Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass, Black Lagoon or any of their canon characters.
Eight unmarked black vans moved down the dark, poorly lit street, four from each end. The drivers killed the lights as they neared the target. They slowed to a stop on the side of the road, near a high stone wall. The doors opened, and four figures disembarked from each vehicle. They stepped out into the rain, moving as teams of four to predetermined positions around the walled property.
Each of the thirty two special forces soldiers was outfitted with an array of new and high tech equipment. Conventional armor and uniforms were replaced by long black trench coats, a revolutionary armor system. The armored coats provided a higher degree of protection than standard systems without sacrificing mobility. Their thick framed black sunglasses were actually a state of the art piece of infantry equipment. The oversized frames housed nightvision and infrared imaging systems, linked to display in the glasses' lenses. Real time data feeds located directly in the soldiers' huds topped off the system.
Within thirty seconds they had the entire complex surrounded, all points of escape covered, save for a small vine covered hole in the south wall. The teams moved in, suppressed weapons sweeping every angle. The Britannians advanced slowly, using the gravestones as cover against a potential ambush. Their target was one of the most wanted men in Area 11, Kyoshiro Todou. Todou was one of a select few people in the world was capable of defeating Britannia in battle. He delivered Britannia their only defeat of the Second Pacific War seven years prior.
"Phantom 1-1, I have eyes on the target. Confirming all five are present." The special forces soldier's cold voice reported over their secure channel. She was crouched behind a gravestone 27 meters behind the targets.
Todou kneeled before the grave of Genbu Kururugi, the very Japanese style roof above the large gravestone shielding them from the unrelenting storm. The sound of rain and thunder masked the sound of the black clad Britannians as they approached.
Nagisa Chiba, the only woman among the legendary Four Holy Swords, caught a glint in her peripheral vision as lightning illuminated the sky. She turned and adjusted her eyes, only to find herself staring down a special forces operative from less than 20 meters. Phantom 1-1 saw her draw a pistol and yell out something in Japanese, the veteran special ops soldier was as racist as they came. She didn't care what the targets had to say in whatever language they might be speaking before she shot them. Unfortunately, they had direct orders from Viceroy Cornelia to capture these people alive, not execute them in a graveyard, despite how appropriate it sounded to her.
Todou barked out his own orders just as several flashbang grenades came arcing over to them. The veteran soldiers that they were, they knew they had no chance of saving their hearing from such an assault. They all squinted as tight as their eyelids would go and covered their faces, shielding them from the extremely bright flashes. They deployed their own rapid release smoke grenades as they attempted to escape.
The Four Holy Swords opened fire on their attackers as they ran for the hole in the wall. In compliance with their orders, the Britannians returned fire with stun rounds, high velocity rubber bullets designed to inflict extreme pain while falling short of lethal damage. The pistol rounds were no match for the high grade armor that the special forces troops were issued. They scored plenty of hits, but inflicted no real damage.
Back at the gravestone, Todou rushed out from the concealment of the smoke, his katana thirsty for Britannian blood. Todou was an extremely strong man, with a tolerance for pain that would be best describes as inhuman. He charged the closest Britannian he could find, his razor sharp blade and years of training allowing him to slice through the man's assault rifle, and into his skull. The blade sliced through bone and brain matter with ease, neatly cutting the entire left side of the soldier's head off, to fall separately from his bleeding corpse. He eyed another target and moved to repeat the attack.
Phantom 1-1 was no fool. She was well aware that the stun rounds would not be enough to stop the Japanese warrior that was about to bisect her. Thinking fast, she threw her rifle at him, forcing Todou to bring his arms up to block. In the fraction of a second he was unable to see his target, she drew and fired a taser pistol. The twin darts shot forward, trailed by their connecting wires. Todou miraculously managed to see the attack in the low light, and with nearly superhuman speed, was able to strike away one of the darts with his katana. The second dart managed to hit him. The Britannian soldier squeezed down on the trigger, and a torrent of electricity flooded into her would be killer's body. The fact that he was soaked from the rain worked to enhance the effect.
Kyoshiro Todou collapsed as his muscles seized up from burst after burst of high voltage power. Within seconds, special forces soldiers had him pinned to the ground and tied with heavy plastic cuffs. They placed a shock collar around his neck, activated by the vibrations generated during speech. He was carried off into one of the waiting vans with a black covering over his head as the operation was concluded.
