"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

Aftermath

Lelouch

Lelouch smirked as he signed the formal agreement with Euphemia, several hours passing since the public gathering at the stadium. The conference room in the palace, in the Tokyo Settlement, was full of people, Tohdoh, Ohgi and Kallen there as Black Knights representatives, Cornelia there with her knight and generals. Euphie stood at the head of the table, Suzaku behind her, keeping an eye on Zero. Other bureaucrats were in the room, and he couldn't help but wonder what Schniezel and his father thought of this.

Cornelia was deeply scowling, her people also not exactly happy at the terms. 'They would have done way worse if they had control.' Euphemia had thankfully set the terms, Cornelia only there as the Viceroy of Area 11. He had managed to get the terms to mostly what he wanted, acting under Euphemia's control rather than Britannia's directly. The Black Knights did have to do some disarming, but he had plans.

"My plan won't be easy, but I trust all of you to make everyone under you understand." He took a deep breath. The rest of the Black Knight command sat in bated breath, curious to see what their commander had in mind. Lelouch placed a hand down on the table, "I am going to place us directly under the control of my sister. And before any of you complain, it is our best play. She is idealistic to a fault and won't drag us into Britannia conflicts. We can then at least position ourselves as protecting the Japanese people, not Britannian servants."

The teenager looked at Diethard, "I need you to whip up a propaganda campaign giving us that image. Can I you do that?"

Diethard just grinned, "Almost certainly. I'll send requests for materials that I need." Lelouch could see the challenge in Diethard's eyes, and resisted grinning at pushing the right button in the man. Lelouch nodded and another question came his way from Ohgi.

"What if they ask us to disarm? That would hurt our capabilities." Tohdoh and Kaguya looked at him expectantly at this point.

With a flourish, Lelouch responded to his second-in-command, "Good question Ohgi." Lelouch pulled out a flashdrive, plugging it into the projector and turning it on, a map of Japan with several red dots over it, "I expect them to make that a condition, at least to some degree, so we have to prepare. We will publicly dispose of some knightmares to maintain a good face, but we will secretly move forces to these locations in preparation for a future invasion of Japan or if we are betrayed."

The high command looked at the map amazed, Lelouch continuing, "Development will continue under Rakshata, working at hidden facilities. We will have agents infiltrate and try to steal as much new tech ideas as we can."

Tohdoh studied the map, humming under his breath, before speaking, "And what about the other resistance groups? There are still a few around."

Lelouch nodded at that, looking at the map, then back at everyone else, "That is an unfortunate reality. We will most likely not be able to help, but if we find them out first, I will send out agents to bring them in our fold. If they don't, we let Britannia deal with them. Hopefully Kaguya and I will be able to convince the rest of the Six Houses to cut off any funding to anyone else when we explain our plan."

Kaguya smiled, and responded, "We can certainly get that done. But you said before that you were preparing for a potential invasion by Britannia? They already own the islands. Why would they invade?"

Kallen spoke up this time, a little shaky as she began to explain, "Lelouch's brother and father know the threat he poses. So while we look like we are giving in, I and Zero have no doubt they have plans to just crush the Black Knights when we either make a big enough mistake or they feel the SAZ has done its purpose. Princess Euphemia's SAZ is likely to collapse eventually under Britannian policy, so we want to be ready."

Lelouch could see Ohgi and Tamaki look at Kallen with some amazement, clearly not expecting her to take a leading role in making this plan. Lelouch gave her a proud smile, and she blushed slightly, stepping back to let him take the lead again.

Ohgi raised his hand, speaking up, "And what about Black Knight recruits? Won't we be hit bad by this?"

Lelouch nodded, "An unfortunate necessity, but hopefully our propaganda will minimize it, along with protecting the SAZ. My hope and expectation is if Britannia acts aggressively, we will have a surge of recruits ready to fight for Japan. I have statement drafts prepared for Diethard to go over. We will have to maintain a secret army under their nose, which we will have to setup under heavy secrecy."

He looked around the room, everyone taking the info in, "Any questions?"

Kaguya giggled, "The Black Knights being public heroes. I would never have expect that. But only Zero could lead us to that."

