"Lelouch do you have any hobbies?" asked CC out of the blue

Lelouch looked away from Kallen eviscerating another knightmare and asked " What are you on about now, witch?"

"Just curious about what you do in your free time." CC explained "Something like gardening perhaps?"

Lelouch shook his head slightly while sneaking glances back at his laptop. "Where would I find the time to watch plants grow?"

CC gave him a long stare "This coming from the guy who had no problem waiting seven years to plan the massacre of hundreds of people in a desert?"

"Yeah well, that's different!" protested Lelouch

"Because you get to kill people?" prodded CC

"Of course not" blustered Lelouch " I have to be meticulous to save everyone! It isn't some sick game for me!"

CC gave him another flat stare "You know Lelouch, dishonesty is unattractive in a man."

Lelouch glared at her, "I'm not lying." CC gave him another incredulous stare " Not this time" He amended

"Yeah, a reassurance not to lie from a pathological liar is really reassuring" drawled CC sarcastically

"I'm not pathological!" retorted Lelouch

"Really I seem to remember you passing yourself off as someone else all the time to get close enough to geass people."

"That's just for convenience's sake. If I had to approach them all separately where their guards are down, then it would take forever."

CC shrugged "I rest my case"

Lelouch smiled at that "Oh it seems you don't even know what you're talking about." at CC's bored stare he elaborated "Pathological means I can't help myself and lie even when I don't need to. Not that I have a very low threshold for lying and do so whenever it suits me."

"I hardly see the difference seeing you can rationalize practically everything. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if some day you gave a compelling speech to kill your own mother." replied CC with a mysterious smirk.

Lelouch flinched at the memories the accusation brought up "Don't joke about that CC" He retorted with a glare.

"Fine, I'll admit you're not a pathological liar. "conceded CC before she added with a smirk "Too bad you didn't protest being a mass murderer this vehemently."

Lelouch was momentarily at a loss for words when his own priorities were shoved into his face. "You merely distracted me with your weirdness. I'd have protested more if I wasn't busy commanding."

"Murders" C.C. interjected

"A battle"Lelouch emphasized with a glare. "You tested my ability to focus with lives on the line, not my moral compass."

"Well, we both know that thing is broken don't we?" replied CC

Lelouch didn't reply.

Guilford pov

He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he fought against the Gun rus stationed at Shizuoka base. But it wasn't because it was a difficult fight that was straining him to the limit. Instead it was remarkably easy, all things considered.

The base defenses were still operational and giving them trouble but the guard force was light and no tricky maneuvers had been pulled. If things kept up like this then it would only be a matter of time before the base fell.

It was too easy.

He felt distinctly uncomfortable with encountering no noteworthy resistance. Especially after running headlong into one trap after another. His every instinct was constantly screaming at him that a trap was just around the corner. His own paranoia was taxing him more than this fight.

General Darlton's voice came over the radio "The Gun ru's on the right flank have finished boarding and are retreating back to sea. The Royal navy will engage them now."

"What! Are they leaving Sawasaki behind or did he escape already?"

"We aren't sure but he probably escaped already" replied general Darlton

That would explain the feeble resistance this place was putting up.

"Very well, I'll continue mopping up the stragglers. Have you wiped out the ambush force?" asked Guilford. He had only resisted breaking formation and going to his princess's side when he remembered that princess Cornelia wasn't at the G1 mobile base. But despite that, he was still anxious to see anyone who dared strike at the princess dead. Even if it wasn't by his own hand.

"A few managed to break out while guarding someone or something. We didn't get a good look at it through all the covering fire. I sent a small pursuing force after it but they had to break off when it veered towards the right flank when you disengaged."

So the survivors had retreated behind friendly lines and had boarded the ships to escape.

"Any idea what they took?" asked Guilford

"No, we're still getting damage and SITREPS from all divisions. We're filtering through all the information but we'll know within a few minutes." Guilford acknowledged that and prepared to wait while planning his assault.

