I don't own Code Geass

...

Shinjuku Ghetto, Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven, 2017

I don't believe it, Zero thought. She hasn't even met Euphie. How on Earth did she still make FLEIJA?

He scanned through the lines of chemical formulas, notes, 3D designs, and animated simulations of the FLEIJA's blast.

He glanced over at Nina, fidgeting in her seat across from him, and asked, "How long have you been working on this, Miss Einstein?"

She flinched slightly at the question. "About three years now, sir," she said.

Zero nodded. "And what precisely is this you've been working on?" he asked.

She bunched the tail end of her coat in her hands. "It's nuclear fission, a process by which the atom is split into-"

"I know what it does, Miss Einstein," Zero interrupted. "I mean, what are you planning to do with it?"

She looked down at her feet. "Well, I've been developing it as an alternative to Sakuradite as a fuel source," she said.

"And why is an alternate fuel source to Sakuradite necessary?"

Nina fidgeted even more. "Sakuradite is a finite fuel source," she said. She sounded like she was giving some sort of pitch. "The acquisition of more of this resource was the principle casus belli, for, well…" she trailed off nervously.

"The invasion of Japan," Zero finished.

Nina nodded. "So long as the Empire doled out Sakuradite equally among the world's major powers, the Federation and the EU were willing to allow the conquest of Ar-" she stopped herself quickly, "-Japan. Eventually, however, Japan will run out of Sakuradite, and the smaller stores maintained by the world powers will become that much more important. Scarcity of resources could lead to war. That's what my project is for: if we can harness the power of nuclear fission, we would be able to turn it into unlimited energy, for the benefit of all."

Zero nodded along with her explanation. "That's very noble of you, Miss Einstein, and rather prescient," he said, and she smiled furtively. He leaned forward. "But that isn't what you've shown me." He turned the monitor of his computer around. "This doesn't look like an energy plant, Miss Einstein," he said, pointing to the expanding sphere. "This looks like an explosion."

Nina swallowed audibly. "That's-" she stammered nervously, "-that's because it is." She took a deep breath. "The energy output is so great that unless it is properly contained it can cause destruction on a wide scale. Creating focused limits on that destruction can allow that energy to be used as a concentrated bomb."

Zero sat back, relaxing in his chair, his hands forming into a steeple. "Why have you brought this to me, Nina?" he asked. "This is potentially the most destructive force in the history of the world, a certain boon to the Britannian Empire, and you're giving it to their worst enemy. Tell me, Nina," he leaned forward, "why are you so willing to betray your homeland?"

…..

Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven

"It's over, Reuben! There's nothing to discuss! Viceroy Cornelia can hang as many of them in the streets as she wants. I'm not going to keep my daughter enrolled in a school surrounded by terrorists!"

Kallen watched Sophie nearly burst into tears as her father shouted, sneaking guilty looks at Milly as the blonde looked out a window, the sun's light glowing dimly on her golden locks. Milly had brought her and the rest of the Council, sans Lelouch, Suzaku and Nina, who had called out, explaining that she was trying to convince her family to let her stay in the Area, in a show of support for Sophie to try to convince her parents to let her stay, but they had been practically ignored as the couple stormed into the Headmaster's office.

To be completely honest, Kallen didn't blame them. The Black Knights had proven, quite frequently, that the situation for Britannia was rapidly deteriorating, with rebel activity popping up all over the Area, disrupting supply lines, assassinating corrupt officials and military officers. It was chaos all across the Area.

Kallen should have felt more smug, more satisfied, but she didn't. Every day that passed, less of her classmates showed up for school, more teachers were absent from work or outright quit, and the smaller student body was being combined into shared classrooms so that lessons could be taught. As she walked through the empty hallways, past the vacant classrooms, the abandoned clubhouses, she found that she missed the bustle of activity, the loud conversations of hundreds of students, even the bubble-brained girls that were her "friends." In some ways, Ashford had become a second home to her in these recent months, where she enjoyed the time she spent planning school events, talking about boys, and focusing on her studies. There had been purity, a simplicity to this place, and now it was gone.

The door to the Headmaster's office swung open and Sophie's parents came out, beckoning to her to follow them. Sophie nodded and followed her parents, misery trailing after her. Reuben came out after them, looking old and tired and completely defeated. Milly walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his arm. No words were spoken between the two, and after a moment Reuben left.

"Milly," Rivalz said, "is your grandfather alright?"

