I do not own Code Geass.

…...

Faisal Inn and Restaurant, Kingdom of Zilkhstan, March 21st, 2020 Kowa Period

C-Two relaxed into her seat, a bottle of rum hanging from her hand. She poured a shot into a scotch glass, set the bottle down on the cheap wooden table, and tossed back the rum in one go. She savored the burn on the way down.

C-Two couldn't get drunk, a sad fact of her immortal life. Intoxication was technically the result of poisoning, and was just one more thing her immortality healed away; sadly, faster than a gunshot wound.

Kallen plopped down next to her, bewildered and exhausted. "I still don't get why they let us go," she said. She had changed out of the belly dancer outfit into a yellow-red jacket, white top, and green pantaloons. "They had us dead to rights. But they not only let us go, they give us back Nunnally?" She shook her head. "Something stinks here."

"They gave us Nunnally back," C-Two reminded her. "I don't really care what they have planned beyond that."

"But they kept Zero!" Kallen protested. "There's no telling what they're doing to him as we speak!"

"How's Nunnally?" C-Two asked.

"About as well as can be expected." Kallen sighed. "She's exhausted, stressed out. The only reason she's asleep is panicking about Zero made her pass out."

"She'll have to get over it. She's never getting him back."

"How do you know?" Kallen scoffed. "Gosh, you're always so negative!"

"Suzaku would have never let them hurt Nunnally," C-Two replied.

"Don't say his name!" Kallen hissed, looking around worriedly. "If someone hears that-"

"We're speaking Japanese, Kallen. I doubt anyone here understands a word we're saying." Not that I think it'll matter much longer.

"Even so, I don't want us to risk it," Kallen said stubbornly. "He...he died for this. We have to do everything we can to uphold his legacy."

C-Two made no comment.

The door to the inn opened, revealing Ohgi and Tamaki at the head of an entourage of Black Knights. The man had surrendered the role of Prime Minister a couple of weeks ago to become a family man. Just seeing him enjoying the fruits of his labors set C-Two's teeth one edge.

"Kallen!" Ohgi called out. Kallen waved to him. He saw her and hurried over. In one movement, he had her wrapped up in a crushing hug. "When we lost contact, we feared the worst."

Kallen laughed. "I'm fine, Ohgi. Really. They caught us but let us go without a word."

"The Empress?"

"Upstairs. Sleeping," she added pointedly. "Nunnally's been through a lot, so let her rest."

He nodded. "I will." Ohgi turned to C-Two. "We have you to thank, as well." He bowed to her. "Thank you for rescuing the Empress."

C-Two took another shot of rum and ignored him.

When it became clear she wasn't going to say anything, he stood up awkwardly. "Uh, well then..."

Kallen rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her, she's just being a stick in the mud."

"Right." Ohgi looked around. "I don't see Zero anywhere. Is he upstairs with Her Highness?"

Kallen tapped the table nervously. "No, he isn't. They didn't release him."

Ohgi visibly swallowed. "That's not good."

"Your grasp of the obvious is inspiring," C-Two remarked. "You should be Prime Minister again. Truly your nation would benefit from such towering intellect."

Kallen slapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Oh behave, you." She smiled at Ohgi. "You should probably grab Tamaki before he cleans out their booze."

"Yeah, I should- wait he's doing what?" His head whipped around to see Tamaki snatching three cases of bottles from behind the bar counter. "Hey, wait, Tamaki! You can't just-"

C-Two tuned out whatever else it was the man was saying. If I imbibe the whole thing at once, maybe I'll have more than a two second buzz.

"Jeez, Pizza Girl," Kallen groused, "would it kill you to be polite?"

"To him? Yes. It's a mortal injury."

Kallen sighed. "C-Two..."

C-Two knocked back another shot.

"You know he regrets what happened, don't you?"

"He did it, he damn well should regret it, and more than he does. He killed him just as assuredly as Suzaku."

If Kallen had a response, it never came. "Huh. Didn't expect to see her here," she said.

C-Two looked up.

Princess Cornelia li Britannia stood in the doorway, stern and regal even in the simple red and black Guard suit she wore. Her long maroon hair was worn just as loose as the last time C-Two had seen her, and her violet eyes were just as cruel.

"Kozuki," she said, approaching the two women where they sat.

"Cornelia," Kallen responded, her tone polite but her eyes hard.

"Her Majesty?"

"Sleeping upstairs."

"And Zero?"

"So far as we know, still a prisoner."

Cornelia put a hand to her hip. "We've mobilized a strike force with the Knights of the Round. If he's still a prisoner, we'll find him."

"You do that, you'll start a war!" Kallen said.

"War has already commenced. It began the moment they kidnapped our Empress," Cornelia retorted.

"Look, they gave Nunnally back, we can negotiate-"

"We will not negotiate with terrorists!"

People were starting to look their way. Kallen seemed cognizant and was already backing down.

Cornelia, on the other hand, ordered Sir Guilford without turning away, "Clear the room."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Kallen gaped at her. "This isn't our country, you can't just-"

"They kidnapped our Empress," Cornelia reminded her. "A state of war exists between our two peoples already."

Kallen shot to her feet, her purse knife in her hand. "I will not let you trash his legacy!" she warned. The blade appeared in a flash.

Cornelia drew her saber gun. "I couldn't care less about his legacy," she said, eyes murderously cold. "So far as I'm concerned, he was born a psychopath, lived a psychopath, and died a psychopath."

Kallen leaned forward, her body tense with rage. "You bitch."

