A/N: Thank you all for those who reviewed, but I will ask that you please not spoil parts of the game as this goes more for you omegadramon2. It was very upsetting, but as for the rest of you guys, I very much appreciate the reviews.

Special Thanks to Greatkingrat88 for improving and cleaning up the chapter.

Chapter 8

Oath of Rebellion

Reclining in his chair, Lelouch sat back in his personal quarters. He had just opened communications with Admiral Grey, seeking more information about the so-called Pirate King, Miguel Kidd. Once Lelouch had gotten news about the pirate fleet being amassed to challenge him, the Black Knights had begun preparing accordingly, their intelligence network working both to locate the fleet and a means of contacting Kidd as part of a plan Lelouch had formed. He had dispatched Jeremiah to prepare what would be the site of their coming battle. When facing a fleet with such numbers involved, Lelouch would need to meet Kidd and his fleet on his own terms.

What he needed now was additional information, and all Lelouch's investigation had revealed so far was that Kidd had once been a privateer for the Solar Alliance. They were far away from the official records of the Alliance, and as such he would try and find what he needed straightfrom the horse's mouth.

"It's unusual for you to contact me," Admiral Grey said. His stone-like expression hid his emotions well, and Lelouch got the sense that he was being studied. "So what is it you wish to discuss?"

"Does the name Miguel Kidd ring a bell?"

"The so-called Pirate King," Grey replied with barely concealed disgust, "I take it this call is about him?"

"Yes. He has been busy amassing a fleet of pirates to hunt me down. It seems I've agitated the pirates of the rim enough for them to take serious action against me."

The aged Admiral was taken back by this revelation, and Lelouch continued.

"We don't have an exact number of how many ships and Ryders he'll bring to bear. However, we have confirmed he is offering a share of a planet's ransom worth of credits if they will commit their ships to his fleet to join in the hunt, to entice as many pirates as possible to join him."

Admiral Grey's eyes narrowed. "That is rather a lot more money than any backwater pirate could muster, even Kidd. Do you suspect PACT to be encouraging the pirates?"

Lelouch nodded, "That would explain it, yes. I have been preparing to deal with him. That being said, my investigation into his background has not turned up a lot, except his past career as an Alliance privateer. I would like to know everything about him, so I can put the final touches to my plans. I want to know what kind of man he is."

"I understand," Grey replied thoughtfully, pausing to remember, "Though he is a despicable criminal now, Miguel Kidd was once a Captain of the Avenger, a Machiavelli-class battleship. He held the alliance's trust as a capable officer and leader."

"So, he was actually a member of the military?" Lelouch asked. The revelelation was concerning. Kidd would be a seasoned officer, then, with decades of experience heading military operations in space. This would put him heads and shoulders above the opportunistic scum his reformed Black Knights had chased down so far. A capable military officer heading a whole fleet… this could not be underestimated.

Even more worrying was the fact that two of Kidd's vessels under his command were two Alliance Cruisers, which unlike the fragile and poorly assembled vessels used by Pirates, the ships were heavily armed and armored warships, assets which had been vital to his rise as pirate king.

"Yes. He attended a military academy on Luna and graduated among the top twenty of his class at the academy, which allowed him to become a captain within a few years of service in the navy."

"I assume this means he is a capable, competent commander?"

"Quite," Grey replied with a nod before adding with a notable reluctance, "I always knew him as a clever planner who was quick on his feet and quite resourceful. He was quite successful as a pirate hunter."

"So how did he become a privateer?"

Grey let out a sigh, before proceeding to explain.

"Solar Congress was proposing military cutbacks, but they were divided because it would mean lessening our ability to deal with pirates. As a cost-effective workaround, we offered privateering contracts to members of our navy. The spoils taken from enemy vessels would become their pay, while we at the same time dealt with piracy. That was the idea, at least."

"And Kidd became one of your privateers?" Lelouch asked. Grey nodded in confirmation.

"Then someone along the line, something happened?"

