Military power wins battles, but spiritual power wins wars." General Geroge Catlett.

The year was currently 2017. It was now seven years later after Britannia, the biggest superpower in all the worlds had successfully conquered Japan. It was no longer known as Japan, but now as Area 11. Ever since the conquest, Britannia had been growing ever more powerful than it was before. Project Knightmare was successful and ever since then Britannia had been creating even more powerful Knightmare Frames. Most Knightmares were 1 ½ stories tall and were divided into two categories: Glasgow: A more heavily armored Knightmare that used Siege Weaponry, and Sutherlands, which were infantry type Knightmares, usually carrying machine guns. The military also used a large combination of tanks and infantry.

Britannia decided to actually live in Japan. Britannia took a small portion of Japan and renamed there small section "Tokyo Settlement." This is the city were only pure blood Britannians lived at. The city was very large very advanced. Most of the buildings were built with a very lustrous metal so the city glowed in midday and looked extremely beautiful. In the middle of the city layed the Government building where the Viceroy, Prince Clovis lived. The city was peaceful at times, though subjected to terrorist attacks often. This was due to the fact of Britannia's conquest of the country. On the outside of the cities were the ghettos; the former Japanese cities. There were many Japanese living among the ruins as this was their main living arrangements as unfortunate as it was. Britannians had access to food stores while the Japanese had to scavenge what they could.

In fact the Japanese, or "Elevens" as they were now called, lives had gone downhill thanks to Britannia. Every day there was a report of an Eleven being killed by a soldier. Elevens could be used to whatever the Britannians desired: Slave, underpaid worker, bull's-eye, whatever. It all depended on who hired them or who was in charge at the time. Most of them lived in ghettos; ruins of their once great cities. Britannia's cruelty of them was even more showed when five years ago a mysterious comet shower rained on the planet causing damage to countries, Area 11 hit the hardest. No astronomer new where the shower came from and several scientists lost their jobs because of the failure to identify the shower since damage and fatalities were inflicted to Britannia. The Elevens suffered even more casualties because they had no protection from the rain, and Britannia didn't even bother to repair the damages done. So several Elevens vowed to attack Britannia until their life style improved.

Lelouch vi Britannia was one such person who noted these things. He had seen hatred, cruelty, and all that the world was. He had vowed to change it, but never had the necessary things to do so. But Lelouch had got himself caught up in a massive battle occurring at a ghetto but a series of misfortunes. He had watched his best friend die that he knew from the past and watch how the power abuse the weak.

Now thanks to his series of misfortunes, he had gained an amazing power: The ability to ensnare anyone to his will. He had already tested his power on a group of men who had tried to kill them and made them destroy themselves. The power was given to him by a woman who had been shot in the head. She layed there dead and Lelouch could only stare and wonder. He wiped the blood from his face as he looked at the corpse of the green haired woman.

"Why?" Lelouch asked the lifeless corpse. "What did you want me to do?"

He stood there for a long time. His purple eyes stared at her. Almost as in sorrow. But in reality, of pure confusion. Why did this girl give him this power? What did she mean about becoming lonely and stranded and despised from the world? There were so many questions and few little answers.

A rubble occurred around Lelouch. Lelouch turned around to locate its source. It was around the entrance of the place where group CA had entered (before he had killed them). A Knightmare burst into the room shortly later. Lelouch looked at it as the Knightmare's head opened up to reveal its scanner and IFF.

The woman in it looked as she saw all bodies. Both CA and Eleven. She didn't give a damn about the Elevens, but what she did take notice was the fact all of group CA was eliminated.

"How are all the royal guard members dead?" Viletta asked. She continued to scan around the room until she saw Lelouch just standing there. Waiting. Observing.

She pressed the com button on her Sutherland.

"You there!" She called out. "What are you doing! What is a Britannian student doing in a place like this?"

Lelouch just stared. No change in expression.

"Answer me!" She yelled. "Or..."

