Discovered

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Team Dragon Star own nothing. This chapter of Discovered was brought to you by Gohan-to-the-Max and Caught in a moment.

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Chapter Eight-

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Cornelia's mouth dropped slightly; this was the perfect opportunity if the tyrant was wrong- at last she could make Zero pay for his crimes. Such a deal, however, had to have a catch; she couldn't let him escape if he was proven wrong, which she was almost certain he was.

"You say you will offer yourself to me? No catch?" She pondered whilst she stared at the masked man on the big screen. How she wished to see his face and finally know his identity and he basically offered himself on a silver platter.

"No catch at all your Highness." His tone sounded like it was mocking her. Just like his sister, Lelouch was wondering what on Earth was going through "Zero's" mind, this move was reckless yet it was ingenious. If Cornelia was anything like how he thought she was, she would be curious to this offer and want to prove the masked 'villain'. He had to say CC was a genius if this went her way.

"Fine Zero, let's see if your sources are reliable then. You have my permission to inspect Lord Fashword's ship, though I expect you to come easily if your accusations of slaves running a refrain factory are untrue." The purple-haired princess hissed as she turned off the monitor to Zero. A grumpy scowl rested on her face as she stared towards Darlton. "Get Lord Fashword up on the screen now!"

Without speaking a word, Darlton followed the witch of Britannia's command. On the screen in front of them was a rather plump man. His grey hair was starting to thin, the occasional bald spot rested on his head as he lazily sat in his chair. He was wearing a golden suit with at least six rings spread across his fingers. Lying on the floor next to him rested an over-sized pistol . As he looked up to the screen, he ran his fingers through his balding hair and released a smile, exposing his golden teeth.

"Your Highness," he said as he bowed his head in respect. "What gives me this honour of you talking directly to me?"

"A ceasefire has been ordered and immediately I request to access your ship as well as the permission of Zero and the members of my glaston knights."

"But why Princess Cornelia? Surely you must try to kill the man who killed our dear Clovis."

"That will come later, but for now there is business to attend to. We need to inspect your ship and failure to allow us to inspect it will result in the penalty of treason."

"This is preposterous! You question me, a faithful servant of the king and country of being treasonous while the man who surely has conducted treason is getting off on a light note? Why I never your Highness! Such a thought would destroy my image!"

"Let her on board," Lelouch growled in a tone which even sent shivers running down Corenlia's spine. Already the prince was getting fed up of this man's delaying tactics. If Cornelia couldn't tell that he was hiding something by now then he would have to question her sense.

It was then when the lord let of a sigh of defeat. "Yes your highness'."

A smirk reached across Lelouch's face. It was checkmate for that lord and CC gamble wouldn't have to come into effect. The monitor closed off as the Princess stood up. She, Guilford and Darlton began walking towards the door as Lelouch got up to follow.

"Stay Lelouch!" Corenlia ordered sharply.

"I can help you," Lelouch protested.

"We need someone to be left in charge of the convoy, just in case Zero or Lord Fashword attempt to exterminate us and succeed, plus you're not currently trained to handle these matters."

Within ten minutes, the convoy doors opened revealing Cornelia and other soldiers in knightmere frames. With a quick launch, they were off to the ship where Zero was waiting for the Princess all by his own. The Glaston Knights left a few seconds after, but they didn't go as far as they were currently moving into position to stop any escape Zero might attempt in case his allegations proved false. Lelouch scanned around the battlefield, it seems the Black Knights were in a rather tactical position to make a swift escape or to counterattack his remaining forces in case he decided to take the Black Knights down while their "leader" was away.

The black-haired prince turned to face one of the remaining crew members within the main chambers of the convoy. He released a slight smile and gently dropped his mouth while the worker just stood there waiting for the important decision that the Prince was going to make. "Where's the toilet?"

"The...toilet..." The purple-haired crew member gasped as Lelouch nodded his head. "Down the corridor to the left your highness."

"Cheers." The scrawny raven-haired boy said as he began making his way to the exit, leaving the poor man surprised. As soon as he left the room, he began to run down the corridor until he reached the door labeled toilet. Once inside, he monitored it quickly for any form of surveillance and when the coast was clear, he pulled out a small black phone and immediately dialed a number.

"What the hell are you playing at?" Lelouch hissed through the phone, trying to keep his voice relatively low. He nodded his head as the person on the other end spoke back. "Well Cornelia would be with you in a minute. I suggest you get Q1 to act as support and before you go, make sure to not let Lord Fashword show you the ship; head straight towards the slave quarters."

"I'm not an idiot Lelouch."

"I know CC, but listen, I have a plan and you need to listen carefully." The rest of the conversation was done in a hushed whisper, but he soon finished, pressing the end call button before he made his way back into the main chambers of the convoy. He just prayed that his suspicions were correct about Lord Fashword and his "slaves" or CC's immortality would be available for Cornelia to experiment on. It wasn't as though he could use his geass on her again to save the green-haired girl.

