*You don't want her to die, do you?*

Suzaku couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, but he felt very comfortable. Death was a lot nicer than he had expected. Beautiful colours flashed by him and he felt warm and safe, so unlike when he had been alive.

*She'll die, Suzaku. You need to wake up*

He frowned. Wake up? Wake up from what? Who's was going to die?

*Remember your promise. Remember…*

It came back to him in a rush, like someone had sparked his mind to life. Pictures of his life began to flash before his eyes. He watched a younger version of himself catching frogs at the Kururugi Shrine; his maid Fumiko running after him as he raced around the Shrine naked as the day he was born and covered in mud as he attempted to avoid bath time; his time spent playing house with his cousin Kaguya and being bored out of his mind. He remembered the moment when Leloucia and Nunnally first came into his life, how he'd hatted them, the Britannian scum and their spoiled attitudes. He had hatted that there were now more children at the Shrine, thinking that people would pay less attention to him. He had been half right as the Princess became more spectacle than guest. He remembered the day he had found out about their past, the day Nunnally had gone missing, and how it had made him cry. He remembered making her a promise that he would always protect them, and how from then on they had been inseparable. He remembered killing his father to protect them and the moment they drove away from him, taken somewhere that promised to be safe, somewhere far away from him. He remembered the day he had decided to join the Britannian military and how the remaining members of his family who hadn't abandoned him after what he had done to his father, finally left.

Most importantly, he remembered what had happened mere seconds before. He had been shot. Shot trying and failing to protect Leloucia.

Anger and guilt shot through him. He had promised her!

He struggled against nothing, desperate to find a way back to the world of the living.

The voice returned.

*You can't save her as you are now. But I can offer you power, the power to save her and everyone you hold dear. The power to save Japan*

He stopped struggling.

*If I grant you power, you must agree to make my one wish come true though. Accept this contact and you accept its conditions.*

The scenery changed. No longer was he in a tunnel of light, nor was he watching his past, now he seemed to be floating through space, two large planet like objects floating before him

*While living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different providence. A different time. A different life.*

Images began to play again before his minds eye, except this time, they weren't his memories. A symbol like a bird carved in stone. Small children standing in rows, each with the same bird like symbol on their forehead. A large planet.

*The Power of the King will condemn you to a life of solitude, and one day you might have to die for your Princess' and your goals. Are you prepared for this?*

His goal had always been to protect Leloucia and Nunnally, create a better world for them where they could be happy and hopefully save Japan in the process. He knew if he every found them again he would swear himself as their Knight. Even without a claim to the throne, he would serve the Princess' he held so dear. Even if it meant putting his goals for Japan aside, they were more important. They had always been more important.

"I accept! Please, I accept!"

The voice chuckled. *I feel that you will be interesting.*

…

The room was a blur.

There was a pounding pressure in his head and a whisper from a dream. He struggled for a bit to remember what his dream had been about, but it was just out of reach.

Ah well, it wouldn't have been important anyway. What was though was figuring out where he was and why he felt so… so…. fuzzy?

"So, are we having a bad day are we?" a bespectacled man suddenly popped his head into Suzaku's vision. "Looks like you missed a chance to go to Heaven, Private Kururugi!"

With a yelp, he shot up, only to fall back as pain shot through him.

"Please, calm down, Mister Suzaku! It's alright. You're safe now."

He turned to find a blue haired woman beside him in formal military wear. She had placed a hand on his shoulder in worry when he fell back, and now gave him a reassuring squeeze and a smile when he looked at her.

"Wh-…. I did?" He struggled to sit up once again, gratefully thanking the woman for her help when she places a hand on his back to guide him, and did his best to ignore the pain. "Where am I?"

"Ah, we're still in the Shinjuku Ghetto." The bespectacled man exclaimed, spinning around in a manner that was more akin to a child than to a doctor. "I'll say, it's lucky we found you. They were dragging bodies out of the rubble but somehow you survived~"

Leloucia…

"With Prince Clovis close by, this is probably the safest place anywhere," the woman assured, mistaking his concern for worry about himself.

"Were… Were there two girls, Britannnian girls, there as well?"