Kallen turned to take one last look at the sky above the Narita battlefield. The sun was setting behind the mountains, the sky above becoming a swirl of pink and orange light reflected from the puffy white clouds. She shut the door behind her as she got into the large truck, one of three they were using to transport the knightmares to and from their training week in the mountains.
She felt that they had ended their mission at a high point, with everyone doing better than when they started by some degree. But there was one pilot who stood out above the rest. Euphemia li Britannia, the beautiful princess with very little combat experience had stolen the show. On day one she was clearly the worst one in the group, being outperformed by everyone else. It was a position she was simply unwilling to accept.
By day three, Euphemia could consistently beat Ougi. Two days of hard training later, she tore Jeremiah apart. Only hours before they left, she had matched Kallen blow for blow. Although her Gloucester would stand little chance against the Guren in a real fight, the fact that she could at least keep up with the battle tested warrior spoke volumes. Like her sister, Euphemia had an incredible amount of untapped talent behind the controls of a knightmare frame.
Kallen finally understood how Suzaku felt during their simulator duel, she was having trouble connecting the cute puff of pink hair sleeping next to her to the Gloucester she sparred with. Kallen thought of waking her up, but quickly decided against it. They had been going at it for a week with very little sleep. Time was a very limited resource for the Black Knights. Only Jeremiah had gotten a few extra hours of sleep to be awake enough for the drive back to Tokyo.
Kallen copied Euphemia's exceptionally comfortable position on the chair and soon found herself drifting away as well. She chose not to resist, for they would likely need all the energy they could get in a few hours.
Lelouch occupied the farthest chair from the door in the student council room, ensuring that there was no way for someone to see the information scrolling down his computer screen. The Black Knights' combat reports for the last three days were laid out in front of him. Lelouch smiled as he looked over the numbers. His forces were continuing to inflict noticeable damage upon Britannian assets in central Japan with almost no losses.
The latest set of data confirmed what he had thought for some time now, that Cornelia was simply incapable of mounting an effective resistance to a well organized insurgency, especially when she did not hold a technological advantage. She had acquired the nickname as the Goddess of Victory by obliterating opposing armies in decisive battles. She had won 27 major battles on three continents, and almost single handedly conquered five Areas. But nowhere did she actually stay to deal with the resistance that followed the initial victory.
Lelouch's line of thought was interrupted by a little message informing him that he just received another highly encrypted email from Black Knights HQ. He opened the attached file to find the combat data from the participants of Kallen's week long training camp. He opened each file to see final progress numbers, the details could wait. From top to bottom, Lelouch checked each number and found that everyone had improved by between 40 and 70 percent on the Britannian scoring system that he had taken the time to enhance.
At the bottom of the list was Euphemia's file. Lelouch paused, and for a moment felt like a little boy on Christmas day with a large wrapped box, not knowing what to expect. If anyone else had been in the room they would have noticed the visible surprise on his face as he read the report. Euphemia's performance had increased by over nine hundred percent in one week.
"It would appear that she takes after her sister more than even I would have thought. This is most excellent indeed." Lelouch said to the air around him as he thoroughly read through the file. Lelouch barely finished his sentence before the door opened. In walked Milly, Shirley, and Nina. Milly walked over and dropped a stack of documents in front of Lelouch. He closed the computer and put it back in his bag. "What's all this?"
"Student files. I need you to organize them by year and class." Milly instructed her vice president.
"By tomorrow I assume?"
"Of course." Milly replied in her cheerful tone. Lelouch sighed and began to tie a string around the papers.
"Hey Lulu, have you heard from Kallen? We haven't seen her in a week." Shirley asked as he stuffed the thick stack of papers between his computer and the concealed assault rifle in the zippered compartment. With the adjustable stock at its shortest setting, the weapon just barely fit in the zipper section. Although it would certainly sound like overkill to bring a concealed automatic weapon to a rather peaceful school, within the past week Lelouch had been picking up signs of OSI activity in Tokyo. As he had learned the hard way during the year after the invasion, the OSI were masters of disguise and covert operations. They could be anyone, anywhere.
"She's in the hospital. She said that she didn't want to bore me with all the details, but she would be out in a few days." Lelouch smoothly lied. Telling them that she spent the last week training high ranking Black Knights, including a dead princess, in advanced knightmare combat would at best be instantly dismissed as a joke. He seriously doubted that any of them would believe the truth if they did not see it with their own eyes.
"What happened?" Shirley inquired about her friend.