Tamaki just laughed and looked at Lelouch, "You may be a Brit, but that's the Zero I remember." Kallen just rolled her eyes, but smiled, Lelouch smirking at the reaction. The rest of the Black Knights gave their approval to the plan, and Lelouch gave a sigh at all of the prep he would have to do in the next couple days.

Euphemia walked up to Lelouch, a warm smile on her face, "Welcome to the SAZ! I hope our partnership is fruitful." She offered her hand, which Lelouch shook firmly.

"As do I, Princess Euphemia." Lelouch couldn't help but smile a bit, hoping this didn't turn out bad for him. There was an atmosphere of reluctant acceptance, both sides clearly having issues, but the rest of the delegations shook hands, or at the very least pretended they were willing to go along with this.

Euphemia looked at the delegation that were in the back of the room, cameras flashing as reporters in the room took photos and video of the historic event, "I thank all of your for being here! I hope we can find middle ground where we all can work together!" She then turned her attention to the reporters, "I and Zero will be answering questions in a short while in the A3 conference room. Security will lead you there."

Britannian soldiers guided them out, Cornelia gesturing for Darlton and Guilford to go with them. They silently took her order, Guildford giving her a slightly concerned look, but she seemed to miss it, focusing on Zero.

Zero looked to his men, "All of you, report to your base. Q1, staying with me."

Kallem responded evenly, "Understood, Zero." The rest of the Black Knights responded affirmatively as both the Black Knights and Britannians filtered out of the room. As Lelouch began to confidently walk to the door, following behind Suzaku and Euphemia, his shoulder was grabbed from behind.

He turned around to see Cornelia looking at him intensely, her purple eyes almost look through his mask. Kallen tensed, ready to act, but Lelouch raised his hand, stopping her, "Hello Viceroy. How may I help you?"

Cornelia's voice was almost a growl, clearly trying to control her anger, "I want to meet with you in private." Lelouch raised an eyebrow under his mask, hoping she was aware how that could be suspicious. Kallen tensed up again, his girlfriend bristling. She took his silence with an annoyed huff, "I promise on my honor as a soldier to not kill you. I just have some private concerns."

Lelouch nodded. 'If anything matters to her, it's her honor as soldier.' Granted she was willing to do anything for Britannia, but she would never hurt her sister's dreams intentionally. 'And it's the perfect opportunity to get her alone.' Lelouch nodded, "Lead the way, Cornelia li Britannia."

Kallen looked at him, concerned, "Zero…"

"Don't worry Q1. She means me no harm." Kallen grumbled, but fell in behind him, Lelouch following behind Cornelia as her heels clicked down the hallway, leading to her office. Lelouch gestured to Kallen to stay outside, and followed Cornelia inside, the woman standing in the middle of it.

It was nicely decorated, full of his half-sisters war trophies and pictures of her with her men. Her nice wooden desk was relatively bare, a computer taking up the center of it. The thing that drew his attention was a picture of Euphemia and Cornelia a few years previous, both smiling. Lelouch may despise his family, but he couldn't deny his sister earned the respect she gained from her men, along with how much she loved her sister. 'It also helps that we aren't enemies at the moment.'

Cornelia glared at Lelouch, her arms crossed over her generous chest, "Zero, I don't like this, but if you hurt my sister, or take advantage of her, there will be nowhere you can escape me."

Lelouch just ignored the glare, speaking plainly, "Viceroy, I gave my word to work with your sister. We just want to protect Japan." It wasn't the whole truth, but it was an easy lie to say.

Cornelia looked him down, examining him for any falsehoods, but for once, he wasn't lying. She scowled and exhaled from her nose heavily, "I can't believe I have to work with Zero."

Lelouch smirked and replied evenly, "And I can't believe I have to work with the Witch of Britannia." He chuckled, "You two sisters have been the closest to defeating me. I give you that."

Cornelia narrowed her eyes, but didn't rise to the bait, "That is all I wanted. You may go."

Lelouch's eye slot slid away, and his geass flared, "You will answer my questions!"

Cornelia's expression went dull, and she nodded, a red ring around her eyes, "Yes, my lord."

Lelouch took a deep breath, "Did you kill Marianne vi Britannia?"

"No." There was very little emotion in her voice and Lelouch's eyes widened. 'She didn't kill her? Then who did?'

His voice picked up in intensity, "Then do you know what did? What happened?"

