Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of its canon characters.
Lelouch opened his eyes to gaze upon an ocean of green. It took him about half a second to realize that it was a large blob of CC's hair between his eyes and the sunlight shining through the window. She was still sleeping, roughly on top of him. He didn't even attempt to move from that position. Her body was warm and soft, her hair smelled sweet, and steady breathing against his shoulder, it all added up to what for Lelouch was a true first. A simple pleasure that required no action, no thought, no meticulous analysis or planning, a black and white contrast to what he considered normally enjoyable. All he had to do was lay there and enjoy.
"You've been awake for nearly 20 minutes and you haven't even moved Lelouch. Did I really wear you out that much? Or perhaps you want some more?" CC said in a deliberately seductive tone.
"It's not that. Honestly, I really enjoy the sleeping part of sleeping with you. It's just so comforting and easy. I don't have to read force deployments, analyze personalities, create a perfect grand strategy to enjoy what we're doing right now." Lelouch admitted.
"We aren't doing anything Lelouch." CC observed.
"Exactly my point."
"So, what kind of insane schemes do you plan on carrying out today?" CC asked with genuine interest.
"Another miracle." Lelouch replied as if miracles were a routine occurance.
"Which would be?"
"I now have two different allies, CC. The real challenge is figuring out how to get Japanese terrorists to work with a man who was once Area 11's personification of Britannia's superiority complex."
"Sounds hard Lelouch."
"Harder than collecting stickers from pizza boxes."
"I work hard to eat all of that delicious pizza!" CC shot back.
"Seeing as how you pay for it with my money I would certainly appreciate it if you would share some time."
"It's not my fault that pizza is more addictive than cocaine."
"Judging by the way you said that I would assume you have enough experience with both to accurately determine which is more addictive."
"And what if I do?"
"As long as you don't go buying cocaine with my money too." CC chuckled at him. "As much as I love having you on top of me, could you please get off? I have an empire to destroy."
The midday sun lit the burning hot desert in front of the final line of defense on the Arabian Peninsula. Just about a mile in front of a magnificent desert palace stood a formation of Arabia's own incarnation of the knightmare frame. More like a cross between a G1 mobile base and a knightmare, the Britannians called the units Camels because of their distinctive hump shaped top. In practice the units were little more than oversized sakuradite powered tanks. The Camels' primary weapon, a 255mm heavy cannon, was so big and heavy that it had to be mounted directly onto the body without a turret. Secondary armaments consisted of lighter 40mm autocannons and top mounted rocket packs. Camels provided the defenders with a powerful, heavily armored, although relatively immobile unit to hold their lines with.
In stark contrast to the bulky Arabian Camels, the invading Britannian forces were comprised mainly of the Panther heavy tank and Badger IFV. Highly mobile units sharing the same basic hull design, they had the unique feature of being able to change their mobility system between conventional tracks and a six wheeled configuration, making them easily adaptable to any environment. The Panther's weapons systems comprised a 130mm main cannon, coaxial 12.7mm heavy machine gun, and an optional remotely controlled 20mm autocannon mounted on the turret. These units had the advantage of being much cheaper to produce than a knightmare frame, while being more durable, and still maintaining a potent combination of mobility and firepower.
The Arabian defenders looked out over the desert before them to see a gigantic cloud of sand moving straight at them. The general consensus among their ranks was that it was another sandstorm. They only realized what was really happening when they noticed that sandstorms aren't supposed to fire 130mm HEAT rounds at them.
Nearly 100 Panther tanks moved across the desert in two rows at high speed, kicking up the massive cloud of sand behind them. As the Panthers advanced upon them, the Camels opened fire with everything they had. Outnumbered five to one against the formations of Britannian tanks, their odds seemed slim to begin with. Ten purple Gloucester frames then surged forth from behind the lines, weaving their way between the tanks. All ten of them were loaded out with a 125mm recoilless rifle, the heaviest mass production knightmare weapon available. Capable of firing a variety of ammunition types, these weapons provided the Gloucesters with firepower on par with a Panther tank, with nearly four times the mobility.
