"Every revolutionary ends by becoming either an oppressor or a heretic". Albert Camus

"That was Suzaku that they mentioned on the news wasn't it?" Nunnally asked as her brother helped her into her bed.

"Yep." Lelouch said. "Looks like he's still alive."

"It's been ages." Nunnally said. "We haven't seen him since the war ended. Even we…"

Nunnally yawned a bit before she could finish her sentence.

"And Lelouch?" She said.

"Yes Nunnally?" He asked.

"It wasn't true what they said on the news was it?" She said.

"Of course not." He said. "Suzaku would never do something like that. It's just a mistake."

Suzaku; Lelouch's best friend had now been charged with murder of a prince. But Lelouch already knew the truth: he was the one who had did it. He could still remember it as clear as day, being alone in the darkened command center with no one but Clovis and himself.

"I'm overjoyed Lelouch." Clovis said. "They said you had died when Japan was brought into the fold. What a blessing to have you back. We should depart for the homeland at once."

"So you can use me for another bargaining tool as well?" Lelouch asked. "It seems you have forgotten why we were used as tools in the first place."

Clovis shot up from his seat. What did Lelouch mean by that?

"That's right." He said softly. "It was because my mother was killed. Mother held the title "Knight of honor" but was a commoner by birth. No doubt the other imperial consorts held her in contempt. Even though you made it look like the work of terrorists, I'm no fool. You people killed my mother!"

"It wasn't me!" Clovis shouted. Clovis spoke the truth. He had no idea what Lelouch was talking about other than the fact his mother was killed.

"Then tell who did it!" Lelouch shouted still pointing the pistol at Clovis. "Tell me everything you know. The truth cannot be hidden from me any longer. By whose hand was she slain?"

Lelouch activated the Geass in his eye and cast it upon Clovis. Clovis was about to say something but then fell under the spell.

"My brother. 2nd prince Shinizel and 2nd princess Cornelia: they can tell you." Clovis said in a monotone voice.

"They were at the heart of this?" Lelouch asked.

Clovis stood silent.

"You really don't know anything do you?" Lelouch asked. He then deactivated the Geass and let Clovis return to normal. Once the glowing red eyes vanished, Clovis returned back to his coward state.

"I swear it wasn't me!" He shouted. "I had nothing to do with it!"

"I believe you." Lelouch said while lowering his gun. However a few seconds later, his evil smirk reappeared and he pointed the gun back at Clovis.

"However…" he began.

"You can't!" Clovis shouted. "You and I may have different mothers, but we are still brothers!"

"Petty words won't change the world." Lelouch said.

And then he pulled the trigger.

Zero launched his attack on the supply depot early that morning after he mailed in his payment to the school (from Lelouch's money of course). And completing his Math test (which, as expected, he scored a 100) Zero made his attack.

The depot was fairly big and was there as a place to store supplies and Knightmares until a train came by to pick up the equipment. Most of the storage was underground, the top area used as a defense line to stop invading troops. It was placed right next to a train rail so the supplies could easily be distributed among Britannian bases. To Elevens, the defense was formidable. To Zero, it was nothing more than a distraction.

"Stop him!" A guard said as Zero charged at them in the supply depot.

Several guards fired at Zero as he attacked the supply depot. Zero ran towards them until all of them starting firing. When they did, Zero leapt on the wall and ran up it, still speeding towards them. The guards lifted their aim to hit him on the walls, but Zero kicked off the wall and ran on the other, maneuvering through each one of their bullets. Zero pulled out his pistol and fired at a security camera before it could even see him. A defense gun emplacement on a tower tried firing at him as well. It fired large heavy shells at Zero, but he weaved in and out of them as the thrusters in his feet made him close distance. The Britannians became desperate as Zero got closer and closer, throwing, everything they had at him, till finally, Zero was at their front door step.

Zero activated the beam saber and swung it, killing the first few guards in his way. Zero slashed with his beam saber behind him and killed another guard by stabbing him in the stomach. Zero then swung the blade killing two more and cutting the already dead guard in half. Zero then pulled out his pistol again. He swung with one hand at another guard, cutting off his arm and then fired his pistol into his heart. Zero turned around and then fired a charged round into another batch. The energy explosion knocked the guards into the air as if a grenade went off. The tower tried to fire at Zero again, but Zero leapt of the round and then threw the shield boomerang at the tower. The boomerang ran along the sides of the tower, grinding it off its base. When the weapon returned, Zero kicked the tower as hard as he could. The tower was cut clean off its base and fell to the ground, exploding on contact.

