Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of its canon characters.
1600 hours, Tokyo Tower War Museum. Ougi and two other members of the Shinjuku resistance group board the elevator that would take them up to the observation deck. The night before Kallen called him back and told him to go to the Tokyo Tower observation deck to meet up with her, and finally meet the mystery radio voice from Shinjuku in person. The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to reveal the glass walled room with one of the best views Tokyo had to offer. Ougi looked around for about a minute before he spotted Kallen and a Britannian in their Ashford Academy uniforms standing in the north east corner, noticeably away from most of the tourists on the floor.
"Glad you could make it Ougi." Kallen greeted them.
"You too Kallen. Was this the guy from Shinjuku?"
"This is my friend Lelouch Lamperouge. He's a chess master, strategic genius, and long time enemy of Britannia."
"Pleased to meet you all. P1, P4, P7." Lelouch shifted his eyes toward Ougi. "Guess I should call you Ougi then."
"Could you two leave us for a few minutes, we need to talk to Ougi alone." Kallen motioned toward the two other resistance members. As they walked away Ougi walked closer.
"What's up Kallen? Why did you ask them to leave?"
"Because Lelouch requested that only the two of us are to know his real name for the time being."
"His real name? Lelouch Lamperouge is just an alias then?" She nodded at him.
Kallen looked around to make sure there was nobody close enough to hear them. "Take a deep breath Ougi, and try to resist the urge to shoot us. His real name is Lelouch vi Britannia, eleventh prince of the Empire." Ougi froze in shock.
"What the hell are you doing introducing us to royalty Kallen? Did you really just sell us out?"Ougi asked with a mixture of shock and surprise that she could have just betrayed them.
"She hasn't sold you out to anyone Ougi. I was the one that handed you a factory fresh batch of Sutherlands. I was the one that gave you a decisive victory in Shinjuku. And it was me, not Kururugi, that put a bullet in the Viceroy's head. I wouldn't imagine that an officially dead traitor such as my self could really be called a prince anymore. However, I am restricting knowledge of my identity to just you two for our own protection. If knowledge of my existence leaks out it is almost certain that the OSI will show up to assassinate me." Lelouch informed him.
"Why would the Emperor send his own personal assassins to kill his own son?"
"Because he tried very hard to do just that seven years ago. For all he knows he succeeded." Lelouch explained.
"This is gonna be a really big pill to swallow Kallen."
"Tell me about it Ougi. When I found out that he knew who I was yesterday I tried to assassinate him. He was a good five moves ahead of me. By the time I had my knife in my hand I was staring down the barrel of a gun. That's when he told me everything and asked for our help." Kallen recalled, twisting the truth to spare herself the embarrassment of what happened in the shower.
"Our help to do what exactly?" Ougi asked them.
"My plan is simple, really. I'm going to rescue Suzaku Kururugi and humiliate the Purist faction in the process." Lelouch told them.
"And how do you plan to do that, your highness?" Ougi asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"I have a habit of achieving the impossible."
Six hours and a lot of work later Lelouch, now dressed in his new Zero outfit, was standing atop a reasonably well made copy of Prince Clovis' personal transport. The raised rear section had been rigged to fall apart, revealing the container from Shinjuku that the majority of the military still believed was a poison gas weapon. The Britannian flag on the front was made of paper that had been coated in a highly flammable accelerant, designed to burn away in a fraction of a second. His plan was bold, daring, and borderline insane, but he had somehow managed to convince Kallen and Ougi to go along with it.
Kallen drove the replica car out of their makeshift workshop and toward the main highway where the military procession escorting Suzaku Kururugi to his trial was moving along. As they approached an on ramp to the highway, they encountered their first problem of the night.
"Zero we're approaching a checkpoint. They have tanks aimed at us." Kallen warned in a nervous voice. As she continued driving toward the ramp. On either side was parked a Panther tank, a single shot from either of their cannons would be capable of reducing their car to a burning pile of scrap.
"Don't worry, they will let us through. Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald is the type of man that loves being in the spotlight. He wouldn't let a few lowly checkpoint guards rob him of a chance to obtain glory." Just as Lelouch predicted the soldiers and tanks at the checkpoint kept their weapons aimed at the replica transport as it drove past, but not a single one of them fired. As the impersonation royal transport made its way onto the main highway that was the linear route from the government building to the Central Tokyo Courthouse they were suddenly in the spotlight. Lines of Britannian citizens crowded along the sides of the roads, eagerly waiting to see the man accused of killing their prince.
