I'm back. And I bring my longest chapter yet. I actually wanted to update my other stories but I got really inspired to update this one so here you go.

I also had a very interesting conversation via PM with the reader Amir-015. He asked a couple questions I'm sure some of you have asked yourselves and would like answered so I'm going to post that conversation here:

-Amir-015: Just how experienced is Hawk?

-Me: In Mech Battle he has around forty missions under his belt, ranging from infiltration and single target destruction to protecting or destroying entire military bases and armies, facing Arms Forts, several of them at times, on his own and taking on two and three NEXTS at the same time. He's always emerged victorious, although not unscathed. He's also fought in single combat against every NEXT pilot in Collared and ORCA and beat them at some point, although some battles were inofficial and his Rank remained the same in the Collared hierarchy.

Outside his machine, he's been taught the basics every soldier knows and has put them to good use on several occasions, he knows how to sneak around and he's good with a gun and in hand-to-hand combat, although he's no Suzaku there. He's also a pretty good hacker and programmer and has a degree on NEXT Engineering due to his interest in them and his working for Rosenthal. (If you're thinking he's a watered down version of Kira Yamato, I find myself agreeing after writing this.)

If you need to compare him to something, I think an end series Gundam Pilot would be still be superior to him by a fair margin in skill, as would end of series Suzaku and Kallen, but he's not too far from that. It would be accurate to say he can go toe to toe with a Knight of the Round and even two if he's completely focused on bringing them down and lets absolutely nothing distract him.

-Amir-015: Has he ever experienced defeat?

It seems like his entire life in centered in a time of war. A person like that would find it hard to socialized in a time of peace.

When he's fighting someone that absolutely disgusts him (like Bradley) would he resort to brutal and savage ways of killing him like using his bare hands to crush Bradley's skull?

-Me: That depends on what you consider a defeat.
He has lost a couple battles and been pardoned by his opponents, Armored Cores do not have an ejection system or anything of the sort, so the only way to be still alive after being beaten is to be pardoned by your opponent, which is as humilliating as it sounds for a Lynx. He has also experienced the loss of several comrades and the inability to save them, in my opinion that also counts as a defeat.

As you have gathered, if you had Strayed choose between talking things out or knocking out/killing the source of the problem, he'll take option 2 nine times out of ten. That's also the reason he spends so much time in the simulator and repairing the Sky Ruler, he's pretty restless and alert due to having been brought up in a time of war. Still, socializing is not forbidden during war, and he became good friends with several Lynx, May Greenfield and Takafumi Arisawa in particular. He was also quite close to Thermidor, Malzel and other members of ORCA.

As pictured by the fact that he wanted to stomp Charles with the Sky Ruler, I'd say yes if given the chance, he would repay suffering with suffering, and I do have a special fate for Bradley in R2.

Thanks to everyone that read, followed, favorited and/or reviewed. Your reviews will be answered after the chapter due to the sheer length of this author's note.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of its spin-offs, nor do I own anything related to the Armored Core franchise, unless you count my copy of the Armored Core For Answer game, that I do own. All I own that is shown in this story are Hawk Magnus, the design of his NEXT/s, the K-Filter and the SKAI computer installed in it.

Chapter 06: The Battle of Saitama

The class was brimming with conversation about Zero, as it had been ever since the masked man had rescued Suzaku Kururugi and admitted to having been the one to kill Prince Clovis. Hawk and Kallen were sitting on their seats while running through their notes, rumor had it there was going to be a surprise today and in school that word tended to be accompanied by exam. However, the surprise ended up being that Professor Lloyd was going to teach them today, or so everyone thought as the man entered the classroom.

"Alright people, quiet down and get to your seats, class is about to start." The teacher told them in his overly happy tone. "But before we get into any of that, I have a couple people to introduce. Come in, you two."

Everyone's eyes turned to the door, where two teenagers were now standing, one had short brown hair and green eyes, the other had slightly longer silver hair and azure eyes. Everyone was surprised at seeing Suzaku Kururugi in an Ashford Academy uniform, and both Hawk and Kallen gaped at seeing the guy that had helped Suzaku the other day in the Ghetto standing there as well.

"I'm Suzaku Kururugi, and I'll be starting here today in Ashford Academy." The Honorary Britannian greeted. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"I'm Rai Asplund, nice to meet you." The white haired teen said with a pleasant smile, and many boys nodded at the similarities between him and their teacher while several girls developed pupils in the form of hearts for whatever reason. "I'll be counting on you guys to show me the ropes."

"Now that that's out of the way, why don't you two take the seats in the last row? Behind Lelouch Lamperouge, that handsome kid looking at you in shock over there." Some chuckled at Lelouch's expense as he quietly coughed and recovered a normal expression.

Once the two newcomers had taken their seats, classes started. Throughout the first few periods no one said anything, but once it was time for lunch break the whispers about Suzaku's implication in Prince Clovis' murder were flying all around the place. There were also a couple girls complaining that they couldn't get close to Rai because they were scared of the Honorary Britannian, which was seriously getting on Lelouch's, Hawk's and Kallen's nerves since, after what they had seen, or knew, of him, they were fully aware that Suzaku would literally take a bullet for these people who would never consider returning the favor, or even taking him to a place to heal should it actually happen.

Lelouch stood wordlessly as his classmates discussed the matter. Knowing Suzaku's eyes were on him the whole time, he walked towards the door and casually pulled up his collar. While to anyone else it might have seemed simply that, to Suzaku it was something else entirely. What Lelouch had done was part of a secret code they had both created as kids, to speak without the adults knowing what they were saying, that particular sign meant to meet in the roof.

Suzaku soon excused himself and left towards the roof of Ashford Academy, leaving Rai behind and on his own in front of a horde of girls that were a second away from trying to assault him, he could only thank whatever divine being was watching over him when the two students he had met in the Ghetto approached him, blocking the possible stampede.

"So your name is Rai Asplund, huh?" The brown haired boy said with a welcoming smile as he extended his hand. "We never got to learn that yesterday when you collapsed. I'm Hawk Magnus, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Kallen Stadfelt." The redhead added as he shook hands with Hawk. "It's a pleasure as well."

"Same here." Rai replied, smiling at both of them.

"I was wondering, has anyone showed you around the school yet?" The Lynx asked, just for curiosity's sake.

"Actually, no. I just followed Uncle Lloyd here." Rai made a careful note to keep referring to Lloyd like that.

"We can show you around if you want." Kallen stated with a smile as almost every girl in the class seethed and muttered about her being way too close with three of the class' good looking guys First Hawk, then Lelouch and now Rai.

"I'd like that." The white haired teen replied, gathering his things. "Where to?"

"How about the cafeteria? I bet you're hungry like everyone else." Hawk suggested as they came out of the class.

The group of three got something to eat and started their tour around the Academy. Meanwhile, a small reunion was taking place in the rooftop. It had taken Suzaku a bit of time to find the stairs leading to the place.

"Seven years since the last time we used this sort of thing, right?" Lelouch asked, getting a nod from his childhood friend in reply.

"I'm glad you're fine. I was worried about you." Suzaku smiled happily. "I'm also glad to know Hawk made it out as well."

"Yeah, if you hadn't protected us we would have died there." The black haired teen admitted, remembering the moment when Suzaku had been shot.

"I was just returning that favor from seven years ago." His friend replied, still smiling but his features soon became serious. "By the way, whatever became of that girl?"

"I have no idea, we separated from her while running away." Lelouch lied, not wanting to get his friend into the mess. "Besides, shouldn't you know more on that matter?"

"I'm afraid the only people who knew what that was about were the members of the Royal Guard." Deciding that the topic was way too depressing for their reunion, Suzaku started bringing up random stuff as best he could. The two stayed there for a while, simply chatting about whatever came to mind until the Honorary Britannian decided it was time to bring up the matter he had wanted to discuss the most. "It was nice talking with you Lelouch, but we should act as strangers from now on."

"Why should we do that?" He asked in surprise. "I wanted you to come with me and see Nunnally tonight."

"You've seen how they looked at me and heard what they said, if I get close to you then both you and Nunnally may get caught up in it." Suzaku explained with a serious look on his face. "This will be the last time we…"

Before the Honorary Britannian could continue with his point, the door to the roof opened, letting three people out. Two boys and one girl that both Lelouch and Suzaku recognized easily.

"And this is the roof, pretty good to relax when you're feeling stressed or want to have a private conversation." Hawk explained and Rai seemed to be taking careful note of everything the Lynx was saying as he ate his sixth meat bun. "And looks like there's someone here doing that already. Hi there, Lelouch, Suzaku."

"Hey Hawk, were you guys showing Rai around?" Lelouch asked with a smile, thanking them for the intervention.

"We were, yes." Kallen replied in her usual voice when she was in the Academy until an innocent question popped on her mind. "By the way, do you two know each other?"

"Oh, no, I was just…."

"We're friends." Lelouch stated matter-of-factly before Suzaku could even try to get away from it. "We met a long time ago, when I first came to Area 11, and he helped me out a lot."

