I do not own Code Geass

I chapter

Setting up the board

10th of September, 02:00 AM

In the sea, Tokyo Bay

It was well past midnight, but lights in the room were still glowing. Interior looked quite similar to the one they had on mobile base, with the only difference being tens of thousands of water gallons above them.

Inside were two people. First one was sitting in his chair, looking at his mask for the last 3 hours, deep in thought. Second was musing to herself, trying to entertain the boredom she had after watching him a lot of time. Even the pizza she had was eaten, with no way to order another one.

For Lelouch, last weeks were full of events, all of which were halting him from his plans.

First it was death of Shirley`s father. This caused her to be in the port during that battle. This caused her to be manipulated by Mao. This was the thing that forced him to erase her memories. Was it right or he could do better? In any case, he lost her, that cheerful and innocent girl, who was one of his best friends. Without her memories, it did not matter that much, whether she was alive or dead. She was not the person he knew.

The responsibility lied solely on his shoulders, and he knew that. For all he did, this wasn`t the bloodiest thing he did, but it felt differently. Was it the fact that it was a relative of his friend? Was it because consequences caught up with him almost immediately? Or was it the lack of control over his death? He couldn`t tell what was right.

Second it was Mao. Seeing another geass user wasn`t the thing he really expected to happen. Worse than that – Mao attacked and used people, who were closest to Lelouch and were most vulnerable. One thing Shirley, who at least could defend herself, but Nunnally? That was completely unforgiveable. Blind, crippled, tied and left near a bomb – the worst possible situation. Even the death of Mao still didn`t satisfy him. Too much damage was done.

Only these two already halted a lot of his plans. C.C. never got to Chinese Federation, nor did the Black Knights achieved everything he hoped for.

Of course, he learned that Suzaku killed his father, but did that really compensate all the delays? Absolutely not.

And then, came the third bombshell – Suzaku was revealed to be a pilot of that cursed Lancelot. He was knighted by Euphemia! He was a pilot of a machine, that stopped him for this long! Was he always there, fighting him in Shinjuku, in Narita, in port?

He almost killed him, his oldest friend, who fought against everything he sought to build and to protect. At least Suzaku never knew the identity of Zero. Considering his ideas, it was probably for the best. And now, Suzaku is his enemy. He should capture him, attempt to sway him to his side, convince him to leave the army – anything to simply remove him from Britannia.

"Or simply use your Geass on him. Is it pride that stopping you?"

And there came the witch, like a voice of a small demon over his ear.

"I can`t. He is my friend, after all" said he with a tone of anger in his voice, continuing to toy with black King piece.

"The way Shirley was?", C.C. kept on provoking, "Do you really hope to sway him that easily? He is stubborn as much as he is foolish."

"I know!" Lelouch screamed, after he hit his table with his fist. "I cannot geass him to be my slave! He`s my friend, and I will at least try to convince him to join. Even arrest will be enough"

"As if you haven`t already. How naïve. Well, I will criticize you for this later".

C.C. rubbed her forehead, and went into a corridor. She wasn`t in a mood to really speak with Marianne, but she got quite active in the last time. In fact, she was getting on her nerves, but that didn`t seem to interest her.

"I get it, you`re my former contractor, but still… No, I`m more surprised by how much do you want to speak right now than I`m annoyed, though you`re this close to be cut from me…"

"Yes, he`s doing fine. You`re asking a lot about him, even more than before."

"Still going about this plan? But I can agree about that little brat. Seriously, how he is still with his Code is beyond me."

"The Directorate? I`m not interested in that position. If nothing more, it was quite boring and tiresome"

'Well', she thought to herself, before drifting into sleep on her rightful side of the bed, 'that`s enough. Let me better check what Lelouch will do tomorrow'

9th of September, 08:00 PM (local time)

Pendragon, Homeland

Emperor was sitting on his chair in his usual regal attire, overlooking the capital from the window. Checking in on units status, on airplanes, on logistics, ensuring that there is enough to cover up the operation - that was far more easier when thrown to the Schneizel or his Knights, but for this trip he really didn`t have the luxury of such.