"Lord Jeremiah, there is a single vehicle approaching along the main highway. We let it through as you requested sir." The lieutenant commanding the checkpoint radioed in.
"Could it be a terrorist vehicle?"
"Sir, It's Prince Clovis' car." The lieutenant reported.
"Really now? It appears that we have a comedian on stage. Just let them through to us lieutenant." Suzaku Kururugi was being transported under armed guard on top of an APC, surrounded by four Sutherlands with Jeremiah Gottwald in the lead unit. As the vehicle approached the convoy Jeremiah opened his cockpit and stood up above his knightmare's head. "You dare desecrate his highness's transport! Come out of there at once!" The impersonation transport slowed to a stop as he spoke.
Barely three seconds after Jeremiah finished speaking a fire appeared at the base of the Britannian flag on the front of the car. The flames burned at lightning speed, disintegrating the flag in an instant and revealing a man dressed in an elaborate black suit with a matching cape and mask, to the astonishment of all who were there to witness it.
"I am Zero!" The crowd on the sides of the road gasped at this sudden turn of events and every camera in sight was instantly retargetted upon this masked man calling himself Zero.
Jeremiah drew his pistol and aimed it high into the air. "Well, Zero, I have seen enough of this little show of yours." He fired a single round into the air. Immediately four additional Sutherlands used their slash harkens to rope down from VTOL transports orbiting the highway and surrounded the vehicle. "First thing's first Zero, lose that mask." Jeremiah ordered with confidence.
Zero reached up as if he was about to remove his mask, but then he raised his arm into the air and snapped his fingers. The entire rear section of the replica transport suddenly broke away to reveal the capsule from Shinjuku that supposedly contained poison gas. Only Lelouch, Clovis, and very few others who were still alive knew the truth about what the container really was. All of the military personnel still believed that it was the poison gas canister that had not been recovered during the Battle of Shinjuku. Jeremiah, alarmed at seeing the device, aimed his pistol at Zero.
"Are you sure you want to do that Jeremiah? Not only am I wearing a dead man's switch for this capsule, there is always the possibility that you could set it off with a gunshot." Jeremiah hesitated at that statement. A dead man's switch is a biometric trigger that sets off a device if the wearer's heart stops beating. Jeremiah understood that if he were to shoot Zero the result would be the same as if he detonated the weapon himself. If the weapon was really as they had been told, then thousands of Britannians would die if it was detonated here.
"Fine. What are your demands Zero?" Jeremiah reluctantly asked, knowing he could not shoot his way out of this mess.
"An exchange. This device for Kururugi." Zero replied, .much to the surprise of everyone present.
"You're mad! This man is charged with high treason for murdering a prince! Like hell I'm handing him over to you." Jeremiah yelled back in response. Zero tapped his foot against the car's roof twice and it slowly moved forward.
"You're wrong Jeremiah. Kururugi is no murderer." Zero looked directly at a nearby cameraman and produced a pistol. "I killed Prince Clovis myself! In fact, this pistol's magazine is still missing the one bullet I left in his head." The crowd held their breath as Zero not only admitted killing a prince, but also produced the murder weapon on a live international broadcast.
"You'll pay for your crimes against the crown, Zero!" The four Sutherlands took aim at Zero, all they needed now was Jeremiah's order to fire.
"You don't want the public to learn of Orange do you? If I die it will all go public." Zero announced.
"What the hell are you talking about Zero? What is Orange?"
"Why do you think Clovis ordered the complete destruction of Shinjuku? It certainly wasn't for this little gas canister. If the Viceroy's secret research program codenamed Orange became public knowledge he would have almost certainly been disinherited or worse. The terrorists that you were chasing stole a critical component of his Orange research, and they didn't even know it." A slot over Zero's left eye opened on his mask, giving him direct eye contact with Jeremiah. "If you don't want me to destroy Clovis' good name you will do everything in your power to help us escape, your prisoner as well." Jeremiah's eyes began to give off a faint red glow as the Geass seized control of his mind.