"…"

Guilford was just about to order a two pronged assault when a loud slamming noise came over the radio. He frowned as he wondered what could have caused it. But soon refocused his attention at a larger breach of decorum.

When a manic voice screamed "MY LANCELOT! SOMEONE STOLE MY LANCELOT!"

It only took a second for the realization that a top secret experimental weapon was stolen from under their noses to sink in. When it did, pandemonium ensued.

Everyone started screaming, passing the blame, coming up with half-cocked plans to get it back and even some conspiracy theories for who could be behind it.

"SHUT UP!" roared princess Cornelia, trying to reestablish order.

Everyone quieted down and princess Cornelia began giving orders "Guilford focus on taking out any anti air installations. I'm calling in an air strike to soften up their defenses. After that they'll do another run on the Chinese ships once they are too preoccupied with our fleet to focus their anti air guns on them."

It wasn't much, but the glaring fact was that their enemy had already escaped the battlefield and it was in the hands of the navy now.

Kallen pov

She swayed back and forth while trying to find her balance on the deck. A sailor she was not. There was barely any wind now, the sea had somewhat calmed down compared to when they 'd call it perfect sailing conditions if it wasn't for the Britannian fleet in pursuit. By just eyeballing it, she could tell they were catching up.

She didn't relish their chances of being able to outgun the britannian navy. She knew nothing of naval tactics but the fact that the ship she was standing on was covered in rust, while the Britannian ships sparkled in the searchlights didn't fill her with confidence.

She supposed that an old gun was just as deadly as a new one, even if it didn't make killing people as comfortable and smooth.

But Lelouch had said that engaging the Britannian navy wouldn't be necessary. So she didn't worry that much. Though she still couldn't figure out how he was so damnably confident. It was like he was convinced, his words could command even god to do his bidding.

The little brat was so arrogant that… she trailed off when she spotted the oil tankers who were part of the fleet to resupply the warships were lagging behind.

No lagging behind was an understatement, those tankers were about to get boarded and had no way to defend themselves. But no one was turning around to go help them.

Well, she supposed it made sense not to waste more lives trying to save someone who couldn't be saved. If they went back then they would all get sunk to the bottom of the ocean. The oil tankers were simply too slow to keep up.

She sighed. Was this Lelouch's final act, a simple tanker left behind as a diversion? It couldn't be, right?

"…"

Then the Chinese battleships' gun turrets turned on their own tankers and opened fire. Kallen was already screaming protests before she knew what was going on. Her protests landed on Chinese ears. She could tell by their body language that they were upset as well. A cacophony of shouts emerged that she could make neither heads nor tails of until an announcement was made over loudspeakers. She didn't know what was said but everyone seemed to gradually calm down. Some still grumbled openly but they weren't radiating open hostility anymore.

Kallen blinked at the strange display and could only conclude that the crew had evacuated in time. Her eyes turned back to the Oil tankers in time to see the first one burst into flames.

She still didn't understand why they were doing this until the fire blossomed. Fiery tentacles seemed to be grabbing everything around it. Kallen blinked as she realized that the ocean was on fire. It was spreading in every direction, one tanker after the other became kindling for the growing inferno. Tankers that the Britannian navy were about to board.

"Oil spill" she mumbled to herself.

She suddenly remembered what she had been dropping into the ocean a few weeks back. Japan had an undeveloped oil field on the bottom of the sea. It was far too deep for any modern oil drilling technique to reach. The sheer water pressure alone made it impossible. As a result Japan was forced to become an oil importer and this oil field became forgotten to all but geologists. And for some reason, Lelouch.

It was impossible to extract it in a controlled manner but a simple explosion was enough to rupture the cavity it was in, causing it to float to the surface. She had used up an entire bottle of moisturizer to recover from the scalding hot showers she had to take after spending all day on a fishing boat. A fishing boat that insisted on actually fishing while she dropped bombs into the murky depths.

She hadn't known what the remote controlled explosives were for back then but she could guess now. The sun had set two hours ago and nobody had noticed the underwater explosion during the battle. The weather institute had probably gone crazy over their seismographs but they weren't exactly part of the military chain of command.

