And so the poll totaled up for the AU story of the CG series. I'd be really grateful for reviews for this story for style of writing and sequences because I'm using this story to rate and prepare for my original work that I've just started.

Style of presenting will be difference from WFC and My Queen. Hope you guys enjoy it! Merry Christmas! The story will be limited to 25 to 30 Chapters.

I will be limiting the presence of Geass in this story. At times I feel the plot of the main series got too weird and draggy due to the episodes focusing on Geass that barely explain anything other than showing that there's Geass. I know the name is "Code Geass" but felt it could have been done better. Alignment of characters may change significantly. Meaning characters like C.C. might become antagonists while Emperor Charles may become supporting characters...

The only thing I'll say is nothing is what it seems.

Those of you who read my other works know I love twisting around with your heads. :P Probably due to watching too much British films. Hope you guys will like this one!

PS: I must thank my friend LastFatalis who's not only being my Beta but also for contributing new ideas and advise. Hope you're doing well in the police force, dude! xD

a.t.b. December 5th 2013

0030 Hours

The residence was dark, its occupants asleep. From the outside it looked peaceful and quiet.

Vulnerable.

He knew, of course, that it was not as seemed: laser trips enclosed the residence in an interconnected web, motion sensors swept the high marble wall that surrounded it, and tremor alarms were set into the floors and walls around every opening.

It wasn't the most expensive security system money could buy, but it wasn't far off.

To penetrate the home of a Britannian royal would be no easy feat. Especially here, a white-walled compound perched on a headland of white cliffs overlooking the dark waters of the ocean. The two silent figures take their time as they approach the farthest edge of the system's detection envelope.

The scanners attached to their belts, used by prospectors of the Japanese Defence Force, were modified geo-survey units.

It had been a simple matter to adjust the sensors to pick up the security lasers and link its display to the goggles he wore over his young, handsome face.

For such a device to work, one had to know the frequency of the lasers and the exact mineral composition of the crystals that produced them. All of which had been simplicity itself to obtain. Especially since technicians have loose lips...with enough incentive of course.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" His companion asked him. "This is serious."

"Don't worry about it." He replied, "What's the worst they could do to us?"

"Well, for one, they could lock us up…"

"Please, lock us?"

The goggles bleached everything of colour. The midnight blue of the sky was rendered into a flat, rusty colour, the mountains to the north a deep bronze, and the sea a shimmering crimson. Like an ocean of blood.

They dropped to their bellies and slithered around the northern side of the villa, avoiding the road that ran all the way to Tokyo and keeping to the tall grass that swayed in the brisk winds blown in off the sea.

The net of lasers moved regularly, but preprogramed algorithms in the survey unit meant that by the time they shifted, he was already in a patch of dead ground.

Of course, no algorithm was completely perfect and there was always a chance that they would be detected, but he was confident in his abilities and wasn't worried about failure.

He gestured to his companion who moved pass it just as easily as he did.

They inched ever closer to the villa, keeping their movements slow and unhurried. They knew that to rush things would be to invite disaster, and it took him nearly two hours to come within six meters of the wall.

Passive infrared motion sensors were built into the eaves of the wall, but these were old systems, installed nearly a decade ago.

The figures were rendered invisible to these sensors by the coolant systems of the black, form-fitting bodysuit he wore.

He had fashioned it in secret from the inner lining of a hostile-environment suit used by miners when prospecting high-temperature sites, and he smiled as he rose to his feet and the beams swept over him without detecting him.

Once again the laser net shifted, and he froze and put up an arm over to his comrade as the new pattern was established.

He let out a breath as he saw a glimmering, hair-thin beam of light at his calf, and carefully eased away from it.

"Whoa…"

"It would be another seventeen point three seconds before they changed again," He whispered.

"Damn, how do you know all this?"

"You forget who you're talking to." The other comrade rolled his eyes as they move on.

They were within the laser net, and so long as they kept close to the wall—without touching it—he would be invisible to the villa's security. Taking a moment to compose themselves, the figures eased themselves around the compound, heading for the delivery entrances.

He froze as a patch of light was thrown out onto the ground. A door opening.

"Shit."

A man came out, followed by another, and he felt a flutter of fear. Then the men sparked up cigarettes and began to smoke and gossip.

"We're so dead." His companion whispered.

"Shut up." Despite his words, he let out a breath, his heart hammering against his ribs.

"See? Kitchen porters, nothing more."

They moved away from the door, taking refuge from the cold wind behind a lean-to, and he took the opportunity to sneak forward and slip through the door, flipping up the lenses of his goggles as he entered the kitchen.

Warmth assailed him from the large, stone-built ovens, and the air was redolent of the lingering aroma of the Imperial family's last meal. At that time of night, the kitchen was empty, the cooks and skivvies retired for the night before rising early to prepare breakfast, and he briefly wondered what the two smokers were doing up this late.