"It did." Grey's expression hardened. "We started getting reports of friendly vessels being attacked in his region, but there was never any proof of anything being amiss. Somewhere along the lines, Kidd must have decided the pay wasn't good enough."

"What kind of background did he have?"

"Kidd came from a less than humble background. He was the only son of a wealthy industrialist, but his father's business empire collapsed while he was serving in the navy. His father was caught at a black market dealing selling illegal weapons. It was enough to convict."

"And yet he still managed to become a captain?" Lelouch asked.

"He persevered. It was a stain on his family's name, but we wouldn't judge a son for the actions of his father."

"In time he turned on you, became a pirate, but how did he gain two Alliance Cruisers as part of his own forces?"

"One of the cruisers the Interceptor was captained by a friend of mines. He was Kidd's handler. But members of his crew led a mutiny against him, taking over the ship," Grey answered while his eyes flashed with anger. "We learned later Kidd had paid off most of the crew and tempted them with what life as a space pirate using military vessels could bring."

"And the other cruiser?"

"It was captured by pirates who swore their loyalty to Kidd, and he managed to arrange for a group of pirates who were taken prisoner aboard the cruiser, the Endeavor, to be freed by members of the crew who were also bought off by Kidd to seize the ship."

"And he retained his own ship, but renamed it?"

"He did," Grey acknowledged, "and he quickly fled Alliance Space so we couldn't pursue him. Thanks to those vessels, he established himself as the most dangerous pirate in the Neutral Rim, becoming a Pirate King of shorts."

"I see," said Lelouch, "and what sort of man was he? He had everything a man could want- status, power, and probably some decent money. What makes a man like that choose to be a pirate?"

"Who's to say?" said Grey, sighing with a shrug, "I'd like to say that it was just simple greed and that Kidd was just a villain… and don't misunderstand, that is true, but it's also true we in the Alliance have some responsibility in this affair. He operated under our nose for years, and stole two valuable vessels from us with ease. We should never have relied on the privateer program to do work our military should have handled directly. Kidd… Kidd was underpaid, and I doubt that sat well with the son of a wealthy industrialist. He came from a background of entitlement and power. He was always ambitious. I suspect he saw more opportunity in the Rim, and seized it. He never hesitates once he has figured out what he wants. He earned his rank as a captain, despite the stain his father left on his name. He always kept a level head in combat, and prior to his defection he had an exemplary record. Do not expect him to go gently, Lelouch."

"I expected as much," Lelouch replied thoughtfully. He had a better idea of who Kidd was, at the very least. "If you can give me anything else about any battles he involved in, I would appreciate it."

"Of course," Grey said "I will transfer all available battle data to your ship as soon as we finish here. I think it goes without saying that the Alliance would be very grateful if you would eliminate him. Dead or alive, there is a considerable bounty on his head."

"Thank you."

"Actually," Grey began as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face, "I know someone I can recommend to you who could be of great help in dealing with Kidd."

Three days later, the fleet commanded by Captain Kidd exited warp over the dark planet of Galileo, a world whose technology had fallen below pre-warp levels. Nevertheless, the world was a popular location among traders who gave them medical supplies in exchange for Galileo's more exotic goods.

"Sir, we have confirmation of three cargo vessels leaving Galileo's atmosphere," a bridge crewmember reported to Captain Kidd. The captain sat behind the tactical station on the bridge of his ship, formerly the Avenger, now the Queen Anne's Revenge.

"Excellent. We have an audience," Kidd replied. Although he planned on launching a vicious attack to draw out the Black Knights, his tone was akin to that of dinner conversationalist.

"Order some of our ships to escort them. Ensure they stay for the show."

"Yes sir," the bridge officer replied.

"All weapons free. Begin bombardment of Galileo's major cities, and destroy any ships exiting the atmosphere," Kidd coldly ordered.