It was too dark to see it on the water, so the Britannians hadn't noticed they had sailed straight into an inferno waiting to happen. The only thing missing was the match, which the oil tankers provided.

The Britannian ships were surrounded by flames but none of them were high enough to threaten any onboard. The hulls were metal and with it partially submerged in the ocean she doubted it would melt. The billowing black smoke however, completely obscured them from sight. She felt a pang of pity for the sailors. The heat wouldn't kill them. The air would.

The very oxygen was being drained out of the air meaning they would choke or the toxic fumes would burn their lungs from the inside out even if they hid below deck.

It was an awful way to go. But this was war. And in war these kinds of acts were normal right?

She stumbled for a minute for an answer before she steeled herself with memories of Shinjuku and the invasions. The Britannians were no different and would do the same to her people. It was only a question of who would do it first.

People were susceptible to evil no matter their race.

She couldn't see along racial lines any longer. No, she would build a new world with Lelouch that was gentle to all. She believed in the values of the Black Knights and she would fulfill them.

She quietly reaffirmed her commitment as she watched an entire fleet choke to death before her eyes. And hoping that her ship could outrun the flames nipping at her heels while staying upwind.

Cornelia pov

She listened to the death rattle from the admiral detailing his current situation. She wanted to commend him for his perseverance and duty. But she refrained because she could hear he was about to keel over any minute now. She had to coax as much information as possible out of him first.

Even if she could hear his desperate gasps for air and the coughs of thousands in the background. They had tried reversing direction but the oil spill was too widespread to escape in time. Machinery was also overheating and the cooling equipment simply had not been designed for a ship to sail through an inferno.

The bigger the ship, the longer it took to reverse direction. The best they could do was to change direction to the side but that ran the risk of running into another ship. Multiple collisions had already happened thanks to panicking captains trying to save their crews. Now they were paralyzed. If Cornelia gave the order to all head to starboard then who knew what drifting wreck was in their way?

Damage reports and last known positions were a chaotic mess. They still tried but it was slow going with most of the coolant being directed towards the fuel tanks to prevent a catastrophic explosion instead of the engines.

"Understood admiral and your sacrifice will be remembered by the empire and your families will be well taken care of. I can promise you that."

She could hear how empty her own words sounded but she had nothing better to offer but the admiral didn't call her on it. Instead he gritted his teeth some more and grunted a few words in thanks before he choked his last.

She sighed at this latest disaster under her command and wondered what went wrong or who was interfering.

This almost felt like Lelouch's work. But he was dead right?

He couldn't have planned that far ahead, it just wasn't possible. The air canister grid in Africa was probably left in Jeremiah's hands with some careful instructions. But this had to be carefully managed every step of the way and needed real time adjustments.

It was his chess style. He'd distract you by leading with the king. You'd be analyzing what it could do and how to quickly checkmate it. Only to then realize you'd been baited into a trap. The air pipes of Africa and the Oil spill of today both distracted you with easy bait only to wipe out half the board in a furious onslaught of moves.

But if Lelouch was still alive then the Japanese hadn't killed him like father said. Or the OSI as she had secretly suspected.

But even if he was alive, then what?

Could she kill her little brother? Or even out him to the world?

For all the grief he had given her with his convoluted plans she still loved him and was somewhat hopeful for a family reunion.

Just a partial one though, no need to have father and Lelouch in the same room. That would undoubtedly end in attempted patricide and regicide and a certain filicide.

CONSIDER ALTERING THE FOLLOWING PART OR ENDING THE CHAPTER HERE.

"Princess, we've gotten word from the coast guard that the Chinese didn't retreat back to china but instead landed elsewhere." reported general Darlton

"…"

Cornelia was speechless, all the warm fuzzy feelings she felt for her brother were suffocated by rage.

She had wasted so many men and so much equipment forcing them back and now they had just bunkered down somewhere else? It was like gaining ground was a secondary objective at best for them, and instead they were aiming to bleed her dry before taking the rest of the country.