Several Knightmares defending the base also tried to fire at him. However, due to their large size, they were nothing more than sitting targets. Zero leapt on top of one and forced one of the pilots to fire at the other, killing him. Zero used his beam saber to cut another one's machine gun. When he landed, he used his beam saber and cut both of the Knightmare's legs off. As it fell to the ground, Zero fired a charged round into the sakuradite tank, causing it to blow. The other two tried to fire at Zero, but Zero leapt up and used the Shield Boomerang, cutting both Knightmares in half. Zero landed after his foes had been killed, only to see the infantry had retreated.

The guards who retreated tried sealing the door. But Zero used his beam saber and cut through the steel. Zero burst down the door and fired a charged pistol round at several computers in the room, destroying the security systems (camera, laser trip wire, etc). Several pilots tried to get to their Knightmares, but Zero shot each and every one before they even made it significantly close to them. Using both saber and gun, Zero quickly wiped out each and every Britannian at the base, except for one security guard. Zero went up to him and pointed his pistol at the poor recruit, putting it right up to his head.

"You have the security clearances for the high sensitive equipment?" Zero asked.

The guard just looked at him with an expression of pure terror. When Zero saw he wasn't compiling, he cocked the gun and began to slowly pull the trigger.

"No wait!" He said. "I'll…I'll…I'll clear you! Just let me live!"

Zero put his gun down.

"Step on it; I'm on a tight schedule." He said.

The guard took Zero to several corridors in the deepest portion of the Britannian base. The guard went to a room full of computers. A command center like thing. The guard entered in a security code in the computer and Zero saw on camera all the security doors open.

"There!" He said. "You've been cleared. You have access all the rooms now! Now let me live!"

Zero stared at him silently. This guy had seen him…well sort of. Zero wore a brown cloak during his entire attack, making most of his body concealed. He knew that if he left this guy live, he might be able to describe to X about him. But then again…this guy probably had never even committed a crime in his life. Nor did he even raise his gun to him. Zero lowered his pistol.

"Oh thank you!" The guard said.

Zero grabbed the man's head and slammed it into a nearby wall. The man was out like a light.

But he was alive.

After the man was unconscious, Zero went to the high sensitive equipment room. There he found supplies upon supplies; more than enough material to rebuild his armor. Even better, Zero found several tools that he could use with the building process as well. After Zero gathered his equipment that he needed (metals, circuit boards, etc) Zero left the room and carried off his equipment.

Lelouch had slowly followed Zero. He wanted to observe Zero's infiltrative abilities first hand. He had observed the whole fight with binoculars. Lelouch was mighty impressed.

"Looks like Zero's abilities are far surpassing my expectations." Lelouch said as he worked on a laptop. He was still trying to decode all the contents of the hard drive where he found Zero. "This disc is annoying to crack. Whoever designed him must have really wanted no information passing out about Zero. Every time I bypass one lock, there just seems to be another. And not a lot of information is given even when I decode a look too. Who designed him?"

Zero then left the facility, with some of the equipment in hand.

"Guards on the train?" Lelouch asked.

"Took care of them before I attacked." Zero said.

"Load the remaining supplies onto the train." Lelouch said. "This train moves underground before it reaches its stop. There is a small cavern that we will hide the equipment in."

"What for?" Zero said.

"Emergency equipment." Lelouch said. "We'll store the Knightmares and the munitions in that cave for the time being. Destroy the base once you loaded everything."

Zero obeyed willingly. He first loaded the equipment onto the empty train. After then, he set several charges on key points of the base. Before leaving the base, Zero removed the unconscious guard from the base to some place where the explosion would not harm him. When Zero and Lelouch began the move the train, Zero pressed a button on a custom made detonator. Several explosions were seen from the base, sending shrapnel and debris everywhere. Lelouch and Zero got underground as the first rescue squads from Britannia arrived. No one knew who had done it.

Zero and Lelouch then stopped the train in the middle of the underground rail. There they found a large cave that they unloaded the equipment in. They stored loads of rifles, ammo, grenades, medical equipment, and even several Sutherlands in there. There was loads of even more equipment as well. Lelouch and Zero had no time however to make an account of all the equipment they had. They stored the equipment in the farthest point they could.