"Charles, so are we ready?" Marianne asked, approaching him in Anya`s body in her uniform of Knight of the Round.

Charles didn`t turn his head, nor he looked away from the airstrip near the capital, simply placing it upon a table. "Yes, we do. Everything we need has come into place"

In the distance from the Palace, a small shuttle of Britannian military landed on the airstrip near a mechanized knightmare regiment. Out of it left a giant of a person in a Round`s uniform.

'Oh, tomorrow shall be great', Charles mused to himself, rising up from his chair to stand by the window.

10th of September, 08:00 AM

Meeting room, the Black Knights submarine

Somewhere in the sea

"Alright, this is the plan," Zero proclaimed to the rest of higher-rank officers of Black Knights, "Princess Euphemia will be going to Kamine Island to meet an unknown noble from the Mainland.

Tohdoh with the Zero Squad will cause a diversion on a Britannian military base. The objective is drawing the attention of Kururugi. We`ll lead him into the trap and capture him alive"

"And what will we do with him later?" Kallen asked, after letting off a sigh, while Diethard seemed a little bit disappointed.

"Leave this part to me, I`ll deal with it. If there`s no objections, the meeting has been ended", Zero said, dispersing the members to their positions. Diethard waited until everybody left and approached. "Zero, there`s a reports of increase in OSI activities, alongside rumors of arrival of another member of the Royal Family with Glaston Knights to Area 11, probably Schneizel. What should we do with this information?"

'Schneizel, huh? Not unexpected. But OSI? That`s unusual. Could it be that Schneizel is the one Euphemia meets? But why without Cornelia then?' Zero thought to himself – "Interesting. He probably has some interest in Area 11, considering his role in negotiations with the E.U."

"You think he`s trying to do something, Zero?"

"The fact that he brings Glaston Knights to the Area is concerning. Another elite regiment given to Cornelia`s command. This alone will be influential for our plans. Report anything of value to me, we should be ready for their moves"

"Understood, Zero," Diethard said, leaving the room with several reports in hand to his duties.

'OSI, huh? I need to contact Sayoko, in case something goes wrong and Nunnally`s identity gets revealed,' Lelouch thought, while going back to his room. He still has to plan out the capture of Suzaku. But what exactly can Schneizel be doing here?

Moreover, could Charles know about him being alive and him being Zero? He could tell that the situation seemed strange on many levels, but now his gut instinct was close to screaming at himself.

'Nevertheless, the situation around Area 11 is getting more active. It should be defined to the Black Knights what is our endgoal. Establishing a Free Japan can be a fine start for destroying Britannia', Lelouch thought to himself, while going back to his room, 'But at the same time, due to Mao, C.C. wasn`t able to get us an agreement with Chinese Federation. It can backfire on us if we strike too quickly. We should prepare more…'

'…but I simply cannot ignore what Suzaku`s doing. He became, or rather, was an obstacle all the time, but now he is getting even more into my plans.'

He got to his chair and got his mask off him. Lelouch looked at it, observing his reflection.

He achieved a lot. He never went back to the position of a bargaining chip. Never had as little power as he had when his mother was killed. Now he could revolt against Britannia, and, most importantly, he saw a chance, saw a possibility of him winning. An army with an ideology, with proper training, discipline – everything he could`ve wished for he got. All was because of his mask. The message was clear as day - Britannia`s days are numbered.

Probably that was also a part of the reason why idea for reforming Britannia suddently regained its popularity it lost as some advocates for that 'disappeared under suspicious circumstances' a decade ago.

Not only that – Lelouch looked behind his back to C.C. – it seemed like he could understand her more than before. There is a lot to know about her, but at the moment, he can be sure of her loyalty.

"By the way, Lelouch," begun C.C. "How exactly are you planning on challenging Charles? Capturing Cornelia or crushing entire Area 11 wouldn`t be enough for his defeat"

"Japan itself isn`t the main goal. Destroying Britannia is." Lelouch started, rising from his chair with his hands behind him.

