Chapter Sixteen: Unexpected Meeting

The base camp for the Knights of Ashford was also the Student Council meeting room. Lelouch took steps to ensure that the room had not been bugged. Sayoko had already been through there, of course, she was trained for this kind of thing. But Lelouch liked double-checking on his own.

But, finally, everyone began their reports.

"Wait, what?!" said Milly. "You pointed a gun at Prince Clovis?!"

"Yes," said Lelouch. "He ordered the massacre of numerous innocent civilians to cover up a Mistress. Why shouldn't he face the consequences?"

"Why didn't you shoot him?" asked Kallen, who seemed annoyed.

"Kallen!?" said Shirley incredulously.

"You weren't there, Milly!" said Kallen. "I saw people gunned down in the street, children even! All so, Clovis could cover up his Mistress or something.

"Where is she anyway?"

Lelouch shrugged. "I'm keeping her at home, for now. Sayoko is providing security for and against her. And she was not a Mistress, but an experimental test subject. Apparently, she is immortal."

"Did you test it?" asked Kallen.

"Do you ordinarily shoot guests in the head?" asked Lelouch. "There is an ancient conspiracy of sorts, or so Clovis claimed. I've written it all down on these reports. Remember that not a word of any of this is to be told without consulting the rest of us."

"But..." said Milly. "Why didn't you release it, then?"

"At the time, I'd hoped to control Clovis through the threat of releasing the data," said Lelouch. He was feeling annoyed. "But now he's withdrawn to Britannia in disgrace and is trying to disappear. I suppose he didn't like the idea of being controlled.

"Kallen, I believe you have something to tell our friends here."

Everyone looked at her.

"Hang on..." said Kallen.

"We are already cooperating, Kallen. And they deserve to know," said Lelouch.

Kallen sighed. "...I'm half-Japanese.

"My mother is a maid in my house, and I was adopted because my step-Mother was barren. I'm also part of the resistance."

"What?!" said Shirly, leaning forward even further.

"I... my brother is the head of a resistance group," said Kallen. "One of the reasons I pushed Lelouch into doing this is because I knew what was happening. I wanted people to know."

Shirley's jaw dropped, but Milly remained composed. "I... see.

"I take it you've been feigning illness, then."

"Yes," said Kallen. "It gives me an excuse to go out and help my brother, Naoto."

"Wait, so we've been working with terrorists?" asked Rivalz.

"We're not terrorists!" said Kallen hotly. "Not everyone who opposes Britannia is a murderer. And with what you've seen, if they are, can you blame them?

"Naoto doesn't blow up buildings. We target military trucks to help feed starving people and protect people in the ghetto. We haven't even launched any real attacks until we tried to get the poison gas."

"Why were you trying to get poison gas?" asked Milly quietly.

"Because we were afraid Clovis would gas us," said Kallen. "They'd use it to wipe us out, then claim it was an accident. Nobody would even care. He didn't really care about the 'many cooperative elevens.' Honorary Britannians were just as bad off, maybe worse.

"It was all just a bunch of PR with no substance. All those humanitarian awards didn't help anyone, and Clovis sure as hell didn't."

"But..." said Shirley, and then she leaned back suddenly. "Clovis would do something like that, wouldn't he?"

"And now you have an idea of why our battle here, however small, is so important," said Lelouch. "We have limited resources, but it is our duty to use those resources to fight evil wherever we can.

"At the moment, however, it is of no present relevance."

"What do you mean?" asked Rivalz.

"As of this moment, we're changing our support to work in favor of Britannia," said Lelouch.

"What?!" said Kallen.

"Why?" asked Shirley. "With what just happened..."

"Shouldn't we be stepping our campaign up?" asked Rivalz.

"Because Britannia is losing," said Lelouch. "Not just here but on the world stage.

"The damage we've done to them cannot be overstated. They've been driven out of their colonies. Their wars of aggression have become wars of survival. And now their reputation has been shattered and broken.

"We have successfully halted their dreams of conquest.

"Revenge is ours.

"If we continue to attack them, however, it may cause China or the EU to win. Do either of you want to live under Chinese or European rule?"

"No, of course not," said Milly.

"Then, we must change the target of our operations," said Lelouch. "Besides, if we become too much of a thorn in Britannia's side, they may just murder us damn the PR."

"What, so we're supposed to become shills like those parasites in the media?" asked Kallen. "They never report anything real!"

"No," said Lelouch. "We're just going to target a different kind of parasite.