"Good to know, any friend of Lelouch can be considered a friend of mine, so no worries." The Lynx stated before the Honorary Britannian reacted. "Besides, we met him the other day already, didn't we Kallen?"

"Yeah, he helped a couple of students from our school, although they weren't exactly grateful." The redhead replied. It had taken her a lot of time and a bit of convincing to get to that conclusion but she had finally admitted that what Suzaku had done to Tamaki and the others in the Ghetto had been the right thing, mostly.

"Good to know because I have urgent news!" Milly Ashford shouted from the door, taking everyone by surprise and nearly giving them a heart attack. "Professor Lloyd has asked that both Rai and Suzaku enter the Student Council, and you know what that means."

"Random party of the week." The three council members muttered to themselves, getting strange questioning looks from the two unaware boys as the bell signaling the start of the afternoon classes was heard along with both Lelouch's and Suzaku's stomachs, reminding everyone present that those two hadn't had anything to eat yet, and Rai held his two remaining buns protectively, just in case.

Meanwhile, in the Central Government building, Princess Cornelia's plane had just arrived. The lavender haired Witch of Britannia was anxious to get out of the transport and yet not willing to at the same time. Her main reason was one of the people accompanying her. The Knight of Nine, Nonnette Enneagram. The woman was the second person Cornelia respected the most, the first had been Empress Marianne, but like the late Empress, Nonnette also had some… personality issues.

"Oh, come on, Cornelia." The overbearing, green-haired woman started, trying to get the Princess to stand up while the three males along them looked on. "It's your grand entrance in Area 11, you have to do it right."

"The only way to do it right, as you say, would be to execute Zero the moment I get out of this plane." The Princess replied with anger.

"And I keep telling you, you need to do things one at a time." Nonnette countered with a smile. "First establish your position, then hunt the guy down. It's simple."

"Why exactly did you come here, Nonnette?" Cornelia asked as she stood, she had tried to get that answer many times during the flight, but the purple eyed woman had evaded the question skillfully.

"I wanted it to last a while longer, but no matter." She replied as they approached the door of the plane, followed by their three subordinates. The rest of Cornelia's forces that had accompanied her were already waiting for her outside. "I've been sent here by your Brother Schneizel to act as a Devicer for one of the ASEEC machines being tested here, although I thought I'd get a machine I wouldn't like until I read the last report they sent you."

"Schneizel sent a Knight of the Round for such a thing?" Cornelia's voice showed surprise yet her face did not, the door to the outside was opening and she had to keep an appearance in front of her soldiers and the bunch of corrupt politician Clovis had probably surrounded himself with.

"Welcome to Area 11, Sister." Euphimia Li Britannia, dressed in a beautiful, white feathered dress greeted as they finished walking down the plane's stairs.

"It is Viceroy to you, Sub-Viceroy Euphimia." Cornelia replied sternly. "Even if we are sisters, protocol must be kept at all times in public."

"You're always too serious about everything." Nonnette sighed with a hand on her front while Euphimia lowered her head in apology.

"I heard about what you did, Sub-Viceroy, it was really reckless of you." Cornelia continued, ignoring Nonnette like everyone else that was used to the woman's personality did. "Please, do not do such a thing again, we have lost enough already."

"I understand, please forgive me, Viceroy." The pink haired Princess bowed in apology and Cornelia smiled slightly, proud of her behavior.

"Now then, what is our schedule?" The Witch of Britannia asked the man in charge of her arrival.

"Yes, Your Highness. The first thing is a welcome party we have readied for you and…" He couldn't continue on due to the gun Cornelia pointed at his head. "W-What is the meaning of this?"

"Sloppy, senile… corrupt." Cornelia listed, almost in a bored tone. "I didn't come here to attend your parties, I came here to avenge my brother and put order in Area 11. Now where is the man that killed him?"

"We do not know." The man stated fearfully.

"Then what are you doing standing around here? Go look for him you old fool!" She commanded angrily, causing the guy to obey out of sheer terror. "Looks like this Area needs our usual treatment. Don't you think?"

The question had been directed to Gilbert G. P. Guilford and Andreas Darlton, Cornelia's personal Knights and most trusted Generals. Guilford was a slender man with long black hair tied in a ponytail and thin glasses over his azure eyes while Darlton was a mountain of man with short brown hair and black eyes, he had a scar crossing his face as well.

"It would seem so, Your Highness." Darlton replied with a smirk.

"We'll get ready to drag Zero out of his hideout as we destroy any terrorist bases we find." Guilford added after his partner. "It shouldn't be too difficult."

"Hi there!" Lloyd's voice caught them all by surprise. The scientist had finished his classes in Ashford about half an hour ago and was ready to tell Nonnette about the fact that her unit would take a little longer to be available, despite how much it terrorized him now that the woman was finally here. "It is a pleasure to see you here, Viceroy Cornelia. Could I request Lady Nonnette to accompany me?"

"Earl Asplund." Cornelia said as she eyed the man. "Just the man I wanted to see, I understand you gave the Lancelot to an Eleven pilot…"

"Who, along with the Club's new pilot, played an important part in saving her Highness Euphimia and stopping a rift in our forces?" Nonnette finished for her, and Lloyd paled. He had hoped the Knight of Nine wouldn't know about the fact that he had given her unit to someone else and he could simply make something up to cover it. "I hope you have a couple spare Gloucesters, Your Highness. Looks like I and my assistant will be helping you until the third Lancelot unit is finished and sent here."

"I'm sure it can be arranged." Cornelia replied with a confident smile as Lloyd paled further. Neither Zero nor the JLF would know what hit them with the Knight of Nine on her side of all people, but she was determined not to make use of Nonnette and her assistant too often, she didn't need them becoming a crutch she ended up depending on. "Now, Sub-Viceroy, I'm sure you have matters to attend to."

"It shouldn't take too long, just a couple weeks, three at most." Lloyd explained nervously, something he was not used to doing, while Euphimia bowed slightly and left, catching her sister's message.

"Please, Earl Asplund. Don't think I am offended." The Knight of Nine smiled. "In fact, I should thank you. Out of the three designs, the Grail was the one I preferred. It is much more fitting for my fighting style."

"Then, there'll be no repercussions?" Lloyd asked with a hint of hope in his voice, and almost felt like jumping in happiness when the woman nodded. "Thank goodness, I honestly thought I'd be cut into confetti for that one."

"If you'd like, I can make it happen." The black haired, red eyed assistant Nonnette had brought with her said, his eyes brimming with bloodlust.

"Asakim, no need for your jokes right now." Nonnette told him, displaying a small hint of anger, but that was enough to send chills down everybody's spine. The Knight of Nine's wrath was feared like Lady Marianne's had been when she was still alive.

"Another time then." The man, Asakim Dowin, replied with a sick smile, not afraid in the least.

"It seems the rumors about the Black Dragon are true." Guilford commented offhandedly, sending an analytic look at the black haired man. "Your lust for blood no matter the situation equals that of the Knight of Ten, Luciano Bradley."

"The Dragon and the Vampire love to compete to see who gets the most blood flowing." Darlton added with a scowl, eyeing the black clad soldier carefully and not liking him one bit. "Or so I've heard."

"Enough chatter." Cornelia commanded. "We have matters to attend to as well."

"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone echoed in reply.

"Begin unloading the Gloucesters we brought and prepare to customize two of the spare ones for Lady Enneagram and Sir Dowen, paint them in their colors as well." She continued authoritatively as she walked towards the entrance to the actual building, followed by her troops and a few of the soldiers in Area 11, Lloyd had also tagged along. "Earl Asplund, I'm promoting your two Devicers to the rank of Warrant Officers for their deeds, I find that sufficient reward. However, I make it a point not to rely on the Numbers or the Special Corps too often, so unless your units are deemed necessary you won't be allowed to participate in any battles."

"And should that black and white machine appear?" One of the soldiers asked, one of the few that had survived the encounter with the Sky Ruler, mainly because Strayed had chosen to let them eject. "The Lancelot was the only thing capable to fight evenly with it, perhaps with two of them we can actually defeat it."

"Please, soldier, do not underestimate the Gloucester, or me." Cornelia shot him a cold glare that made him and anyone with similar doubts gulp. "Speaking of the Black Titan, I want the recordings of every unit that fought it in my office tomorrow morning."

Three days after Suzaku and Rai had joined the school and the student council, Hawk couldn't believe how close everything had been to being revealed. How in the goddamn world had a freaking cat gotten hold of Zero's mask and paraded all over the campus with it?! Not to mention he was now understanding why Lelouch had joked about him being willing to bring the Sky Ruler to the Student Council very soon, Milly was truly a troublesome woman. When the blond haired President had learned that there was a cat running around campus and that Lelouch was desperately chasing after it, she quickly surmised the cat had taken some sort of embarrassing secret from him, which was partly true, and in a bid to get some blackmail material had organized a hunt for the feline, promising a kiss from one member of the student council as a reward for whoever caught it, winner's pick.