"Japanese security." His comrade muttered.

He understood their language and dismissed the matter as irrelevant and continued onward, moving from the kitchen to the door that led toward the main entrance hall, easing it open, and looking out into the shadowed chamber.

The tiled floor was in a black-and-white, checkerboard pattern, and he waited as a guard entered from across the hall and checked in with his compatriots in the security room on a throat mike.

The Second Princess only ever kept a handful of armed guards within her residence, claiming that she came here to get away from the trouble Britannia was having with the world, not to be reminded of it.

The guard turned from the front door and started toward the dining room, shutting the door behind him. With the guard gone, the figures swiftly entered the hall and made their way up the stairs, pausing at the top to glance along the wide corridor.

The floor was wooden, covered with thick rugs, and he walked carefully on it, avoiding the places in the floor where he knew the wood creaked. He made sure his companion did not fall for it. He slopped before a thick door with a bronze "A" fixed to the wood and smiled to himself.

He gripped the handle, softly opened the door, and ghosted into the room. The room was dark, with long benches strewn with dismantled equipment and rock samples lining the walls. Framed images of geological strata and rock compositions hung from the walls and a lumpen, sheet-covered form rested in a large, iron-framed bed.

He took a step into the room and a voice said. "I suppose you thought that was clever."

Turning around, he saw Gilbert Guilford, Britannian knight and captain of guard for the residence, seated on a plush leather chair in a far corner of the room.

Dressed in a dark maroon uniform jacket and white-fitting trousers, Guilford's hand rested on the butt of a heavy pistol.

He was tall, slim and powerful—the very image of the royal knight he was reputed to be.

The figure in black relaxed and removed his goggles, revealing patrician features, a strong jawline, and the wide, eager purple eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy.

"I thought it was very clever of us, as a matter of fact," said Lelouch vi Britannia.

Behind him, Suzaku Kururugi sighed.

Sir Gilbert Guilford examined the geological survey unit with a critical yet not unimpressed, gaze.

The boys had managed to put together quite an infiltration package, and Guilford was going to have to thoroughly review the security procedures in place at the residence.

He put the geological survey unit down. If Lelouch could get this far, there was no telling how far someone with more malicious intent might have reached.

Guilford didn't want to the think about the consequences of that. Japan was in such a volatile state as it was without something happening to Princess Cornelia and the royal hostages.

To have such a prominent Britannian figure murdered in her bed would be a blow that the diplomatic mission could not afford. Personal reasons notwithstanding of course.

"Shouldn't you two be at the Dojo?"

"We got bored," said Lelouch, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling the covers back to reveal a series of pillows arranged to give the semblance of a human being.

"And you've managed to get the Prime Minister's son involved as well…" Suzaku looked guiltier though Guilford suspected that he enjoyed the infiltration just as much as the prince did.

"Suzaku's already finished his practice and the lesson bored us. Well, for me anyway. It wasn't anything I didn't already know about."

That was probably true, reflected Guilford. Lelouch vi Britannia was many things. A truculent teenager and a selfish rogue who possessed a confidence which some would say bordered on arrogance. But he was also fiercely clever and excelled at everything to which he turned his hand to.

"Your sister won't be happy about this."

"When is she ever happy with what I do?" countered Lelouch.

"Once a rebel, always a rebel, eh?" said Guilford.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Forget it," replied Guilford. "So why break into your sister's house?"

Lelouch shrugged. "To see if it could be done, I suppose."

Suzaku sighed.

"And that's all?"

"Well, maybe to annoy my sister," Lelouch smirked. "That never gets old."

"Oh. I have no doubt it'll annoy her," said Guilford. "Especially now. And after she's gotten through chewing me out, I'm sure she'll have some choice words for you, too."

"So how did you do it?" asked Lelouch. "Find us, I mean? The bodysuits kept us off the infrared and I know the laser net didn't get either of us. So how did you know?"

"And why should I tell you? If anything I should be hauling both of you over the coals to find how you got this far. You had help, didn't you?"

"No..." said the boy, but Guilford knew he was lying.

Having an older half-brother who was a senior minister had schooled the boy in many of the political arts, and he was almost as skilled a discerner of the truth as a seasoned veteran of the Imperial senate.

Almost, but not quite.

"There's no way you two could have known how to avoid the laser net without help."

"All right," admitted Lelouch. "We had help. I persuaded Earl Lloyd to give me the specs for the lasers so I could modify that geo-survey unit to make them visible. I told him it was for a school project."

"And I told you, they'd catch us one way or another." Suzaku said knowingly to Lelouch who just brushed his friend off.