"Understood. You there, release the prisoner!" Jeremiah ordered the two armed guards atop the APC. The guards looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what to do. "Get that man over here, private!" Jeremiah yelled at them. As the guards moved to comply with their superior's order one of the other Sutherlands opened its cockpit.
"Lord Jeremiah what the hell do you think you're doing?" His subordinate asked, clearly overcome with a mixture of shock and confusion.
"I said release the prisoner! That is an Order Viletta!" As Kururugi walked toward the car Zero and his masked female driver came out to meet him half way. Zero noticed the shock collar around his neck.
"I see, they didn't even let you speak. I suppose that is rather fortunate for me, since you most likely would have tried to say something about the true nature of my gas canister. " Zero pulled a detonator from his pocket and held it high for all to see. "Until next time, Jeremiah!" He pressed the button and purple gas flooded out from the container with a loud hissing sound.
As the crowd scattered in panic, Zero and his driver grabbed Suzaku and pulled him off the side of the bridge. Twin slash harkens fired out from the darkness below into a nearby wall with a net rigged between them over an open top truck. As the three fell into the truck a Sutherland rappelled over the side of the bridge on its slash harkens and opened fire on the construction knightmare that fired the anchors. 25 mm rounds tore through the lightly armored unit, tearing it to pieces in seconds. The pilot ejected the cockpit block as the frame was disintegrated. Jeremiah had no choice but to do exactly as the Geass order commanded. He opened fire on his own lieutenant, Lord Kewell, destroying his Sutherland's legs and forcing him to cease fire.
Zero and his allies escaped with their newly liberated captive as the truck drove off into a nearby subway tunnel and into the ghetto. With Jeremiah unwillingly covering their escape with his Sutherland nobody was successful in pursuing them. The truck exited the tunnels near a shelled out theater in the Eleven residential district. Parts of the building were caved in, and there was plenty of evidence from the number of holes in the walls that fierce battles took place here during the Second Pacific War. As the rest of the terrorists went into a back room to discuss the operation, Zero and Suzaku stepped down into the main theater near the stage. Zero disabled the shock collar around his neck, allowing him to speak freely for the first time since being taken from his maximum security cell under the government building.
"You're insane Zero! Releasing poison gas on all those civilians." Suzaku yelled at his liberator.
"Like how Britannia generously handed out free bullets to each and every citizen of Shinjuku? If my plan was to take an eye for an eye that canister wouldn't have been filled with harmless colored smoke. You don't always have to kill people for a weapon to have it's intended effect Suzaku. My real weapon tonight was fear and panic, not poison gas. And the result was not a single death on either side."
"The result? I guess that's all that matters to a terrorist like you."
"The most effective methods often involve a substantial dose of deception." Zero replied.
"So is it true what you said back there? Did you really kill Prince Clovis?" Suzaku asked his masked rescuer.
"Of course I did. That monster ordered the extermination of thousands on a whim, all because he let his little pet project get stolen. What's wrong private Kururugi, not even a single tear for the thousands of innocent Japanese civilians that Clovis murdered?"
"Clovis murdered nobody! The terrorists were using civilians as shields!" Suzaku shot back.
"Do you really believe that Suzaku? You got to sit in an infirmary with a bullet in your back while I personally saw entire families exterminated on the direct orders of Prince Clovis. There never was any poison gas Suzaku. You were there when the canister opened." Memories flooded back into Suzaku's mind. The truck, the gas canister, Lelouch, the girl in the straight jacket, it all came back in one mighty flash. "I suppose the old saying is still true today. 'One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.'"
"Regardless of what you believe Zero, your methods are still those of a terrorist, and nothing good can truly come about from them." Suzaku began to walk toward a large hole in the wall. "My court marshal begins in an hour, and only through the rule of law can justice be obtained. There is no justice in your underhanded chaos. I would try to bring you in but you or your allies would just kill me before I had the chance."
"You would really go back to face certain death for my actions? You are an idiot to believe that there is any justice in that, Kururugi."
"You know Zero, you just reminded me of an old friend. He always used to call me an idiot, and it usually paid to listen to him." Suzaku paused momentarily. "If you are the true assassin then the courts will find me innocent tonight."
