Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass, Slayers, or any of their canon characters.
A long, hot, relaxing shower with the security of a meter of armor between you and the outside world. Just the thing a dirty, sweaty, blood covered princess that smelled of gunpowder needed after the longest day of her life. Euphemia li Britannia stood under the descending streams of hot water, rubbing more shampoo into her long pink hair. It had been three hours since she and the other hostages had been rescued by the Black Knights, and it was her first time to really think since the shooting stopped. She turned around in the shower and looked into the tall mirror under the showerhead. Euphie pressed a button on top, and the mirror's defogger flushed away the steam with a rush of ice cold water.
She dimmed the lights and looked into her own eyes, a faint red glow staring back at her. It was only now, in the safety of this G1 mobile base, that the gravity of the day's events began to take hold. She had been taken hostage at gunpoint, met the most wanted terrorist in history, who turned out to be her dead brother, fought with one resistance group against another, and above all, she had actually killed people in the process. Before today the worst she had ever done was literally a slap in the face, now she had shot four men with a smile on her face. That was the part that was beginning to get to her. Never before had she enjoyed anything violent, she even apologized to the girl she slapped years ago. But she enjoyed killing the JLF terrorists, the sounds of their dying agony were music to her ears, and it terrified her.
Euphemia pushed the thoughts from her mind as she finished her shower, and stepped back into one of the G1's few tiny private rooms. The G1 was designed as a mobile command center, knightmare transport, and heavy fire support vehicle. It was not a luxury apartment on wheels. As the adrenaline spike that was keeping her going died away, so to did her energy. Overcome by a wave of exhaustion, the princess collapsed onto the bed, not even taking the time to get dressed. She pulled the blanket over herself and fell asleep in under a minute. But as her sleeping body moved further and further away from Kawaguchi, her dreams went back for more.
Euphemia's eyes closed in her bed, and opened inside her fresh memories.
"Euphemia, If I could grant you the power you desire, how far would you be willing to go to create a better world?" Euphemia stared into her brother's eyes, sifting through her emotions to find a true answer. Her deepest feelings clashed against each other inside her heart. Loyalty to her sister and her nation fought with her new desire to help make Lelouch's new world a reality. She wanted more than anything to do what was best for the people. Would the final result really be worth all of the suffering required to reach it? She was a princess of Britannia, an heir to the throne of the greatest empire in history, yet she felt so disheartened with the way it was being run. The treatment of the Numbers, the constant warfare, the culture of endless conflict, it all felt so wrong, yet she still had trouble letting go, Britannia was all she had ever known.
Lelouch sighed at her frozen form, aware of the battle that was likely raging in her head. He put his hands on her shoulders and shattered her concentration. "Well, Euphie?"
"I want to , Lelouch. I want to help you, I want to be strong. But I just...can't. I can't betray my sister, or my father, or any of them." Tears began to form in the corners of Euphemia's eyes. Lelouch's expression changed when Euphemia mentioned their father, his hatred welling up to the surface.
"Look at me, Euphie." Lelouch tightened his grip on her shoulders and looked through her eyes, right into her soul. She looked back into his eyes and froze with fear. Lelouch's left eye radiated a bright red glow. "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, Euphemia. You will never be a slave to your weakness ever again! I command you to always be strong enough to do what you believe is right!" The crimson light burned its way into her mind, destroying all opposition. She truly believed Lelouch to be right, and in an instant the Geass banished every thought and feeling that kept her from pursuing her heart's desire. A faint red glow appeared in her eyes.
"I'll do it, Lelouch!, I will do everything in my power to cleanse the world of Britannia's evils and help you create a better future for the people!" A grin appeared on Lelouch's face. He achieved his goal. Euphemia pulled herself away from his grasp and walked across the room to Kusakabe's still fresh corpse. She pulled the katana from his body and wiped the blade clean on the unstained top of his uniform. Euphie pulled the scabbard from his dead grasp and strapped it to her back before sheathing the blade.
"Euphie...what are you doing?" Lelouch asked her in a state of worry. He certainly had not expected his Geass command to make her pick up a weapon. Euphie began to pick up an assault rifle from one of the dead JLF men. She turned her head and looked back at her brother, glowing red eyes visible in the low light.