She however, wasn't going to play their game. Even if she had to deal with more strengthened defenses she wasn't going to throw more troops into the slaughter.

"Send out an announcement to all military personnel in area eleven to mobilize for war. If I can't outthink this bastard then I'll overwhelm him from all sides."

It wasn't an elegant tactic, but even superior generals had to yield to generals with more resources to waste. History liked to laud the generals who prevailed against overwhelming odds. But not all of them were numerical odds, some of them were technological, economical or tactical and then it became a battle of attrition and willpower. Some wars were won, simply because one side was prepared to suffer more losses.

Luckily she was only outmatched tactically, though it pained her to admit it. If she mustered enough forces then even her brother couldn't overcome the odds with clever formations and ambushes.

Kaguya frowned when yet again her call went straight to voicemail. It shouldn't be this hard to save a man's life!

In the background the news was playing with the latest on the Chinese invasion. There were no details since all civilian helicopters had been banned from the area but that did not stop them from speculating.

Unsurprisingly the speculation focused on whether or not the Japanese helped them after it became clear that they had fortified their position beforehand. The witch hunt for collaborators was barely getting started but she knew where all the snide comments and open ended questions would lead.

This had to be cut off at the source, the news network. The other heads of Kyoto were calling in every favor they could to sway the news coverage except for Kaguya. She needed to warn Katase.

Normally she would only need to coach him on what to say in a press release but she knew that Tatsunori had been slipping him anti-anxiety medication ever since that dratted meeting where she egged him on to assassinate a national hero. They had settled on leaking out his travel schedule then but Tatsunori had stubbornly stuck to his own idea. Leaks could be tracked after all.

Instead he'd searched for an undetectable poison. Eventually he'd found one but an unreliable one. Antidepressants mixed badly with alcohol, everyone knew that. It however, did not guarantee death. In most cases it only resulted in a variety of non lethal symptoms ranging from headaches to heart damage.

Tatsunori's response had been to keep trying until it did turn fatal. As a result Katase had been getting headaches, feeling nauseous and dizzy. The alcohol also canceled out the effect of the anti depressants but he did not drink every day and thus he had mood swings.

The former Black Knights doctors would have figured out what was happening after running a few tox screens and warned him not to drink with his medication. General Katase would then frown and blurt out that he didn't take medication.

That was what should have happened but Katase was an old school tough guy, too stupid to ask for help and thought it honorable to suffer through it. He also distrusted all new recruits, allowing the old plant from Tatsunori to avoid all suspicion.

It was almost funny how easy it had been.

Kaguya wasn't even sure if Tatsunori's inside man was genuinely willing to commit murder or if he'd been sweet-talked into helping out his general after the recent setbacks. Japan's education was lacking enough nowadays that 'mixing antidepressants and alcohol is a bad idea' wasn't considered common sense anymore.

Heck he might not even know what he was giving the general but fully trusted the source.

If she didn't need him to rally the Japanese resistance into a coherent voice, she'd happily watch Katase suffer through his occasional self-inflicted assassinations. They had to disavow the Chinese as soon as possible. Their Indian partners were outraged enough with the Guren in Brittannian hands.

She cursed again as it went to voicemail which was then followed by a halfhearted prayer that general Katase didn't have a drink to console himself.

Colonel Nie Tian frowned at his tactical display. Where were they?

"JLF, please show yourselves. We do not have much time before the princess catches up to us"

No answer

"I know you're there. Are you trying to back out of our agreement?"He asked with rising impatience.

Still no answer.

"I have orders to cooperate with the JLF. I will loyally follow those orders to the best of my ability. I will continue to broadcast on open channels until my friends answer me." He threatened indirectly. If the bastards weren't willing to openly support them then he'd loudly proclaim them as friends and throw them to the princess to buy time for his escape."I cannot thank the JLF enough for standing side by side with us. Thank you, for not betraying our faith in you" He continued broadcasting on open channels.

a radio transmission finally answered him "We've nothing to do with you. We do not acknowledge Sawasaki as the rightful Japanese government."

