Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

Suzaku Kururugi looked up as his cell door opened. Schneizel walked inside, flanked by two Black Knights carrying assault rifles. Suzaku didn't know why he would be here, he just knew it couldn't be good. The first time they talked, all Schneizel did was inform him that Kallen and Sayoko had managed to escape, but that they would eventually be caught. They hadn't spoken since.

"Well Sir Kururugi. I've come to negotiate your cooperation. Kallen Kozuki had been far more difficult to deal with than estimated, and even recruiting another former Knight of the Round has proven insufficient."

"Another former Round? Nonette Enneagram?"

"That would be correct. Even giving her the Albion Zero wasn't enough. Kozuki was far too skilled."

"What makes you think you can convince me to join your side? You know I wouldn't betray Lelouch. Not again."

"This time I have a bargaining chip. Someone both you and Lelouch wouldn't want any harm to come to."

Suzaku's eyes narrowed, and his mind raced through various possibilities. Only one name came to mind. "You wouldn't. She's your sister..."

"Here's the thing. I've already killed several of my own siblings. While I do have a soft spot for my dear sister, I won't hesitate to do it again." He lifted a small handheld screen, which flipped on. Nunnally was visible, Kanon holding a gun to her head. It appeared she wasn't fully aware of the situation she was in.

Suzaku's face twisted in rage. "You monster! Let Nunnally go!"

"I can't do that. I can however, promise her safety if you cooperate."

Suzaku visibly warred with his own emotions, before his form deflated, apparently cowed. "Fine, what is it you want?"

"I want two things: First, I want you to pilot the Lancelot sIN to defeat Kallen Kozuki. Second, I want you to take up your mask as Zero again, and publicly denounce the rogue former members of the Black Knights."

"You mean Kallen and Sayoko?"

"No, all of them. Minami, Tohdoh, and Cornelia have escaped with several others. Among them are Cecile Croomy, Nina Einstein, the bridge operators of the Ikaruga, and various other officers who were long standing members of the Black Knights from before my defeat. Jeremiah Gottwald and Anya Alstreim made contact with them as well. Together, they tried to take control of the Ikaruga and failed. They did however commandeer one of the escort ships, while destroying the other one. Multiple Knightmare Frames were stolen as well. A dozen Sutherland II, the Zangetsu, and Cornelia's Quin Roses."

Suzaku's mouth opened agape. No wonder Schneizel was forcing him into fighting for him. The Guren alone was worth a small army. With a ship, and several other Knightmares backing it up, even he would be hard pressed to defeat such a force without a direct counter to Kallen.

"Now what do you say? Become Zero. Support me, and defeat your former allies. If you don't, you know what will happen to Nunnally."

Suzaku caught the bile making its way up his throat, and swallowed hard. He raised his gaze to Schneizel, before closing his eyes and nodding in agreement. "Fine, but Nunnally must be kept off the ship, and if I find out Nunnally has been harmed in any way, I'll kill everyone on this ship, regardless of who else you have captive." He opened his eyes and glared at Schneizel. "That's a promise you can count on."

"Good, I'd expect no less from the 'White Devil', that's the kind of fire I need you to save for later. Now, prepare yourself. I want Zero to make a public address stating the rogue elements are to be apprehended at any cost. With any luck, others will be cajoled into action."

Suzaku exited his cell, and was handed the outfit of Zero. He hated everything he was about to do, but he had to, for Nunnally's sake. No one else was in any position to protect her.

Cecile and Nina were finishing the repairs to the Guren and Sutherland Loyal. The missing arm of the Loyal had been swapped out with an arm from a Sutherland II. The Guren's Wave Surger, damaged to near uselessness, was barely brought back to functionality. Several systems were left operating at only a fraction of their full power.

Kallen came over, having been called by Cecile earlier. Unease painted her features. "Is the Guren working again?"

Cecile nodded shortly, before shaking her head. "Only to basic functions. The Wave Surger is too complicated to repair without custom parts, so it's only operating at 30% power. The beam, shield, and claw are all working, but the 'drill' is offline. If you force the Guren into higher levels of power, the damage will be even worse, and we'll have to replace the arm entirely."

"Damn it. I can't believe I pushed the Guren so hard. I didn't have much of a choice though. You all would be dead if I hadn't."

"Don't beat yourself up about it. You carried everyone else through that battle. I wish the rest of us hadn't forced you into such a position. If we had more backup, we could afford to face Schneizel head on, but we have less than 100 officers helping out. It would have been less if Tohdoh and Cornelia hadn't convinced the others operating this ship that Schneizel was now our enemy."

"It was still a violent takeover though. The ones that didn't side with us fought back to the death. So many lives were unnecessarily thrown away..."

