"Lelouch."- speaking
'Shit.'- thoughts
"Roger."- Radio/Walkie-Talkie
Former Japanese Liberation Front base command center, Narita Mountain, April, 2018.
"Okay, so we've set up in here and have the entirety of the former base under our control. The issue now is to make sure that no Britannian forces find this site and attack it before we're ready." Zero said.
"You have that right, Zero. Besides, until we can confirm that Rei can make it through to us, we're on our own." Tohdoh noted.
"Rei can read minds, and just like how my Geass doesn't work on Celenia Cornwallis, Rei is incapable of reading her thoughts. How long did he say until he gets here?"
"About two more days. Also, we've received unconfirmed reports that the Emperor himself will be arriving in Area Eleven at the end of the month along with the Crown Prince, Odysseus."
'Fuck! This will complicate things later!' Zero thought to himself before he said, "Please verify theose reports before we make our next move. Also, how is Xingke doing right now on Hokkaido?"
"He's managed to push back several attempts by Britannian forces to retake the island. Although our raid on the Advanced Special Envoy Enginerring Corps was successful, Cornelia has managed to create a beachhead for a possible counterattack on the Chinese Federation near Shanghai. The Home Guard forces are putting up a tough fight, but the Knight of Seven is using the recently-repaied Avalon to help her hold out until reinforcements can arrive. In the meantime, Taizo and Harsha have been holding onto Kyushu."
Zero knew that Rei would be useful as an ally, but his ability to read minds was a Geass attributed to someone that he could not remember. Then again, C.C. had not yet been given the opportunity to restore Zero's memories as Lelouch. Thinking back on Rolo, Zero was aware that Haliburton had no Geass despite the fact that he had told them about the Order and its base in the Sanctuary, now controlled by the Black Knights. Aside from Rolo, every last member of the Geass Order except for a young girl had been killed during the Black Knights' assault. That girl, Zero found out, was named Alice and according to information that Jeremiah had, she was the personal Knight of Viceroy Nunnally.
When the Chinese Federation had launched their new invasion of Area Eleven, the Black Knights had already weakened the defenses of important military targets on both the Hokkaido and Kyushu Island, aiding the Chinese troops in taking them. The Susanoo, which had been completed only one week ago, had proved to be insturmental in defeating the defense forces on Kyushu. The ship was created with advanced defenses that rendered it immune to regular weapons and even Hadron Blasts and Radiation weapons wouldn't hurt it. Even better, it used two Druid Systems for its power, with one of them for the ship's security systems and engines while another one handled weaponry and radar.
Meanwhile near Kyoto, Rei had just evaded a patrolling squadron of Gloucesters in a white-painted one that he was piloting and began his journey to Narita. Apparently Zero would be there along with Celenia Cornwallis. Rei's mind went back to when he had been called Mao, specifically after he had recovered from being shot by the police. It was after he had escaped that Lelouch had approached Mao and convinced him to go through with a ridiculously convoluted plan to make C.C. believe that he was dead.
The plan detailed that somone who looked like Mao would attempt to kidnap Lelouch's sister Nunnally and hold her underneath Ashford Academy and Lelouch would entertain the body double by playing along with whatever weird idea that the double decided on while the real Mao escaped to Mongolia. Once in Mongolia, Mao was to keep a low profile until a figure named Zero parleyed with then-Viceroy Cornelia to allow the Black Knights to leave Area Eleven. Using the relative calm that would be in that location for six months, Mao would then sneak back into Area Eleven and keep to the countryside until the Chinese Federation declared war on the Holy Britannian Empire. Mao was tempted to not agree when Lelouch said that it was the first half of the plan, but Lelouch mentioned that so long as Emperor Charles zi Britannia lived, the orphan could not live in peace with C.C. Lelouch then explained that although he had commited many sins, they were small stuff compared to the numerous atrocities that the 98th Emperor of Britannia had committed.
As to the second half of the plan, after the Chinese Federation declared war on Britannia, Mao was to make contact with the Black Knights and join them as a spy. His duties were to spy on Britannian military officials and relay any important Intel back to the Black Knights until Kyushu and Hokkaido had been invaded. After the two islands were captured, Mao was to act as a Knightmare pilot for the Black Knights. Lelouch said that to Mao that if he agreed, he could be with C.C. forever in Australia. It was a ridiculously convoluted plan that Lelouch expected Mao to say no to, but the orphan surprisingly agreed to it all, even when Lelouch said that while in the Black Knights, C.C. was to be referred to as Celenia Cornwallis while Mao himself was called Rei.
Rei was shaken out of his reverie when he heard a radio transmission that said, "We have reason to suspect that Rei was seen in this area. All teams, be on the lookout for a white Gloucester and notify HQ immediately should you see one." From the tone of the voice being transmitted, Rei knew that Schneizel was searching for him. Of course, Rei's Gloucester was a unique one equipped with a Chameleon Unit, a stealth system that would allow a Knightmare to blend in with its surroundings.
A/N: And now I've made Lelouch/Zero out to be a Manipulative Bastard on par with Mephiles the Dark. Seriously, the whole plan Lelouch set out with Mao was so ridiculously complex that almost anyone who knew would just assume it would fail.