Ohgi and the others, having apparently noticed the commotion, came up from behind. "Hey, you guys," he said, ever the conciliator, "we should just-"

"Go ahead, Kozuki," Cornelia ignored him. "Let's have another Japanese hothead start a war it can't win."

"I'm going to-"

C-Two clamped a hand to Kallen's bottom. "Kallen, lovely as your ass is, I am trying and failing to get drunk right now, so could you save the catfight for later?"

"Wh-What?" Kallen spluttered, face beet red as she whipped around to the immortal. "Th-That's-"

"Seems Lelouch's whore is here, too," Cornelia remarked, saber gun still raised. "I should have you arrested. You were one of the very few that escaped justice."

"You're one to talk," C-Two said. She took a long swallow from the rum bottle, having given up on the glass. "I'm curious, do you ever feel bad for all the murders you committed while Viceroy of Area Eleven? Or do you envy that Euphemia is the only Massacre Princess?"

The calm, calculating expression on Cornelia's face gave way to pure rage. "HOW DARE YOU?"

There was a clicking as dozens of guns were drawn.

Lines formed.

For the first time in two years, Britannian and Black Knight guns faced each other over the No Man's Land.

…

Highway Outside Rajasthan, Republic of India, February 2018

"Nina...Nina..." Kallen was quietly sobbing when Lelouch reached her.

He took a look in the cab, grimaced. Nina's neck was twisted an impossible angle. Her glasses were broken and dangling from her face, bruises and blood spattered across her mouth and nose. Her eyes were closed. They would never open again.

Lelouch placed a hand on Kallen's shoulder, pulled her away.

"I killed her," Kallen wept. "I-I killed her, I-"

"Sumeragi killed her," Lelouch stopped her sharply. "The Emperor killed her. That son of a bitch in the front seat killed her. Not you. Never you. Her blood is on their hands, not yours."

"But, but I-I-"

"Prep the FLEIJA's for transport," he ordered. "Make sure they're stable. I'll take care of this."

Kallen nodded. She rubbed aside her tears and ran to the back of the truck.

Lelouch reached over, unbuckled Nina's seat belt, and pulled her reverently from the cab. He laid her gently on the ground, removed the broken glasses from her face, and clasped her hands together on her chest.

He placed a hand on her brow. "I'm sorry, Nina," he whispered.

He slid his coat from his shoulders and laid it over her body. He tucked it beneath his friend's thin shoulders, and covered her face as softly as he could. The wind whipped about them, stirring the coat, but it stayed in place.

"It seems all I'm good for is getting my friends killed," Lelouch murmured. He stood. "But I have to keep going. Wait for us, Nina, in a better world."

He turned and looked into the cab. He scowled murderously.

Her kidnapper was dead, too, his skull broken into pieces on the door. Terrified eyes stared at Lelouch, through Lelouch, at something only they could see. Perhaps it was to the Hell that surely awaited him.

"I hope whatever Hell you're in is a fraction as terrible as mine."

Lelouch climbed into the cab, searching, found a stack of files and computer discs in an open box on the floor. A quick perusal confirmed they were the FLEIJA schematics. He had no way of knowing if the blueprints had been copied, or if they were in such a rush they hadn't had the time, but it mattered little. Britannia didn't have the Sakuradite to conduct its own experiments, and he had the completed weapon besides.

He shoved the plans back into the box, slugged the dead traitor across the face, and climbed back out of the car. Kallen was waiting for him at the back of the vehicle, her eyes red and puffy.

"They're all here," she said. "The wreck didn't damage them. We should still be able to use them."

Lelouch nodded. "Good. I'll use the Gawain to carry the truck back to New Delhi. With a little luck, we can mount it on a weapons system there and use it against the invaders." He gestured with the box. "All of the plans are in this. Once we've finished at New Delhi, we're heading to Shanghai. Between China's industry and Japan's Sakuradite, we can have these rolling off the assembly line within the month."

"Will there be a Federation left in a month's time?" Kallen asked stiffly. "If Arnold's being carried out-"

"Arnold is only playing out in India," Lelouch assured her. "Only India was needed to hamstring China in the long term. The diverse religious and ethnic population made it the ideal candidate for bogging down any Chinese occupation for years to come. With India in a state of constant rebellion, the rest of the Federation's former territories would be able to hold off the Dragon." He sighed. "That was part of the idea, anyway. I don't know how in the Hell it's playing out right now."

"Then we better get moving," Kallen said.

Lelouch agreed. As he went to leave, Kallen grabbed his wrist. "Are we-" she shot a look at Nina's body. "Are we just going to leave her here? They won't…" She swallowed. "You know they won't bury her."

Lelouch pulled her into a tight embrace. "There's nowhere to place the body," he explained. "And I don't think I need to explain how unwise it is to haul around a rotting corpse."

"Don't say that about her. Please."

He held her tighter. "I'm sorry. But-" He pulled away, framed Kallen's face in his hands. "But that's not her, anyway. We're more than flesh and bone, Kallen, and she's gone to a better world than this."

Fresh tears ran down Kallen's cheeks. She sniffed.

He leaned in and kissed her gently. "We have to go."

They held hands until they parted for their respective Knightmares. Lelouch dropped the box on the floor.

"Diethard, how's our energy filler?" he asked.

"Thirty-four percent," the propagandist answered. He held up his camera. "Should I go out there and-"

"No."

…...

Geass Order FOB, Rajasthan, Occupied India

"You'll be going back home shortly, Second Consul," a fake Black Knight told him. "Your injuries are stabilized, and Lord V-Two wants you to inform the Black Knights immediately of the treaty you signed."