"Kallen didn't tell me, but judging from how bored she sounded I would guess that it was nothing serious. I'll tell you if I hear anything new." Lelouch picked up his bag and began to walk in the general direction of the door. Milly had other plans. Their blonde president was addicted to information, always craving every last secret.
"So tell me Lulu, is what Suzaku said true?" Milly asked mischievously.
"What did he say, madam president?" Lelouch asked, slightly worried by the tone of her voice.
"Am I really going to have two Lamperouges on my student council?" Lelouch paused for a second, unsure of what she meant. Nunnally was still technically in the middle school section, and thus too young for a position on the council. He looked at Milly and saw her trademark evil grin, then he glanced over at Shirley and saw her quaking silently in horror. The real implication hit him a second later. Kallen must have slipped the status of their happy, loving relationship to Suzaku, probably during the party after his knighting. Lelouch decided to milk the moment for all it was worth.
"Would you like that, Milly? If you want, It can most certainly be arranged." Lelouch replied to her, his tone of voice indicating that he knew exactly what she meant.
"Seriously, Lelouch."
"Although I don't know exactly what he said to you, he certainly exaggerated. So no, one Lamperouge will have to do for now."
"How long has it been? I'm surprised that you could keep something like this from my expert secret sensors." Milly asked as she sat down on the table.
"Just about a month now." Lelouch said coolly as he walked up to Nina, desperate for a change of topics. "Have you made any progress?"
"I've been working on refining the simulations. I can get the uranium to split consistently, but making it react correctly with the sakuradite is harder." Nina reported to Lelouch. Although Nina did not know it, he was doing more than asking for a progress report. Lelouch was testing for another limitation of his Geass. When he Geassed Nina to develop her nuclear fission technology for him, he had told her to "not tell a soul about it".
"Do you have an estimate of what the theoretical explosive power would be for a finished device?" Lelouch asked, testing the limits of his power further. He had no real need to know what the explosive potential for a weapon that was nowhere near completion would be at the moment.
"Based upon the average of all nine times the simulation achieved a nearly perfect reaction, the weapon would generate an explosive force of approximately five to six megatons." Nina replied truthfully. The Geass did not stop her from responding in the presence of others when Lelouch was the one asking the question.
"What are you guys working on?" Milly asked as she took a look at the screen. Lelouch found another perfect opportunity.
"Nina, I need to go sort these papers, why don't you give them an overview of our project, without all the complex details." Lelouch instructed as he picked up the bag and began to walk out. As predicted, Nina began telling them about nuclear fission and its advanced applications as he walked out of the room.
Viceroy Cornelia shut and locked the door as she walked into a room under Tokyo's government building. The basement from sublevel three down was effectively a hardened bunker, capable of taking direct hits from anything currently in service. In the center of the room was a medium sized table, sixteen chairs around it. Each wall was lined with state of the art computer equipment, and enough screens to make a stockbroker dizzy. A man in a suit with a blood red tie and white gloves approached her, leaving the technicians to continue their work.
"Have you made any progress with the investigation, Lorenzo?" Cornelia immediately asked of the OSI section chief.
"Indeed we have, your highness. As you suspected, the man that came to personally give you intelligence does not exist. The official records have been tampered with at an extremely professional level. Anyone without serious counter intelligence training would be hard pressed to find that Alan Spacer is nothing more than a well crafted alias." Chief Lorenzo informed the Viceroy.
"Do you have any idea who he really is? His information was chillingly accurate, down to the exact tactics that the Four Holy Swords used to escape our encirclement."
"We do not have a name yet, your highness, but we did manage to pick up an image of this Alan Spacer on an external CCTV camera as he approached the government building. From the time and the direction he was walking from we managed to find several more images of him that day. We then backtraced the entire route he took to get here. Our analysts have concluded that his point of origin is somewhere near the Ashford Academy. With your permission your highness, I believe it would be wise to deploy agents to that school and surrounding areas." Lorenzo reported.
"Excellent work. Feel free to deploy your people as you see fit, but make sure you keep a low profile. The last thing I need to deal with is accusations that good Britannian citizens are being actively spied on." Cornelia ordered as she left the OSI branch.
Two days later, Lelouch managed to slip away from his cover as a student for the first time in nearly a week. Regular updates from the Black Knights' leadership indicated that the plan was proceeding exactly as envisioned. Viceroy Cornelia had captured the legendary miracle worker exactly as he told her to. He was somewhat surprised to learn that the Four Holy Swords had actually managed to escape, but he had already conjured up extensive plans for both outcomes.