They both looked at each other, the man with a shrug and the woman with a scowl.

The blue haired soldier turned back to him. "Only one. But she left awhile ago." She sent another glare back at the man.

"Hey, I tried to stop her," the man shrugged with a smile. "But she was determined. Quite the girlfriend you've got their, Private Kururugi."

From the look in his eyes, he knew something Suzaku didn't.

A blush coloured both his and the female soldiers faces.

"She-She's not…! We're not… I-"

"Oh you don't have to explain yourself to me!" the man laughed. "Young love is crazy, after all~"

Suzaku shut his mouth, knowing he would only start sputtering nonsense again if he tried to argue. Leloucia was his best friend and had been his not-so-secret crush when they were younger. Seeing her again, much older and far more beautiful than he remember, had re-stirred those feelings in him, but there hadn't been much time to dwell on them before now.

Of course, allowing such a thing to be said of an Eleven and a Britannian was sure to be met with anger and disproval. Despite the man laughing it off, he had no clue how either he or the woman would react if they knew he did harbour feelings for Leloucia.

"Was there a second girl there as well, Mister Suzaku?" the woman questioned, breaking the tension.

"Oh, ah… Maybe not?" He shook his head and gave the woman a small smile. "I, uh, I did hit my head after all. I must just be confused."

He had never been very good at lying, but the woman seemed to believe him. She gave him an understanding look and moved to place a hand on his before she thought better of it and simply folded it into her lap.

"Oh that's right, I have something for you~" the man turned around, practically skipping from the vehicle, leaving Suzaku and the soldier alone.

For a moment there was nothing but silence, before the woman spoke up. "She was very affectionate of you." She laughed lightly. "She actually commanded us to do everything in our power to make sure you got better."

Despite the mess, Suzaku found himself smiling. That sounded just like her, still ordering people around despite having no claim to power.

The man arrived back almost as quickly as he left. "Here's what saved your life, Private Kururugi."

He presented Suzaku with the object in his hands.

"You're lucky it was under your protective suit because that's what deflected the bullet."

"Is it a keepsake?" the woman questioned.

"Yeah…" Suzaku reached out, taking the broken pocket watch from him.

It had been his fathers. The only thing he had been able to keep after he had been kicked out by the rest of his family.

"You Elevens believe that Gods live inside of everything, even objects, don't you? I guess this one saved you~"

His hand tightened around the watch. Father.

He looked up at the soldier and man with renewed determination. He had been given a second chance at life, and he wasn't about to let it go to waste. He had to find Leloucia, and that green haired girl. "What's the latest on the situation?"

The man sighed, shaking his head in a less than sorrowful way. "It looks like the Poison Gas was released. Massive Eleven casualties have been reported."

But… the Poison Gas was a lie, wasn't it? So what, or who, was killing all those people?

"They haven't caught the perpetrator yet," the woman added.

"They haven't…"

What had happened after he blacked out? How had Leloucia escaped the Royal Guards? Had she gotten them out of there somehow?

"Private Kururugi. How much experience do you have with Knightmares?"

Suzaku looked up in confusion as the bespectacled man stared at him. He shook his head. "Not much. I've done some simulations before but… Numbers aren't allowed to become Knights."

It was more an unspoken rule than a written one. On paper, so long as a Number was suitable, he or she was to be given the chance to piolet a Knightmare. Unfortunately, the simulators were often rigged when a Number stepped into them, never allowing a victory.

"Well, supposing you were allowed. Would you want one?" The man dangled a gold Activation Key in front of Suzaku's face as though to taunt him.

His eyes widened, unable to believe his ears. It had always been a dream of his, to become a Knight. To show the Britannia's that even Numbers could be of use. To work his way up to the top from the inside.

He had tried so many times in the simulator, attempting to beat the unbeatable. He never won, but each time he felt he had come closer and closer. He knew if he kept trying they would see his merit. They couldn't excuse hard work forever.

"O-Of course!"

The man clapped him on the back, causing him to dissolved into a fit of coughs. "Congratulations! The only Knightmare of its kind awaits you! Once you take the controls of this big beauty, everything will change~ You and your world!"