"All ships, begin the attack," a communications officer said, before relaying Kidd's orders to the rest of his assembled fleet. It consisted of his flagship, two Alliance Cruisers, eight Pirate Warthogs, ten Pirate Destroyers, and eight Ryder Carriers.

The cargo ships entering the atmosphere lacked any meaningful weapons to drive off a force such size. Three Destroyers quickly moved into position, before peppering them with lasers.

There was no escape. One by one, the vessels readied their space-to-ground weaponry, lance batteries pounding as the ships breached fire and atmosphere before they exploded into a fireball, and what remained of them burned up in the atmosphere.

It wasn't a battle; it was a slaughter. The few ships in Galileo's orbits were defenseless against the superior firepower of Kidd's fleet, and within minutes all but the ships the pirate king had permitted to live had been destroyed. No sooner had the barrage ended than the cruisers of the fleet had readied their space-to-ground weaponry, lance batteries lining up to fire some of the heaviest warheads in their arsenal. Kidd watched as the missiles streaked down through the atmosphere, hurling death to the unsuspecting people beneath. In the distance, he could see the first salvo impacting, a silent set of clouds barely visible from their position in orbit.

"We have impact, captain," said the gunnery officer, "the capital city has suffered crippling damage."

"Hit it again," Kidd said matter-of-factly, "and order the cruisers to move on to other targets."

"Aye-aye, sir," said the gunnery officer with a nod.

Witnessing the devastation from orbit, he smiled before turning to a bridge official.

"Make sure our captive audience will spread the word of what happened, and give them a list of our potential targets."

"Understood, captain," the bridge crewman replied.

"Continue the barrage. I want every major city reduced to rubble. Once that is done… we just wait and see what happens," Kidd said with a dark smile.

Elsewhere in in a remote part of the Neutral Rim, there was a massive space station built out of components from older space stations and ships. It had once been some form of massive cruiser, stranded in space and abandoned to its fate until pirates had occupied it, built on it and expanded on it, leaving it an inelegant but functional hub of outlaw activity. Hulls of other wrecked ships had been added to it, crudely welded in place, along with parts taken from satellites and space stations. It was a natural haven for pirates and various other low-lives who sought to hide from the more civilized galaxy at large, far away from prying eyes and officers of the law. Jeremiah Gottwald felt mildly revolted as he made his way through the station, dressed inconspicuously in simple blacks and browns. Every single part of this station had been stolen from somewhere else, and just about every single person here was either a ruthless low-life, or at least worked for one. And like anywhere else pirates would go, there were plenty of watering holes for thirsty pirates willing to spend their hard-earned credits. Inside one of these bars, a young woman in her early twenties sat by the end of the bar. She had long black hair tied into a long top-knot ponytail, with a fair skin complexion and green eyes. She wore a simple white shirt with black pants, combat boots, and a yellow jacket.

"Icari Isidolde," Jeremiah said, walking up the woman, "I am here on behalf of the wrinkly old maid."

Icari stopped drinking the bottle of liquor she had in her hand before looking over her shoulder at the cyborg, although wrinkly old maid could be seen as some kind of insult, Icari knew it meant something more.

"So, you're the one he told me to keep an eye out for?" She looked him up and down. "An old man with a cybernetic eye. More than an eye, it looks like. Yes, you do look the part."

"Quite. However, I am not sure how much he told you about the proposal we put forth?"

"He didn't say much, and thought it was best I met with your boss," Icari replied. Although she didn't know who Jeremiah worked for, she did know that he was someone else both parties were acquainted with, who had recommended Icari to them.

"I see," Jeremiah appeared thoughtful for a moment before asking, "Could you come with me, then? I'd rather not discuss this in public."

Drinking what remained in the bottle before slamming down on the bar counter, Icari got up off the stool. "Well, lead the way."

Jeremiah led Icari to one of the many hangers within the space station. It was currently under strict lockdown by armed men, under Jeremiah's employ. They found a small transport ship docked in the hanger where the blue-haired cyborg gestured for Icari to follow him aboard.