Milly shook her head. "No, he's not," she said, sighing. "With Sophie gone, that puts us down to less than a hundred students. With no tuition and the uncertainty here in the Area, grandfather thinks that we'll have to close the school."

That dropped like a bomb into the group of friends. Shirley and Rivalz looked absolutely stunned. Guilt pulled a little bit at Kallen's heartstrings, but she squelched it down. This is war, she reminded herself. War has its casualties.

"We can't just let it end like this," Rivalz said. "Surely we can fight this, help the Headmaster raise the money he needs to keep going."

Milly shook her head. "It isn't that simple," she said. "Even if we did have the money to keep the school running, whose going to come to an unstable colony? Zero's changed things around here for good. Area Eleven will never be safe again."

Not for Britannians anyway, Kallen thought dryly. She leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's happening again, isn't it?" Nunally asked, gaining their attention. "The chaos and war. It happened seven years ago, when the invasion first hit. Now it's coming all over again." Even though her eyes were closed, Kallen could feel them piercing her. "Brother and I are about to lose our home again, aren't we?"

As the others tried to reassure her that that wasn't true, that there was no way Britannia would lose Japan, Kallen turned her face away, gazing instead into the soft yellow of the wall, trying not to think about the good people that had made Japan their home.

"Kallen, you alright?" The redhead snapped out of her haze and looked up at Shirley. "You seem kind of out of it."

Kallen put on a frail smile. "I'm fine," she said, "just thinking about my own problems."

"Your parents trying to make you leave too?" Rivalz asked.

Kallen seized on it, nodding. "It's mostly my dad. Mother's still convinced that the Viceroy will pull out some kind of victory, but my dad has been trying to convince me to drop out, accept a transfer to a school in the homeland, or in one of the more stable Areas. I've been putting him off for a while, but if the school's going to close down, there's not really going to be a way to convince him to let me stay."

Shirley nodded. "I'm in the same boat," she said. "Have been since the whole Lake Kawaguchi thing. Dad has work here that he can't just ignore, but he wants to send me and mom back to Britannia."

"What about you, Rivalz?" Nunally asked. "Are your parents trying to make you leave too?"

Rivalz shook his head. "Nah, my parents made their lives here," he said, scratching the back of his head. "There's nothing for us in the homeland, and it would take way too long to just start from scratch all over again." He looked over at Milly expectantly.

Milly shrugged, a wan smile on her face. "We're not leaving either," she said. "We have the money to do it, easily, but the Ashford Family has a lot of enemies at court. Part of the reason we're here is to stay out of their hands. And we have no roots in the other colonies, no allies to call upon." For some reason she looked at Nunally for a moment when she said that. "And besides," she said, grinning suddenly, "there's no way I'm leaving Nunally alone with Lelouch. He'll turn her into a proper bore."

They all laughed, the dark gloom briefly dispelled. For a moment, Kallen genuinely felt that she belonged with them.

"Hold on a second," Shirley said suddenly, "I have an idea. The school festival's coming up pretty soon. Why don't we throw the biggest one we've ever done, a going away present for the school."

"That sounds awesome," Rivalz said, already bristling with energy at the idea. "We can invite all of our former classmates, give Ashford the sendoff it deserves."

"Well now, how happy you guys have become," Milly said, a predatory grin on her face. "With passion like this, it's a wonder you haven't explored the mysteries of youth."

Rivalz and Shirley spluttered, and Kallen felt a smile forming on her face, a smile that quickly left when her phone began to vibrate. She looked down at the caller ID, eyes widening slightly when she saw who it was.

"Guys, I'll be right back," Kallen said, already walking away. "Phone call from my dad."

"Good luck," Rivalz yelled.

Kallen stepped into a vacant room, took another look at the "0" on the ID, and flipped it open. "It's Kallen," she said. "What do you need?"

…..

Pendragon National Cemetery, Arizona, Holy Empire of Britannia

Though the sky was dark, the burial ground for the honored dead of Britannia was lit up with bright lights to allow for the bodies to be buried, one after the other. The services had lasted all day, and now well into the night, as families and friends paid their last respects. Speeches were made, memories shared, and goodbyes continuous, as the mourners went to each man who had died, often with overlap between each one. Once all the goodbyes had been said, the bodies had been lowered into the ground at the same time, buried together as they had died together, and the dirt was shoveled on top of them.

