The day had come, I gazed through the protective glass as the last plating of Suzaku's new leg was carefully assembled by the many limbed assembly machine. Supposedly Lloyd and Cecile also used it to assemble parts for the Lancelot. I wouldn't be surprised, the damned thing was huge with thick limbs and a wide variety of tools at the ready. It certainly looked industrial enough.

Cecile operated the supposedly cumbersome machine with grace that could only come from long hours of practice. Watching it was kind of like watching a veteran construction worker stack bottles on top of each other with an excavating machine. The kind of thing that made you ask: "How the fuck?"

Cecile had a look of pure concentration on her face, I understood why. Messing up right as she adjusted the final bits that couldn't be done by the computer could set us back a day minimum. None of us wanted that, their superiors at the military were getting suspicious and the person running interference for us simply couldn't keep their attention off the Lancelot any more.

The Black Knights were being active, two raids this week. Normally I'd welcome this, keeping up the pressure against the disorganised Britannians was the best use of the Black Knights resources. But for some god forsaken reason I wasn't called in by Lelouch. He said the operations were 'too minor' to require my attention…

This predictably drove me straight up the wall but I can't exactly call him out for it if I want to keep acting like a relatively sane terrorist. I glared at the reflection of Lisa on the protective glass. I know what an oxymoron is!

I restrained myself from shaking my head and thanked whatever being out there that Lloyd was busy checking up on Suzaku instead of doing his weird psychoanalysis thing on me, with Cecile too busy to reign him in I'd probably resort to hitting him over the head to shut him up.

I leaned back harder onto the wall and closed my eyes for a second. I tried listening to my passenger, trying to gauge its emotions. I sensed anticipation but not the impatience I had expected, something was keeping it too occupied for it to get bored. Good for me, it made my annoyance bearable instead of torturous.

Cecile broke me out of my impromptu meditation session with a tired sigh. "It's done, good heavens it's finally done." She muttered weakly and gave a tired, little laugh at the end of it. I patted her on the back and she leaned in to me.

"There, there. Half an hour more and you can rest." I reassured her but she turned her head to glare at me. "How are you not tired at all, you were crunching all night going over our code." She glared at me softly, it was an unusual look for her. Most people really only saw the kind and polite woman with a soft-demeanour but this childish side occasionally popped up.

I didn't know what to think as she limply leaned on to me. I simply nudged her a bit with my left arm instead of thinking about it.

"Come on, let's go. The sooner we get Suzaku his legs the sooner we can rest." She responded to my words by sighing and straightening herself. She regained some of her usual professional look immediately, the shift from tired to the ready for work mask was so smooth it had to be practised.

"Yes… Let's get going." She said but didn't move instead holding her straight posture with a blank face. I held back a chuckle at her sudden refusal to show tiredness and moved to grab the limb from the pedestal it was locked into. With a bit of fiddling the gold and white cybernetic finally came off. I cradled it gently despite the fact that it probably could deflect an anti-material rifle.

Surprisingly it didn't weigh that much, 18~20 kilos I'd say. It was all angular plating and smooth surfaces, it would've looked more at home on a knightmare frame. Lloyd and Cecile must've thought to stick to what they knew best…

From what I know of Suzaku It's probably for the best. Though I do wonder how the touch feedback will work with it. Regardless I headed outside of the room with Cecile on my heels, we were both too sleep-deprived to make small talk so only the sounds of our steps echoed throughout the empty corridors of the military hospital. Occasionally a nurse or doctor would pass us by but they always kept their mouths shut.

I was very thankful to them for that. Despite my outwardly calm demeanour I was on my last leg as well. Both finishing up this project and making arrangements for my new arm to be produced have been way too taxing… I haven't slept for over two days, if Ruben hadn't come through with that old contact of his I'd probably still be searching…

Good thing that guy didn't ask many questions though, he seemed eager. Was he the same guy that helped create the original Knightmare Frame? Ruben did say he was an old friend. Perhaps old enough to have helped create the Ganymede?

If so he should be fairly reliable, also without contacts with the Britannian side since he would've also been sacked along with the rest of those Aligned with Lelouch and Nunnaly's mother.

