Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of its canon characters.
Lelouch vi Britannia picked up the helmet he had earlier discarded as he stepped over the bodies of the dead command staff in the G1. Fortunately for him the helmet had not landed in the small lake of blood that now filled the center of the room, and that would make his escape that much easier. He walked down the darkened hall toward a rear exit, leaving a trail of bloody boot prints behind him.
Outside he found several government cars parked behind the G1, most likely part of the massive wave of reinforcements that had been called in to suppress the now non existent terrorist threat in Shinjuku. He walked up to one of the cars who's driver was still waiting for someone. Lelouch knocked on the window.
"You will take me to a destination of my choosing and forget you ever saw me." The Geass bored into the man's mind.
"Understood your highness, where to?" The driver immediately responded.
"The nearest train station that has a route to the Britannian settlement." Lelouch got in the passenger seat and put his head back. This was the first break he had since this whole mess started four hours earlier. He started to think about everything that had just happened. He thought about the terrorists, Clovis, the strategy and accompanying tactics he had used to defeat the Britannian military, and about he strange new power.
As the car drove further and further away from the smoldering ruins of the Shinjuku Ghetto there were two people he could not get out of his head. First was the nameless green haired girl whom he had found bound and gagged inside of a container that had been marked as chemical weapons, and who had somehow given him a supernatural power after being shot between the eyes. The second was the exceptionally skilled terrorist who was piloting the red Glasgow. Her crimson hair, blue eyes, overall shape were all strikingly familiar to him. Lelouch was almost certain he had seen her somewhere before, but could not place it. That was not all that kept his mind on the mysterious pilot. She looked Britannian, sounded Britannian, and had a Britannian name, yet fought as hard as she could for Japanese terrorists. On top of that, they clearly accepted her as one of their own.
Lelouch pushed the thoughts out of his mind. Too many questions and too few answers were not going to help him get home in this exhausted state. It wasn't until now that he finally realized just how long of a day it had been. Lelouch had studied for three hours, spent nearly half the day involved in a string of illegal gambling matches, acquired a supernatural power, defeated the Britannian military, and committed several acts of High Treason including regicide, all in the span of 14 hours.
"We have arrived at the station as you requested your highness, the next train bound for the settlement leaves in 10 minutes." The driver said as he pulled into a parking space near the terminal, the glow of Geass still bright in his eyes.
'There's no turning back now. It's about time I started fulfilling my oath.' Lelouch thought to himself as he walked up to the terminal, still dressed in his captured Britannian Army uniform.
Private Kururugi Suzaku opened his eyes only to see bright white lights. He turned his head and realized that he was in a medical bay again. For a brief moment he wondered why, until the memories of the previous day's ambush in Shinjuku came crashing into his mind just as the Lancelot had crashed into that apartment building. He tried to piece together what had happened. He remembered chasing a red Glasgow around a corner right into five enemy Sutherlands and then suddenly coming under fire from every possible direction. Only then did Suzaku recall the Lancelot's land spinner being destroyed and the crash. Suzaku groaned as he tried to sit up, a powerful surge of pain shot through his head.
"Are you awake Suzaku? Do you remember what happened?" It was Cecile, Earl Lloyd's assistant in the Special Engineering division.
"Cecile, what happened in Shinjuku? Did we win?"
"I'm afraid not Suzaku. Although you managed to destroy nine terrorist knightmares they had more than we could have expected. It appears that you were baited into an elaborate trap, the five Sutherlands in the intersection were the real bait, not the red Glasgow you were chasing. Judging from the Lancelot's combat data there were at least 10 more enemy knightmares hidden in the buildings along both sides of the street. You were outnumbered at least fifteen to one, maybe even more."
"How did terrorists get a hold of so many knightmares?" Suzaku wondered.
"I don't know Suzaku, but it is clear that they were no ordinary terrorists, They were well supplied, and well organized. Even the JLF does not have the resources for that kind of operation. Whoever they were they managed to destroy dozens of our knightmares and armored vehicles with barely any losses of their own. Shinjuku is the first time in years the Britannian military has actually been defeated in a real battle on this side of the planet."