Sir Claudio Darlton stood off to the side, fending off various well-wishers and sympathetic voices, determined to give his brothers the space they needed to grieve. In truth, he wasn't quite sure how he was holding up; like Edgar, Bart, Alfred, and David, who stood sobbing over their father's, (at least, Claudio thought it was his father's, for all he knew it could just be a technician considering the pulp they'd all been turned into), grave, he wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and cry until he had no tears left. However, he was the leader of the Glaston Knights, and he'd be damned if he made their father ashamed of him by weeping uncontrollably through every conversation. Someone among them had to be the cool head of the bunch, and his position necessitated that he was that cool head. It didn't make it any easier.

"I served under your father in the Africa Campaign," a man with a vicious scar running through his cheek said. "He was the finest commander I ever had. It was an honor to serve him."

"Thank you for your kind words," Claudio said, privately wondering if what the man had told him was even remotely true. "My father did not speak of you, but I'm sure he'd be glad to know that an old comrade had come to say goodbye."

The veteran nodded and made his way over to the next group, and Claudio was almost certain he heard the man give almost the exact same line to another mourner. Claudio turned to shake the hand of an older woman, bowing slightly to her, whatever it was that she was saying floating by him numbly. He did not know how long he did this, receiving platitudes and returning them in kind, but he did know that he was growing increasingly sick of it, and more than once felt the urge to just scream, "Let me mourn my father, please!" But he held on, refraining from his own desires, "Thank you sir," and, "Thank you My Lady," and "Yes, we shall miss him terribly as well", until someone finally said, "Is that really all we have to say to one another?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Claudio asked, broken from the monotonous routine, only for his eyes to widen. He dropped into an immediate bow. "Forgive me, Prince Schneizel, I did not recognize you."

"More like you didn't notice it was me," the Second Prince said, smiling reassuringly. "It's quite alright. I've been to more than one of these. I understand the tedium of well-wishers." The smile fled from his face. "Frankly, I've been to far too many of these."

Claudio nodded. "Field burials are nothing like this," he said, glancing around at the hundreds of people milling around the cemetery. "Just a quick prayer, a dumping in the ground, and a return to the battlefield."

Schneizel sighed. "Yes, Area Eighteen has been a hellhole, hasn't it?" he said.

"Not as bad as Area Eleven is getting, apparently," Claudio said, allowing some of his bitterness to bleed through. "The bloodbath isn't as bad, but it certainly seems to be much more focused."

"And much more lethal," Schneizel said, nodding. "I hate using this as an opportunity to get a hold of you, but I need to speak with you and your brothers."

"We are at your disposal, Your Highness. I can grab them right now."

Schneizel held up a hand. "Later," he said, "for right now, why don't you go and be with your brothers? Kanon," he gestured to the man in question, his personal servant Kanon Maldini, "can see to the busy bodies for you."

Claudio shook his head uncertainly. "That is very kind Your Highness, but my duty-"

"Is to mourn your father," Schneizel said forcefully, interrupting him. He nodded his head toward them. "Go be with them now. They need their older brother right now far more than these people need a show."

Claudio glanced uncertainly around them for a moment before nodding. "Thank you, Your Highness." He spun around on his boot heel, and strode toward his grieving brothers.

….

Black Knight Shinjuku Headquarters Training Ground, Shinjuku Ghetto, Area Eleven

"Down! Up! Fifty! Down! Up! Fifty-one! Down! Up! Fifty-two!" Lt. Col. Kyoshiro Todoh barked, walking from one end of the line of recruits to the other. "Down! Up! Fifty-three!" A part of Tohdoh felt irritated at having to do this, but when he saw the ramshackle way these fools were wearing their uniforms, (untucked, unbuttoned, unkempt), he felt a sudden surge of outraged pride, infuriated by the fact that he was serving alongside, and commanding, what amounted to a group of undisciplined rabble, given guns and uniforms and audaciously called "soldiers." If one of his soldiers had been so lax, he'd have flayed the man alive. "Down! Up! Fifty-four!" More than one of the recruits looked about ready to collapse.

"Colonel Tohodoh!" Tohodoh turned around, eyeing Kallen Kozuki carefully as she jogged up to him. She was wearing her Ashford Academy uniform, her hair slack against her face rather than flared out like it usually was. There was an admiring gleam in her eyes that Tohdoh found somewhat tiresome. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

The Colonel shrugged. "My team and I finished a mission a little while ago," he said, returning his attention to the straining recruits. "Who told you to rest!" he barked, scaring a man who had put his knees down to recuperate. "Back into position! Down! Up! Fifty-five!" He turned back to Kozuki. "Weren't you supposed to be at school right now?" he asked.

