Jeremiah POV
He was heading toward the government bureau, he wasn't expecting to lose this much time in his research, only after leaving Nunnally's house he discovered that in his absence Villetta had taken the initiative.
Arrived at his destination Jeremiah entered and reached the viceroy's office, where Villetta and Kewell were compiling documents.
Villetta was the first to notice him "Lord Jeremiah, we were starting to fear the worst".
Jeremiah "Forgive me Viletta, I've been delayed, you two did an excellent job in my absence".
While Villetta appreciated the compliment, Kewell had no intention of letting it slide "Now can we have the honor to know what was so important to leave us in a moment like this?".
Jeremiah lied "I met someone that claimed to have information on Prince Clovis, unfortunately, he was lying".
Kewell didn't buy it "Really?".
Jeremiah "What are you implying Kewell?".
Kewell "You disappeared in the most dangerous moment just to return after WE have done all the dirty work, what should I think Lord Jeremiah?".
Jeremiah "I understand your doubts, but believe me, I act only for the sake of the royal family, and while I understand your fears, this is not the time to have doubts, how can we bring stability to Area 11 when our ranks are in chaos?".
Kewell was still pretty pissed, but he retreated for now, back to reading whatever thing he was working for.
Lelouch POV
Lelouch was not sure when he succumbed to tiredness and pain, but one moment he was in the urban city, the moment after he woke up with Mount Narita right in front of him, luckily the driver didn't seem to mind it, and as far as he knows his mask has not been moved in any way.
He was still weak due to the bruises he got from the battle of Shinjuku, but luckily for him, his strength was not his body but his mind.
They entered the hidden in the Narita mountain, it was impressive, Lelouch heard stories about this place, and to his surprise, they were not exaggerated, they passed through a hangar, which was full of Burai, Lelouch considered asking to be assigned some of them, even just to raise morale, but not only they were hard to get, they were also just slightly better of a normal Glasgow, he preferred a Sutherland, even one in bad condition, he find easier to fix a Sutherland than find a new Burai and a new pilot for it when the first one get destroyed.
Todoh and Lelouch reached Katase in the war room, and Kusakabe reached them some minutes later.
Kusakabe looked at him "What is he doing here".
Todoh "I invited him here".
Kusakabe "He doesn't even have an official rank, and you want him to sit among us?".
Katase "Zero has demonstrated his competence multiple times, if right now Prince Clovis is our prisoner and we have a chance to end all of this, it is thanks to him".
Kusakabe "Even if we assume his achievements were not merely due to luck, We still can't trust him with such important information".
Todoh "He already guides our force in Tokyo, if he really intends to betray us as you fear he could do it in the final battle anyway".
Kusakabe was still searching for a reason to continue, so Lelouch tried to end this charade "Don't mind me Lieutenant Colonel, I'm here just to give another point of view, I don't intend to disrupt this meeting".
Kusakabe finally gave up "Fine, let's start this meeting".
Then a long meeting started, Lelouch preferred not to intervene much, initially they discussed the idea of attacking Tokyo, but luckily they quickly realized that it was too late and basically a suicide, then Katase started leading the conversation, As he expected from the Japanese he choose the safest plan, they will use the information given by Clovis to attack conduct small operation taking control of weaken their hold on Japan, and eventually if the situation allows it they will move on bigger targets, basically what they have done in the last years, Kusakabe was assigned to direct the operation in the south of the country, Katase took the responsibility of the north.
Katase "Todoh You will be assigned to the prefecture of Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Niigata, Nagano, Chiba, and Tokyo; Zero you will work under him".
That's surprised Lelouch "We had a deal, we should be acting as an independent force".
Kusakabe "How dare you...".
But Katase interrupted him "And you will do, Todoh can't be everywhere at the same time, you will have to act on your own, but at the same time he can't operate in Tokyo without your full cooperation".
Katase clearly had already made up his mind, Lelouch turned to Todoh "If I have to trust you I hope you will do the same".