"Understood," Ohgi said. "I appreciate it."

"We appreciate you. You made a wise decision. His Majesty always honors his word." The man bowed. "If you'll excuse me." He left the room, the door clicking shut behind him.

Ohgi let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Akagi," he whispered. "You can come out now."

For a moment, there was silence; then, the young girl slipped out from an unused medical crate in the back of the room.

"Second Consul," she said, a look of astonishment on her face. "How did you know?"

"I didn't," Ohgi admitted. "I was hoping you hadn't listened to me."

The girl blushed scarlet. "Second Consul, what happens now?"

"We return to Japan and rally the Black Knights," Ohgi replied. "My signature on that document is illegal; the treaty is about as solid as their intention to honor it."

"So you think they'd break it?"

"At their earliest opportunity. That chick gives me the creeps; there's something wrong with her. I won't pretend that we can trust any of them." He took a drink of water from a plastic cup on the table next to him. "Besides which, there's only one reason they'd offer that treaty after having gained the FLEIJA's: they're losing the war."

It was the only explanation that made sense. If the Britannians had their hands on the FLEIJAs, they had no need to negotiate. They just needed time.

And, more than anything else...

"He hasn't used it on you."

He was as much in the wrong as a man can be.

"And they want a staging ground on Kamine Island." He clenched his fist. "I'm not going to sell them the noose they'll hang us with."

Akagi nodded. She bristled with determination. "What are my orders, Second Consul?"

"Find out what plane they're taking me on and find a place to hide," Ohgi ordered. "We can't let them have a hostage. We'll figure things out after we reach Japan."

…

Officer's Quarters

V-Two smirked down at the signature. "Checkmate, Lelouch," he said.

He relaxed into his seat, long legs crossed, one bouncing with an energetic beat. He tipped back a glass of scotch that had been found in the officer's quarters. The burn tasted of victory.

'Kaname Ohgi, Second Consul of the United States of Japan,' the treaty that had just ended the Black Rebellion was signed.

V-Two laughed. "I feel as giddy as a school girl," he said, then laughed again at his joke.

He waved the treaty around, flapping it back and forth like a kite.

"I told you Charles, didn't I?" he said to no one in particular. "I told you I would put down the upstart!" He kissed the document. "Now you have no reason to be mad at me."

He set the treaty down on the mahogany desk behind him. The office was small for an officer's, colored a bland blue, with only a couple of half bookshelves situated behind the rolling chair V-Two lazed about in.

V-Two pulled a walkie off his shapely hip. "Sumeragi," he chortled. "Inform His Majesty of the need for diplomats to begin negotiations for the purchase and distribution of Sakuradite from the United States of Japan."

They would keep their word; he and Charles weren't liars. Japanese Sakuradite would be bought at fair market price. They would even assist in efforts to complete the excavation and repair of the mines. They were so generous.

Not that Sakuradite will matter much longer anyway.

Lelouch had escaped, for the moment, but he no longer had a place of refuge. The Black Knights would spurn him should he try to return. Perhaps they could even be induced to hand him over. V-Two would love to see the look on Lelouch's face when his own beloved followers gave him up.

"I will execute you by your slut mother's grave," V-Two decided. "Reunite mother and son. I am a family man." He laughed.

"Lord V-Two," Sumeragi said. "I've lost contact with Kyosuke. He isn't responding to hails."

Kyosuke, Kyosuke… "Remind me who he was again."

"The one driving off with the FLEIJA's."

V-Two sat up. "Where?"

"Last reported contact was forty klicks to the north, on the way to our lines," Sumeragi answered. "There was heavy fighting in that direction."

V-Two had heard something about that, but he'd paid it no mind. His full concentration had been on Ohgi.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He leaped to his feet.

"We need to go," he said, his earlier good mood gone. "I want those bombs now!"

…

The Bunker, The Winter Palace, Shanghai, Chinese Federation

The palace shuddered. The lights above the Tianzi's head shook and rattled from what she could only guess were explosions. She was in a large bunker built beneath the Winter Palace during the dark days of the First Pacific War, when the Empire of Japan laid siege to a divided and weakened Federation. It looked it, too: the shelves and filing cabinets were all from the 1940s, and there had been a thick layer of dust over the furniture. Even as Xingke stooped over the table and relayed his orders, maids scurried to and fro cleaning up the newly disturbed mess.

The Empress sat enthroned on a dais raised above the war table. It was a relic from the same era, formed from a golden dragon with ruby encrusted eyes, its mouth opened in a roar.

"Send two companies from Fifth Corps to Wushi-Town," Xingke ordered. "We should be able to hold the bridge with those numbers."

"Should we not blow the bridge itself?" the Tianzi asked.

Xingke shook his head. "We need it to mount our own counterattack. If we destroy the bridges, we leave ourselves no means of advancing into enemy territory after their attack fails."

The Tianiz surveyed the map. Wooden enemy stars were all along the battlefront, each one pressed up against the dragons that held the defensive positions. Several times, an aide listened to reports over the radio and moved one of the stars through the defensive perimeter, only to pull it back a few moments later.

"Are we winning?" the Tianzi asked.

Xingke shook his head. "We're holding them back," he said, "but only for a time. Our plan hinged on air support from the Shen-Hu and Gawain, and reinforcements from the Black Knights. Thus far, neither has materialized."

The Tianzi looked to the Lady Sumeragi, who had the good grace to look uncomfortable. "Our forces were not in full deployment when the enemy launched their attack," she explained. "And enemy sabotage operations at our air bases has slowed us down considerably. But reinforcements are coming!"

