You know, with the free time of having less family around, and not needing to do much other than just plan for my other stories, and my other CG story having concluded, I've found the time to write ahead for this one. Case in point, when this was being written, it was after I finished writing the first chapter for that Code Geass x Bakugan crossover. When the new year comes around, it will be a bit of a blessing as while I won't just stop with this, the back log of stuff already typed out and edited waiting to be posted means that I don't have to structure my schedule as rigorously as before.

That said, I have little else to report other than my plans to watch that 3rd Sonic movie, which by the time any of you are seeing this, would have been in theatres for a while, and I probably would have seen it.

Chapter 09: The Day before Opening Night

As evening set in, things hadn't been peaceful in the Lamperouge residence. The news of Suzaku's arrest for Clovis' murder kept the mood well in the dirt. Lelouch sat with Nunnally throughout the day, even doing his homework and conducting his business next to her.

He tried making conversation, so did Sayoko and even C.C. but while she responded, you'll need the social graces of a toddler to miss how her heart wasn't in any of it. She just smiled, though it looked empty and asked instead to listen to some music. Nunnally rarely did that anymore, not when she had so many people around her that had things they could do, so Lelouch knew his sister was worried sick.

When it came time for bed, again, Lelouch handled this for Sayoko. As he picked up his sister, the girl wrapping her arms around his shoulders to better balance as he shifted her from her wheelchair into her bed, she finally initiated the conversation. "That…that was our Suzaku on the news, right?"

Perhaps it was childish that she would ask that, but Lelouch would never admonish her for having hope. Setting her down, he answered. "They showed him being arrested, that was him.

"It's been ages, we haven't seen him since the war ended. I was worried." Nunnally stated, with Lelouch frowning as she didn't know that Suzaku had nearly been a victim of Clovis, not the other way around.

"So was I, Nunnally, but you and I know that he's stubborn. If there was a way, he would have found it, we did after all." Lelouch told her, with Nunnally smiling as she recalled those days, things were rough, but they were together the entire time.

"Yeah, but Lelouch…the news, there has to be a mistake, right?" Nunnally asked, as she had faith, but…they wouldn't have just arrested him without reason. She knew that her siblings weren't the best people, but brother Clovis was always one of the better ones. She couldn't stomach the idea that Suzaku would have any role in his death.

Lelouch held his sister's hand, calming her as she felt his steady, strong heartbeat. "Of course there was a mistake. Suzaku's too moral for something as heinous as murder. Now, if they said he got into a fist fight with Clovis, I would buy that, he was always the ruffian back then."

She giggled at the memory, as Suzaku and Lelouch's first meeting had been bad, really bad, but they had grown from it into the best of friends. Even though they were near opposites as Suzaku loved training and martial arts, yet her brother resented it, always finding new hiding spots when Suzaku's teacher, Tohdoh-sensei, came looking. "I remember that, he used to always be so happy to show us what he learned in his martial arts classes."

"I hope that this clears up, he doesn't deserve it. no one does." Nunnally stated, as it was already bad if you were found guilty of murder, but if Suzaku was found to have killed a prince, she could only imagine his fate would be far from pleasant.

"I'm sure that justice will prevail, Nunnally. Now, rest up. You can't pray for Suzaku if you're exhausted." Lelouch encouraged her, Nunnally taking comfort in the fact her brother's words had no lie, his hand remained as honest as ever.

Finishing up, Lelouch wished her a good night before he stepped out of her room, hardly reacting to C.C. leaning on the wall outside, waiting for him. "I recall that boy, it's a minor miracle he's not dead."

Lelouch frowned at her reminder, though he was appeased when he recalled the fate he dealt to both the man who pulled the trigger, and the prince that created that situation. "A miracle that 'Holy Britannian empire' wishes to contest. That is something I won't allow."

"And what do you think you can do, boyo? Admit that you did it on national television? Or perhaps storm his court and rescue him? Geass alone won't help you with either." C.C. told him, her eyes giving off an air of disappointment.

"I would know more about if you just told me about it." Lelouch told her, as he had tried to get her to tell him about geass 3 times already, and outside giving him the run around, she never gave up anything useful. "But in any case, you're right. Relying on my geass alone will be a unwise, as to rely on a single tool is to invite failure."

"Speaking of failure, that doesn't apply to you. You called right when I needed you. Thank you for that." Lelouch told her, C.C. feeling off about how freely he gave gratitude. It wasn't even that difficult a task and he did offer to pay her back, so why did he bother thanking her?

"It wasn't hard," She pulled a recorder from her sleeve, pressing play, the recording revealed itself to be the voice Kallen heard over the phone, with breaks in his responses to fit with whatever response she gave to trick her into thinking it was an actual conversation. "You're quite crafty even when pressed for time, boyo."