"You're not going to search me?" Icari asked as Jeremiah and she passed the armed guards.

"No," Jeremiah replied. "Think of it as a gesture of good faith. We both know someone of your skill and reputation is likely carrying more weapons than that pistol you have hidden in your jacket."

Icari merely smiled.

Upon reaching the bridge, Icari came face to face with Zero, who made his presence known by turning the captain's chair he sat in to face her.

"Icari Isidolde," Zero began as Lelouch eyed the woman from underneath his mask, wondering if this was the person recommended to him, "Admiral Grey tells me you are one of the best mercenaries and assassins in the Neutral Rim."

An amused grin appeared on Icari's face. "Well now, I wasn't expecting this. So you and the Admiral know each other, huh?"

"You could say that."

Few people knew that Admiral Grey had been in contact with Icari, contracting her services as both a mercenary and assassin to deal with problems the Solar Alliance couldn't deal directly. Things beyond their reach. The growing threat of PACT was one of these problems, as was those falling prey to slavers. Whatever the problem was, be it assassination or intelligence, the problem solver had been Icari. Lelouch had been told by Admiral Grey that if he needed someone capable, she was the one to seek out. Besides being a capable assassin and gun-for-hire, Icari could hack through security systems and break into highly secure locations.

She has the skills and tools to bring down a small nation on her own, Lelouch thought, remembering what the Admiral told her when he suggested to seek her out to help take down Captain Kidd.

"You come highly recommended. Your services are supposed to be worth every credit, and then some," Zero said. Icari seemed unimpressed, and replied.

"So, what's the job you are offering?"

"We're going to kill the most dangerous pirate in the Neutral Rim while dealing a blow to PACT's efforts to weaken the Neutral Rim," Lelouch replied.

"Really," Icari said as her eyes narrowed in interest, "I am listening…"

"Are you aware that PACT has been paying off various pirate groups to cause havoc in the Neutral Rim as of late?"

"No, I wasn't…" Icari said. Lelouch observed her fists tightening in response.

Lelouch smiled under his mask, making a note to thank Admrial Grey for sharing with him parts of her past, specifically her tragic history with PACT. She had her reasons to hate them, and if he could use that, all the better.

"Recently, they have funded a small army of pirates being led by Captain Kidd to hunt me down and destroy my organization, but we're not going to let that happen. I have a task that I require some of your particular skills to carry out, and I understand you are a competent Ryder pilot as well. You'll be well compensated, of course."

"So, what do you have in mind, then?"

Lelouch grinned under his mask, and began to explain.

After this, it's only a matter of luring Captain Kidd to where I want him to go, Lelouch thought.

Two days had passed since Captain Kidd and his newly formed fleet struck against Galileo. Just as he had hoped, the cargo ships he held captive to watch his massacre had quickly spread the word. He had watched some news feeds from nearby Neutral Worlds. Their reactions were music to his ears, but what he was really looking for was a response from the Black Knights.

He had people out looking for the knights, but so far nothing had turned up. It didn't matter. Zero would not, could not turn away from a challenge such as this. His method was dependent on his image as a do-gooder, and if he ignored this kind of act, he would lose face. And if Kidd heard nothing from the Black Knights by tomorrow, he already had another world, but this one would be smaller and less fortunate Neutral Rim world who barely had enough to create a decent space force, but their larger population would help send a more significant message.

Suddenly, a light on his desk began flashing. Putting down his glass, Kidd pushed the button to answer the call from the bridge.

"What is it?"

"Sir, we just received word from one of our contacts that another group of pirates has captured a member of the Black Knights," the bridge crewman replied. "Their ship is arriving now to deliver their prisoner to us, and their captain has agreed to meet with you in the hangar."

Captain Kidd wasted no time making his way down to the hangar, where the captain of the pirate ship was bringing aboard the Black Knight member they had captured. This was a stroke of good luck on their part, especially if they could squeeze information leading to where the Black Knights were hiding at. If they were successful in getting such information, they could take the fight straight to the Black Knights and eliminate them in one fell swoop, without having to travel around blowing up random settlements until they came looking for him.