Kozuki shrugged. "Zero called me in," she said, looking a little pityingly at the recruits. "Why exactly are you conducting PT?" she asked.

Tohdoh scowled. "Because they're a mob," he said, glaring at the group, "not an effective fighting force. They're civilians with guns and pretty uniforms, lacking the training or discipline that would make them fully combat ready." He growled. "Put your ass back in level, soldier! Down! Up! Fifty-six!"

Kozuki frowned. "I'm not exactly a trained soldier," she said, crossing her arms. "Neither is Ohgi, or any of the Inner Circle."

"Zero is though," Tohdoh said. "Zero is well-versed in military tactics and formations, particularly Britannian tactics. He's been a soldier for some time," he continued when he saw her surprised expression. "And aside from which, you and the Inner Circle have been fighting for several years. You're hardened fighters, and following Zero's orders has turned you into skilled warriors." He watched as she practically swelled with pride.

"Coming from you, that means an awful lot," she said. Her phone beeped and she pulled it out. Her cheeks flushed red. "Sorry," she said, "I'd like to talk more, but Zero needs me right now. Can we talk later?"

Tohdoh nodded. "Certainly." She practically skipped through the hustle and bustle of the base to get to Zero.

Tohdoh turned back to the soldiers and saw one with his pelvis resting against the floor. "Quit screwing the asphalt, soldier!" he yelled. "Down! Up!" He cocked his head to the side. "I lost count," he said. "Start over!" The recruits collectively groaned. "Quit whining!" Tohdoh shouted. "Down! Up! One!"

…

Pendragon National Cemetery, Arizona, Holy Empire of Britannia

"This isn't right," Edgar whispered, his face wet. "This should have been a private ceremony. Just him, us, Princess Cornelia and Euphemia, and Sir Guilford. Just the family."

"He died with his men," Claudio reminded him, his hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's what he would have wanted."

"What he would want is revenge," David snarled. "Father's blood cries out for justice. We should be in Area Eleven right now, burning out Zero and his Elevens."

"We already have our assignment in Area Eighteen," Claudio said sternly. "That we got brief leave to bury father is a small miracle. Once we're done here, we must return to Area Ten and finish the job."

"Then can we avenge him?" Bart asked.

"Then we go where the Emperor commands," Claudio said. "Zero will be finished by the time we get done with Area Eight. Princess Cornelia will see to that."

"OH yes, because she's done such a swell job so far," Alfred sniped bitterly. "I wonder when we'll be honoring Sir Guilford, or what we'll put in the ground in his stead?"

"That was unworthy of you, Alfred," Claudio said reprovingly, "and cruel to Her Highness. She has lost just as much as we have to that coward."

Alfred turned away from him with a miserable apology. Claudio sighed. This anger will pass, he told himself. Princess Cornelia will succeed, and Zero will be annihilated.

"You remember the last time we saw him, before he and Princess Cornelia were reassigned to Area Eleven?" Edgar asked. "He said that he was leaving the burden of command on us, that it was time for us to come into our own, that-" he sniffled, "that he wasn't going to be around to hold our hands forever." He smiled slightly. "He was so proud. He knew we would do well."

Claudio remembered. He remembered the bloodiness of that campaign, the speed with which Princess Cornelia had tried to wrap up the ongoing fight for the Arabian Peninsula, the mess that she had left in their hands. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time, knowing and understanding that the pride of the Empire had been insulted, and that the Princess needed to avenge her fallen brother. Now he felt angry that the work left to be done would keep them away from Zero, and away from vengeance.

Princess Cornelia will get our revenge, he thought. She must.

"We must dry our tears brothers," he said quietly. "Prince Schneizel wishes to speak with us. Let us resume our duties. Father will understand."

Around him, the Glaston Knights nodded in agreement. As one they came to attention, saluted their father, turned and left him behind.

….

Zero's Office, Black Knight Shinjuku Headquarters, Area Eleven

Kallen knocked on Zero's office door. "Zero, it's Kallen. You called for me."

"Come on in, Kallen," Zero said through the door.