"And the Shen-Hu and Gawain?" the Tianzi asked. "The Shen-Hu has been blown to smithereens, and we have yet to see Colonel Spacer and Major Kozuki take to the skies."

The Lady Sumeragi bowed. "Clearly sabotage is at work here," she allowed. "I can only imagine that something has happened in India that has restrained the Colonel and the Major from fulfilling the compact." She brought a clenched fist to her chest. "Nevertheless, I am convinced that they are, even now, working to join us on the field of honor."

"The field of honor is getting smaller," Xingke remarked as the bridge to Wushi-Town was placed firmly in enemy hands. "Those two companies didn't make it in time. We've lost the bridge at Wushi-Town."

"Can it be retaken?" the Tianzi asked.

Xingke shook his head. "Not at present. Our reserves are already being brought into play." He looked the Empress in the eye. "I strongly doubt we will make it to the second day at this rate, Your Majesty."

The Tianzi turned to the Lady Sumeragi. "Get your allies here, now! Or their won't be a China left to save!"

Lady Sumeragi bowed. "It will be done, Your Majesty."

…..

New Delhi, Republic of India

Black smoke rose above the spires of New Delhi. Huge portions of the city burned brightly. If Lelouch wasn't mistaken, he could see the flashes of small arms fire. Chinese armor encroached on the city from the west to the east, but they were doing so without air cover; between the Gawain and the Guren, they had successfully wiped out around seventy-percent of the aircraft advancing on New Delhi.

But that means nothing if the country's inhabitants are too busy killing each other!

"Q-1, prepare to land at the Presidential Palace," Lelouch ordered. "They have the best broadcasting equipment in the region. There it is."

He could see the antennas still standing proud above the Palace.

Kallen seemed to have noticed, too. "Orders, K-1?"

Lelouch shook away the irritation. "Land at the Palace, and order the current commanders to begin the retreat."

"Retreat? The enemy isn't even advancing."

"They aren't advancing because the Indians are too busy killing each other," he replied. "Once that's no longer the case, or they judge the Indians have sufficiently weakened themselves, they'll move. And we won't be able to stop them."

They landed on the helicopter pad atop the palace. Kallen used the Guren's hands to plant herself while Lelouch had Diethard drag C-Two's body from the Knightmare. He shot her in the head just to make sure she wouldn't get up, ordered Diethard to remain with her, and entered the palace.

The interior of the palace was as hectic as he'd expected. Aids, soldiers, and suit clad politicians scurried to and fro all around him, harried expressions on their faces. They paid little mine to the two Black Knights as they shoved their way through the crowd towards the war room.

The door slammed open, smacking off the wall to the right as Kallen stormed in in front of him, a hard glare on her face. When Lelouch entered, he breathed an audible sigh of relief; the generals were still geassed. The Canceler, if it was in use yet, hadn't been deployed.

Then again, with them killing each other, maybe the Order didn't want to run the risk of ending the massacres.

"Send out the rescission code to all units in the area," he ordered them. "The code is 'Andre.' Once the code has been sent, bring in your immediate junior officers. Announce yourselves as traitors, then kill yourselves in front of them."

"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!" they shouted.

"Was that last bit necessary?" Kallen asked him as the drones went about their business.

"There's no choice," Lelouch replied, leaning over the war map in the middle of the room. "Even with the rescission code sent, there's a strong possibility that this fratricidal bloodshed will continue. By having a ready made scapegoat, we make any possible murderers accomplices to the crime."

"Personally, I'd prefer it if you just executed them. It's not like they're under a geass."

"So would I," Lelouch agreed. "But we don't have the luxury right now. I need every able-bodied soldier I can get."

She nodded her understanding. "What about the rest of the country? Do you think the rescission order will be followed?"

"Maybe, maybe not, but we haven't got the time. One we refuel, we need to head towards the battle lines at top speed." He gestured to a defensive line starting in Rajasthan and ending at the city of Patna. "We only need this belt of city's to hold in the north, and that for not very long. China is the true goal. It always has been."

"What do we do once we make it to friendly lines?"

Lelouch looked her dead in the eye. His grin was ferocious. "We attack."

…..

Highway Outside Rajasthan, Republic of India

"YOU STUPID BITCH!" V-Two shrieked. He stomped his booted heel repeatedly into Einstein's dead face. "YOU STUPID GODDAMN BITCH! HOW DARE YOU DIE OUT HERE! DAMN YOU!"

He kicked her face to the side again, scattering her teeth all across the ground.

He started kicking her in the belly. "WHERE ARE MY BOMBS? GODDAMN YOU! WHERE! ARE! MY! BOMBS?"

"Easy, easy," Sumeragi said from the side. He and his comrades were carefully lowering the dead Eleven's body to the ground.

The truck cab had been smashed in by one of the Knightmare, forcing them to spend the last hour carefully prying it apart with their own Knightmares.

An hour lost just confirming he'd stolen the damn thing!

He whipped about to Sumeragi. "Where did he go, Sumeragi?" he demanded. "Where did that bastard go?"

Sumeragi bowed. "It's difficult to say, My Lord," he responded. "He could have flown for Shanghai, or maybe even abandoned China entirely and returned to hole up in Japan."

"AREA ELEVEN!" V-Two shouted at him. "AREA ELEVEN! THERE IS NO JAPAN!"

"Forgive me, My Lord," Sumeragi replied. "I was unaware we hadn't signed a treaty with them."

"DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME, BOY, OR I'LL LAY YOUR SOUL TO WASTE!"

V-Two took several calming breaths, trying to think through the rage. "Where could he have gone? Damn it all, where?"