As I was lost in thought, two quick taps on my back jolted me back into the real world. I turned to send a questioning look at Cecile, who was looking at me with a slightly amused expression and pointing towards a door I had just passed. The room was Suzaku's. I tried not to show the embarrassment by offloading it but I got the feeling Cecile saw it anyways.

She opened the door and we entered into an odd scene. Towards the corner of the room Lloyd was talking with Suzaku's surgeon, most likely about something technical. It was a miracle he hadn't managed to annoy the man enough to chase him off, though less so considering how eccentric the surgeon was.

I paid those two no mind and instead turned my attention to the other duo in the room. The pinkette that had dropped Suzaku off before and Suzaku himself sitting on the edge of an exam table. The pinkette now in some sort of fancy dress was fussing over Suzaku as if trying to pamper him as much as possible until he got a proper leg back. I smiled at the sight, Suzaku certainly found a passionate admirer.

Cecile addressed the two without acknowledging Lloyd. "Suzaku, Princess Euphemia, we'll attach the leg and to primary diagnostics shortly." My brain ground to a halt at her words. Princess…

The pink haired girl is a Princess. A Britannian Princess is practically hanging off Suzaku's arm. I kept a perfectly blank face and looked first at Cecile then at the Princess slowly extracting herself from Suzaku. This wasn't a joke was it?

Oh my fucking god. Suzaku has a Britannian princess as a benefactor… Supposedly the same one that is currently running Area 11 in Cornelia's place. That… certainly explains how we got away with all of this.

"Ah, I hope it's okay for me to watch as the procedures are done, Miss Cecile." The possibly immensely dangerous girl said. I refused to baulk at her polite tone and instead diverted my attention to the fact that Lloyd and Cecile had allowed me to come this close to her without any protection around.

Seriously, there was no one around! There were some military police inside the hospital but they weren't the bodyguards I'd expect a damned princess to have!

Did they trust me that much? I mean I wouldn't attack her because she's in all likelihood replaceable considering the Emperor has like a hundred wives and who knows how many children and the cost of it would be my civilian life! But still, this is dangerous for both of us!

Okay, calm. I'll just pretend nothing is wrong. Even if the very decision seems stupid I'll just not acknowledge it. Pretend it's not there until it seems like it's about to become a problem then just crush it before it causes issues.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Lloyd grabbed the leg from my arms. I moved to the side towards the laptop Lloyd had brought here and grabbed the cord behind it. I watched as Lloyd removed the cap off the nerve connection and carefully plugged the leg in.

Suzaku hissed as the leg locked in. He tried to move it but I stopped him. "Give me a second, I need to plug this in before you move, we need it for our diagnostics." I pointed to the cable I held as I said so and after a nod from him kneeled down and opened a latch and panel on the back of the 'calf'.

I plugged it in and moved back. Cecile had already taken my place by the computer so I simply stood to the side as they went through the start up and diagnostic procedures.

I smiled as Suzaku eventually took his first few steps. They were careful things, he was clearly anxious. Yet his steps didn't seem unnatural, he said so himself.

"It's almost like I've never lost my leg. It doesn't feel like a prosthetic at all." He muttered with awe. Lloyd of course couldn't resist praising a project he had a part in.

"But of course! I'd say this new leg is more 'yours' than the one you were born with. It was made specifically for you after all!" He smiled with extreme satisfaction. I too smiled, how could I not? Seeing a project finally finished was an incredible feeling.

I watched as the tests continued on and thankfully nothing of concern appeared at the terminal. This was it, we had done it, created an actual cybernetic with full feedback. The shadow grinned at me from the room's window. "The next step in human evolution? Really Taylor you keep building up your CV like this and the time cops or something like that are going to offer you a job." I huffed at her words.