Lelouch took the compliment. "I'll need more than my wits to face this challenge. Good thing that that phone call already set up a meeting with the terrorists, but that's for later. Tomorrow, I have something else to tend to." He stated as he turned to walk away. There was some things he needed to finish working on before he could retire for the evening.

"So, you'll going to leave directly after classes?" C.C. asked as she followed after him.

"As if, I'll be skipping afternoon classes, this is a assignment that can't wait." Lelouch told her, to which she scoffed.

"And yet, you don't seem the least bit broken up about it." C.C. pointed out, as Lelouch didn't bother denying it as it was a known fact on campus that he skipped classes whenever he pleased. Even some of the ones which he did enjoy like music and geography, or the ones that he reluctantly attended like Social Studies and PE.

The following morning, as one would expect with the death of a prince, before classes even started, students were informed to go to the gym where they lined up by grade and class. Along the way, Lelouch noticed that the flag poles, which were often bare, flew the imperial flag at half-mast in recognition of Clovis' passing. When they had all assembled, the principle took to the stage and started his eulogy for the deceased prince.

"Truly our empire had suffered a great loss, the viceroy of Area 11, our beloved prince Clovis had his life tragically cut short. He was a gentle soul, and a just ruler who loved the arts in all its forms. There is no doubt in my mind that under his stewardship, Area 11 could have become the cultural capital of the empire." The principal didn't have a microphone, yet his voiced carried through the space, clear to all.

As the aged former party animal spoke, students remained silent though most were far from respectful, as while they felt bad for the prince, few of them were so invested in him that his passing hit any harder than the news of any high-ranking government official was. Still, while Kallen secretly celebrated Clovis getting killed, she couldn't afford to show such and after the blunders of the previous day, she was determined to not slip up.

"However, as painful as it is to see him leave us, we must bear the weight of this tragedy and from this darkest of hours, draw strength to continue his legacy." Lelouch, much like Kallen was also putting on a mask, though his was his typical boredom as while he didn't make it obvious, his attention was elsewhere as he looked out the window, towards their teachers who lined the walls keeping an eye on them, and to others around him.

"I suppose things were too good to be true, as we've gone and lost the most crucial part of the unit." Lloyd lamented as he watched his staff do maintenance on the Lancelot, not that it was in dire need of it as without a pilot, all they could was run diagnostics and the most basic and test runs.

"Could we do it without him?" Cecile asked him.

"Don't I wish. You know how hard it is to find a good devicer and most of them already belong to other units. We could beg night and day and they'll never give them up to us." Lloyd remarked, as the situation wasn't helped by the fact every other research team working on 7th gen units competed with one another, they would sooner laugh in his face then help them.

"Besides, even if they did, they'll never match his readings. He was hardly with us 2 days and he had a score of 94%! And you wany to replace him?" Lloyd asked, as Suzaku's file, which had his name under P001SK, had his stats on full view, with the second best being the Margrave's under the name of C034JG and even then, the prideful Margrave had only managed 62%.

"Then you should tell them that, perhaps they'll listen!" Cecile yelled, though not for the first time at him.

Lloyd typically would be wary of when she lost her temper with him, but this time there wasn't anything he could do to appease her anger. "General Bartley's suspicious absence and disgrace, the Purebloods have taken he reigns of power in Area 11. They wouldn't listen even if I screamed it into their ears, the only reason they didn't lock you up for trying to contest his arrest was thanks to our patron. But Suzaku doesn't have that protection, worse, he's an honourary Britannian."

They both recalled how Jeremiah was when he stomped into their lab and dragged Suzaku away under frankly, an embarrassing excuse of being a suspect to Clovis' murder. Everyone in the room knew that it was too extreme to just be a mistake, especially when every one of Lloyd's staff could confirm Suzaku's whereabouts. That didn't stop the Purists from threatening them, only backing off when they were reminded of how costly they would be for there.

"He's a legal citizen of the empire, and a soldier that had sworn and lived by his oaths. What does his statues as an honourary Britannian alter about that?" Cecile questioned, with Lloyd recalling that while he knew more about the inner workings of politics and the imperial court then she did.

"Everything. The Purebloods are an ultra nationalist group, as far as they're concerned, numbers should remain as such and the honourary system should be abolished. In their eyes, its insane to consider that a Britannian could be guilty of the assassination, despite what little evidence we do know about pointing to inside help."

Lloyd and the rest didn't know much, and criminal investigation wasn't his strong suit, but it wasn't hard to picture how things went. They knew that the guards into the G1 had let someone on, as there was no sign of forced entry, and all said guards took their own lives, probably out of shame.