"The Knights of Ashford were established to bring the truth of the injustice of the world to light. But the truth has been brought forth. Now we need to focus on truths that have not been revealed."

"Which ones?" asked Milly.

Lelouch reached into his breast pocket and drew out a vial of a black substance. Shirley shuddered as he put it on the table, and Milly looked uncomfortable. "This is Refrain.

"It's a drug that induces hallucinations in people and causes them to relive past memories in a lucid form. It's also addicting, tends to kill the person using it over time. And it is running unchecked throughout the ghettos."

"He's right, I've seen them," said Kallen. "One of the primary things Naoto does is keep out the gangs.

"The police do nothing about it. Sometimes they even provide security."

"So, we're going to do work on Refrain?" asked Rivalz.

"Yes," said Lelouch. "We're going to do mass research on Refrain, how it is spread, and how it is distributed. We want to reveal to the world everything we can about these people. If Britannia is forced to destroy these parasites, it will help Japan and help in the war effort.

"Kallen, I am relying on you to get Naoto's cooperation. We will need your resistance group to provide security in our investigations. That and maps and information."

"Right, yeah, because you're in command here," said Kallen.

Lelouch looked flatly at Kallen. For a moment, they held one another's gaze in silent challenge. After a moment, Kallen blushed and looked away. "Fine, I'll talk to Naoto. Happy?"

Lelouch then turned to Milly. "Milly, I need you to take up a different kind of expose. I want you and Shirley to coordinate on other crimes. Child abuse, mistreatment of servants, more ordinary things.

"We need to expose the corruption in society if it is to be purged. And many of our agents aren't qualified for Ghetto work. Rivalz, I want you to begin doing an expose on the horrors of war. Chronicle how bad things get when things turn violent."

"Don't we want violence?" asked Kallen.

"Kallen!" said Shirley.

Lelouch sighed. "Violence is a sledgehammer. There are situations where it is the only usable tool. However, it is best to work nonviolently if possible.

"Our operations have been successful because we have defeated Britannia without violence. So they have no means to use their standard playbook against us." He paused. "Oh, and one more thing.

"Someone in this room is going to die if things go on like this."

Silence.

"What do you mean?" asked Rivalz.

"The situation is escalating," said Lelouch. "If we continue to fight against Britannia like this, they will eventually strike back. The rule of law is a facade they will discard when things get inconvenient. And the mob is much more willing to end lives without publicity. We're going to be taking precautions, setting up safe houses and such.

"However, if all we continue being active, sooner or later, one or more of us will be killed.

"When that happens, we have to be prepared to make that person into a martyr. In the meantime, I want you to start carrying a pistol. Sayoko should instruct you on how to use it.

"If none of you want to take that risk, you can cut your losses here. You've already done far more than most people."

No one left, of course. They had been hardened by what they saw, and he had led them to regard it as a Great Crusade. The Knights of Ashford, as a title, no longer bore any mockery or laughter when mentioned.

"Good," said Lelouch. "I knew I could count on you."

And then the phone began to ring. Lelouch looked over to Milly. "Get it, Milly."

Milly nodded and moved over to pick the phone up. "Um, hello, uh..." She paused and looked to Lelouch. "It's for you, Lelouch."

Lelouch nodded and moved over to the phone. Putting it to one ear, he listed. "Hello?"

"This is Villeta Nu," said a voice. "It's been a while since you held me in your arms, Zero."

The flirting voice, on the other end made Lelouch flinch. But he controlled himself carefully. Depending on whether this was a bluff, he might have to kill this person. "I'm sorry you seem to have the wrong number."

"Oh, that's disappointing," said Villetta. "I guess I'll take the information gathered from Prince Clovis' secret files elsewhere."

Lelouch paused. This person was looking to make contact and use Zero to control him. "You seem to have made a mistake of identity. Zero is an idea, not a person. Even if they caught the guy who first put up those pictures, there'd be a thousand other Zeroes by now.

"No one would even notice he was gone." He looked to the others quickly. "And you might be interested to know that this line is tapped, by me. Still, is there something I can do you help you?"

"I want to meet with you and Kallen Stadftfeld," said Villetta. "I think the two of us are in a position to help one another out."

Lelouch paused. "Where?"

He got the coordinates.

"Be seeing both of you," said Villetta, before there was a click.

"What happened, Lulu?" asked Shirley.

"That was Villetta Nu, a soldier from Shinjuku," said Lelouch.

"What?" said Kallen, sounding shocked.

"She's asked after the two of us personally. I believe she's interested in an alliance," said Lelouch.