Lelouch, now dressed as Zero, made his way though the Black Knights' large warehouse base toward their mobile command center parked in the back. As he passed by one row of dormant Burai frames, the sound of heavy machinery caught his attention. Zero looked left to see their custom built elevator rising up from the underground subway tunnels. Five knightmares, three Sutherlands and two Burai, stood atop the lift platform. They all showed visible signs of combat damage, but appeared to remain fully functional. As it so happened, Zero was standing directly between them and the maintenance area. The lead unit's cockpit opened as they slowly moved along. Zero turned to speak with the man.
"What happened?"
"The Britannians are getting smarter. They had gunships waiting on the rooftops near our tunnel exit. When we came up to attack the supply train they hosed us with their 30mm autocannons. I'm sorry we couldn't destroy the train, Zero." The lead pilot reported to the masked revolutionary. "We only got a few cars."
"You all came back alive, and your knightmares are still running. That's all that matters right now. Take your knightmares to the mechanics and go get some rest." Zero told them as he resumed walking to the mobile home.
Zero walked through the door to find everyone sitting around the U shaped couch going over battle plans and combat reports. Zero paused for a second to admire the scene. Japanese resistance fighters, former Britannian military officers, and even royalty all sitting and working together in cooperation. He sat down next to Kallen at the end of the U and picked up one of the reports on the table.
Inside the folder was a detailed description of a precision strike conducted three days ago. A team of three Burai knightmares utilized the subway tunnels to approach Britannia's main military airbase on the outskirts of Tokyo. Utilizing a pack of Archer laser guided SAM missiles, they targeted four military aircraft, two fighters, and two knightmare transports during their vulnerable window of takeoff. three of the four aircraft were destroyed in the attack that lasted less than two minutes. One of the fighters was saved by its stealth enhancements. The laser guiding the missile was unable to maintain lock against the coating of advanced materials on the fighter. The assault team escaped unchallenged back into the labyrinth of tunnels.
"I'm surprised that these tactics have maintained such high effectiveness for so long. It's almost suspicious that they have not made any substantial changes in their operations. Britannia did not conquer a third of the world by being incompetent." Zero observed as he put the folder back in the pile.
"Maybe this is Cornelia's way of helping us." Ougi said with a laugh.
"She's doing it on purpose." Euphemia said in a much more serious tone.
"But why? What purpose could she have to sacrifice so many lives for?" Kallen asked their insider expert.
"Public relations. Britannian ideology is centered around the idea of strength and superiority. The stronger you are, the better you are. While precision guerrilla warfare makes perfect sense from a military perspective, it has always been considered the traditional tactics of the weak and cowardly. I'm sure you know that the Britannian population here in Japan doesn't oppose us in the same way that they do the terrorist cells or the JLF. Some are even quite sympathetic to what our message is as Black Knights. Cornelia is letting us do all these little raids in order to paint a picture for the people that reduces us to weak and cowardly terrorists that do nothing but strike from the shadows. The same way that most Britannians see the JLF, especially after Kawaguchi."
"That was...unexpectedly deep, Euphie." Zero commented as he stared at her from the other side of the table. "I had not even considered that a bloodthirsty warrior like Cornelia would sacrifice her own troops and equipment for a PR boost."
"I know my sister. If she really believes that undermining our image is critical for victory, then she would go pretty far to get it done." Euphie said back..
"Since you were the only one of us sharp enough to see what was really happening, what do you suggest we do?" Zero asked. Had there been more heads in the room, they would certainly have turned. It was very rare that Zero actually asked someone else for the basis of a strategy.
"Cornelia is trying to make us look weak. We need to show the people that we are not just another terrorist group before her view sinks in." Euphemia answered.
"Correct. The reason she is able to do this is rather simple. Cornelia is the personification of Britannian might in Area 11. Her conquests and battlefield exploits are well known. Zero, however, is a mask. Zero is mysterious, a faceless icon. Cornelia can easily exploit that fact to her advantage. We need our own faces of strength." Zero said as his mask shifted toward Kallen.
"Wait...me?" Kallen hesitantly asked as she looked around to see that everyone had followed their leader's gaze.
"Not just you Kallen, I did say faces after all." Zero answered as he turned back to Euphemia who judging from the grin on her face, knew exactly what her brother was thinking. "The two of you will become the public faces of the Black Knights' military. As I'm sure you are all aware, Todou is being held in a maximum security Britannian military prison awaiting his execution date in fifteen days. I am planning an operation to free him. You will make your public debut there. Spend the next two weeks wisely, especially acquiring valuable combat experience for Euphemia." Zero moved to go upstairs, and Kallen followed him.