No alarms were ever raised which meant that the assassin, or assassins didn't appear out of place, and the only two sorts of people that could work about the G1 and not draw attention were its staff, or soldiers. That last one lined up pretty well with Bartley's testimony that a masked soldier had informed him that the gas had been recovered.

But Jeremiah and his ilk couldn't even entertain all that. or perhaps they could, and just refused to look at the data because it didn't match the results they wished for, a massive failing for any researcher and it seems, investigation in general.

"If they can't believe a Britannian did it, why did they arrest him?" Cecile raised a good point, as they hadn't announced it to the public, but among civil servants and military like them, it was well known that Bartley was arrested on suspicion of being a accomplice to the murder.

"That, my dear, was a pure power move. Sure, they could control things from the shadows, but they need to be recognised as the leaders. Besides, it's not like there was any love lost between the Margrave and General." Lloyd replied, as in what little time he spent about the viceroy palace when he wasn't working on his masterpiece, he saw the two interact from time to time, and it was always tense.

Maybe Jeremiah enjoyed arresting Bartley, maybe he saw it was just part of the power move. Lloyd didn't know and if he was honest, didn't care. "With Bartley gone, they found that they could serve their goals by arresting Suzaku. If they can pin the death of a prince on him, it gives them credibility to challenge the very existing of the honourary system."

Cecile frowned at that, as that sounded like a horrible plan. In just Area 11 alone, there were tens of thousands who were honourary Britannians, it was how they could apply for work in the settlements, support themselves and their families. If the Purebloods got their way, they'll be condemning all those people back to the ghettos.

"So, Suzaku is just collateral then? Can't we contest this, surely Pri-"

Lloyd shook his head, interrupting her. "Do you think he would get so involved as to question their actions? The Purebloods don't just exist in Area 11, they're a powerful fraction even in the homeland. Our patron won't rock things for Suzaku's sake."

The man sighed, as he was starting to like the young chap, but it just wasn't meant to be. "As tragic as it is, we might just need to cut out losses and move on."

"The Purebloods what?" Shirley asked, as she and the rest of the students were leaving the gym, Lelouch having been explaining something to her.

"Well , from what I understand, they believe that only pure-blooded Britannians like us should be allowed to serve in the military. They argue that one of the reasons Rome fell was because they allowed non-Romans into its army, people that didn't have the same motivation to preserve the empire as a Roman born and raised citizen soldier." Lelouch clarified for her.

Shirley recalled learning about that in history, as they focused a lot of ancient empires like Rome and how Britannia was better because it didn't make the same mistakes. "Wait, wasn't the suspect an Eleven? Was that why they arrested him?" She gasped, but Lelouch laughed it off.

Lelouch was always amazed with Shirley, as he didn't need to say it for her to understand it, but this wasn't something that they could just discuss, especially in the open. "I doubt that they'll be so corrupt, Shirley. Most likely, some of the evidence incriminates him but we'll need to wait for his trial to see if the rest follows suit." He explained to calm her, and make it seem like to others that her question was just an over-reaction born from a hyper active imagination.

"They probably just mentioned his former Eleven status to just help get their point across, but with his trial coming up, the truth will come to light." Lelouch was honest there, just not in the fact it would be what was sure to be a farce of a trial that would shed light on things.

Shirley smiled, relieved that it seemed like things would work out. "He'll need a really good lawyer then, murdering a prince is almost as bad as attacking the emperor."

"Oh, he'll have help all right." Lelouch muttered under his breath, unheard by Shirley as Rivalz came up behind him, throwing a arm around his shoulders.

"Hey, Lelouch old buddy, you got anything going on later? Classes have been cancelled for the day and I have a few opponents that are itching for a rematch." Rivalz gave a smirk as he wiggled his fingers, as they both knew it would just be another chance to clean out the same opponents, maybe if Lelouch pushed enough buttons, they could end up putting more on the table that they'll hand over when defeated.

"You are not taking the day to gamble!" Shirley yelled at them both, as she would be damned if she let them use their off day from a prince's death to go around breaking who knew how many school rules and the law as she was pretty sure it was illegal for minors to gamble!

"Oh come on, don't be a stick in the mud!" Rivalz protested as she turned her full ire onto him.

"Don't think I forget about the champagne stunt from yesterday." Rivalz winced there as okay, that was on him but she was making it sound worse then it already was.

"It was an accident." He replied, as he had already apologised to Kallen and she was ready to move past it.

"It wasn't even meant to be there!" Shirley didn't let up, with most ignoring them as they walked past, already suspecting that Shirey was just chewing out Rivalz for something he did.

