Chapter Twelve: Traitors

The sun was waning in the distance as Lelouch walked toward Clovis' G1 mobile fortress. The green-haired girl was beside him, and now and then, they found corpses lying around.

"Milly, we aren't negotiating on this," said Lelouch simply.

"But Lelouch, I saw the footage!" said Milly. "You were right there! We have to reveal it, isn't this what we waited for all this time!"

"We already have it," said Lelouch. "We'll leak the footage of the defeat in Shinjuku but leave the worst shots until either I or Clovis, are dead."

"But why?" asked Milly.

"Because Mr. Reid's offer is a one time use," said Lelouch. "As soon as the Media Building is publically compromised, they'll crack down on it. Reid has a good reputation, but if he deliberately destroys Clovis, he's dead or fired.

"I'd rather keep using him."

"So you're going to let him get away with this?" asked Milly.

"I never said that," said Lelouch flatly. "Clovis is only beginning to pay for what he's done. Did you send Sayoko?"

"Yes, she's heading your way now, Shirley is with Nunnally," said Milly. "Though Nunnally was very worried about you."

"Sorry to hear it," said Lelouch, before noticing a soldier lying dead with a broken neck and intact uniform. "I've got to go. I need a few props for what comes next."

Lelouch quickly hung up, stripped the man, and began to don his flak armor and helmet. Looking at it, he found it loose. "Hmm, not a complete fit. Well, it'll have to do."

"So what exactly are you planning here?" asked the girl. "Are you going to gun down Clovis' guards and kill him."

"You don't seem to care very much," noted Lelouch, donning the helmet.

"I don't," admitted the girl. "I'd much rather be eating pizza right now."

"Well, if we get shot, neither one of us will be eating anything," noted Lelouch.

"I highly doubt that," said the girl.

"Just don't say anything when we meet Clovis and take this," said Lelouch, before passing her a radio. He'd tuned it and his other to the same channel.

The girl took it in hand and eyed it suspiciously. "A radio?"

"Yes, I need you on the lookout," said Lelouch. "Tell me if you see anyone coming and don't come in after me under any circumstances?"

"Are you planning to shoot up the G1?" asked the girl.

"No, not at all," said Lelouch.

Walking forward, they came to a halt by the doors of the G1. He found several unconscious guards and a black-clad ninja. Lelouch nodded. "At last, the checkpoint. And barely guarded per my plan.

"Sayoko, I see you've already finished."

"Yes, Master Lelouch," said the ninja. "I was able to disable all of the outlying security forces with none the wiser.

"You may enter whenever you wish."

"Excellent," said Lelouch, glancing at the girl. "You... what do I call you?"

"C.C." said the girl.

"Fine, stay here on the lookout and tell me if you see anyone coming," said Lelouch. "I don't want you with us when we face Clovis. Sayoko, you're with me."

"Yes, Master Lelouch," said Sayoko.

The two of them made their way through the empty halls, coming across a number of unconscious guards. Lelouch picked up an assault rifle as he walked up the stairs and came to the bridge. Listening at the door, he heard the discussion.

"The Lancelot has wiped out all of the remaining terrorists," said a dark-skinned fat man. "Now our troops are moving in to root out the remaining eleven stragglers."

"Wonderful Bartley, now I'll owe my old brother a favor," said Clovis with a sigh. "It's for the best, though."

"You needn't worry, milord," said an officer, one of many. "Although our losses were serious. You've just defeated one of the most formidable terrorist groups in Area Eleven."

"Yes, the JLF must have put a great deal of funding into arranging all this," said another.

"We're with you to the end," said a third.

"Oh, are you?" laughed Lelouch as he opened the door.

Clovis looked up. "What... guard what the meaning of this is."

Lelouch raised the assault rifle as Sayoko came in. He was glad the helmet hid his face."Everyone who doesn't want to die for your Prince, drop your guns."

Only a few of the officers actually had side-arms, as it turned out. Some of them seemed to consider reaching them until Lelouch pointed the gun at them.

"What are you doing? Shoot him!" said Clovis.

"Whichever one of you draws first will surely die," noted Lelouch. "Put them on the ground slowly, so there are no misfires. Gun safety is important."

The officers took off their holsters and set them gently down as Lelouch moved forward. Every one of these men were useless cowards. "Now...

"Get out."

"Our apologies Prince Clovis," said one, as the rest filed out the door, watched by Sayoko.

"What are you doing!" cried Clovis. "You're my subordinates, my officers! You're sworn to serve and protect me!"