"Will you not join me Suzaku? Has the vision of a free Japan truly faded so far in you that you would rather stand trial the courts of our oppressors? The only reason you are getting a trial is so that they can put on a show for the masses. Your fate has already been decided by those who wield the real power. That is they only truth they know."
"Your antics back on that bridge will most certainly provide enough evidence and doubt to clear my name Zero, and for that I thank you. However I do not agree with you. I will not join you and fight against Britannia. I believe that this nation can be changed for the better from within." Suzaku declared.
"Changed from within? Only the Emperor has the power to change Britannia. And only the Knights of Rounds have the power to exert any influence on the Emperor. Your quest is doomed to failure from the very beginning."
"If the Knights of Rounds are the only ones capable of bringing about a better future than that is what I shall become." Suzaku stated boldly. It was now very clear that Suzaku had no intention of joining him.
"We are very much alike Suzaku. Although are methods are radically different our ultimate objective is exactly the same, two roads to one destination. In that sense it matters little which one of us ultimately succeeds, because there shall be a better tomorrow regardless. Good luck at your trial Suzaku, because if they kill you then we will never get to play our grand game upon the biggest board in the world." Zero said as Suzaku walked toward the destroyed wall.
"Welcome home Lelouch." Lelouch walked into the room only to see the impossible. Sitting next to Nunnally at the table was somebody that was certainly dead. Green hair, straight jacket, same voice, there was no question that this was the girl from the capsule in Shinjuku. The one that took a bullet in the head before giving him the power of Geass. But there was no sign of the fatal injury. "Judging from your appearance and how late it is, I would guess you ate out tonight."
"Miss CC is so much fun brother, is she your girlfriend?" Nunnally asked him in her usual cheerful voice.
"We have a contract about our future together." CC replied.
"You're getting married Lelouch? You should have brought her over here sooner."
"She's not serious Nunnally."
"Yes I am."
Lelouch began to feel cornered. He needed a way out of this, fast. The Black Prince picked up a tea cup and dropped it on the floor, shattering it.
"Oh look what you've done CC, you're soaked, lets get you a change of clothes."Lelouch quickly said as he closed the distance to her. He grabbed CC by the arm and led her up to his room. Lelouch pushed her inside and locked the door behind him. He pulled the pistol concealed in the back of his pants and mashed the barrel into the tattoo on her forehead. "I want answers. Last time I checked people are supposed to die when they get shot in the head."
"If you want to scrub my brains out of your carpet that's fine by me Lelouch vi Britannia, all you will accomplish by shooting me is making a mess and a lot of noise." It took a moment, but Lelouch tended to agree with this. He really didn't feel like blowing a large hole in her head only to be yelled at for it later. He had already seen that she could somehow survive a gunshot to the head.. He put the gun away and looked CC in the eyes.
"I want answers, you immortal witch." As he stared at her with his left eye burning bright crimson she started laughing, to Lelouch's surprise.
"Do you like it? That power I gave you." CC asked him.
"You resisted it? How?"
"I gave it to you Lelouch, Geass has no effect upon the immortal you made a contract with." She explained.
"And what exactly is my end of this contract? You never told me in Shinjuku."
"You will find out only when the time is right. But now I'm curious, what exactly do you plan to do with it, the ability to command anyone?"
"Destroy the world and create a new one from the ashes." He replied.
"That's just too dark and vague to satisfy me, prince. I want some juicy details." CC replied as she sat down on his bed.
"And you believe you can force me to tell you every little detail?" CC smiled and began unzipping the straight jacket she was still wearing.
"I can be inhumanly persuasive when I want to be Lelouch. Although your mind may have other plans, I assure you that your body cannot say no to me."
"Save that for later, witch. I have preparations to make."
"Preparations for what?" She wondered.
"You really won't let up will you?"
"Not until you tell me what I want to know, or you sleep with me, after all, five years locked up in a lab is quite a long time." CC informed him as she unzipped the straight jacket's left leg.
"Ill tell you only if you swear to keep your mouth shut."
"I'm not some gossipy school girl Lelouch, after fourteen centuries of practice I know how to keep secrets."
"I was originally going to free Japan from imperial rule without this power. But with it, I can do so much more. I will free Japan, kill the Emperor, destroy Britannia, and create a peaceful world. One where my sister can finally be happy."
