What's up readers? New chapter, I'll save my usual report for the end. So enjoy the newest chapter of Code Geass: The Empresses Wish.

Edit: Bit of an error with , re-uploaded chapter. Apologize for inconvenience.

Chapter 9: Confessions and Concoctions

5 months have passed since R.R. was promoted to second in command...

The barks of automatic weapon fire echoed in the warehouse. A soldier of His Majesty Lelouch gave a scream of pain as his body collapsed to the floor, two bullet holes in his chest due to the accuracy of Roy.

"You sons-a-bitches!" The soldier next to him screamed, grabbing his pistol from its holster and aiming it at Roy. There was a slight shimmer in the air in front of his eyes. The pistol fell to the ground, five fingers still gripping it. The man had hardly realized the absence of his fingers and half his hand before a long blade had slid into his body. He shuddered briefly before slumping forward. Raven coldly withdrew the sword from the dead man, a sickening squelch sounding as blood sprayed onto his clothes. His face impassive, he withdrew a cloth from his jacket and wiped his blade clean. An unsettling silence settled over the warehouse as the victorious rebels relaxed and observed the carnage.

"Casualties?" Lucia ordered, lowering her pistol.

"Itou has a nasty cut on his left bicep and Momo need a bullet extracted from her leg. Miaski received a bullet in her chest, medics are currently performing emergency surgery. The bullet went clean through and hit nothing vital so she should be fine." Roy reported.

Lucia nodded and turned to the milling rebels. "All right, you all know the drill. Lets get these crates opened, I want this warehouse cleaned out in 30 minutes top. We don't want any of Emperor Lelouch's reinforcements ruining our little party here."

With the grace and efficiency of people who had performed the task many times the rebels went to work. Cracking his knuckles, Roy grinned and nudged Raven. "You ready to get to work buddy?" Raven merely rolled his sleeves up and grabbed a box of assault rifles. "As social as ever." Roy muttered.

"Lucia, where do you want these?" Raven asked Lucia, holding the crate of assault rifles.

Lucia smiled at Raven and pointed outside. "The dropship should be here in 15 or so minutes, just put it out there. Also, would you mind helping load the crates when it arrives?" Raven nodded and began to walk. A pair of slender arms circled him as Lucia hummed happily into his ear. "Thank you, Raven!"

Raven let out a quiet, awkward grunt before breaking free of the hug and walking outside.

Roy walked up to Lucia, a cheeky grin on his face. "Hehe, only you Lucia."

A light blush spread across her face. "Only me what, Roy?"

"Only you could do that to Raven. First time I've seen the man lose his cool. So, when are you gonna pop the que-"

SMACK! Lucia's pistol cleanly smacked Roy in the forehead as she squeaked in an embarrassed fit. "Don't you have manual labor to do?!" Snickering, Roy quickly left to avoid another pistol whip. "Pop the question?" Lucia let out a silent sigh. "I have to tell him first..."

R.R. stared at the chessboard with an intensity that could burn through metal. His chin resting delicately on his hand, he stared at the pieces, the genius level brain hard at work. A knock on the doors disrupted his planning.

"Commander R.R.! Permission to enter?"

"Permission granted."

The doors swished open and Red and Green entered. Green raised an eyebrow as he observed the chessboard. "Playing against yourself? You better be winning."

Ignoring the comment, R.R. turned to Kent expectantly. "Lucia just contacted us, the warehouse raid was a success. Three casualties, nothing serious. Dropship should bring them back by the hour. We'll have a full report on what we seized when they return." R.R. nodded and waved the two away, his focus already returning to the chessboard. The two saluted and quickly headed to the dining hall.

"That R.R. sure is a serious fellow." Green remarked.

Red began to agree. "Yes. I'm very happy he was appoi-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Red."

Green and Red tensed and turned, already knowing who was behind them. "I think he's doing an absolutely wonderful job. Don't you, Shinto?" Green asked, a large smile on his face.

Shinto and Minato stood framed in the doorway behind them. Shinto clenched and unclenched his hands into fists, glaring at Green with pure venom. "Don't push it Green. I have no qualms about fuckin' up a guy like you."

Greens eyes narrowed and he grinned at Shinto. "Lets see if the dog has a bite to match its bark."

Red felt a shiver go down his spine as Green's playful tone took a darker feeling. "Green, drop it and lets go." The last thing Red wanted was for Green to get into one of his moods. Giving one last glance towards the arrogant pair of brothers, the two left.

Raven locked his door and sat on his bed. Quickly slipping out of his bloodstained shirt he threw it into a nearby laundry chute. His fingers paused briefly over a long, jagged scar above his left peck. His finger traced the scar, moving from his left collarbone to the upper center of his chest. A brief feeling of enormous rage bubbled inside before cooling as quickly as it had emerged. Slipping a shirt on and letting his head fall back, Raven closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. Turning to his desk he opened and withdrew a small circular device. Entering a few commands on the small keyboard located on the front he waited patiently for the other end to pick up.

"Enter password." A soothing female voice said.

"All hail Emperor Lelouch." Raven answered.

"Confirmed. Please wait."

There was a small wait before the a holographic image of Shimada, General Natsume's aid appeared. "Report Raven."

Raven made a quick glance to the door before clearing this throat. "Another warehouse strike. The attack was on warehouse 87, not 54 like I had heard. 500 Assault rifles seized, over 300 pounds in ammunition, 50 pounds of explosive material and..."

"Continue." Shimada ordered.

"1 Havoc was also seized..."

A string of curses was heard from Shimada as Raven winced. "They've gone on too long with this. What are the coordinates of the base? You NEED to tell us when they're vulnerable!"