"She is right, Rivalz. Maybe it's time we take a break from gambling. I wouldn't want to fall into a garbage truck next time." Lelouch joked, catching both off guard by his refusal to gamble, even for a little while. "Besides, I found a better opponent, but I can't face them like everyone else."

"You did?" Shirley asked, finding herself worrying more even if she couldn't explain why.

"You going to cut me in on the action?" Rivalz asked him as Kallen walked away from them.

"I better not, this isn't up your alley. Besides, it's not like we're betting money on this." Lelouch gently turned him down, as his next match-up would bet lives, not pounds.

With their classes cancelled for the day, Lelouch spent some time with Nunnally before he asked Sayoko to take her out so that he could speak in private with C.C. Sayoko, the dutiful maid she was, didn't voice it, but Lelouch could tell from how she smiled when he told her that that she thought he just wanted some quiet time with his lover/house guest.

An annoying belief, but one that served his purposes. "The Ashfords came to Japan before the invasion and after Area 11 was established, used that to secure a spot in the settlement before most. Because of that, the academy has access to the settlement's lower levels." Lelouch explained as the two rode an elevator down. The elevator itself having been located in the Lamperouge private residence behind a bookshelf.

"Are we going to the sewage levels then?" C.C. asked, as Britannian settlements were multi-layers, with the more distasteful but necessary facilities built at lower levels, far from the sight of nobles and other wealthy that worked and lived on the upper levels.

The elevator came to a stop, C.C. looking at the floor mapping above the door of the elevator to find that they were on level 12, the very bottom. When they exited, she found that it was a private tunnel, one which had a

They didn't linger long as Lelouch went towards an building to the side, and waiting for them was a old Japanese car. Getting into it, Lelouch started its engine, which came to life with little issue despite the vehicle looking as old as he was. "We're going much deeper then that." He replied at last to her question, pulling out and driving down the path, lit up only by their headlights. C.C. noted that they took many turns though the tunnels, with most looking identical and no signs marking where you were or where you were going.

She noticed a change when the tunnels around them as the crossed out of the tunnels that cross crossed the Setttlement's lowest levels into the old Tokyo Subway. There, their ride got bumpier as the tracks and debris littered the ground, but the vehicle, one built for off road, handled it without issue with Lelouch being silent as he navigated, getting deeper into the tunnels that would have left anyone else lost.

That couldn't just be chance as the vehicle waiting for them meant that Lelouch had been down here before, and quite frequently if he bothered to obtain a car for navigation. She also suspected that the lack of signs was meant to confuse others as this was clearly a zone where if you didn't know extactly where you were going, you'll end up hopelessly lost.

Lastly, there was the check-ups, as they stopped 7 different times at what seemed to be make shift gates, where Lelouch pulled out another key and needed to put in passwords before they went through, seconds after they crossed, whatever system operated the gates sealed them behind them. A couple minutes after that 7th gate, they entered what appeared to be an abandoned subway station. As to which one, she couldn't tell as all signs that would say such were gone, either removed by Lelouch or lost to time.

"What is this place?" She asked as they got out of the truck, the lights having turned on upon their entry, with the sounds of a generator humming in the background filling the silence of the space. C.C. looked around and noting how the place had been transformed since the days when it would have seen foot traffic.

"The settlement was built over the remains of Tokyo, and it's a layered settlement. So I like to call this entire space floor 0." Lelouch replied as he walked through the place. "It's been something of a project of mine for the past 6 years." He answered the unspoken question.

C.C. had to admit, that it would take 6 years and serious commitment to turn the place into what stood before her. as it was an bunker in all but name, with additional support pillars made from brick and cement scattered around the place, so too were the walls reinforced with brick, cement and what looked to be concreate.

There was a space set aside for living as she saw a kitchen, a wash space and 2 beds with numerous Knick knacks left around the place like an old radio, some chew toys and even a water bowl, long sicne dried out. None of which looked to have been used in quite some time.

Her attention shifted from relatively small corner of the subway stationed turned bunker to the rest of it, which seemed like it was built for war as Lelouch approached a makeshift command station with a Frankenstein computer set-up made up of two large flat screen TVs mounted on the wall, and a smaller screen on set up on a desk with a keyboard, mouse and what looked to be 3 consoles hooked into set up.

There was even more internal lighting covering this part of the bunker, with 2 generators set aside for it, the first being just for lights as Lelouch turned on one of the two, allowing him to boot up his computer.

Close to this, was a steel table bolted to the ground, probably for working on projects but she didn't know what. To her right, one of the old subway tunnels had been converted into an actual firing range, complete with what looked like target which could pop up or down depending on if they were activated, and a thick bullet hole riddled wall at the end, sealing off the tunnel. of the abandoned subway lines, probably both to keep the space secured, and to catch any bullets as the wall was covered with the marks of repeated gunfire.