"Whether you want it to or not," the woman nodded, handing him a glass of water.

He couldn't keep the grin off his face even as he drank. An Eleven piloting a Knightmare. What had the world come to?

….

"Those damn Britannian's!" Kallen shouted, urging the Glasgow after her fleeing people as she shot Slash Harkens after the tanks that stalked them. The pace was slow, but she was making headway. If she could just get this group to the edges of Shinjuku, maybe they could slip by and get out of here…

The Glasgow's old radio flared to life.

"Kallen! Can the Glasgow still move?"

"Don't worry, Oigh!" She shouted back, to overwhelmed with anger and grief to keep her voice at a normal volume. "It's alright, I'll decoy them. Just get the people out of here! The only ones who will be captured are us in the resistance!"

"I know, but we're trapped! They've got us completely surrounded."

The unspoken question hung in the air. Was this it? Was this the end? How would they get out of this?

"Don't worry, Kallen. If it comes to it, you can pretend you're just a Britannian civilian who got caught up in all this. They'll believe you."

"No, Oghi! I'll go down with the rest of you, I swear!"

"Kallen…. You have to live, for Naoto's sake…"

The tears began to fall freely, her body shaking. She quickly whipped them, screaming in anger as she attacked another tank.

Naoto, her brother. He had died to get them the information on the poison gas, and now they were about to die here without achieving his goal.

Damn it, if only they could…!

….

Shirley opened her locker with a sigh. She had been distracted during practise and had lagged behind her teammates, finishing with her worst time yet.

Damn it Leloucia, where are you?

Rivalz had returned to school alone, complaining that Leloucia had run off somewhere and he had been unable to find her. Rather than being worried though, he had simply passed it off as Leloucia being Leloucia.

"Probably has another match and she just didn't want to split the profits with me. Or maybe she just didn't want to help me push the bike all the way back to school!" the blue haired boy had huffed and puffed as he pushed his bike into the school's garage. If he hadn't been so exhausted from the long trek back, Shirley was sure he would have shown more concerned.

As it was though, no one else seemed to share her worry.

She was just considering trying to phone the girl again, when her phone rang. 'Lulu' flashed on the screen and she nearly dropped it in her haste to answer.

"Lulu? What in the world have you been doing? You missed the Student Council meeting! Where are you? If you keep cutting class, you'll get held back! You can't-"

"Are you near a T.V.?" Without even a how do you do or an answer to her question, Leloucia interrupted her.

Shirley frowned. "A T.V.?"

"Yes, Shirley, A T.V… Sorry, but this is important."

She wasn't too happy with her friend's tone, but she turned around anyway.

"Hmph…. Hang on." She walked over to Rachel, Monica and Tera, all three of which were watching the comedy channel on Tera's small, portable television. "Hey, mind if I change the channel for a moment?"

Rachel looked up at her in confusion. "Huh? To what?"

"The News please, Shirley. Is there anything about Shinjuku?"

She leaned past Rachel, whispering a small sorry before she began to switch through the channels. "News? Well let's see…. No, there's nothing on about Shinjuku. Traffic restrictions?"

Was Leloucia stuck in the traffic? Was that what was taking her so long?

"Why is it restricted?"

She frowned. "I don't know. There not saying."

For a long time Leloucia was silent, so silent in fact that Shirley thought she might have hung up on her if it wasn't for the fact that she could still hear something in the background of Lelocuia's call. What was that? Sounded like… vehicles? Maybe… coins?

"Oh you're gambling again, aren't you!?" she suddenly realised, nearly banging into Rachel as she straightened up. "I've warned you before, more that once, how dangerous that is!"

Leloucia gave her a small, unusual laugh. "Yep, you caught me. By the way, tell my little sister that I'm going to be home late tonight, would you? Thanks." She hung up before Shirley could argue.

Stamping her foot, Shirley tore the phone from her ear. "That jerk! She hung up on me!"

She pressed redial, ready to give Leloucia a piece of her mind, but was only greeted by a robotic voice informing her that the number she was trying to reach was out of range.

