"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

Lightning Strikes

Cornelia

The princess growled as she looked at the document in front of her. Sitting in her office in her mobile headquarters, another request for the right to create their own SAZ had hit her desk. It wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last. Ever since she had taken over command of Euro-Britannia after the incident with Shin Hyuga, it had just been a headache.

Germany had become a sore point and strong defensive line for the European forces. She was making progress, but the forested and hilly terrain was making it hard to advance. Especially with the improvements in European knightmare frames. It was just another headache added to the undermining of imperial authority.

Europe wasn't the only one asking for a SAZ or the rights granted by the SAZ. Her sister's idea had spread throughout the empire, and multiple areas had requested a version of it for themselves. And in turn the citizens in the homeland were complaining, questioning their status if numbers could have the same rights they did.

Whether or not her sister was aware of it, she had undermined the moral authority they practiced, and rebellions had risen throughout the empire in response to them getting shut down. She scanned her reports, seeing uprisings in South America and Africa. There were even small rebel groups having to be dealt with in the homeland.

Her brother was working overtime to plan for them and had told her to ignore that request and continue her campaign. The line at the Ural Mountains was holding for now, Cornelia building for a new offensive, despite the constant partisan harrassment. Europe had made a surprising comeback the previous year, making gains in European Russia before being stopped at the famous mountain range.

The door to her office slid open and Guilford entered with a tray that had a teacup and kettle. He smiled at the princess, and she let out a sigh, a small smile matching his. He put it down on her desk, "The kitchen staff was a bit late. I apologize for them."

"Don't worry. Everyone is stressed right now." She looked at the reports on her computer, then back at her knight, "Any reports on the ground?"

"Not much, your highness. The 8th Army made some progress but were quickly pushed back in a counterattack. The supply corps is complaining about guerrilla forces attacking some convoys. And the code breakers have been dealing with a new software on enemy comms."

"Thank you. Detach a unit of elite knights to protect supply lines and have garrison forces crack down on nearby towns." Cornelia leaned back, sipping on her tea, "I don't know what I would do without you."

The knight blushed slightly, "It is my honor. And it will be done. Do you have anything else you wish for?" Guilford stood tall, waiting for her.

She smiled nostalgically, and shook her head, "No. I have work to go over. I'll call you if I need anything." He bowed and exited the room, the door sliding closed as she sighed, the smile leading her face. When he first became her knight, it was so simple. 'And now my sister threatens to undermine our superiority.'

Kallen

Kallen stood looking in the mirror of her quarters at the main SAZ base. She smoothed the collars of her new uniform. It was a long, black coat that went down to her knees, with a stripe of red running down the right side. A belt in the middle was also red, the Black Knight symbol sewed into the red collar, pointing out her allegiance, and above that were two horizontal bars with a star above it, denoting her rank as Major. Beneath that was a white button up collar shirt, Kallen leaving the top button undone. Completing the uniform was a pair of tight dark pants and pair of leather riding boots. The whole ensemble was rather form-fitting, and she couldn't help but smile.

She looked like a proper officer, and now she was really feeling the responsibility he was trusting her with. Lelouch had said he wanted her to look more refined, and that she deserved better than a standard uniform. 'Now I look like the others.' Tohdoh, the Holy Swords, Ohgi, etc. all wore unique uniforms, and now she didn't know what to think. She had always been the head of Zero Squad, a command she still had, but in her gut, she knew she was probably going to get more.

She smoothed her uniform one more time, then made her way out of her room, headed to the officer's longue. She had slept here for the past couple days, checking in on her mom to make sure she was ok, but most days were spent training in her new Guren, which she had to say she was excited to do. Being able to fly was exhilarating, and besides some tuning and minor improvements Kallen suggested, she was more than satisfied with it. She had decided to name it the Guren Susanoo, which Rakshata had added to the boot up sequence. 'I'm already called the Crimson Storm by the Britannians.'