The 40mm autocannons mounted on the Camels opened fire as the knightmares approached them, kicking up large splashes of sand as the knightmares used their absolute speed and agility advantages to dodge the incoming rounds. Three of the Gloucesters closed on the lead Camel in their wedge formation and raised their 125mm weapons against the lightly armored underside of the units. Armor piercing shells easily punched through the thin armor, their timed delay fuses allowing them to detonate inside the oversized units. One of the shells punctured the main cannon's magazine and detonated among the stored shells. The Gloucesters barely cleared the blast radius as the entire Camel exploded, sending hot fragments out in all directions as if it were a giant fragmentation grenade. One of the three Gloucester pilots, General Darlton, looked over to his left and saw another enemy Camel explode in similar fashion. Although the Camels were some of the most heavily armored units in the world, the combined firepower of the 83 remaining Panther tanks proved too much for them. One by one the Camels began to fall as lines of Britannian heavy armor rolled down the sand dunes toward them. The unstoppable force had moved the immovable object.
Nearly one mile south of the main battle a single royal purple Gloucester approached the palace from the west, bypassing the primary defenses. The palace itself was defended with nothing but infantry units equipped with assault rifles and Russian designed RPG anti armor weapons. Although developed nearly 70 years earlier, long before the concept of the knightmare frame had ever been thought of, the basic RPG still proved somewhat effective if enough of them could be landed on target. The purple Gloucester charged forward with a large golden lance in its right hand and a KAR 25 assault weapon in its left. The unit's elegant cape fluttered behind it as accelerated toward the enemy defenses. The defenders felt the icy grip of fear as they identified the incoming knightmare. The approaching unit perfectly matched the description of Second Princess Cornelia's personal Gloucester. One of the most feared people in the world, Cornelia's absolute hatred of anyone and anything that opposed her had earned her a place among history's most successful warriors in her own lifetime. And now these poor conscripts could do nothing but pray for divine intervention as the Goddess of Victory came within weapons range.
A torrential rain of assault rifle fire flooded down from the walls, pinging off of her armor. Cornelia returned fire with her knightmare's assault weapon, 25mm high explosive rounds tearing into exposed infantry at the west gate. A single soldier was brave enough to stand among the shower of blood and limbs to fire an RPG at Cornelia. She launched a slash harken to intercept the missile mid flight, and then the second harken to bisect the man who fired it. Immediately after both anchors returned to their positions she aimed high and fired again, this time into the dome above the main wall. She pulled the Gloucester up onto the walls and proceeded to extinguish all opposition, the golden lance ripping through the helpless infantry.
Just as she was about to leave the rampart of dismembered corpses behind, a bullet pinged against her cockpit. Cornelia turned to see a man holding a pistol in his left hand, blood pouring out of the cavity where his right arm was once attached. The man kept firing until his magazine ran dry as Cornelia's knightmare slowly approached him. Cornelia grabbed her personal sidearm, a 26 inch long combination of sword and gun, and charged the slide, loading a .50 caliber round into the chamber. She opened her cockpit and ejected her seat out of the armored hull, the man below still trying to reload his blood covered pistol with one hand. The Goddess drew her weapon and aimed it at the man in one fluid motion. She made eye contact a second before pulling the trigger, sending a .50 caliber explosive round into the man's head. His head exploded in a red storm of blood, brains, and skull fragments as Cornelia moved her seat back to its original position.
She blasted a hole in the side of the dome and jumped inside the palace. Inside was a very large cache of weapons, ammunition, and fuel guarded by more infantry. As the infantry opened fire with their rifles she just ignored them and fired a burst of 25mm HE rounds into the fuel tanks, causing a chain reaction that set off all of the ordinance in the building. The massive explosion's shockwave slammed into the Gloucester, nearly knocking it over. As she rolled out of the palace inferno she looked north and saw a series of explosions as the remaining Camels withered and exploded under the weight of Britannian firepower. Just as Cornelia came to the top of the closest sand dune her cockpit's internal speakers activated.