The result had been hectic, to say the least. All over the school, the students chased the cat in a ridiculous display of various skills, such as the Rugby team literally taking out the competition or the Horse Riding Club displaying their 'superior mobility' over the rest of the school. Not to mention the sheer amount of girls chasing the damn thing while proclaiming who they wanted the kiss to be from, although the number of times the Lynx's name, along with Lelouch's and Rai's, had been mentioned in such conversations was troubling, and that was an understatement, a pretty big one.

All had ended well though, which was good. And it had helped bring Suzaku closer to the students, since the incident had ended up in him saving Lelouch's life from almost certain death when they had both chased the cat up to the roof of a tower and the black haired teen had tripped and fallen. Suzaku had reacted fast enough to grab his childhood friend's hand and saving him while the cat finally loosened the mask with its paws and Hawk went to retrieve it, hiding it somewhere else and handing it over to Lelouch once it was all over.

"I still can't believe I was almost found out because of a damn cat." Lelouch muttered tiredly as he put the mask back in place in the special suitcase he had for his costume.

"Tell me again why you let it go?" Hawk asked C.C. who was, unsurprisingly, eating pizza while sitting on Lelouch's bed with only a white shirt and underwear on.

"I simply hadn't noticed." The green haired immortal replied monotonously as she took bite after bite. "You can hardly blame me for it."

The Lynx sighed for about the fiftieth time already, the girl's behavior was confusing for him. Lelouch closed his suitcase and secured its locks before leaving it by his bed, exhaling once he had done so in relief. Hawk sighed again and shook his head, he didn't have the time for this, and it was solved and over, no need to wallow on it. Besides, Kallen was waiting for him outside, ready to take another simulation on the Sky Ruler. He had simply told her Lelouch had wanted to talk to him since he was technically the Vice-President's aid in the council so he shouldn't take much longer.

"I'll be going then." The mercenary stated, and Lelouch nodded in reply. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." The black haired teen replied in a tired voice, the day had taken its toll on him. "Also, I'm working on getting a new base for us and we'll have it ready soon, although you'll have to keep storing your friend until we get something bigger."

"Understood." Hawk replied curtly and walked away from the room. Once he reached the outside, he approached Kallen. "Sorry for making you wait."

"No problem." She replied in her school voice, as the Lynx had taken to call it. "Shall we get going?"

"Of course." He replied, smiling slightly, and they set off.

They got to the Lynx's house in almost no time and soon went down to the basement. Kallen's eyes widened, the machine had been disassembled all over the place. The legs and arms were separated and on the floor, with several plates off and revealing circuitry, junctions and cables, along with the cannons and other weapons. The torso and head were still attached together and the cockpit opened at the Lynx's command.

"What…?"

"I just got a bit busy these past nights." The Lynx told her dismissively. "I've been trying to replicate the mobility Knightmare Frame limbs possess in the Sky Ruler's own, and although I can't make it as good without building everything from scratch, I've made some good progress."

"And I can still use the simulator with the unit in this state?" She asked, pointing at the torso standing in front of her.

"Without a problem." He replied with a smile. "By the way, you'll be using a unit more inclined towards speed and close quarters combat this time, I think it suits someone with your reflexes better."

"I have to admit, I do feel more comfortable at a close distance from the enemy." She mused aloud as she walked towards the cockpit. "I have a feeling I can react better if I'm up close."

"I assumed as much the other day. Don't worry, I'll get you something easier this time." He smiled as he reached the computer and she pouted in mock annoyance before sitting inside and closing the cockpit. "SKAI, load Simulator Battle: NEXT completion test."

Hawk got into his mechanic clothes while the simple exercise so that Kallen would grow accustomed to the Saber's weaponry took place. By the time he was dressed, Kallen had already blazed through the MTs and Normals and was facing off against Serene's NEXT simulation. Like last time, the redhead did not seem to be using the flight capabilities of her unit in the fight, which was putting her at a bit of a disadvantage against the A.I. of the test. That was soon mended when she quick-boosted forward and unleashed a burst of the back-mounted Slug Guns on the enemy NEXT's back before finally finishing it off with the high power laser blade on the right arm, plunging it into her enemy's torso.

"Hah! I got that one easy." She said as she opened the cockpit, finding the Lynx working on one of the Sky Ruler's arms while looking at the computer screen depicting her fight. "How'd I do?"

"Quite well, although I'm not sure about why you don't take advantage of the flying." He replied as he worked.

"Because even if your NEXT can fly, I am going to pilot a Knightmare Frame and that doesn't fly."

"Good point." He conceded with a small smile. "How did you like the Saber?"

"It does suit me better." She admitted happily. "So, what do you have for me now?"

"Something a little bit harder." He told her with a bigger smile, not looking away from his work. "SKAI, load Simulation Arena. I think a fitting opponent to start with would be Killdozer."

The simulated battle was harder than Kallen had expected, the NEXT she faced was a tough nut to crack and ne punch from it meant it was over, plus it had some nasty missiles she had a lot of trouble dodging. But after getting used to how her opponent moved, the battle turned out far easier. She spent a lot of time facing off against Collared's lowest ranks, managing to win on her first try every time but not without difficulty.

"Time to turn things up a notch." Hawk mused as he closed up the arm he had finished working on and Kallen peeked out of the Sky Ruler's cockpit with a confident smile on her face. "SKAI, change the next enemy to RedRum."

"Understood."

"That doesn't sound so dangerous." Kallen muttered to herself as the cockpit closed again and Hawk chuckled.

"Say it backwards and you'll change your opinion." RedRum was one of the fastest NEXTs Strayed had faced. Its Lynx, Shamia Lavie-Lavie, had customized it to be a fast reaction, close quarters unit that could take down almost anything due to the speed superiority it had over every other NEXT with the exception of White Glint. It had been one of Strayed's and Merrygate's toughest battles when they had taken her and her partner, Starka, down in that mission on the foggy region of PA-51.

As Hawk had expected, RedRum gave Kallen major trouble, the redhead could barely follow RedRum's moves at all. Not that it was easy to do it, the only reason Hawk and May had managed to take her down had been that they had goaded her into entering an alley, where her mobility had been reduced considerably, and bombed her to death with all the weapons they had before she managed to get out of the tight spot. Kallen, fighting in a simulated Arena, could not use that trick.

"That damn thing was way too fast." She seethed as she finally exited the cockpit after the fifth try. She had managed to take out two of five enemies that night she spent here and she had now fallen to a single one, it made no sense to her.

"It was a worthy opponent, wasn't it?" The Lynx, who was working on the other arm now, chuckled at her fuming before looking at a watch. "It's getting late so I assume you'll be going."

"Yeah, but before I do I have a question." She said, her voice serious. She had delayed her questions about the NEXT's technology until now, but not any longer.

"As long as I can answer it, I will." He replied in an equally, if not more, serious tone. "But understand that there are things I do not want to talk about." She nodded at his reply, accepting it. "Ask away then."

"Where did you get this tech? I can understand the rifles and even the engine, which does not seem to run out of power, but laser cannons and blades?" She shook her head for emphasis. "Where did you get those from?"

"Abandoned secret research and hacking lab information mainframes." Hawk replied dismissively. He had told Lelouch and all but he wasn't going to go sharing his origins with everyone around him at the first turn of events.

"Why am I not buying something like that?" She told him with a bit of glare. "Tell me the truth."

"I do not go prying into your life, now do I?" He whispered, sending a glare her way in reply. "Accept my answer or don't, but you will not get a different one anytime soon."

Kallen would have continued pressing for an answer had his tone not been so decisive, revealing nothing she could do would make him change his opinion. Did that mean he didn't trust her? She soon discarded it as stupid, if he didn't trust her at all, she wouldn't be here, nor would she still be keeping her hidden knife on her person. Last time she had handed it over herself, as a show of faith, but this time none of them had said anything about it.

"I'm sorry, I suppose it's not something you want to go into detail about." She bowed a bit in apology and the Lynx's features softened until he was more or less back to how she was used to seeing him.

"Don't worry about it." He replied, scratching the back of his head, the situation was rather awkward. "I may tell you about it in the future, but I'd like you to drop the subject for now."

"Consider it dropped, don't worry." She assured him before stretching. "Well, I should get going."

The Lynx nodded and stood, accompanying her to the door and seeing her off before going back to his work on the Sky Ruler's left arm. Imitating the build that allowed the Knightmare Frames such mobility in their limbs had been impossible, as he had already explained, but modification based on that wasn't too hard to do, only time costly. The mercenary sighed, he wasn't getting any sleep today either. He had finished the legs and one arm already, might as well have the last arm done and assemble the NEXT just in case anything happened.

While the Lynx was working, another teenager was refusing to sleep. That teenager was Lelouch. The exiled Prince was, once again, going through Strayed's mission records as he took note of the tactics displayed by his ally. While the Lynx was not one for elaborate planning, his ideas were original and effective despite being literally made up on the spot. On his bed, C.C. was watching as well, like one would a movie, as she kept eating pizza after pizza.