After which, Zero went deep into the cave and began working.

Lelouch waited there for about four hours. Zero eventually left the cave and approached Lelouch. Zero had looked different. He no longer had on his resistance armor, but his Maverick Hunter armor. The red armor design was more bulky and more colorful. He had red and white shoulder armor with his symbol engraved in it. The front of it had two green orbs on his chest plate. The boots were far bigger and his hands had doubled in size. The helmet itself looked more colorful with its red and white design and the crystal had changed from green to blue. Zero had become Maverick Hunter Zero.

"I feel like I just time traveled." He said.

Lelouch smirked.

"You look like the last thing I'd ever want to see in a battle." Lelouch said. "That should do it...for now. Should I ever manage to grow what I'm doing into a fully-fledged rebellion, this equipment will become useful later on. Until then, this is the safest we can hide it. We better get going. We need to be near the transit station soon. How's my costume coming along?"

"Finished it this morning." Zero said handing Lelouch a briefcase.

Lelouch opened the briefcase to see a custom designed tuxedo, cape, helmet, and among other articles of clothing all in one package.

Tokyo tower was made as a museum to dedicate to both Britannian and Eleven lives that were killed on the battlefield. It was a joke though to make Britannia look less of a monster than it already was.

"Britannia's victory of the Japan opened the unenlightened eyes of the nation into the new world order. Since then, Britannia and Area 11 have walked hand in hand to the road to revival."

"Why Tokyo tower?" Kallen asked. "Why here of all places?"

"It was Kururugi who contacted us wasn't it?" Ohgi asked Kento.

"Who knows?" Yoshida said. "It might have been someone else who contacted us before communication was cut off."

"If that's the case, we're in danger here." Kento said. "We should go now."

"Miss Kallen Stadfield." A voice said on the voice line. "Your personal effects have been delivered to the reception desk."

All the resistance members turned to the reception desk to see Karen getting something from the receptionist. Karen went over and collected the phone while the rest of resistance members just watched. Karen then went up to the top of the tower and made the call.

"Hello?" She said into it as she was on top of the tower.

"I want you to board the outbound train on loophole five and bring your friends. Look for the Red armored knight to find me."

"You handled your highness's memorial program quite well." Jeremiah said. "A bit too weepy for my tastes."

"Yes well the masses tend to like tear jerkers your majesty." Diethard said.

"Spoken like a true TV reporter." Jeremiah said. "Still I must acknowledge the finesse you shown. You did quite well with the short amount of time you had. One would almost say you expected his highness to meet his untimely end."

"It's quite common for memorial services to be set in advance for important people." Diethard said.

"Does that include me as well?" Jeremiah asked jokingly.

"Recent events may have bumped you up the list your Excellency." Diethard said.

Really? That was really just a joke, but shoot I'll take it.

"I wasn't deemed important enough until now is that?" He asked. "How forth right of you."

"I'm afraid so sir." Diethard said.

"Ever thought of enlisting?" Jeremiah said. "The army could use more men like you."

"I don't think it'd be a real good idea." HE said. "Not really my cup of tea."

"You prefer to work the civil sector I take it?" Jeremiah said. "No matter. I have another favor to ask of you. Tomorrow night Suzaku Kurururgi will be transferred to his court martial."

Diethard already began to think how he was going to run the show.

"We should line the road with good patriotic Britannians." Diethard said.

"You catch on quickly." Jeremiah said. "Be sure the rabble can see his face."

"Lord Jeremiah." Viletta said. "There are a good number of the Elevens who consider Sazuku a hero. There's a good chance they will try to free him."

"I'll be there in my Sutherland to guard Sazaku personally." Jeremiah said. "If anyone tries to do anything, they'll be executed on site!"

Jeremiah and Viletta went out of their office later that night to head home until tomorrow. On his way down the stairs, X went towards Jeremiah.

"Jeremiah." X asked.

"What is it X?" Jeremiah said. "Speak quickly. Tomorrow's a busy day for us both."

"It's about Sazaku." X said. "Are you sure he's the one who did it?"

"He had the motive and we do have a finger print scan." Jeremiah said. "We have more than enough evidence."

"But the timing." X said. "I know Suzaku didn't do it because of the fact Suzaku was on the front lines at the time of the battle."