This was hardly 'the next step', it was just another medical breakthrough. An important one yes but I doubted these would be commercially available for a while yet. They would certainly phase out higher end prosthetics but only the rich and the elite would have access to them. Maybe in the future when the aristocracy is dealt with and technology continues to develop these'll become a part of daily life…

I certainly hope so, I know for a fact that even if our crusade against Britannia succeeded I'd be known as the extremist of the group, the warmonger and fanatic. That was what Lelouch aimed to do after all, offload any of the less… palatable acts of the black knights to a group supposedly led by me. I didn't begrudge him for it, it was PR 101. If you have to do something not liked by the public, prepare a scapegoat.

My mood had soured and with most of my work done I exited the room. Suzaku and his princess had begun celebrating so no one paid any attention to me… Or so I had thought. Lloyd followed me immediately with an oddly calm demeanour, it was unlike him to be so calm after a successful test of an invention.

I leaned onto the wall to wait for him to exit the room. He stepped out without making a sound and smiled smugly when he saw me waiting. He rubbed his hands in an almost comical manner, and I would've laughed had I not known for a fact that it was an ill omen.

"So? Say what you want to say, Lloyd. I want to go and sleep." I said curtly. He flapped his hand up and down as if to tell me not to worry about it.

"Taaayyylor~, age has only made you more irritable. You should relax a little, it'll keep you young." I sighed deeply and he took it as the sign to actually get on with it.

"Hmm… I bet you're troubled because you think how this new technology will only be used by the elite and the military and never see use by those who really need it for decades. No~?" He uttered the last part in a sing-song voice and I chuckled weakly. For a guy who doesn't really get emotions he's way too good at knowing what people are thinking.

"Of course I am, but you usually don't care much about that. So… Why mention it." I gave him a sideways stare as I talked. Sometimes it was impossible to judge just what he was thinking, but this was not one of those times. I could clearly tell he was ecstatic.

"Well that would usually be the case! However, what if I told you I had an Idea that could solve problems for both of us!?"

"Oh? And what would this plan of yours be? Make weapons and sell them to build up a massive company so that I could manipulate society by slowly building up enough capital to directly affect the economy at will?" I drawled sarcastically.

Lloyd suddenly drew back and took on a ponderous expression. "Well… No, but place that Idea on the backburner it might be useful later. I had forgotten how good you are with ideas." I heard Lisa laughing from behind me.

"Well it certainly is an idea, if you got a noble sponsor I'm sure you could essentially build the original Ashford Foundation back up. Not that you'd have the patience to do that over thirty years. Though… Maybe write that idea down Taylor, you could certainly fall back to it if this gig doesn't work out." I internally grimaced at the geists words but did actually make note of the idea… Just in case.

Lloyd gathered his wits and suddenly began speaking again. "Actually my idea was to share the plans for the cybernetic or rather a stripped down version of it, a civilian model if you will." I raised an eyebrow at the idea, it seemed plausible if a little dangerous.

"Won't your superiors have an issue with this?" He scoffed at me and placed a hand over his heart as if he was offended.

"Please!? I only have one superior, Prince Schneizel!" The golden boy of the Royal family? That wasn't as much of an assurance as he thought it was. I motioned for him to continue.

"I'm used to convincing him to let me do whatever I want already. He's a tough man to manipulate but he's straight forward. He wants order and order only, the current politics back in the mainland has some trouble makers in it with strong ties to industrial companies. If I pose it as a way to strengthen opponents of said trouble makers and their aims to privatise the military-industrial complex he'll take the bait gladly. He simply doesn't care."

My eyebrows had shot beyond my forehead at this point and I asked him with a shocked voice. "You pay attention to politics?"

He suddenly looked really tired all of a sudden. "Cecile forced me to after the last… incident." Ah, that suddenly made more sense.

"Well, do you actually have contacts with the opponents in question?" He smiled widely at my interest, his mood went from downtrodden to brimming with joy in an instant.

"Oh I have something even better!" He said and pulled a folder out of his lab coat. He presented the file to me and I took it with a little bit of hesitation. It was a formal contract.

I read it carefully noting everything in it. A model of the cybernetic we had developed into a line of limb models within a wide price range, though the models would be inferior to Suzaku's they would be mass produced and actually sold to the masses… A miracle, this could only be a miracle.