"I still don't understand why you keep watching that over and over." She mused as she finished the last slice and laid down on her belly. "Don't you have it memorized by now?"

"Every time I watch it I learn something new." The black haired teen explained as he observed the battle against two NEXTs, named Scarlet Fox and Emerald Raccoon, who had ambushed Strayed and his third NEXT, the Will Force, as he finished a mission, catching him low on ammunition. "Like right now." He added as Strayed dodged their double assault at the last possible moment and shot one of them in the back with the Laser Cannons of the Will Force. "He fooled them into approaching recklessly and caught them off guard. Analyzing his tactics, the ones employed by a war veteran, even if he appears to be my age, is a great way to improve my own strategies."

"You're taking this very seriously, aren't you?" She smiled as she stretched felinely. "Like the way you have analyzed your power."

"I already told you, I need to know all I can about my weapons." He replied without looking away from the screen. "And Strayed is about as powerful an asset as Geass from what I have seen. I am starting to believe he would truly be perfectly capable of just marching his way to Pendragon and blow the Emperor the kingdom come if he saw no other choice and his machine was fully functional."

"He's a strange one." She commented monotonously as the video finished and Lelouch put on the news through the computer. "It seems your sister has been busy as of late."

"Indeed she has." The exiled Prince commented, knowing she was not referring to Nunnally but Cornelia, who had already crushed three Resistance bases in her short time as Viceroy, staging attack after attack with machine like precision. It was just luck and Hawk's hacking that had hidden the base of his affiliated Resistance cell, but he already had a change of headquarters in mind for them, which would be ready soon. "And I have a feeling Zero will soon be a target of her work."

C.C. did not reply, she simply narrowed her eyes almost unperceptively. She recognized that look in Lelouch's eyes, the look of brimming overconfidence in oneself that could lead to his demise, and mentally sighed. Her contractor was a seventeen year old teenager, it was bound to happen eventually. Yawning, she resolved to stop him should he put himself in too much risk, she couldn't have him dying before her wish was fulfilled.

Morning came, and Hawk woke in his room to the sound of his phone. He had fallen asleep about three hours prior when he had finished assembling the Sky Ruler so he reached out for the device groggily and put it to his ear, receiving the call with a couple incoherent mumbles.

"Looks like someone had a rough night." Lelouch's voice chuckled from the other end of the line. "Are you close to a TV? I need you to put on the Britannian news."

The Lynx grunted an agreement and stood up, stretching a bit before turning his television on and putting the news channel. The reporter was explaining in no shy terms when, how and where the next operation to destroy the Resistance cells directed by Princess Cornelia would take place. The Saitama Ghetto, where the group called the Yamato Alliance had its base. Rumor had it they had hired a few European mercenaries, but no one outside their organization was really sure whether it was true or not.

"So we're going to bail them out?" The mercenary asked as the report came to an end. "It doesn't take a genius to know that it's one big, neon-highlighted trap."

"But after such a kind invitation, would you really turn them down?" The amusement and confidence in Lelouch's voice was apparent.

"I hope you're not charging in first and thinking later on this." The Lynx yawned as he made a mental note to warn Kallen that he would be absent today and to send some sort of excuse to the faculty as well.

"Don't worry, I already have a few plans laid out." The teen assured, and although it eased Hawk's worries a bit, he still wasn't sure about it. Although he would participate regardless.

"Well then, I'll go get the Sky Ruler ready. Contact me when you want me to deploy and tell me where exactly you want me to be." He replied and hung up, sent the message to Kallen and called Ashford and told them he was sick before making his way to the basement to get into his pilot suit and helmet.

Lelouch hung up the call and picked up his bag, which contained the Britannian soldier uniform he had used in Shinjuku. His plan was rather simple, steal a Sutherland, then supply the Saitama resistance with Knightmares and direct them like he did in Shinjuku. He was about to walk towards his room's door only to stop at the cocking of a gun and fin C.C. aiming one at him.

"What are you doing?" He asked in mild surprise.

"Stopping you from charging to your death." She replied in a monotonous, matter-of-factly voice. "And before you start rambling about contradictions I will shoot you in the leg to stop you from moving." She paused as he processed the information before adding. "I can't have you dying without the contract being fulfilled so you will not be going to the Ghetto."

"I understand." He smirked as he reached inside his Ashford Academy uniform and pulled out a gun of his own. C.C. seemed unimpressed by that, knowing that she was immortal was definitely putting her at ease in front of a weapon, but her expression turned to one of shock when Lelouch pointed the gun to his head.

"What are you doing?" The amount of shock in her voice and face were the most distinctive reaction he had ever seen out of her.

"Until you gave me this power I was but a husk, an empty shell wandering the world of living." The raven haired teen replied with a void smile. "If I am to go back to that sort of life, I'd rather let it all go."

"Very well." She sighed, bringing down her arm in defeat.

"So as I suspected, you are unable to use Geass yourself." Lelouch chuckled as she winced at the revelation before he walked past her and exited the room, heading towards his intended destination.

"Arrogant brat." C.C. muttered before turning Lelouch's computer on and hoping he could get hold of Strayed and warn him about the boy's state.

A few hours later, inside the Yamato Alliance base, the group was running restlessly all over the place with the exception of the leader, aptly named Yamato, and another five people. These people were members of the mercenary group known as Glory Star, a famous mercenary cell in Europe, although they were the last surviving members due to the rest of them and their headquarters falling under Britannian attack a couple weeks ago while fighting for the European Union and protecting Spain.

The leader of the mercenary group was a girl in her late teens named Setsuko Ohara, daughter of a Japanese woman and an exiled Britannian who fled to Europe to avoid death penalty, she had brown hair and kind green eyes and was really adept at fighting from a distance, her aim nearly flawless. Two of the men standing behind her were her teammates, Toby and Denzel, a laidback blond and a tough looking bald man respectively, their job on the missions was usually covering their leader and fighting in the frontline while she picked the targets from a distance.

Behind those two was the married couple of Rand Travis and Mele Peter, Glory Star's mechanics and sometimes frontline fighters if things got out of hand, Rand could be pretty destructive that way. Rand was a tall, muscly man with crimson hair that turned to orange at the ends and blue eyes while Mele was a small, and flat, young woman with pink hair and green eyes.

"It seems we're running out of time." The leader of the Yamato alliance started, the Britannian forces had started their attack a few moments ago and the screams and tank shells could be heard all over the place. "No matter what, we have to protect the civilians we can."

"We understand that." Setsuko replied for all of them. "They may only be Glasgows we took from Britannia, but you can count on our units for the job."

"I thank you, Miss Ohara." The leader bowed in gratitude as Shinn Asuka dashed into the room, panting slightly. The black haired, red eyed boy was dressed in jean trousers, a black shirt and a white jacket over it. "Did you get everyone nearby to safety, Shinn?"

"I got them to the shelter like you told me to." He replied as he caught his breath. "What else can I do to help?"

"I'll tell you when we need to move more civilians, just make sure not to do anything dangerous." He told him, but the look on Shinn's eyes got his attention. "Is there anything you want to say?"

"I can help with the fighting." The boy stated fiercely with a look of burning hatred in his eyes. "I am a member of the Yamato Alliance as well, I can help in kicking out the Brits."

The whole group was shocked at the bold statement, Yamato most of all as images of his late son, Kira, overlapped with the black haired boy. Setsuko set her green eyes on the seventeen year-old's red ones, seeing the determination held deep within them and with her sixth sense telling her he would be a good addition to the battlefield if he had any other good qualities. The boy noticed her stare and sent her questioning look just as Toby brought out his gun fast and shot at the kid to the astonishment of many.

"Give him the weapon, he'll do fine." The blond man stated with a grin, the kid had dodged the unexpected shot better than most trained mercenaries would have, he had reflexes and talent it would seem, at least wherever dodging was concerned.

"Toby…" Denzel started in a chastising tone and the blond brought his hands up in surrender out of instinct.

"Boss, I have big news!" A member of the alliance interrupted whatever he was going to say, bringing out his communicator and setting it on to receive one simple message.

"I am… Zero." The voice from the device told them, and they all recognized it as the man's own. "I have sent Strayed to help you in repelling the Britannian forces. Like I told those in Shinjuku, if you want to live and win, follow my orders."

"What do we do?" One of the men asked his boss, who looked at the Glory Stars for advice.

"We have all seen what he's capable of. This man is our best choice available, I say we take his offer." The girl replied, and her whole team nodded in agreement, they were all fully aware of what he had done. "But I do not speak for your group, this is merely my opinion."

"We'll take your help, Zero." Yamato told the masked man through his communicator.

"Good answer." Lelouch replied from the cockpit of his recently acquired Sutherland. He had disguised himself as a soldier and patiently waited until a unit had asked what he was doing. He fed the pilot a nice lie and Geassed him into handing over his Frame the moment he came out of it. "Strayed will be clearing the west side of enemies, he does not require any assistance apart from a rescue team for any civilians still in the area. See that he gets that."