They locked the door behind them as they entered the room. Zero barely had time to get his mask off before he was pulled down onto the bed from behind. Kallen flipped him onto his back and jumped on top, kissing him as she sandwiched him between herself and the exceptionally soft bed. Twenty seven seconds later, Lelouch could breathe again.
"Missed you too."
Cornelia walked up to the raised podium in front of the assembled media personnel. Ten large cameras were aimed at her from several different angles. The thought of what she was about to say to the world gave her a sickening feeling. It had been 28 days since the Battle of Narita, and it had been exactly a month since Princess Euphemia had been seen in public. Although there had been no official statement, rumors about her fate had spread faster than a fire in a dry forest.
There were dozens of different opinions as to how, but the prevailing public opinion was that the princess was dead. Euphemia was a public figure, and had never before disappeared for so long without any sort of announcement.
It had been the most painful time in Cornelia's life, and as she stood before the cameras and ravenous media, the terrible pain that she had fought so hard to subdue was beginning to break free once again.
"It is with the greatest sadness that I must share with the world the terrible fact that Third Princess Euphemia, my beloved little sister, has been stolen from us. Her vibrant light was forever darkened not by our enemies who would openly stand against us in their own uniforms, but by vile traitors wearing ours.
It was during the disastrous Battle of Narita that the Purist faction suddenly and deliberately turned our nation's weapons against us, and assassinated my sister as she commanded the evacuation and treatment of our soldiers wounded in the line of battle." Cornelia was unable to totally hold back the emotions desperately attempting to claw their way out. She felt her eyes begin to tear up as she spoke. "I personally executed those traitors without mercy as they attempted to repeat their vile actions upon myself." Cornelia made her discomfort visible to those in attendance. She paused before a very brief ending and quickly exited, ignoring the media's barrage of incoming questions.
Several miles away on the second floor of the Ashford Academy's student council clubhouse, Nunnally Lamperouge listened to Cornelia's announcement as it came through their TV's speakers. Sayoko sat next to her and watched the announcement. Half way through the Viceroy's speech, They heard the door open behind them. The two figures that entered the room remained silent until Cornelia finished her emotional announcement. Sayoko turned to see Lelouch signaling for her to remain quiet.
"Is it really true Lelouch? Is Euphie really dead?" Nunnally asked as Lelouch approached her.
"Yes Nunnally, Euphie really is dead." Her brother answered. Nunnally felt someone grab her hand. Years of blindness had taught her to be able to read the feel of a hand just as a person would identify the look of a face. She immediately knew that it wasn't Lelouch or Sayoko. The hand was soft, smooth, and gentle. The figure pulled her into a hug as Lelouch finished. "Just like we are."
As the realization of what was happening hit her, Nunnally simply could not find words for the feeling. She reached up and hugged her suddenly not so dead sister back. Nearly a minute passed before Nunnally broke the silence.
"I couldn't believe it when they said you had died."
"Neither could anyone else. I wish I could have come to see you earlier, but the risk of someone recognizing me was just too great." Euphemia explained to her little sister. Being blind, Nunnally could only recall the image of last time that she had actually seen Euphemia, over seven years ago. While her explanation was not an out right lie, it would be very hard to identify her as Euphemia to the untrained eye. Following Lelouch's precise instructions, she had her hair cut to shoulder length, dyed it black, and was wearing green eye color changing contact lenses.
As Nunnally and Euphemia started to catch up on years of lost time, Sayoko came much closer to Lelouch.
"How did you do it? The Black Knights defeated Britannia at Narita." The maid asked him.
"We annihilated them. It's quite easy to fake someone's death when you kill almost everyone else."
"We, master Lelouch? You are with the Black Knights?" Lelouch chuckled as she asked that question.
"My Black Knights." Lelouch's wording instantly gave form to the chaotic swirl of information flowing through Sayoko's head.
"Zero." Sayoko said to herself as everything suddenly made sense. That was where Lelouch had been disappearing to all those times. That was why he was always gone whenever the Black Knights made a significant appearance.
"How many people do you know of Sayoko, that could declare war upon a third of the world and actually expect to win?"
"It makes sense now. Everyone thought you were just lazy, that you couldn't be bothered to truly do something useful with your genius mind. But now I see that all this time you were aiming higher than anyone could have imagined. Is there anything I can do to help?" Sayoko asked.