Suzaku was about to reply when seven heavily armed soldiers burst into the room, weapons at the ready. A finely dressed Britannian officer came in behind them, his uniform adorned with the emblem of the Purist Faction.
The Purist Faction was an element of the Britannian military opposed to the incorporation of Numbers into their ranks. They held the belief that only pure blooded Britannians should be allowed to serve in the military. In the wake of Viceroy Clovis's death they quickly asserted their dominance over the military in Area 11 and started cracking down on anyone that did not conform to their views. The man who stood before Suzaku was none other than Jeremiah Gottwald, leader of the Purist Faction. He made eye contact with Suzaku and spoke with authority.
"Private Kururugi Suzaku, you have been implicated in the assassination of Prince Clovis, Royal Viceroy of Area 11. The charges against you consist of conspiracy, being an accessory to regicide, and high treason. You are to be detained immediately pending the start of your trial in three days."
"Wait Lord Gottwald! Suzaku was in constant communication with us yesterday, and he was unconscious at the time the Viceroy was assassinated. There is no way he could have had anything to do with this!" Cecile quickly tried to defend him.
"Unfortunately for you and private Kururugi miss Cecile, the Special Corps no longer has any authority here in Area 11. His fate shall be decided by a military court."
Suzaku sat in his hospital bed in a state of almost complete shock. He had never been told that Viceroy Clovis had been assassinated until he was accused himself of being a conspirator. Although Suzaku wanted to protest this accusation, considering his status as an Honorary Britannian he knew better than to try and argue with a very pissed off Nobleman who would be more likely to shoot him than listen. He simply kept his mouth shut as Jeremiah's men rolled him off to the hospital's prison wing.
The train ride back to Tokyo was uneventful as nobody dared question a masked Britannian special forces soldier. Lelouch was thankful for the half hour of peace, even if it was out of fear. The time gave him the opportunity to look a few moves ahead and begin developing a plan to follow up on his victory at Shinjuku. The fact that he had actually fought the most powerful military in history with nothing but a few bands of terrorist irregulars and achieved a decisive victory was just starting to sink in.
Lelouch left the station and made his way to one of the many secret access points to Ashford Academy he had made over the course of his illegal gambling career. People would immediately be suspicious if they saw a lone Britannian soldier entering the campus. After successfully sneaking into the Academy he went through the clubhouse and up to his room. Following what was almost certainly the quickest shower of his life, Lelouch stuffed the special forces uniform and the pistol under his bed before passing out from exhaustion.
The following morning went by in a blur. Lelouch found himself once again falling asleep. First in class, and now in the student council meeting room. He awoke to a vicious assault with a roll of paper.
"I know you were sleeping, your hand stopped moving!" Milly Ashford yelled at him as she continued to hit him in the head with a roll of documents.
"Well you don't have to beat me up over it, yesterday was a long one Milly." Lelouch stated as his clearly insufficient defense.
"Yeah what was up with you yesterday Lelouch? I thought I heard gunfire when you called me." Shirley joined in, her last comment turning everyone's attention to them. "You did say you would tell me all about it Lelouch, remember?" Lelouch looked around and saw everyone in the room staring at him, eager to find out every last detail.
"Guess I can't shoot my way out of this one, you win Shirley. After I ditched Rivalz I went down to the ghetto to play a really high stakes game. A local syndicate of the Yakuza offered me a 30% cut if I could beat a man known as the Black King, a higher up in the Britannian mafia."
"Wait Lelouch, you mean Yakuza, as in the Eleven mafia?" Rivalz asked with ever increasing curiosity.
"Yup Rivalz, that Yakuza."
"Playing for the Eleven mafia is dangerous stuff Lelouch, what did they offer ya?" Rivalz asked.
"30 percent...of a million pounds." The entire student council gasped in unison at the incredible sum of money.
"So what happened? Did you win?"
"Do I ever lose Rivalz? Of course I won, the game lasted less than seven minutes."
"But then where did you stash all that money?"