Nie Tian's frown grew more severe. "General Cao has assured me that he has a secret agreement with General Katase."

"Then your General must be mistaken" came the immediate rejoinder

"Can you put General Katase on the line?"

No answer

"I'm not leaving here until I receive a rejection from general Katase personally."

A sigh came over the radio "The general is unavailable."

Nie Tian smiled wryly at the familiar situation. He was the go-between for two powerful men who both refused to lose face. General Katase was either backing out or he had never made any agreement to begin with. General Cao might be trying for a fait accompli. With Nie Tian on his doorstep with princess Cornelia right behind him, General Katase would have little choice but to join forces.

He could fight or flee but fleeing would damage his morale even further. If he fought Nie tian then he weakened himself before he had to face Princess Cornelia. He'd also need to justify fighting Nie tian to his own men who were already divided which might lead to internal revolts. In short he was forced to fight a short pitched battle against the britannians before retreating to save his men.

General Katase spared a mournful look at the sake that he could no longer imbibe as he drowned a few stomach ache pills down his gullet. He'd thought he'd escaped the noose when the Chinese hadn't called for the JLF to support them. Leaving him free to enjoy the sight of Princess Cornelia fighting someone else for a change.

That is, until Nie Tian brought the fight to him.

The rather short but muscular man smiled politely at him while his body screamed he wanted to be anywhere but here. Katase snorted, at least that bootlicker knew what he'd done.

Luckily there was one silver lining. The internal division had ended, active pursuit by princess Cornelia and the increasingly lukewarm support from the Six houses of Kyoto caused by Kaguya all meant one thing: They had to leave Japan.

Reorganizing the JLF would take time and a safe location where he could afford to focus his attention inwards and rebuild his organization without a princess trying to burn it down. Just thinking about those rag tag resistance groups wanting to join him and the Chinese gave him a whole new headache. Thus, if he could arrange safe passage to the Chinese mainland he might still salvage something from this mess.

It wasn't the right time to ask this. The implications that could be turned into political ammo were numerous but with Cornelia already drawing those implications on her own. There really was no point in stalling.

General Cao had ships, had lost knightmares and thus he had space to take them aboard. Now he just had to convince the general to leave before things got worse.

Tohdoh frowned from the sidelines as a quick agreement was hammered out. Political asylum in exchange for military help.

They would be completely reliant on the whims of the Eunuchs and he wasn't sure what the reaction of Kyoto would be either. Officially they were partners working towards a common goal but sometimes it felt more like they were Kyoto's errand boy. An errand boy that never showed results and was now groveling before a different master.

The common goal of defeating Britannia remained but that was so nebulous. He feared that a wedge would soon break them apart. He shook his head to clear the unnecessary thoughts.

Princess Cornelia was on route with not just the strength from the Shizuoka battle but reinforcements from half of Japan.

But unlike Shizuoka, they had no battlements or trenches to mount. The JLF had lost their stronghold in the Narita mountains, Their secondary base to Schneizel's treachery and were now working out of a group of warehouses in the ghetto. They were not ready for a fight.

There was no time though to build makeshift defenses. There was precious little that could slow down a knightmare. With a sigh he turned away from his old friend and walked towards his knightmare.

"Chiba, rally the men. We need to be ready to give a princess a warm welcome."

The scarred woman crisply saluted back at him before barking orders to her subordinates.

As he walked slowly towards his Sutherland he couldn't help but notice the empty spots. There had been six warehouses reserved solely for their knightmares but only one was in use and it shared its space with high command.

His friend was right. They were in no shape to keep fighting. Five empty warehouses that should be filled with rowdy laughter and bellowed commands could testify to that.

He sat quietly inside his knightmare, waiting for battle. His men were already well versed in running away. They needed no direction from him on how to pack up and leave.

He waited and waited. Something was wrong. "Nie Tian, You said that the princess was right behind you?"

