The afternoon was quick to find Lelouch lounging on the dormitory roof that day. He was deep in thought, ignoring the upcoming signs of the evening as the sun fell behind the tree line. Tomorrow was going to be the easiest yet most difficult operation in his campaign after all: to retrieve Kallen and deliver to her the improved Guren unit. Based on counterintelligence, Kallen had yet to be moved from her prison, best assumed the strongest fortification Britannia could offer. Deep within that well-secured confines of the Tokyo settlements held the strengths Lelouch needed: his ace pilot and the governing figure of his future, his sister Nunally (the bargaining chip used to prevent a brutal assault in the past). In a single move, he could place his opponent in checkmate.
The plan was rather simple for such an operation: distract the vanguard of the Britannia army whilst covert units would invade and extract the targets. Sayoko was assigned the task of freeing Kallen from her encasement, given how remarkable her ancestry skills and agility came into play for breaching any defense unnoticed. For his sister, he would rely on the Geass power within Rolo to secure Nunally an escape. That very notion was a severely risky decision to make, considering the ruthless nature of the assassin; he would likely kill her at any chance due to their true blood-linked relationship- a slap in the face for the fake sibling. In that instance he could always have Jeremiah withdraw from the frontlines to confront the bother should Suzaku not appear in his Lancelot knightmare. If Suzaku did appear, only Jeremiah in his Siegfried frame could contend against the powerhouse as his queen piece remained captured. No, Rolo was the only option left then; he could not allow his sister to remain as the Emperor's pawn any further. All hope must be placed in Rolo that he'll keep true to his word not to harm her. Otherwise there will be hell to pay.
Considering the possible powers that will show up on the battlefield, thankfully his trump card will always be handy. Lelouch was well-aware that the newly developed Black Knight knightmare models were not enough to endure a continual assault from Britannia for long periods of time. He could only prepare a smaller percentage of his forces into this assault- the larger portion was delegated over to the west to assist Li Xingke's Chinese division at holding off the devastation known as the Knight of One. Even with Tohdoh and the remaining Holy Swords among his ranks at this battle, they were simply overwhelmed. Thus sheer ingenious will turn the tides.
The Gejfun Disturber prototypes previously deployed against Jeremiah had proven better and more improved, now mass-produced and distributed throughout several stationed trains that ran through the Tokyo settlement. Upon activation, the entire power supply within the vicinity would be destroyed, rending most- if not all- previously upgraded knightmare frames and assault equipment useless.
The tactic may only guarantee several minutes of an upper hand on the field, but it would be plenty to decimate a bulk of the opposition. To ensure a swift victory, an ambush unit was stationed below the ocean surface to the east of the settlement, ready to pop out upon signal. Even if the Lancelot unit showed promise, the blitz should suffice just enough to delay the inevitable defeat at the new Guren.
Overall, Lelouch should have been beyond pleased at the simple fact of his assured victory. Despite having to battle against Schneizel's command directly, he still had some hostages that could be exploited: Cornelia and her guard Guilford placed under Geass to act as Lelouch's sword. Battle would be swift and utterly devastating to Britannia. Alas the worry on his mind focused on two possibilities: the appearance of more Knights of Round at the site… and his situation with Shirley. Memories from earlier that day began to flood his mind.
Luck had played out well for Lelouch; he had arrived at the student council room just before class. Milly at the time was preparing documents and presentations with another representative around a single desk. Lelouch cringed as he noticed certain photos of students and papers that authorized a certain event. Lelouch had a bad feeling that some conspiracy had been constructed by the sly Miss President. The upcoming battle was a useful excuse in his reservoir.
"Concocting another scheme already, Miss President? How becoming of you," Lelouch had jested as he snuck a peak at the collage. Milly's unavailable bust had covered his sight when she jumped aside.
"Not even the Vice President is allowed to see these plans just yet! Wait until today's meeting before you jump in glee!" Already, Lelouch had been relieved to give the news.
"About that. I do have some prior obligations I must attend to so I will not be present at that meeting."
"Aww, AGAIN Lelouch? Do I even need to count how many meetings you've conveniently skipped out on? Just are you doing on the side? More gambling I'm sure…" Milly had giggled just before crossing her arms across her chest. "Providing your services to 'customers' perhaps?"