The two women frowned, not at all happy with the current situation. Betrayed, and on the run. The fact they had a ship to rely on only a small consolation for the price that had been paid in blood.

"Finished!" Nina wiped the sweat from her brow, having just finished the system checks on the Sutherland Loyal. She exited the cockpit and made her way over to the other two women. "The Hadron Cannon's combined mode isn't usable anymore, but the Hadron Blasters on the remaining original arm still work. Both arms can fully utilize the Blaze Luminous system. We'll have to give Jeremiah a standard Assault Rifle to supplement the loss of firepower."

"Good work Nina. Go ahead and let Jeremiah know we're finished here. Then go take a break, you're going to need it."

"There's still other things that need to be done. I need to make a check list of what positions aren't being fulfilled in the ship, and prioritize them based on necessity."

"Someone else can do that. Get some sleep while you can. Were the only certified Knightmare mechanics left alive after the firefight from earlier."

Nina frowned before letting out a sigh. "Will do, just promise to let me know when I'm needed." She took off her mechanic jacket, and went off to get cleaned.

"Will do. Please, take it easy!" Cecile waved her off, before turning back to Kallen. "I swear, that girl can't take care of herself unless I scold her first."

Kallen chuckled, and returned a sincere smile. "It seems she hasn't changed much. She still turns down sleep to make time for things she finds more interesting."

"That's true. I just wish she took better care of herself. Lloyd is terrible at not taking advantage of her. If I didn't step in, he'd run the poor girl ragged."

Silence filled the space, before Ohgi ran over to them, obviously panicked. "Kallen, turn on the news! It's Zero!"

"What?!" Ohgi nearly shoved a portable television into her face, and she ripped it from his hands. Standing in full regalia was Zero, accompanied by Schneizel himself. "Lelouch!? No, that has to be Suzaku..."

"He's making a public statement denouncing our splinter faction!"

"What the hell!?"

They both slammed their mouths shut, Cecile walking closer to get a better view. On the TV, Zero was given the go ahead to speak, "It brings me no great pleasure to report this, but several former members of the Black Knights have attacked the Ikaruga. Dozens of our brothers and sisters died in the fallout, and the renegades have now secured a ship containing several Knightmares for whatever their selfish purpose is. Chief among them are Kallen Kozuki, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, and Cornelia li Britannia. It is predicted they are attempting to make contact with former Emperor Lelouch. We cannot allow these actions to go unpunished. I beseech you all, please help put a stop to this madness. I urge all members of the UFN to work together in their capture. Hopefully then, peace can be brought to the forefront. I will personally be leading a force in the coming days with the support of Commander Schneizel. That is all." The screen then changed over to Milly Ashford, who was summarizing the situation to those just tuning in.

"That's not good." Cecile bit her nail, before turning to Ohgi. "Suzaku wouldn't just betray us under normal circumstances, they must be threatening him somehow."

"I thought he had a death wish. What could they possibly be threatening him with?" Kallen barely resisted from lashing out.

"Threatening his life wouldn't work, and Lloyd isn't enough leverage either. Suzaku still cares about him, but they never were particularly close. I'm sure Lloyd treating Suzaku like a tool didn't help in that regard. It would have to be someone he cares for dearly..."

"Do you think they finally captured Lelouch?" Ohgi threw out a guess.

"No, they would have announced it to the public. Even if it was a clever idea to keep such a thing secret, Schneizel's pride wouldn't keep him from gloating. Plus, Lelouch is immortal. That wouldn't be an effective threat, so it would have to be someone else."

Cecile's face grew a sickly green color. "There's only one person Suzaku cares about enough for Schneizel to hold over him."

"Who is it?" Ohgi and Kallen pushed her to answer.

"It has to be Nunnally."

Kallen swore, and her gaze met Ohgi for a second. Of course it would be the wheelchair bound girl. That was always the one person Lelouch had been keen on never coming to harm. It seemed he and Suzaku shared that between them.

Ohgi's features schooled themselves. "I'll let the others know the situation. I'm not sure if we can use this information to our advantage yet, but at least we can try to confirm it. I'll see if Sayoko can track down Nunnally's last known location. That would let us know if we're on the right track.

"Either way, it sounds like they're going to hit us with another assault earlier than anticipated. Suzaku's probably leading the attack with the Lancelot. There's no way Schneizel wouldn't take advantage of it given how desperate he probably is."

"I'll get Nina. I'm disappointed she won't get to rest for too long after all. We'll make sure to double check that all the Knightmare Frames are operational. We have barely more than a dozen ourselves, and who knows what else is coming our way."

"Right. I'll be on standby. Even with the Guren in rough shape, I'm the only one who can match Suzaku face to face."