Well that was strange… If Leloucia was out of range, how had she called Shirley in the first place?

She sighed again, muttering to herself under her breath about how annoying Leloucia could be, before ultimately packing her bags and heading off to Leloucia and Nunnally's house to deliver the message.

….

"Lord Jeremiah. We have an incoming supply train on track B-36."

That made Jeremiah pause. He had thought most operations would have been shut down by now in an attempt to seal the terrorists in. "Hmm? Did no one tell them we were doing operations here?"

"It… appears not, My Lord. We attempted to warn them, but they didn't respond when we raised them on the radio. Should we go after them?"

The trains, traffic, tours, cellphones, all such things should have been shut down the moment they made their move into the Ghettos. If the train was still running, then what else could still be working?

Was it possible the worthless waste of Royal genetics had forgotten?

Jeremiah usually wasn't one to insult the Royal Family, but after years under Clovis li Britannia, his patience had worn thin with that particular Royal. The boy cared more for parties, fashion shows and shopping than he did for the Area he ruled over.

It was all the much better for the Purist Faction of course, but the incompetence of this particular Royal did not bode well with Jeremiah.

He was nothing like what a true Royal should be. Nothing like how his Empress had been.

Either way though, it wasn't his place to say. He could not express his dislike of Clovis publicly for fear of facing repercussions. All he could do was work from the shadows and do what he could to make Area 11 a safer place for his people.

Ah well, that was neither here not there. At the moment, he was in the midst of battle and couldn't be more thrilled.

"Yes. Attempt to raise them again and if there is still no response, stop them with force."

It was always possible that this train was connected to the terrorist. The fact that they hadn't responded to the militaries radio call meant either their equipment was faulty, or they were purposely ignoring them, in which case-

A helicopter exploded above him and the tell tail wires of a Slash Harken retreated behind a near by building.

Jeremiah smirked, all thoughts of the train driven from his mind. After all, it would be rude to ignore such a gift when it had practically fallen into his lap.

….

Kallen was panicking. Despite her words to Oghi, the prospect of death was to terrifying to face calmly.

The Glasgows energy filters began to flash a warning. 30 minutes. All she had left was 30 minutes.

This was it. This was the end. That Purist bastard from before was baring down on her and she had no where left to run. Tears threatened to escape her eyes again.

Oghi, Tamaki, Inoue, Minami, Sugyyama, Yoshida… I guess I'll be going first…

"The West Entrance. Use the tracks to move to the West Entrance."

Kallen nearly stopped running. Nearly.

"Who's this!? How do you know this code!?" she demanded into the com system, pushing the Glasgow as fast as it could go in an attempt to outrun the Purists trailing her. She was in the Glasgow, she wasn't on the same channel as the rest of the resistance. This was her channel, how had they hacked into it? The person was using English, rather than Japanese, and sounded like a Britannian, definitely not one of their own. Besides, she knew everyone who was part of their group personally, and this voice wasn't familiar. Someone else in the Ghettos? Another resistance group maybe? Or, could they be… part of the military?

"That doesn't matter!" The voice commanded. "If you want to win, you're just going to have to trust me!"

Win? What was the voice thinking? Were they on their side or not? How had they gotten these codes!?

If she hadn't been so scared of dying, she never would have listened.

No one had any reason to offer her help now. She would be dead soon anyway.

She turned the Glasgow to the left and used the Slash Harkens to drag the rusted machine up to the raised tracks above the Ghettos. Sparks flew from the metal on metal contact, but at least she had traction.

"Okay, what am I supposed to do now?"

The Purist bastards, two of them, had followed her and were gaining speed. She had trusted this voice but so far she was in the same position she had started out in.

A horn sounded and Kallen looked up as train began approached her along the tracks.

"Since you trusted me, you're going to win. Jump onto the train!"

The Glasgow jumped at her command, leaping onto the train and leaving dents in the cargo cars as she raced along it.

It didn't take long though for the Sutherlands behind her to catch and stop the train, jarring the Glasgow slightly as the inertia stopped.