Recalling how he handled himself both against the royal guard, and how quickly he despatched Clovis's command staff, she assumed that he had spent plenty of time using that firing range to hone his marksmanship.

Next to the firing range was a gun smithing area, with the tools and materials one would need to create an assortment of bullets and even do maintenance on firearms, with a glass case she assumed to b bulletproof holding several more pistols, a couple shotguns and even combat rifles.

Finally, on one of the subway lines, which only had a gate sealing it, she saw three unknowns of various sizes covered in tarps. The two smaller ones were fully covered with odd shapes, making it hard to tell what they were, but the largest one had a tank barrel pocking out. Next to this auto-shop section of Lelouch's little secret base was a large wheeled toolbox and several power tools, the latter having signs of being used recently.

"I admit, most men would only have a room to be their man cave. Yet here you are with an entire subway station." C.C. stated, with Lelouch laughing at what was surely an insult.

"Rivalz would have a similar response to this place, but its' anything but, this is where I came to plan, but also where I'm been prepping for my war." Lelouch said once he got his laughter under control.

"A war?" C.C. turned to him, with Lelouch doing the same as she saw it again, that look of madness and wrath she witnessed in Shinjuku.

"I always intended to fight Britannia, to see it all burn to the ground and salt the ashes so that nothing would ever grow from it." Lelouch's words was spoken so casually that one could assume he was joking, or was merely a youth speaking without understanding what his words meant.

But those eyes…those empty, wrathful filled eyes made her believe that he understood what he desired, and on some level, he lusted for it-for the flames, the destruction, the deaths of thousands, no millions that he will cause. She wondered how a man that held his faith so closely that he prayed for his meals and for the fallen could have such a demonic desire to him.

"Your gift to me merely sped things up." He told her, as he gestured towards the space, one which had been a safe haven for him for years now, and from which he would set fire to everything wrong with the world.

"But it will help me save Suzaku, humiliate the Purebloods and announce myself to the world." He finished as he turned back to the computer, which had booted up, inputting his password, he log in.

"Didn't you already say you wouldn't out yourself?" C.C. asked him, leaning against his steel work table.

"I did, but who said that Lelouch Lamperouge would be the one to make his debut?" He smiled as he opened one of the files, codenamed 'Zero'. When C.C. saw what awaited her, she could admit that she wasn't expecting that, as it was truly one of the kind, with the details she saw for its design and construction speaking of time spent figuring things out, and considerable funds and resources need to see it realised.

"The core design was something I came up with a while ago, and refined. The helmet would need some changes don to it to account for my geass, but that should be done by tomorrow morning. Hours before my meeting with Kallen and her terrorist friends." He sat back, crossing his arms as he had to compromise the design for his helmet somewhat, but he would found a suitable balance between requirements, protection and weight.

Speaking of those terrorists. "They weren't terrible, but they're far from a capable fighting force, even if they still have those Sunderlands, I doubt they could sneak into the settlement and rescue Suzaku without some major losses." C.C. stated.

"Oh, of that I'm sure, but if all goes to plan, then we won't have to fire a single shot." Lelouch smiled. "After all, the Purebloods are going to make this a show, but they don't have the entire script like I do, specifically, they have no idea that there was no poison gas."

"That, along with Clovis' secrets." Lelouch presented the locked but downloaded files from Code R. Before he had gone to bed after the mess in Shinjuku, he had journeyed here by his lonesome to conduct the access and download as while he could use his regular computer for that, it wasn't nearly as secure.

Out of respect for C.C, he didn't open any of it, though she only shrugged. "And they can't track back to you?"

"Unlikely, I bounced my connections over several towers in the Kanto block, with the sequence changing over 10 minutes as I downloaded all this. As far as anyone would know if they noticed, Clovis's personal computer was the one that accessed the Code-R servers." Lelouch explained, as he had gone to great lengths to set this up, and ensure that his enemies couldn't trace it.

"Which you never used, so his computer was just the cover?" C.C. asked as the boy had asked for every clearance code Clovis knew. And with no evidence that Clovis had been tortured, the authorities would have no reason to suspect he gave them up. Of course, someone was bond to notice this, so it wasn't meant to last.

"Naturally, but that's only one set of data I'm after. The other is the Lancelot's, which will be what we're going to get in a couple hours. What I need from you is…." Lelouch explained his plan to her.

Walking into the military base wasn't nearly as intimidating as one would think. It's location in the settlement meant that it also served as a administration centre for the army unit station there, as a result, much like any business, it had a lobby area for visitors, staffed by a woman stressed in uniform as she quietly worked on her computer. Lelouch saw no guards, but that didn't mean they weren't close, or that the woman wasn't armed and trained.