"Understood." The boss replied and pointed at a few people present, Shinn included, however the boy was soon stopped from leaving by both Toby and Denzel and Setsuko sent an apologetic look towards Yamato. It would seem her teammates had taken a liking to the kid.

"Now then, there are rumors about a mercenary group in your ranks, are they true?" Lelouch continued over the line.

"That would be us, the Glory Stars." Setsuko replied loud enough for the communicator to catch it. "What do you want us to do?"

"So you're the leader, huh?" The black haired teen pondered, knowing from the voice that this woman couldn't be much older than himself, or Strayed at most. "I want you guys to handle the east side, how many units do you have available?"

"Five Glasgows, but only four pilots." Setsuko replied before adding with a bit of nervousness and sending a pointed look towards Rand. "One of them is a two-seater due to… modifications."

"I understand." Zero replied, only for the mercenaries to think he did not really get what sort of modifications Rand had made to his unit and that the masked man was in for a surprise. "Can you find a pilot for that spare unit?"

"I can do it!" Shinn told them with a serious look in his eyes. "I have done it a few times before, although it was in that simulator we stole from Britannia." The whole group looked at a pile of rubble by the side, the first seconds of the attack had resulted in part of the ceiling falling and the simulator in question being crushed under it.

"If no one else wants to volunteer, I'm going to ask you to take that unit." Lelouch said, he didn't really care about who the one had talked was as long as he was useful, and the rest of the Yamato alliance wanted nothing more than to be as far from the cockpit of any of Rand's designs as they could. "I'll take your silence as just that. Please help the Glory Stars in taking care of the east side of the Ghetto. The rest of you will wait for my delivery of a few Sutherlands I have gotten hold of at the central area of the Ghetto. I'll contact you in ten minutes, get into position at this location."

"I'm going in then." Strayed said over the ORCA line. "Just make sure you do this right."

"What's with the sudden doubts?"

"I don't know, call it a bad feeling or an instinct but I just can't help but feel something is going to go terribly wrong today." The Lynx stated with a shrug as he got out of the subway tunnels and right in the middle of a Britannian squad.

"The black and white Frame has been sighted." One of the officers in the command center informed. "It just took down the third squad to the west, Sir Arnold's Gloucester included."

"So the Black Titan makes its appearance to the west." Cornelia muttered with a scowl at one of her special units being taken down so fast. "Zero won't be far behind in showing himself, or rather his tactics. Send a notice to the ASEEC, have them ready their units and send them to the west side of the Ghetto to ambush the enemy on point A-17. I do not want to take any risks with that thing so the more occupied it is, the better."

Cornelia had been adamant not to use their help too often, but the recordings of the Black Titan she had seen had made her so painfully aware that what that good for nothing soldier had implied about the Lancelot units being the only thing capable of facing it might hold some weight, and a whole squad being taken out five seconds after sighting the damn thing was proof enough in her eyes. She wasn't against admitting she was human and made mistakes in judgment from time to time, even if it was as hard to do so as swallowing broken glass.

"We also have reports of a group of five Glasgows fighting their way through our troops on the east side, they have already taken out Sir Stark's platoon, all of it."

"We can only assume those are the European mercenaries from the rumors." Darlton stated, looking over the map displaying the battle.

"Send Lady Enneagram and Sir Dowin to deal with them along with two squads of Sutherlands, it should suffice. She'll take care of all operations on the area." The two had been more than happy to accompany her in this little trap she had planned so she was going to have them do something on the sideline while she took care of the main threat. Besides, Nonnette loved fighting Europeans for whatever reason. "Continue the assault on the central area of Ghetto. If we take their core then the rest will fall soon."

Strayed cursed under his breath as he put bullet after bullet into his enemies' units, there were more troops than there had been in Shinjuku, which was the reason Lelouch had assigned him to one third of the place and not its entirety, but the sheer overwhelming numbers had been much more than even he had expected. The Lynx breathed as he finished off the tenth Gloucester of the day and the fortieth unit he had dispatched. He had to admit they were much harder to take down than any Sutherland he had faced off against.

"How is the evacuation process?" He asked the Yamato team that had been sent.

"We got everyone still alive out." The voice of a young girl replied. "You can go all out now, don't worry about the buildings and pound the Brits into the ground."

"I'll take that advice." Strayed chuckled at the enthusiasm, even if he didn't like the fact that a seemingly fourteen year old was going around the battlefield, but he had seen worse anyway. "All of you get out of here. Go help the team by the west."

"Got it." A male adult voice replied this time and he guessed it was the actual leader of the rescue team. "Good luck."

Strayed grunted an affirmative and continued moving through the Ghetto, but there did not seem to be any other units left, which was definitely unnerving for the Lynx. A sudden alarm from the radar got his attention and he quick-boosted out of the way fast enough to avoid the explosive bullet that would have impacted against his NEXT's head had he been slower in reacting. He soon directed the cameras to the source, the silver and blue Lancelot unit he had seen the other day in Shinjuku, armed with a sniper rifle with the same color scheme and what appeared to be another version of its sister unit's swords hanging by the cockpit.

"Suzaku, now!" Rai said over their private ASEEC line and the Honorary Britannian moved out from his hiding spot in a flash of white and gold, MVSs at the ready, and almost slashed off one of the Sky Ruler's legs, only Strayed's reflexes saved him from that one and he got a deep, melting gash to the right hip booster, which fortunately remained functional. "I thought we'd get him, but this guy's as good as they come." The amnesiac whistled in approval.

"Less admiring him and more planning Rai, I don't want him to deploy those cannons on his back, it's not healthy for us." Suzaku commented drily, his focus on the black and white unit in front of him. He was sure that guy named Strayed was the one inside it and he wanted answers from him. All that he had told him after Zero rescued him had seemed to be from experience, he wanted to know what had happened to make someone believe what he had said and the only way was to defeat and capture the man, then ask for answers.

"All we have to do is not let him do that." The Club shot one more time before leaving the VARIS Sniper Rifle on the roof of the building Rai used to get the shot and dove downwards to the ground, landing at the side of the Lancelot and unsheathing his personal MVSs. The blades were shorter than Suzaku's but had a special feature that suited him greatly, they could be combined into a double bladed weapon, and he was doing that now. "Let's outmaneuver him like you did in Shinjuku. Slash Harkens don't work against that thick armor but these do, so we have to get a few cuts in with the MVSs or else we'll manage nothing." He paused before adding. "Our priority is to sneak behind him and cut off those cannons."

Hawk allowed himself a small smirk under the helmet as the two sister units enacted their plan, circling around him and using their superior mobility to try and get him before his unit could move, but his recent modifications, while insufficient to match the freedom of movement the experimental Knightmare Frames possessed, were more than enough to dodge their assaults despite the size difference, although the two came really close to hitting him more often than he would have liked, and the melting slashes that started decorating the Sky Ruler's exterior were not welcome in the least.

"I don't know who is piloting each of those things, but they're Lynx material." He muttered as he dodged a double slash from the Lancelot and quick-boosted out of the way of a stab the Club had at the ready, waiting for him. He couldn't deploy the cannons, it took time he didn't have and chances were they'd be sliced off before he could get a decent shot. "Zero, I got our two little friends from the other day occupied on the west, make sure there's some progress on the other sides while I deal with them as best I can… Hopefully, I'll come back alive."

"Very well, I'm counting on you." Lelouch replied as he refocused his attention on the battle raging on the other sides of the Ghetto. The Glory Stars and their new pilot were doing quite well on their side, he could leave them alone as their leader had seemed quite capable when they had talked. In fact, he'd been sending less and less orders to that particular area and they were still managing to keep up without his aid. "Lieutenant Setsuko, I'm leaving the defense of the east side to you as I must focus entirely on the main block, is that a problem?"

"Not a problem I can't handle." She replied with a bit of confidence which made her longtime companions smile. "Just make sure these people live, they're good men and women."

"How bothersome to have two mercenaries telling me the same thing in their first missions at my side." He chuckled, ending the transmission and puzzling the Glory Stars for a second.

"I am all for assuming that Strayed is a mercenary as well, of the good kind apparently. Unlike those Firebug bastards working for Britannia." Toby commented, the last part in anger, as he defeated an enemy unit, making the pilot eject.

"Watch your back, pal!" Rand shouted as he sent a Sutherland that had managed to sneak up on the blond literally flying into the air with a devastating blow from the giant wrench his orange colored Custom Glasgow carried.

"You can't just go around so recklessly either, Darling!" Mele chastised as their new recruit of sorts kicked a Sutherland away from the pair's back and put a bullet in its Factsphere, leaving the pilot no choice but to abandon the fight. "Especially if the new guy, piloting for real for the first time, is the one that has to save you."

"Good job kid!" Rand shouted enthusiastically, giving Shinn a thumbs up and ignoring the reprimand. "How do you like the unit?"