"The OSI are snooping around the academy. While I don't think that they are specifically looking for us, I can't afford for them to get lucky. Do what you can to keep this location from being compromised. But if it comes down it, do whatever it takes to protect Nunnally. Please Sayoko, there is no one else I can trust to do this." As he finished speaking, Sayoko stepped forward and hugged him, much to Lelouch's surprise.
"I am happy to do whatever you need of me Lelouch." She let go and turned as if she was about to walk away, but paused and looked back. "When you said 'whatever it takes', does that mean I am Nunnally's Roberta?" She asked Lelouch with a grin.
"Please tell me you aren't wearing fragmentation grenades under that outfit." Lelouch joked as he picked up what she was implying.
"No, but I wouldn't mind having a shotgun umbrella." Sayoko replied with a smile.
"As you wish, Rosarita."
The phone in Cornelia's office at the top of Tokyo's government building rang again. She had lost count of how many completely pointless calls she had received in the last few days since her announcement. The Viceroy pulled the cork from the bottle of Bacardi 8 on her desk and poured a shot to the rim. While she rarely drank in the past, Cornelia had come to enjoy rum over the last few weeks. It was one of the only ways to dull the realization that four of her siblings had died in this Area, and she had thus far been unable to avenge them. She powered down the shot before picking up the phone on the fifth ring. The ID indicated that the call was from a nearby military airbase. The plastic touched her right ear, and the voice that came through sent a chill down her spine.
"I was wondering when you would pick up, Viceroy." The cold, artificial voice entered her ear.
"Of all the men and monsters in the world, you dare to call me, Zero." Cornelia responded with audible malice.
"Such anger in your voice. That's not very ladylike of you."
"I'm assuming you called me for a reason other than to make me want to shoot this phone." Cornelia answered him.
"The JLF are gathering everything they have left for a massive final strike at Yokohama and its surrounding bases in just about 20 hours." Zero told her.
"And you are telling me this why? I didn't think you were the kind of person to sell out your friends." Cornelia asked, very surprised at what she had just heard.
"Officially, the Order of Black Knights and the Japan Liberation Front have a sort of working agreement. Unofficially however, I find their continued existence rather annoying. We saved too many of them at Narita. I want you to exterminate them." Zero instructed.
"Why should I believe a word you say? You, the monster that stole my sister and brother from me."
"I don't care if you believe me or not. Either way, my enemies are going to be killing each other. It would just be easier for me if only Britannians remain standing when this battle ends." He explained.
"But why? Why are you asking me to kill your own people?" Cornelia asked, not believing that this was genuine advice and not some elaborate trap.
"It is as you said, Cornelia. The JLF are nothing more than relics of a forgotten age. They have refused to join me, instead fighting on their own. All they want is to restore the old Japan. They seem to have forgotten how weak and corrupt the old system really was. When we Black Knights win this war there will be no place for people like them. Our visions of what the future should be have little in common. I can't do it myself so easily. Ordering Japanese to kill Japanese would cause a lot of problems. Your people however, would be glad to do the shooting for me. Besides Cornelia, a decisive victory would help to convince the people, and more importantly the emperor, that you aren't completely incompetent."
As he finished speaking, Zero could practically feel Cornelia's anger. It wouldn't have been surprising to him if she really did shoot the phone until her magazine ran dry.
Zero hung up and looked again at the battle plan he had drawn up. He had outlined a dozen targets in Yokohama and the city's three surrounding bases. At face value the JLF would be theoretically be strong enough to win the battle. Although Cornelia was skeptical, he was certain that she would buff up the city's defenses.
"Are you certain that is such a good idea?" CC asked as she put a hot Pizza Hut box down on the table.
"In the long run the JLF will end up being a problematic obstacle. Those that remain after Narita are racists and hardcore nationalists. If they were still here in the end, they would do nothing more than invert the status quo, making Britannians just as oppressed as the Japanese are in the ghettos right now. We would effectively trade one oppressive system for another, and I would have no easy option of eliminating them. Regardless of who prevails at Yokohama, I win in the end." Zero explained to the witch as she loaded plates with slices of steaming hot pepperoni pizza. She handed him a small plate with 2 slices on it, keeping the one with four for herself.
"Here you go." She said seductively as she put the pizza down on top of the papers he was studying.
"Am I hallucinating, or did you really just give me pizza?"