"Unfortunately the Britannians didn't like the thought of being humiliated by the Elevens, especially when it was a Britannian student who had done the humiliating. The Brits drew their guns and the Japanese did the same. We got out of there when the hot lead to air ratio started rising." Lelouch explained.
"As insane, reckless and stupid that sounds Lulu, what does that have to do with Shinjuku? That was what you called me for."
"The Yakuza said that the Britannian military was attacking Shinjuku and asked me if I could call someone to see what the news had to say. As it would turn out, some terrorists got a hold of some chemical weapons and used it when the military tried to get the canisters back." Lelouch explained.
"You know guys, as interesting as Lelouch's mafia adventures in the ghetto are we still have to balance the school's budget." Milly said in an attempt to draw everyone's attention back to the task at hand.
"You could have told us about that yesterday President." Shirley complained.
"Or how about you tell us about it tomorrow?" Rivalz added.
"You know, we could still do that." Lelouch added in agreement.
"GUTS!" Milly roared out, startling everyone.
"You trying that 'guts' spell again?"
"Sorry Milly, but I don't think your magic is going to do a whole lot."
"Actually its got me going madam President!" Shirley said in opposition to Rivalz and Lelouch.
"Supple and Willing, that's what I like."
"I train hard in the Gymnastics Club." Shirley brought her arm up
"That's not what I was getting at Shirley, you're a 10, from what I've seen the girls bathroom anyway, you've been filling out in all the right places." Milly said with a sly grin.
"Wwwhat are you talking about you perv!" Shirley yelped as she noticed Milly's eyes fixed on her chest.
As the meeting ended news of the previous day's events in Shinjuku began to appear on the news, although heavily biased in favor of the Britannian colonial government. The broadcasts contained basically the same story Lelouch told Shirley, that terrorists had released poison gas into the ghetto while attempting to avoid capture by Britannian military forces. There was no mention of the actual battle, Britannia's defeat, or the death of Viceroy Clovis.
Lelouch walked out of the building into the main courtyard. It was a perfect sunny day, not a cloud in sight, not too hot either thanks to a light breeze. The weather meant that quite a few students also had the same idea of taking a break in the sun. As the Black Prince walked through the courtyard he saw people gathering around students' computers, all hungry for more information about Shinjuku. Out of the corner of his right eye he saw three girls eating lunch on the grass. When his vision came across one with a head of fiery crimson hair and bright blue eyes he nearly froze. The image of the terrorist boarding the Glasgow before the Battle of Shinjuku instantly flashed into his mind. There were just too many similarities between them for it to be a coincidence. Then it suddenly all came back to him, all the reasons she was so familiar. Kallen Stadtfeld, a student at the academy for the past two years. She frequently missed class due to some kind of illness or so the story went.
Lelouch spied a chance to get some information as he saw the three girls scatter, two of them screaming about a bee. The only one who remained calm was Kallen. She retreated behind some bushes and instantly killed the bee with a precision strike, something that seemed more characteristic of a soldier than a sickly student. She took a large, aggressive chomp out of her sandwich and turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. Her face changed from frustration back to innocence as she tried to recover the rapidly degenerating guise of being a sickly, weak girl.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked in a voice that sounded far too innocent. Lelouch wasted no time. His left eye lit up as she looked into it.
"I want answers." Lelouch's Geass burned into her mind.
"Of course." Kallen replied, in a trance like state.
"Were you the one piloting the Glasgow in Shinjuku?"
"Yes."
"Why terrorism?"
"Because I'm Japanese, although I'm technically half Britannian." She revealed.
"But why go so far?"
"My brother Naoto fought against Britannia from the very beginning, when I became old enough I joined to fight as well." Kallen continued.
"Tell me about the terrorist group you are with."
"We aren't very big, our group itself doesn't even have its own name. After my brother was killed by Britannia, Ougi took over as our leader. As our best knightmare pilot I was responsible for piloting our only Glasgow."
"Although you are a half blood you identified yourself as Japanese, what is your real name?"
"Kouzuki." Lelouch blinked and discharged his Geass, satisfied with the answers she had provided him. As he began to walk away he turned and reactivated it.
"Don't say anything about Shinjuku."