"Really?" Jeremiah said. "And who told you this?"

"I was also deployed on the battlefield as well." X said. "I was with Suzaku on the battle."

"Normally that would make me think otherwise." Jeremiah said. "However, one witness is not enough for me to be convinced. Are there any others who support your claims?"

"R&D division also will back me up on this one." X said. "And I even have video evidence of this as well. The crystal on my head can work as a field surveillance camera as well as my power generator."

"Is that so?" Jeremiah said. "You seem to have done a lot to help this one monkey. However, may I remind you of your place here in Britannia? I was kind enough to give you the promotion of Warrant Officer and keep you from being arrested as well. You should be thanking me; not questioning my authority."

"Arrested!" X said. "How? What did I do?"

"Within the last few days several of our patrols have been attacked by an unknown assailant." Jeremiah said.

Jeremiah then reached over X's shoulders and pulled out the green beam saber. Jeremiah pressed the activation button on the saber and turned on the sword. Jeremiah took a piece of paper and threw it in the air, swinging the green beam saber at it. Jeremiah easily cut the paper in two, creating a huge burn mark on it. He then deactivated the saber and picked up the pieces of paper.

"The damage inflicted by the soldiers matched that of your beam saber." He said. "Intense heat that inflicted enough damage to sear off the skin in an instant. Each of the soldiers was either stabbed and had their wounds cauterized from the inside, or had body parts cut clean off. At first, the council voted to arrest you secretly, but I stepped in and supported you. Because at the time of both attacks, you were working with me and you were capturing your old friend."

"You…supported…me?" X asked in shock.

"It's not very often that Britannia makes a find like you." Jeremiah said. "It would be a shame to lose such a valuable piece of technology as quickly as it was found. Besides you may have even stringed us in another loyal soldier as well. Right now, Britannia could use someone like you. Most likely Harpuria will be blamed for the deaths of the soldiers instead."

X still couldn't believe Jeremiah was telling him all of this.

"However…" he said. "If you continue to question my orders, I may not be as helpful as I was earlier. I am glad that you are willing to support a fellow comrade, but who you really should be supporting is Britannia. And the loss of one honorary Britannian is nothing."

Jeremiah handed back to X his beam saber and began to walk away from him.

"Now go back to your bunk and get some rest." He said. "You have a busy day tomorrow. You are going to be posing as someone with the media. Since you seem to have a camera in your helmet, please make sure you get some footage as well; especially of me if you could."

Jeremiah let out a small chuckle. X himself made a small laugh, but he was still a little mad at Jeremiah.

"And since you have already proven a good soldier in terms of combat, you will provide the military with additional support should something happen." Jeremiah said. "Know your place! And follow my orders!"

X did the Britannian salute.

"Yes my lord." X said.

Jeremiah walked away. When he did, X clutched his fists.

"Ignorance." He said. "They couldn't find the real culprit. So they blamed the next best one. They're doing nothing more than framing him."

Kallen and the rest of her friends boarded the train as Lelouch requested. Zero zoomed in on their location to see that the leaders of the resistance right there all gathered how Lelouch wanted them to be.

"All of them are here." Zero said.

"Perfect." Lelouch said. "Looks like we can get underway. Zero can I borrow your name for the time being?"

"What?" He asked.

"You're name." Lelouch said. "From now on, whenever I wear this costume, and I'm in the presence of other people, you will call me Zero."

"Any particular reason why?" Zero asked.

"When thinking on a percentile, when the number zero is shown, it means the possibility either will or will not happen." Lelouch said. "A guaranteed victory or defeat. I will be that person to make the possibility zero. Thus my name shall be called Zero in this guise. You will call yourself The Red Knight for the time being."

"The Red Knight huh?" Zero said. "…Whatever; I'm not the thinker in this. Very well, Master Zero. Lead on."

Lelouch grabbed the radio and began to put in the number for the phone he gave to Kallen.

"Every revolutionary ends by becoming either an oppressor or a heretic." Zero said.

Lelouch looked up.

"I've met too many people in life who has betrayed me and my friends." Zero said. "If you accomplish the task of not becoming either, you will earn my trust."

"You don't trust me?" Lelouch asked.

"I don't even know why I'm fighting." Zero shouted. "The only reason I'm fighting is to protect myself."