Raven bit his lip and the image a girl with long green hair flashed through his mind. "Not...yet..." Raven muttered.

"Raven! Do you know how much we paid you?!"

Raven's fists clenched as his head fell forward, his long black bangs covering his eyes. I know...It's just...She..."

"Raven?" A voice called out, knocking on the door.

"Abort." Raven hissed, hand flying to the power button.

"Damn-" Shimada began before he was cut off.

Raven stuffed the device into his drawer and got up, walking over to the door. "It's just her...It's just..."

The doors opened with a swish and a familiar girl smiled at Raven. "Hey! Mind if I come in?"

"Lucia?" Raven asked, moving aside to let her in.

Lucia turned at Raven and smiled again. "You always head straight to your room after missions. I just wanted to see you again. Maybe we could go to the mess hall and grab some food?" Lucia sat down on Ravens bed and looked around at his room. "Raven's room..." Lucia could barely contain the teenage squeal of excitement that threatened to emerge.

Raven sat next to Lucia. Her hair was still slightly damp and it clung to her white porcelain skin. A pleasant, flowery smell wafted into Raven's nose. A slight shiver went through Raven's back as Lucia's damp hair gently rested against his arm. Looking down he couldn't help but feel a stirring in his heart as he saw the gentle, beautiful face that masked the strong character behind it.

"Lucia..." Raven said softly. "Why do you do this? Why are you...kind? I'm a mercenary. I could betray you at any moment. I could..." Raven paused. "Kill all of you."

Lucia looked up, violet eyes meeting electric blue. A soft smile on her face threatened to break the emotionless Raven. "You might. But...I love you. Nothing will change that. I have faith in you, that's what a person does when they love someone, right?" Lucia stood up, her flash flushed. "I should be going now. If you get hungry, you can meet me in the mess hall I guess." Without another word the girl dashed out of the room.

"Lucia!" Raven yelled. "Why? Why do you love me?"

Lucia turned back and gave a mischievous smile. "Someday you'll remember, just like I did!" Giggling the girl ran down the hall.

Raven watched her go, heart aching with all sorts of feelings. A rare smile flashed across his face before returning to its usual blank slate. Leaning against the wall he began cleaning his blade, the simple process blocking everything from his mind.

"Damn that Raven. What the hell is going on down there?" Shimada swore, staring at the spot where Raven had appeared before.

Natsume sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly. "That boy is becoming more troublesome than we expected. His reports are becoming less detailed and come in with less frequency. The last two reports had the raid locations completely wrong. What's worse is he still refuses to give us the location of the rebel base!"

"Having trouble Old Man?" A cold sneering voice asked. Lycris walked into the room, an amused sneer on his face.

Natsume's eyes narrowed as he stared at the boy. "Begone, Lycris. I am not in the mood."

Lycris laughed and shrugged, his arms raised in mock surprise. "I apologize, my beloved and venerable father. If I may, I have a suggestion that would do very much to lessen the stress on your weary mind."

"Drop the act but continue." Natsume ordered.

Lycris grinned, his tone returning to its usual haughty arrogant way. "We'll make sure he gives us the correct warehouse next time. Bribe him with a tip to make sure he tells the truth, you know how much he loves money. I'll just tag along on that warehouses defense force. I'll isolate Raven, have a nice face to face chat with him and slip a tracker onto him. We follow him back. Bingo. Rebels defeated, Raven disposed of."

Shimada looked up at Natsume hesitantly. "It's a good plan, I can see it being pulled off."

Natsume nodded but stared at Lycris. "Yes. It is a good plan. But tell me this, Lycris. How are you going to get Raven by himself? He will be traveling with friends and a full force. Will pulling him away be as easy as you make it to be?"

Lycris stood absolutely still. His body shuddered, then began to spasm. A deep, malicious laugh burst from his lungs, filling the room with its malevolence.

Shimada let out a brief gasp and unknowingly took a step back from the boy. Natsume felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he watched the boy.

Lycris's laughter died down and his body became still. He looked up, a smile of pure mirth on his face. "How can he refuse a request from his old best friend, Lycris?"

To Be Continued In Chapter 10

Oooooo, cliffhanger? Focus on my OC's and relationships this chapter. I can't make them brainless uninteresting background, now can I? We'll continue to explore their histories and the ways they are connected in upcoming chapters. More action and battles too. Yay! I wrote the last two paragraphs today so their quality might not be up to par with the first few (I like spending multiple days on chapters/paragraphs, coming back at different times and mindsets). They seemed decent enough when I went over them though. Anyway, now onto the announcement (read first sentence and then skip to last paragraph if you don't care and don't want to hear a QQ).

I can say assuredly no new chapter for 3 or so weeks. After finishing this chapter I have 3 days worth of school to do including a 15 page research paper, 20 pages of history notes, and more big scary things. School is coming to a close and if I want to have a shot of going to UCSC like I desire, then I got a ton of work to do. I have 1 week of school left to try and bring up a C- to an A and B to an A, finals, 3 SAT Subject tests, and an AP English Exam. My life is so super chill, amirite? After that I have 2 weeks of freedom I will try to write some chapters in and after those 2 weeks I go to ROMANIA! Come back and the I go straight a Summer Camp. I get back and go under like a month of super intense Math SAT studying for the SAT in October. That's my summer in a nutshell. Pretty busy and not the relaxing chill-fest I had envisioned but that's alright.

As usual R/R and enjoy. Would love reviews telling me how the writing is since I'm slowly getting back into my writing mood and groove. Until then I hope you enjoy. Sayonara.

-FireIceWindEarth (FIWE)