He paced back and forth, nibbling at his fingernail. "I need those bombs! I need them!"

They were expending a great deal of equipment and supplies in the Reclamation of Europe. Charles had his plans, brilliant plans, for dealing with them; but if those plans should fail, they needed a fallback option to get through Fortress Europe. Einstein had provided the perfect measure, but now the stupid bint was dead dead DEAD!

"Tap into the radio broadcasts," Sumeragi ordered one of his cohort. "His Highness and Kozuki have their Knightmares, someone should be reporting on it by now."

A man still in a Black Knight uniform nodded. "On it!"

….

Tokyo Airport, Tokyo, United States of Japan

The cargo plane shuddered as it landed. Ohgi winced; the painkillers were starting to wear off. He was in a wheelchair latched to the floor with several black straps, and they weren't remotely comfortable. There were only a few of the infiltrators onboard, but Ohgi didn't put odds on him or Akagi overwhelming them.

Exhaustion pervaded him. Stress, fear, drugs, and pain were weighing him down. His skin was sallow, his cheeks gaunt. His Black Knight uniform hung loosely on him.

He felt the plane come to a stop. After a few minutes, the doors came open, and bright sunlight glared into his tired eyes. He held up his hand to block it.

"Sorry, Second Consul," one of the crew members said. "We didn't think about the glare from the sun. Would you like a pair of sunglasses?"

"No, it's fine, thank you," Ohgi rejected.

He was unlatched from the floor, then gingerly rolled down the ramp onto the tarmac. The Cabinet was awaiting him at the bottom, surrounding by a bodyguard unit, the wind whipping around them.

Yoshida approached him. "Ohgi!" he shouted over the roar of the engine. "Ohgi! You alright?"

"I'm fine," Ohgi assured him with a nod.

"What's this we're hearing about a peace treaty?" Sugiyama asked.

"So they already contacted you?" Ohgi asked. "Guess that saves time!" He glanced over his shoulder, ostensibly to chuckle at the infiltrators, but really he was looking. He saw Akagi down by the wheel, giving him a thumbs up. "I guess you boys can go back home, right?" He asked the infiltrator.

The man shook his head. "Lord V-Two wants us to help facilitate communications for the termination of hostilities," he said. "We're to stay here until all the details have been worked out."

"I see." Ohgi turned back to Yoshida, and gave him a hard glare. He looked down meaningfully at Yoshida's pistol. "We better make sure to take good care of them!"

Yoshida's eyes registered shock, but he nodded. "Real five-star service!" he shouted back. He turned around, one hand on his hip, gave a nod. "Compliments of Zero!"

He swung back around, pistol in hand, and blasted the infiltrator in the face. The other members of the Cabinet tugged their pistols from their holsters and opened fire, swiftly eliminating the small escort. The bodyguard squad rushed towards the plane, gunning down two of the techs on the ramp. They tossed grenades into the craft, ducked low as they sprinted back down to the tarmac.

"Hit the deck!" Yoshida shouted. He grabbed Ohgi and flattened him to the ground. Ohgi grimaced painfully.

Ear-piercing explosions roared through the air as the grenades went off. Small shards of debris rained down on their backs.

Ohgi looked up at it. There was less damage than he would have thought. He'd expected the whole thing to go up in a ball of fire.

I've been watching too many action movies.

Ohgi and the others sat up.

"Ohgi!" Yoshida shouted, holding him upright. "What the Hell is going on?"

Ohgi smiled weakly. "Our chance to make up for our mistake," he said. "We can discuss it later. Is Urabe ready?"

"Yeah. We got a hundred-fifty Akatsuki's ready to go!"

Ohgi nodded. "Good. Then I advise you to get them moving. I have no idea how much longer our Chinese allies will last."

"You advise?" Sugiyama asked.

"Yeah. I'm not Second Consul anymore."

"Say what?" Tamaki demanded. "Ohgi, what the shit happened?"

Ohgi sighed. "It's a long story."

….

Above New Delhi, Republic of India

"Time to thin the herd," Lelouch said.

Armed with a fresh energy filler, he ascended to three thousand feet and targeted the approaching forces. The fighting inside New Delhi had more or less died down; the announcement of treason at the highest levels of government had apparently been enough to spook the troops back into line. What few units were still engaged in carrying out Arnold were being hunted down and defeated.

With the fighting concluding in the city, the enemy was now on the move, their tank barrels flashing as they fired.

"There are a limited amount of Knightmare Frames," Lelouch mused aloud as he designated targets for Diethard. "Maybe they're limited on Sakuradite? Or perhaps they simply don't have a lot to begin with?" He hummed as he checked his digital map.

"My computer is estimating that there's about thirty-five thousand out there," Kallen said.

"Yes, they're respectable numbers. But for a major population center like New Delhi, they're not nearly enough."

Was there a feint here he wasn't seeing? Were they holding troops in reserve? The air units hadn't been reinforced at all.

Unless...

Lelouch exploded into laughter, high and loud and cold.

"Wh-What's so funny?" Kallen asked.

Lelouch placed a hand over his face. "They've just handed us the war, Q-1," he crowed. He hit a different frequency. "Commander Mahatma, do you read me?"

Mahatma was a young man just a few years older than Lelouch, and the new leader of the General Staff.

"We read you, Colonel," the man confirmed.

"Issue Command Authorization Tiger-Dragon," Lelouch ordered. "Operation Turnbuckle is a go."

"Affirmative, it will be done."

"What's Operation Turnbuckle?" Diethard asked, a motionless C-Two still in his lap.