"Kill the terrorists, and rescue the hostages. Wasn't that your plan, brother?" She calmly replied as she pulled extra magazines from the dead man's vest.
"What have I done to you, Euphie? My sister would never pick up a gun." He thought out loud, more to himself than to her.
"You set me free Lelouch! I don't have to be weak, worthless or insignificant ever again! I feel so strong, so empowered, so motivated. Nothing has ever felt more right!" Lelouch struggled to accept what he had just done. This was not at all what he thought would happen, but he knew there was no way to reverse the Geass command. He had no real choice but to go along with her new mentality, and figure out how to complete his mission without getting her killed."
"We need to go rescue the hostages, Euphie. We've spent too much time talking in here, we don't have much left."
"We are doing it by ourselves?" She asked.
"I brought a squad with me, Euphie, not a whole army. They have other objectives to complete. By now the building should be rigged to blow, most of the JLF on the lower levels should be dead, and the dock at the bottom of the hotel should be in our control. How many guards were with the hostages?"
"Seven of them. Four outside the room, three inside. At least that's what I saw when they took me to the elevator." She quickly recalled. They walked side by side out of the room, past the corpses, and toward the elevator.
"Euphie, I know you were not on the registry. Why did you reveal your identity to them?"
"One of the hostages was too frightened, and she called a JLF guard an Eleven. They were going to kill her for it."
"So you stood up for her yourself to save her life? How typically Euphie of you." He commented, forcing a smile out of his sister.
The elevator moved down to the floor where the hostages were being held. Zero motioned to the newly Geassed Euphemia to take cover as the door opened. Zero leaned out to check the hall, and saw nothing. He slowly moved out of the elevator, Euphemia right behind him. Both had their assault rifles up and were looking for targets. They came to an intersection and stopped against the left side of the hallway. Zero quickly peeked down both of the other halls and saw four armed men in JLF uniforms down the hall to their left.
"There's four guards in front of a door at the end of that hall. Is that where the hostages are?"
"Yes. The hostages are directly behind the door, sitting in the middle of the room."
"We need to kill the guards and take the hostages to the elevator. From the first floor it's not far to the dock."
"So what are we waiting for, Lelouch?" The red glow in Euphemia's eyes intensified. The Geass order strengthened to suppress the fear and indecisiveness that would have otherwise paralyzed her. All that remained was excitement and adrenaline. She let out an out of place cute giggle as her finger clicked the safe off and she began to move. Before Lelouch could stop her, she ran out in front of him into the intersection. Euphemia lined up the first guard in her rifle's tritium dot illuminated iron sights and squeezed the trigger. The weapon's recoil was more than she was expecting, and the already poor accuracy of her untrained hands went out the window. She had aimed at the closest guard on the right, but her wild spraying down the hallway had managed to hit all four of them. Three were still alive.
Zero stepped out from behind the corner and fired a three round burst into a wounded guard on the left side. Three rounds from his assault rifle ripped into the man's upper chest and neck area, severing vital arteries, his neck gushing blood. As Zero took aim at the second wounded man, Euphemia fired another excessively long burst at the man next to him, over a dozen rounds shredded the survivors.
Hearing the gunfire and screams from outside the room, the three JLF guards inside opened the door to try and help their allies. Unfortunately for them, Zero had already zeroed in the door, perfectly predicting their actions. As the door opened he fired a pair of single shots into the first man's head. The other two mimicked Euphemia and started spraying suppressive fire down the hallway. Euphemia was already behind the corner trying to reload her weapon, and Zero quickly took cover as well. He immediately dropped to the ground, flat on his chest, and rolled himself out into the hall. The JLF men did not expect this and still had their rifles aimed high. Zero fired before they could bring their weapons low enough to hit him.
By this time Euphemia had reloaded her rifle and began walking with Zero toward the hostage room, when suddenly her world began to blur out.
Euphemia could feel a hand shaking her, tearing her away from the dream world. The hand shook her again and her heart rate skyrocketed as adrenaline flooded through her system. She opened her eyes and grabbed the person's wrist in a split second, clearly startled from the awakening. Her eyes followed the arm up to see her sister's face looking down at her.