"Another day, and another glorious victory, your highness." General Darlton, leader of the Gloucester unit, greeted her.
"Indeed Darlton, with the last of their resistance shattered, Area 18 can now be established."
"What of our next assignment, my lady?" General Darlton asked.
"I apologize for having you men clean up after my brother's mess in Area 11."
"Don't apologize, your highness. We live to serve, and our place is at your side upon any battlefield you choose." Her first knight, Guilford replied.
"Do you think Area 11 requires a dose of our usual treatment?"
"Why don't we give them an overdose they will never forget, my lady." Cornelia laughed over the channel.
"I like the way you think Darlton, when in doubt, excessive force is usually a viable solution."
A black car cruised through the light evening traffic over the southern bridge that led out of the main city.
"Where are we going, Jeremiah? You said it was important but never told me anything else." Viletta Nu asked as she looked over at her driver.
"When Zero spoke to me in that stadium, he informed me that some dear old friends of mine who I had believed to have died in the invasion seven years ago are in fact alive, and living in Tokyo. I think you would like to meet them, Viletta." Jeremiah pulled into an open gate through a stone wall. They passed under a banner indicating that this was the main gate of Ashford Academy.
"Ashford Academy? Your friends are the Ashfords?" She wondered.
"Not exactly, they are friends of the Ashfords, and they live here in the house above their ballroom." Viletta and Jeremiah walked up the walkway and into the main ballroom. They crossed the room and ascended the stairs at the back. They saw light coming through the door at the end of the hallway. As they approached the door it slid open, revealing a prepared dining room with one person sitting at the head of the table.
"Jeremiah, Viletta, thank you for coming." They were greeted by a boy wearing an ordinary academy uniform.
"It has been far too long, your highness." Viletta turned to Jeremiah with a curious mask on.
"It's been seven years since I've seen you outside of a knightmare Jeremiah, up for a game of chess? I'm sure you would like a chance at some payback for all that humiliation I gave you all those years ago."
"Actually, your highness, I have not played a game of chess since you defeated me that day." Jeremiah admitted.
"Lord Jeremiah, why are you addressing this man as if he were royalty?" Viletta questioned her superior officer.
"How rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Lelouch vi Britannia, former eleventh prince of the Empire. Or rather my name was Lelouch vi Britannia, I go by Lelouch Lamperouge now." The boy introduced himself.
"Is this some kind of joke? Lelouch vi Britannia died in the invasion seven years ago."
"Correct, Viletta Nu, the eleventh prince did die seven years ago. I personally made sure of that. However, Lady Marianne's son did not."
"So you faked your own death? Why?" Viletta caught on.
"Perceptive of you, Viletta. Yes, I personally engineered the death of my former identity in order to escape the Empire's assassins. I made many powerful friends here in Japan before the invasion. Among them was Kyoshiro Todou, the man that defeated Britannia at Itsukushima. With his help I managed to survive the OSI assassination squads that were sent here for my head." He explained.
"This would all be a bit more believable if there was a reason that the Emperor would send the OSI to kill his own son."
"Lady Marianne's death was no random act of terrorism. Jeremiah can confirm that her royal guard, which he was a part of at the time, were reduced to a bare minimum just hours before the attack. Clearly someone with enough power to give such an order wanted my mother dead, and the Emperor did absolutely nothing to stop it, or investigate it. I was exiled shortly after I confronted him about it, since I was one of the few that would'nt let it go."
"Marianne's assassination was an inside job?" Viletta was intrigued by what Lelouch was saying. She had met Jeremiah only two months before the assassination and had seen with her own eyes how hard of a blow it was to him.
"None of her known enemies actually had the power to reassign her royal guard. Given the Emperor's unwillingness to even care about her death, the only logical conclusion is that it was his idea to begin with."
"So you blame Britannia for your mother's assassination?" Viletta was starting to feel worried about where this conversation was going. Before Lelouch could say anything there came two knocks at the door, and it slid open. Kallen walked into the room and almost choked when she saw Viletta and Jeremiah at the table. Doing her best to keep up the innocent act, she pretended to not know who they were.