"Come back!" said Bartley. "All of you come back! Are you going to abandon your Prince!"

Then, when Bartley realized that they weren't moving, he bent down to grab a pistol. Before he could touch it, Sayoko was on him. A blade was set to his jugular as he was pulled back.

"Shall I dispatch him for you?" asked Sayoko.

"No, just render him unconscious," said Lelouch.

Sayoko obliged as Lelouch moved forward, trailing his gun on Clovis, who sat down in his chair. "Now then, Prince Clovis, you're going to immediately call off your hit squads. You'll make public contact with all forces and command them to cease fire at once. They will then treat all wounded, both Britannian and eleven alike.

"Get on the com."

Clovis quickly pressed the button as Lelouch turned off the lights.

"All forces, this is Prince Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia! Cease fire at once! I repeat, cease fire at once! I will allow no further fighting! I also command that you see to the injured immediately and call in humanitarian groups! You are also to treat both elevens and Britannians equally!

I repeat I will allow no further fighting!" He halted. "Satisfied?"

"Very," said Lelouch.

"And what now?" asked Clovis, trying to seem in control. "Shall we play a game of chess?"

"That has a familiar ring," laughed Lelouch, drawing off his helm while remaining in the shadows. "Of course, I would always win."

Clovis paused. "What... who are you?"

Lelouch kneeled before him sarcastically. "I am Lelouch Vi Britannia, the eleventh Prince of the Empire. And I've come back to change everything."

Clovis shifted as shock and fear combined with a strange expression. "...I'm overjoyed, Lelouch. I thought-"

"That I was dead?" asked Lelouch. "You were wrong."

Clovis gulped. "We should return to the homeland immediately and-"

"So, I can be used as a tool for diplomacy again?" asked Lelouch. "You seem to forget why we were sent to Japan in the first place.

"You people killed my mother."

"It wasn't me! I had nothing to do with it!" cried Clovis as Lelouch advanced.

Lelouch considered how competent his mother was, compared it to Clovis. He decided that he couldn't imagine Clovis being anything more than a pawn. "I believe you. However, I also have footage of the Shinjuku Massacre. Systems are in place even now to ensure it spreads across the globe in the record. They are systems that exist quite independently of myself. If anything happens to me, it will go out. You'll be revealed as a murderer as well as an incompetent.

"Men, women, and children slaughtered to cover up... was it poison gas? A mistress? Does it really matter?

"I think we both know how affectionate father is with his children, don't we?"

Clovis opened his mouth, then closed I and looked away. "What do you want?"

"I want information," said Lelouch. "Who killed my mother?"

"I... our older siblings, Cornelia and Schneizel, they would know," said Clovis. "Cornelia was the head of her royal guard and... Schneizel has his hand in everything. They might know something.

"I had nothing to do with Marianne's death, Lelouch! I swear to you!"

Lelouch considered that. "I see.

"What were you trying to cover up here, Clovis?"

Clovis shifted. "I...

"I don't know what you are-"

"If you don't tell me, I'll let the homeland find out," said Lelouch. "Father's secret police are very good at finding traitors when he needs them. And with the riots as bad as they are, he will need them."

Clovis leaned back in his seat. "A girl... a green-haired girl.

"She goes by the name of C.C. She is immortal."

Well, the first part checked out. "Immortal? Impossible."

"That's what I thought as well," said Clovis with a laugh. "When I got on shore after the invasion, I heard rumors of a girl who had been shot dead, only to get back up. Afterward, a Black Ops group took over the investigation and swore us all to secrecy.

"I...

"I became involved in their organization. I funded the research that they used for their experiments. Then I arranged for certain locations to be secured."

"What locations?" asked Lelouch.

"An island, off the coast of Japan," said Clovis. "There are some ruins there that they wanted to examine badly.

"And then I found C.C."

"And you kept her secret from the Emperor?" asked Lelouch. "Even knowing he wanted her.

"Why?"

"Because these people are murderers, Lelouch! They're insane!" said Clovis. "In my time working with them, I saw them murder subordinates just for walking into the room at the wrong time. They were also performing... experiments."

Lelouch had read stories of numbers being harvested for their organs in some areas. It had led to a whole slew of riots and vigilante killings over the years. But Clovis had always cracked down on that kind of thing hard. "What kind?"

"I don't know the details; I was never allowed near them," said Clovis. "But I do know the effects.

"But when I observed those experiments, I picked up on mass psychological changes. Usually focused around the areas where the experiments were done. In one, everyone in the area became far more violent for a week. In another, libido was increased.