"Let's get our heads on straight. We'll need to be ready for whatever they throw at us. We're better off than last time. The issue is, they won't underestimate us again." Ohgi waved the two off, before running to report their theory to Tohdoh and Cornelia. They were all going to need to jump into action at any moment.

The captured ship, now being captained by Yoshitaka Minami, made its way closer to France, specifically the sight of the newly built Apollo's Chariot. They had predicted that was where Schneizel was likely to be headed, and everyone had agreed it would be easier to cut him off beforehand. Nobody wanted Schneizel to set up an attack where he planned the battlefield. Based on public sightings, the Ikaruga was still going under repairs, and it would be at least a few days before it was battlefield ready again.

In less than an hour, their captured ship, temporarily named the 'Meiyo', which translated roughly to honour, would breach French airspace. They didn't know if they would meet any resistance, but they were as ready as they could be either way.

Tohdoh sat grimly in his sleeping quarters. He was looking over their reported fighting strength, and wasn't happy. Completely separate from the issue of the Meiyo being understaffed, they didn't have the forces to stop a full on assault from the remaining Black Knights. Aside from whatever forces Schneizel had on the Ikaruga, there were dozens of similar ships to the one they had stolen. Not to mention hundreds of available Knightmare Frames, mostly consisting of Sutherland II. Their own Ace pilot aside, their forces were likely outnumbered over fifty-to-one. That didn't even include whatever support Schneizel could drum up from the UFN. Things were certainly looking grim.

He heard a knock on his door, and he called out for them to come in. He turned, and wasn't surprised to see Chiba holding a plate of food.

"Here, Sayoko made it. I know you're busy, but if you don't eat when you can, your strength will fail you when you need it most."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." He took the dish gratefully, before swallowing a few bites to appease her. He looked at her again, noticing she still hadn't left his room. "Do you have anything else to report?"

Chiba fidgeted nervously, before looking away, a blush forming on her face. Tohdoh paused his eating, and raised an eyebrow. "I could maybe try cooking for you sometime, if you don't mind..."

"I didn't know you cooked. I'm sure Sayoko is more than happy to keep cooking for everyone. She's plenty experienced."

Chiba panicked at his response, before making a determined expression. "I'm sure she is, but that's not what I meant. I wouldn't mind cooking for just you from now on..."

Tohdoh looked confused, before understanding finally dawned on him. "Wait, for me? How long have you...?"

Her blush deepened even further, and she started to panic a little, but then managed to will herself to be as forward as possible. "For years. I don't remember exactly when it started, but well since before we joined the Black Knights."

"That long..." he looked at her, his expression unreadable. Chiba wilted under his stare, and she turned to run off, but her hand was grabbed at the last second.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I knew I risked upsetting you, but please just forget everything that just happened."

"No." She flinched at his words, and tears began to fill her eyes before she struggled to release herself from his grip. "I get it, you don't have to reject me so roughly!"

"That's not what I meant. I won't forget what you said. I would be a coward if I did. Chiba, I'm sorry it took me so long to realize your feelings. This isn't a good time for romance to bloom, but if we survive the coming storm, then maybe..."

She finally met his gaze, trying not to get her hopes up too much. "Maybe what?"

"Maybe I would love for you to cook my meals. Exclusively I mean." Chiba's eyes widened at his response, before losing control of her emotions. Unable to hold herself back, she drew him into a rough kiss, which he hesitantly returned.

She drew a way, tears now streaming down her face. "I would love to. Thank you, I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life."

Tohdoh fought a blush from creeping onto his own cheeks, unused to intimacy. He coughed into his hand, before addressing her again. "Good, I mean great, I mean..." Stumbling over his own words, Chiba put a finger over his lips.

"That's enough for now. Like you said, we can continue this later. I'll make sure to get some rest myself, in case we're needed." She turned, and exited quickly, a flirtatious wink being the last thing Tohdoh saw of Chiba before she was out of sight. He didn't expect things to take the turn they had, but Tohdoh couldn't fight a small smile. He supposed this was the best possible time for this sort of thing. After all, his mood had done a one-eighty. Maybe things would be alright after all? He just needed to be ready to face their potential enemies head on. After all, his future family now depended on it.

Rakshata Chawla was furious. One of the projects she had been working on under Schneizel's orders had been stolen. The Gekkoei was to act as a battlefield commander. She wasn't sure who Schneizel had in mind to pilot it, but now things couldn't be worse. Originally it was sortied during Zilkhstan before it was finished, as a replacement to the destroyed Mahoroba Type-0. It hadn't taken part in the fighting, but now its armaments were finally complete.