"The combat plans we drew up between India and China. We should still have enough men and materiel to carry it out." He readied the Hadron Cannons. "Do you have your camera set up?" he asked.

"Yes, Zero," Diethard confirmed.

"It won't be jostled or knocked over when I turn the ship?"

"We'll be fine. This isn't my first time inside a flying vehicle with a camera."

"Excellent. You may fire when ready."

A moment later, twin blasts from the Hadron Cannons roared across the sky toward the ground below. The energy beam dissolved hundreds of enemy units at once. The ground burned, melted, and turned to glass. Between the turret and Lelouch's steering, they formed a river of flame and death across the front ranks of the enemy troops. Diethard kept the beams going even as he reached the end of the line, then raised the cannons about twenty degrees and revolved in the opposite direction.

Alliance troops were now pulling back, fleeing the devastating beam weapon, to no avail. They too melted beneath the energy weapon.

"K-1, they're pulling back," Kallen reported.

"I see it," Lelouch confirmed. "Diethard, fuel status?"

"Eighty-five percent," Diethard reported.

"Excellent." Lelouch pulled up his comm suite. "Commander Mahatma, do you read me?"

"We read you, Colonel," Commander Mahatma, the man Lelouch was leaving in charge of New Delhi's defense, said.

"We've eliminated thirty-five percent of the enemy's troops," Lelouch said. "You should be able to hold the city long enough for reinforcements to arrive."

"On behalf of the Indian people, we thank you! Long live the Republic!"

"Long live the Republic!" Lelouch agreed, though he sincerely doubted it would last much longer. The country's military strength had been crippled by Arnold. If none of their bordered foes invaded them, the Tianzi sure as Hell would given half the opportunity. "We're returning to refuel and pick up our armament. ETA ten minutes."

"We'll have it ready for you."

Lelouch clicked off the comm line from him.

"We heading for China?" Kallen asked.

"Affirmative," Lelouch said. "I'm not too sure of the situation, but they should be in less dire straits than the Indians. The Shen-Hu should be airborne by this point." He chuckled. "They probably don't even need us."

…

The Bunker, The Winter Palace, Shanghai, Chinese Federation

"WHERE THE HELL IS ZERO?" Xingke shouted.

Almost every bridge across the east side of the Yangtze had been lost, and enemy troops were flooding across. Zhenjiang had fallen, and the enemy was even now moving on Danyang. The reserves had been thrown in wholesale, but they were only slowing them down.

"Commander!" Hong Gu's voice called out over the radio. "We're getting pressed from three sides! If we don't get more air support soon, Nanjing will be overrun!"

"Commander!" Xianglin reported from Wuhan. "Our forces are being pushed back across the Yangtze! I beg you! Grant me permission to blow the bridges!"

"Request denied!" Xingke said. "We need those bridges!"

"Xingke!"

"NOT ONE STEP BACK! DO YOU HEAR ME? NOT ONE STEP BACK!"

"If the bridges are lost, then should we not destroy them?" Lady Sumeragi asked. "Can we not slow down the enemy?"

"Are you saying that no support is coming?" Xingke asked her pointedly.

She flinched. "No, I-"

"Then don't recommend something that will lead to our defeat!" he barked. "If we blow the bridges to halt their offensive, they'll be given however long it takes either side to rebuild them to rest, recuperate, and rearm using the factories we just lost! We will die. A slow death, yes, but death all the same."

He turned to the Tianzi. "Your Majesty, it is my opinion that you must ev-"

"No," his Empress said. "Never. I shall not abandon my people in their hour of need."

Xingke held out his hands. "Your Majesty, please, I beg you!"

The Tianzi took his hands in her own. "No, Li. If China dies here, then I shall die with it."

Tears ran down Xingke's face. His weren't the only ones. Around the table, the officer corps sniffed. Sounds of bereavement erupted from the maids in the room.

Through it all, the Tianzi sat firm upon her throne. She gazed over them all. "Weep not, my children," she said to them. "We have not been forgotten." She gave the Lady Sumeragi a kind smile. "Zero comes even now, I am certain of it."

Sumeragi smiled wetly, nodding her head.

The ground shuddered beneath them. Xingke knelt before his Empress.

This is it. They've broken through.

The radio crackled. "This is General Kousetsu Urabe of the Black Knights," a voice announced. "Is anyone reading me?"

Heads shot up around the room.

"I repeat, this is General Kousetsu Urabe of the Black Knights. Can anyone read me?"

Xingke power walked to the radio. "This is Commander Xingke of the Chinese Federation," he said, not daring to hope. "We read you loud and clear."

"Requesting that you designate targets for immediate air strike," General Urabe said. "Reinforcements are en route on cargo planes and ships coming in right behind me. Please provide safe landing coordinates."

Xingke waved a hand to an officer. "Get it done!"

"Yes, sir!"

When he turned around, the Lady Suemragi was smiling triumphantly.

"See?" she said. "I told you help was coming!"

…

The Skies Above Shanghai

Urabe double checked his targets. "Eliminate enemy units, but do not destroy the bridges," he ordered. "Keep careful watch on your firing lanes. Friendly units will be moving in to retake captured territory. The last thing we need right now is friendly fire. Understood?"

"Copy, Red Leader!"

Enemy fighters were moving to engage, their twin engines blazing against the sky.

"Gold, Bronze, and Steel Groups," Urabe designated. "You're on air superiority. Knock them out of the sky."

"We're on it, Red Leader!"

A massive section of signals peeled off on Urabe's digital map.

"Descend to one thousand feet, lock targeting computers. Weapons free." Urabe gripped his yoke. "Light 'em up."