I continued reading. 8.9% Percent of the profits before taxes would be paid to the patent holders Research and Development Agency Camelot of the Britannian Military and The individual Taylor A. Hebert as licensing fees split equally. My eyes widened in surprise. I took a glance toward Lloyd, who had already realised why I was shocked.

"Cecile insisted you receive some money as well, you certainly could use it. Though I would have rathered to keep all of it for the budget."

"The budget?" I asked.

"Yes, for the Lancelot." This would make that much money?

Lloyd looked surprised by my mistakenly uttered question. "Why of course! Lot's of veterans to sell to and also a whole lot of hindered people! We also hold the right for the nerve connection and Cecile managed to get your name onto its patent too so you'll also get some profits from that.

I'm told it's meant to be some sort of cover up. Can't have the cattle thinking the Britannian military was doing human experimentation after all!" I baulked at both what he implied and the amount of money potentially coming my way.

"Do pick your chin off the floor Taylor, you might have to deal with a lot of blue-blooded people soon, you'll have to get used to this." I laughed weakly. I glanced at the name of the company that had supposedly accepted this deal and laughed even more. Stadtfeld Heavy Industries.

I looked outside from the windows into the sunset visible through the gaps among the highrises of the Britannian settlement. I wanted to shout about what the hell was going on, to scream at god but calmed myself down and instead sat down on a nearby bench. Lloyd followed me there, sat down and began patting me on the back. I could silently wonder just what Kallen was doing right now.

Kouzuki Kallen Ace of The Black Knights

I sweated inside of the Cockpit of the Guren as I screamed and grabbed another purple and crimson knightmare frame by the chest. Unlike the ten others before it I didn't activate my silver arm and instead spun and threw the frame with both hands at an overeager assault V-TOL. The two crashed and combusted with a pink tinted explosion. I smiled grimly in satisfaction and went about my work.

It had been almost an entire hour since we had started fighting but the bastards just didn't stop coming. We had been defending a ship filled to the brim with both Sakuradite and JLF higher ups from both aerial and mechanised forces as they exited Tokyo Bay. God only knows why they chose to exit out of a Bay in the middle of a Britannian settlement but I didn't really care. These men and women of the JLF weren't actual comrades of mine, just those that Zero thought we should defend according to the wishes of the six houses. Or rather those that Zero saw as a useful bait.

I could see how killing the disorganised Britannians and eliminating any would-be governors emerging from the military would help but we were being wasteful, it felt like Zero was claiming victory in japan way too soon.

Moreover if the JLF survived they could cause divisions in the future. It would in all honesty benefit us more if they all died as martyrs!

I tightened my hands over the controls of the Guren as I scanned the perimeter with my Factspheres. Nothing on radar. An explosion rang out from a few blocks down and my squad coms crackled seconds after.

"SPA division dealt with ma'm!" Spoke one of the newly promoted knightmare pilots, Matsumura. She was a good woman; skilled, obedient and hardworking. There was just one issue… She was one of the Yatsukahagi squad, or rather the Yatsukahagi faction.

I gazed at the patch lying next to my visor in the cockpit… They already saw me as something of a deputy leader when Zero or Weaver weren't around, I could really use them to actually have some control over the Black Knights as an organisation.

Just as my thoughts were about to head off in a difficult direction Matsumura spoke again.

"Orders ma'am?" I sighed at her respectful tone and did actually give her some orders.

"Take Toyada with you and reinforce Kento's unit. He's engaged in a shoot out with a squad of Sutherlands and his flanks are exposed to a unit of tanks. Clean up over there."

"YES MA'AM!" She shouted into the coms and headed off. I idly shot down another V-TOL trying to make a break for the freighter. I called Zero for more orders myself.

"Zero, I've cleaned up the southside and the rest of my squad is helping Kento clear his side. Am I needed anywhere?" I said into our direct link and a breath later a response came.

"The numbers around me are heavier than expected. Reinforce me and destroy everything on your path over here." I breathed in deeply revved Guren's landspinners.

"Understood, heading over there" I replied. Time to get to work again.