"Come on. Tell me. How did you find us? Some new system I didn't know about? A biometric reader? A DNA scanner?"

Guilford looked at the young, eager face and felt his anger melt away. Marianne and Charles zi Britannia's son had a quality that caused those around him to forget their ire and want to please him.

Only his closer family seemed immune to his charms.

"It wasn't a new system; it was an old system you forgot about."

"An old system? What?"

"EB System," said Guilford, picking up the geo-survey unit again.

"EB System?" repeated Suzaku.

"I've never heard of that one? Is it Camelot? No, wait, it has to be Gemini, yes?"

"Neither," said Guilford, pointing to his eye. "Eyeball. Mark I. I saw you on the new CCTV cams as you came in through the kitchen."

"CCTV? What CCTV?"

"The new cameras your sister had installed last week in time for Lord Stadtfeld's visit".

"Who?"

"Do you listen to anything that goes on in this house that doesn't involve you?"

"Not if it's anything to do with politics and business, far too boring to pay attention to," said Lelouch. "So who's here?"

"A noble named Lord Stadtfeld and his daughter," said Guilford. "Apparently he's had some big influence both here and in Britannia, and he wants to talk with your older sister."

That wasn't entirely true, but Lelouch had displayed little enough interest in the political dealings before now for Guilford to bother explaining further.

World-changing events were in motion and all Lelouch wanted to do was piss his sister off.

With the geo-survey unit confiscated, Guilford turned and made his way to the door.

"Oh, and you'd best tell your friends the game's up."

"Our Friends?" said Lelouch. "What do you mean?"

"Don't," warned Guilford. "Just tell them to go home. It's late and I'm too tired to deal with any more nonsense."

"Honestly, Sir Guilford, We have no idea what you are talking about." Suzaku added.

Guilford stared hard at the two, looking past his glib exterior and power to make the unbelievable believable.

Lelouch and Suzaku could, with a few words, get techs with ten years' experience to give up the specs for a laser net, but Guilford knew that what he was hearing now was the unvarnished truth.

Which meant...

"Damn," said Guilford, activating the comm unit on his wrist. "All units, condition red: I repeat, condition red."

Guilford turned back to the two boys. "Stay here." he said. "And hide."

"What is it?" cried Lelouch as the bespectacled knight ran for the door.

Guilford drew his pistol and said. "Intruders."

The boys watched Guilford disappear through the door, and it took a moment for the implication of the head of security's words to penetrate. Intruders? Here?

"Damn, we need to help." Suzaku said.

"How the hell are we supposed to do that? We've got no gun ...shit! Look out!"

A grenade rolled before them and Lelouch pushed the other boy hard then leapt as far away as possible.

"Suzaku!" He whispered. "Suzaku!"

He heard some moaning and saw Suzaku coming back up.

Lelouch now wished he had not thought to try and test himself against the defences of their resident, it suddenly seemed foolish and childishly impulsive. Close on the heels of that thought was the idea that his family might actually be in danger.

The emotion was quickly suppressed, and contrary to Guilford's instructions. Lelouch bolted from his room into the corridor.

A man in black body suit appeared from a room and aimed a rifle at him and he felt a knot of warm fear settle in his belly.

Before he knew it, Suzaku's brown haired zoomed across and with a spinning kick struck the assassin across the helmet with a blow that sent the man crashing down the stairs.

"Go get Nunnally!" The Japanese boy cried. "I'll distract them." He ran towards the gun fire before Lelouch could protest.

"Idiot! Do you want to die?" Despite his concern, Suzaku was right. Nunnally came first before any of them.

Lights were coming on throughout the house and shouted voices were rousing guards from their posts.

The hard bang of a pistol shot echoed in the hallway and a man's scream galvanized him into motion.

He prayed that Suzaku was alright.

He set off farther down the corridor and skidded to a halt beside a door hung with paper flowers and a child's drawing of a pony tacked to it.

Colourful paper letters declared that this was "Nunnally's Room," and Lelouch pushed it open. The lights were on, and he pulled up short as he saw his ten-year-old sister sitting in bed, her long sandy blond curls spilling messily around her shoulders as she sleepily rubbed her eyes.

Before he knew it, a figure lunged at him from the left and tackled him hard to the ground.

The impact against the ground stunned him but his fear for his younger sister's life overcame that and he pushed back against his assailant and tried to recall the martial lessons he had learnt.

Lelouch painfully regretted how little attention he had paid to them as he grappled with his assailant in the dark. Fortunately for him the attacker was around his size when their arms locked. He needed to end it quickly and attempted to perform an arm bar that Suzaku did to him before.

That thought ended with a hard elbow strike to his face. And then he felt a brush of a long silken dress across his face as his opponent pinned him hard on the ground.