"I don't know. I was her head guard and she told me to pull all security. She seemed to be expecting someone." She paused and continued, "Her body was moved with the help of Schniezel on the orders of father. After that, I have no idea."

Lelouch balled his fists. 'Schniezel! Of course he's involved!' His brother was out of reach and now he was no closer to finding out what happened. 'How deep does this go?' He let the geass fade, Cornelia's expression full of confusion before scowling at Lelouch. The alarm in the palace then suddenly went off, and her eyes widened, "The palace is under attack! What did you do?!"

Lelouch looked on in shock, wondering who was attacking them. 'There is no one who can get this far into Britannian defenses!' Her anger turned to Lelouch, but seeing his shock, her anger faded to confusion, calling to the control room, "Who the hell is attacking us?!"

Kallen

The Black Knight ace braced herself against the wall as an explosion rocked the palace. 'What the hell is going on?!' Opening the door to the Viceroy's office, she saw Cornelia angrily looking down at the ground, her boyfriend looked at Cornelia.

Moving near Lelouch, she saw him look towards her as she stood by his side, "What's going on?"

Cornelia answered the question for her, "What do you mean unmarked Sutherlands and Gloucesters?! And they are in the settlement?! Get the Glaston Knights and the rest of the defense forces moving! I'm heading to the hangar now!"

She looked back up at Zero, taking in that Kallen was there, but focusing on the masked man, letting out a breath, "While I can't command you, I suggest you send your men to engage these unknown knightmares in the settlement."

Lelouch nodded, "Any information I should know?" Kallen really did want to know what these people were doing and who they were. 'How did they get Britannian knightmares?'

Cornelila shook her head, "Not very much. Initial defense forces have taken a beating. Enemy numbers seem to be at least a couple dozen. They seem to have some sort of large flying unit, and its tearing through my men."

Lelouch turned with a flourish, "My bodyguard and I will handle that flying unit. I also request the right to use Suzaku Kururgi to assist us."

Cornelia nodded, Kallen seeing her going fully into commander mode, "While technically I have no right, I'll tell my sister."

"Thank you." Lelouch walked out of the room as Cornelia went the opposite direction of them, yelling out orders, the palace full of people running to safety. Kallen walked beside Lelouch as he called out orders through his radio, ordering Tohdoh to lead forces into the settlement. Looking out a window, she could see smoke rising from the Tokyo Settlement, and an active warzone in the leadup to the palace.

The guns of the palace were doing their job of keeping the enemy down, but the defense forces were not doing well. For every one enemy that went down, two or three Britannian knightmares would go down. 'Let's see how these Glaston Knights do. Looks like they need them.' In the distance, she could see a large orange U-shaped knightmare, several large green spikes coming out of them, looking like giant slash harkens. She looked up at Lelouch, able to tell his shoulders were tense. With an even voice, she spoke to her boyfriend, "What do you think of this?"

Lelouch hummed then responded, "Whoever this is, they somehow managed to sneak up on both us and the Britannians. It's strange to work besides Cornelia, but only Suzaku and I can fly, so we need all the aces to deal with this…new machine." He looked past a window, seeing the machine in the distance, and picked up his pace.

The two of them reached their knightmares after a few more minutes of running, Lelouch out of breath as he reached the Gawain. Kallen entered her cockpit the usual way, leaning forward as her screens lit up, opening up communications with Lelouch. CC and her boyfriend's face appeared. CC spoke up, her usual dry tone, "Took you two long enough. Were you making out while there was an attack?"

Lelouch growled at her, "We have more important things to do, witch." CC just smirked and the Gawain lit up, Kallen moving towards it as it towered over her knightmare. The arm of the Gawain came under the feet of the Guren, the redhead resting an arm on the shoulder of the flying Knightmare. 'Would love to get some wings of my own.'

As they headed towards the city, the sensation of flying not under her own power strange, the Lancelot flew beside them, opening up a line of communications, "Zero, what is the plan?" Kallen kept her connection audio only, trying to avoid the Britannians IDing her.

Lelouch spoke confidently, "We need to take down this new machine. Once we defeat it, we'll assist fight in the settlement while you join the rest of Britannian forces."

Suzaku's expression was conflicted, but it hardened, him nodding, "Understood." There was a pause, and he spoke again, his voice low, "Working side by side with Zero. This is the future she wants?"