"Bold, daring, and incredibly ambitious. Sounds like you are going to be more fun than I could have ever hoped for. Why don't you let your scheming wait until tomorrow? I'm certain there are things you would rather be doing tonight instead."
Lelouch looked over at the green haired beauty sitting on his bed wearing nothing but a loose bra, white panties, and knee high white socks. Although he wouldn't openly admit it, she had been very accurate in her prediction. Up until now, Lelouch had maintained a strict policy of avoiding intimate relationships. There were just too many ways that they could go very wrong very fast. He just simply had too many secrets to allow someone else to get that close. But this was clearly a very different situation. The woman laying on his bed was unkillable, knew his real identity, and was wanted badly enough by Britannia for Clovis to order a genocide. Keeping her very close would actually be beneficial for once.
Lelouch felt himself succumbing to his desires for the first time as his mind rapidly discredited every reason he could think of to resist.
"I haven't figured it out yet." He said as he began to unbutton his uniform.
"Figured what out Lelouch?"
"Whether you are a blessing or a curse you unbelievably attractive witch."
"I thought you'd see it my way, your highness." CC warmly replied.
Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald's reputation was in tatters after the Orange incident on the bridge with Zero. His actions could have been considered borderline treason, yet he got away with it due to Area 11's lack of a current Viceroy. Because the Purist faction controlled the military in Area 11, and Jeremiah was himself the leader of the Purist faction there were no direct consequences. Indirectly however, his position had been greatly weakened. Once a man that the members of the Purist faction looked up to and admired, the faction's upper echelon were now plotting his untimely demise. The trap had been set, all that was needed now was some fresh, juicy bait.
Jeremiah's headset received an incoming transmission. "Lord Jeremiah, Zero has been sighted in Shinjuku near the old stadium in sector four. Lord Kewell ordered me to contact you at once. Probably figured you'd never forgive him if he killed Zero himself and denied you a chance to redeem yourself."
"Deploy first and third squads and contain the area around the stadium, do not give Zero an opening to escape!" Jeremiah quickly ordered.
"Understood Sir." The communications officer switched the channel. "Lord Kewell, the ball's in your court now." He turned off the console and reclined the chair. Seconds later he found himself at the mercy of a cutlass wielding Viletta Nu, who had her sword's cold tip pressed against the side of his neck.
"I was going to ask to be put through to Lord Jeremiah, but it appears that you traitors are a bit too busy setting up his assassination to do that for me." Viletta applied considerable force to the sword and it effortlessly sliced into the comms officer's neck with bloody results. The second comms officer tried to get out of his chair and run, but Viletta was much faster. She delivered a low swipe of her cutlass to the fleeing man, slicing deep into his hamstrings and forcing him to the ground. She ignored his cries of pain as she advanced on him. "You traitors do not deserve such a clean death, but I'm pressed for time at the moment." Viletta raised her cutlass into the air and brought it down in a whistling slash, decapitating her target. She quickly left the room, still carrying her bloody sword, toward the knightmare bay leaving behind two corpses and a large pool of warm blood. She quickly jumped into her Sutherland and raced off toward the coordinates that she overheard the traitors give Jeremiah.
At the exact same moment as Viletta was butchering traitorous comms officers on the other side of the city, Lelouch received a message from a Geassed informant in the Britannian military, informing him of Jeremiah's impending assassination at the hands of Kewell and his subordinates. He accessed the quick dial on his phone and called Kallen.
"Where are you Kallen?"
"At our hideout with Ougi and the others. You sound serious, something happening?"
"Prep a Sutherland and your Glasgow for combat, I'll brief you when I get there." He hung up and quickly dialed another number. "Rivalz I need to borrow your bike for the night."
"Why? Whats up Lelouch?" Rivalz wondered.
"I'm going gambling, somewhere dangerous again. It would be best if I went alone." Rivalz thought for a second about protesting, but the tone of Lelouch's voice sounded quite serious. From what he was told about Lelouch's supposed experience at Shinjuku, he decided not to argue.
"Alright, but make sure you have it back by morning."