She scanned her ID on the door and was let into the comfortable longue. On one side was a TV surrounded by couches and chairs, several officers sitting on there, including Chiba, Urabe and Tamaki. Tohdoh was mediating in a corner, across from a more private area for relaxing, a few smaller chairs nearby. There also was a bar on the back wall, a bottle clearly taken and in Tamaki's hand. She rolled her eyes and turned to see what they were watching.

On the screen was a morning program, and Kallen couldn't help but smile as she saw the bubbly, blonde presenter. Milly had gone into newscasting since she graduated, and she had more than taken to presenting morning programs. 'She always had a knack for organizing and encouraging people.' Though less appreciated was Tamaki's comments.

"Did you see the rack on her? If there is one thing you can say about brits, at least they have some beautiful women!" Chiba grunted in disgust and Urabe just sighed. Kallen would have been annoyed if it was any other person, but Tamaki was just like that.

She turned her attention to Tohdoh, and walked to sit near him, that weight on her shoulders as she looked over the dignified soldier. His eyes were closed and breathing steadily, and she frowned. He knew what was going on, yet he was calm in the face of an upcoming war. She watched him for a minute, and was only disrupted when the low, deep tone of the promoted general filled the small area, "I can sense you are stressed."

Kallen looked at him, her eyes wide, "How did you…?" His eyes were closed, and she thought she hadn't made it obvious, but she blushed at being caught.

"Because I was a young officer once too. And I don't need to see to feel your stress." He chuckled lightly, and opened his eyes, putting his hands on his knees as he looked up at the young redhead, "What is bothering you?"

Kallen took a deep breath, keeping her voice low, "Because a war is coming, and I can't help but be nervous at what is going to happen."

Tohdoh spoke simply, "Fate throws us into the winds, and we must adapt to what happens. The fact we had peace for three years is what impressed me. But it is natural to be averse to war. No man or woman should look forward to it."

Kallen bit her lip, "But isn't that why we resisted? To fight till we freed Japan?"

"And that is what we are doing. We put our faith and trust in Zero and will have to do it again. You know more about that than any of us." He looked at his sword, which rested on the wall, "A good soldier fights for a cause, and puts away his weapon when needed. And to stand vigilant for threats to his nation."

Tohdoh's words filled her with some pride, yet her inner doubts were still there, "So I'm not wrong for not wanting this peace to end?"

Tohdoh shook his head, "No. If you refused to fight, then you would be wrong. But desiring peace is what most people desire."

Kallen smiled at him, a glimpse of a smile appearing on her face, "Thank you Tohdoh. I think I needed those words. But do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Despite being the ace of the Black Knights, he still had two decades on her, and had been fighting since Britannia had conquered the Japanese Islands.

Tohdoh nodded, and Kallen steeled herself, "How do you lead men? Not the tactical level, but really lead them and encourage them. Get them to follow you."

The samurai considered her question, humming under his breath as she leaned forward. His silence left her feeling a bit offput, but he spoke, her eyes on him, "Soldiers follow leaders who have their best interest at heart. Be it long term goals or smaller goals. A commander will always be above them to some degree, but how one connects with them is up to the commander. Some lead from the front and go through what their men do. Others can use their charisma to draw men and women to them, driving their passions and getting them to fight harder, even if they don't fight on the front lines."

Kallen didn't need to be told what he meant by the second one, and stayed silent as he continued, "And if you are talking about your increased responsibilities, then you will have to learn yourself. As much as I or Zero could help you, you need to figure out how you lead. Don't feel the need to directly follow how we do it. Though if I had to suggest something, use your passion and drive to fight. Lead them and show them how far you are willing to go. You are already respected, and they will listen to you till you prove otherwise."

His compliment left her face a bit red, and she nodded, "But how can I run the battlefield from the cockpit?"

"That is where you must learn to balance the need to fight and the need to focus on the battlefield. Learn to trust your subordinates with their part of the battlefield and that is less pressure on you. Even I can see that Zero is going to need all of us, and he can't be there for every battle. So, we must be able to lead without him over our shoulders."