When the door opened, the middle aged woman looked up from her task, seeing a purple haired youth dressed like a delivery boy coming in, in his arms he carried a large box which had her rising her eyebrows. "Afternoon, young man, what business do you have with us?" A bit rude, but this was a military installation, so Lelouch didn't think any less of her for being direct.

"Afternoon, Miss. I'm here from Gladis shipping, I have a shipment here for a Mr…" Lelouch looked at the clipboard he was carrying which had some notes written on it to ensure it appeared legit. "Woods? They're supposed to be sweets and party favours."

The receptionist frowned at that, both at him being here, and the fact she was left out of whatever surprise party was being set up. "I don't recall if anyone was having a birthday party soon, but whoever is planning is made an error. It's against regulations for such things to occur on sight. So, I'm afraid that I can't sign off on this, or let you bring them in."

Lelouch slumped forward on her reception desk. "Oh, dammit. It's going to be a pain to explain this to my boss. He's already strict with me as is, could I ask you two favours to help with that?" When he looked up, his geass was active.

"Sure, what is it?" The receptionist, caught in its effects, asked with Lelouch smiling as he was getting better at integrating his orders into conversation.

Learning in just a little, just in case someone walked up, he asked the first thing. "Well, the first is that you write up reasoning, you know so I have something to show him."

"I can do that, what's the second thing?" She replied.

"Well, I've been on the clock since morning, so could I perhaps use the restroom before I go without you noticing that I'm spending an unusual amount of time in it, or telling others that I'm there?" He asked for the more important of the two.

"Doable, give me a second to write that up for you." She told him as she quickly wrote up his explanation for a boss that didn't exist.

"Thank you." With that in hand, he smiled as he grabbed his box and with her directions, went to the nearest restroom. Getting inside, he found a stall and closed it. With some privacy, Lelouch opened the box, revealing the stolen uniform and armour from Shinjuku, neatly packed into it.

Quickly, he changed out of his delivery boy attire, including taking off the purple wig before changing into the uniform. That done, he left and heading to a supply closet he saw, placed the box containing his escape outfit in the back of it before leaving, acting like none the wiser. Passing by others, they didn't bat an eye at him, allowing him to walk through the base undisturbed till he reached the side of it, outside view of the cameras.

There was a side entrance which he opened up, allowing C.C. to stroll inside. "You owe me for this, boyo." She told him, the woman having left in her prisoner outfit, which meant she had to travel via alleys and shadows to keep anyone from seeing her. why she refused to wear anything else, he didn't know and frankly, he didn't have the time or energy to question her on it.

"Yes, yes, you'll get your 3 large pizzas, just make sure you handle your part." He told her, to which she smirked at him as she walked past.

"Don't act like I'm the rookie here." She told him, patting her side where she carried thumb drive containing a virus. Her destination was the security office to plant it.

Lelouch sighed, but didn't stop her as he went in the other direction, walking through the open of the base as he looked for the Lancelot's trailer. Clovis believed that it was here most of the time, and when he checked his computer before they left, there was no filings of Lloyd moving it.

A couple of minutes later, he managed to find it, tucked away at the back, out of sight of most of the facility. He couldn't be seen loitering him, so he kept his distance, waiting for the signal from C.C. that came moments later from the alarm going off on the other side of the facility.

Inside the trailer, Cecile had been left in charge while Lloyd went out for a stroll. The man might not be as passionate about it as she was, but he was equally saddened by the loss of Suzaku, though she knew that was where it ended as Lloyd made it no secret that he saw him as more a component of the Lancelot and hardly cared that he would be found guilty of a crime he didn't commit, and sentenced to what was sure to be death.

Her mind had been distracted, so when the siren for a fire went, she nearly fell out of her seat in fright. Getting her bearings, she looked about and saw the rest were as concerned and turned to her for guidance. "Follow protocol. Shut down everything and make your way to our evac point." She ordered as the technicians were quick to follow her commands.

Everything was shut down, from tools to computers, with that done, she led them out, with the woman being the last one after she ensured that all was powered down and that no-one was left. With that done, she rushed out of the trailer, locking it behind her.

Seeing her turn the corner, Lelouch waited another 30 seconds before he dashed across the open area towards it, he didn't have time to be stealthy with this and stick to the shadows, instead he would need to rely on C.C. having planted the virus before she set off the alarm.

Holding up an small device to the electronic lock on the Trailer door, a few inputs later and the lock came undone. The alarm for the trailer remained untriggered. Good, it meant that his program had managed to bypass it. Getting side, he made sure to not touch anything to limit evidence that someone else had been there. Getting to one of the terminals, he powered it on and tried to use his lock breaker, but found that the encryption was superior to the door.