"Wait, but why?" asked Milly. "If she's a soldier."

"She's a social climber," said Kallen. "Her whole goal in life is to become powerful and live like a noble. But... she's also very smart. She... she was at my house and saw one conversation with my Mother. From that, she figured out half my life story, though... not the other half."

"Well, whoever it is, we'll need a plan," Rivalz.

"Milly, how are efforts going to gain sympathy from the moderates?" asked Lelouch.

"Well, a lot of people have become interested in the plight of elevens and are giving to charity. Some are also organizing relief aid," said Milly. "But they're all afraid about the growing threat of China. I don't think they'll be willing to do anything more."

"I see," said Lelouch. "Well, I may have something more for them to do.

"I want you to get in contact with Nina. She's making a paper advocating for a move away from Imperialism as a model. Her economic theory makes a great deal of sense, and now is the perfect time to introduce it.

"With Britannia reeling, a reason to stop trying to retake lost territory would help. They can withdraw and call it altering their strategy. Shirley, I'm relying on you to spread some rumors of this theory. Get briefed by Nina on the subject matter."

"Hang on," said Rivalz. "Why not just get Nina onboard?"

"Nina is an ally," said Lelouch. "But she doesn't share our ideals. Because of what happened to her, she is pro-Empire. She just believes in a less harmful strategy. It would be best if she wasn't privy to our inner circle."

"But she's our friend," said Shirley.

"How many friends do you have who are not in our inner circle, Shirley?" asked Lelouch. "Do you tell them everything, you know?"

"Of course not," said Shirley.

"Lelouch is right," said Kallen. "We can't just tell everyone our darkest secrets."

"Yeah, we just expose the darkest secrets of the bad guys!" said Rivalz enthusiastically.

The words hit Lelouch harder than he expected.

It was the confident, faithful way Rivalz said it. What was the difference between him and Britannia if both were controlling information? It was an absurd question, but...

"All of us need to be careful," said Lelouch. "We have to ensure that we don't become what we fight. Just remember what makes us different from Britannia. And make sure your subordinates remember."

Everyone looked at him strangely.

Of course, they looked at him strangely.

Lelouch was always two steps ahead of everyone else. It was his blessing and curse. Finally, he sighed. "Kallen, you and I have a meeting to go to, and Sayoko has an area to scout out."


The taxi dropped Lelouch and Kallen off at the diner.

Kallen looked up at it in surprise, and Lelouch eyed her. "You've been here before?"

"Yes," said Kallen. "Villetta Nu invited me out here to eat once."

A date? "Hmm," said Lelouch. "I wasn't aware you swung that-"

"What does it matter if I do, and it wasn't like that!" said Kallen. "I mean... that is to say, I like men to and..."

"Digging yourself deeper," said Lelouch.

"Let's just go into the restaurant," said Kallen.

Entering, they say Villetta Nu seated at a table visible from the entrance. She was clad in a lowcut red dress and with earrings. Was this a tactic to make them uncomfortable? Lelouch felt it was wasted. He didn't particularly care if they were only wearing ordinary clothes.

They made their way over to them and sat down across from her. Villetta stretched, sticking her chest out. Lelouch had difficulty keeping his eyes on her face. Much like Kallen, she was a very beautiful woman, but he was used to Kallen. "I'm glad the two of you could make it, please, sit down."

"Villetta, what is this about?" asked Kallen.

"Nothing much. I've heard about your extra-curricular activities. I'd like to offer you some advice," said Villetta, leaning forward with a smile.

"What kind of advice?" asked Kallen.

"Well, certain influential people have been sending a lot of information," said Villetta. Then she drew out a USB drive from her bosom and pushing it across the table. "I thought you might like to see some of it."

"...Very considerate of you," said Lelouch. "Though why the restaurant."

"No particular reason, I'd just like for you to reach your full potential, Lelouch," said Villetta. And then she drew up the picture in front of her, showing a picture of Lelouch, Nunnally, and Mother. Clovis had painted it years ago. "Look familiar."

Lelouch calculated what would happen if he pulled out his gun and shot her. Dismissing the idea as far too crude and risky, he contemplating sending Sayoko after her. But Villetta had clearly thought this through, so she probably had a good reason to keep her alive.

He glanced at Kallen, whose mouth was wide open. "You're playing a very dangerous game here, Ms. Nu. It could easily cost you your life."

"I'm aware of the danger," said Villetta. "However, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I think-"

"Lelouch, Lelouch is that you!" said a familiar voice.