"Umm, Lelouch, what is the military doing here?" Kallen asked, trying to maintain her fragile and innocent cover despite the huge surge of adrenaline in her system. It took a lot of willpower for her to keep her hand away from the pouch with her hidden blade.
"Relax Kallen. Jeremiah is with us now, and I was just in the process of converting our friend Viletta." Lelouch informed her.
"So they know?" She asked hesitantly, not wanting to give away anything.
"Yes."
"Nice to meet you two." Kallen said with a hint of caution.
"Well you certainly have a taste for fine women, your highness." Jeremiah commented. Kallen's face began to redden.
"Allow me to introduce the world's greatest red Glasgow pilot, Kallen Kouzuki." Lelouch said with a grin, knowing how Jeremiah was likely to feel after his defeat in Shinjuku.
"Are you telling me that cute girl over there was in that red Glasgow we kept running into?" He asked with astonishment as he turned to look at her. Lelouch nodded in response.
"So which one were you Jeremiah? The Sutherland that got stuck on the front of the train, or the one that tried to jump on it?" Lelouch asked him. Before he could ask what he was talking about, images of Shinjuku flooded back into his mind. He quickly remembered the red Glasgow, the train, ordering a subordinate to pursue the Glasgow, and then the ambush from the nearby building.
"...The one in front of the train, but how do you know about that?" Jeremiah asked cautiously.
"Don't you remember asking me what unit I was from? I'm sure you remember me shooting your Sutherland to pieces."
"You were the one in the building?"
"Indeed."
"Mind telling me how you got a hold of a Sutherland, your highness?" Lelouch shifted his eyes toward Viletta.
"Your friend was feeling rather generous in that warehouse."
"You were the student in the warehouse with the dead royal guardsmen?" Viletta asked with a hint of dread.
"You certainly fell for my Alan Spacer trick."
"I saw a student standing there and then the next thing I remember I was standing in the warehouse, my Sutherland stolen. How did you do that?" She asked, still amazed at the course of events.
"Orange."
"That secret project you mentioned on the bridge?" Kallen asked him.
"What exactly is Orange, your highness?"
"Clovis' research into the powers of immortality and mind control." Lelouch revealed.
"Mind control?"
"Clovis never did do a good job of making the immortal he captured share the secrets of her powers." Lelouch looked at Kallen. "That capsule you stole was not poison gas, Kallen. It was the immortal's prison cell. He ordered the annihilation of Shinjuku to prevent her from escaping."
"So Clovis captured an immortal girl with the power of mind control? Did you slip some LSD into my cup of tea, Lelouch?" Viletta asked, clearly in disbelief of what she was hearing.
"She could not control people herself, only give the power to others. And when we were trapped in that warehouse staring down 15 gun barrels with no way out, she gave me one."
"This immortal gave you some kind of mind control power?"
"She touched me and a bright light flashed before my eyes. When I opened them again I had a real weapon." Lelouch flared the Geass in his left eye as bright as he could make it, aware that all three of the people in the room were immune. They all became fixated on his glowing red eye.
"That is the manifestation of his Geass, the power of Absolute Obedience, the power to force anyone to do anything." Everyone's heads turned to see CC walk into the room. She walked up behind Lelouch and reached into his pocket, withdrawing his credit card. CC's talk of Absolute Obedience had produced an atmosphere of Absolute Confusion from everyone other than Lelouch.
"OK, OK, slow the hell down Lelouch! Who is she? And what is wrong with your eye?" Kallen asked with a hint of aggression. She was clearly frustrated by the ever growing heap of questions and not enough answers to go around.
"Very well, I have nothing to gain by hiding my power from those I wish to be my allies. When a person makes direct eye contact to my glowing left eye I can issue them one irresistible command. In effect I can make them do anything I want them to, even kill themselves, as was the case for those royal guardsmen."
"Let me get this straight, your highness. You are telling us that you have a mystical power that allows you to control anyone that you can make direct eye contact with?"