"If it means anything, I mean no harm to your Princess. I will hold my end of the deal." Kallen smirked at seeing Suzaku blush Euphemia being called "his princess", but the seriousness of their task weighed on him.

Kallen added in her own two cents, "If it means peace and security for the Japanese people, then the Black Knights will ensure they are." She still didn't like this plan, but it was the best compromise they could ask for.

Suzaku didn't respond, but their target appeared. The close distance showed how much of a massive machine it was. It was U-shaped from the front, dwarfing even the Gawain. The inner part of the U had a large pod jutting out of it, and seven very large green slash harkens poked out like lances on the outside of the frame.

A loud, vaguely familar voice echoed from the machine as it cut a Burai and Sutherland in half with a spin, crashing its harkens into an office building, "WHERE IS ZERO?! COME AND FIGHT ME ZERO!" Kallen's eyes widened at the sight of the speed and maneuverability of this new enemy.

The machine then turned to face the three of them, "ZERO! AT LAST! I'LL RESTORE MY HONOR!"

Kallen was taken aback, but hardened her nerves. She was the Black Knight ace. She could deal with this enemy. She hopped off Lelouch's arm, using her harkens to grapple onto a nearby office building, glass and metal bending and breaking under the weight of her mech.

The large knightmare spun like a top, dashing towards the Gawain as Lelouch barely dodged out the way. Kallen launched her harkens at the machine, hoping to get grip, but as fast as lightning, a large Harken was launched at her, impacting the spot just below her. 'He's fast!' The harken retracted just as fast, leaving her unsteady and forcing her to land on the ground. She narrowly avoided civilians as they ran for cover, bodies already filling the streets

The Gawain launched its finger harkens at the machine as the Lancelot charged in, two MVSs in its hands. But both mechs attacks were easily parried as the unit bodied the Lancelot, and at the same time using it large harken to block the majority of the Gawain's attack, a few of them denting the very tough hull of the Knightmare.

Suzaku recovered before he hit a building, steadying himself as he charged again, getting thrown around as he narrowly avoided getting hit by the large Harken. Kallen looked up at the Lancelot then up at the Gawain. 'I feel so useless.' Her boyfriend's voice echoed in her cockpit, "Sir Kururugi, focus on cutting up the wires connecting the harkens! Q1, try to see if you can destroy them! I'll try to bait out the attacks."

"Yes, Zero!" Kallen replied confidently, Suzaku joining her in agreement. Kallen maneuvered the Guren through the street as the Gawain led the enemy to a wide open square, a large fountain in the center of a small park, empty of all people. The Lancelot struggled to take advantage of an opening, this pilot almost having the reaction time of a machine. Lelouch was keeping him low, giving her a chance to actually deliver some blows

Finally happy she had a chance to attack, she charged in, gracefully dodging a harken, grabbing it and using her radiant wave surger to melt the knightmare. The harken and its wire bubbled and frayed, but to her annoyance, there was a hissing as the wire was ejected from the rest of the machine, forcing her to let go of the wire, the razor sharp wires a deadly threat to even her. The harken remained impaled in the ground, and she called out to both men on her communications, "I got one! But the pilot seems to know how my weapon works!"

Lelouch called out, "Keep up the attack. Take whatever small window you can use. One less weapon it has is one less threat to us!" The Gawain barely dodged another attack, the enemy weapon scraping the side of it. Lelouch looked at both of the other pilots, "Try to avoid any collateral damage!"

The three knightmares continued the attack, dodging and weaving as the harkens created holes in the ground, trashing nearby vehicles. The pilot, despite ranting at Lelouch, was able to dodge and avoid losing the majority of his harkens, losing two of them to Kallen and Suzaku managing to slice through the wire.

However just as the managed to do some damage, the enemy still had four harkens left and their machines were getting more and more damaged, the Gawain taking the brunt of the damage. 'I need to teach him how to dodge better.' Kallen was also sweating, this enemy the toughest one she had faced so far.

Suzaku called out, annoyed, "How do we hurt this thing? We haven't been able to dent it!"

Kallen wondered the same. The machine was more agile than she expected one that size to be, her envy at lacking the ability to fly becoming even worse. She looked at Lelouch, who was deep in thought, CC taking over the controls. A reluctant look came to his face, and he spoke in a heavy tone, "I have an idea, but it's going to be risky."