Kallen was afraid of that, and she gave him a half smile, "Then all of us need to avoid making mistakes." She sighed, "I don't know how you did this before."

Tohdoh smirked, "It wasn't easy, and we struggled. We made mistakes, but the one thing I learned was that the ability to bounce back from a defeat or mistake was key. You will lose men; you will make errors. But surviving and adapting will help you more than obsessing over winning. Learn from your defeats."

Kallen was cataloguing all of this, trying to memorize all the information he was giving her. It was comforting, yet the real worry was still there, not leaving her. She nodded at all of that, and she stayed silent for a minute as she worked up the nerve to ask the question she was dreading, "How do you send in men, knowing that many will die, even if you made the right choice?"

Tohdoh took in a deep breath, "That is the question. Men will always die but knowing when and how to use them is the lesson that all leaders can struggle with. There is a difference between wasting men's lives and using them, but it can always feel like wasting if you lose." He gave her a comforting look, "It's something you are going to have to figure out for yourself when all the weight is on your shoulders, but it is an inevitability in war."

Kallen let out a sigh. That was less helpful than she hoped. She had commanded Zero squad, but that was always under his command. If he made a mistake, it wasn't on her. 'Ok, that sounded a bit selfish.' But in all seriousness, when she saw all the people in the hanger, pilot or engineer or anything else, a part of her was filled with regrets that many of them would die during the upcoming war. But it was something that couldn't be avoided.

"Thank you Tohdoh."

The veteran just nodded at her, "No problem." He stood up, and grabbed his sword, clipping it to his belt as he looked at the TV, moving towards the door out. Kallen noticed out of the corner of her eye as Chiba blushed as his eyes looked over the TV group. 'It's been years, and she still can't say anything.' She shook her head, and nearly jumped out of her seat when CC's voice echoed in the corner.

"The classic advice is always true." Kallen looked down to see CC lying on her back, now moving her head onto the lap of the redhead. Kallen looked down at the immortal woman, then back up, wondering where the hell she came from. As if she was reading her mind, the immortal smirked, "You were so engrossed in your conversation with Tohdoh, that you missed me landing on the couch."

Kallen looked into golden eyes, and CC just smiled, "Now I see why Lelouch likes the view." Kallen groaned and blushed but leaned back on the chair as CC batted her legs in the air.

"Do you have an actual point you want to make, or are you here to bother me?" Kallen wanted to look annoyed, but all the advice she had just been given was bouncing around her head, and she needed to swallow this and try to figure this out for herself.

CC's face suddenly became deeper and more contemplative, her lips a thin line, "This isn't the first war I've seen, and won't be the last. I've seen this happen over and over, and your attitude is one of the healthier ones I have seen." A heavy sigh left her, "Peace is always an admirable goal, but men and women are always needed to stop the next war. But you are always within your rights to desire peace."

Kallen frowned heavier, "So are you saying that peace will always be an illusion? That we will never find peace?"

"I can't say. Humans have always fought. For good or bad reasons, but there have been periods of peace. Whether it was a false one or true one, humans like to act like nothing is wrong." Kallen took a breath as CC looked her in the eye, "You and Zero are willing to acknowledge the need to fight, so take that as a compliment. What do you want?"

Kallen pursed her lips, the question hitting harder than she expected. She had been so wrapped up in the last three years preparing for this war, she had never really thought about after, "I don't know for sure. Do I want to be a soldier after?" She was a great pilot, but a part of her wished she could live a normal life with Lelouch, happily acting like a normal couple. A family, careers, dying old. 'But we can never be normal, especially him.'

CC hadn't said anything, letting the redhead think. Kallen wasn't even looking at her, and the weight of this question felt like another anchor on her. She let out a sigh, "I just want to live in a peaceful Japan with Lelouch if I can. I don't know what will happen afterwards, but that is all I can hope for."