'As expected, but I need this data.' Lelouch frowned as he pulled out another thumb-drive, which uploaded some helpful trojan software, his fingers flew across the keyboard as he silently, chopping at the security programming from both sides before he smiled under his helmet. "Excellent, all tasks at hand have been cleared." He mused as he got through.

Pulling out his thumb-drive, he pulled out a hard drive and plugged it in, as it was cleared for use by the system, he did a quick look through the files and what he found was a goldmine.

There was plenty on the Lancelot itself, the white and gold unit that had been his bane at Shinjuku peacefully standing not even 2 meters from him, more than that, he found files on other projects that were in development for the Lancelot, such as a new type of close quarters weapon called the Master Vibration Blades, or MVS for short which from the summary, would make even the lancers used by front line units look like primitive spears.

That wasn't the only armament being developed for the Lancelot and assuredly, future Britannian units of the 7th generation, as where the MVS was made for close quarters, to engage targets from range, there was something called the Variable Ammunition Repulsion Impact Spitfire, or VARIS. He didn't have time to read through everything, but what he did see implied that the rifle would pack comparable firepower to a tank's cannon at a fraction of the weight.

There was even something called a Float Unit, which was meant to allow the white monster to fly? Lelouch was terrified of what he saw, as if the Lancelot had even just one of these tools when they fought, they would have been soundly defeated.

But now that he had access to all this data before it saw combat use meant that he could create plans to account for and counter them. more then that, he could look into developing comparable tools for himself, though that would first need an actual scientist as while he was handy, he wouldn't pretend to understand half of what he was seeing.

That lack of understanding on the finer points of these weapons and tools, all of which still in the final stages of development didn't subtract from his joy. Making copies of all of it, he ordered those copies be transferred to his hard-drive.

As that worked, he looked up into the personal files, more specially for the name of the pilot of the Lancelot as while he couldn't kill them anymore then he could sabotage the Lancelot, he could create plans for them if he had a means to build a character profile. But alas, when he looked into their file, it contained little. No picture, no name, just their registration code of P001SK, their readings which were near perfect and info that stated that they piloted the unit at Shinjuku.

'Wait, first piloted. They managed all that, and scored an operational efficiency of 94% on their first try?' Lelouch asked himself, before shaking his head as of course he ran into someone that might just be superhuman.

Transfer complete, he unplugged his hard drive, stashing it on his person out of view, made sure that there was no evidence he was ever there before sneaking out of the trailer, closing the door behind him, letting it automatically lock again.

"She should be long gone by now. Let's hope the virus did its job." Lelouch thought aloud before he rushed back to the bathroom, trusting that the virus he had C.C. upload would erase any footage of him or her that was taken that day, which probably would be noticed but with the fire being a false alarm, he was betting on it just being seen as a error in the system.

Grabbing his box, he went back into the restroom, changed out of his combat gear into his delivery uniform and came out, looking confused and a little scared, as one would expect from a civilian caught up in this. By the reception, the same woman was there, informing people of the false alarm and that it would be shut off soon.

When she saw him, there was an flash of relief in her eyes, before they hardened. "And where were you? Didn't you hear the alarm?"

"S-sorry, mam, I was finishing up and heard it and well…I kinda panicked and just stayed put." Lelouch lamely replied, with the woman soothing what must have been a headache from how weird things just got.

"J-just get out of here. It was a false alarm. Probably someone set off the sprinklers by smoking too close to the sensor or something." She pointed towards the door.

"Yes, mam! Sorry for the trouble!" Lelouch quickly bowed to her before he dashed out the door, people sparing him a glance and assuming little of him as he just looked over an overworked and underpaid delivery boy. it was only when he was around 3 blocks away then he allowed himself the treat of a smile.

'Infiltration complete.' He thought, as once things kicked off, such a plan wouldn't have worked, but there was a thrill he always got when he danced with danger, as it was always a energetic and unrelenting partner. This, as thrilling as it was, just the opening act as she'll come back, and he'll dance till he's achieved his goals, or dies in Danger's arms.

Kallen walked around Tokyo tower, though it was nothing like it had once been as the once proud landmark for Tokyo that was inspired by the Eiffel tower in France had been destroyed in the war, wit only the base and around 40% of still standing.

Britannian sources on why something that wasn't that much of a strategic target was destroyed was sparse, but Kallen would bet her sizable allowance that the brits fired on it because it was similar to the Eiffel tower and while they couldn't hit the real deal, they sure as hell could destroy anything that reminded people of their old enemy's achievements.