His attacker searched his body for weapons. He didn't realise it due to the black form fitting body suit.

"Who are you?" demanded strong female voice.

"I could ask you the same damn thing," said Lelouch, realising that his attacker was not one of the assassins. "What are you doing in my sister's room?"

"Sister? Nice try. You come in dressed like a burglar and claim this little girl is your sister? What kind of idiot would break into his own house?"

She had him there and made Lelouch feel guiltier for his earlier stunt.

Their little fight finally woke the sleeping princess.

"Big brother…?" At the sound of Lelouch's voice, Nunnally looked at him and his anger rose as he saw the tears in her eyes.

Hearing the confirmation, the woman holding him let him go and Lelouch went to his sister.

Lelouch did not care much for his father and the Empire, but he loved his sister. Her smile was able to melt the hardest of hearts and not even Cornelia could resist giving in to her every whim.

"You must be Lelouch then. What's going on?" The woman demanded and Lelouch turned to see the woman was in fact a girl same age was he was. A beautiful one at that, with deep red hair and blue eyes.

"Was that a gunshot?"

"Yes, and I'm not exactly sure what's going on," said Lelouch, rushing over to the bed. "I think we might be under attack."

"Attack? From whom?"

Lelouch ignored her and helped his sister.

"Where are we going?" said Nunnally, her voice drowsy.

Before Lelouch could answer, more gunshots boomed. Nunnally squealed in terror.

Lelouch looked up at red haired girl and said. "Look after her. I'll see what's happening."

The girl nodded and went to clutched the little girl tightly as the door to the room opened and two people burst in. Lelouch leapt to his feet, but let out a relieved breath as he saw that one of the figures was Jeremiah.

The blue haired man was dressed in the maroon uniform of Cornelia's royal guard.

He blinked in surprise to see Lelouch, but overcame that surprise in a heartbeat and quickly gathered the children as the man next to him ran over to Kallen.

"Are you all right?" asked Jeremiah. "Your Highnesses?"

"We're fine, Jeremiah," said Lelouch. "Where's Cornelia?"

Jeremiah lifted Nunnally. "She's with Lord Guilford. Some men are trying to get inside and they've gone to stop them."

More shots sounded from beyond the door, and Nunnally burst into tears. The guardsman turned to the man who had entered the room with her and nodded to Kallen.

"Is she okay, my lord?"

"She's fine," said the man, his voice strong and lyrical.

Lelouch thought the man looked around the same age as his father, which put him in his mid-forties.

His concern over Kallen and Jeremiah's address of respect identified him as Lord Stadtfeld, and Lelouch thought him an unimpressive man for a high ranking official between two nations.

"What's going on, Jeremiah?" asked Lelouch. "Are we really under attack?"

"We are," said Jeremiah Gottwald, nodding. The guardsman was never one to sugar the pill—it was one of the things Lelouch liked about him.

Lord Stadtfeld took his daughter by the hand as Jeremiah said. "Now we need to get to the refuge. Everyone follow me, and no dawdling."

The bark of automatic weapon fire roared from somewhere nearby. The noise was so loud it was impossible to pinpoint the source of it, but Lelouch thought it was coming from this floor.

He heard booted footsteps and more shouts.

Lelouch hauled on Jeremiah's arm as more shooting exploded nearby. The wooden frame around the bedroom door splintered as gunfire tore through it.

Everyone screamed and dropped to the floor. Lelouch covered his ears as a clatter of metal and wood rained down from the shattered door.

A twisted spike of silver rolled across the carpet, a thin cone of metal as thick as the tip of his pinkie.

Lelouch recognized it immediately: military grade rounds.

He heard thumps from the outside and two men spun around the doorway. One was Gilbert Guilford, his pistol smoking.

The other was a plain clothed Japanese security armed with a rifle.

As Guilford's gaze swept the room, he spoke hurriedly into his shoulder mike. "Your Highness, I've got them. We're in Nunnally's room."

Lelouch missed the reply as another roar of gunfire sounded. The Japanese agent quickly leaned around the door and fired off a couple of shots. The noise of the gun was deafening, especially mixed together with Nunnally's sobbing cries.

"Guilford," said Jeremiah. "Where is Her Highness?"

"Downstairs organizing the defence, but she's on her way," said Guilford, slamming a fresh magazine into the butt of his pistol and awkwardly racking the slide. "And we have to get out of here. We're too exposed. The refuge is just along the hall."

"We can't go out there!" said Lelouch. "We'll be killed."

"We'll be killed if we stay here, Your Highness," replied Jeremiah.

"No time," said Guilford. "They have men coming in from both sides. Lieutenant, how's it looking?"

The Japanese agent raised his rifle and leaned around the door, checking left and right.