Lelouch was disgusted and appalled by how quickly her mind turned to the gutters.
"Obviously not. In fact it relates to some financial benefactors you ensure a promise of future gains-"
"So you DO have 'customers'~?" Milly laughed as she found her way back into the innuendo. He despised that attitude of hers.
"Hardly. Allow my best rebuttal be that this is none of your business. Anyways, is there anything you'd have me do to make up for my absence?"
"Oh you're no fun ~Lulu~. At least Shirley gets riled up by those remarks."
Milly had pouted as she turned back to her work at hand. Lelouch had ignored her exaggerations, considering most do not make any sense to the prince.
"Well since you are already obliged to operate the majority of the paperwork, AND you'll owe a great debt to me… I'll leave all the budgeting and planning to you. Also I'll have you become the main attraction to the second biggest event for the spring."
Milly left her remark in the air as she barked more comments about the artwork that representative had worked to fix. Yet again Lelouch dreaded the very bad feeling that crawled up his spine.
"I'll of course comply with the first two request, however exactly what kind of attraction are you referring to? Better yet, for what kind of event do you have planned?" He could hear her chuckle menacingly while she grabbed a flyer and threw it to his hands. Those very snapshots of students were decorated around the center: Suzaku, Nina, Milly (of course), Gino, Rivalz (a much smaller than desired picture)… Then there was he and Shirley. His profile was the largest of the bunch with the header: 'Spring Fling Auction!'. Everything about this made him feel more uncomfortable.
"… This better not be what I think it is," Lelouch had mumbled in disgust.
"Exactly that plus more! A date auction! We offer ourselves as purchasable dates for the spring dance just down the road! We can rake in so much excess than we could normally have allocated by our budgets. Ingenious I should say!" milly's grin was in sheer rapture at the amount of 'genius' she had claimed.
This does not bode well…
"Ergh, I'll have to decline to this. Such a deprived form of prostitution isn't my forte." Lelouch placed the flyer back on the desk.
"Oh but you will be our highest item behind me! Just imagine the bids your fanclub will give to be your date!"
"As much as I'm aware, I'm still not interesting in selling myself off."
"Geez Lelouch, didn't think you could be such a party-pooper. You know that this is your once chance to get your hands on Shirley, right? Oh and I bet she's wanting you to do so. Don't regret letting someone else get to her before you do~," Milly had chastised the prince just as he slipped out of the room.
"…We'll see about that," Lelouch had whispered to himself as he headed to the roof.*~
Despite the ludicrous nature of that circumstance, Lelouch was tied down in what he could do. The auction was schedule to take place around the time his operation was established to commence. It would be impossible for him to make his appearance there as his forces will require meticulous control during this hectic battleground. But what other options did he have? Perhaps the use of the Geass will work in his favor: to order another student to bid in his place then turn over the earnings after his return. However the backlash of his bribery would surely be found and felt by the girl he intended to woo.
What else could I-
"Ah there you are Lelouch!" The familiar high pitched voice arrived from the roof entrance after the boy waved vigorously.
Ah, not what else. Whom else.
Lelouch chuckled to himself as he returned greetings to Rivalz. "I should have known you'd run off to somewhere so secretive. I just happen to run into someone who saw you heading this way."
"Did you need me for something?"
"I'm just curious why you were not at the council meeting today. You missed some good stuff!" Rivalz was eager and enthused to provide the juicy details, but Lelouch cut him off.
"I'm already aware of the auction, but I have previous engagements that will prevent me from going. I got the gist from Miss President earlier this morning."
"Oh that makes sense. The usual drill, I gotcha. Serious though, what a great idea! Leave it to Miss President to think of such! This time without a doubt I'm going to get that date for sure! I worked all week PLUS overtime to save up enough money!" Rivalz stated in the height of ecstatic claim as he pranced about. Lelouch wanted be surprised if the boy would offer the world's treasures to get her hand. Just the kind of barter he needed.
"In that case, how about I help you out for once? I can get you some extra cash to put into your bid."
"R-Really Lelouch?! Oh you are such a lifesaver~!"
"Indeed, however I will need to ask a favor of sorts."