Back in their warehouse hideout, Kallen was finalizing the preparations on the knightmares Lelouch requested. The seventeen remaining Sutherlands had been dyed a distinctive shade of black to help mitigate the risk of friendly fire. Kallen's Glasgow had been repaired and upgraded with spare parts from one of the disabled Sutherlands. No longer missing an arm, it now had a second slash harken installed along with some components of the Sutherland's enhanced armor package. The worn red paint scheme was updated to a fresh coat of blood red. She loaded out both units with KAR 25 assault weapons, and finished topping off their energy fillers just as Lelouch arrived in his Zero outfit.
"Zero I've finished prepping the knightmares but what exactly are we doing?" Kallen asked her commander.
"There's no time, get moving and I'll tell you on the way." Zero ordered with urgency.
Jeremiah raced his Sutherland through the Shinjuku Ghetto toward the stadium, hellbent on obtaining revenge and clearing his name. As he entered the destroyed stadium he saw no trace of Zero. Instead he found himself staring down four Sutherlands lined up on the other side of the field, silver anti armor lances shining in the evening sunlight.
"Lord Kewell, wheres Zero?" Jeremiah asked. The four Sutherlands immediately moved to surround him.
"Hell if I know, Orange. You are a disgrace to the Purists, helping an Eleven terrorist escape with his highness's murderer. We need to clean up our act before Princess Cornelia arrives to take over Area 11, or we won't have any future." Kewell replied coldly.
"So Zero was never here? This was all just an underhanded trap?" Jeremiah began as he started to feel enraged at being tricked in such a way.
"More or less, Gottwald." All four Sutherland's raised their weapons. "Don't worry Jeremiah, you will get the honorable death in battle any good warrior desires." Kewell replied.
"You really intend to kill me Kewell? You traitorous scum!" Jeremiah charged at Kewell, firing his assault rifle all the way. 25 mm tracer rounds lanced across the stadium at Kewell, who managed to dodge most of them. Jeremiah's aim was immediately thrown off as he moved to evade the multi directional assault of Kewell's three allies. He turned and fired his slash harkens at the enemy Sutherland on his 9:00. He fired his own harkens to block Jeremiah's. Jeremiah had barely half a second to react as a stream of 25 mm high explosive rounds erupted from his left. He tried to dodge but took several hits, blowing large chunks of armor off of his left arm. Another Sutherland opened fire directly in front of him. Gottwald brought up his unit's lance as a shield against the incoming fire. The torrent of armor piercing high explosive rounds impacted the lance, severely disfiguring it.
Jeremiah didn't even attempt to evade as he returned fire, his own HE AP rounds impacting the enemy Sutherland's weapon and detonating the magazine. The explosion tore off the unit's left arm and damaged both it's left leg and head mounted factsphere. The Sutherland staggered under the damage just as another fired a burst from Jeremiah's left, destroying his left arm. He immediately dropped the damaged lance and pulled the assault rifle from the remnants of his unit's left arm. Only then did he realize that the enemy units had repositioned to his 12, 3, 6, and 9:00 positions, their lances lowered and ready to strike.
"I've had enough of this game Jeremiah. All hail Britannia!" All four units charged forward. Certain of their victory, the Purists all tunnel visioned on Jeremiah's surrounded unit.
Dual streams of 25 mm tracer fire rained down from the upper level of the stadium, tearing into the unsuspecting Purists below. The Sutherlands on Jeremiah's 6:00 and 3:00 exploded under the deadly accurate fire. All three of them looked up toward the source of the fire and saw a black Sutherland and a heavily modified red Glasgow with smoke pouring out of their assault rifles' barrels. An open channel transmission appeared from the black Sutherland. To their shock and complete surprise, Zero's mask appeared on their screens.
"Lord Kewell, how rude of you to use me as your bait to isolate Jeremiah."
"Zero! What the hell are you doing here? It was just as you said, we said you were here to draw Jeremiah out, we never in a million years would have expected you to actually be here!"
"Your transmissions were easy enough to listen in on. I will not allow you to kill Jeremiah Gottwald, Kewell." Zero informed them.
"You're helping me Zero? Why? After so completely destroying my career barely a day ago you would help me defeat my assassins?" Jeremiah asked over the open channel, astonished at what he was hearing.