He fired a burst of rounds along the length of the corridor, and Lelouch heard a scream of pain.

"Clear now," said the soldier as the sound of gunfire intensified.

Lelouch could make no sense of this. All he could hear was a meaningless cacophony of cries for cover, medical attention and curses.

Who was winning this fight? Did anyone know?

"Now!" shouted Guilford. "Let's go!"

Guilford was first out of the room, his pistol extended, as Lieutenant hustled Jeremiah—still with Nunnally attached—Lord Stadtfeld, and his daughter through the door.

Lastly came Lelouch, and Lieutenant remained with him as they sped along the corridor toward the refuge.

Smoke from the gunfire filled the hallway and Lelouch could see little beyond the floor in the dim glow of sputtering lights that had been shot out. He passed a bulky shape lying on the ground, a body with a gaping hole in its neck.

Blood squirted onto the floor from the ragged crater in the man's throat and Lelouch gagged at the horrid, burned-metallic smell of the man's death. Another man's body lay farther along the corridor, this one with his chest torn apart by electromagnetic spikes. It looked like he'd been sawn in two.

Lieutenant kept watch on their rear as Guilford haltingly led the way to the refuge, a fortified bolt hole constructed in the heart of the house with comm systems.

Lelouch stumbled, but Lieutenant held him upright.

The refuge was up ahead, its thick steel door open and a cold fluorescent light spilling from inside.

Shouts sounded behind Lelouch, urgent and demanding.

The Japanese lieutenant released him and spun around, dropping to one knee and bringing his rifle up. The barrel exploded with noise and light, and Lelouch cried out at the unimaginable volume of the weapon.

Electronic rounds roared from the barrel and more screams of pain followed.

"Go, Highness!" shouted the Japanese man.

No sooner had he given this last instruction than the officer was struck by a burst of enemy rounds.

It was as if a giant fist had hammered into his side and hurled him against the wall.

Blood spattered Lelouch, and he recoiled in horror as the lieutenant's head lolled down over his chest, almost severed by the impact of the spikes.

"Prince Lelouch!' screamed Jeremiah from the refuge, but his voice seemed tinny and indistinct.

Without conscious thought, Lelouch knelt down and lifted the soldier's fallen rifle. He'd never fired such a weapon before, but figured all you needed to do was point it at what you wanted to kill and pull the trigger.

How hard could it be?

A shape resolved itself from the smoke of the corridor, a gunman dressed in dark fatigues, body armour, and a strange helmet. It had a number of projecting attachments jutting from the side and a matte black visor, upon which Lelouch could see his own face reflected.

The rifle was a dead weight in his hands, but he raised it without conscious thought.

The gunman already had his rifle aimed, and Lelouch knew he would not be able to pull the trigger before he was torn apart.

The thought made him more angry than fearful.

Before the gunman could fire, Lelouch's reflection in the helmet's visor replaced by a black boot slamming the man.

Lelouch saw a panting Suzaku dropping to the ground like covered in blood.

"Suzaku!"

Lelouch pulled his friend to his feet and all but dragged him into the refuge.

Guilford lunged out with his pistol firing in one hand and a straight sabre drawn in the other.

"Go! I'll cover you!"

With help from Stadtfeld, Jeremiah hauled the heavy door of the refuge shut, and then punched in the locking code to a keypad set into the wall.

Lelouch pulled his wounded friend against the wall shoulder a mass of sticky red fluid, but Lelouch couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead.

"Suzaku! You idiot, wake up! Damn it, don't die!"

The Japanese prime minister's son looked like a zombie. Blood was matted on his face.

"I…" He whispered. "I always knew you were going to be the death of me." He laughed.

Lelouch seeing that the blood was just from his arm laughed at the absurdity of it all and their close brush with death.

"You bloody idiot!" He smacked his arm.

"Ow! That actually hurt!"

Stadtfeld's daughter sat against the opposite wall of the refuge, holding Nunnally tight, and shaking her head at the two of them.

After securing Suzaku's wound, Lelouch went to them.

He stroked his sister's hair.

"Nunna," said Lelouch. "It's me. We're safe now."

Nunnally looked up and Lelouch smiled, putting every ounce of sincerity into his words.

"You were very brave. No one is going to hurt us now."

"We're safe?" said Nunnally, between snotty exhalations. "You promise?"

"I promise," said Lelouch, nodding. "I won't let anything happen to you. Ever."

"Never ever?"

"Never ever," promised Lelouch.

With the door to the refuge sealed, there was nothing to do but wait, and waiting was something Lelouch vi Britannia wasn't particularly good at.

He wanted to help Suzaku but Jeremiah was attending to his wound already and seeing that he would only be a burden to his friend's recovery, Lelouch sat down on a fold-down cot bed with his legs crossed and Nunnally's head resting on his thigh, her thumb jammed in her mouth.