My machine went from standing still to faster than a car on the highway in less than a second and I felt the inertia trying to push me back. I leaned into the sports cycle-esque cockpit seat of the Guren and kept speeding up as I flew through the empty streets passing by smouldering wrecks of APCs, Tanks, V-TOLs and knightmare frames. Burais and Sutherlands alike burned many with their ejection blocks still inside. The pilots would've died inside choking and boiling. Thankfully there were three Sutherlands lying on the ground for every single Burai.

Still we couldn't keep this up for much longer. Zero was right, the enemies were disorganised and coming in waves -essentially throwing their lives away-, yet we were only forty knightmares strong with only some infantry and armour to support.

Eventually the wave of machines would wear us out… So why were we still not retreating? Was the amount we had killed not enough yet?

I jumped over a wrecked Burai, one that thankfully had its cockpit block missing. We pilots were just as if not more valuable than the frames.

Yet Zero wastes our lives to whittle away at an inexhaustible army and possibly kill a leader or two. A voice in my head whispered. It made me think about our talk inside that dark warehouse earlier today.

I had caught him sitting in the shadows calmly staring at what looked like photos. His mask was off but his face was hidden by shadows.

"Kallen, are you having doubts?" He had asked when I questioned him on why we were wasting our resources protecting the JLf. I had answered him the only way I could.

"If we're going to spill blood, I'd rather we not waste it protecting old fools." Zero chuckled at my attitude.

"Protecting them isn't the objective."

"What? What are we here for then? You said we were here to protect them!"

I couldn't see his face there but I had the feeling he had given me a soft frown as he spoke. "They're bait for the Brtiannians."

I had been shocked then, Zero's plans hadn't used people like that before. Or at least not so directly but I remembered what Miss Hebert had said about him being ready to give anything up, even lives. "Sacrifices then and Martyrs if possible." I replied with as much of a monotone as possible.

"You're rightfully not happy about it, but we need to draw the enemy out before they can organise, the purists -even weakened- are the only ones that can take control right now. Exterminating them now will open up a power vacuum that no one can fill right now." He explained and I listened trying to understand his reasons instead of just trusting him… It made some sense.

"Do you think it'll be worth sacrificing allied lives for?"

"We have to do what we have to to win. To make the blood we've already spilt worth something we must win! We have already set down this road, I cannot stop now. This revolution of ours must reach an end now it has begun!" He stood up and turned towards me, I saw a red glint for a second from where his left eye was.

"If you truly do not wish to sully yourself further this is the time to back down now, Kallen." I couldn't help it. I laughed like a madwoman. Cackled really.

"Zero, please do not think my determination so weak that I would shy away from something as minor as this when it comes to liberating Japan. I have decided, I'll follow you and help you against Britannia as far as my body will allow. I might doubt, but I will not falter. Anything for a different future." I felt Zero stare right into my soul but he didn't say anything for a while. Until…

"Thank you Kallen, it is good to know there is someone else I can rely on." He said with a hint of something in his voice I couldn't identify.

I grimaced as I turned a corner. Trying to dispel the storm of emotions the aftermath of that conversation brought up.

I sent out another ping and caught a Sutherland firing at something just behind a sturdy-looking concrete building. I leaned in and jumped. My leap threw me close to the edge of the building and I fired my singular Slash Harken. It bit into the cement and pulled me the rest of the way up.

I quickly rushed over to the other side and jumped down. The screech of tungsten armour being crushed by the Guren's feet filled the air and briefly silenced the sound of automatic gunfire. The pilot couldn't eject and was most likely crushed to death. I brought my visor up to see what the Sutherland was firing at and saw the knightmare of one of Zero's bodyguards.

It was in terrible shape, indents and scratches covered most of the armour from shells barely held at bay by the armour and entire sections of the armour was missing to reveal the chrome colour of the skeleton underneath. The soot that covered it painted its chassis entirely black. I had no clue who piloted it but they had taken a beating protecting Zero.