"In truth, Jeremiah, The only reason I made you out to be a traitor during my rescue of Suzaku was because you happened to be the man leading the precession. Don't take it personally. As for why I'm helping you, your death would be rather problematic for my plans." Zero revealed.
"So you would save me from these traitors just to make me your pawn?"
"Never underestimate the potential of a pawn." Zero countered.
Viletta Nu pushed the limit of her Sutherland's speed as she tried to reach Lord Jeremiah's position in time to save him. She rounded the last corner onto the street that led directly to the stadium and redlined the acceleration. Viletta's Sutherland burst through the south entrance of the stadium and could not believe her eyes. In the stadium a Purist Sutherland, a black Sutherland, and a red Glasgow were fighting two other Purist Sutherlands, with the burning wrecks of two others nearby.
"Lord Jeremiah!"
"Viletta, always nice to have more reinforcements." Jeremiah welcomed her to the arena. Viletta could not fire her rifle at the enemy knightmares engaged with Jeremiah and his unknown allies at point blank melee range. She watched as the red Glasgow picked up a fallen lance from one of the destroyed Sutherlands and charged forward. The red Glasgow fired it's slash harkens into the nearby stadium wall and pulled itself just out of the path of a charging Purist Sutherland, avoiding its lance thrust by less than a meter. It quickly reversed the move and drove it's own lance through the side of the Sutherland's cockpit. With the blood covered lance penetrating out the other side of the cockpit block the unit collapsed without a pilot to control it.
Jeremiah opened fire upon the last remaining enemy Sutherland, Lord Kewell's. His three allies joined in, quad streams of hot lead converging upon Kewell. His Sutherland disintegrated under the barrage and shortly after the wreckage exploded. Jeremiah redirected his unit's assault rifle to the black Sutherland.
"Do you really intend to shoot the man who just saved your life, Jeremiah?" Zero's voice burst forth from everyone's speakers.
"Is that Zero in that Sutherland?" Viletta asked in a state of complete confusion as she had just watched the black and red knightmares save him.
"I'm just as confused as you are Viletta. I don't have a clue why he just saved me of all people." Zero lowered his weapons and slowly moved his Sutherland forward until it nearly touched the front of Jeremiah's. The black Sutherland's cockpit opened and Zero stood above his unit. Jeremiah hesitated for a few seconds before doing the same. For the second time in as many days he stood face to face with the masked man Zero.
"Lord Jeremiah Gottwald, if you had to choose only one, who would you serve? Britannia as it is today, or Lady Marianne?" Zero questioned him.
"What do you hope to accomplish by bringing up the ghosts of my past, Zero?"
"It was a simple question, and I only require a simple answer."
"Fine Zero, I would gladly serve Lady Marianne over the empire as it is today, in all its corruption." Both Viletta and Kallen looked on in silence, unable to hear their conversation as it was not being broadcast over the radio.
"Since Lady Marianne is no longer with us Jeremiah, Would you be willing to serve me instead?" Zero reached up and touched the back of his mask. The scales in the back retracted as he removed the helmet.
"Who are you, Zero?"
"Do you not remember the last time we played chess together? The time you bet half of your pay upon a single game. Precisely two days before my mother was murdered." Jeremiah's eyes went wide and his body froze up. He remembered that day exceptionally well. He had challenged ten year old Prince Lelouch vi Britannia to a game of chess and bet half his salary on it. Lelouch tore him apart as starving sharks would tear through a whale's carcass. He was so completely defeated in eleven moves that he never touched a chess board ever again, in front of no less than thirty nobles. He was not just defeated that day, he was destroyed and humiliated in a way that he had not felt again until he met Zero atop the fake Clovis Mobile.
"...Lelouch?" Jeremiah managed to stutter out in his state of absolute shock.
"So you do remember me Jeremiah."
"I thought you and Princess Nunnally died in the invasion seven years ago."
"We did Jeremiah. Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia are dead ghosts of the past. Lelouch and Nunnally Lamperouge replaced them after the invasion. Once again I ask you Jeremiah Gottwald, will you join me?" Zero repeated.
"I would gladly serve you, your highness! What would you ask of me?"
"I would ask that you join me in my great mission, Jeremiah."
"What is your mission, my lord?" Jeremiah asked.
"To kill my father and destroy his empire."