Kallen dodged another attack as she landed on the wreckage of this car, "What is it, Zero?"

"I'm going to take one of his attacks. His attention is focused on me, so it should give you two an opening." Kallen's face immediately filled with worry, the man that she loved risking his life on something that might not even pay off. Lelouch must have noticed that, as his voice softened slightly, though still dramatic, "Don't worry Q1, I'll survive."

After dodging another attack, Lelouch charged in, firing his hadron cannon, which was deflected as the machine spun again, the pilot crying out, "I SEE YOU ARE ACCEPTING YOUR FATE! I'LL REDEEM MYSELF! AND FOR MARIANNE!" Lelouch stuck his harkens into the machine, digging into the metal as two harkens from the large machine sheared off a leg and damaged an elbow joint, the machine sparking at the damage

Kallen blinked at the name, but shook it off. The Gawain held onto the larger machine, holding it tight as harkens battered the body, electricity channeling through it, Lelouch and CC letting out cries of pain. Kallen and Suzaku leapt into action, the Lancelot cutting through the hull, it finally starting to give way as his razor-sharp blades caused spark to come shooting out of it.

Kallen's radiant wave surger caused the machine to bubble, not able to get the whole thing, but damaging important parts as it penetrated past the hull, her knife ripping open a hole to blast down. The pilot only proceeded to sound more unhinged, "I'LL KILL ZERO! I'LL BE A GOOD SOLDIER!"

The machine collapsed to the ground, the damage done by them finally bringing the beast down. The Gawain, Guren and Lancelot would need repairs after this fight, but they were done, at least for now. And the sounds of combat began to die down, though smoke was still rising from various parts of the settlement.

Kallen caught her breath, and just as she was about to move to the Gawain, which had separated from the unknown machine, a squad of Gloucesters, led by a deep purple machine with gold horns on the side of the head. 'Here comes the witch.' The quickly surrounded the machine, pointing their lances as Cornelila lowered herself from her knightmare, which looked a bit worse for wear. She saw Lelouch had also left his mech, and decided joining them might be a good idea.

Putting on her visor, she left the cockpit, walking up to Cornelia and Lelouch as the body of a tall man with teal hair was dragged out, wearing a purple pilot suit, his should covered in red cybernetics. His back has some sort of connecting port, and Kallen couldn't help but wonder what happened to have a man look like this. It then pinged in her mind she knew who this was. This was Jeremiah Gottwald, the short-lived acting Viceroy of Japan. 'How did he get to be here?'

Cornelia's voice was shocked, though still in control, "Jeremiah? But he was MIA at Narita."

Lelouch's voice was even, "So that's why he was after me. It seems I underestimated his obsession with getting his honor back." He looked at the remains of the mech, then back at Cornelia, "Though he mentioned something about a Marianne. Do you have any idea what that means?"

Cornelia thought for a second before responding cooly, "He used to be a guard for Empress Marianne vi Britannia. When she was assassinated, he took it very harshly." She let out a sigh, "I suppose that's my fault, but he failed several times here, so I'm not exactly regretting it."

"Interesting." He hummed as he rested a hand under his chin.

Kallen just took this in silence, watching from a few feet away as Cornelia ordered a man to bring Jeremiah to the palace. As he was put in cuffs and dragged away, Kallen spoke up, "What are we going to do with this machine?"

Lelouch was the first to react, "Viceroy, I was hoping I could have my head engineer help study this. I believe the head of you Special Engineering Corp would like to see this as well."

Cornelia narrowed her eyes at the masked figure, but nodded, "Fine, but the remains belong to us. I am not…completely ungrateful for your help."

"Understood. I leave you to deal with your men." He walked over to Kallen and nodded at her, "You did well, Q1. Once again you show me why you are my ace in the hole."

Kallen blushed, but responded happily, "I'm just happy that this fight is over. But I assume we have to assist Tohdoh?" Lelouch nodded and Kallen stealthily kissed the side of his mask, "I think I'm going to hold onto this win."

Lelouch

After all the chaos of the attack on the palace came to an end, Lelouch finally made it back home, Kallen with him. It was nearing sundown and both were exhausted. He had found a pair of sunglasses to cover his eye, CC promising to give him something to prevent him from accidentally activating his geass. The battle had been fierce but quick, the damage not as bad as he expected. Cornelia had taken control of the rebuilding, the Black Knights heading back to their base, though Tohdoh and Ohgi had gone to begin the process of setting up their military headquarters in the SAZ with their official accepting of terms done.