"I didn't mean to frighten you, Euphie." Cornelia spoke softly.
"Its ok, I was just dreaming." Cornelia crouched down next to the bed, bringing her head to the same height as her sister's.
"You're breathing heavily, were you having a nightmare?"
"I don't know. I back in the hotel, reliving the hostage rescue."
"Euphie, please tell me what happened in there. When I saw you on that boat you were holding an assault rifle and soaked with blood. What did those Black Knights do to you?"
"I never got to meet the Black Knights. Zero saved me himself."
"Tell me what happened." Cornelia instructed. Euphie decided to start from the beginning.
"A girl in the storage room we were being held in offended one of the JLF men. They were going to shoot her, so I stood up and told them who I was."
"They were already angry, Euphie, what if they had shot you instead?"
"I didn't care. I wasn't going to sit there and watch them kill her." Euphemia countered.
"As reckless as that is, what did they do to you after that?"
"I asked to be taken to their leader, Colonel Kusakabe. When I got there, Zero was already in the room. They were arguing about something, and then there was gunfire. Somehow he knew I was outside that door, because he told me to get down. Then Zero shot the men that took me there through the door. They were right next to me when he shot them, that's where most of the blood came from. After that, we talked for a few minutes in that room where the JLF leaders died."
"Zero killed them?"
"Kusakabe killed himself, and Zero shot the others."
"Tell me about Zero, Euphie. What was he like? What did he say?" Cornelia asked her, curious and desperate for any insight into her mysterious enemy.
"Would you believe me, if I told you he was calm, nice, and kind, Cornelia?"
"I can understand calm, but kind? That seems like a stretch for a terrorist."
"He isn't a terrorist!" She blurted out.
"Euphemia, that man killed our brother, and you would defend him?" Cornelia almost choked on her words in surprise.
"Zero is a resistance fighter and an enemy of the Empire, but he is no terrorist. Terrorists kill innocent people, sister. Zero saved us from the terrorists." Cornelia suddenly remembered that Zero said that 'the only terrorists are inside that building' "Zero told me that he killed the JLF because they were the terrorists." Cornelia sat silent for a moment, digesting her words.
"I think I understand what you mean, Euphie. Even if I don't agree with it. What did he talk to you about?"
"Politics and ideology mostly. But he did tell me why he created the Black Knights."
"He wants more than just killing Britannians and humiliating me?"
"Much more, Cornelia. He doesn't hate Britannians. He explained to me that his real enemy is the Britannian system, not its people. Zero wants to make a world where everyone is equal."
"Seems to fit the flashy speech he gave, doesn't it Euphie? I thought he was just another Eleven trying to resist destiny, but if he was, he certainly wouldn't have rescued Britannian hostages from his own people."
"He said that by sinking to Britannia's level of executing civilians, the JLF were the same evil under a different mask. After we finished talking, he requested that I help him rescue the hostages." She explained.
"Why would he need your help?"
"He said the people wouldn't trust him, and he needed me to help them along." Euphie lied, concealing the truth about her brother's survival.
"Why do I get the feeling that you did more than just give a motivational speech, Euphie? When you were on the boat you had a gun in your hand, you said you killed people. That isn't like you."
"We were outnumbered two against seven, sister. Didn't you always say that achieving fire superiority was critical when fighting outnumbered?" Cornelia sat surprised, first at the fact that her innocent little sister had actually been engaged in combat, and secondly that she actually knew what to do.
"So what actually happened?"
"I killed three of them, Zero killed the other four." She reported proudly.
"I'm amazed, Euphie. I would never have thought you could actually shoot someone. There isn't a violent cell in your body."
"You know me, always wanting to help people. It wasn't easy to shoot them, but it was the right thing to do. I helped save those people."
"Although I would rather have done it any other way, you are right. You did help save those people Euphie. That was certainly the hardest day of your life, get some rest. I have to go prepare for our next operation against another resistance group in the area."
"Good luck, sister." Euphemia tried to take the advice and go back to sleep, but her mind had other ideas.
