"Suzaku!" Kallen screamed as the brain matter and gore of my friend splattered across my face. Suzaku's Geass command had briefly activated in a desperate attempt to flee before death as he sensed something was off with my mask's last words. Had the Geass not done so, both Suzaku and I would both be lying on the floor since the only way to blow his brains out would have required me to blow a hole in my head as well. While I could feel something break inside me as the reality of what I had done settle in, I had other concerns to deal with at the moment. I had a fight to finish right now, and my Q-1 was extremely distressed over the death of our peer/friend/enemy. Would she become my enemy as well?

Not wanting to give her a chance to truly grieve and switch sides, I commanded, "Q-1, we have a war to win."

"Why, Lelouch? Suzaku... He was your friend! Why did you kill him?! How could you just kill him?!"

This was not good. Kallen was my greatest asset, and she was breaking down. I would never have guessed that she would be so distressed over Suzaku's death considering that he and his Knightmare had been the bane of the Black Knights for the past year. Was she really that distressed over his death despite knowing full well that her actions would eventually have lead to this outcome? The Guren Mk. II left little to no chance of survival for enemies caught in her Radiant Surge. She had to have known that her hands would have been stained with Suzaku's blood if the immortal had not decided to intervene.

Was she emotionally compromised because I was the one who had pulled the trigger? Not Zero, but Lelouch.

"Lelouch is dead. Only Zero remains," I said calmly to test the waters.

"Wha_" she started before I interrupted her.

"Q-1, you can grieve for the dead later. Right now, your friends, the Japanese, are dying as we waste time here. We do not have time for an emotional breakdown right now. I need to know if I can rely on you to help finish the battle. You can either sit here and wallow right now, or you can stand up and fight. But you need to decide now. I need to know if you will fight for me. I need to know if you can follow through with my plans!" I yelled to get my point across.

I'll be damned if I let more of my followers die now. With the death of Euphemia and Suzaku... they were all I had left.

"Bu_"

"Suzaku is already dead! We can still save Ohgi, Tamaki, Tohdoh... everyone..." I said strongly at first before having my voice die off at the end.

"But you killed him! How can I trust you, Lelouch!?"

"Just trust in Zero! As I already told you Lelouch is dead! Lelouch... Lelouch died a long time ago..."

"... Zero," Kallen hesitantly called out as though her mind was fractured. She was obviously split between seeing me as her infallible leader and the arrogant student. I was the leader that made miracles become a reality. The leader that promised to deliver a free and independent Japan to her. The leader that cherished her as my most loyal and useful piece. The leader that could always rely on her to do what needed to be done and that she could rely on to deliver results.

I was also the Vice President of Ashford Academy. The student that would ditch class and shirk on my responsibilities. The student that spouted traitorous philosophies without the will to go through with them. The student that adored his younger sister despite my aloof demeanor. The student that seemed so harmless.

Deciding to push Kallen's mind over the edge into my favor, I spoke softly, "Q-1... No... Kallen, Japan needs you... Our comrades need you... I need you..."

After a long moment, I could see that I had played my part well.

"What's our next move, Zero?"

No hesitation in how she addressed me. Good. I had her entirely in my pocket for now, but I was still uncertain if she saw me as Zero or Lelouch. Sure she addressed me as Zero, but she was doing so simply because that was what the situation demanded of her. Did she see me as the icon Zero or merely as the student trying to live up to the legend he created? A question for another time.

"Help me search Suzaku's body. He always had difficulty remembering things. He definitely has the Lancelot activation codes on him," I said bitterly. Sorry, Suzaku. It looks that I am doing another disfavor towards you by desecrating your body. It's probably pointless for me to ask you of this, but please forgive my indiscretion.

I soon found my body being embraced from the back. Did Kallen sense my distress? Was she comforting me?

I guess that she answered my previous question.

She accepted that I was Lelouch, or what remained of that façade.

She knew that I was hurting on the inside.

"Found it..." I mumbled as she stayed quietly near me to let me know that everything would work out somehow.

"Please quickly remove his pilot suit. I'm going to dress him up as Zero to get deep into the enemy lines," I explained so as to silence any hesitation Kallen might have had over modesty.

As I quickly began to strip off my Zero costume, I could hear Kallen softly say, "Lelouch..."

"Attention, this is the Z01 Lancelot. Zero is dead. Requesting permission to land at HQ to drop off the body," I stated through the communicator using a voice modifier as I flew over the battlefield. The situation was definitely worse than I thought. With Ohgi shot and the temporary forward operating base compromised, each cell was essentially fighting blind. Tohdoh and his Four Holy Sword were doing good work, but the Black Knights were in utter disarray. Even with the overwhelming advantage, they were quickly losing the battle. We still had the superior numbers, but our siege was quickly losing the battle of morale.

"Permission granted. Let's end this war!" a jubilant voice echoed from the other side. They didn't even ask for any confirmation code. The Britannian forces were desperate to end this war. They knew that they were winning, but they knew that their current advantage was only due to the fact that they were dealing with a hastily assembled group of terrorists. They knew that they weren't dealing with soldiers, but they knew that a loss was a very real outcome to this war.

They knew they could lose.

They also knew the consequences for the Britannian Empire if such an event were to occur.