Nie Tian didn't respond for a long while before he said "She should be here by now. We didn't have that large of a head start."

Tohdoh pondered on whether they should have left straight away instead of arraying his men for a battle. A single glance told him that all the equipment and support personnel were already loaded onto the ships. Even the imprisoned black knights had shuffled onboard. There was no tactical and strategic reason for staying.

No, that wasn't quite right. They'd run after losing badly twice now. If they didn't at least bloody their nose a bit before retreating then the embers of victory would be snuffed out. Men did not stay loyal to a dying organization, they had to show results. They had to show that their hard work meant something. If not, then the men would melt away into the night.

He snorted, failure was chaining them down and dragging good men to their deaths. Before the thought of going against his general crystalized, gunfire greeted his ears.

Fragmented reports of enemy contact filtered into his cockpit. A glance at his tactical display told him that the Chinese were just as brilliant as before. They'd retreat through an alley with britannians hot on their tail. Only for a Gun ru who had been hidden behind a dumpster to shoot the pursuers in their , There were just too many of them. The Gun ru behind the dumpster was himself shot in the back as more piled into the alley than he'd expected.

The same story was repeating itself all over the battlefield. He launched out of the hangar to reinforce the ally he loathed. He cruised through broken streets, scattered with handfuls of knightmare. He was often outnumbered but with the Four holy swords backing him up, it seldom mattered.

Up ahead he saw Gun rus firing down from the second story windows onto a group of sutherlands before a flight of bombers took out the whole building.

"Where's our anti air?" He asked disbelievingly as he watched the bombers return back to base uncontested.

Urabe responded "We already packed up the guns onto the ship. They're redeploying now."

Tohdoh sighed in disappointment. Both at his men and at himself. He'd deluded himself into thinking they knew what they were doing when they'd proved him wrong so many times. He should've checked. "How long?"

"Twenty minutes"

Too long. That was just enough time for another bombing run and this time it wouldn't be a peripheral target. They'd go for the crown jewels.

"What about the ships? don't they have anti air?"

"They do, but they're fighting off the navy. They've no time to help us."

Tohdoh blinked at how everything went sideways in under a minute. He switches over to Nie tian "How come I'm only hearing about the Britannian navy now?"

Nie Tian's baffled voice replied "What? I thought you knew?" he then switched back to some rapid fire chinese, to no doubt insult his whole extended family. before it suddenly cut off to listen to some more rapid fire chinese from someone else. He then ordered "Head to Yokosuka port. the General's ship is under fire from shore, go relieve him."

He felt a sliver of annoyance at being commanded by this foreigner but it was overridden by his concern "Which general? Katase or Cao?"

No answer.

That was getting real old. With a sigh he headed back to Yokosuka port to plug up the defense.

He cleared the first wave of attackers but was then greeted with his long lost pupil, Suzaku. Who had the gall to be upset about the Britannian deaths at his hands.

(Insert epic battle here)

Suzaku

his eyes widened as he watched Tohdoh eject from his knightmare. It was immediately followed by relief that he would not be the one to kill his childhood mentor. He knew the path he had chosen but he couldn't help but wish to avoid some of its thorns.

The battlefield was flooded with explosions and gunfire but it stood still for a moment when Tohdoh's escape pod was hit by what seemed like stray gunfire. Enough to take him down but not enough to kill him instantly.

The Cockpit was knocked off course and started madly spinning out of control. It suddenly fell into a nosedive directly into an old warehouse's window. The massive window provided no resistance to the multiton projectile.

Suzaku blinked at the odd turn of events. He looked around for a moment, hoping for someone to come help his mentor. But no one even noticed. The Four Holy swords were pinned down and the rest of the JLF were being pushed back. The Chinese didn't seem to care.

He popped out his factsperes and cycled to thermal imaging to get a better look. The yellow blob told him little though. He could hear shouting in the distance but none of it mattered right now. He watched spellbound as the cockpit opened up and his mentor clambered out.

