything he had done? "Why?"

"Clovis has no idea what he is doing," said Nunnally. "He thinks that if he lies enough, the lies he tells will become true. He tells beautiful lies, but...

"I don't think his actions reflect what he says.

"That's what a lie is."

And then Lelouch came in, with bacon and eggs. He served them onto the plates that had been laid out in advance. "Nunnally, Kallen, I've made breakfast." He helped Nunnally find her fork. "Listen, Nunnally, I'm sorry I had to leave you with a substitute yesterday. I know Sayoko means a lot to you."

Before they could start eating, however, Kallen got a call on her phone. Checking the ID, she didn't recognize it. So it might be a throwaway.

"Um, I've got to take this," said Kallen.

Moving out of the room, she raised the phone. "Hello?"

"I send you to school for a week and you almost obliterate Britannia?" asked an amused voice.

"Oh come on, Naoto!" said Kallen. "I didn't plan on being there when Clovis started a massacre. He did that on his own."

"I know," said Naoto. "Britannia has been doing an excellent job of hanging itself. But you've been taking massive risks." He paused. "That friend of yours...

"His plan was hard to pull off, but I managed to set it up with Kyoto. I've also heard some goods news. A lot of country Britannia was nearing victory in have started fighting harder. Your student council has ripped off the velvet glove. And they may lose several wars because of it.

"The moderates are clamoring for a withdrawal from Europe even now.

"We've got more done today in the last week than we have in years," said Naoto. "And with the Britannian police working overtime dealing with protestors. Resistance groups across the globe can act with greater ease. The damage is adding up."

"Do you mean that?" asked Kallen, having never even considered a few pictures might have that kind of effect.

"Yes, in fact, there's a job I want you to do," said Naoto.

"A job?" asked Kallen, controlling her glee. "You mean, for the resistance?"

"Yes, one of the transports we hijacked wasn't carrying foodstuffs at all," said Naoto. "It had a false back, and in it was a canister in it. I had Inoue take a look at it.

"Turns out it's designed to vacuum seal the contents. Perfect for holding chemical weapons."

"What?" said Kallen. "But why would the Britannians be making chemical weapons? The JLF knightmares filter the stuff."

"I don't know, but I'd like to know more about it," mused Naoto. "Fortunately, we had a chat with the driver and found out where he was headed. He didn't know he was carrying the canister, but he did know where he was transporting it to. A Britannian base, on the outskirts of the ruins."

"What happened to the driver?" asked Kallen, curious.

"You don't have to worry, I made sure he won't tell anyone about what we're doing," said Naoto. "You don't need to know any more than that."

"Right, thank you," said Kallen, not wanting to know.

"Anyway, I want you to head back home," said Naoto. "And I mean our father's house at that. Rooming with that kid is suspicious. At best people will think you're dating." He paused. "You aren't, are you?"

"No, it's not like that," said Kallen.

"Right," said Naoto. "Once the heat dies down, come near the hideout. I'd like to see you in person for once." He hung up.

Kallen got back to the table and sat down to find they had waited. "Sorry about that."

"What was that about?" asked Lelouch as they ate. "Playing a game with some friends?"

"Yeah, um, something like that. Sorry for the interruption," said Kallen.

They finished their meal and headed out for school. As they did, they were met by Rivalz. The blue-haired boy looked more than a little annoyed as he walked forward. "Well, I'm here. And I'm grounded at that. Way to go, Lelouch."

"My plan worked," said Lelouch defensively.

"I know!" said Rivalz. "But I spent the entire day tied up in a closet because of you! And my Mom grounded me, also because of you!"

Lelouch smiled. "Sorry, I guess we went overboard."

It was once they got to the student council building that Rivalz asked the obvious question. "How did you get that Zero guy to do all those things anyway? Dodge bullets and avoid helicopters?"

"Sayoko is a ninja," said Lelouch, walking down the hall.

"...And?" asked Rivalz.

"And what?" asked Lelouch. "That's it; she's a trained shinobi who started working for Ashford after the invasion of Japan."

"Don't you think someone will go after her?" asked Rivalz.

"Probably not, no," admitted Lelouch. "She is a maid and an Honorary Britannian. So she'll be regarded as part of the scenery."

"That's pretty slick, buddy," said Rivalz. "But uh...

"What are we going to tell Madam Prez?"

"We'll tell her the truth," said Lelouch.

They opened the door and entered the ballroom. There, Milly and Shirley were sitting down. Sayoko was there as well. Lelouch came forward. "Madam President, sorry we're late. We had to make one or two last-minute adjustments."

"We noticed, Lulu," said Shirley.

"Please, take a seat," said Milly.

Weirded out, Kallen, Lelouch, and Rivalz sat down. Then there was a long silence. "Lelouch..." said Milly. "This is an intervention."

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Lelouch.

"We're concerned about you," said Milly. "I mean, at first, you talking this like it was an outright war was funny, but now we think you might actually be serious."

"Yeah, I mean... you held up the Media Building with explosives!" said Shirley.

"Would you care for some tea, Ms. Milly?" asked Sayoko.

"Um, yes, thank you, Sayoko," said Milly.

"You don't have to worry," said Lelouch. "Sayoko, do you have the equipment? And is this room secure?"

"Yes, Master Lelouch," said Sayoko, heading out.