Kallen and the rest of her friends stood in the train waiting for something or someone to appear. Kallen stood there, still clutching the phone tightly, wondering what to do. Suddenly the phone vibrated in her hands. She picked it up and answered it.

"Yeah what do you want?" She said.

"Look to your right." Lelouch said. "Tell me what you see."

Kallen looked to the right and saw the beautiful Britannian city that the Elevens had built. The ones they toiled and died to make Britannia feel more comfortable.

"The Britannian city." She said. "It was stolen away from us. And built on our sacrifice."

"And on the left?" Lelouch asked.

"I see our city." She said. "Remnants and ruins of a once great city after Britannia had sucked it dry. A place of decay and survival."

"Good answer." Lelouch said. "Now make your way to the front of the train. My personal body guard will be there to greet you and we can begin formal introductions."

Lelouch cut the phone line at that moment. Kallen then began to move among the people to get to the front of the train. She wondered why no one seemed to acknowledge her and her friends existence. Still she disregarded that and began to continue her way towards the train. Oegi and allies began to follow. They also noticed that no one seemed to notice they were even there. At the front of the car, they saw someone dressed like a solider of some form looking right at them.

"About time." Zero said. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming. My master awaits you."

"Who are you?" Kallen asked. "Are you the one who ordered the retreat?"

"You shouldn't be asking me that." Zero said as he opened the door and let the bunch through. "You should be asking him."

Zero shut the door on Kallen and her friends. They were now in a room completely by themselves with a silhouette at the end of the car.

"Was it you?" She asked. "On the phone?"

"Whoa." Yoshida said. "Do you think it is a trap?"

"Well!" Kallen shouted. "Was that you in Shinjuku? Was that cease fire you're doing?"

"Hey!" Kento said. "We're talking to you!"

Lelouch turned around to reveal an entity no one had ever seen before. The others fell back in shock, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.

"What do you think of my tour of the settlement?" Lelouch asked.

"You're tour?" Ohgi said.

"Oh come on." Kento said. "There's no way it's this joker."

"I wanted you to grasp the two!" He said. "The settlement and the ghetto!"

"We know." Ohgi said. "There's a really big difference between the two. A harsh one. That's why we resist them."

"You're wrong." Lelouch said.

Everyone became confused.

"Britannia will not fall to terrorism." Lelouch said. "They consider it nothing more than childish nuisance."

"You're calling us a bunch of little kids!" Yoshida shouted.

"You should know your enemy!" Lelouch shouted. "The war you must wage is not on the innocent, but at Britannia itself! Take up your sword! Fight for justice!"

Kallen became very angry at the costume wearing vigilante.

"Oh please!" Kallen said. "That's all easy enough to say now isn't it? Why should we trust someone who hides behind a mask anyway?"

"Yeah!" Kento said. "Take it off!"

"Are you going to show us your face?" Ohgi said.

"Very well." Lelouch said. "I will show you not my face, but I will make you bear witness to my power. If I deliver the impossible, then I might have earned your trust."

A group of three Knightmares had received Intel that a group of Elevens were stockpiling weapons and ammo within a small shed somewhere in the mountains. At least that's what they thought.

"Approaching the enemy position." A Knightmare pilot said. "We'll be there within a few minutes!"

"Damn Elevens think that they can really oppose us!" A pilot said. "How foolish."

The Knightmares began to speed towards a small mountain like position. Although the terrain was rugged, it was quite easy to scale with their Slash Harkens. The Knightmares got within a few hundred meters from the position.

Suddenly a shot came out of nowhere and hit of the Knightmares dead on. The shot caused the Knightmare to explode seconds later after being hit. Nobody could see what hit him. Another gunshot was then heard from the top of the mountain and a second Knightmare was hit.

"What the hell did the Eleven's get their hands on!" The third unit said.

It was the last thing he ever said. A third nailed that one and he exploded as well. All three Knightmares were now burning piles of rubble on the ground.

On the top of the mountain, Tohdoh looked as he was the new recruit gun each one down with a special sniper rifle.

"Well done." He said. "I am impressed with your abilities and weaponry. Disguising yourself as a Britannian guard and spreading the rumor of an eleven weapon cache with such ease."

"I'm good my line of work." He said. "After all, I was trained as a hunter so I know how to manipulate data and take my targets out."

"I see." Tohdoh said. "Welcome to the JLF. And your name is?"

"Axl." He said. "My name is Axl."