The house full of Geass users, a Geass canceller and three 'regular' people watch a TV screen. A week and a day after they had escaped form the mall, Prince Schniezel makes his grand announcement.
"Due to recent events, it has come to light that a number of important people have gone missing. Nunnally Lamprouge, Zero, now known as Suzaku Kururugi, and Kallen Stadtfeld of the Black Knights have all disappeared. Lady Kaguya of Japan has also gone missing, during the incident in the mall. Please contact either the Black Knights, the Japanese government, or the Brittanian government if you have any information about the situation. Thank you."
Gregor shuts off the TV.
"That makes most of us wanted persons." Kallen kicks a wrapper that had fallen on the floor.
"Just half." Lady Kaguya taps her finger to her chin.
"No, C2 and I are both wanted, just unofficially." Gregor sighs. "I wanted to ask Kallen to take up the mantle of Zero, but after this..."
"I'll be suspect immediately." Kallen finishes glumly.
C2 nods.
"Same for me, I guess." Lady Kaguya rocks back and forth gently in her chair.
C2 moves to stand in front of the dormant TV. "I think that you all should appear with whoever our new Zero is, just to prove none of us are Zero. Which still leaves us with the question of who we should use as the new Zero."
The room falls silent. Anya tentatively raises her hand after a while. "Can we have Gregor be Zero? He's not in the public eye, and if his face ever comes to light, there won't be any problems." she turns to Gregor. "No offense, but I never heard of you until yesterday."
"Good point." C2 concedes. "But Gregor has told me before that he doesn't want the job. Despite the fact he would be the perfect candidate." She glares at him.
"I don't want the job. I'll do it if I'm the only option, but I want three days of honest searching for another candidate at least. If we find Absolutely no one else, I'll fill in until we find someone else." Gregor grumbles.
Nunnally looks up from her origami crane she was making. "I think you would fit the job perfectly. After all you had the same Geass, so you have experience ordering people around, at least."
Gregor squints down at her, unsure of whether that was meant as a compliment or not.
"At any rate, we should get started on or search. I have made a few masks over the past week just in case, and that should allow us to get out, but be careful. Anyone encounters any problems, use these."
She slides a few small gadgets into the center of the table. "These are discrete locator beacons. Once activated, they send out one signal with coordinates of the beacon's location, then the whole device melts into a pile of slag. Gregor and I will remain back at base and watch the monitors. Any questions?"
Lady Kaguya raises her hand. "If you need to contact us, what will you do?"
"If we need to contact you, someone will hand you their cellphone. Probably give you an odd look too." C2 smiles.
"Don't worry." Gregor leans back in his chair. "The likelihood of any problems is close to none."
"Any more questions?" C2 looks around. Seeing no hands, she gestures for them to follow her. "Then let's get you all masked up."
o-o-o-o
Suzaku and Nunnally walk through a crowded market street lined with shops selling most anything that can be bought legally. Fruits and vegetables occupy a large portion of the street, and people crowd around them, comparing prices and qualities. Nunnally had been sent out to get groceries, and she was looking around at the stalls, but not approaching them. Suzaku had been sent to find a good fabric supplier, and had been told that there was one down this market road.
"Almost gives you the creeps, wearing someone else's face." Nunnally murmurs.
"It's made of rubber." Suzaku reminds her. "It's not somebody's face."
"Still."
They continue to walk forward until Suzaku spies a shop displaying a wide variety of cloth.
"I'm going in there. You coming?"
Nunnally nods and follows him into the store.
Inside, the store owner is staring wide eyed at the TV in the corner. His face is filled with panic. Suzaku looks at the TV and a chill runs down his spine.
"I think we might have a problem."
o-o-o-o
In an entirely different section of a newly rebuilt Shinjiko ghettos (Now just Shinjiko), Jeremiah and Anya watch a monitor with neutral looks on their faces. Around them, people start to panic. The face on the screen smiles slyly before he starts to speak.
"Hello, world. Emperor Lelouch is back."
o-o-o-o
Back in the base camp, C2 and Gregor watch their monitors, which while not on the regular grid seem to have been taken over by whatever broadcasting station is sending the signal.
"I have come back to reclaim my throne. As you can see, not even Zero can stop me! I will get back what is rightfully mi-!"
C2 turns of the screens.
Gregor stands up. "Plan Omega."
"Right. Let's get them back."
o-o-o-o
Kallen and Lady Kaguya watch in amazement as a puzzled teenager hands Kallen his phone.
"They, like, said to give you my phone. I'd like it back when your done, it cost me-"
"Yeah, thanks. What's up?" Kallen crams the phone to her ear.
"If it makes you feel any better, here's something for your trouble." Lady Kaguya hands the boy a sum about three times the phone's cost.
"Um... Thanks?"
"Now scram!" Kallen hisses.
The boy takes off.
Kallen closes the phone after the voice on the other end stops talking. "We've been recalled. Something important. They said to look at any news reports we see along the way, but otherwise head straight back."
Kallen drops the phone on the ground and crushes it as she had been told to do.
They start running back.
o-o-o-o
"But-but Lelouch is dead!"
Nunnally points at the screen in horror.
"That's what we were told, wasn't it." Suzaku note dryly. "It seems our hosts aren't as all seeing as they think they are."
The store proprietor hands Suzaku a phone. "The guy on the other end said to put you on."
Suzaku holds the receiver up to his ear.
o-o-o-o
Once everyone is assembled, C2 and Gregor stand before their little group. While small compared to most operations C2 had been part of in the past, she guessed this would have to do.
"We're out of time."
"First of all, that man," Gregor gestures to a reactivated monitor. "Is NOT Lelouch. He is an impostor, one we already knew about. We don't know how he managed to enact his plan so quickly though. Last we heard, he was still in the initial planning stages."