Kallen was in high spirits, proud of the fact she had been key to beating that machine, though he would say she was overplaying her part a little bit much. 'I was the one who took volt after volt of electricity.'

He shook his head good naturedly, happy this whole big event was over. The hard work still had to be done, but he had made the first step. The two made their way to the Vi Britannia siblings quarters, opening the door. But as soon as the door opened, the air was…wrong. Like something had happened. It was completely silent, no sounds at all. Not even cooking or Nunnally talking to herself

He could see Kallen was on edge too, and the two careful crept into the dining room, no hint of life. It was perfectly clean, like Sayoko usually kept it. A moan of pain suddenly echoed from the kitchen, and the pair ran in, Sayoko in a ripped uniform, bruises and blood all over her. No bullet holes, but several cuts from a knife or other bladed weapon. She groaned in pain, failure filling her eyes as she looked at Lelouch and Kallen. Kallen's eyes widened and rushed to grab the first aid kit in the dining room.

"I'm…sorry…they…took…her…" Lelouch moved to her, holding her on his shoulder. Immense worry and loss filled him. Blood covered his school uniform, but right now he needed to make sure Sayoko was stabilized and find out what happened.

"Who took Nunnally? Where did they go?" He was frantic, his mind running a millions miles a minute. He was so caught up in it that he didn't notice Kallen was there until she started to treat Sayoko.

The Japanese maid took a deep, painful breath, "Was the…size of a…child. Long…hair. Boy. Pink…eyes." A small note fell from her hands, showing the geass symbol, "Left note…for you." Her eyes fell closed, her breathing shallow.

Lelouch's eyes widened as he took on the note. 'A geass symbol. Why would someone leave that?' The world around him disappeared, the full weight of Nunnally's disappearance hitting him. He had fought and survived all these years for her, and in one afternoon, part of his purpose for existing was gone.

He fell to his knees, and he had no idea how much time had passed as memories of him and Nunally flashed through his mind, anger fleeing in the face of despair. Tears streaked down his face, and his mind was numb.

And after what felt like an eternity, there were hands shaking him, a female voice echoing in his ear, "Lelouch! Lelouch! Come back to me!" The world came back into view, his girlfriend shaking his shoulder. Lelouch's eyes filled with a hint of energy, and she let out a heavy breath, "I called the ambulance. They should be here in a few minutes. Sayoko is stable, for now."

Lelouch just looked at the ground, completely lost for one of the first times in his life. Kallen put a hand on his face, softly caressing it, "We'll find her. We'll get her back." Kallen's eyes looked over the note, frowning at the symbol.

"I should have been there. I needed to be there. Then maybe I could have-" Lelouch's voice was hollow, hands shaking. Tears were beginning to well in his eyes again, and he could feel sobs beginning to rise.

Kallen shook her head, grabbing his face with both her hands, "Lelouch, clearly this person is aware of who you are. For all we know that attack was a distraction to keep you from stopping them." She softly kissed him, "This is not your fault."

Lelouch didn't know what to say, so he let his tears loose, holding onto Kallen as he couldn't hold back the loss of his precious sister. As regret and sadness began to empty out of him, anger began to fill him. Whatever geass related group took her would regret this. 'Whoever took her will pay! I won't stop till I find them!' Footsteps moved around the two as EMTs grabbed Sayoko, bringing her on a stretcher.

Kallen filled them out on the details as she held him, playing off his tears on Sayoko being hurt, making sure they knew to treat her with respect. The EMTs looked at Sayoko with scorn, but did their job, leaving the scene and the couple alone.

A few more minutes passed until Lelouch's tears came to an end, the anger only settling in his chest. He looked up at Kallen, giving her a small smile, before letting out a harsh breath. CC's voice came from the door to the kitchen, a deep seriousness in it.

"It was the Geass Order. VV took your sister."

Author Note

And chapter 11! We have one chapter left till the end, so I hope you enjoyed the story so far. The battle was a bit different, but we still lost Nunnally. What do you guys think of the difference? This will be fun for the sequel. Please review and comment, and I'll see you guys next time!