It had been ten days since the Black Knights' unveiling at Kawaguchi. Zero had modest expectations of how much support they would receive from the Japanese population. They were completely unprepared for the torrent of new recruits from all walks of life. It appeared as if everyone wanted to be a Black Knight. Zero actually had to create a waiting list since the number of applications were outstripping their ability to supply them. In just over a week, the organization that began with eight members on a boat had swelled to a force of nearly a thousand.
The Order had only 18 knightmares, 17 Sutherlands and one Glasgow, the remnants of Shinjuku. What they did have now, was an abundance of infantry. Above anything else, the Black Knights needed funding and sponsors. If they were going to take on Britannia and win, infantry alone would not make the cut. And as always, Zero was the man with the master plan for everything.
Refrain, a highly addictive drug that induced hallucinations of the past, was flooding into Area 11 through the southern island of Kyushu. Provided by Chinese producers, and distributed by the Britannian mafia, the drug was destroying the already fragile Japanese population. They were making hundreds of millions of pounds from their lucrative distribution networks around Japan. Zero saw a perfect opportunity for expansion. Taking a page from Lina Inverse's spellbook, he would destroy the cartels and steal their drug money to finance the Black Knights' own operations.
Intelligence had determined that the cartels conducted business in the docks district of Tokyo, using bribed Knight Police units as their own private security force. Zero divided the Black Knights' combat power into nine units, units 1 though 9. Having identified the warehouses that were the cartels' primary distribution centers, he set up nine simultaneous raids on the biggest ones. Zero and his unit 1, the original Black Knights, along with their units' two knightmares prepared to strike.
The Black Knights moved along the rooftops, silently moving into position at the top of the warehouse.
"Zero to all units, commence operations. Unit one, lights out. Switch to thermal optics and sound suppressed weapons." The infantry pulled on their night vision gear and the unit's designated marksmen switched their assault rifles for M392 silenced battle rifles. When they signaled that they were in position at the top of the warehouse, Zero used his Sutherland's slash harken to cut through the building's external power supply.
The cartel workers inside the warehouse were busy checking and packaging a large shipment of Refrain when the lights suddenly went out.
"Zero to unit 1, warehouse is dark, engage with silenced weapons only until our knightmares move in."
"Understood." Ougi replied over the secure comms channel. He readied his M392 and looked into the weapon's thermal scope. He switched the optics to 2x zoom and white hot before centering his aim on one of the armed guards inside the warehouse. Through a carefully removed window he lined up the sights on the target's head and fired. A single subsonic round penetrated the man's head. Inoue and another of the team's designated marksmen followed Ougi's lead, eliminating target after target with their silenced rifles.
One of the men in the warehouse hit the breaker for the emergency power generator, and the lights came back on.
"Lights on, weapons free. We're going loud." Zero said over his unit's channel. Zero's black Sutherland and Kallen's modified red Glasgow smashed their way through the building's sheet metal door. Both units raised their KAR 25 rifles and opened fire on the remaining enemy infantry who had by now taken cover. The 25mm rounds met little resistance as they tore through the boxes and thin metal plating the cartel's infantry were hiding behind. From the catwalks above, Ougi, Tamaki, Inoue, and several others rained lethal assault rifle fire down on the targets that the their two knightmares could not see.
From behind the knightmares, two of the remaining cartel members broke cover and readied RPGs. Tamaki saw them and shifted his aim, hosing the targets with well aimed bursts. Rounds ripped into their upper bodies, multiple headshots on each sending the remains of their brains across the floor.
The Black Knights had little trouble crushing any resistance in the warehouse from the cartel. Just as they were mopping up the rest of the infantry, two white Sutherlands burst through the back door and immediately opened fire. The Tokyo Settlement Special Law Enforcement Unit, commonly known as the Knight Police, were a branch of the Police force that were equipped with knightmares. Their distinctive white Sutherlands were originally intended for riot control and anti terrorism operations, but being just as corrupt as any part of the colonial government, they were bought off by the Refrain traffickers. Zero and Kallen strafed in opposite directions to escape the incoming fire. They moved behind the concealment of the large shelves. The Knight Police stayed together, expecting a double sided ambush as they approached the aisles.