Kallen opened the door and stepped through, already trying to calm her racing heart. She felt her stomach twist and turn when she saw Zero behind his desk, his back turned towards her as he looked over some papers. She snapped her heels together, coming to full attention. "Captain Kallen Kozuki, reporting as ordered sir," she said, bringing her arm up to a salute.

"My, my, so formal." Kallen nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled around and saw C.C. splayed across the cushions of the room's couch, a Cheese-kun doll suspended above her. A small smile played on the green-haired woman's lips. "Someone's been talking with Tohdoh I see, though clearly not practicing." She looked right at Kallen. "You raised your elbow up too high."

Kallen felt like ripping the girl apart. "Oh, and just how would you know?" Kallen snapped, rounding on her.

"Unlike you, I actually study my enemies," C.C. said in that maddening tone of hers. "It's much easier to do infiltration missions when you actually know the enemy's protocol. Not that I'd expect a schoolgirl to understand."

"Schoolgirl?" Kallen fumed. "I'm the best pilot in the Black Knights, bar none."

"Considering the current milieu of pilots, that isn't saying much."

"You-"

"Quiet, both of you!" Kallen quailed at the anger in Zero's tone. "I didn't summon Kallen so that you two could get into another argument. We have more important things to do than be at each other's throats. Is that understood?"

Kallen bowed her head. "Yes, Zero," she said.

"Whatever." Kallen suppressed the urge to throttle Zero's advisor. Bitch.

Zero swung around in his chair, setting the papers down and signing a pair of them. Kallen found the sight rather bemusing; Zero, the Masked Revolutionary, the Black Genius of Japan, bogged down in the tedium of the resistance's bureaucracy. He applied stamps to the papers and slotted them into a manila folder and set it aside.

"I apologize for pulling you out of school, Kallen," he said, his hands already working on the keyboard in front of him, "but I'm afraid we have something of a dilemma." He turned the monitor of his computer to face her. "You know this girl, yes?"

Kallen's breath almost stopped. What the Hell? "Yes sir," she said, somewhat hesitant. "Her name's Nina Ein-"

"We know who she is," C.C. interrupted boredly. "What's important is why she's here." The girl sat up, setting her plushy aside. "Einstein's been kind enough to hand-deliver a weapon of mass destruction to Zero."

Kallen's eyes bulged in shock. "She what?" she spluttered.

"Exactly what C.C. said," Zero answered, pulling up a file on his monitor. "Miss Einstein's found a way of using Uranium-235 as a massive bomb. I won't bore you with the science, but the long and short of it is that this bomb causes destruction through nuclear fission. A weapon like that could impact this war in our favor."

"That's…" Kallen paused, feeling a little overwhelmed. "That's incredible! That's great news! But…" she trailed off, looking uncertainly at the video feed of Nina.

"But what?" Zero asked.

"Nina's afraid of Japanese people," Kallen said. "As in, she almost didn't go to Lake Kawaguchi because she was afraid of leaving the Settlement. It makes no sense that she would bring this to us."

"Actually, it makes perfect sense," C.C. said. She left the couch behind and sat down on the edge of Zero's desk. "She appears to have fallen in love with one of her rescuers at Lake Kawaguchi."

"Wait, what?" Kallen asked, flabbergasted.

Zero said, "It would seem that Miss Einstein has something of a rescue complex. While she was absolutely terrified of the hostage takers, she found herself struck by one of her rescuers, specifically the one with red hair."

"Tamaki?!" Kallen blurted. "She fell for Tamaki?" Kallen shook her head in shock. "Guess there's no accounting for taste," she said.

C.C. burst into peals of laughter. "She doesn't get it at all!" the green-haired woman guffawed. Even Zero seemed amused.

"Um," Kallen wondered, "what do I not get?"

"The redhead she's talking about wasn't Tamaki," Zero said. "It was you."

Kallen's face turned tomato red. "What?" she asked, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "What do you mean?"

"What he means," C.C. said, leering at her with mocking yellow eyes, "is that that girl wants to get under your skirt."

Kallen's hands jumped to the hem of her black skirt, pulling it at as far down as she could manage. "B-B-But," she stammered, "she can't like me! She can't want to, well, um-"

"Find out how red your hair is down there?" C.C. asked mirthfully.

"Sh-Shut up!"

"And she's rather cute herself," C.C. said, shifting her eyes to the monitor. "Dark green hair, slight figure, big eyes, even the glasses are kind of adorable." She turned back to Kallen with a silky smile. "Almost like a cute librarian."