C2 takes over. "We're putting plan Omega into action. You all have parts to play. Kallen, Lady Kaguya, come with me."
As the three women leave the room, Gregor addresses the remaining four. "We need to take him down quickly, and in a way he can't recover from, revealing his identity on air should do the trick."
"What if it actually is Lelouch?" Nunnally mutters.
"It isn't." Gregor's eyes flash. "Emperor Lelouch is dead, unless this joker decides to bring him back. His name is Drexel ri Brittania, and he doe not have a Geass. He has had two plastic surgeries that we know about, but it looks like he's had a lot more. His hero was Lelouch, and, well, I think he might have been obsessive by the time Lelouch had himself killed."
Suzaku speaks up. "So, we can expect him to be just like Emperor Lelouch?"
Gregor nods. "Unfortunately."
Suzaku nods distractedly and looks off into the distance, as if he could see through the wall.
Kallen wanders back into the room, eyes glued to the ceiling. From what could be seen of her face, she seems to be smiling and enjoying herself. Nunnally gazes up at the ceiling. It doesn't seem that interesting.
"I can see it!" Kallen says enthusiastically.
"See what?" Nunnally had been questioning her sanity, understandable due to recent events. Now she was about to question Kallen's state of mind, but she noticed something.
A faint red glow, jus above her head-
"What? When did you get a Geass?"
Kallen looks at Nunnaly. Sure enough, her left eye is encompassed with Geass.
C2 staggers into the room. "I gave it to her. She'll need it if we're going to pull Omega off."
Gregor opens his mouth to argue, then closes it. "Right. Did you give Lady Kaguya the 'gift' as well?"
From inside their minds, Lady Kaguya's voice sounds out. Yes. Yes she has.
"Oh good. Another telepath." C2 grumbles.
o-o-o-o
"Here you go, Anya. The Mordred, mark IV." Gregor sweeps his arm as C2 and Suzaku pull the cloth of the giant mech. It looks almost exactly like her old Mordred, but with all the upgrades that had been made in the past twelve years.
For the first time since she had arrived, Anya smiles.
Jeremiah moves next to C2. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, she's just a kid."
"She seems happy, and she's not a kid anymore. She's 23."
Jeremiah blinks. "I know, I just... I got attached."
C2 pats him on the back. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be alright." She chuckles. "Now, let's just pray she remembers the controls well enough to not kill us with her Stark Hadron cannon."
The Mordred activates and floats up in the air, about five feet off the floor. Gregor smiles and looks down at a small screen outputting diagnostics. "Everything looks green, Anya. How's it feel?"
Anya's normally tiny voice booms through the speakers. "Everything feels like it used to. Maybe a bit more cramped."
"You can adjust that using the levers under the seat."
Faint whirs can be heard over the low thrum of the main core.
"So, is the Mordred battle ready?" Anya's voice booms out.
"Wouldn't be much use otherwise." Gregor smiles up at her.
Good. Lady Kaguya's mental voice comes through. Because we have company.
o-o-o-o
Let Kaguya scans the monitors arrayed in front of her. The three screens displaying camera feeds show that the small base of operations has been surrounded by the Japanese military, with small pockets of Britannian soldiers here and there.
"Looks like they knew where we were." C2 remarks.
"Get ready. C2, take Kallen upstairs and arm the C4. Kaguya, stay on the consoles. Suzaku, Jere- Orange, with me. Anya, Nunnally, get the Mordred ready." Gregor swiftly gives out commands.
Surprisingly, nobody questions him. His tone didn't really leave room for dissent anyway.
Te Suzaku, Gregor, and Jeremiah trio head for the front door. Looking out a window, Suzaku sees great masses of troops. It looks even worse at ground level, a veritable sea of soldiers, all waiting for an order.
Gregor turns to Jeremiah. "Use your Anti-Geass. See if we can reduce their numbers a bit."
Jeremiah opens his left eye and a blue shockwave emanates from it. Suzaku watches about half of the troops drop as the blue sphere engulfs them.
"Yeah, we got a whole bunch." Suzaku turns back to find Gregor opening a hidden panel in the wall. He pulls out two riot shields, four pistols, and a shotgun.
"Here, each of you take one of these shields, as well as a pistol." Gregor straps the other two pistols to his legs and grabs the shotgun.
"Don't you need a shield?" Suzaku asks.
"Nope. Immortal."
Suzaku blinks. "Oh. Right."
"On my mark."
Suzaku stands on one side of the door, Jeremiah on the other.
"Mark."
Gregor smashes the door down, letting in the blinding midday light.
o-o-o-o
Upstairs, C2 and Kallen are busy planting enough C4 to being down the Tokyo tower.
"So this is where you made the masks?" Kallen asks, putting a small block of a claylike material next to some very delicate looking machinery.
"Yes." C2 uses some duct tape to secure a brick of the plastic explosive to a computer. "It is an interesting process. I'll show you sometime."
"How long does the average mask take to make?" Kallen grabs her own roll of duct tape and straps her last block to what looks like an oversized photocopier.
"About one and a half days, but slower is better, so if we weren't in a rush, it would be more like three days per." C2 jams two wires into one of her bricks and attaches the other ends to a box with a big timer in top. "Almost done?"
Kallen wires up her explosives to the detonator. "Yeah. Let's go."
A muffled crash comes from downstairs.
"We should go." C2 unlocks a panel on the wall and tosses Kallen a pistol. "Before anyone decides to get themselves killed."
Kallen almost follows right behind C2, but she notices a lone USB drive sitting on the table.
Thinking she could give it back to C2 later, she pockets the small device.
Now, there is a horde out front that needs to be dealt with.