We'll have the element of surprise on our side, which will allow us to maximize the damage we can inflict upon them. Miguel Kidd thought, a wicked smirk on his face.

He arrived just in time to see two of his men secure the prisoner. He approached the captain of the vessel who had captured the Black Knight member, a man slightly older than himself, was with cybernetic red-eye. He had a bald head with a long black beard with a massive set build, wearing a black trench coat with a dirty white shirt underneath with black pants and boots.

"So, you're the captain who captured the Black Knight member here?" Kidd inquired, approaching the man while he was talking to one of Kidd's own subordinates.

"Yes, sir. I am Captain Marcus, the captain of the Drunken Dancer." Marcus said, with surprising courtesy for a pirate.

"I understand you captured a member of the Black Knights?"

"Aye, we did," Marcus said, looking back at the bruised and beaten prisoner, "He was a tough one to capture. The rest of his fellows committed suicide to avoid interrogation. We got lucky with him, but we had to watch him very closely. He made attempts to kill himself."

"How did you capture him?"

"We found out we had a squealer in our ranks, so we followed him and tracked him to a bar on Tydaria. He was meeting with some members of the Black Knights after we docked there to conduct the…usual business," Marcus said.

"When we attacked, all hell broke loose, but I think a stray grenade we threw knocked that guy against a wall knocking him out. But before he woke up, we made damn sure he couldn't end himself like his comrades did," Marcus explained before giving Miguel tooth, presumably containing some potent poison within.

"Excellent work. So why bring him to me?"

There were some obvious answers to that question. Rewards first and foremost, of course, but Kidd knew he had to ask. He liked to keep himself informed of the motivations of his captains. He hadn't remained king by not keeping track of the people under him.

"Well, our boys weren't able to convince him to talk, but your reputation for breaking people to get information out of them is legendary, I thought we'd give this to a professional." The bearded pirate captain said, gesturing to the bruises and cuts the captured Black Knight was covered in. "He's a tough son of a bitch, I'll give him that, but I didn't want to get too rough and lose our only lead. Not to mention, we heard you are offering a fortune for any pirates to join your hunt, right? So why not cash him in too, I thought."

Kidd considered this for a moment, before gazing over the injuries the Black Knight member had before concluding that Marcus and his men had conducted their own interrogation while being mindful to avoid accidentally killing him. It seemed too good to be true, but Kidd knew that this Black Knight was their best chance at finding Zero.

"Alright, I'll get him to talk," Kidd said, cracking his knuckles in his hands as a cruel smile appeared on his face. "And consider yourself part of my fleet. If his information checks out and it leads us to Zero, then you expect a bigger share of the reward."

"Glad to hear it, captain," Marcus replied. He cast a glance over his shoulder, relieved. While everyone was occupied with observing Captain Kidd giving his full attention to their prisoner, a young woman who had arrived with Marcus had stealthily slipped away from the gathering.

The girl wore a red wig on her head and some sunglasses, but a disguised Icari drew a small computer from one of the pockets of the grey maintenance uniform she was wearing.

Icari slipped behind some metal crates containing spare parts, where she found a maintenance hatch. It should give her free reign around the ship. Having served in the Solar Alliance military- or rather, having stayed until she learned enough to strike out on her own as a mercenary- Icari was familiar with the outline of a Solar Alliance ship.

Let's see how good your security is, Icari thought after slipping inside the maintenance tunnel.

Once inside and after closing the hatch behind her, Icari located an electrical box, which would allow her to connect her computer to access the ship's computer network. After connecting her computer to the proper wires, using a pocket toolkit to cut and remove the plastic shielding around the wires to link her computer to them, using the attached connector wires danging from the side of it.

Ok, Icari thought while tying in a series of commands to use a code breaker program, and just like that, I am in.