His right arm hung limp, blood trailed down his face and he shuffled more than he walked. Suzaku swallowed his apprehension and drove his knightmare into the warehouse to help the man that taught him right from wrong.

He heard a faint "don't go" just before he opened up his cockpit, the hissing of his cockpit decompressing drowned it out.

He'd deal with it later he thought as he rappelled down. Right in front of his mentor who was still glaring in disapproval at him.

"Let me help you, you can yell at me later."

Tohdoh snorted "Help from you? I'd sooner accept it from Princess Cornelia. At least she knows what she is doing. All the people you help are poisoned by it."

He flinched, as he was reminded of Mizuki. He still kept moving forward though. He couldn't let this stop him. Suzaku raised the first aid bag to his chest "Please, just let me bandage those cuts. We can fight another day."

"You'd let me go?" Tohdoh said incredulously

Suzaku nodded with a faint smile "I don't want to fight you. I never did, I just want to help."

Something changed in the weathered and battered general's visage. His features softened and for a moment Suzaku was reminded of Tohdoh's exasperation after lecturing him when he was still a child. He smiled as he remembered those better days.

Tohdoh walked three meters to the left before sitting down. It wasn't the most comfortable spot, in fact it was filled with debris. Suzaku briefly wondered why before he saw the pained grimace flash across Tohdoh's face.

He quickly dashed over and started laying out bandages and disinfectant. As he was trying to remember the steps to dressing wounds Tohdoh asked "Do you really mean that? You're just trying to help in your own way?"

Suzaku nodded "Change is only meaningful if it lasts. And that will only happen if it is done through the system."

"How long do you expect us to wait for that? A decade? A century? Do you think it matters to the people when they're already dead?"

Suzaku shook his head "How many must die? We keep fighting and fighting. Always to protect. We protect our friends, our rights, our future but when do we stop? The world is consumed by fear, fear of change, fear of others. So we protect ourselves from our fears. How can we change that if all we do is kill each other to protect our corner of the world? We have to break the chain. We have to talk to each other."

Tohdoh's eyes looked past him, to the future he envisioned. A gentle world where people wouldn't be too afraid to talk things out.

"Why, Why do we have to kneel down and grind our foreheads into the dirt? You talk of peace but all I hear is oppression. Yes, Britannia would fear nothing if the whole world lay trampled under its boot but what about the world Suzaku? Do we just keep talking into deaf ears?"

He gave out a wan smile "Britannians aren't all bad. Some are weird, others are caring to a fault but can't cook to save their lives." he said as he fondly thought back on his interactions with Lloyd and Cecile "It will be rocky at first but eventually they will see that we are not so different. Our rights will gradually be returned to us and we will stand beside each other as equals

Tohdoh frowned as he listened to his speech "I see, you've chosen the distant future."

"Distant?"

The colonel seemed melancholic "The JLF chose the past. We wanted to return to our glory days. Others strived to keep what little they had in the present and others still desired a new day. Few had grand visions but all of them chose them with their friends and family in mind."

Tohdoh tensed up as he turned back to Suzaku "But you, you don't have any friends. In your future they are all dead after spending a lifetime in chains" Tohdoh suddenly lurched forward and his left hand flashed in the poor lighting. Before Suzaku even realized what was happening something plunged into his shoulder, only missing his neck thanks to a subconscious dodge.. "You killed your father for it, You killed those who trusted you for it, You are killing your countrymen for it. You speak of peace but all you bring is death and tyranny!"

His hands were desperately clutching whatever Tohdoh was driving into his shoulder. His fingers darted back when they felt how sharp and ragged it was. He ignored the determined look his mentor was giving him as he reared back as far as possible to catch a glance of what was stabbing him.

Glass.

A shard of glass.

It was ragged and bloody. He could feel droplets landing on his chest but they didn't belong to the small river flowing from his shoulder. Old lessons flooded back in.

A sharp sword could be grasped by the blade and swung like a club. It was called the murderstroke. Knights of Europe used it to bludgeon other knights in plate armor. Even if they swung with all their strength with their bare hands, all it would leave were red lines in their hands. A sword needed movement to cut.