"Damn it!" he hissed, wishing that it was him out there instead of being stuck in the convoy. "Why the hell did Cornelia have to find me?"

"Ahhh your Highness, would you like to follow me?" The plump man happily said while attempting to keep up his appearance. The purple-haired princess exited her cockpit, two revolvers dangling from her belt, which caused the lord to gulp. In the corner, Zero leaned up against the wall, stealing the attention of the Lord for just a few seconds.

"If there is any funny business, I will have Prince Lelouch shoot missiles towards both the Black Knights and this ship regardless that I'm aboard," Corenlia threatened, her mood darkened by the sight of the two men.

"Oh your Highness, that certainly won't be the case," Lord Fashword sang as he moved closer to her. "May I offer you some tea from the homeland?"

"First let's check to see if these 'allegations' are true," she hissed, turning her body to now face the tyrant. "Where did your intelligence say the refrain factory workers were being stored?"

Underneath the Zero mask, CC let of a smile. She pushed her body of the wall as she began walking onto the large ship. All around them were Lord Fashword's army—they were no longer in knightmare frames, but were all standing in line with guns in their hands. "Try the lower decks," she suggested, keeping the amusement out of her voice.

Lord Fashword just stood there as Zero, Cornelia, Guildford and six soldiers entered the ship; he waited a few moment until he turned to a man standing towards his left.

"Organise an attack on the Black Knights and the rest of Princess Cornelia's army. Looks like it's game over for us unless we destroy all witnesses."

"Yes my lord."

It was then when he began to board his own ship with four of his men, one passed him an armed rifle.

Meanwhile, Zero walked in front of Cornelia. It had been her orders in case the tyrant went against his word and destroyed her while she had her back facing to him. She couldn't let him seem like he was in the slightest bit of control. It was then when the lights flickered off in the grey corridor that something didn't feel right. CC continued walking ahead—according to their source it was just at the end of this straight corridor.

"Zero, we have a problem!" Kallen spoke through the communication radio in her mask. "Fashword's army has began attacking the Black Knights and he and a small portion of his men have just boarded the ship with rifles. You don't have long until he attacks..."

With that the communications came to a hold as the masked individual paused. CC pulled out a pistol in her hands as she scanned down the corridor. So far it was only the Brittanians. "Fashword is coming to kill us."

It was then when Cornelia's phone buzzed, quickly she answered it. "Lelouch, what is it?"

"Fashword's openly attacked us. Luckily we had men standing by, but he's entered the ship with rifles. The Glaston Knights are currently trying to get you out safely, but their defence is stronger than we anticipate."

"Damnit," the princess hissed. This could only mean one thing: Zero was right about this lord and there was nothing they could do. Inside they were cornered and they still haven't seen any proof of the slaves. "Men, stay behind and defend this corridor. Guildford, Zero, and I will continue to the slaves area."

"Your Highness, least let one of us come with you for defence?"

"Fine, you come, the rest of you keep your guard up."

"We have to be quick," Zero glumly said. "Straight on."

The four began running. Within thirty seconds they began to hear gunshot fire, which was then shortly followed by some screams. An opening full of light appeared in front of them as they headed straight towards it. Once they entered, there were countless numbers of refugees standing all close together. In front of them were instruments required to manufacture refrain.

"Game over Princess Cornelia," Fashword said as he emerged from the shadows, blood spattered across his clothing. Behind him four men with rifles followed. Immediately, they pointed their guns at the remaining four. "You've seen too much your Highness; if you hadn't listened to Zero, maybe you would have been able to live another day just so you could see your precious Euphemia, Lelouch, and Nunnally."

His gun raised higher as Cornelia pulled out a pistol from her hands, her knight copying her action as he aimed directly at Fashword. He moved slightly in front of the princess as he ushered her back. Fashword's other soldiers began pointing their guns at both Zero and the other soldier and without any hesitation the other soldier was shot down.

"Oops, just three remaining."

Then there was another gunshot, followed by another. Two men from Fashwords side fell to the ground as "Zero" was holding up two revolvers, he moves his hands over to point at the lord. "My fingers slipped."

"How about we put the guns down and negotiate?"

"You stupid mother fuckers!" The red-haired girl screamed as she attempted to advance further towards the ship. Zero was on board all by himself with the Witch of Britannia, her knight and the man that turned on them all in a cease fire. From what she could see, Cornelia's Glaston Knights were adopting tactics similar to her own and that was to get to their leader and ensure her safety.

She slammed one of the enemies Knightmare frames onto the floor, sparks flew from out of it as she finished the blow. She was coming for Zero even though it was his fault he was in this situation. If only he listened to her and took her with him, but then her identity would be at stake.

"Damn it!" she screamed as she blew off another knightmare frame's head.