Further ahead, the Black Knights infantry had commandeered the anti armor weapons from the fallen defenders . They fired three rockets at the lead Sutherland, forcing it to evade and drawing their attention. Zero and Kallen used their units' slash harkens to pull themselves up on top of the shelves. Just as the rockets passed by, they fired their harkens and 25mm rifles from above at the Sutherlands, who attempted to mimic their escape pattern. From above, the Black Knights easily shot the Knight Police to pieces as they was no room to maneuver in the tight aisles.
They moved back to the main distribution area and proceeded to destroy the drugs and steal the cases of money. All along the docks district, each raid followed a similar pattern. The Black Knights attacked with total surprise, annihilating the poorly equipped cartel personnel and making off with millions of pounds in drug money. The Refrain shipments themselves were destroyed.
"What is happening on the docks, Darlton?" Cornelia asked her favorite general as she arrived at the command center in the main government building.
"Reports from the Knight Police indicate that they are encountering enemy knightmares and infantry forces all across the area. Specifically near the warehouses that the mafia are suspected to be using as Refrain distribution points."
"Someone is attacking the Refrain traffickers?"
"Although unconfirmed, it appears that the Black Knights are behind the attacks. Knight Police units in the area report coming under attack from black Sutherlands and a red Glasgow."
"What the hell is Zero thinking Darlton? Does he really want to do all the work for us?"
"I wouldn't complain, your highness. This action by the Black Knights frees up considerable resources that were committed to suppressing the mafia and their drugs trade. If they did indeed target Refrain distributors, that would also mean a significant reduction of supply reaching the Eleven population."
"He wants to do your job, sister." Euphemia added as she entered the room from behind them. "By rescuing the hostages as Kawaguchi and attacking the Refrain dealers on the docks he is sending a message."
"Really now, Euphie? And here I was getting my hopes up that he would actually be helping us. What do you suppose this message is?"
"Zero's actions are deliberate and calculated, sister. He is trying to show the people that his Black Knights can do the government's job better than the government can."
"I had never thought of it like that, your highness. Your sister has a point, Viceroy. By going after the same people we should be, he is trying to publicize the police's incompetence more than his own success."
"Regardless of what his intentions are, Darlton, his actions have made our lives a bit easier for the moment."
"I disagree, Viceroy Cornelia. We either need to attack and destroy the Black Knights, or clean up the government's act. If he continues to do the police's job with exponentially greater effectiveness, Zero will gain widespread public support. Not only is he continuing to humiliate us, he is also gaining considerable power in the process."
Cornelia stepped closer and put her hand on Darlton's shoulder. "Times like this make me glad to have your insight, Andreas." She turned to face Euphemia. "What do you think, Euphie? You did bring up a very good point."
"I think we need to focus our efforts on cleaning the corruption from the government. Going after the Black Knights is a losing prospect, since they seem to be very good at remaining in the shadows when the light gets too bright."
"Are you just saying that because they saved your life?"
"Zero had a good point about Britannia being very corrupt, sister. If we don't take steps to reverse that, it won't matter if we beat the Black Knights or not. The root cause of our problems will still remain, and others will emerge to take their place." Euphemia concluded.
"Once again I would have to side with Princess Euphemia, Viceroy. The Black Knights exist because our police forces are practically in the mafia's pocket, with security going to the highest bidder. Even if we were to destroy Zero and his group tomorrow, others would rise against us for the same reasons. The Black Knights are an effect of our system's incompetence. If we can purge the corruption from the system, then Zero would have a hard time justifying his actions."
"Very well then. Find out who we need to purge in order to fix this problem. Police work and public relations are not exactly my cup of tea, therefore I am leaving this in your capable hands, Darlton."
"Understood, Viceroy. We shall begin at once."
Two days after their nine simultaneous raids on the Refrain warehouses, Kallen stood at the top of an open air mall in the center of a park in the Britannian section of Tokyo. She stood on the walkway above the in ground mall, her phone against her ear.
"So Ougi, what exactly were the places we raided. I know they were mafia warehouses, but what were they using them for?"
"Those were the main packaging and distribution for Refrain in the Tokyo area." Ougi explained.
"What exactly is Refrain? Like cocaine or heroin?"