Even now It was still under attack, occasional rockets flew from somewhere deeper within towards the Burai. Even the Guren's advanced Factspheres didn't show their location. There must've been too many buildings in the way. I gritted my teeth and threw myself in front of the damaged Knightmare. I heard the male voice from it scream something over his Frames loudspeakers but the words were garbled. I paid it no mind as I brought the Radiant Wave Surger up and projected a barrier towards the enemy.

A glint shined half a kilometre away and a loud 'pffff sss!' noise approached along with what was clearly a rocket. I didn't stand still, momentum was always the deciding factor in Knightmare versus Knightmare combat. The Guren's landspinners revved and I accelerated towards the warhead coming my way.

The barrier of extreme radiation and heat projected from Guren Mk-II's claw annihilated the HEAT-rocket as large as a person's torso. The rocket exploded but it wasn't the truly destructive kind of controlled explosion a HEAT warhead should've produced, there was no superheated copper forming a lance merely the detonation of the explosive charge inside.

I pushed onwards through the smoke cloud it produced and lowered the barrier, my energy fillers were rapidly running out, no reason to waste any more. As my frame broke through the smoke cloud I finally spotted the enemy. An artillery specialised Sutherland with a rocket launcher and Sattel Waffen missile racks. Judging from the pinging noise my displays were making, I was being locked onto, annoying.

I clicked my tongue and tensed myself waiting for my opponent to fire. I was not disappointed, the purple Knightmare with crimson highlights fired its shoulder mounted missile racks at me. And I mean the entire missile rack, ten missiles emerged from each side of the extended cockpit and raced towards me. I didn't hesitate, waited for the missiles to get just close enough and jumped.

As my Guren sailed through the air towards the building to my right I fired my slash harken into a building further along and began to reel myself in. Guren's feet touched the side of the wall and I rode along the wall. The missiles whizzed behind me and smashed into the building as they tried to adjust their guidance.

I smiled widely, and jumped back off the wall onto the ground. The enemy knightmare wasn't giving up yet though, it righted its rocket launcher trying to get a clear shot at me. Like I'll allow that. The left hand of Guren-MkII rose up and I pelted the fool with my 25mm inbuilt coil gun. Its armour withstood the assault but it allowed me to get close.

My claw latched onto the head of the Sutherland and with the push of a button red lightning and immense heat filled the air. The purple armour began bulging and expanding and with the sound of shattering metal all of it suddenly detonated showering the environment with superheated metal shards.

Now to find Zero… I glanced at the radar for his IFF but I couldn't see it. Odd, did he turn it off again? I was about to ask someone when I was contacted by radio by the other bodyguard of Zero.

"Lotus-" Noooooooo, please not that pseudonym! Please be referring to anyone but me! I can't handle that, no! "-Zero had to eject! He landed somewhere west of my position among the containers! Please secure him." Despite the name he used to refer to me I listened to the plea of the man. No matter how much That name annoyed me, Zero being in danger had attracted my attention.

"Understood, I'm moving to recover him. Have you dealt with those responsible?" I replied with as cold a voice as I could manage.

"T-They will be dealt with soon ma'am!" He shouted back. I smiled a little as I began rushing through the streets once more. I didn't have a way to track Zero so I did what came naturally, looked for smoke and rubble. Thankfully this place hadn't seen much fighting, though it wasn't all that far from the fighting itself. Gunfire and explosions still echoed through the streets. My eyes darted about the streets looking for any kind of sign.

Seconds ticked by and with each one I grew tenser until finally I saw a sign. A corner of a warehouse shattered into pieces as if something large had crashed into it. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned the corner immediately, only to find a scene that was absolutely bizarre.

Zero was there with his mask slightly jostled exposing some skin but mostly hair, lying unconscious on his opened cockpit seat. That wasn't beyond my expectations though, even inside a cockpit smashing into a warehouse was bound to jostle someone. No, the unusual bit was the other two people there. Bright orange hair framed a familiar face dressed in an Ashford Academy uniform, there stood Shirley gawking at me with wide eyes.