Still a standoff was in order between Cornelia, Zero, Guildford, Fashword and his remaining two men. All continued staring at each other as Zero made the first steps forwards. From outside they could all hear the sound of gunfire, loud bangs occurred on the top of the ceiling as the slaves moved further back in the room. Cornelia quickly assessed the situation from the corner of her eyes. There was only one exit, which currently Fashword occupied. Her eyes glimpsed the black mask of Zero. This situation prevented her from getting into that mask and revealing the identity of that masked noble man ruined the chances she had to get Zero without any fuss at all and for that he was to pay for his crimes. This stand off wasn't going to go anywhere unless someone actually shot a bullet and she couldn't be the one laying dead on the floor.

Fashword's hand hovered over the trigger. Cornelia's body was in his shooting zone although he wasn't the only one in the room ready to press the trigger. Within a few seconds a bullet was shot, followed by another and another. The third Princess of Brittania fell to the ground, blood seeped from her left leg due to the bullet just grazing her skin. Meanwhile, Fashword's body was laying on the ground with a bullet in his chest and in his head. His two men stood there for a few seconds before dropping their guns, both gulped as Zero still stared directly towards them. One of his recently fired guns raised towards the man closest to him, hovering there for just a few seconds.

"Stop Zero!" the witch of Brittania screeched as she forced her body off the ground whilst Guildford offered her support. "These men need to stand trial or we won't have any evidence of treason!"

"Yes your highness," he mocked as he began to move the two prisoners outside. The princess and Guilford followed with the slaves walking behind them at an even slower pace than the cripple ruler.

It wasn't long before they reached the outside. The devastating destruction was the first thing that reached their eye. The fight had came to a stop, knightmare frames scattered over the ground as though it was supposed to be a junk yard. The knightmares that the Princess came over with still rested in their exact position with next to no damage on them. Although surrounding them was a number of her foot soldiers, which looked as though they were going to be coming in to rescue her. Her eyes scanned through the crowd as the Black Knights moved closer in. She focused on one of their faces as her own turned into an angry scowl.

"Lelouch!" she hissed while Guilford and Darlton moved a number of the troops away from the royals minus a trio of soldiers that stood protectively around Lelouch. A group separated from the large mass of people, which marched prisoners back to the convoy. "You were meant to stay in the convoy!"

"And leave you with all the fun?" smirked Lelouch with an assault rifle in his hands. He turned his attention away from Cornelia and towards the three soldiers who stood by him. "I want you three to head downstairs and release the slaves."

"Yes, your Highness!" they responded almost robotically before they moved towards the stairwell.

"So this must be Prince Lelouch," said Zero.

"Zero, I never thought I'd see the day when you and I came face to face," said Lelouch preventing himself from chuckling, almost seeing the situation as if he was looking into a mirror.

"Lelouch, get away from him," commanded Cornelia, getting ever closer to where Lelouch and Zero stood, but not quickly enough as a rogue soldier stormed into the doorway with a pistol in hand.

"Die Zero!" he shouted as he prepared to fire. Cornelia from her position could see that not only was Zero likely in the line of fire, but so too was Lelouch. Before she could shout a warning to her brother, she watched in awe as Zero pushed Lelouch out of the way of fire as a gunshot rang out, the bullet hitting Zero straight in the chest where Lelouch had been only a second earlier.

Two more shots rang out, but not from the same gun as both Guilford and Darlton turned their weapons at the soldier and shot him dead without hesitation, both knowing that having put Prince Lelouch's life in jeopardy his own life was forfeit. Yet as the last bit of life escaped the soldier, so too did the red rings around his eyes.

"Lelouch!" shouted Cornelia as she rushed to her brother's side, the prince trying to put on a brave face as he was helped to his feet.

"I'm alright," he urged her before looking at Zero. "You saved my life, why? I was right in the line of fire and you risked your own life to save mine."

"On this mission we were allies against a common cause," said CC, her immortality already healing her from the otherwise fatal shot. "Had the positions been switched I trust that you would have done the same. Besides, you have shown no reason for us to target you—I trust you will keep it that way."

Neither Lelouch or Cornelia smiled at this statement, one for the fact he knew that this was the script he had plotted earlier while Cornelia was glaring at Zero, wondering what their long term plan was. Before her stood a person who had killed one of her brothers, yet now they had saved her younger brother from what could have been a similar fate. "Zero..."

"Cornelia, there are many wounded troops, on both the Britannian and the Black Knights," said CC stoically. "The battle is now over and medical attention must be given to those who need it. Thank you in your support of bringing down the corruption and injustice that Lord Fashword displayed. I don't doubt that we will see each other again." Those were the final words that CC said before she walked out in a composed manner, knowing that she would be receiving a call from Lelouch at a later hour about the next plan of action.

Cornelia meanwhile stared at the ever distant back of Zero, recalling that when he had saved Euphemia he had entitled his team as the "Knights of Justice." Zero had saved both the life of his sister and brother, yet had taken the life of Clovis without a second thought. Right now they had said that there was no reason to consider Lelouch an enemy, the young prince having shown no "injustice" as the masked vigilante would likely say. She could only assume as well then, that Euphemia was the same, but that left one final question.

What had Clovis done to bring upon the wrath of Zero?