"It's a psychotropic drug that makes you feel like you are in the past. I'm sure you can guess why it's so popular here in Japan."
"Who doesn't wish they could go back to days before the occupation? Life was nice and happy without the Empire bleeding us dry."
"What about the shipment from Kyoto?"
"Since we were already doing so well they gave us a lot of goodies. Burais, updated weapons for the Sutherlands, even a few of their new experimental tanks."
"Tanks? Why would they send us tanks when we have knightmares?"
"These aren't your average tanks, Kallen. The first tank designed in the age of knightmare combat. They call it the Type 17 Naginata." Ougi told her with a bit of excitement.
"What's so special about them?" She wondered.
"Compared to the Brits' Panther tank, the Naginata has heavier armor, twin 105mm cannons and a remotely controlled machinegun."
"Still doesn't sound very impressive. 105 is a sub par caliber for a tank."
"How about a 30mm direct fire railgun with a maximum effective range of 15km?"
"I like what I'm hearing, Ougi, tell me more." Kallen's voice began to sound a bit more seductive over the phone.
"The Naginata deploys a stabilization system and diverts the whole system's power to the railgun, which can cut a Sutherland in half with a single shot."
"Sounds promising, Ougi. Call me when the ammo and energy fillers arrive."
Kallen turned her head to see five Britannian men beating up one Japanese man. With a look of anger on her face she turned and began to advance on them when a hand grabbed her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw Lelouch shaking his head.
"There's five of them, Kallen. As strong as you are, five to one is just too many."
"Are we just going to watch them do that, then?" Lelouch made eye contact with her, and his left eye began to glow a bright crimson. Her expression changes when she realized what he was going to do.
"You just let me handle them." The five men suddenly turned and began walking toward them.
"Hey you got a problem over there?" The leader asked.
"Na look at them, just Brits like us enjoying the show." Another of the men said.
"Actually, I do have a problem with that. You Britannians are all the same, beating that man half to death just because there are more of you. You people make me sick."
"Well look at this, boys. This guy likes Elevens does he? Lets teach him the error of his ways."
Lelouch looked into their eyes and flared his Geass eye. "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, die." The Geass order took hold in the their brains, and a faint red light emanated from their eyes.
"Happily, your highness!" All five men said in unison. The leader of the group pulled a pistol from his coat. He then proceeded to shoot his friends, one bullet in each of their heads. Finally he raised the barrel of the weapon to his own temple, and fired. Brain and bone fragments sprayed out the other side of his head as the bullet penetrated both sides of his skull. The man collapsed into the growing pool of blood his newly murdered friends were creating.
"Lelouch...was that the power you told me about?" Kallen asked the inhumanly calm Lelouch with fear in her voice.
"Not the first time I've killed people with my Geass. The very first order I gave forced 14 royal guardsmen to do exactly the same thing in Shinjuku." Lelouch explained to her.
"What if I was looking at you too? Would I have killed myself?"
"No, Kallen. The power only works once per person, you taught me that yourself." Lelouch explained as they walked away from the scene, everyone else having scattered when the firing started.
"So I'm immune to it then?" She concluded.
"Correct, Kallen. My Geass would have no effect on you no matter what order I gave. The same can be said for Jeremiah and Viletta."
"About them, Lelouch, how are the leaders of the Purist faction going to help us?"
"Jeremiah is loyal to me, Viletta is certainly having second thoughts, but she wouldn't betray Jeremiah. I have a plan to use them to get the Purists on our side." The prince explained.
"Would your plan happen to involve Geass?"
"You catch on quickly, Kallen. Cornelia will certainly keep them behind the lines, making it easy to hit her forces from two sides."
"I thought we were going to avoid direct conflict with Cornelia's army."
"The situation has changed. Since you are my most trusted friend and ally, I will share the information with you early. Euphemia has informed me that Cornelia is planning a major offensive against the JLF's main concentration in the Narita mountains this weekend." Lelouch revealed.
"Euphemia told you? As in Princess Euphemia?" She gasped, amazed that Zero's crazy plan had acutally worked.
"Correct. She's my informant at the highest level of Britannian command."