"Except this one makes bombs instead of book catalogues," Zero said, the humor gone from his tone. Kallen went from wanting to fall through the floor back to soldier in an instant. "Kallen, we need this weapon, if only to keep it out of the hands of the enemy. I cannot, in good conscience, allow Miss Einstein to leave this base."

Kallen felt her gut twist. Of course Nina can't leave, she thought. It's the smart thing to do. It didn't mean she had to like it.

"With that said, the whole reason she brought this to us is you," Zero continued. "The truth is, I cannot trust someone whose primary motivation is romantic attachment, no matter the talent they may have."

Kallen nodded. "What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"Talk with her," Zero said. "We often follow the example of those we love. If you can convince her to support our cause for the right reasons, I may be persuaded to release her from protective custody." His mask shifted in a way that seemed to be imploring. "Please, Kallen," he said softly, "I need your help in this."

Kallen nodded. "I'll do what I can, Zero."

…..

Office of the Prime Minister, Pendragon, Arizona, Holy Empire of Britannia

The ride to Prince Schneizel's office was a silent affair, far removed from the bustle of the funeral arrangements. The trip through the building itself was equally quiet, the clomping of boots and the swish of capes being the only things to break through the silence of the night. Once they were in the Prince's office, Maldini brought forth some chairs for them to sit in, and an expensive bottle of wine with glasses, filling each glass with the warm red beverage. Edgar had swallowed the whole of his down before Maldini had finished serving them, and required a sheepish refill when Maldini returned. Prince Schneizel sat across from them behind a mahogany desk. Behind him was a portrait of Emperor Charles that covered a significant part of the wall. To his left was a portrait of his brother, the fallen Prince Clovis, and to his right a painting of the fallen Empress Marianne and her two children, surrounded by the gardens of Aries Villa.

"Clovis painted them." Claudio realized he had been staring at the painting when the Second Prince spoke, and snapped his attention back to him. The Second Prince didn't seem to notice, lost instead in old memories. "It was about a year after the invasion, when the Emperor declared the children dead. We were all feeling pretty raw. Clovis drew that one, and multiple copies, I think, as a way of trying to cope with their deaths. That was why he was in Area Eleven: to find their bodies, and give them the burial they deserve." He turned his eyes to the one of Clovis himself, regal and powerful. "As for that one, well," he smiled fondly, "Clovis always was a bit full of himself."

"I knew of Prince Clovis' fondness for the fine arts," Claudio said, "but had never actually seen any of his work."

Schneizel smiled broadly. "He was a natural genius," he said, and Claudio could hear the pride in his voice. "A far better artist than he was a prince." The smile fell away. "I think even he realized that, at the end."

Claudio swallowed. "You have my condolences, Your Highness," he said. "I haven't been able to properly express them before due to our prior situation, but," he gritted his teeth, "I understand, we understand, the feeling of loss."

Schneizel nodded. "I know," he said. "And thank you. However, I didn't ask you to this meeting to discuss my late brother. There are urgent matters that must be discussed." He opened up a drawer in his desk, and pulled out a thick binder latched together with an embossed strip of black leather. He opened it up.

"These are new assignment papers," he said, pulling out five sheets of paper. "They are to be sent to your fellow officers in Area Eighteen to inform them that you are being reassigned to Area Eleven."

A thrill of shock ran through the room.

"Reassignment?" Bart asked.

"To Area Eleven?" Alfred finished.

"That's right," Schneizel said, already signing the papers and applying his seal. "You are to be placed under the direct command of Her Royal Highness the Princess Cornelia, Viceroy of Area Eleven, and upon your arrival you will immediately begin coordinating with her forces to neutralize the Eleven's insurgency. Your priority is to apprehend the terrorist leader Zero, dead or alive, and bring him back to Britannia."

"But Your Highness," Claudio spluttered, "with all due respect, we still have a mission to complete in Area Eighteen. We left in order to attend our father's funeral, but we are needed back most urgently."

"Not as urgently as you are needed in Area Eleven," Schneizel countered, blowing on the drying seals and sliding the reassignment orders into five individual envelopes. "The colonial forces there have lost much of their command structure in the preceding battles, and the Viceroy has instigated several purges of the government in an attempt to prevent intelligence leaks." He sealed the envelopes with his tongue. "They haven't worked." He set the letters in a stack before him.