Icari flashed a prideful smirk as she now had full access to the Queen Anne's Revenge's systems, and she began hacking their systems to ensure their internal security systems were disabled, and any camera feeds, and sensors would loop traditional crew members to help better conceal her presence and to allow her to move freely.

Most importantly, it would give her access to Captain Kidd's cabin, where his personal computer would be.

After that, all I have to do is just pay a visit to other parts of the ship to drop off some presents.

Around the same time aboard the Excalibur, Lelouch was walking with Jeremiah, as the pair were inspecting Icari's personal Ryder, which they had been transporting.

The machine was just over seventeen meters tall, the Ryder custom made and assembled to Icari's exact specifications. It was tailored after her preferred style of combat, which was close quarters using blades. The Phoneix specialized in high-speed hit and run tactics against Ryders, using its immense speed and maneuverability to move in close and cleave through enemy Ryders, bypassing any form of energy shielding. Its only ranged weapons are two auto-cannons, equipped onto each arm. The right arm had a built-in ceramic katana, with the left arm also possessing a built-in wakizashi. The yellow and black Ryder possessed light armor, and shed the traditional fusion reactor in favor of using a battery pack, to shed as much weight as possible for increased speed.

"Have we heard anything?" Lelouch asked Jeremiah after glancing at the Phoniex.

"Nothing yet, but it's to be expected. It's too early for anything new."

"I suppose, but my plan is dependent on her success," Lelouch said, feeling concerned.

"Speaking of which, we have prepared the battle site exactly as you wished."

"Excellent," Lelouch said. The pieces were falling in place, but it would mean nothing if Icari didn't succeed with her mission.

Meanwhile, Icari exited from a removable panel, slipping into Captain Kidd's personal quarters. The pirate king was occupied with interrogating the Black Knight they had captured, keeping him out of sight for the time being. Of course, the 'prisoner' was merely an unfortunate criminal who had run afoul of the Black Knights, and Zero had used unknown methods to convince him of being a Black Knight with specific instructions to follow.

Captain Marcus was another pirate who was instead a small-time thug when compared to the more dangerous pirate groups, but through blackmail obtained by Zero's intelligence agents, which discovered that Marcus had been involved in the deaths of Captain Kidd's associates. The infamous pirate king never found out, but Marcus was terrified of what Kidd would do to him if Zero leaked the information. Zero had used this to coax the pirate to cooperate with bringing Kidd the Black Knight member for interrogation, giving Icari a chance to sneak aboard his ship.

She had three tasks to perform, and one of them was to hack Captain Kidd's personal computer.

Ok, he should be busy for a while. Time for me to go to work, Icari thought before sitting down at Captain Kidd's desk.

Plugging in her portable computer into the terminal on Kidd's desk Icari began running code-breaking software while working her own hacking skills to break through the password-protected terminal to gain access to Kidd's private files.

The security on his personal terminal is a lot stronger compared to the rest of the ship's network, but, Icari thought before a few more minutes of work allowed her to crack the terminal's security granting her full access.

"Not good enough," Icari commented quietly as she smiled triumphantly.

Browsing through his files, Icari quickly found what she was looking for, and her mouth was left hanging as she began examining the data before her.

I guess Zero called it, Icari thought.

Zero suspected Captain Kidd wasn't just acting on Arcadius's behalf in hunting him down, but given how well connected to various criminal syndicates, black market traders, and more throughout the Neutral Rim he suspected Kidd was involved in PACT's efforts to destabilize the Neutral Rim.

This son of a bitch has been doing everything from blackmailing, assassination, raiding those who could be a problem for PACT to soften them up, and more.

It looked like Kidd wasn't just involved; he was the man behind all of it, acting on Arcadius's behalf and was granted an immense fortune from PACT to help finance the effort.

Ok, I am going to copy everything he has on these people, including the blackmail material he has on them, and everything else on who he has been dealing with, Icari thought before examining Captain Kidd's financial records.