Despite all that had happened, she had fallen into a deep sleep, and Lelouch smiled as he ran a hand through her sandy blond hair.

Lord Stadtfeld and Jeremiah scanned the images before him—empty corridors, dead bodies, and black-clad figures dashing furtively from cover to cover. But no one could tell whether the figures were the attackers or resident's security forces.

Despite his high rank, Stadtfeld asked Jeremiah for instructions, something Lelouch knew most nobles wouldn't from a lower rank.

Seeing that was refreshing and Lelouch decided to rethink on his first impression of his lordship.

Jeremiah, a veteran soldier took control of the situation barricaded the door, keeping the children back should the door be breached and explained the escape route.

Some of the cameras had been disabled, the screens displaying a hash of static, so that it was impossible to tell exactly what was happening.

"There're still enemies on the ground floor, but I don't see Princess Cornelia." Stadtfeld said.

Jeremiah nodded as he finished bandaging Suzaku's wound.

"Your bodyguard seems very dedicated," said the Stadtfeld girl.

Lelouch turned his head to face the girl.

"He's been with us since our mother died. The Emperor," He spat the words as if it was distasteful. "Refused to allow him accompany us but he joined Cornelia's royal guard to follow her when she came as a representative here."

With time to think, he made a fuller inspection of her. He'd thought she was beautiful when he'd first seen her, but now, looking more closely, he saw that he had done her a disservice.

Lord Stadtfeld's daughter was more than beautiful: she was positively stunning, made all the more so because she had no idea on how attractive she was. The girls at the academy were either driven politicos who bored him or academic types who were no challenge to seduce.

He knew the girl would fit into neither of these camps.

The nightdress clung to the curves of her body and his thirteen-year-old mind pictured what she looked like underneath it.

She scowled at him.

"You really want another beating?" She threatened.

Lelouch replied. "You hit me first. I hardly had time."

She smirked. "Right, beaten by a thirteen year old girl in a night dress."

"You're real proud aren't you? Attacking a defenceless person, knowing that a gentleman won't fight back." He countered.

Lelouch sensed a fierce rebuttal with grief, but then Nunnally cringed without a doubt nightmares and the red haired girl held one of her hands.

Both forgetting each other's hostility and looked over her with concern.

Before they knew, she belched lightly startling them both.

Looking at each other's startled looks, they laugh lightly together.

"Must have been the milk and chocolate cookies we had before bed." The girl smiled, stroking her hair.

Lelouch chuckled. "Mother used to make that for us when she was still around." He thought of the memory fondly and smiled, finding a little humour in what was an otherwise grim situation.

Seeing her like this, Lelouch was surprised at how her face had changed and how deep her blue eyes were.

She met his gaze and stared back for a while as both began to flush red.

Turning away, she coughed.

"I'm…I'm sorry about your mother. My parents spoke of her well. And your sister." She gestured to Nunnally's legs.

Lelouch too recovered and nodded his gratitude.

"I miss her. Jeremiah and some of my half-siblings take good care of us but it's not the same. Not to mention with her condition." She had lost the use of her legs during the attack. It was a miracle that nothing else was wrong.

"What will you do though? Considering the crisis with the Chinese Federation and the EU."

"I don't know," said Lelouch with a shrug, looking over to her father to find some clue as to the state of affairs beyond the refuge. "I don't really know and I don't really care. I just want to be left alone to make my own way in the world."

"But if either of them gain the sakuradite mines, that'll concern everyone especially since we draw most of our energy from minerals and gases. For Japan, our independence is at stake. And it concerns Britannia too. We all know they're sworn enemies. We have to do something."

Lelouch glanced over at Lord Stadtfeld. "Did your father tell you that?"

"As a matter of fact it was your brother, Prince Schnitzel." said Kallen archly.

"Then I have even less interest in it."

"You're really an ass, aren't you?"

"Well, you're not very ladylike," pointed out Lelouch.

"Why does everyone have to say that?"

"Well, in both Japanese and Britannian cultures, women are expected represent the empathy, and sensitivity. Nothing about you suggests either."

She glared first then smirked. "You're just sore that I beat you up, didn't you? Unlike your friend, you're not really masculine material are you?"

"No." Lelouch heard a snicker behind him before a cry of pain.

"Don't say anything, Master Kururugi. The pain will be better." Jeremiah muttered.

In fact, Lelouch felt his pride damaged by it. It was worse because she was gloating and she did nothing to suggest an apology or modesty about her skill.

Lelouch took a deep breath and flashed his most dazzling smile, in attempt to change the subject.

"We haven't been introduced. I am Lelouch vi Britannia, or rather used to be. Although I guess its Lelouch Lamperouge now."