"That is a fairly accurate description, Jeremiah."
" And how exactly are you going to prove this power exists, Lelouch?" Viletta asked him.
"I already have proven it, to all of you." Lelouch revealed with a grin.
"What do you mean, you've proven it?" Kallen's voice contained a hint of fear, wondering at what he could have made her do. Lelouch pointed at Viletta.
"I used my Geass to steal your Sutherland in Shinjuku, which I then used to save Kallen from Jeremiah on the rail line.. I have determined through careful experimentation that Geass disrupts normal brain activity, resulting in permanent memory loss for the time a person is under its influence."
"So that's why I don't remember anything about what happened in that warehouse!"
"You said all of us, right Lelouch? If you used it on those two, did you do it to me as well?"
"Yes, Kallen, I used my Geass on you the day before our little chat in the shower."
"What did you make me do, Lelouch?" The anger in her voice could have made bullets run scared.
"I asked you a few questions. You told me that you were the Glasgow pilot, your real name, and why you became a terrorist. Actually, now that I think about it, you taught me the greatest limitation of my power, It only works once. Do you recall getting angry when I told you not to mention Shinjuku?"
"You're right, I do remember that." Kallen recalled, rapidly calming down as his story fit what she remembered.
"Do you also remember how shocked I looked? Up until that point everyone that I had used my Geass on was either dead or I never saw them again. I did not know that I could not use it more than once on a single person."
"What about me, your highness? Did you use that power on me as well?" Jeremiah asked.
"How else could I have stared down eight knightmares on a live international broadcast and walk away alive? I ordered you to do everything in your power to help us escape with Kururugi, and judging from the fact that we escaped, you certainly performed a wonderful rear guard action." Kallen smirked, Jeremiah gasped, and Viletta appeared as if she was about to explode.
"You're Zero, aren't you?" Lelouch reached down to a suitcase on the side of the table and produced his mask. He planted it on the table, facing them, and crossed his arms over it. As CC walked back into the room carrying an assault rifle, Viletta became visibly afraid. She was unarmed in the presence of Zero and three of his allies. "You killed Prince Clovis, Zero. Why?"
"Because thousands of innocent civilians died upon his direct orders. The man was nothing more than a manifestation of Britannian corruption." Lelouch told her, his voice colder than before.
"But he was your brother, wasn't he? How could you kill your own brother?"
"Eight thousand, three hundred, and twenty seven people were murdered that day. The dead cried out for justice, and I answered them. When you hate somebody enough, killing them becomes as effortless as squeezing the trigger."
"You're going to kill me now, aren't you, Zero?" Viletta felt as if she was suffocating, the fear of impending death gripped her as she realized that she was all alone in a room full of terrorists, with no way out.
"I'd prefer not to, Viletta. I would much rather have you join me." Lelouch said, to her surprise.
"Join the most wanted terrorist in the Empire?"
"I'm not a terrorist. Terrorists kill people as a way of lashing out against those who have absolute power over them. It is nothing more than a minor annoyance. I am a revolutionary, Viletta." He explained.
"What exactly do you plan to do then, Zero? Wipe Britannia off the map?"
"My immediate objective is the destruction of Area 11, and the resurrection of a free Japan."
"No Area has ever broken free of Britannian rule, Zero, what makes you think you can succeed where all others have failed."
"I can succeed, Viletta, because nobody has ever truly tried before. All they have ever done is commit useless acts of terrorism that cause no real damage. " Lelouch countered.
"What do you mean? There are resistance groups in virtually every Area."
"Resistance groups, Viletta. How many of them have actually declared war upon the Holy Britannian Empire? What you call resistance groups are nothing more than weak, disorganized terrorist cells. I shall create it from the ground up, an army that can defeat Britannia! If I could defeat a Britannian army with nothing more than a band of terrorists and 26 stolen Sutherlands, with my own army I can bring the Empire to its knees."
"Supposing you do manage to defeat the greatest empire in human history, what then? What do you hope to accomplish by doing so?"