"They were experimenting on people like animals. Britannians, numbers, they didn't care who it was. After that, I started keeping an eye on what they were doing, and I began to pick up on... experiments.

"Cybernetics. Brainwashing.

"They stole children out of orphanages to indoctrinate them as enforces. And they had some sort of plan. I was never able to find out what it was, but... it's apparently going to affect all of humanity.

"It wasn't a Black Ops group, Lelouch. It was a cult. The Geass Order, they called themselves. That name took me three years to find. And the man who told me that name died soon after.

They wanted to change the entire world, with the official backing of our government.

"And then I found the girl they were looking for by sheer chance. She demonstrated... powers. She could send people into seizures by touching them. If hurt, she recovered within minutes and nothing could kill her.

"Immortality, Lelouch. Immortality and power beyond imagination.

"I realized the scientific possibilities that could be achieved with proper research. And I also realized the horrific consequences if the Geass Order on their hands on her.

"So... I did what I had to do. I hid her from them and carried out my own experiments. I was hoping to reverse engineer an immortality serum. Once I got mass-produced there would be nothing they could do to me.

"But if these people were to ever find her...

"It can't happen, Lelouch. If they ever find C.C it won't just be me getting shot. They want to use her to influence the will of mankind itself."

"And you think that massacring an entire ghetto would be preferable," said Lelouch.

"Yes," said Clovis without a hint of doubt. "I promise you, Lelouch, if those people who died today knew what I know, they'd throw themselves into the sea."

Lelouch had the feeling he was on the verge of something very, very, dangerous. "...Could these people have killed my mother?"

Clovis seemed to consider that. "I considered that, though I doubt they'd have done so without Father's approval. They kill a lot of people. Sometimes because they know too much, or because they are inconvenient. Sometimes simply because their usefulness is at an end. They don't like loose ends.

"I'm probably only alive because my death would be a public event. They don't like people knowing about them."

"What is their plan?" asked Lelouch.

"I don't know!" said Clovis. "No one seems to know in the organization. Not out of the inner circle, anyway. Most, they just assume they are an integral part of it. Most of them end up dead."

"But what are they doing to try and achieve it?" asked Lelouch.

"Taking ruins from across the world," said Clovis. "Bartley figured that out. He noticed that all of the countries we'd been invading had been in possession of similar ruins. They all originate from the same ancient civilization.

"No one is sure of the date, but they predate Eowynn and are all over the globe. No culture in history has been that far-reaching."

"...Lelouch, soldiers are coming. We're almost out of time," said C.C over the radio.

Lelouch nodded. "...I'm going to call you tomorrow under the alias of Julius," he said. "I want all the details and information you've gathered on this Geass Order. We're leaving for now.

"Clovis, I suggest you find some better subordinates.

"If anyone asks, this was a secret test of character to determine which among your men were loyal. Understand?"

Clovis nodded. "Lelouch I... I did try to find you and Nunnally after the war, you know."

"I'm very glad you didn't," said Lelouch. "Not a word, or it all goes public."

Then, turning, Lelouch Vi Britannia walked on out. When he got home, he had added 'Destroy ancient conspiracy' to his checklist. It was just above 'establish world peace.' And below 'obliterate the world's largest superpower' of course.

Perhaps he should stop for groceries on the way home?


Author's Note:

So, some people have wanted to know why I've chosen to give Suzaku Kururugi his own perspective, given how unsympathetic they find him.

The answer is that Suzaku was an ideal perspective. Lelouch has already been established as a chessmaster and the details of the battle could easily be told from Suzaku's perspective. Doing so lets me introduce Lloyd and Cecile, and shed some light on the other side of the conflict and how opinions have shifted. It also lets me introduce Schneizel indirectly.

Most people who write Suzaku usually either write him as a wide-eyed idealist who comes around to Lelouch's way of thinking, or Satan incarnate if he was a Knight Templar. The fics which portray Suzaku as a good guy usually take steps to defang him and decrease his threat to Lelouch so he's just some secondary sympathetic villain Lelouch goes go-carting with. The latter fics usually portray him as more or less altogether bad after a certain point.

I will be doing neither. I write characters as human beings, not devils and angels. A character who is truly despicable is only made more so by being three-dimensional. And a character who is incorruptibly pure is far more compelling if they face the same temptations but don't give in.

I'm not sure which, if either, Suzaku will end up as. I intend to let him make the choice himself.