"What's wrong Lelouch? Don't want it?" CC began to reach for one of the slices, but Lelouch reached it first.
"I'm just surprised. You have to have some motive other than being nice." He said as CC chomped down a slice. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms arms around him from behind. "I'm already taken, CC."
"Who ever said that I was trying to steal you away? Kallen can have your heart, Lelouch. I just want the rest of you." Lelouch laid his head back to see the witch looking down at him. As their eyes met, Lelouch realized just how right she was. His heart wanted to run away and cuddle with Kallen.
There was something so deeply satisfying about being wrapped up under a blanket with her. It was such a warm, soft, and happy feeling. As he had found out when she went back to Narita, it was also addictive. It was as if there was a constant, dull pain in his chest that only Kallen's warm embrace could soothe. No matter how many times Lelouch found himself in bed with CC wrapped around him, it was never the same.
"Alright I get it, resistance is futile." Lelouch said as he moved to get out of the chair.
"Tell me Lelouch, which of us is better?" CC asked after she laid back on the bed.
"In what way exactly?"
"Do you even have to ask?"
"You are. But I wouldn't say Kallen is any worse." Lelouch told her as he opened the last button on his academy uniform.
"Hmm?" CC looked at him with her big curious eyes.
"Neither one of you is really better than the other, you just have more experience. Now lets make this quick so we can get some sleep. I know you don't want to miss Milly's party tomorrow."
"Do I really have to dye my hair again?"
"Yes CC you have to dye your hair. Consistency is an extremely important part of maintaining an alias." Lelouch told the witch next to him.
"Is there going to be more pizza this time?" Lelouch responded by lighting his left eye.
"Already taken care of." He assured her.
"You used Geass to have more pizza ordered. Oh this is going to be fun!"
General Katase pulled his Burai up next to another in the forest near the western end of Yokohama. Just 100 meters past the treeline stood the wire fence that marked the boundary of one of the three Britannian military bases that surrounded the city. The leader of the JLF looked over at his force deployment screen. The array of red shapes formed a complete ring around Yokohama, broken only by the coastline, showing that his forces were in position. Arrayed on the map of the city and outlying bases were a number of blue shapes, the known positions of Britannian forces.
The faint red rings around the general's eyes brightened slightly as he prepared to break radio silence. Katase keyed the radio and gave the orders that the entirety of the JLF had been waiting for. The entire remaining combat force of the JLF readied their weapons and equipment. 64 Burai knightmare frames, 5 Raikou cannons, 18 Type 10 heavy tanks, and masses of heavily armed infantry charged forward to attack.
The JLF were not aware that the Britannian forces had been alerted to their strike in advance. As JLF knightmares sped out of the forest and onto open ground, the defending Britannians immediately opened fire. Although the JLF was planning on surprising the enemy, it was the Britannians who had the element of surprise. Well concealed Panther tanks around the western base opened fire from under their camo netting.
The incoming JLF Burai frames began evasive maneuvers, dodging most of the incoming 130mm armor piercing rounds. The several that did hit caused critical damage to the knightmares. In any other battle the pilots would have ejected, but it was clear to them that this was all in. The disabled and burning knightmares opened fire with whatever weapons they could still use, intent on providing some measure of suppressive fire.
25 mm tracer rounds arced into the Britannian base. Sutherlands quickly moved to find cover, many behind the Panther tanks, whose thick frontal and side armor provided protection against the rain of explosive rounds. The Sutherlands returned fire, using the tanks as shields. Units on both sides quickly began to fall as the battle continued.
Cornelia's royal purple Gloucester rushed forward to engage the JLF forces attacking the northern base. The JLF concentrated ten of their Type 10 tanks on this front. Normally tanks were easy prey for knightmare frames, especially those of expert pilots. Tanks with knightmare support were a far different story as each unit covered the weaknesses of the other. One good hit from a Type 10's 120mm cannon could outright destroy a Sutherland. The Gloucester could take a hit and keep going thanks to its superior armor and mass, but it would still be severely damaged.
"Cover us with your shields, Suzaku!" Cornelia ordered her knight. The Lancelot swiftly maneuvered in front of Cornelia and Guilford, Blaze Luminous energy shields leading the way as they closed on the enemy. Incoming JLF fire detonated against the green light, failing to stop them. As they got close enough, the three knightmares split up for individual targets. Suzaku deployed his Varis rifle and targeted a nearby Burai. The weapon charged for three seconds before launching a solid projectile at extreme speed. The plasma blast from the front of the barrel illuminated his experimental frame, glowing bright against the dark night.