The mercenary couldn't help but smile at what she was seeing.

I see. So the fearsome pirate king handles all of his bank accounts and finances from this remote terminal.

And this was step two of Icari's task, which was for her to collect information on Captain Kidd's hidden accounts.

I'll just copy everything here, and all I need to do is get it to Zero, Icari thought as she also began copying the information before her as well so Zero's agents can strip clean Captain Kidd's accounts so all of that money he has collected from his career of being a pirate and what PACT was funneling to him to aid their efforts to weaken the Neutral Rim could be put to better use in Zero's hands.

Once she was finished, Icari planted a listening device so she could eavesdrop on any private discussions Captain Kidd might have in the event she might pick up something useful.

Icari left Captain Kidd's cabin the same way she came, before making sure she left everything exactly as it was.

Now to deliver these party favors, Icari thought as she pulled out a black device that was the size of a hockey puck.

Finally Icari drew a small device from her jacket with a keypad upon it, which upon entering a code only she knew transmitted a brief FTL coded transmission to a contact of Zero's who would, in turn, forward it to him as an indication that everything was going according to plan.

Hours would pass before a tired Miguel Kidd returned to his cabin, unaware of the stowaway he had wandering around his ship, sat down at his desk.

The pirate king might've been tired, but he was delighted.

Despite the resistance of the prisoner, Captain Kidd had broken the Black Knight and managed to get him to reveal everything before putting the man down.

First thing tomorrow, we'll strike against the Black Knights before they have a chance to relocate, Kidd thought before an incoming transmission drew his attention.

Quickly realizing who was calling, Kidd, accepted the transmission, feeling quite confident.

Within seconds the visage of Arcadius appeared.

"What is the status on your hunt Captain?" Arcadius asked.

You seem a bit impatient about this, but no matter, Kidd thought before offering his news with a smile.

"We actually had an unexpected breakthrough today, Veniczar," Kidd began proudly, "one of my contacts and a new addition to my fleet managed to capture a Black Knight operative meeting with a traitor among their ranks."

"I trust you have interrogated him?"

"Of course," Kidd replied, "in fact I had just finished right before you contacted me."

Arcadius was quiet, a a sign of contemplation, but gestured for Kidd to continue.

"I am already making plans to strike the base of the Black Knight's within twenty-four standard hours, before they can realize their base has been compromised."

"This is excellent news. We are pleased with your progress," Arcadius said.

"If we can strike the Black Knights hard and fast, we can hopefully capture Zero alive with most of his base intact. I am sure whatever computers are there will have useful information within them."

"Very well. Contact us after you claim victory tomorrow, and send me the information about its location right now," Arcadius commanded.

"Of course," Captain Kidd replied, before transferring the information he extracted from the prisoner to Arcadius.

Once the Veniczar had it Kidd was dismissed, ending the transmission.

Reclining in the chair they sat in, Arcadius contemplated Kidd's discovery. It seemed almost too convenient, this new development. Was Zero drawing the pirate into a trap?

But did Zero sacrifice one of his own men? Perhaps I should send someone to ensure their success, Arcadius thought, before calling out to someone within the darkened chamber of his private sanctuary.

"L7NN," Arcadius called before one of the dozen or so identical stand-ins approached the masked leader of PACT, naturally wearing the same mask and attire. "I wish for you to take one of our Ryders and head to the location of where the Black Knights are supposed to be. Observe the battle, and if Kidd loses, take part yourself to gauge their strength for us."

L7NN said nothing, only nodding in response before taking off the mask, revealing her face underneath. She was a young woman, five foot two with periwinkle-blue hair styled in a pageboy style, with blue eyes.

"It shall be done."

"Yes, and one more thing…" Arcadius said.

The Black Knights would be in for a surprise tomorrow, especially if Arcadius's suspicions proved correct.

A/N: Next chapter Lelouch vs the biggest pirate fleet ever assembled, thanks for reading and looking forward to your reviews and feedback.