He depressed the trigger. Anit-armor ammunition poured into the ranks of rebel armor. Gun-Ru's, tanks, APC's, and supply trucks went up in fireballs. Ahead and above, Akatsuki's tore through the rebel warbirds with rifle and Slash Harken.

Shredded fighters fell to the ground below.

…

Hunan Province, Chinese Federation

Hadron Cannons blasted across the skies, knocking down dozens of enemy fighter craft in one go. Anti-armor rounds from Kallen's borrowed machine gun blazed across the ground, perforating enemy Knightmares, tanks, and troop carriers in a barrage of steel death. The flames from ground and sky seemed almost to meld into a wall of fire that consumed the Alliance forces in its blaze.

Kallen double checked the ammo on her mag. "K-1," she said, "I'm running out of bullets."

"We're approaching Changsha, we can resupply there," Lelouch replied.

"Copy." Kallen glanced over her digital map. "I'm seeing way too many enemy aircraft for the Shen-Hu to have been operational. Do you think Xingke is really airborne?"

Lelouch grunted. "Not sure," he acknowledged. "Is it possible?"

"Is what possible?"

"I'll tell you when we're on the ground. I don't want to chance this leaking."

"Understood."

She checked the map again, tracked a line across the screen for targeting, and opened fire. The barrage swept through a column of Gun-Ru's, lighting them up in explosions of white hot steel.

Nina was dead. Nina was dead, and Kallen had killed her, and her broken body was probably being eaten by-

"Stop it!" Kallen told herself. She rubbed at her swollen eyes. "Stop it! There's nothing you can do about it! Just stop it!"

She fired into a group of APCs that had gotten too close together. "The Federation's lines are holding a lot better," she reported. "I'm seeing them retaking ground all over the place."

"The blessings of superior firepower," Lelouch replied. "This is the power of the Knightmare Frame."

Kallen's proximity alarm rang. "K-1, we've got company!"

Kallen broke into evasive maneuvers, narrowly avoiding the Slash Harken that would have pulverized her cockpit. Two more came in successive thrusts that Kallen nimbly dodged came, and she swiveled around to see her opponent.

"That is the weirdest Knightmare Frame I've ever seen," she commented.

It was orange with red bordering, ball-shaped and covered in green spikes, two of which were rapidly retracting back to the body. Kallen opened a barrage of gunfire onto the Frame, aiming for an outcropping that she assumed was the Factsphere. The Knightmare began spinning wildly at extraordinary speed, and the anti-armor bullets she had fired bounced off the whole with nary a scratch made.

It burst forth through a follow up barrage, still spinning. It had begun to glow.

"KALLEN, STAY AWAY FROM THAT THING!" Lelouch shouted.

Kallen hit her reverse thrusters, jerked into a backflip, one eye on the Frame as she moved. Her jaw dropped open as a massive electrical field was suddenly emitted.

"What was that?" Kallen wonderd aloud.

"That's the Siegfried," Lelouch answered. "Developed in secret by the Code-R Project, it utilizes neural impulses rather than a standard cockpit-yoke scheme."

"Code-R?"

"I'll explain later," Lelouch replied. He sounded giddy. "We're in luck, Kallen. There's only one person who can fly that thing."

"Who?"

"V-Two, Lord Commander of the Geass Order, and a Code Bearer like C-Two." Lelouch laughed, high and cold and filled with menace. "I didn't have to track him down after all. V-TWO!" he shouted. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!"

…...

"MARIANNE!" V-Two shouted at the Gawain. "WATCH CLOSELY FROM WHATEVER HELL YOU'RE IN! I'M GOING TO KILL YOUR SON!"

Hadron Cannon fire flooded the battlespace too far below the Siegfried to be of any effect. V-Two fired four Slash Harkens at the Gawain even as he swooped down to avoid a chain of machine gunfire from the Eleven slut. A pulse from the Siegfried's electromagnetic discharger sent the red gnat buzzing away. Three of the Slash Harkens missed the stolen Knightmare entirely, but the fourth carved a great gouge into the right arm. Slash Harkens from the Gawain responded, far too slow; they entered the space a full three seconds after V-Two had already vacated it.

"YOUR SON IS PATHETIC, MARIANNE!" V-Two crowed. "HOW DOES IT FEEL TO KNOW HE'S SUCH A FAILURE?"

The Guren came in from above, firing its machine gun.

V-Two laughed. "You think that trash can do anything to me?"

V-Two didn't bother with the spinning shield. The bullets pinged off the hull, not so much as nicking it. The Guren backed off, and V-Two made no effort to pursue.

He glared at the Gawain. "NOW YOU'RE MINE!"

…

"I can't penetrate its armor!" Kallen called out. "Dammit! With the Radiant Wave Surger damaged, I'm only fighting at forty percent capability!"

"It'll be enough," Lelouch replied tightly.

The Gawain weaved and dodged like a drunkard. The Knightmare wasn't built to be maneuverable in the first place; it was, for all intents and purposes, a flying battleship. The whole point was that its armor was supposed to protect it; and Lelouch wasn't the world's best pilot to begin with.

That armor was gouged and torn in many places, now, and more rents were appearing with every firing of the enemy's Slash Harkens. The Gawain was dying a death of a thousand cuts.

"Lelouch, get out of here!" Kallen barked, readying herself for another run. "I can slow it down, give you time to escape!"

"That won't be necessary, Kallen," Lelouch replied. "I think I've figured out a way to take this thing down."

"That is?"

"Blind it."