"So you did manage to Geass her like you said before we went over there? You never told me what happened with her." Kallen wondered, having never even seen her until they were on the boat.
"Not quite, Kallen." Lelouch stopped walking and turned to see the setting sun reflecting off of the city. "We had a nice long talk in the Kawaguchi hotel. You wouldn't believe how happy she was to see me again."
"You told her who you are?"
"She figured it out herself, surprisingly enough. I guess no matter how hard I try to avoid it, in the end I'm still her brother. Euphemia was already sympathetic to the mission of the Black Knights. Her ideas for a better world are strikingly similar to my own. She was already standing on the edge, looking down to our side. I just applied a bit of Geass to make her unafraid to jump down."
"So Euphemia's not just a Geass informant?"
"I wouldn't do something like that to my own sister if I didn't have to. She actually wanted to join us, but was too torn and afraid to do so completely on her own."
"This is starting to feel like some spy novel plot. Our enemy's sister is actually a spy that's telling us what is going on behind the scenes."
"As strange as it sounds, it's true. This weekend we are going to take the fight to Britannia, and we are going to win." He told her confidently.
"Can we really do it, Lelouch? Can we really beat Britannia in open warfare?" Lelouch stopped walking and paused for a moment, before he turned back to Kallen.
"Kallen, look at the setting sun and tell me what you see."
"I see the light fading to darkness." Kallen quickly replied, not completely understanding what she had really been asked.
"And doesn't the sun always rise from the darkness?" Lelouch could see a tear on the corner of her eye as she understood what he was saying.
"Lelouch..."
"When I look over at the setting sun I see 2010. I see the invasion, the occupation, and the oppression. I see Britannia smothering the light and enveloping the world in the darkness of night. It has been night for eight years, Kallen." Lelouch pulled Kallen closer and put his arm around her shoulder, his head leaning on hers as they stood side by side watching the sunset. " We can make the sun rise again, Kallen. Narita will be the first light ascending over the horizon to push back the night."
"It's been a long time since I've felt real hope, since before Naoto died. I would never have imagined a prince would be the one to bring that feeling back." Kallen put her left arm around Lelouch, mirroring him.
"I can't defeat Britannia without you, Kallen. You are by far the strongest of us. There exists no other warrior that can stand against Cornelia or her Lancelot and expect to win. Even the Knights of Rounds would cower and flee before you."
"You really think I'm that good, Lelouch? That I could beat the best Britannia has to offer?" She wondered. The Rounds were supposedly the very best pilots in the entire empire. If one were to believe the propaganda, each of the twelve was as good as an entire army.
"You have no equal, Kallen. They call Cornelia the Goddess of Victory, don't you think it's about time you put that imposter in her place?"
"Have I ever told you how inspirational you can be?" The smile refused to leave her face.
"Tell me later. Lets go back to the warehouse, I have a very special gift for Japan's greatest warrior."
Later that Friday night in the Black Knights' warehouse base, over two hundred Black Knights were inspecting their new equipment. Two rows of 10 Burais each stood near the seventeen Sutherlands. Off to the side was Kallen's modified red Glasgow, standing apart from the other 37 black knightmares. Her unit was unique among the Black Knights' arsenal.
On the other side of the row stood another red knightmare. The new unit was taller, larger, and scarier than the old Glasgow. The Guren MK II was both the first knightmare built from blueprints up by Japan, and the only seventh generation knightmare belonging to anyone other than Britannia. The unit's revolutionary motorbike style seat, unique armor design, and advanced weapons made it a massive force multiplier for the Black Knights. The Guren's left arm came equipped with a wrist mounted 30mm autocannon, eliminating the need to use left hand for a ranged weapon. The right arm was a shiny metal claw. The claw was actually an extremely advanced energy weapon. Between the hand's long, molecularly sharp claws sat a nuclear pulse emitter in the palm. Called a Radiant Wave Surger the device emitted a devastating blast of thermal and nuclear radiation, capable of melting through almost anything with directed blasts of heat exceeding 3500C.
Lelouch, now in his Zero suit, lead Kallen to the Guren.
"This is the Guren MK II, our very own seventh generation knightmare, and the most powerful weapon ever built by Japanese hands."