Instead of blushing like most girls did, she gave him a winning look which irritated him but with her father around, she decided to give that up and bowed politely.

"Kallen Kozuki Stadtfeld, a pleasure." The last bit had a bit of sarcasm despite the smile.

Before they could finish, Lord Stadtfeld said,

"Jeremiah! There's something wrong with the controls. I…I think they're trying to hack their way through."

Lelouch looked over to the bank of monitors, but the vidcamera showing the corridor had been shot out in the fighting. A series of clicking beeps came from the keypad next to the door, and Jeremiah bent to examine the sequence before trying to type.

"They're cracking the code!"

"Wait, let me." Lelouch sprang up and ran to the console. He recognised that their assassins had entered a virus one that was commonly used by rival corporations to steal business secrets.

Fortunately, it was an old one and one Lelouch recognised. (He had used it to hack the school website.)

He answered by another series of key punches. The hack fought back attempting to take over the system but Lelouch ultimately managed to block it out.

Lelouch felt a surge of relief.

"Great work, sire." Jeremiah congratulated.

"That was…." Lord Stadtfeld was lost for words though his new found admiration for the castaway prince was obvious.

Lelouch shrugged, though he was pleased at the image of being a hero. "It wasn't really hard." He wasn't really lying: it was easy…for him. Lelouch tried to teach Suzaku that when but it only gave his friend a headache.

He glanced at Kallen who was looking at him with awe until she met his gaze and turned away with a scoff.

Lord Stadtfeld was about to ask something when one of the vids caught his attention.

"Jeremiah, the door!"

The royal guard went to the door and began to type in a code. The code was answered by another and Jeremiah entered a second code.

Finally the thick door of the refuge swung open and Cornelia li Britannia, General of Imperial Army, older half-sister to Lelouch and Nunnally, and step-daughter to Marianne vi Britannia, entered with her signature rifled sabre. The barrel was smoking and the blade had blood dripping.

Their older half-sister was a tall woman with long dark violet hair and a muscular body that did not make her the least unattractive. Despite her beauty, her eyes had a surge of steel that unsettled most people.

"Big sister!" Nunnally cried out and Cornelia's stern face melted to relief.

"Thank God you're safe," she walked over and hugged the little girl. "Well, Gottwald, you kept your word. They're in one piece."

"I'm honoured, Your Highness." The royal guard bowed.

"Lord Stadtfeld?"

"We're fine as well, Your Highness. Thanks to Prince Lelouch, here." He said it to give Lelouch credit but instead had indicated his presence to his older sister.

Which was what Lelouch was trying to avoid.

Cornelia didn't look at Lelouch. She nodded and talked to his Lordship and his daughter before finally turning to him.

"What in the name of our Founding Fathers are YOU doing HERE?!" She roared.

"Hello, big sister." Lelouch smiled sheepishly.

"Events that occurred on 5th and 6th of December 2013 shocked every citizen in the Empire when heavily armed assassins made attempts on the lives of Princess Cornelia and the Prime Minister of Japan in their private residences here in Japan.

Analysts have confirmed it to be an attempt to sabotage the on-going negotiations between the Holy Empire of Britannia and the Nation of Japan.

The Japanese people have expressed outrage at the news that one of the assassins had been identified as a member of the Chinese Jinyiwei Secret Service.

On the 10th of December, the Parliament of Japan reached a unanimous agreement to a Britannian alliance and agreeable terms for sakuradite trade.

Prime Minister of Japan Genbu Kururugi and 2nd Prince Schneizel el Britannia have met for further discussions at the Kyoto Palace. For further news, tune in on BNN."

Jean Lannes, BNN

"On the 13th of December 4:46 AM Local Time, Chinese Federation forces have landed troops in on Kyushu. Despite gallant resistance from the defenders of the Fukuoka base, by 5 am the entire base has been completely overrun by Federation Forces.

Chinese officials claim that former Federation rebels have taken refuge within Japan with the blessing of the Kururugi Administration.

Emperor Charles zi Britannia has openly denounced the claim and has pledged to aid Japan with the full might of his Empire.

Even now, the 5th and 9th Fleets have departed for the Japanese Isles from the California Naval Base.

The Emperor promises that Britannia will defend Japan from any Chinese aggression…"

Mt. Aso, Kyushu

27th Infantry Brigade,

14th Division, JDF

The faint sound of thunder striking had been occurring since they had arrived but the only real confirmation the men had was the shaking of the ground.

The men were decked out in the newly distributed Britannian issue body armour over their olive uniforms. Many were still stunned by their survival.

The Brigade had made it to their position with only 60% of their full strength thanks to the onslaught of missiles from the Chinese Federation forces.