"Shinjuku? What do you mean?" Lelouch was momentarily shocked that his Geass had no effect upon her. Up until that point he had never tried to use his power on someone twice, they either never saw him again or were all dead. He tried to order her again.
"Go back to class." he ordered.
"Not until I get some answers Lelouch." She shot back, angered by his tone.
"Lelouch its your turn to setup the chemistry lab. Get moving!" Shirley yelled out from the nearby door. He was quick to go running toward her to escape the mess he was about to get himself into. The rest of the day at school went by uneventfully. Lelouch went home to have dinner with his sister Nunnally.
Later that night Lelouch lay in bed staring up at the darkness in his room, his mind wrapped in layers of complex thought.
'To wage war upon the greatest empire in all history I am going to need allies, those who would stand and fight at my side against the Empire's evil. Those terrorists from Shinjuku would make a nice start, they certainly proved themselves willing and capable enemies of Britannia. But how to make them my allies?' Lelouch's serious expression turned into a large evil grin as he formulated an intricate plan to win over the Glasgow pilot, Kallen. All he needed to make it work was some carefully applied Geass, and a bottle of Champagne.
The next day Lelouch found himself in the same history class as Kallen. All he needed to do now was get her to the ballroom at the student council's club house. 'As soon as class is over.'
"Mr Lamperouge please answer the question." The teacher singled him out, most likely for his tendency to constantly daydream during her lecture.
"The Aristocracy were highly educated and placed such an emphasis on training that they produced a superior breed of ruler. Secondly, they possessed heightened efficiency since only a small number were chosen..." He accurately answered her question the way she wanted to hear it before going back to his own thoughts.
"Thank you, that will do Mr Lamperouge." As the teacher shifted her attention away, Lelouch redirected his to going over his plan's every possible outcome. Exactly twelve minutes later the bell rang to signal the end of class. Most of the class packed up and left the room, but a few stayed behind to talk. Rivalz was talking to another boy at the other side of the room and several girls including Shirley were gathered around the desk of Kallen Stadtfeld. Lelouch walked up to the front of her desk, two of the girls retreating before his advance.
"You think you can spare a minute? I need to talk to you." Several of the girls, Shirley in particular gasped in surprise.
"Sure, I was wondering when you would ask me that." Lelouch and Kallen started walking away from the group of shocked girls behind them, not caring in the slightest how much fuel they added to the now rapidly turning rumor mill. They walked across the campus to the ballroom in the student council's club house.
"Are you sure we won't be disturbed in here?"
"Yes, that is correct." The entire student council showed up as if on que to destroy Lelouch's credibility.
"I finished up on my end, shall we dig in?" Milly walked into the room with an entire serving cart worth of food. One by one the student council members introduced themselves to Kallen until a motorized wheelchair moved into the room.
"I'm sorry Shirley but could you set these on the table for me?"
"That's Lelouch's sister Nunnally.", Milly explained, "She was blinded and crippled in some horrible accident eight years ago. I wouldn't ask about it though, they don't like to talk about it, even I don't know the details."
"So then, shall we kick this party off with a toast?" Rivalz produced a bottle of champagne he had stashed under the table. As he tried to remove the cork Shirley pounced on him in an attempt to get the bottle. "Heads up Lelouch!" He threw the bottle to Lelouch who managed to catch it seconds before Shirley vaulted over Rivalz.
"You're not getting away with this either Lulu!" As Shirley struggled with him the cork was about to come off. Lelouch instantly put his epic brainpower to work calculating the exact angle he would need to spray Kallen with the exploding champagne. His calculations were spot on. The cork came off and flew at high speed toward Kallen's face, however her lightning reflexes kicked in and she swatted it away. That did not save her from a cold champagne shower though.
"Kallen, there's a shower upstairs. Go wash off while we get you a change of clothes." Milly said while glaring at Rivalz.
As Kallen showered away the champagne she heard a knock at the door. She pulled the curtain.
"Its Lelouch, I brought you a change of clothes."
"You can come in, I've drawn the curtain." Lelouch entered and closed the door behind him. Kallen's very attractive outline was clearly visible through the thin shower curtain. Although it was just an outline, he could tell that she was definitely lying about being frail.