"Your Highness," Claudio said, trying to restrain his fraying temper, "Area Eighteen is a mess. There are terrorist units the length and breadth of the continent. We cannot just leave when we have a job to finish."

"Your job there is finished," Schneizel said, dragging his eyes up to meet Claudio's. "Area Eighteen will be under the jurisdiction of the Knight of Ten from now on."

Claudio felt his stomach drop. The Knight of Ten? "Sir Luciano Bradley will be in charge?" he asked, feeling sick.

"Yes, and he is most anxious to begin his command," Schneizel said. He smirked slightly. "I see that I now have your undivided attention. Perhaps now you understand the severity of the situation."

"Your Highness, Area Eighteen has many problems, but I hardly think they warrant the attention of a Knight of the Rounds." Especially not the Vampire.

"But I do think so," Schneizel replied, "and furthermore so does the Emperor. It was he who authorized this reassignment." The Prime Minister relaxed in his chair. "Haven't you wondered, Sir Claudio, why the Knights of the Round haven't been deployed to Area Eleven yet, despite the death of a Prince and the loss of multiple army units?"

The question had occurred to Claudio, but he'd never had the opportunity to investigate it very far, being concerned primarily with his own Area.

"It's because they're already occupied," the Second Prince answered his own question. He gestured to Maldini, who brought forth a laptop and laid it on the desk. Prince Schneizel opened it up and began typing. "This is footage from Area Four about a week ago. It began as a protest over low wages by factory workers, but the situation quickly spiraled out of control." He turned the computer around for them to see. Claudio watched with dismay as police in riot gear turned fire hoses and dogs on rock throwing protestors. Prince Schneizel paused the video. "What does this look like to you?" He pointed to a figure in the background, who seemed to be directing the rioters.

Claudio gasped. He was dressed all in black. "A Black Knight!" he said.

Schneizel shook his head. "Not quite," he said. "Or, at least, not officially connected with Zero's terrorists. Unofficially, we've found cells like these in Areas Four, Three, and Five through Eight, and there are rumors of other cells popping up in Areas Twelve and Fifteen." Schneizel folded the laptop back shut and folded his hands before him.

"The point that I'm trying to get across to you here," he said, "is that what is happening in Area Eighteen is a trifle compared to what is happening to the rest of the Empire. Zero's virus is spreading to every Area, to every corner of the Empire. With each victory, his legend grows. With each speech, his numbers grow. With each dead official, from Prince to Soldier, the outbreak gets worse, and we can't contain the plague for very much longer. If Zero isn't stopped soon, we may be dealing with a rebellion that could encompass the entire Empire. Gentlemen," he addressed them, "a Black King is rising in Area Eleven. I am sending you to put him down."

"When do we leave?"

….

Black Knight Headquarters, Shinjuku Ghetto, Area Eleven

Nina tried to batten down the nervousness she was feeling. The interrogation room was still as cold and as unfeeling as it had been before, but now it was experienced as an aftermath of her meeting with Zero.

My meeting with Zero! Such strange thoughts that burst through Nina's mind now, in this strange and dangerous world she had stepped into.

Zero had deprived her of all electronics before having her escorted back to the room, and Nina found herself tapping the table in an attempt to keep herself from going crazy.

The door swung open. Nina turned around-

-and felt her jaw drop open. There she stood, that red-haired Valkyrie who had swooped in and saved her so long ago. She was unchanged: she wore the form-fitting black uniform that was standard to the female Black Knights, her red hair flung back until only twin red daggers framed her perfect face, her eyes covered with the silver and purple visor, and her hair covered by the black and gray hat that topped her head.

She was beautiful.

And Nina had absolutely no idea what to say to her. "U-u-u-m," she stammered, "h-hi. I-I-I'm N-Nina. It-It's a p-pleasure to meet you." She felt like a fool.

The redhead cocked her head to the side. "I remember you," she said. Nina's heart kicked up its pace. Her voice was quiet, but filled with passion. "You're that girl from Lake Kawaguchi. The one that JLF soldier was going to kill."

Nina nodded profusely. "That's right," she said. She remembers me! "You saved me from being beat by him."

The redhead approached the table, carefully placing every step. Nina didn't mind, too busy being enthralled by-

creamy white long legs climbing up into a short black skirt wrapped around swaying hips

-her presence. She pulled the chair out across from her, the steel legs squealing across the concrete floor. The woman slid into the chair and pulled it back up under the table in one motion, her use of movement economic. She looked straight at Nina.