She kept an eye out behind her as she continued to run. One Sutherland kept the train still while another one leaped after her. Or, at least, attempted to leap after her. It was hit by a pair of Slash Harkens in mid air before it could do anything and crumbled off the side of the tracks.

She looked to where the appendages had come from, spying a lone Sutherland in the rubble of a building just off of the tracks. She stopped, turning her Glasgow around in surprise. What were the doing? Friendly fire? Why had a Britannian's taken out their own?

Could… Could another resistance group come to help them? Had they snuck into the fight pretending to be part of the military?

The enemy Sutherland raised radio, calling out to the rouge. Without warning the rouge attacked again, taking out the other Sutherland's arm and causing it to fall to its knees. They weren't about to go down without a fight though, and raised their own gun to fire back.

Kallen spun around before she had a chance to think. With a war cry, she charged back down the train, heading straight for the last remaining Purist bastard.

He ejected before she could do anything though, flying away to a safe distance.

Kallen leaned back against her seat, feeling the sweat trickle through her hair, and breathed a sigh of relief. Even if the other Sutherland had been crippled, so was her Glasgow, the arm of which had been missing since their first fight. She might have survived this time, but this wouldn't be the last attack

Still, she closed her eyes and, unable to keep it from her face any longer, broke out into a large grin. She won…. She had actually won, just as the voice had promised.

"You saved me…"

Somehow, someway, by some miracle, this voice, whoever they were, had saved her.

"Hey, how did you get a hold of a Sutherland?" She looked up to the Sutherland stationed above her, only to find they had disappeared. "What?... Where did they go?"

The voice had saved her life and now it had disappeared. What was going on here?

He had promised her victory hadn't he? Or had he only meant against the Purebloods? Were they back in the same position they had been before? Did he think it was a lost cause?

They had been foolish to think they stood a chance against the Britannian Military, she knew that, but they had to try. Britannia, with a weapon like that, it was just one nightmare after another. They had attempted to get the JLF or the Blood of the Samurai to join them, but they had been rebuffed for their plan and their half Britannian leader. They thought it could be a trap just because her brother and herself were part of the group.

And now Shinjuku was being destroyed, hundreds of Japanese killed, and the Viceroy was going to get the Poison Gas back to use as he wished.

She wished Naoto was still with them. He would have known what to do….

"Hey! Kallen!"

She turned around to find Oghi, Tamaki, Inoue and Minami running towards her. She chocked back a sob of relief and pressed the intercom system on the Glasgow so they could hear her.

"You guys! Thank god. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine actually. Thanks to that voice."

"What? They contacted you too?"

"Sure did. And Yoshida's group as well. They ought to be here soon. I don't know how, but somehow he lead us past all the Glasgows they had stationed around. It was like he knew where they were!"

"I-I think he has one of their Sutherlands," she explained quickly. "He must be able to see where all their IEF's are!"

Oghi nodded. "That would explain it. Anyway, how about you, Kallen? Are you alright?"

Once again she bit back a sob. "Yeah, yeah I'm alright."

They had been so close to death, so close to having everything they had worked for been for nothing. But they were still here, still breathing, still able to fight, all thanks to that voice…

The radio crackled to life and the group froze. "Are you in charge?"

Oghi stumbled over his words as he responded. "Oh, uh, yeah?... I mean, yeah. Yeah."

It was faint, probably because it was being filtered through Oghi's walkie talkie and then through the Glasgow's intercom system, but she almost thought she heard the voice laugh.

"I present to you the cargo of that train. Their tools for our victory."

Both she and Oghi whispered out surprised 'Victory?' while Tamaki, the loudmouth, began demanding to know what the voice meant by 'our victory'.

"However, if you want to use them to win, then follow my orders."

Tamaki's shouts of 'Who the hell do you think you are!?' were all but background noise to Kallen as she moved the Glasgow over to the train, using the machines strength to pry apart the locked doors.

If she had been holding something, she was pretty sure she would have dropped it.

Inside, glistening in the evening light, sat at least 4 Sutherlands.

"There's more in here!" Inoue called after she finally pried the doors apart with grease, muscles and a bit of system hacking.