A smile crossed her face and CC rolled her eyes, but a small smile filled her face, "I suppose that isn't the worst idea." The immortal just stayed in the spot, and the pair was silent for a few minutes, CC with her normal, blasé expression. Kallen didn't care to get the woman off her lap, and was taken by surprise when CC whispered quietly, seemingly to herself, "Why Charles?"

Kallen tilted her head, "What was that? What about a Charles?"

"Nothing. It's not important." There was a rushed nature to her words, like Kallen had heard something she wasn't supposed to. CC sat up and gave Kallen one last look before she cuddled her plush and took a few steps, "I would discuss plans of the future with your lover. You never know how much time you have."

"You can't be serious!" Tamaki's voice echoed through the room as the two women's eyes turned to look at the screen. CC's face showed little reaction, but Kallen's jaw clenched. 'There it is.'

Euphemia

Euphemia paced in the living room of her private cabin, having been dropped off by Cecile and Lloyd in the Lancelot transport truck. This week had been tense, a dull ache in her chest as no one seemed to be giving her anything on this fleet. Schniezel had been evasive, and deflected away from it, and Lelouch's words about their brother's intentions had been creeping in. To anyone else, it would seem like that, but to her more practiced eye, she could tell.

He had tried to bring up the war in Europe and how Cornelia was doing, but she could see he was trying to avoid talking about this secret fleet, only saying that their mission was classified, and he could not tell her what it was doing.

And sitting in the living room of her cabin, it hurt worse to be lied to than the fact she wasn't being told. 'I wish I could go back to the time before I knew no one in my family didn't trust me.' It was so painful over the years to watch her only seeming ally put distance between them, and now something bad was going to happen.

Suzaku looked at her, concern filling his eyes. A tear threatened to spill down her cheek, but she held back. His arms wrapped around her as he stayed silent, Euphemia happy to have a love who is so understanding, "Thank you."

Suzaku kissed her softly, "I love you." She blushed at his words, a giddy feeling rushing through her, though it was short lived as all the chaos happening around them was still there. She looked into Suzaku's eyes, and she hoped he could understand even a fraction of what she was going through.

"What did I do wrong? Why are my good intentions treated so badly?" She shuddered as pent-up emotions flowed out of her. This entire week had been stressful, as everything had been going as normal, but no one seemed to mention this fleet other than Jerimiah and Zero. They had tried to keep her up to date, but even their intelligence was spotty.

And more worryingly, the replacement defense minister had been very understanding and reasonable, listening to her and following all her directives. Yet for years her cabinet had done things to make her policies as hard as possible to institute. Her ministers, being so willing to follow her, were sending such a red flag that she couldn't ignore, and she wished she could go back and find out what they knew.

All of this was piling on stronger, and it was getting impossible to ignore the reality of what was happening. Suzaku had been one of the rocks she had relied on, and she hoped whatever he said would help. Her husband sighed, "We have to keep fighting. Your ideal will get through."

Even his voice sounded strained, and Euphemia had to shake her head, "No, I don't think it will." Suzaku was about to speak when she put a finger on his lips, "Suzaku, I know you mean well, but right now platitudes won't help." More tears streamed down her face, "I fought for so long to get them to help. I thought the SAZ would become a prototype for integrating people peacefully into the empire. If my plan worked, we no longer would need to conquer countries."

She tightened her grip on him, the knight's lips a long frown. Euphemia was finding it harder to resist tears as her denial collapsed. 'Father has a plan. Or brother. I don't know which one is worse.' And one of Schniezel's statements came flooding back into her mind.

Euphemia looked at her brother, the blonde man's face on screen as she gasped, "What do you mean you can't tell me what is going on?"

"It's just as I said. It is classified, and you'll learn about it once they arrive at their destination." Her brother's regretful look only caused her to scowl a bit. It was such a foreign sensation to her, but it was all she could feel.

She let out a heated breath, "But they do plan to stop at a port in Japan?"

"Yes, and everything will be fine. Arrangements have been made, and you will be fine." Her brother's eyes flickered with something as he said she would be fine, but she couldn't identify it. But something about it bothered her, ignoring how her bother implied he went around her for supply arrangements.