I would've questioned the fact that she was holding a gun had it not been for the other and more concerning person standing just a few metres away. I didn't even think about what I was doing when I saw the dark skinned and purple haired person garbed in what looked like a half cloak along with…fishnet stockings and high heels? The Guren's silver claw raised up and extended then suddenly it came crashing down.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as I stared into the eyes of the woman as she realised what was about to happen. I saw shock, fear, anger, despair all flash through for the meagre half a second it took for the silver claw to come crashing down. Crunch crunch crunch and squish! Blood splattered everywhere and gore covered the claw. Some of it sprayed onto Shirley and Zero. She screamed and fell on her ass trying to crawl away from the splatter on the ground.

I felt my stomach roll at the nauseating sight. I held back my gag and instead turned towards Shirley. I had killed the woman because she might've seen Zero's face, but could I kill Shirley? I removed Guren's hand from the ground and stared at Shirley.

She was clearly terrified, she quivered like a leaf and her eyes were wide as saucers. I let myself relax a little. Shirley… she surely couldn't be dangerous right? I mean she was just a highschool girl and not one that was particularly brave or tough. I didn't have to kill her, did I?

I was justifying things… But I didn't want to kill Shirley, she was a part of that safe space I had in the council room, a friend. Not a dear friend but a good one nonetheless, a kind girl, accepting towards Suzaku and caring for everyone she meets. I couldn't kill her, not when the possibility that she could simply get away from this existed.

I changed my voices pitch and hoped she wouldn't recognize me. "Girl." I called from my external speakers and her head jolted from the bloody mess on the ground to me. I could guess what the Guren looked like right now, covered in soot from destroyed machines and smoke with its claw bathed in blood. It wasn't a friendly sight, but I didn't need to be friendly right now, just reasonable.

"I don't know how you found your way here, but leave, this doesn't concern you. Go and live your life without a care in the world." I said with as much authority as I could muster.

Shirley didn't react, still too caught up in her shock so I raised my voice slightly. "Go, now! There is nothing that concerns you here, leave and don't be caught up in this."

It seemed to work as Shirley jolted towards the Guren, nodded rapidly and shakily rose up from the ground with the gun still in her hand. She looked between me and the remains on the floor for a second and then promptly booked it.

I watched her go and breathed out a sigh of relief when she disappeared around a corner. Putting on my visor I made the Guren kneel to cover Zero and exited out the hatch. I tried not to look at his face as I fixed his mask back into place so I stared at his hair instead.

Smooth and black, a shade so black it rivalled that of a crow really. It wasn't that rare among japanese people but somewhat rare among foreigners, I only knew Lelouch that had a similar head of hair. Could he be? But the call at the shower wouldn't make sense then. It could've been faked… My gaze started wandering towards his face as my hand gripped his mask.

No… I wouldn't break his trust. I placed the mask in its place and closed the cockpit block from the outside. I stared at it for a second wondering if I had just lost my only chance to see Zero's face.

I climbed back into my cockpit and picked Zero's cockpit block up. I moved steadily towards the shore. The IFF and reports coming from other Black Knights clearly showed that the battle was going well, the horde coming in from all sides had weakened. Our troops were being freed up but with Zero unconscious and Ohgi not daring to take command they weren't doing anything. My Factspheres showed the Purists gathering towards the edge of the bay ready to blast the cargo ship and its sakuradite into bits too far away from any Black Knights other than me to stop them. I found myself not really caring.

Dead eyes stared at the ship and how close it was to the shore, really so close that those Purists could jump onto it reasonably. Well, we did need martyrs. I turned my IFF off and laid Zero down. I sped off towards the gathering of Britannian Knightmares thankfully without any air support. No eyes in the sky.

I rounded a corner and I was upon the purple machines of war. They screamed and tried to turn towards me but the five frames had already begun aiming towards the ship, they were revelling in their supposed victory, they weren't exactly wrong. They would be the ones to kill the JLF, not that they would survive though. We'd soon have two sets of martyrs.

"Lord Balhurst enemy contact!" The one closest to me and furthest from the rest shouted so I went for him first. My fork knife stabbed into the cockpit block and came out slick with blood. I turned upon the rest and fired my wrist mounted gun into the back of another's cockpit, there was no ejection.