Todoh "As Katase said you already proved your competence, I assure you your voice will be heard".
Katase "Settled this we now have to discuss what to do with Clovis, any proposal on how to proceed?".
Katase "We could exchange him for our captured comrades".
The proposition slightly surprised Lelouch, he was expecting that Kusakabe would have simply searched for blood.
Todoh "We could try, but this wouldn't be the first time we try to treat with Britannia, they will probably refuse".
Katase "As sad as this is, we will have to execute him".
Lelouch despite his thirst for vengeance didn't stay silent "We should at least wait for the war's end".
Everyone in the room was speechless.
Todoh was the first to look for an answer "Why should we have mercy on that assassin?".
Lelouch "You misunderstand me, Clovis will pay for his crime, but right now killing him would only make our enemy more resolute to destroy us".
Kusakabe "He is a prince of Britannia, his death will finally give a blow to the empire".
Lelouch laughed at this "Clovis is only a pawn, and the emperor has many other sons, one more or one less makes no difference for him, tell me, our objective isn't to liberate Japan from Britannia oppression?".
Kusababe "Yes obviously, what kind of question is this?".
Lelouch "So we should destroy the empire that keeps us in chains, not seek vengeance on his people".
Todoh wasn't convinced "Then what you suggest, keeping him here until Britannia finds him?".
Lelouch "We can get rid of him with a simple order, you know that, but until necessary it's more valuable alive than dead".
Katase "I heard your argumentations, we will hope that they accept the exchange, and if they were to refuse, we will act accordingly to the situation, Does someone have another point that they would like to discuss?".
The room stayed silent.
Katase "Very well, you are all dismissed".
5 hours later
Shinjuku Ghetto
Naoto POV
Something was about to happen, the JLF was contacting many of the little resistance groups scattered across Japan demanding collaboration, and now Zero was coming here to see him.
Oghi was coordinating the other to defend themselves, just in case, the JLF never saw with a good eye the people external to their organization, giving such freedom to operate to someone like Zero was probably an experiment more than anything else, and while it seems to have worked, he still doubts that would be enough to change their ways in such a short time.
After a few minutes of waiting, a car stopped in front of him, Naoto expected someone to come out, but this didn't happen, instead after more or less a minute the window opened, inside the car, there was a Japanese soldier asking Naoto to come inside, Naoto opened the door, on the passenger seat there was a radio waiting for him, he took it and started speaking.
Naoto "Zero to what do I owe the honor?".
A female-altered voice came out from the radio "Unfortunately Zero was not available, you will have to settle with me".
Naoto "So you are Q-1 I imagine, you gave us a big help a few days ago, how can I help you?".
Q-1 "I can't give you details, but we would appreciate starting a more stable collaboration, a good start would be to share your information with us".
Naoto "What information are you talking about?".
Q-1 "Everything, I know you have eyes and hears in many places in Tokyo, even more than us, and we already fought together, it will make it easier to do it again, soon we will send a few men to help coordinate and...".
Naoto interrupted her "And what would we gain from this?".
Q-1 stayed silent for a while "What do you mean?".
Naoto "Look, I respect you, and I don't forget that you saved us, but if I wanted to fight for the JLF I wouldn't made my own group, so what are you offering us?".
Q-1 started speaking louder "Seriously? We have the same objective, why must you be so stubborn!?".
Naoto noticed how something about her way of speaking seemed familiar, but he quickly put it aside "For one simple reason, I know how the JLF works, they fight for Japan not for his people, and I will not allow my man to become cannon fodder".
Q-1 "Then what do you want!?".
Naoto "To start I would prefer to talk to a person, not a radio".
Q-1 "... I fear that's not possible".
Naoto was deeply disappointed "Really? How do you expect us to trust you when you will not even show your face" Q-1 remained silent "This is pointless".
Q-1 "Wait...".
But Naoto had already left the car.
Oghi almost immediately rushed to him "How did it go?".
Naoto answered reluctantly "A waste of time".