Chapter One

They killed her and all these innocent people, even Suzaku who worked for Britannia. They deserve to die for that, but the slaughter will just continue if I don't do something about it.

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you… now all of you… become my loyal subjects."

The Royal Guard gave their salute. "Yes, your Majesty."

Now I have to make sure this massacre is stopped as fast as possible.

"Tell Headquarter, that you found the terrorist hideout and neutralized the threat. The female hostage had been killed before you arrived, but you have a prisoner, the Viceroy will want to see. You request a temporary ceasefire so that you can bring them to the base."

The Captain of the Royal Guard did as instructed. "Your Highness, HQ agreed to the ceasefire and has ordered a nearby Knightmare pilot to escort us back to base, because there are still open hostilities, it will arrive shortly."

Good, that should work.

"You are quite interesting," the dead woman on the ground seemed to have said.

"How can that be?!" The guards were almost going to shoot the green haired woman again, but Lelouch stopped them in time.

"Don't harm her!", he shouted.

"Yes, your Majesty," the guards lowered their weapons.

The woman stood up. "I am surprised you didn't kill them with your Geass. Since they killed your friend and all these people here," she said in a monotone voice.

"The thought crossed my mind, but enough people have already died today. Besides, I finally have an opportunity to take revenge on a bigger target."

"I wonder what that target might be? Anyway, I am C.C., as that Knightmare might be here soon, I will give a short explanation about your power."

"I already figured it out myself, I can command people to do whatever I want."

"No. It isn't as easy as that. You need eye contact to make it work. Besides you can only use your power once on a person. It won't affect me, as I am immune to Geass."

"Okay, that surely would have complicated things, hadn't you told me. Do my commands have a time limit?"

"No, but they will be canceled if their objective had been met. Which shouldn't be a problem, with your slaves here." C.C. looked at the guards around her and smiled.

"They are no slaves, I just gave them a moral compass, they seemed to have none before," Lelouch proclaimed with a smirk.

The captain signaled, that their escort has arrived. Lelouch ordered one of the men to carry C.C., who pretended to be dead and they went outside together.

"I am Knight Villetta Nu. It is an honor to assist the royal guard," the female Knightmare pilot said through the speakers. The captain's face looked delighted. "It is of most importance that we arrive at Headquarter unharmed, I trust in your abilities."

"Yes, my Lord," answered Villetta.

"Guards, protect the prisoner from the sides and rear. Knight, you are shielding us from the front and lead the way."

"Yes, your Highness," they said in unison.

When they arrived at headquarter, the captain showed gratitude to Viletta and then ordered her to leave. He then went immediately to the command bridge and told Clovis, what Lelouch ordered him beforehand. The others waited outside and witnessed how everyone moved out of the room. Finally, the captain came out of the door. "His Majesty is now alone and wants to see you." Lelouch took a heavy breath and entered the command bridge.

"It cannot be?! Is that really you, Lelouch?" Clovis said when he saw Lelouch.

"Yes, my brother, but right now, we don't have time for a heartfelt reunion. I command you, to be loyal to me."

"Yes, Lelouch how can I be of assistance?"

"First, call off this massacre, your objective has been met. After that, we can take down the remaining terrorists."

"I, Clovis, third prince of the empire, command you, cease fire immediately and help the wounded."

Clovis turned around and hugged his brother. "I… we all… thought you died then the invasion began. That was the reason I was so hard on the elevens, I thought they were responsible for your and Nunnally's death. Is she alive too?", his voice reflected his happiness, which was mixed with fear.

Lelouch was shocked by this. "What do you mean by that? I always thought you were happy with us gone."

"Happy? Why would we? We were close as kids, I always enjoyed the time at Aries Villa, I even styled the garden of the Viceroy Palace after it. Please tell me, is Nunnally okay too?"

"Yes, she is. She even had made some good friends. After all the hardship she endured, she is still the same gentle, happy girl like back then," Lelouch said with a broken voice.

