Just as we're about to escape the Aurora, those three defected Norma were in the way. Looks like my spy got my message.
"They're after the Aurora!" Tusk said the obvious.
"Wait, that ship..." Ange also said the obvious.
"Gee, you think?" I said the obvious, didn't I?
It's obvious that with Tusk knocking everyone down from his gas canisters, the ship is left unguarded and vulnerable to attack by those three. At least that woke them up.
Good thing I get to see the fight between Ange and those three.
"Stop!" she exclaimed, shooting a beam at their direction which they dodged.
"Let me help, too," I said while doing the same thing.
"Lelouch..." she is amazed I defended her.
"I'm joining the fight," I said with a smile.
Tusk joins the fight as well by shooting from his vehicle, and Momoka threw tags at the machines. Not just any tags, but explosive tags. In fact, once they were placed in those mechas, they explode, dealing with great damage, but not yet going down.
Also, I haven't forgotten about Vivian.
With Ersha and Chris stopped firing, it looks like they stopped firing. As I saw the battle, the latter just simply knocked the machine Tusk and Momoka are, and it's good Vivian came to their rescue.
I decided to help Ange fight against Ersha. She's been able to dodge our blows. Just then, I saw Chris is about to fire a beam on Vivian, but she threw her giant boomerang at her, missing the shot and almost hitting Ersha.
"Bad girl, Vivi-chan," the orange colored defected Norma said about this.
"Like how a parent would scold her child for doing something wrong..." I chuckled at this.
Anyway, Ersha fired two shots on Vivian; one is missed, but the other one hit the machine. Momoka is sent falling to the water below, but she used the Light of Mana to float down to safety. Good thing I didn't look inside her skirt to see her panties, otherwise that would have been a perverted move. Luckily, Tusk and Vivian are fine.
The Aurora went down to the ocean for safety.
What a relief.
Ersha and Chris may have retreated, but not Salia. To think she got a perfect strategy to get Ange: Stealth Rose Triangle.
"Is magical girls her specialty? Including that blonde ditz whose name goes to the moon?" I muttered about this.
Anyway, Salia shot Ange to her breast and she goes down.
"Sister!" Sylvia cried as she wanted to help her.
"Everything is fine, Sylvia! Ange will not die!" I reassured her.
"How can you be so sure, Lelouch?" Tusk asked me.
"Because Salia is my spy," I respond to the question.
"Huh?!" Momoka, Sylvia, Tusk, and Vivian are surprised to hear this.
"It's about time I tell you all something, and it's good that the rest of the Aurora won't be able to hear it," I decided to tell them my plan. "Your Plan B may be screwed up, Tusk, but that's the result I'm expecting. You see, when I brought Ange to the clinic, I injected nanobots into her system, and she's fine because I designed them to infect the device where Aura is being held hostage. I know Julio would want her alive to take her to that place so as soon as she looked into the DRAGON at first sight, the nanobots will immediately come out of her undetected to infect the cage, weakening it. Of course, this is just a preparation for the invasion with the DRAGONs on our side. I'm saving Ange the fun in freeing her. In fact, I'll let her use the Villkiss for that part."
"You mean to say that what I did which led to this result is all part of your plan?" Tusk questioned me.
"Exactly. This is what you call Trojan horse, a person or thing intended to undermine or destroy from within. For this case, with Ange in Julio's mercy, she will lead us to where Aura is being held and the nanobots will infect her cage to weaken it."
As I finished my explanation, everyone looks surprised by this plan I had in mind.
Just then, Salia approached me, and it's safe with Ersha and Chris are not around to see this.
"I'll be taking Momoka as well," she said.
The maid turned to me with worry on her face.
"Don't worry, Momoka. Isn't your job to be Ange's maid?" I asked her with reassurance.
She gasped to realize it, and so she agreed to come with Salia.
"What now, Lelouch?" Tusk asked me the next thing to do.
"You and Vivian should just let yourselves be in the Aurora. That way, I'll keep in touch with the status there to see if everyone would agree to the alliance with the DRAGONs," I instructed.
"Got it," he agreed.
"Roger!" Vivian also agreed.
"What about us, Lelouch?" Sylvia questioned me next.
"We'll be at our aircraft carrier and wait for further instructions," was my reply.
As Sylvia and I went to my aircraft...
"So, being in the Aurora is out of the question," Suzaku commented as we entered the briefing room.
"At least for a while, Suzaku," I replied.
I saw Sylvia is looking uneasy about some Mana people being in the place. Looks like I forgot to tell her something.
"Don't worry about those Mana people, Sylvia," I reassured her. "They're not like everyone in this world because they fight for the Norma."
"Oh... I see..." she understood.
"Anyway, while we wait for incoming messages, why don't we play a game."
"A game?"
I showed her a board game called...
"Checkers!" I exclaimed with excitement.
We decided to go to the game room to play the game while waiting for progress. I choose the black side, and Sylvia chooses the red side. I explained the rules, and she understood them.
"I go first," I said as I made my first move.
As Sylvia made her move, it looks like she managed to evade one of her pieces from capture. For my next turn, I made a stealth move for one of my pieces, and she did the same.
Luckily, I managed to capture one of her pieces in my next turn.
"How did you...?" she looks surprised.
"Just luck. Also, this is a strategy board game, so you can learn how to calculate strategies of your own if you were to lead your own team, Sylvia," I stated a smile. "Ready to lose?"
"Not on my watch," I replied with a smile.
"Good to hear."
As we continued playing, I hope Ange is having a good time with Julio. She will find out that with him as God, it would be impossible to kill him. This means I have to find some way to kill him permanently if I wanted the war to end and bring peace to ourselves.