She figured that if she fired some warning shots above him that might knock him off his feet and force him to talk. If not, she would have to do a last resort. This is supposed to be an isolated incident so no Britannian outside of the ghetto other than armed forces is supposed to know until the media covered. She fired several rounds from her Knightmare's machine gun above Lelouch's head. However, to her surprise, Lelouch just stood there. Looking. Wind blowing through his air. Staring. As if he never even took notice.

Lelouch activated his power and stared at her Knightmare.

"Get out of there." He called out.

"What?" Viletta asked. "How dare you ask me of that?"

Lelouch quickly speculated why the power did not work. He quickly came the conclusion of eye contact. It seemed to work fine when he saw his victims.

"I see. It only works with direct eye contact."

Lelouch went over to the Knightmare with his hands raised in the air.

"My name is Alan Spencer. My father is a duke. I have an ID card in my back pocket. After you confirm my identity, I'd like to request your protection."

"Ohh a duke..." Viletta said. This would be a good start into rising to nobility. She grabbed her USB key and shut down her Knightmare frame. He exited the Sutherland and lowered herself down to the ground with her gun out (just in case) as she went towards where Lelouch stood.

"Stay right there." She said. "I'll take the ID out myself."

"Good." Lelouch said. He activated his Geass eye and looked into her face. "Now give me your Knightmare frame."

Lelouch's power penetrated into her brain. In a mere few seconds Viletta became ensnared into his will.

"All right." She said. "The Security password is XG2." She tossed the USB key then to Lelouch's hands. He caught it quite easily and then deactivated his power. He also decided to take her gun while she stood there in case things got a little out of hand.

After learning how to control the thing, Lelouch quickly left the area before his power and control on her completely faded; leaving Viletta standing there wondering what had just happened and why her Sutherland had vanished.

Lelouch continued to ride away from the area.

"I have to leave this general vicinity as soon as possible." He said. "If that woman spots me and radios in, I'll have quite a dilemma to deal with."

Lelouch drove down in his newly acquired Knightmare attempting to find a quick way to put as much distance between him and that woman as possible. Buildings were one thing, but there wasn't any sign of rubble that he could see.

As Lelouch was pondering was his next move would be, he began to notice a large amount of energy being concentrated nearby his position. Lelouch opened up his scanner on his Knightmare. The top portion of the head opened up. Lelouch saw that there was something buried deep inside a warehouse. It looked abandoned. Almost as if even the Elevens never used it.

"What's that?" Lelouch asked.

Lelouch drove up to the warehouse to investigate a bit. He had already acquired a Knightmare and decided to see if he could find anything else that was useful. He scanned the inside to make sure there was no one in it. Sure enough, Britannia had not made it this far into the Ghetto yet. But there was something mechanical in the warehouse. Something glowing.

Curiosity hit Lelouch hard and he decided to investigate. He deactivated the Knightmare and went inside the warehouse. Inside Lelouch found a large capsule like thing. The mere sight amazed Lelouch. He had never heard of something even shaped like that, military weapon or not. He went over to get a closer look.

The capsule looked like a container meant to hold something. Or someone. Lelouch had no idea of what to think of at the time other than to stare and theorize what could possibly be in the capsule.

"Was Britannia making some form of weapon inside the ghetto?" Lelouch said. He could not imagine what other reason Britannia would be here for. It must have been done in secret.

No bodies were around the warehouse though. And nothing around Lelouch suggested it would be a secret Military facility. Still he decided to take a look around.

Every bit of his search proved fruitless. There was no sign of papers, computers, and electronics anywhere. The only reason the capsule was on was because it was drawing energy from the subway system; which held a constant flow of electricity anyway. Lelouch just stared at the capsule in disbelief as he no longer had any idea what he was looking at exactly.

"What could this thing possibly be?" Lelouch asked as he moved towards it.

"I think I can answer that." A voice behind him said.

Lelouch turned around, his gun armed and loaded; only to point it at a man who was transparent. His hair was long and blonde and stretched out to the sides and he wore a purple cap. He looked like a general with his clothing and had a small Halo over his head.

"Who are you?" Lelouch asked.