"I am glad to hear that," Clovis said, with an honest smile on his face.

Lelouch began to cry. All these years I hated every one of them and now I get to know they loved us dearly. What a fool I was.

"I am sorry. I have used Geass on you. I couldn't stand idly by and let this massacre continue," Lelouch said while sobbing.

"You used Geass on me? What kind of Geass? Our studies about it, show it can manifest in many ways."

"I can command people to do, whatever I desire. I asked you, to be loyal to me."

"It seems, you wasted your Geass on me then," Clovis said with a smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Lelouch looked confused,

"I was always loyal to you. The reason I became Viceroy of Area 11 was, that I still had hoped you both are alive and wanted to find you."

He did all those horrible things because of his love for us? Who am I to judge him, wouldn't I do the same, if I lost Nunnally?

C.C. came through the door, behind her was a bald man in military uniform, with a drawn gun.

"General Bartley, I ordered no one to disturb me," Clovis' voice was cold.

"But, but… your Majesty… the girl!"

"Lelouch, I have no idea what you have planned, but I suggest you do your thing on him right now," Clovis suggested in a forceful tone.

"Wwhhhaaaat?", Bartley said fearfully.

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, be loyal to me."

"Yes, your Majesty. What should I do with the former Leader of the Geass Order?"

"What is the Geass Order?", Lelouch asked confused.

"A secret group that produces Geass users and studies them," Bartley explained.

"They did that when I was in charge, but after V.V. gained control, it gained a new purpose," C.C. said calm.

"What purpose?", Lelouch inquired.

"Dispose of everyone who opposes Britannia, but in particular, who is in the way of your father."

"Our father knows about Geass?" Clovis was shocked.

"Worse than that, he is even a Geass user himself, able to change memories of people as many times as he desires." This is bad. My plans will have to be adjusted accordingly.

"Anything else I need to know C.C.?"

"Yes, but you already know enough for a day, don't you think?"

"So, you won't tell me?"

"You could call it that way."

"Damn you witch! Clovis, what I wanted to ask you before we got interrupted, do you have any idea who might have killed my mother?"

"Well, Cornelia investigated it and Schneizel stayed informed about it too, but they never told me anything about it, I am sorry."

"Thank you, anyway. My plan regarding the terrorists might sound a bit drastic…"

Later that day Prince Clovis stepped in front of the camera, to make a public announcement, on every channel.

"The threat we faced today has been neutralized, but at a great cost. Hundreds of people have died, just because some cowardly terrorists had to use our loyal subjects of Area 11 as human shields. This loss will not be in vain, as we will eradicate terrorism once and for all. I hereby present a new institution for this endeavor, the Black Knights." Behind Clovis emerged a man in a dark costume.

"I thank you, your Highness. I am Zero! From this day on, I will lead this Inquisitor Unit. No one of my Black Knights will be known by his real identity, to stop even the chance of bribing them or targeting their loved ones. They will be chosen from every part of society, be it high ranking Britannians or Numbers," Lelouch made a little break, to let the thought, enter the viewers mind. This will draw out the racists on both sides, who I will happily enlighten. Lelouch smirked under his mask.

"It is the desperation people feel, which allows criminal activities to thrive and lets them support terrorists. Too long have we turned a blind eye to corruption, the abuse of the goodwill of people and power hungry fiends, who will use whatever they like, to gain more. This is treason against the mainland, your fellow subjects of Area 11 and all of the Holy Britannian Empire!" Honor, it was surprising how similar the concept was, for Britannians and Japanese. Time to make them see that too, the hard way.

"I, Clovis La Britannia, Viceroy of Area 11 and Third Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, will no longer tolerate the weakness of man. These parasites feed of Britannia, wasting useful resources for petty reasons and diverting our attention from our outside enemies. It is time for a change, time to make Britannia great again and squash anyone who is against our vision like bugs! All Hail Britannia!"

And the crowd chanted "All Hail Britannia! All Hail Britannia! All Hail Britannia!..."