She understood what he meant immediately. She pulled up the protrusion that was its Factsphere on her targeting computer, and set the computer to work calculating the appropriate trajectory.

She watched the Hadron Cannons glow.

….

"YOU THINK THOSE WILL SAVE YOU, BOY?" V-Two shrieked. He laughed maniacally. "NEVER! I HAVE YOU NOW!"

He sent the Siegfried back into a spin, adding the Slash Harkens into the maelstrom of death he created. They smacked head over heels into the Gawain, rending away the defensive Slash Harken attack that came his way. The right hand was torn away, then the left foot. The chassis started to tear away, and V-Two thought he could see the glow of the Yggsdrasil Core.

…

Kallen fired her Slash Harken at the spinning Knightmare. "Hang on, Lelouch, hang on!"

She missed, the Slash Harken sailing just over the Factsphere. "Come on! Damn you! Come on!"

She retracted it, counting the precious seconds that it took to climb back to her. She fired again as soon as it locked in place.

She missed by the barest of inches.

"GODDAMMIT! COME ON!"

She retracted. Sweat stung her eyes, but she glared hard at her targeting computer. "COME ON!"

She fired.

…...

V-Two fired up the electromagnetic screen. "GIVE YOUR UNCLE A HUG, LELOUCH!" he screamed. "THIS IS FOR YOU, MARIANNE!"

His camera feed suddenly cut out. "WHAT?"

….

Kallen ripped away the Factsphere with a single, hard tug. It sheared off of the Siegfried, taking with it sparking wiring, antennas, and what looked like the fluid line for the steering system.

"LELOUCH! I GOT IT!"

"NOW YOU'RE MINE! V-TWO!"

The Hadron Cannons fired.

…

"WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU?"

V-Two whipped around, back and forth, back and forth, up and down. He stumbled to the deck as something outside made impact. The Knightmare was growing hot.

"NO! NO! NO! WHAT'S GOING ON? NO!"

The Siegfried shuddered again.

"HAVE TO-HAVE TO GET AWAY-NO, NO, MARIANNE!"

…

"Kallen, you still have ammo in that gun?"

Kallen checked her ammo counter. "Six shots!"

"It's enough. There's a generator on the back of that thing. Take it out."

"Right!"

She lit out above, beneath, in front of the enemy Frame. Its Slash Harkens were spiraling out of control, blind in its attempts to protect itself. Three of them had already been targeted and melted away by the heat of the Hadron Cannons. She spotted the generator, shifted the machine gun, targeted, and let loose.

The generator exploded in a blast of sparks. A wave of electricity burst free, striking the Guren full on.

The Guren shut down.

"Sh-Shit!" Kallen cried out.

She could feel the Guren falling. She frantically hit the power shift button, smacked every button she could find.

"WORK DAMN YOU WORK!"

There was a hard metallic clang, and the Guren shuddered. She could feel herself dangling in midair, but she was no longer falling.

She relaxed instantly. "Lelouch."

…

The Bunker, The Winter Palace, Shanghai

Enemy forces were withdrawing all across the front, Black Knight Knightmares harrying them as they escaped back to their own lines. The last of the reserves were being moved into place at each of the conflict points, brushing aside the burning remains of the enemy's armor.

"Commander Xingke!" the radio opertor called out. "I've just received a transmission from the Indians!"

Xingke was next to him in an instant. He took the transmitter from him. "This is Commander Xingke of the Chinese Federation. Who is this?"

"Mahatma Das, now Commander of the Indian Armed Forces," the man on the other end responded. "Authorization has been given for Operation Turnbuckle, code phrase Tiger-Dragon. Are your borders open?"

Relief filled Xingke. "They are," he confirmed. "I expect an explanation for what's been happening over there."

"You'll get it," Mahatma promised. "Suffice to say, treason was at work."

"Understood. We await your arrival with great anticipation. Xingke out."

"How soon can we begin the counterattack?" the Tianzi asked.

"Five days at the earliest," Xingke answered. "We have to move allied units into position."

"Very good. Prepare our troops well, Xingke. We're taking our country back."

…

Dongchong, Hunan Province

Lelouch carefully touched both Guren and Gawain down. The electromagnetic pulse had shut down the Guren; an unexpected outcome and, after a brief panic, he'd been able to grab the Guren's undamaged wrist with his own remaining hand.

The Siegfried sank like a wounded animal, the groan of its systems loud as it collapsed toward the ground. It crash landed into an open field, fire burning from the hull. Black smoke churned the air.

Lelouch climbed out of the Gawain. He jumped over to the Guren's cockpit pod and hit the emergency release button.

Kallen appeared in an instant, no worse for wear, and flung her arms around his neck.

"We got him!" she shouted. "We got the bastard!"

The man ultimately responsible for Nina's death. The head of the Geass Order.

And we just took him down.

Lelouch pulled away from her, drew his gun. "I doubt he's dead after that," he said. "Ignoring the fact that he's a Code Bearer, I don't think that crash was enough to kill him. Be on your guard."

Kallen nodded, drawing her own.

They approached the downed craft cautiously, pistols at the ready. The cockpit door was open, bent and twisted, likely hit as an emergency escape.

Kallen climbed in first, gun held at the ready. "Oh...Oh God," she murmured with abject horror.

Lelouch rushed in. "Kallen! What is it?"

He stopped. "No...no way."

A young woman lay in the middle of the deck. She had a swimmer's body, with full round breasts, round thighs, and she wore a red-blue flightsuit. She had red-orange hair. If her eyes were open, they would be green.

Lelouch staggered over to her, came down to his knees, and caressed her face.

"Shirley?"