"It handles incredibly well, almost like a part of my own body." Shinn replied, amazement present in his voice. He could do it, he could protect those he cared about while in the cockpit of this Frame, he finally had the power to do it. The boy then glanced at the radar and glared at what it displayed. "More enemies coming!"

"I see them Shinn, two Gloucesters approaching our location from the north along with a small squad of Sutherlands, ten enemies in total." Setsuko informed over the line using her long rage customized Factsphere to distinguish the units.

"Two for each, huh." Denzel mused in a concentrated tone before he noticed something. "The Sutherlands are approaching and the Gloucesters are standing back, that's strange…"

"They want to test us, so they sent the Sutherlands. They probably believe they're so good they can beat us even if we take out their troops." Toby commented smugly.

"Focus." Setsuko commanded from her sniping position, and her tone made everyone obey. "The Gloucesters are colored different from usual, we have to assume they're commanding officers and capable pilots."

"Any idea who those color schemes belong to?" Shinn asked as he narrowed his eyes at the two units before focusing on the ones actually approaching them. "It's how it usually works, right?"

"No idea. Although red and gold is sort of familiar." Denzel replied for everyone else. "And yes, Shinn, it usually works that way when concerning important pilots of the Empire or any military organization."

"Let's just crush these guys and find out who they are afterwards then!" Rand all but shouted, swinging the giant wrench in a menacing gesture that seemed to catch some of the enemies off guard.

"A wrench! He's tearing our forces apart with a goddamn wrench?!" Asakim was laughing like a madman inside his black and red Gloucester at the fact, it was just too good to pass up. "I like the guy already."

"Asakim…" Nonnette started in a patient voice inside her red and gold one as the wrench wielding unit literally crushed a Sutherland with an overhead attack. "We need to see what they can do, not laugh about it."

"Pardon me, but it's just too…" The black haired man stopped himself. "Wait a minute, I know that unit in the back, the one sniping our Sutherlands. Setsuko Ohara's colors and style, we're facing the remains of the Glory Star mercenaries."

"You know her, huh?" The Knight of Nine was somehow sure she did not want to know why or how. "Then you take her and the other blue ones on, I'll take care of the one with the wrench and the black one fighting alongside it."

"Understood." Asakim grinned evilly as the connection was cut and they both moved their machines forward. "How should I torture you today, my dear Setsuko? We haven't seen each other in years, I have a lot of time to make up for." He whispered in glee before releasing a full evil laugh at the top of his lungs.

"So the reports are true? There really is an enemy unit wielding a giant wrench?" Guilford was dumbfounded, as was the rest of the staff and the Princess herself, they just couldn't even begin to understand the logic behind such a thing, yet it was certainly proving to be quite effective in its own right.

"These Elevens surely come up with the most bizarre ideas." Darlton commented with a sigh as he eyed the screen. "We have lost another team in the central area, Your Highness. We aren't making any progress at all."

"Then call back our forces except the ones fighting at the sides." She ordered to the astonishment of the few officers that were not used to being under her command.

"But won't that put the ASEEC units and the Knight of Nine in trouble? They'll be all on their own!" One of them said, but Cornelia only smirked.

"Zero will leave them be, his priority target are the royals so he'll let those fights continue unchecked and use his stolen Sutherland to approach this place and try to get close to me, he'll also try to use a few of his stolen Sutherlands as bait to lure our units into ambushes, Guilford, be ready for it." She explained in a confident tone and her tallest knight bowed before marching towards his Gloucester. "He did the same thing against Clovis if what I gathered from the report is correct."

"You had I thought out this far, Your Highness?" The staff officers were amazed and the Princess saw no reason to reply, letting Darlton issue the command to return to base.

"That's it then? No more insistence from you, sister?" Lelouch mocked with a grin, although he knew what was happening. "To think you would be even easier to defeat than Clovis, how the mighty have fallen."

"I see you persist in jumping headfirst into the enemy trap." C.C. muttered in an unamused voice as she observed Lelouch's Sutherland joining the retreating forces. "Very well, I'll do my part."

"All conditions have been cleared, time to enact the plan." Lelouch had all but forgotten about the fights taking place on the sidelines, all he cared about was Cornelia. Once he and the rest of the soldiers had reached the command center, he opened his communication line with the Yamato Alliance. "N-7, turn on your IFF signal, you're the decoy in our ambush." He commanded as Guilford and two more soldiers sped towards the Ghetto in their Gloucesters.

Unlike what Lelouch had expected, the first thing the Gloucesters did when they reached N-7 was skewer him with their lances and then proceed to wipe out the ambush he laid out. He attempted the trick two more times and it always ended the same way. He had lost half his forces in barely five minutes, he was in shock as a realization dawned on him.

'I was so foolish!' He told himself as he ignored the incoming transmissions from the Yamato Alliance, crying for their dead. 'How could I even compare Cornelia to Clovis?! Was this what Hawk meant? Did I let my first victory get to my head?' The raven haired teen soon calmed down after taking a few deep breaths. 'I have no way to get out of this on my own, and a direct attack using what remains of the Yamato alliance will fail.'

"Attention, Yamato Alliance. Retreat from the fight." Lelouch relayed, having made his decision. "Flee into the tunnels and go to these coordinates, you'll find another Resistance cell there, they'll give you a place to stay."

"Why aren't we pushing forward?" Yamato asked in surprise. "We can still fight."

"Because they know my strategy, which is why your men died today. I apologize for your losses, they were all my fault." He was just saying to make them feel better, or was he? He wasn't sure anymore. Perhaps Strayed was rubbing off on him more than he thought. "This location I'm sending you is the hideout of a few comrades of mine, go there and speak to the man named Ohgi, tell him that Zero sent you." Lelouch commanded over the line. "We'll meet again soon, members of the Yamato Alliance."

"But won't the Britannians resume their attack on the Ghetto if we leave?" Another member asked over the line.

"Unlike Clovis, Cornelia has a sense of honor. She has deemed this battle, except the skirmishes happening at the sides, to be over and even if her trap to catch me does not succeed she will not reengage hostilities." Zero explained patiently, knowing his sister would act that same way he had just described.

"Understood." The leader replied with a hint of gratefulness. "We have lost a lot of good men today, and hundreds of civilians, but we would have lost far more had you not been here. It'll be a pleasure to work alongside you in the future, Zero."

"Likewise, Yamato." He replied before cutting off that particular communication line. "Strayed, are you fine?"

"Been better." The Lynx grunted as he moved his unit out of the Lancelot's reach only to run into the Club and barely managing to quick-boost away in time to avoid a slash that would have cut his back-mounted cannons in half. "What about you?"

"The Yamato Alliance is evacuating to Ohgi's hideout." Lelouch explained with a bit of nervousness, he knew he was sitting in the wolf's den unarmed and just waiting to be eaten. "Stop holding back, show them what you can do and get me out of here. Cornelia has predicted my moves and has me trapped among her forces, if you attack and throw them into disarray I can escape using the commotion."

"Got it, Zero." He replied, holstering the rifles much to the surprise of the two Devicers and activating his Laser Blades. They wanted close quarters, he'd give it to them.

He then kicked the boosters to their full power, leaving the scientists watching the battle for the Data gathering and the two Devicers to gape as he shot to the skies and hovered over them, well out of the reach of the Slash Harkens or anything they could throw at him. The Lynx proceeded to deploy the Sirius cannons, taking careful aim on the enemy units and shooting at each with a blast from one of his weapons. The Lancelots moved out of the way, each in one different direction, and found some sort of rockets staring at them in the face as they did.

"Oh, crap." Rai muttered as the Flash Rockets released a burst of blinding light and he felt the kick the Sky Ruler rewarded his unit with sending him backwards onto the ground and then a double slash from the Laser Blades that severed both of his unit's arms.

"You two are incredible opponents." Hawk complimented as he Quick-boosted towards the Lancelot and slashed both arms apart as well before kicking it to the side towards its sister unit. "But, as much as I'd enjoy fighting you for hours on end, I have better things to do right now."

"What?" Suzaku wondered aloud. Why was this guy leaving them to live when he had killed so many others in Shinjuku and here? It made no sense to him, just like everything he had told him the other day.

"Make no mistake." Strayed stated, drawing on the little speech Thermidor had given him when Strayed and the ORCA Leader's alter-ego, Otsdarva, had gotten into a fight after that mission in Shanghai which had ended in a duel that Hawk had lost, he was still a rookie and the Eternal was no match for Stasis in any way, shape or form. "The only reason I'm letting you live is because fighting you was challenging. Besides, you two can make good in this world, or so I believe, I can only hope the path you take will be the one allowing that to happen." He smirked before adding. "We'll meet again."

And with that, the Sky Ruler took to the air, leaving behind two dumbfounded teenagers that were perfectly aware they had been pardoned for a reason they did not quite understand yet. Downcast and exhausted, both of the Devicers felt the adrenalin rush leave them and the feeling of unconsciousness take over.