"It's beautiful, Zero." Kallen managed to slip out as she stared in amazement at the crimson machine. Zero reached out and grabbed her right hand, and placed a small red key in her palm.
"That's your knightmare, Kallen. Our greatest weapon for our greatest warrior." She turned her head and stared into the black mask beside her.
"I'd kiss you if you weren't wearing that mask, your highness."
"I've never really thought of myself as a prince charming." Zero replied, low enough that nobody else would hear.
"Why don't you get a bottle of wine and give me a chance to change your mind?"
"Tell me, Kallen. When did you become so interested in me? Not that I'm complaining, of course." The man behind the mask asked her. It did seem a bit strange how her attitude toward him had changed so much, so fast.
"Can you blame me? Ever since you gave me hope, since you made me believe that we could do more than just resist, since you made me truly believe that we could win our freedom, I just can't stop thinking about you." She admitted honestly.
"So you fell in love with me on my yacht?" Kallen's face turned as red as her hair.
"I...I..."
"I know how you feel, Kallen. Watching you fight them made me feel the same way. You made me believe that Britannia could truly be beaten. Although I've hated them for nearly half my life, you gave me the confidence I needed to turn your rebellion into our revolution." Kallen stared at the mask of Zero, a potent mix of happiness and attraction swirling around inside her.
"Would you stay with me tonight?" Kallen asked in as low a voice as she could, not wanting anyone else to hear her for fear of what kind of insane rumors would be floating around the next day. Her heart rate skyrocketed the milisecond that the words had finished coming out. Half of her couldn't believe that she had really asked him that, and the other half was dying to know what the answer would be.
"Of course I would." Lelouch replied with a hidden smile.
Five minutes later they were in Zero's room on the second floor of their mobile home base. Lelouch finished removing his mask and cape just before Kallen threw him onto the bed. She got on top of him and forced a deep, long kiss. She moved hand to start unbuttoning her shirt when Lelouch gently grabbed onto her wrist.
"Not yet, Kallen."
"But why?"
"I know how you feel Kallen, I want you almost as bad as you want me right now, but not tonight. I would prefer if our first night together was not just an expression of mutual lust." Lelouch put his hands on her cheeks and stared across the five inches between their faces. His left eye began to glow a bright red as he looked at her. "I want you to destroy them tomorrow. Crush Cornelia's army with your unstoppable force. Make Britannia cower in fear of your might. Do this, and you can have me in every way you could ever desire, Kallen."
A grin swept over Kallen's face. "Very well, my Black Prince." Lelouch wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down against him. They met in another marathon kiss before Lelouch pulled the blanket over them. Kallen wrapped her whole body around him as they held each other. "I swear, I'll bathe the land in the blood of our oppressors. You're going to be proud of me, Lelouch, just wait and see."
As he lay there drifting away to sleep, Lelouch's mind couldn't help but make comparisons. So far, Kallen was nothing like CC. The witch's attraction to him was primarily driven by lust. Had he tried to do the same thing to CC, she would have told him to go sleep on the couch.
Kallen's attraction, on the other hand, was clearly fueled by love. She was much nicer and warmer, and definitely a better person to share a bed with. Then he wondered how it would have felt if he hadn't stopped her. He never got the chance to figure it out, as he quickly fell asleep in what was definitely the most confortable position he had ever known.
Note about the Geass order on Euphemia: The Geass placed on Euphemia did not do what Lelouch expected it to do. It effectively blocks out any thoughts or emotions that would prevent her from doing what she believes is the most right. For example when they were in the hallway outside the room full of hostages, the original Euphemia would have tried to find some kind of non violent solution or work out an agreement. She values the rescuing of the hostages more than the lives of the JLF soldiers. In her Geassed state, none of the emotions that would have prevented her from shooting the guards are present. In that hallway she wanted to free the hostages, so the Geass blocked out her fear, pity, value of human life, and even her non violent nature as all of these would have otherwise been obstacles toward completing her true desire.
Instead of being enslaved to a single command, she is instead enslaved to her true desires, and the Geass will push her very far out of bounds in order to allow her to do what she believes is the most right thing to do.