"These are some of my clothes, I hope you don't mind."
"No its cool, don't worry about it."
"I apologize for that, they can be a bit over the top sometimes." Lelouch said as he moved closer.
"Guess there's nothing wrong with cutting loose every once in a while."
"Yeah, you're right Kallen." Lelouch turned as if to walk out of the room.
"Hey wait! Can you hand me that pouch over there?" Lelouch picked up the pouch and his finger immediately found the tip of a hidden blade in the pink pouch. He reached for the pistol that was concealed on the back of his pants, being careful not to make any distinctive noises. As he put his left hand with the pouch through the curtain she forcefully grabbed his wrist, making him drop the pouch. As she reached down to pick up the pouch without letting go of his arm Lelouch clicked the safety off and brought the pistol up. When Kallen looked back up with the knife extended she found herself literally staring down the barrel of a gun.
"Gun beats knife Kallen, don't even try it." Lelouch warned.
"I knew there was something about you Lelouch. Who are you, Special Branch? OSI?" She questioned, clearly knowing that she had been exposed. Lelouch smiled, finding it ironic that she thought he was an agent of the very organization that had spared no expense trying to kill him.
"Seeing as you get flawless scores in history class I'm going to ask you two questions that if you answer correctly will tell you exactly who I am."
"Answering questions with questions, I suppose I have no choice. Alright then, ask away."
"Lady Marianne, former Knight of Six and imperial consort, she was a commoner by birth. What was her original name before she married the Emperor?" Kallen pushed her brain to remember this piece of obscure information.
"It was Lamperouge wasn't it?" She recalled.
"Correct Kallen, next question. Lady Marianne had two children, who were they?" Kallen's heart nearly stopped as the answer flashed into her mind. The names instantly clicked in her mind, and she suddenly understood who was holding her at gunpoint. She quickly realized what he was really getting at.
"Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia." Kallen spoke quietly in a tone that sounded almost completely overwhelmed with fear. She had never been in such a powerless position in her entire life. Completely naked with nowhere to run, and on the wrong end of a pistol held by a Britannian prince. The Japanese resistance fighter could not have imagined a worse fate.
"Correct again." Lelouch said as a grin swept over his face. "Judging by the expression on your face right now I would guess those names are setting off all kinds of alarms in your head."
"Lelouch...Lamperouge...You're a prince? But you died during the invasion seven years ago."
"That's what I wanted the world to believe. I faked our deaths to hide from the Emperor's assassins. The Ashford family were my mother's old allies, and they were more than happy to help us." Lelouch revealed.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"You showed a lot of talent in that Glasgow the other day Q1." He replied in the same cold tone of voice that he had used to command the resistance. Kallen's already saucer wide eyes grew to the size of full scale dinner plates.
"You were the voice in Shinjuku?" She asked in near disbelief.
"Yes." He answered calmly
"But you helped us kill your own people. Why?"
"Because I hate Britannia and everything it stands for. We were exiled because I stood up to the Emperor in his own court and demanded justice for my mother's death. That was the day I learned the truth about Britannia. Only the strong are worth anything to them, everyone else is just a liability." Lelouch explained.
"I could never have imagined that royalty would feel that way. But that still doesn't tell me why you want to help the Japanese."
"After Britannia killed my mother and took away the only life I ever knew, I was sent here. I lived in Japan for months before the war, and just when I finally felt that I had a place to call home again, Britannia took it all away for the second time. As the sun set on that day I swore an oath to the world, I swore that one day I would destroy Britannia and create a peaceful world for my sister. Now after seven years of waiting and watching I finally have the chance to do just that." Lelouch flipped the gun around and presented it to Kallen grip first. "Will you help me free Japan and kill the Emperor? Will you join me in my war against the Holy Britannian Empire, Kallen?"
"Only if you tell me exactly what I want to know, Prince." She decided to exploit the fact that she was no longer a trigger pull away from death to try and get some answers.
"Very well." He agreed.
"Did you get Clovis to order that ceasefire?"