"Elpizo." He replied. "Are you trying to escape?"

"In a way." Lelouch asked. "What are you?"

"I'm a Cyber-Elf." He said. "The ghost of a reploid long deceased. I assume the lady was right in your coming here."

"Lady?" Lelouch said.

"The Green haired woman who was killed before you." Elpizo responded, floating towards the capsule.

"You know her?" Lelouch asked.

"No." He said. "She merely gave me instructions to guard him and wait for a school boy to show eventually."

"Guard him?" Lelouch asked. "She asked you to guard me?"

"No." Elpizo said. "Guard the one who will protect you. The one sleeping in this capsule."

"I see." Lelouch asked. "It wouldn't make sense for a ghost to protect me now would it?"

"Exactly." Elpizo.

"So you are a ghost?" Lelouch asked.

"Indeed." Elpizo said.

"And what exactly we're you guarding?" Lelouch asked.

"Why the most powerful solider on the face of this universe." Elpizo said as he approached the capsule. "A soldier who destroyed an empire in less than three years."

"Destroyed an empire huh?" Lelouch said. "And you're just going to give him to me?"

"Lelouch." Elpizo said. "Do you want to change the world? Or do you just want to be like everyone else?"

"I'm already different enough as it is Elpizo." Lelouch responded, his hand on his eye. "I just gained the power to bend anyone to my will."

"Military power wins battles." Elpizo said, going in front of Lelouch.

"But spiritual power wins wars." Lelouch responded, finishing the quote.

Elpizo gave Lelouch a respectful look as he backed again towards the capsule. Lelouch followed him as he floated to it.

"How do I open it?" Lelouch asked.

Elpizo went to the side of the capsule. There was a computer built into it. He then began to press a sequence of numbers and keys. Lelouch watched as each time he entered a sequence, the screen on the capsule displayed the words, "Lock disabled."

After ten minutes, a slot on the capsule opened up to reveal a big red button. Engraved on it was Zero's symbol.

"Meet, Zero." Elpizo said. "The most powerful machine ever to have been built. Capable of destroying armies merely by himself. Back in the day, the last thing anyone wanted to see on the battlefield was him. He was merely unstoppable. He was even able to repair himself after he was killed in the year 21XX in his universe. A powerful warrior who carries technology far beyond Britannia's."

"That could be useful." Lelouch said. "I press this button and he'll be released right?"

"A word of warning Lelouch:" Elpizo said. "If you do entrust Zero as your soldier, be warned. He is not the only one of his kind. They are others on this place as well: Some with great and terrible powers. You will face enemies that you will never have seen before, or ever believed in. And Zero is unlike any machine you will have ever encountered. He possesses the ability to think and act on his own accord; and the ability to feel emotion. This makes him both a Key to victory and a liability. He may choose to do actions that contradict your orders, or even to betray you."

"In other words, he's a danger and an ally at one time." Lelouch finished.

"Yes." Elpizo said. "Are you sure despite this you want him?"

"Give him to me." Lelouch said. "If he does betray me, I'll simply destroy him. I assume this power will work on him. But thanks for the warning."

Elpizo pressed the button. The main locks on the capsule were released and the capsule opened up.

Lelouch looked at Zero. He didn't look like much. Lelouch wasn't surprised on the human appearance: Lelouch theorized he might have looked like that. Not many rifles have a will or are called such things. Lelouch saw he was equipped with a pistol, and had a cylinder like object on his back. Lelouch wanted to ask Elpizo more questions on Zero, but Elpizo had vanished.

"Where did he…" Lelouch began. But Lelouch decided not care. He simply grabbed Zero and began to pull him from the capsule. Zero was still dead asleep.

"He should have mentioned how to wake up after the capsule was opened!" Lelouch yelled as he tried to pull Zero from it. Lelouch was surprised on how light Zero was. He thought a weapon made of metal would be much heavier than this. This was almost easy. However Lelouch did not have the time to pull him all the way out.

A Knightmare rolled into the warehouse. Lelouch turned around in fear. He had forgotten that there was a battle going on all around him.