"It`s important to take Area 11 with destruction of local garrison forces. From this point we can work out influence over all the other Areas. Declaration of Independence on the ruins of the Government Administration, transmitted to all the nations under Britannian occupation, will help to consolidate rebel movements in a united front against Pendragon"

C.C. readjusted herself on the bed, showing more interest in discussion, "But for this to work, Japan has to hold off initial response force. Even liberating the Area is a lot of work. Are you sure you won`t overextend your forces? That the Empire may not notice your activity? After all, it will put our contract under danger if you die," she said with a glim of worry in her voice.

"And that`s the reason we`re waiting and gathering resources. Capturing Suzaku is essential for other plans to succeed," Lelouch said, whilst trying to gather his thoughts on how to deal with Suzaku.

But still, the way C.C. addressed the issue was strange. Either she has some information he does not possess, or she herself doesn`t know what to do. The latter is strange, considering her semi-arrogant approach to most of the problems, so the combination of the two is a bet. There should be something he misses. Is it visit of Schneizel, Geass or herself?

Either way, the moment of operation is closing in. Trap needs to be laid out, routes to retreat checked.

10th of September, 08:00 AM

Hangar, the Black Knights submarine

Somewhere in the sea

The operation time was close, and yet, Kallen was sitting near her Guren Mk-2, deep in her thoughts.

'I knew who Naoto was, I knew, who Ohgi was. I followed them, and now we follow extremely talented leader, but still. Who is he?' Kallen flinched, remembering how she tried several times to guess his identity, even thinking how student council was involved, even leading to some…quite embarrassing moments.

'He can be trusted, but somehow I get the feeling it`s someone not that alien to me, probably I even met him in real life. Damn, I even had a chance to get it from him, like that time after Narita or before battle in the port.

Just to think about it, that girl should know, but she is absolutely crazy in a normal conversation. As arrogant that some even expressed that she`s immortal to criticize us without a doubt, ignoring her nonexistant status within the Black Knights. And her style… Who would even like wearing a prison suit all day? It`s just… strange. What did Zero saw in her that I or others don`t?' She thought to herself, with some jealousy appearing in her mind. 'No, I`m not jealous, Zero would never accept her attics! Nobody could tolerate her... but does it mean she`s like this because of her relation to Zero? No, there`s no way!'

'Forgot that. Just...who is he? To get anything of value I… I should probably ask him directly. All these achievements, all victories, even our lives – all because of him. Not that knowledge of his identity would subvert them, but he knows for what I or others fight, and we, no, I don`t know why he fights'

Kallen looked at the clock, signaling 6 hours before the start of the operation, 'After all, it`s still better to ask directly. I should better prepare myself, that damn knightmare and that stupid traitor will have their justice today!'

I probably will re-check it in the future, but still. (and I did, and I probably will again.

Part about the battle will come out in a day or two. Chapters will come out more rarely than this, so yeah. Thanks for the read, I`ll be waiting for reviews!

Q/A:

To Bunnybunny: I haven`t yet decided on Nunnally and the fate of the Black Knights. They probably will remain, but well-hidden.

Lelouch`s hatred towards Britannia is a centre-point of his character. I will try to somewhat go around it, without absolutely destroying its importance.

About why so late emperor reacts – the ark of relationship between Charles and Lelouch is quite important and reflects the events happening in the world. SAZ incident was the thing that moved Charles` stance on him to recognition of his son`s talents. I can`t really see what would force him to recognize the threats from Lelouch and his importance before Clovis or Narita.

And also I saw some fics that have already shown this, so I didn`t want to copy that

Hm, and about him moving in earlier. It would be the easiest option for both Charles and Lelouch, and most safe one, but I thought that this topic was enough covered in other works, but to try to predict how Lelouch will do after the damage was done is interesting. Before SAZ, he could return back. He could collaborate with the Colonial Administration, even after what he killed Clovis. But after the SAZ, there was no way to return back.