Now, it was just a reminder of what was lost, and a symbol of pride of their conquerors as the remains had been turned into a museum of the war, with exhibits showcasing on the ground footage or pictures of battles, equipment and noteworthy personal-all of which from a Britannian perspective, as Kallen noticed that just about every piece of Japanese military equipment on display was old-much older then even stuff she saw resistance movements use.

The reason why the Brits chose to display them was clear as Kallen listened to a pre-recorded voice speaking through the speakers. "Britannia's resounding victory over Japan opened the unenlightened country's eyes to its true place in today's world. Since then, the empire and Area 11 have walked hand in hand to a better future."

Kallen hated that bullcrap of an justification, as if it excused all the suffering and humiliation that the Japanese went through during and after the war. She already had to deal with such bias history at school, but a place like this just existed to reinforce it, that was why they only exhibited the oldest piece of Japan's defence tech, to sell the idea that they were somehow 'inferior' to Britannia and needed to be forced to see reason through conquest.

All that just made he wonder why? Why did the voice pick this place for their meeting? She had no clue as unless this was just a drop, or they found a private space, they wouldn't be able to talk freely. Especially because she told the others about it, and while they agreed that she should go, they weren't going to let her attend alone, even if they had to keep their distance and pretend like they didn't know each other.

Ohgi, like her was thinking about the peculiar choice of meeting. Maybe it was keep them on their toes as he walked around with Sugiyama and Yoshida. They weren't the only Elevens present, but they were certainly a minority so even more attention as on them from security and just the public in general and all of them knew that even something as minor was a bad look to the wrong person could end with them arrested.

Looking at her watch, Kallen saw that it was 3:58 PM, 2 minutes away from the meeting.

"It was Kururugi that contacted us, wasn't it?" Sugiyama asked, the trio keeping their gaze on the exhibits and away from Kallen lest they be accused of having ill intention towards a sickly Britannian high schooler.

"Hard to say." Ohgi replied, as all they knew was that it was the same voice from Shinjuku.

"Yeah, but he might have been arrested after, so we're here for nothing." Yoshida complained as things were tense enough with the prince getting wacked, as everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop and for retribution to hit.

"Or he was arrested before and we've been set up." Ohgi really didn't like Sugiyama putting that out there.

"Attention please, paging Ms. Kallen Stadtfeld of Ashford academy." All 3 flinched at that. No way that was chance. "One of your personal belongings have been found and brought to the lost and found desk on the observation desk, would Ms. Kallen Stadtfeld please come to collect it?" Glancing behind them, Ohgi saw that Kallen was already gone.

Kallen, following the call, went up to the observation deck, keeping an eye out for anything but seeing nothing out of ordinary as she approached the desk where the staff lady was waiting for her. "Hi! I'm assuming that this phone is yours, mam?" She handed her a phone, an slightly older model but definitely the sort she would see her classmates using. "Is…something wrong?"

"Oh, no, nothing. I was surprised to find it. I've been looking for it for a while now." Kallen smiled as she accepted the offered device and placed it into her pocket.

"Well, it's a good thing a good Samaritan managed to find it. Have a lovely day." Kallen smiled, before she asking about who dropped it off, but sadly got nothing as the person did it when she wasn't looking, only leaving a note.

"Oh yeah, there's no debating it. Life is better here now that we're part of the empire." Kallen heard Ohgi approaching, the man taking about how good things were now. "I mean, it's because of that that we managed to rebuild as quickly as we did."

As Ohgi and the rest praised the empire and downplayed its many sins like good subjected numbers, Kallen turned on the phone. Finding that it had no password, no messengers, or other clues to who it belonged to or where it came from. The only thing on it was a single contact number.

'Zero?' She asked herself, only for the phone to ring, the caller ID registering it as this unknown Zero. Looking to the side, Ohgi continued his chat with the rest, but gave her a subtle nod.

Moving a little closer so that they could hear, she answered the call. "Hmm, hello?"

"I remember telling you that you were to come alone, Q-1." The person on the other hand was as straight to the point as ever, clearing up any doubt to who they were as Kallen recognised the voice.

"So it is you." She asked, keeping to English thanks to the location.

'Zero' chuckled through the line. "Were you expecting someone else? Since you've changed the board, so will I. Board the outboard train on loop line 5, bring your 3 friends as well." With that, he hung up once more.

With Lelouch, he smiled at the phone as he wondered how often he could keep doing that just to get her angry. In truth, he had never planned to meet at Tokyo tower, because he knew she would bring her friends, it would be stupid not to.

Walking away the place, he made his way to the train station to set things up for them, patting his carry bag, he couldn't help but feel giddy about that was to come. "In just a few minutes, the actors will meet face to face…or well, their personas will." He smiled as he started to hum a show tune to himself.

The next chapter will be out on Jaunaury 24th.

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