"Who's this?" The Pilot said. He turned on his IFF and saw that it was just a student.

"A Britannian student? What's a student like you doing out here?"

"I got caught up in the battle by accident." Lelouch responded.

"Hmph!" The Pilot said. "Well it doesn't matter. This is an isolated incident. I have no choice!"

The Knightmare aimed his gun at Lelouch. Lelouch turned around in order to run away to his Knightmare, but already knew he'd never be able to reach it.

"Sorry kid." The Pilot said. "Orders are orders. Long live Britanni…."

The arm for the Knightmare suddenly fell off. The Knightmare pilot looked to see the whole arm had been seared off by heat.

"What! How did..."

The Pilot looked on the ground. A red Reploid, saber active was standing there, both hands clutching hardly onto it. Zero turned around at the Knightmare as the pilot looked right at him.

"What are you? Some damn eleven playing dress up?"

Zero got on his feet and looked up at the head of his Knightmare.

"You got some damn nerve to do that to a soldier of Britannia!" HE yelled out. "Surrender immediately or I'll destroy you."

Zero grinned at him.

"If I see an enemy before me, I won't hesitate to destroy it." Zero said.

The Pilot grabbed his knife and swung at Zero. Zero simply ducked and cut the knife to pieces. The pilot just stood there, stunned. Zero wasted no time with his enemy. He activated his thrusters and began to speed up, attacking the pilots other arm. The pilot had suddenly realized he was not fighting an ordinary eleven and tried to retreat. Zero easily caught up to him and sliced at his legs cutting off both wheels. The Pilot was now just a sitting duck. He then decided he wouldn't die here so easily and began to reach for his ejection seat. However, Zero noticed that mechanisms on the armor indicated the pilot was going to try and escape. He wasted no time and moved for a kill.

"The fuel tank is right there!" Zero said as grabbed his saber and made a charge, his acceleration system blaring off as he charged at the humanoid power armor. Zero went to the stomach of the Knightmare and plugged his saber into it. The Knightmare stood still for a few seconds, before exploding, killing the pilot before he had the chance to escape. Zero landed in front of the flames, staring off into space, trying to find out who his enemy was.

Lelouch was stupefied! He had never seen a weapon move, or fight like this before, especially in the form of a foot soldier. But then, Lelouch smiled and began to laugh hysterically in his mind.

"He's perfect! If he can do this, then he truly is the perfect soldier! I can do this! I can crush Britannia!"

Zero turned around as he heard Lelouch breathe.

"Hey kid." He asked. "Did you know this guy?"

"Not in the least." Lelouch said.

"Well…" Zero asked. "Do you mind telling me who it is that released me from my capsule? Some girl told me to guard someone and that someone would be the one who opens the capsule."

"That would have been me." Lelouch responded, getting back to his feet. "I must thank you for saving my life."

"You're the one I'm supposed to be protecting?" Zero asked.

"You can say that." Lelouch said going towards Zero. "My name is Lelouch. The man you slayed back there was my enemy as was yours. And you are?"

"Zero." Zero responded, giving Lelouch and handshake. "Nice to meet you, Lelouch."

"Same here." Lelouch said back.

"So Lelouch…" Zero began. "What are your orders?"

"Come with me." Lelouch said. "We have plenty of work to do. For now, let's just concentrate on leaving this battlefield."

"A battle?" Zero asked

Lelouch watched as Zero began to gaze out in the room. It looked like he was intently listening in on something.

"There is a battle going on." Zero said.

"Indeed." Lelouch said. "I got caught into it by accident and I'm kind of stuck here."

"Fortunate for you to run into me huh?" Zero said as Lelouch began to board his Knightmare. Zero leaped on top of it and rested on the shoulder.

"True." Lelouch said. "I was warned however about using you and I don't want you to become a public spectacle in the eyes of the military. Therefore, don't attack the enemy unless I ask you to."

"Fine." Zero said.

"We need a plan." Lelouch said as the Knightmare drove off.