The princess gasped, and she wanted to tell someone what was going on. She didn't even know what it was, but it had to be said. Somehow. Her eyes were a bit red for the crying, and she wanted to say something to Suzaku, when the front door opened, Cecile rushing into the living room while Lloyd followed behind him, too calm for her comfort, "You need to see this!"

The woman turned on the TV and changed it to the news. Euphemia's eyes went wide as she realized what she was seeing. Just off the coast, being reported on by a busty blonde, was a wave of Vincent Wards, assault copters and knightmare transports. Silhouettes of ships were in the distance, a few of them flying ships. There must have been over a hundred frames, the sky blue with the knight-like helmets of Vincent Wards.

She could hear the shock in Suzaku's voice as he spoke, "They are headed for the SAZ…"

Lelouch

The leader of the Black Knights looked over intel reports. Their Kamine Island group had gone silent, and the movements of the fleets hadn't been spotted. The fog of war was annoying, and it seemed that the fleet was either avoiding civilian boats or were making sure they could not report back to him or Jerimiah. Both were equally frustrating, and his expectations were that they would arrive in four or so days at the rate he had seen before.

He wished he could somehow make a display of this, but that would require that he had the intel all gathered. Instead, he had taken on this task himself. Ohgi was covering general policy talk, and he had proven skillful in the last couple years, and the man had seemed relieved since he had been generally removed from the military aspect of the Black Knights. 'He was never the best military leader. Though I wonder where Viletta disappeared to.'

The woman had been his lover for a year, but two years ago had disappeared. That was a threat to him, as she knew his identity, but his hands were tied, and what geassed contacts he had in Britannia could not find her. 'I can only hope she does not remember who I am.' There was less technical worry now that his sister was gone, but now Kallen and her mother were at risk because of his identity.

He sighed as all these concerns weighed on him, but nothing matched the weight of a potential war sitting on his shoulders. He let out a grunt, but then an audio feed popped up on his computer, a bright red light in the corner. A woman's voice came through it, "Zero, we have detected an approaching fleet and knightmares off the coast!"

Lelouch grit his teeth, "Send me the footage." His tone was low, brooking no resistance. A feed soon appeared, and what he saw caused him to ball his fists. 'It's too early!' He growled as the sight of a massive wave of knightmares and flying units flew over the harbor.

He pressed the comms, starting a base-wide alert. He let all his commanding presence fill his voice as he spoke into the PA system, "All available pilots prepared for combat. Engineers do final checks on all frames, and all comms officers send out the signals to the base to start operations. General Tohdoh and Major Kozuki are to lead the defense line. Please suit up and meet me in the war room. Colonel Ohgi, start the evacuation, headed to the backup line Alpha. And Diethard, prepare the media room!"

He stood up as he grabbed a cloak from his closet, and a mask, sliding it onto his face. He was about to leave the office when a familiar voice boomed, and his blood boiled as his father began to speak in his usual theatric tone, "Good citizens of Area 11, this farce has gone on long enough. My wayward daughter can pretend that the elevens are people and deserve respect, but we all know the truth. They are weak and barely even put up a fight when we first conquered them! This Special Administration Zone is officially disbanded, and the elevens will be put in their proper place!"

Author Note

Welcome back! The war finally starts! I hope the buildup was good, and I didn't have much to say for the time skip other than Kallen training in the new Guren, and Euphie doing her thing. But the war is about to start, and therefore the drama. It will be a bit heavier with a lack of switching to school stuff, but I'm excited to show my new version of R2! Thank you for reading, and please review and comment!

P.S Since Roze has finished, I thought I might as well give a general spoiler free impression. I thought it was mid, with a lot of issues and too little time to tell the story. The main characters were good, but there were too many supporting ones for the screen time available. The action was good, but the designs were a bit over-designed for me. I prefer Akito over it, and wouldn't recommend it, but I don't begrudge people who enjoy it.