Lelouch looked up and saw Suzaku rushing toward them down the aisle. Calculating that the distraction would help keep Villetta from revealing anymore, he smiled. "Suzaku?

"I thought you were dead!"

Suzaku halted by the table. "Oh, well, um... this is a bit of a long story."

"We've got time," said Kallen.

"Sit down, please," said Lelouch, eyeing Villetta, who was trying to change her act.

Suzaku halted. "So, uh, is this some kind of double-date?"

"No! No, I mean..." said Kallen, blushing scarlet. "It's about our work as reporters. Villetta Nu is providing us with some information."

"Oh right, that," said Suzaku, feeling his side. "You aren't showing any more massacres are you?"

"Not at the moment," said Lelouch. "We've decided that destabilizing things further would be a very bad idea."

"So, how did you get away, anyway?" asked Kallen.

Villetta opened her mouth.

"I guess I got lucky," said Suzaku. "During the massacre, I ended up shielded by the bodies of a lot of people. I got medical treatment after Prince Clovis called them off.

"I... well, actually, I got promoted."

"Yes, I remember," said Villetta. "Prince Clovis ordered Kururugi promoted after the massacre."

"A means of proving his good intentions?" guessed Lelouch.

"You could call it that, I guess," said Suzaku. "I work as a mechanic on a Knightmare crew." Then he shifted, and Lelouch realized Villetta could not get out while he was there. "So...

"You were in Shinjuku, right, Lelouch?"

Lelouch paused. "...Yes, yes, I was."

"Can you tell me what happened there," said Suzaku. "From your perspective?"

"Didn't you see the videos?" asked Lelouch.

"I did, but, well, I kind of need to know," said Suzaku.

"There wasn't much to say," said Lelouch. "I was in the place taking pictures, and Clovis started the massacre. Rivalz was the one who took most of the footage, of course.

"Suzaku, you should come to visit us sometime. Nunnally would love to see you."

"Nunnally's alive then?" asked Suzaku.

"Yes," said Lelouch.

"...Maybe we should pick this up later," said Villetta, drawing out a card and handing it to him. "I've delivered my message, and you have my number.

"I'll be in touch."

"I'm sure you will," said Lelouch. "But you have to keep in mind, Villetta, I have two options. I can trust you. Or I can choose not to trust you.

"Given the situation, I'm willing to extend you a chance to work with us.

"However, if that trust is betrayed..." He let the sentence end there.

"You don't have to worry," said Villetta, standing up and walking away. She left the picture, and Lelouch snatched it up.

"She found out, didn't she?" asked Suzaku.

"Yes," said Lelouch. "The good news is that she wants to work with us at the moment. How much do you know?"

"I just got in here," said Suzaku. "And I saw my oldest friend sitting with one of the most ambitious members of the Purebloods. I thought she might be blackmailing you."

Kallen shifted and looked at Lelouch. "That's a lot to blackmail something with."

"Not really," said Lelouch. "It would only be important as a means of attracting public attention. The Emperor is well known for keeping his options open."

"Kallen, I'm glad you made it out as well," said Suzaku.

"Well, I got lucky, I guess," said Kallen.

"So, what are you planning to do next?" asked Suzaku. "I mean, I've heard about the Knights of Ashford and all that. You've done a lot of good work."

"You mean people are actually taking that seriously?" asked Kallen.

"Why wouldn't we?" asked Suzaku. "You've done great work changing Britannia from within. More than the JLF has ever managed. What are you doing next?"

"Well, our plan was to do some stories on the drug trade and human trafficking," said Lelouch. "We feel that is we can help Britannia clamp down on that everyone will be better off."

"I can agree with that," said Suzaku. "But that kind of work is dangerous, Lelouch. Are you okay with sending someone to do it?"

"We'll be doing it ourselves first," said Lelouch.

"What?" said Suzaku. "Well, then why not let me come with you?"

Kallen bristled at it. "What? You-"

"That sounds like a great idea," said Lelouch. "We could use your help."

"Lelouch, you can't be serious," said Kallen.

"Suzaku is a trained martial artist, Kallen," said Lelouch, before looking to him. "You've kept up the practice, right?"

"Yes, though I had to switch to Britannian martial arts after I parted ways with sensei," said Suzaku.

"We'll be going into dangerous territory, Kallen," said Lelouch. "And I'm sure we can learn a lot about what's going on in the military from Suzaku?"

Suzaku smiled. "You haven't changed."

As usual, Suzaku Kururugi was far smarter than he looked.