Moments later, she came back with the case and set it down. Lelouch opened it and drew out the device he'd made before. "This is the Sakuradite bomb I brought before."

He hurled it at the table, and it bounced. Everyone stood up.

"Whoa!" said Rivalz. "What the hell, buddy!"

"It's a dud," said Lelouch. "Sakuradite isn't explosive; it has to be chemically prepared for use as a fuel source. That's why the facility on Mount Fuji is so powerful."

"What about that disaster earlier where Mount Fuji nearly went up in flames a couple of years ago?" asked Shirley.

"Poetic exaggeration," said Lelouch, putting the Sakuradite back into the case. "Though, you could turn Mount Fuji into a bomb of huge size. All you'd have to do is set up the chemical reaction at certain critical points. Once you did that, some proper explosives could blow the whole mountain sky high.

"It would annihilate all the surrounding civilization and ecologies. And would render Japan far less valuable. Not worth the effort, to be honest. Not unless you had a single target, you really needed to be destroyed. Or if you wanted to cripple Japan's economy."

"See Lelouch! This is why we're concerned!" said Milly. "This is supposed to be an after school activity, and you're acting like the Count of Monte Cristo. How long have you been planning this?"

Lelouch sighed. "...Since the bombs dropped on Japan five years ago."

"Lulu, I realize what happened must have been horrible, but-" began Shirley.

"Have you seen the footage we took?" asked Kallen.

"Yes, but..." began Shirley.

"You saw what happened there, then," said Kallen. "Men, women, children, Britannian, and Japanese. They slaughtered them all equally. It's standard practice for police and soldiers in Britannia.

"They do that kind of thing all the time.

"It's just that now they got caught on camera."

"But holding up the Media Building was-" began Milly.

"A bluff, to move things along," said Lelouch. "If I could get an international broadcast out, good. If Clovis shut it down, it would increase the effect when my backup plan took effect."

"What about the people who were killed, Lelouch?" asked Shirley.

Lelouch looked up. "Sayoko, did you kill any of them?"

"No, Master Lelouch," said Sayoko. "I had hoped to escape without bloodshed. But the police used indiscriminate methods to try to hunt me down. Several civilians were gunned down in the process."

"Well then, I don't see the problem," said Lelouch.

"Lelouch!" said Milly.

"Don't talk like the people in the media are innocent; they aren't," said Lelouch. "They have made it their business to cover up those atrocities for decades. The concept of a free press is just one more ideal Britannia has corrupted. In its place, we have a monster, dedicated to perpetrating atrocities.

"When that attack happened, it was while they were planning to cover up the massacre."

"But why not just send out the footage?" asked Rivalz. "Don't you think you went too far?"

"I'll admit, I was angry," said Lelouch. "I wanted those people to understand the consequences of their actions."

"Mistress Milly, the police's handling of this situation was incompetent," said Sayoko. "Standard procedure in such a situation is to prioritize the removal of hostages. Instead, they opened fire on me.

"Had they hit me, and I was really wearing what I claimed I was, that entire building would have been destroyed. If I were in that situation, I should have simply destroyed the radio tower and locked down the building.

"Given the disregard, they showed for the hostages. It is likely all of them would have been killed if I was not bluffing."

"...I don't think Lulu did anything wrong," said Shirley, suddenly.

"What?!" said Milly.

"Oh come on, Milly!" said Shirley. "You saw what happened in front of the Viceroy's Palace! Clovis slaughtered commoners like they were animals! And he was going to cover it up and just smile and pretend like he was this benevolent Prince!

"It's horrible.

"And those people in the Media Building knew what happened! They had to have some cameras on-site to get the official story! They knew what he'd done, and they were going to smile and play it anyway!"

"...They deserved it," said Kallen, remembering everything she'd seen. They had known about it. "Every single one of those people who were killed by the police yesterday. They deserved what happened to them."

"You can't-" began Milly.

"Okay, we're stopping right there, guys! No more arguing!" said Rivalz. "Alright, let's put aside whether or not the Media Building had it coming. Let's assume that nothing that happened there is our responsibility. We are 100% in the right.

"We still can't keep doing this.

"What we did out there was risky.

"Yeah, we dodged a bullet with the closet thing. But sooner or later it'll get traced back to us. We're Knights for Justice, not terrorists. That means we can't do that kind of stuff, even if we want to."

Lelouch sighed. "...Alright, we'll scale back our plans. No more hostile takeovers."

"Good," said Milly.

"Um, I have an idea; if you don't mind?" said Kallen.

"What is it, Kallen?" asked Shirley.

"I um, heard from some friends that a military supply truck got hijacked by terrorists," said Kallen. "I was thinking we could check it out, take pictures. See if we could find the truck."

"That would be pro-government, I guess," said Rivalz. "Might shake people off us."

"And we can also draw attention to the starvation in the ghettos," said Shirley. "It's common practice to hand out supplies and foodstuffs among eleven resistance groups. It helps give them good PR. Or, well, that's what I've read recently."

"Alright, we'll check it out," said Milly. "But not today. Nobody is posting anything without getting the approval of everyone else from now on? Do we agree to that?"

"Yes, Madam President," said everyone.

The rest of the day passed without event.

When the school ended, Kallen said her goodbyes to everyone. Then she realized the problem she was heading toward. "Great, now I have to head back home. This is the worst."

She'd been just starting to get used to not living with her step-mother.