You have to move a kitchen knife across the skin of tomatoes to slice them. If you pushed straight down you crushed them. Even when you did chop them, you made a short jerky motion to make an incision.

Tohdoh's blood was acting as lubricant. His hand was covered in it from wiping the blood out of his eyes, after getting out of his crashed cockpit. He couldn't grip it strongly enough to prevent it moving, from slicing his fingers to the bone.

That was why he was still alive. The glass didn't go deep enough into his neck. His right hand desperately patted the ground for where he knew the scissors were. He'd neatly placed them aside for his killer.

Author note

(I initially planned to kill Suzaku here before changing my mind. Instead of Lelouch having some grandiose moment I wanted it to be by someone who used to love him. People have said that I'm bashing Suzaku. And I honestly do dislike him but I did not try to bash him. Maybe I did subconsciously but I tried to reason out how his ideology would work without plot armor protecting him and giving him miraculous opportunities.

Without Euphy giving him a connection to the royal family I honestly do not see it ever working. I think people think of him as Gandhi or MLK and point out that non violent protests do work. And I agree on that but that wasn't what Suzaku was doing. He never tried to change the hearts and minds of the people. Only those in charge by doing what they wanted. A better comparison would be a jew collaborating with the Nazi's in order to get better treatment for jews. He was trying to prove that the Japanese were useful enough to include into Britannian society or at least that he was useful enough to grant him an exception for his people. Okay cool what happens after you die Suzaku?

Changing the mind of a racist is almost impossible. It takes years of patient in-depth discussion. And he only got a chance to talk when he completed orders. He'd die of old age before he convinced enough people to change the system. Yes the show made a point of showing not all britannians were racist but so was nazi germany. Only a minority was actually a nazi but that minority was the one in power.

That said he even fails at the best possible explanation for his actions. An army composition that is representative of its population is a crucial requirement for a democracy to function, as it prevents one minority from violently oppressing the rest but honorary Britannians are designated cannon fodder. They cannot act as a counterbalance when they are not allowed to pilot a knightmare. Changing that is beyond his control. At most he could create more eleven battalions which could be decisive when the elevens try to revolt. I vaguely remember Indian soldiers revolting in the British army being a major reason why the British gave up on India.

In short it is idealistic bullshit without plot armor. If you think it through it leads to a worse outcome. Also I wanted something original for my Suzaku plotline. So the end result of him unintentionally betraying everyone he loves to reach a faraway goal of protecting everyone he loves seemed interesting. Scenes of him being congratulated for murdering his loved ones while he stoically chants his goals to keep his composure while his sanity slowly crumbles seemed narratively more interesting than spinzaku.

Leftover story ideas from the draft

add Cecile's warning "You can't be reckless Suzaku! If you get isolated then you will die." in a mini flashback

suzaku kills Tohdoh

The holy swords escape and join lelouch, vowing revenge on Suzaku.

have the chinese land on the JLF's doorstep and announce they are taking refuge with their allies, forcing the JLF to take them in. Cornelia takes out her anger and frustration on both of her most hated targets, the Chinese invasion force and the JLF.

Have a scene of the JLF reacting to the ongoing battle in kyushu like a peanut gallery

. Also have them question during the peanut gallery where General Katase is and wondering whether they should jump in seeing as the chinese are doing a good job.

after the scene of the chinese forcibly joining up with the JLF wraps up the focus switches to Kaguya's reaction of the battle and her flashback of her killing general Katase.

old author note

I am not an expert on oil spills. It seemed plausible enough but impractical. It's basically napalm floating on the ocean but I am unclear on how much damage it would do to large ships.

I think real ships would just sail out of it with minimal damage while the crew hides below decks. They'd have health problems sure but not enough to kill more than a few.

But this is code geass, Lelouch capsized ships with bubbles by torpedoing underground methane reservoirs, Kinda awkward too, imagine your daddy dying in the great bubbles massacre of 2011...