"Commander Zero told me about what you did," she said, snapping Nina out of her haze. "On behalf of the rest of the Black Knights, I thank you for what you did, and what you risked getting it to us. Traversing the ghettos is no easy feat for a Britannian."

Nina blushed under the praise. "I only did what I had to do," she said. "You've done far more brave things than I have."

The redhead shrugged. "I'm not brave, just doing my job," she said, shaking her head. "I'm interested in something though. Why did you bring your weapon to us Nina?"

Nina's blush intensified. "Um, well," she struggled for the words, "you saved my life. I owe you everything. Providing a means to help your people is the least I could do."

The woman sighed. "Nina," she said, "do you even realize what you've done?"

Nina was confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

The woman shook her head. "Nina, you've given us probably the most destructive weapon in the world. The amount of people the blast from that bomb could kill is, at the bare minimum, in the tens of thousands. Your way of saying thanks is going to kill a lot of people." She leaned forward. "Does that not bother you at all?" she asked.

Nina felt sick. "Well isn't that what you want?" she asked. "You're in a war, right? The whole point of a war is to kill people! You have guns, and bombs, and knives and swords. How is this any different?"

"Nina, we're not killing people for a crush!" Nina reeled back at the woman's shout. "Is that all you think we are? Murderers, who get off on homicide? Never!" She slammed her fist into the table. "We are freedom fighters, revolutionaries! We fight for a better world, a new world, for our friends, our loved ones, and yes, even those we call our enemies. We fight for a world where the sword can be turned into a plowshare, and the tank into a tractor, a world where Knightmare Frames are just gaudy construction tools." She was openly grinding her teeth. "Our cause is just. That is the only reason we fight. It is the only reason I fight. If you can't understand that, you have no place here."

As she began to get up, Nina grabbed her hand. "Please don't go," she pleaded. "I can change, I can fight for the world that you're talking about." The woman continued to pull away. "Please!" Nina scrunched her eyes shut. "Please, all I want is to be near you, and to help you. I'll help you fight for this better world that you want. I'll help you fight for the better world that you all want!" She cast her face down. "Fight for the better world that I want."

Because she did want a better world. A better world with her.

The woman didn't move, and Nina looked up hesitantly. The woman was smiling down at her, warm and true. She reached up and pulled her visor off. Nina's eyes widened in shock.

"Then welcome to the Black Knights," Kallen Stadtfeld, her blue eyes warm, said.

….

Somewhere in the Sea of Japan

He had always wondered why they never bothered changing the name of this sea. The country the name was based on was dead, had been for the better part of a decade. Ah, well, it didn't matter really, did it?

"How much longer until we arrive?" he asked, taking off his headphones.

The captain of the boat, a squat Chinese man from Manchuria, glanced down at his map, though how he read the moth-bitten thing was a mystery. The boat was about as old as the map, its name long since washed off by the beating waves, but it was a sturdy craft, and captained by a man who had asked few questions. Considering the heat that was on him, he had needed something less in the way of fancy and more in the way of functional.

The captain checked the nighttime sky in relation to his own instruments. "Somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen hours."

He groaned. "Is there any way you could speed this up pop?" he asked. "I've got a date and I don't wanna be late for it."

"We'll get there when we get there," the captain said, chuckling. He rolled his eyes. He went to put his headphones back on when the captain asked, "This date you have, is she cute?"

He smiled. "Better than cute," he said, "she's gorgeous." He leaned against the side of the boat. "We were together when I was a child, went everywhere, but we were separated a few years back. I've been trying to find her ever since."

"She sounds like someone special."

"Oh, she most certainly is." What an understatement that was, how trivial that word was to how he felt about her.

The captain chuckled. "What are you going to do when you see her again? Have you picked out a place to meet up?"

"Oh no," he said, "it's going to be a surprise. A friend of mine is keeping an eye on her for me so I don't lose her again. I'm planning on a big party for them."

"Well you've got another fifteen hours it looks like, so why don't you get some rest before we arrive?"
"I think I'll do just that." He stepped back below the upper deck, shielded now from the spray of the sea water. When he reached the small bunk built into the wall, as moth-bitten as the captain's map had been, he set his headphones back over his ears, and listened.

Very good, Mao. That was amazing, Mao. You're very special Mao.

I love you, Mao.