It sported upgrades over the Shinkiro's armaments. Now carrying the Super Diffusion Structure Phase Transition Cannon, the original having been christened the 'Shin Zero Beam', as well as strengthened Hadron Blasters, and a superior Absolute Defense System. The new shield array now housed three separate generators, a marked improvement over the original. The Gekkoei also had the Gawain's finger mounted Slash Harkins, and twin skirt mounted Luminous Cone Swords, similar to the secondary weapon of the Vercingetorix.

Rakshata didn't know how someone had gotten word of it finally being finished, but Schneizel was bound to be unhappy. She just hoped she could avoid his scorn directly.

Cornelia was going over the various battle plans Tohdoh, Minami, and she had come up with. A lot of things hinged on Kozuki being an even match for Kururugi should the two end up in a fight together. The fact that Nonette Enneagram also had a 9th Gen machine of her own was troubling to say the least. Her instinct on who had killed Guilford was spot on she had later found out. To her dismay, Nonette was one of her mentors. As well as one of a handful of people she admitted, to herself at least, being afraid of. She had volunteered to take the woman on herself, but whether that was wise remained to be seen.

Jeremiah had declared vengeance on the pilot of the Lancelot Trial, who had nearly killed Anya Alstreim, for similar reasons. That left Tohdoh and Chiba remaining to face the Shen Hu. She just hoped for the obvious disparity in total available forces to not be the final nail in all their coffins. It was unwise to face the Ikaruga on an even field of battle, which is why they were hoping to strike a surprise attack after it launched from where it was being repaired. It was impossible to know if that course of action was actually plausible, since no one knew how many forces would be accompanying it to France.

Cornelia scoffed. Too many ifs and maybes. There was no truly concrete strategy moving forward. They all just had to hope for the best. She would kill to still have Guilford by her side. The man had always been reliable, up till the very end. She would see he was avenged, even if it cost her own life to do it.

"Cornelia, it's an emergency! Several enemy airships are on a direct path to the Meiyo!" The Black Knight reporting to her seemed terror-stricken.

"Is it the Ikaruga? We were supposed to have a few days before its repairs were finished."

"Negative. There are five Black Knight Carriers, of the same class as the Meiyo. They are being led by another flag ship however..."

"Well, spit it out!"

"It's the Gallia Grande ma'am."

"Shit. I shouldn't be surprised that Leila Malcal and her wZERO unit would get involved. They must be here as a favor to Schneizel. Get everyone mobilized. We're going to be severely outnumbered."

"Yes ma'am!" The Black Knight officer saluted before running off. Cornelia smashed her fist into the wall she was standing next to. The Gallia Grande had originally been a trap to lure in the wZERO unit to their death when the EU and Euro Britannia were still at war. After Britannia succeeded its claimed territories, both France and Euro Britannia eventually joined the UFN. Being the host of the former Capitol of the EU, Paris, Euro Britannia gifted the replacement of the original Gallia Grande to the remnants of their military. The original ship had been bare bones, but the new build was brimming with turrets, and sported a powerful Blaze Luminous shield. In an ironic twist, none other than Leila Malcal was given command of it. She had originally quit the military, but was begged to rejoin after peace had finally been born. The conditions Leila had given them were that former Elevens that made up her unit had to be given full citizenship and equal pay.

That same unit was now infamous. They sported multiple miraculous victories at the height of their deployment, and their native Ace pilot, 'The Ghost of Hannibal', was rumored to be on the level of the Knights of the Round. Regardless, reports of their unit cohesion surpassed any other Cornelia was personally aware of. Even the Four Holy Swords in their heyday, or the Glinda Knights failed to live up in that regard. They also used a vast amount of drone controlled Alexanders, numbering close to a hundred. On top of everything else, five Black Knight Carriers, equal to their own ship, were accompanying the Gallia Grande. They accounted for another fifty or so Sutherland II.

She made her way to the Knightmare hangar, and prepared to launch. With the level of enemy they were about to fight, and the projected ten-to-one disparity in numbers, things were going to get rough. She saw Kallen, Tohdoh, and Jeremiah jumping into their own Respective Knightmares. If they were lucky, the quality of their own pilots would make up the difference. She wasn't going to go down without a fight. After all, she still had to avenge Guilford.

A/N: Just after narrowly defeating Schneizel the previous day, the team now faces even more harrowing odds. The wZERO unit makes their arrival to the field of battle. Hopefully some reinforcements are waiting in the wings. To those asking about Lelouch getting a powerful Knightmare, don't worry, I have future plans for him in that regard. Thanks for reading, until next time.

Edit: Fixed the continuity issue involving Schneizel and Nunnally. Thanks for the correction. As for the wZERO unit becoming soldiers again, there will be more explanation later. Cornelia's understanding in only surface level.