I closed the distance and ducked low to dodge a spray of incendiary shells. The radiant wave surger grasped the attackers cockpit but I didn't activate it and instead used the Knightmare as a shield against the other two. Their sprays and the grenade from one of their underslung launchers slammed into it shredding its weak back armour and killing the occupant.

"Oh god! Stop! Stop!" Shouted one of them and they did stop shooting but it was too late, I threw the mangled wreck at one and descended upon the other. My claw extended and grasped his gun arm, I didn't activate the radiant wave surger. It would make it obvious I was here. Instead I pulled the other knightmare closer and stabbed through the top of the cockpit.

I let the corpse fall onto the ground and turned to face the other machine. It managed to throw the wreck I had thrown at it down into the sea. We eyed each other warily but I moved faster before they could decide on an action. Gurens hands gripped into it and I man handled it until I got the assault rifle out of its hands.

The machine struggled in my hands but I drew back for a second, revved my landspinners and threw it at the passing ship with a running toss, the remaining crew screamed in surprise as the eight tonne Knightmare crashed onto the deck and ripped through the hull. I grabbed the gun the purist had dropped and wildly sprayed at the ship from the shadow of a building.

The hail of shells punched through and shortly thereafter a bright pink light began emerging from inside. I instinctually backed up and I was damn right to do so. The sakuradite explosion was absolutely massive, way larger than the distance I had thrown the knightmare over. So much so that it bit into the pier and consumed the evidence of my deeds whole.

I silently watched from the cover of a warehouse. I knew of the grim expression etched on my face, I didn't bother forcing what I felt down, it would be helpful soon. I moved back towards Zero and turned my IFF back on once I reached him.

I tuned my radio into the general frequency used by the squad leaders. A thousand questions and confusion blasted into my ears so I had to raise my voice to be heard.

"ENOUGH! Zero has been wounded and I'm recovering him. Looks like the Britannians boarded the ship anyways, either the bastards set the sakuradite off accidentally or the JLF decided to go out on their own terms." I lied smoothly, taking care to sound as bitter and angry as possible

"But Kallen!" Ohgi interrupted me having only barely managed to get the courage together to speak now.

"But nothing! There is nothing here for us now, recover our wounded and let's leave." I cut him off. A moment of silence passed but then affermatives came from all those listening in. I shut my radio off and sighed in relief. Zero's cockpit in hand I moved to regroup. I had the feeling this night turned out even worse than it felt like it did.

Euphemia Li Britannia Princess Living the Life

The cold morning air coming from the open windows flowed over my skin as I laid upon a very soft couch I had gotten brought into this training room and skimmed the casualty reports of the night befores casualty and battle reports.

I knew I shouldn't smile as I read through something so macabre but I couldn't help it. The Black Knights basically doing my own job for me and getting rid of those pesky purist parasites had already made my day. I smiled as I scrolled through the list, oh so many pesky little political opponents dead, one would think I had arranged it!

Well I might've leaked a little intel but I could hardly be at fault for the glory seeking of others can I?

I laid the tablet down next to me and turned my head towards my beloved. Garbed in a white Gi and a black Hakama he had brought from somewhere he went through motions he called 'kata'. He had said he was trying to get used to his new leg. I didn't really get how the stiff mechanical motions would help adjust better but he certainly knew better than me so I simply laid on my couch and enjoyed the view of him sweating as he went through the motions.

For hours on end, really his stamina was incredible. I suppose martial training from childhood does that. Hmmm… perhaps our children should be trained from youth as well? Oh! The image of him training them and I sitting by the side watching them or bringing them snacks as the day goes on! Simply wonderful.

Haaaa… I brought a hand over my heart and tried to calm myself, no use getting lost in dreams that aren't certain yet. I'll make them a reality and then I can live in them all day loooong~.

Now then, back to work. I have a house to get back in order! And a deal to cut.

An:HELLO AGAIN, PROGRESSING THE PLOT I AM. In all seriousness I am really enjoying writing this but moving has held me back a lot this week. Probably for the best really. Also I have no beta for this chapter since my friend isn't really available. Sorry if you see anything that slipped by me.