"Clovis was at heart nothing but a coward, put a gun to his head and all that remains is a puppet on a string that would do anything you say."
"You just said he was a coward, not is a coward Lelouch." Taking note of his choice in words.
"He certainly was a coward Kallen, would you like to know what he said when I asked him why he ordered his army to destroy Shinjuku? He said they were just Elevens. They weren't even people to him, Kallen. I'm surprised they have managed to cover up his death for two days."
"You killed him?" She asked, astonished that Lelouch had just admitted assassinating the Viceroy.
"You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty." He replied with a grin.
"What do you really hope to achieve Lelouch?"
"Free Japan, destroy Britannia, and obtain vengeance for my mother and sister. In other words I'm about to declare war upon a third of the world, and the most powerful nation in human history. To win, I need to build an army worthy of such a task, and based on what I saw in Shinjuku, I think you would make a great start." Kallen blushed slightly and stood up.
"Although I never thought I would ever in a million years find myself agreeing with Britannian royalty, I would be glad to join you, Lelouch vi Britannia."
"Just one condition Kallen, never under any circumstances tell anyone who I really am without my permission. If word of my survival gets out the OSI will be swarming all over Area 11. They don't take failure lightly."
"Got it."
"Oh and by the way Kallen, I honestly don't know how you manage to keep up the illusion of a sickly, weak noble girl with such a fantastic body." Kallen looked at Lelouch and finally realized that she had completely exposed herself when she stood up. She pulled the shower curtain around her defensively. Lelouch laughed as he began to leave.
"Don't worry, nobody will hear of this." He reassured her as he shut the door.
A few minutes later Lelouch and a fully clothed Kallen made their way back down stairs to the ballroom where the rest of the student council was.
"Well, well, you two sure took your sweet time up there." Rivalz called out, his mind clearly running wild with that information.
"Oh Lelouch, please tell me nothing happened between you two!" Shirley shrieked.
"Actually we had quite a moment up there in that bathroom, didn't we Kallen?" Her face went as red as her hair.
"It wasn't like that!" Kallen said in a desperate attempt at her own defense.
"Of course it wasn't." Lelouch winked at her.
Suddenly Milly burst in from the next room "Oh my god its horrible! They are saying Prince Clovis was assassinated!" Everyone followed her into the side room with the TV, where the broadcast had switched to an aerial view of a man in white being escorted by a squad of Royal Guardsmen.
"This just in! The assassin has been captured! Honorary Britannian Private Suzaku Kururugi is under arrest on charges of high treason and regicide!"
Kallen looked over at Lelouch and whispered. "You said you did it."
"I did. Since the radical Purist faction has taken control of the military they are most likely framing him in an attempt to angle the blame toward the Japanese to further their own agenda. My pistol's twelfth round is still in Clovis' skull." Lelouch whispered back.
"What are we going to do Lelouch?"
"What else is there to do? We are going to rescue him." He quietly announced to her.
"So Kallen, how's campus life treating you?"
"Stifling as ever Ougi. Yesterday I had to give a speech in history class praising the glory of Britannia's leaders. It makes me sick. Maybe I should just head back.
"Stay there Kallen, the army's on high alert right now, best to just lay low. Besides, Naoto would have liked to see you back in school."
"Yeah I guess you're right."
"Did you hear about Clovis being assassinated? That Suzaku Kururugi really has some balls to join the Britannian military only to get close enough for an assassination."
"He didn't do it Ougi." She informed him.
"What do you mean he didn't do it?"
"He's being framed by the Purist faction."
"What makes you think that Kallen?"
"I had a nice long chat with the real killer today." Kallen revealed confidently.
"What? How?"
"As it turns out it was our radio friend from Shinjuku."
"You found him?"
"He found me. He's actually a student here, believe it or not."
"He's Britannian then? There aren't any Japanese students at that school."
"You wouldn't believe it even if I told you Ougi. This guy is the real deal. We can meet up at Tokyo Tower tomorrow. By the way Ougi, how many Sutherlands do we have left?"
"Seventeen operational, why?
"Our friend has some big plans for tomorrow night, and we're all invited."