"I will kill the Emperor, free the Areas, and build a new Britannia from the ashes, a true force for good in the world." Sitting across from Lelouch, Kallen was on the verge of tears. She was struggling to keep her pride from overflowing. Everything that Lelouch was saying felt so right, so grand to her. She wanted nothing more in the world than to be a part of his revolution.
"Lelouch, I will gladly help you burn away this Britannian darkness, so that the world can once again see rising sun break free of it's prison." Lelouch looked toward Jeremiah.
"And you Jeremiah Gottwald?"
"I failed in my duty to protect Lady Marianne, I shall not fail her only son." All eyes turned to Viletta Nu, the greatest battle in all history raging inside her soul. Jeremiah reached over and put an arm around her.
"Please, help us create a better world with a better future." Tears flowed down her face, dripping onto her thighs. "We have fought side by side for seven years, Viletta. Could you really fight against me?"
"If you need some additional encouragement, may I remind you that your fingerprints are on the pistol I used to put a bullet through Clovis's head." Lelouch sarcastically informed her. Kallen put her hand on Viletta's shoulder.
"Just by being here you are an accessory to treason. Whether you like it or not, the only future you have is with us, Viletta." Lelouch walked over and extended his hand.
"Viletta Nu, will you fight for the greater good of the world? Will you help us seize the reins of destiny?" Viletta shakily reached out her right arm and took Lelouch's hand.
In the center of Tokyo atop the main government building, the heart of Britannian power in Area 11, dozens of soldiers and officials stood at attention. A large jet aircraft, a heavy Albatross transport, approached from the west. As the transport approached the government building, its heavy thrusters swiveled downward as it prepared to perform a vertical landing. Jetwash blasted over the arranged officials near the landing pad, their clothes and capes blowing in the high speed winds. When the transport landed, and its engines died out, a door slid open and a flight of stairs emerged. Down came ten men, dressed in fine white pants with dark red coats. Then lined up against the side of the transport. At the top of the stairs appeared Cornelia li Britannia. Dressed in her distinctive dark purple uniform with an elegant white cloak flowing down from her shoulders. Her custom sidearm hanging from her belt completed her stunning appearance. She walked down the stairs and stood in front of the row of assembled personnel.
"Welcome to Area 11, sister." Euphemia greeted her.
"You will address me as Viceroy, Sub Viceroy Euphemia. Because we are sisters we must maintain a higher standard."
"I understand, Viceroy." Cornelia turned to a finely dressed man who she identified as the temporary ruler of Area 11.
"Now then, give me your report." She ordered him.
"Our first order of business is a welcoming party we have arranged for your highness, and-" The man froze as Cornelia drew her signature weapon and aimed it square at his face.
"Sloppy, Senile, Corrupt. You would rather spend your time arranging meaningless parties while the murderer of Prince Clovis still roams free? Would you like me to show you what your brain looks like so you can ascertain what the hell is wrong with it?" The man appeared as if he was about to wet himself. Having one of the deadliest people in the world aiming a gun at him from less than three meters was enough to make him visibly shake with fear.
"Tell me, where is Zero?" Cornelia asked him too calmly.
"I...do not know, your highness." He replied with fear in his voice.
"That man murdered a prince, and you have not devoted every effort to finding him? I feel tempted to execute you for aiding that regicidal traitor." Cornelia began to lower her weapon and the man breathed a sigh of relief, until he realized at the last second what she was doing. She lowered the barrel of her oversized hand cannon from his face to his left knee. Euphemia knew to back up to avoid the blood spray, having seen her sister do the same thing before.
"No, please!" He yelled at her deaf ears. Cornelia pulled the trigger, and a .50 caliber high explosive round left the barrel. The bullet penetrated the man's knee and exploded inside his leg, bisecting it with a large spray of blood. Cornelia ignored his screams of pain and turned to the other men who were lined up. It was now clear to all in attendance that Cornelia had no liking or patience for the luxuries that had been demanded by Clovis. She was not an actor, or a party lover, she was a soldier first and everything else second.
"Find Zero! I want the enemy of the Empire caught!"