As I landed, I was quickly surrounding by several cheering soldiers and a couple of frames as they all went to confirm the death of Zero. As I laid Suzaku's body to the ground, I quickly backed away so that my enemies could close in and confirm the kill. After a few seconds, I activated my slash harkens at the Knightmares and fired the VARIS rifle at the communications building. All three targets were instantly destroyed before they could send in a distress message to warn their front lines that their base was going to be destroyed. As the soldiers that had gathered around Suzaku tried to process what was going on, I activated the Sakuradite bomb stashed underneath Suzaku's disguise. The pink light quickly engulfed all of the shocked soldiers before letting out a deafening roar.

Wanting to press the element of surprise, I quickly sped throughout the base and shot round after round from the rifle. Knightmare after Knightmare, building after building were consumed in a green light before erupting into an orange inferno as my superior weaponry laid waste to the remaining military. With no communications, the entire base was disorganized and confused as to why the 'hero' suddenly turned traitor. They all had thought that they had just won the war with Zero's death. They had all confirmed Zero's dead body moments both everything went to hell. They had all let their guard down.

"All units! This is Zero! The Tokyo Settlement HQ has fallen! The white Knightmare is our ally! All that remains are the forces that you are fighting! Squads 1-5, finish off your opponents and help with the cleanup! Zero squad, Q-1 will meet you at these coordinates with further instructions! To all other forces, hold out until the aforementioned squads aid in your assault! Join up with them afterwards!" I yelled into the communicator I used for the resistance.

I could hear a series of cheering as my remaining men and women cheered for the return of their savior, how they knew that I would return, how they knew that my disappearance was all part of the plan, and most importantly, how they knew that I would win.

"This is Q-1. We await your orders, Zero," my most loyal follower said as she and her group arrived somewhere further along my chosen path of destruction.

"Finish routing the base and prioritize destroying the hangars and buildings. I am going to strike the frontlines from the back. Once this base has been razed to the ground, aid the remaining squads," I said coolly before driving off. By now, the enemy should have noticed that all of their long range communications were down. They were likely in a panic, but knowing Cornelia, her men knew what was more important at the moment. Each was a disciplined soldier, and every one of them knew that he/she had to hold the line at all costs in such a scenario. Some would break off to check the disturbance off course, but it was more likely that the ones that left would all be the ones more prone to panic or the ones with less experience in war. Prey that my Q-1 could easily handle.

My target was the remnants of Cornelia's elite, the honorable soldiers whose loyalties were tested and tempered in their world conquest. I was the knife that came from the back.

It was fairly obvious who would come out of this alive.

Once Cornelia's remaining forces were eliminated, I would have to consider what had to be done about the Avalon. Schneizel was by no means an expert on war. His specialty lied in his words and reputation in politics. However he was no amateur in battle due to his ability to consider multiple strategies, but he was never forced to act and change his strategy at a moment's notice. He always needed time to consider his moves and every likely outcome. He always needed time to ensure his victory before entering the battlefield, or he would simply not bother.

He was bred a winner. Schneizel would never put himself in a situation in which he could lose.

Given that he only had a couple of frames and an airship full of refugees, he had very little to work with and almost no time to create any elaborate strategies. He knew that this was a war he could not win, or at least a war he could not win without more time.

Once Cornelia's forces fell... No, he would evacuate before such an event occurred. He probably started fleeing the moment all of the students were evacuated or when the Palace was taken, whichever had occurred first.

This rebellion was over, but the war was about to start.

"So he killed you too. I'm honestly quite surprised that he could stomach the thought of murdering someone so dear to him. Though with the death of Euphemia, I guess it was par for course at this point. After all, he is willing to dye his soul black to do what is necessary," I said to one consciousness that had just entered the stream as an ongoing flood of new minds entered it.

What a troublesome son of mine. He was supposed to have been captured rather than kill his best friend. Now because of him, Area Eleven is no longer our control, and by sending V.V. to capture Nunnally (against my better judgement), Kamine Island will be too difficult to approach. Without even knowing it, my errant son has thrown everything in disarray. I can't even mount a large force to recapture the Area despite the fact that it would be quite easy to subdue due to its state of exhaustion. Since this uprising was so successful, I have to dedicate the rest of my forces to quelling all the rebellions that are likely to spring up in the rest of the Areas or lose the other Thought Elevators.

I should have just executed Lelouch back when he was still just a mere child. It would have hurt both Marianne and I, but it would have saved us so much trouble. I loved the boy too much. I should have just accepted that my brilliant son would eventually turn on me after I had to call off the investigation due to V.V.'s involvement. It wouldn't have even mattered in the end. The Ragnarok Plan was so close to coming into fruition, but due to my weakness, I can't say for sure when the final Thought Elevator could be reclaimed.

Worse was that Lelouch would no doubt be setting up alliances to bring the war to the Empire. He was hell-bent on revenge according to Marianne's discussions with C.C.. Accruing a force large enough for that was the next logical step in this endeavor.

AN:

1) Updated 10/11/2016, removed some sections in which Lelouch assumes that Nunnally is dead.

2) Not to sure what sort of pairing will come out of this since I hardly think of the entire story before actually writing. I just try to go with the flow from an interesting pilot to see how it could realistically turn out.

3) Seriously leave a review so that I can get some insight on how this story is working out. It's nerve wracking not knowing what people actually think of it since not everyone favorites or follows a story that they're interested in. I know that I don't favorite or follow stories unless I really like them, but still look forward to seeing how the story would progress. So please, for my sanity, leave a review if you do want to see more or want to say what utter shit this story is.

4) For the record, the emperor initially thought that Lelouch intentionally Geassed Euphie into becoming a psychopathic murderer. The reason he doesn't know that it was an accident in this fic was because her voice was drowned out by the massive influx of the dead.