Shouts of awe and disbelieve filled the air around her, but all Kallen could do was stare at the sleek forms of the Knightmares in front of her. Unlike her Glasgow, the Sutherland was made for Knightmare combat.

It was…. Beautiful, and she desperately wanted to leave the rusted Glasgow behind and replace it with a Sutherland. Her abilities would be much better in there, she was sure.

But how had the voice known what would be in the train? And how had they gotten their own Sutherland?

Not only that, but he had somehow gotten the channels of both their walkie-talkies and the Glasgow.

While she could explain the Glasgow, it was an old system and hadn't been meant to keep hackers out, their walkie-talkies were too old to be hacked into, meaning whoever they were, they would have had to find one of theirs. She hadn't heard of anyone else losing theirs, or was it possible this person had found the one she had lost, or… possibly Nagata's?

They hadn't heard anything from him in a long time and had assumed the worst. Could he… Could he be working with this voice maybe?

She shook her head. The voice had gotten them Sutherlands, weapons and energy filters. It was to much to ask that the voice keep granting them miracles.

But… Just how had the voice done all this in the first place?

"Woman in the Glasgow."

Kallen stumbled over her words in her rush to answer. "Y-Yes!"

"Stay where you are."

It was as if the voice had read her mind, seen how much she wanted to trade in this rusted bucket for something much slicker. And before she could even argue, tell him her skills would be better served in a machine that wasn't falling apart, he explained his reasoning's to her.

"Your units going to run decoy. You got that?"

Something in his voice made Kallen want to snap to attention.

"U-Understood!"

She felt like she was in a proper organization, not the rag tag group they had formed. They had to be from the JLF, that was the only option. They were the only organization who could do something like this.

"Energy filler statues?"

"About 15 minutes' worth!"

"Then recharge it. In 10 minutes I'll contact you with your next instructions."

And just like that, Kallen felt something she hadn't in a long time. Hope.

….

Leloucia was breathing heavily. She had done her best to suppress it when talking to the terrorist and her lungs had begun to scream in protest.

It was no wonder the military only took the best of the best on as Knights. Piloting this thing was exhausting! She was pretty sure her wounds had opened up again.

And she hadn't even been fighting anyone, she had just been driving around. Maybe she should have ordered that woman to piolet the thing for her. No matter though, she had moved the obstacles into the formation she needed.

The train had been the hardest part. She had been lucky to even spot it. Normally such mundane activities would have been supressed in such a time, but it appeared her brother and those under him were more incompetent than she had realised.

She had 'convinced' the driver to ignore anything suspicious, anything like Knightmares attempting to stop him or terrorist taking his cargo. That kind of suspicious things.

Then all that was needed was to find the terrorists. They would obviously be far out of their element, a rag tag group most likely. How they had stolen that girl from Clovis was beyond her, but so was the fact that Clovis hadn't stopped the train, so she supposed it was to be expected.

The girl in the Glasgow had been a real treat though. One armed, running low on energy and begin chased by the Purist Faction. It was like the world had gift wrapped her.

It had taken her a bit, but the Glasgow's systems were pretty easy to hack into.

All Leloucia needed was a few words of hope and the girl was puddy in her hands. She could hear it in her voice, the way she responded when Leloucia radioed her. She thought she was a good little soldier of the resistance.

The rest of the terrorist had been a bit harder, but once she had been able to direct them out of the way of a few patrolling Sutherlands, they began to latch onto her. Especially their leader.

He hadn't sounded sound all that confident though. A rouse to keep the real leader a secret? No, she doubted they were smart enough for that. Besides, he would explain their idiotically thrown together plan.

Pathetic. They thought they could flee through the Ghettos, but that had only brought the anger of the Empire down on innocent people. And what did they think they could do with one Glasgow?

The death of these civilians was just as much on their hands as the Britannians.

Nevertheless, she needed them. Their 'sacrifices' would get her what she wanted. Those that made it through this, she would let live.

After all, she was betting her life in this game. It was only fair that they bet theirs as well.

...

Update: I bet this is why all of you start running away (don't think I don't see you ;P), the horrendous amounts of errors. Sorry, so sorry, sorry. Very ashamed.