Silence. The absence of any distractions like smell, touch, or the aforementioned sound soothes my frayed nerves. Meditation was something I always enjoyed, just me and my thoughts.

I was honestly prepared to fight an intense gorilla war against my favorite Britannian royal. Fortunately, Zero was there to take my place. The man is certainly impressive; he managed to fight Cornelia off in a straight battle. To be entirely truthful, even I would struggle to achieve such a feat.

Speaking off...Cornelia... I feel my hands crumble into fists. Making an effort to relax, I grimace. As much as I hold a truly copious amount of affection for said princess, I can't let that massacre slide. I believe it is time to show her that every action has a reaction.

Opening my eyes, I glance down at the report resting in my folded arms. Euphemia, huh? There is really little to nothing that can extract a reaction from Nelly. Accept her, dear sweet little Euphy, that is.

The sound of someone wrapping their knuckles on the doors to my personal dojo catches my attention. "Enter."

"Did you want to converse with me, Commander?" Came Kusakabe's question.

Lelouch sat in his new command center, awaiting the arrival of his new soldiers. He would need to gather more followers; the Kozuki group was useful, yes, but some more desposible pawns.

Kallen thought...that girl was useful. She was the only member of the resistance cell who wasn't absolutely desposible. She was able to overcome an ace pilot in a seven generation knightmare frame. Only for a second, yes, but still.

Getting in contact with the seven Kyoto houses too. Robbing some good for nothing noble filth is all fun and games, but why would he say no to any more funds? Some more weaponry would also be good to acquire. Besides, he was sure that even without his geass Taizo would cooperate with him.

Still, there was the matter of the Japan Liberation Front. He still remembered when he met Seriyus Kururugi for the first time. A small smirk appeared on his lips when he remembered all the chess and shogi games they played together.

As he remeniced a knocking resounded from the door. The moment a member of the resistance cell stuck his head inside, he bid him come inside. It's time to announce the creation of his own personal army.

"Every action has a reaction." Cornelia smashed a fist into the table. Her expression was one of rage mixed with blood freezing fear. "Damn it all. What was I even thinking!?"

Jeremiah and Guilford were standing a little ways away. Both of them were wearing non too pleased expressions on their faces.

"There isn't much we can do in a situation like this; everything we've already tried has failed." Jeremiah grimaced.

"Indeed, and with Princess Euphemia inside the building, we can't just bomb it into the ground." Gilford replied.

"Can't we just negotiate? They might be terrorists, but I very much doubt even they want to die." The margrave rose an inquiry.

With a weary sigh, the knight shook his head. "Princess Cornelia would never negotiate with terrorists. Besides, they are former Japanese, they were famous for using suicide tactics during the first Pacific War."

"Then what are we supposed to do then?! They shot down any VTOLs we sent! The moment we sent an underwater strike team, they were picked off like ducks! All bridges were raised! And using that service tunel is just a waste of good pilots with that damn linear canon blocking the way!" He punctuated his rage with a clenched fist hitting a nearby wall.

Guilford winced at the loud sound and looked at his lady. Seeing that she gave no reaction, he looked back at his fellow knight. "I...honesty find myself just as stumped as you. And with princess Cornelia in...that state..." He indicated the royal.

Jeremiah dragged an open palmed hand down his face in exhoustion. "I truly believe we will have to wait for a miracle to happen."

Josui Kusakabe stood in the office of the hotel he had just taken hostage, leaning on his sheathed katana. The commander truly did overcome himself. He smirked. Every action had a reaction after all. And his commander's reactions could be very...explosive.

Honestly, he was ready to die here, declaring Japan's independence. Fortunately, the commander always hated losing pieces in shogi. Josui was supplied with a large assortment of plans to get out of this situation without a scratch. Furthermore, if Lord Kururugi was right in his prediction, then he was already saved.

A few knocks came from the office doors. "Come in." In walked a pair of soldiers with a pink-haired Britannian girl between them. "Lieutenant-colonel, we found her!"

He glanced back at the girl. Pink hair, check. Light purple eyes, check. An expression of determination and kindness mixed together, check. It's her. "Leave us."

With a click of their heeled boots, the soldiers did as he ordered them. "Good evening, your highness."

"Commander, are you sure this will work?" Chiba sounded quite concerned when she posed the question.

Me and my five holy swords were standing in the main command room of the Narita mountain base. In front of us, a large TV screen was displaying the current situation from the numerous body cameras I had the soldiers wear. "

Naturally, even if zero is a no show, I prepared a few escape routes for them." She didn't appear even remotely soothed, but there's not much I can do about that fact in the current moment.

"Tell me, Tohdoh, how are the seventh generation knightmares we received?" He looked away from the screen.

"They have been checked over, and everything seems fine, at least according to the manual we were provided. However, we have a shortage of ace pilots capable of piloting them. You could pilot one of them, yes, but what about the second one?"

"I see...send it to Zero, the obsolete burai-kai as well." At that, my swords raised all kinds of exclamations. I waited for a few seconds to let them vent their frustration. I noticed that neither Tohdoh nor Senba raised any complaints.

"Silence!" And they did. No one said another word in the face of my temporary fury. After a few seconds, I renewed our conversation. "We have been supplied with the pre-production Gekkas for you, and we don't have any more skilled pilots that would be able to pilot the Burai-kai." They looked at each other silently. Finally, Urabe raised a question.

"What of Captain Kagesaki?" I scratched my chin in though. Kizuna Kagesaki, a skilled pilot, yes, but he's not an ace just yet. It's not that he doesn't have any talent, quite the opposite. Kagesaki needs just a little more combat experience. Not good enough for a Gekka but too good for a standard burai.

"I see. That's actually quite a good point. Very well, leave one burai-kai behind for the good captain. General, correct me if I'm wrong, but our own personal burai-kai are far more enhanced than the rest, correct?"

"That is correct, commander." He nodded with a raised eyebrow.

"Good, repaint mine in black and red; furthermore, I want that one provided with a rifle and a quad missile launcher. Leave the general's frame for the captain. Also, have one of the standard burai-kai repainted pink and equip it with a rocket launcher." They all, besides Tohdoh, saluted and started leaving the room. "Urabe, stay."

He did as I bid him, staying behind while the rest left. "I need a messenger. I can't send anyone too important or too unimportant. I believe you will be perfect. Take the Guren, the four Burai-kai, and this." Saing, so I handed him a letter with the seal of the seven Kyoto houses.

"Understood." After giving a salute, he left.

Very well, all conditions have been cleared; now we just have to wait for the outcome.