Strayed sent a short message to C.C., asking her to go through with her plan and get Lelouch out of the mess for him after getting a mental kick through his instinct, telling him there was another place where he should be right now, and a look at the radar told him exactly where it was.

Meanwhile, inside the ASEEC transport, Lloyd was torn between promising swift murder for the damage dealt to his precious units and swearing torture and slow death for creating a flying unit before he had managed to have the Gawain's plans approved by Camelot's head researcher, Aim Liared. There was still a big flaw in his design of the flying Frame and he just couldn't figure out what it was that prevented him to get enough energy to make it work properly.

"It was flying through the sheer power of its boosters…" Cécile was astounded at that. No matter how hard they tried, they had never managed to produce a way to support the theory that claimed that upwards thrust was a possible means of flight for a Knightmare or something even bigger. Or so they thought, since the Black Titan had proven that supposition wrong not even a minute ago.

"Perhaps that is the reason it's so freaking huge." A technician commented, and that made Lloyd's eyes widen in realization. "To have enough of those boosters to actually lift itself and carry the power source that allows it to move."

"Of course, how could I be so stupid?!" The scientist shouted, startling everyone around him. "I'll be in my office, Cécile. Make sure Suzaku and Rai take a rest and the Lancelots are repaired once we retrieve them. I have some finishing touches to add to the Gawain. Lord Liared will not be able to say no today." He added with a short, amused laugh.

Outside the transport, all Sutherlands were standing to attention in front of the Command Center, and Lelouch was close to having a heart attack. Cornelia had left no hole for him to slip through and she had already started to order the soldiers to come out of their units one by one. His turn was approaching and with each second the black haired teen was getting more and more nervous.

'Dammit Strayed, how long are you going to take to actually get here?' A certain raven haired teenager thought frantically.

"You, come out of your Knightmare. It's your turn." General Darlton's voice boomed outside Lelouch's Sutherland, snapping him out of his thoughts. He had no one to blame for this but himself because, despite all he had said, he had ended up being impulsive and not thinking things through enough before jumping into the obvious trap.

"There is a problem with my hatch…" He started, making it up as he went and hoping to gain time. "It was damaged in the fight."

"Then turn around, we'll open it for you." Guilford was the one that spoke now, after having confirmed the retreat of the Yamato Alliance he had returned to the Command Center and was helping Darlton out.

'Damn you Cornelia! And damn you, Hawk, for failing me when I needed you the most!' The teen mentally seethed as he started to turn the Frame around, slowly, trying to gain time.

"It's Zero! Zero's over there!" A soldier shouted as he pointed to the top of a nearby building where Zero, in all his masked glory and caped flamboyancy, was standing and looking smug, as if he had won.

Lelouch decided not to ponder on who the hell had taken his suit and mask and saved him, he instead allowed himself a sigh of relief and was one of the first units to move and attempt the 'capture' of the masked terrorist, who theatrically jumped backwards from the building, staging a game of hide and seek between him and the soldiers. The Exiled Prince soon deactivated his IFF and left the Sutherland behind as he entered the sewers he had planned to use for his escape.

"So, we come to a draw then. Haven't we, Zero?" Cornelia mused as she received reports of having lost sight of the target. The Black Titan had also managed to snatch a victory, revealing a surprising ability to actually fly and defeating the two ASEEC units using the surprise and flash grenades before retreating. The Knight of Nine and Asakim were still engaging the enemies in the east, but they had requested no assistance to be sent unless they asked for it, they could handle it, and Cornelia was more than happy to let them. Any reason to stay out of Nonnette's bad side was a good reason in her book.

"It would seem he has slipped away from our troops." Darlton admitted, looking down at the floor.

"It does not matter." The Princess stated with a laugh. "I haven't had a worthy opponent in ages, it's nice to have someone that can outmaneuver me once."

"But he just defeated us, this is an unsightly defeat for Britannia itself!" One of the staff officers shouted.

"And not only that, why aren't we continuing the destruction of the Ghetto now that Zero and his forces have left it unprotected?!"

"I challenged Zero to a duel of sorts, and he came and faced me on my own terms." The Witch of Britannia explained with a glare. "This is my way of showing my recognition of his skill, any further attack on the Ghetto will be considered smearing my name. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Everyone replied in unison.

"All we have to do now is wait for Lady Nonnette and Sir Asakim to come back." Guilford muttered as he stood faithfully by his Princess and eyed the screen displaying the battle on the east side of the Ghetto, being sent by a Sutherland Factsphere they had remotely activated. "I've sent them the order to retreat and a few troops to convince them just in case."

Rand, Mele and Shinn were in trouble, and most importantly, they knew it. Whoever was piloting the red machine was good and his unit was better than theirs, even with Rand's modifications. The Knight of Nine, on the other hand, was certainly complimenting her opponents for their skill, even if the black one acted like a rookie most of the time, he had good reflexes. And the huge orange one and its wrench were a threat despite how ridiculous it sounded, period.

"No wonder the Glory Stars was such a famous group if they had people as skillful as these in their ranks." Nonnette mused as she dodged the barrage from the black Glasgow's rifle and used a Slash Harken to disarm him. She was still playing around though, mostly.

"Dammit!" Shinn seethed as his only weapon apart from his Harkens was blown away. "Let's see how you like them!" He sent his own Harkens after the Gloucester, but the red unit evaded it without any trouble. "I can't hit it!"

"Get back, kid!" Rand commanded authoritatively, he was the senior officer, so to speak. "Or better yet, get out of here like the rest of the Yamato Alliance, we have the coordinates Zero gave them after all."

"But…" Shinn started.

"No buts, you get the hell out of here or I make you." Rand stated angrily, his Glasgow gripping the giant wrench with both hands. "Now go!"

"Way to pump him up, Darling!" Mele giggled as she got ready for the fight.

Shinn obeyed, leaving the orange Frame behind, and passed by the battle the three blue Glasgows were fighting against the black and red Gloucester. He considered lending a hand and not just running away just as it became a two on one battle due to Toby being impaled by the black lance carried by their enemy.

"Toby!" Setsuko shouted as she fired bullet after bullet at the black Gloucester, but it always seemed to dodge her just fine no matter how much time she took in predicting the moves and aiming. It was almost as if it knew what she would do… "Denzel! Get away!"

"Denzel!" Shinn cried as the other blue Glasgow met the same fate as his companion. He hadn't known them much but they had been good people, they hadn't deserved to die like this.

"Ah, poor Setsuko!" A sick and twisted voice came over a short range open channel, a channel Nonnette and Rand's units, caught up in their battle and far as they were, were not receiving. "She has lost her team once more." A short yet disturbing laugh was heard before the voice added in a mocking tone. "Poor, poor maiden, destined to forever be in tears."

"Asakim Dowin!" Setsuko spat the name in both fear and anger as her face was covered in tears, tears of loss. "Today will be the day I end you! In the name of everyone you've killed!"

"Oh, but I was just there." The voice complained mockingly as he dodged bullet after bullet, closing in on the girl's unit at the same time. "The one that put them against me, the one responsible for their deaths… is you, my dear Setsuko."

"You bastard!" She shouted as she kept trying to hit him, only to find his Gloucester glaring down at her faster than she had expected.

"Time for a nap, my dear maiden." Asakim said in an overly sweet yet terrifying voice as he readied his lance to run her through. "We'll have a long talk when you wake up, like the good old days. I'll hear your screams again after so long, it's almost giving me goose-bumps!"

Shinn couldn't take it any longer and finally moved, slamming his unit against the black Gloucester and making it lose footing and fall. Setsuko could only stare as the black Glasgow stood in front of her, as if to protect her. Inside that thing was only a sixteen year old in his first battle, how could she have let the kid take that place as her protector? She forced herself to be strong and moved her unit to a standing position, ready to keep fighting.

"Setsuko, we have to escape. We can't beat them." Rand reached her over the Glory Stars' channel.

"Oh, it seems Lady Enneagram let a rat get away. Too bad, for the rat in question that is." Asakim voiced over the open channel, referring to Shinn. "I'm a lot more thorough in my disposing of pests than she is."

"Well, good for you!" Strayed's voice reached over the open channel as the massive unit landed and dashed at Asakim's Gloucester, Laser Blades active and soon ripping the Gloucester's favored weapon apart like a hot knife through butter. "Now, let's see what happens when you are dealt with as the pest."

"And the masked hero's slave makes his appearance at the last possible moment." Asakim provoked, drawing the MVS the ASEEC had equipped his Gloucester with at his request. Nonnette had opted for something more inclined to ranged combat but slaughtering his enemies with melee weaponry was Asakim's specialty and hobby. "A pity you were a little late to save anyone... like the guys over there."

The black Gloucester's Slash Harkens flew through the air and hit a nearby building, making one of the floors collapse. The sick man had directed their attention to it and the three of them clearly saw a group of civilians be crushed under the rubble of the shelter he had just destroyed.