The Varis round impacted the front of the Burai, effortlessly penetrating the frontal armor over the Core Luminous. As Suzaku watched the enemy frame explode along with its pilot, Cornelia's orders stuck in his mind. She had given him a direct order to kill the enemy.
"The only way a lowborn soldier like you is going to climb to the top is over a mountain of corpses. I don't care how well you can fight, if you cannot kill, you have no right to be a part of the Britannian military, or a knight for that matter." Cornelia had told him shortly before deployment. Suzaku was a man of discipline, and he had every intention of following the orders he was given. He had heard that the only way to get used to ending lives was by practice.
The Lancelot's left arm drew one of the MVS broadswords attached to the cockpit. The weapon began to radiate a red glow as it activated. Suzaku effortlessly dodged several bursts of incoming fire as he slashed through the two slash harkens coming toward him. He suddenly remembered what Kallen did to him in Lelouch's simulator. The Lancelot jumped up into a flip over the enemy Burai. He drove the MVS blade straight down through the JLF pilot's cockpit as he landed. The Burai fell over as he withdrew the blade and searched for more targets.
General Katase realized the JLF's inevitable fate as he looked at the screen next to him. His forces were inflicting casualties on the enemy, but they were severely outnumbered and quickly becoming surrounded as squads of Sutherlands flanked around the sides of their formations. At this rate the most they could hope for was an even trade. A flash of light caught his eye as a Type 10 tank exploded to his left. He felt a wave of fear as he recognized Cornelia's Gloucester pulling her lance from the burning wreck, the flames giving her the appearance of a demon rising up from hell.
With his own silver lance in hand, he prepared himself as he turned and charged forward. Cornelia's Gloucester stood upon the burning heavy tank, golden lance gleaming in the light of the fire. Cornelia turned and stared down the lance armed Burai charging single handedly at her. She waited a full five seconds before jumping off of the burning Japanese tank to meet her attacker head on.
Katase was a commander, not a top notch warrior. He fired his unit's slash harkens at the incoming Gloucester. Cornelia effortlessly dodged one and struck away the other with her lance. The fact that she had not even raised the rifle in her knightmare's left hand sent a clear message of just what she thought of her opponent. As the distance between them disappeared, Katase lunged forward, lance leading the way. Cornelia parried the blow away before firing her own slash harkens.
The JLF General saw his options melting away as his Burai's left arm came apart under the assault. Cornelia shifted her KAR 25 rifle up and fired a 70mm shotgun round at point blank range into the Burai's legs. A spray of glowing hot, sharp metal tore through the Burai's knees, forcing the unit to the ground.
"Katase Tatewaki. You are defeated, and your army is crumbling. Order your forces to surrender and I may be willing to listen to Kururugi's request to spare your lives." Cornelia announced to the sparking, crippled frame on the ground before her fully functional Gloucester.
"We Japanese will never surrender to you! We would rather die with honor than live in the shame and slavery of defeat!" Katase shot back at the warrior princess standing tall over his defeated form.
"It's just as Zero predicted. I'm not sure whether to be happy that you are about to die, or furious that I'm actually doing that monster's dirty work."
"Zero?" Katase asked, the side effects of Geass blanking his memory.
"Are you surprised that he sold you out? Zero told me about your plan yesterday. He personally asked me to eradicate you JLF scum. Not that I'll ever be telling the living about that. You may very well have won this battle. If it makes you feel any better for the last few seconds you have left, you were a brave man to challenge me yourself." Cornelia concluded as she reversed her grip on the golden lance. She paused for a second as she raised it up, taking in the moment of victory. The comm feed cut off as she drove the lance down through the Burai's cockpit, ending the JLF with one decisive action.
"Your highness, all enemy forces on this end have neutralized." Suzaku reported.
"Did you do as I said, Suzaku?" The princess asked her knight.
"Yes, your highness." Suzaku replied, guilt visible in his voice.
"How many?"
"I...I killed seven of them." He admitted.
"Excellent work Suzaku. I know what you're after, and there's only one way to get there."
"I understand, your highness."
"Tell me about it when we get back. It should make you feel better." Cornelia told him.
"Viceroy?"
"I guess I've inherited some of my sister's heart."
"Maybe that's her way of watching over you." Suzaku suggested as they drove their frames side by side back to Yokohama past the hundreds of corpses and dozens of burning vehicles that remained as the firing ceased.