"Mom… Dad…" Shinn's voice was broken, there was no other way to describe it as a certain scene replayed in his brain while he watched in horror. "Mayu…"

"You sick bastard!" Strayed growled as he prepared to move in for a fast kill. The guy did not deserve to breathe any longer but SKAI's long range radar soon made him change his opinion as he got the sheer number of enemies approaching, probably due to him being sighted. He could keep fighting, but two of the people with him were right now sitting ducks due to traumatic experiences.

Rand's orange Custom Glasgow soon landed by their side that instant as Asakim gained distance and Nonnette landed by his side, not knowing what the man had been up to. The two groups looked at one another, waiting impatiently to see who would make the first move.

"Get ready to run for it, we cannot win this." Strayed told them over the com. "Cornelia has grown impatient after seeing me here, she's sending all the troops she has. We need to get away, so when I fire the flash rockets, run for the subway and wait for me at the cross between the Shinjuku and Saitama lines. I trust the kid there knows where that is."

"The name's Shinn, Shinn Asuka." The black haired teen replied with a hint of resentment as he hid the pain he was in as best he could through sheer will power, he could cry later. "And I know where that is, I'll lead them there."

"Good, now go!" He ordered as he fired the rockets which detonated in a blinding flash of light that prevented Nonnette and Asakim from reacting to their escape. "I'll be going too." Hawk whispered, seeing the amount of troops coming to get him and deciding it was not the time or the place to face them. He chose to take an alternate route, just in case he was followed. He'd just stop on the way and eliminate anyone foolish enough to do so

Meanwhile, inside the tunnel he was using to escape, Lelouch found himself finally face to mask with the Zero that had saved his life, the exiled Prince glared as C.C. took off the mask and let her green hair flow freely behind her, a knowing smirk displayed on her face and amusement in her eyes.

"You could have done that sooner." He accused, not beating around the bush.

"And let you come out of it without a lesson learned?" She cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "I wanted you to realize that what you did, despite how confident in yourself you were, was as foolish as walking in naked into the lion's den during their lunch time. Even Strayed agreed to my idea when I told him."

"So he was in on this as well." Lelouch laughed dryly. "I nearly had a nervous breakdown because of you two."

"It was for the best, as I'm sure you've learned a good lesson out of it." The girl said mischievously.

"That I have, I'll admit it." Lelouch finally conceded after a full minute of silence, he could rant about unequal footing and whine about his loss, but that did not mean he had not learned anything from it. "No matter how hard I try, I need something that can level the field. Hawk already told me that even when we did not know each other this well." He ran a hand through his hair as if he was berating himself for not truly listening to the mercenary. "I need to fight Britannia on its terms, and to do that I need an army, a people… and a nation." He added with a fire in his eyes that made C.C. giggle.

"I've said in over and over." C.C. smiled coyly as she paced around her contractor. "You're a truly fascinating man, Lelouch Vi Britannia… or rather, Zero." She added, handing over the mask that was becoming so well-known through the media and all over the world. "I do wonder what changes you'll bring to this world."

On the Britannian Capital of Pendragon, the Emperor was receiving an unusual visitor. While his son Schneizel, the most promising of the bunch, tended to deal with the mundane affairs as Charles called them, whatever Aim Liared brought to his attention was never a waste of time, or anything he wanted his blond descendant to catch wind of without having heard it first himself. The head of the Knightmare research Department known as Camelot, the man behind all the ASEEC special units and experimental Frames and the only person alive capable of rattling Lloyd Asplund with his mere presence.

"Your Majesty, it has been a long time since we last met." The white haired, dichromatic lead scientist was kneeling in front of the man considered the most powerful human on the planet.

"Indeed it has, Lord Liared." Charles replied in his usual, powerful booming voice. "What brings you here, you tend to spend most of your time in your research."

"That is exactly what brings me here." The man set his eyes, one azure and the other purple, on the Emperor's visage. "Or rather, something that has unexpectedly appeared in Camelot."

"Appeared?" The ruler repeated the unusual word with mild surprise. "As if out of thin air?"

"That is the most surprising part." Aim explained with an excited grin on his face. "It happened little over two weeks ago. There was a blinding flash of green light and this… structure, for lack of a better term, appeared out of thin air."

"And you did not report this sooner because…?" A childish voice asked from behind Charles throne before a small boy with long blond hair that he was dragging all over the floor dressed regally walked out from the shadows of said throne.

"I see Lord V.V. is here as well." The kneeling man commented. "My reason was fairly simple, I determined that before making an accurate report, investigating this… thing would be necessary, and so I commanded extreme discretion on the matter by death penalty and led a team to investigate it."

"And what did you find?" Charles asked, now more than mildly curious, but few would notice it in his voice.

"Among other things, computers… which we have had a hard time cracking and only just recently managed to get inside, although we only reached rather limited information as they're all heavily protected through various layers, each more complicated than the previous one to bypass." Aim replied nervously and starting to sweat a bit. "What I say now may be considered an insult to your person due to how ridiculous it sounds, but I, and many others, believe what we have found to be alien in origin."

For five seconds everything stood still and silent inside the throne room, one would have heard even the slightest sound and considered it a deafening explosion in that short period of time. And that explosion would have soon been dwarfed by the Emperor's roaring laughter at what he had just heard.

"Regardless of my skepticism concerning your ideas, Lord Liared." Charles started once he had gotten himself under control. Not many had the guts to simply walk up to the Emperor of Britannia and start uttering nonsense unless said nonsense had a foundation or they were downright suicidal like Lelouch had been that day seven years ago. And he was sure that wherever Aim Liared was concerned, the second option was impossible. "I am inclined to ask what would make you and other members of Camelot think that way."

"There were several files and other information regarding a type of energy we had never heard about and its effects and uses." The scientist explained, sweating slightly but glad he wasn't bleeding on the floor just yet. "Similar, yet different from Sakuradite. And if our initial impressions are anything to go by, incredibly useful for weaponry. We're investigating if we can replicate this energy in any way to advance our projects as we try to get further into the computer systems."

"I see." V.V. smiled, seeing the possibilities. While he was not sure about alien life, and neither was Charles, a new source of energy might help accelerate their plans to gain control over all the Geass Temples and bring about the Ragnarok Connection. Or at least get that part out of the way and focus on chasing C.C. with all their resources for a change. "What do you think, Charles?"

"The answer is simple, Big Brother." The Emperor replied with a hearty chuckle. "Lord Liared will continue his investigations and will keep trying to uncover more information out of that structure as he has called it. If there are any weapons that will hasten our plans stored among all the data, we will use them as well." He then set his eyes upon the head of Camelot. "You will keep this a secret until we have learned more, no one outside of Camelot is to know of this. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Aim replied with a sigh of relief at being able to leave the place alive. "I will inform you if we find something else. Although it will take some time, since I must attend the Sakuradite rights conference taking place in Area 11 this weekend."

"Very well. Now leave us, Lord Liared." Charles commanded, and the white haired scientist obeyed. "What do you think of this?"

"I say we should wait and see where it leads." V.V. replied with a giggle. "It does sound interesting, and Lord Liared is a most interesting person as well."

"I find myself agreeing with you, Brother." The Emperor smiled, keeping up his façade of still trusting the immortal. And he would trust him, had he not lied about the identity of the man that killed his dear Marianne, himself. Still, V.V. would live, at least until Charles was sure he had outlived his usefulness and he could take his Brother's Code for himself.

And there, chapter's over. Here's hoping you liked it, I had a lot of fun with it. I do believe Cornelia's and Lelouch's actions to be in character here but I hope I'm not the only one who thinks like that.

Next chapter, the Black Knights arrive, but now it's time to reply to your reviews:

brave kid: Thanks, glad you liked it. Hope you liked this one as well.

RoyalTwinFangs: My plan's to leave the BK outfits as they are, so no. About a better picture, the thing is all I have is a hand-held camera to photograph the screen with and that does have its limits. If there's anyone with a copy of ACFA and a way to screenshot the Sky Ruler at all, please contact me for it.

Sieben Nightwing: I tried what you suggested on this chapter, did it help? I also took your advice and changed a bit of last chapter to justify the increase in troops, thanks for the input and here's hoping you liked this one as well.

N7Warrior93: Thanks, here's hoping you enjoyed it.

cj1of4: Kind of a twist, wasn't it?

The JLF are going to be in for a big surprise when the battle of Narita happens, especially because both sides are still going to gear up further. Also, since it's Britannian Military Rai, he does seem like a Suzaku 2.0, but the differences are going to be apparent soon in the following chapters.

Criticanon: Rai's a bit hard to write, I'll admit, but not too much since he's kind of the silent type. I plan for Xing-Ke to show up on R2, so he's going to be around, I assure you.

Scientific Savior of Earth: To be fair, it was my assumption that the seventh generation Frames Prototypes and Ace designs such as the Gawain, Lancelot, Gurren, Shen-Hu etc. all use the same system that synchronizes pilot and unit that's present on the Lancelot. I think there are enough similarities between that and the AMS, which is what I believe you are referring to, to guarantee that those capable of handling said machines have that special trait Lynxs possess. This will be further explained in the story.