The barrage wasn't particularly accurate as the officers assumed during their briefing but they had underestimated the number of missiles the Chinese had brought with them and while most of them did not reach their mark, the few that did were enough to obliterate entire regiments of armoured personal carriers.

The brigadier general realising that the APCs were easy targets ordered the brigade to dismount and to continue the advance on foot, the old fashioned way.

The men grimly remembered that most had died in the transition with many missing friends or limbs having to be cut off.

The Brigade along with other infantry units had advanced to flank and destroy the Chinese missile artillery. The Air Force and armoured divisions had their hands full keeping their Chinese counter-parts from rolling over the rest of the army.

By the time all available regiments had been accounted for, the brigadier general had been killed in action and the senior Colonel ordered the survivors to entrench themselves facing the Chinese flank.

However, most of the brigade had lost their heavy equipment including the vital anti-tank weapons and mortars.

They could do little as the tanks on both sides exchanged fire and positions like two bulls with their horns locked.

"Raijin-Five, do you copy?" The Colonel called. "Raijin-Five, we need supporting fire at Sector 29. Over."

"Retsu-One, this is Raijin-Five. Negative, we're being overwhelmed by enemy artillery. We cannot stay. Over."

The quality of the JDF artillery was superior but they lack the numbers to face their Chinese counterparts.

"Raijin-Five, we cannot take the enemy position without your support. The squadrons are at a stalemate. We've lost most of our equipment. We are in no condition to continue assault as planned. Over."

"Retsu-One, we will try to give you limited covering fire. But we will…"

The line was cut off.

"Raijin-Five? Raijin-Five? Damn it." The Colonel too saw the missiles firing in the skies had almost completely ceased from their side.

Without their artillery, the Japanese tanks were beginning to fall apart.

The Japanese were of a division size but the sheer size of China had brigades outnumbering the Japanese divisions. Now, without the aid of their artillery the Chinese began to push harder.

The 27th watched with horror as the dark green Chinese heavy tanks advanced in formation firing shell after shell at the Japanese ones.

They had gained and fielded the Britannian Centurion Battle Tanks which proved superior to the main Federation series but like with the artillery, the advantage given was nulled by the sheer numbers of the Chinese Federation.

The Colonel watched the battle and was frozen with indecision.

If the tanks were wiped out, there would be no way they could face the Chinese in field, never mind actually winning the fight.

If that happened, Kyushu would be lost and the Federation would have gained a foothold within Japan. The sacrifices of the Japanese navy would be for naught if the situation continued as is.

What they had to do was suicide, but there was no other choice.

"Major! Open a channel to all our officers. We're going to attack."

"Sir? But that's…"

"I know, Major. Just do it!"

His subordinate obeyed and soon the men began to mill about in shock that they were going to assault an armoured unit with little more than small arms. He could see the fear and doubt on their faces. Steeling himself, he said.

"Men! Soldiers of Japan! Hear me! I know that what lays before us seems to be certain death but if we do not give our friends and comrades the time they need, Kyushu will be lost!" He spoke to the men before him and through the speakers to the rest of the brigade.

"If Kyushu falls, Japan itself will soon follow. We as Japanese cannot allow that. We are warriors! We all hold within ourselves the Blood of Samurai. It is time to show these Chinese dogs that such blood does not bleed easily! It is time for us to fight for our homes! It is time for us to sow fear in their hearts."

The Colonel draws his katana out in a florish and raises it high above his head and brings it down, pointing squarely at the Chinese forces.

"IT IS TIME FOR OUR FINEST HOUR!"

The men responded by cocking their weapons roaring their defiance. The Colonel lowers his katana and barks out his orders.

"Take out their heavy APCs and heavy units first. We'll hit them from the side!" He ordered his captains.

Stepping down from where he was standing, the Colonel with katana in hand charges forward toward the enemy lines.

"Bring Honour to your Families! Nippon…BANZAI!"

"NIPPON BANZAI!" The men roared. The major gave a roar and raised his pistol to follow. The moment he stepped up, his head explodes in a mist of blood.

Despite that, the men carried on and advanced towards the Chinese lines.

Bullets and explosions surrounded them, tossing men or disintegrating them. The Britannian body armour gave them limited protection against debris and bullets and many were thrown down.

"Forward! Forward!" The Colonel shouted, leading the charge like a hero of old with gleaming blade and primed pistol in hand.

Even though their casualties were heavy, the Japanese managed to march into the Chinese lines where the tanks' escort infantry were deployed from APCs.

The Chinese infantrymen were clad in dark green body armour and sneered through visored helmets though it seemed to be of lesser quality than their own.

"Attack!" The Chinese formed up around their APCs and opened fire.

The 27th fired their weapons as they closed in. They took heavy causalities, many of them ripped apart by Chinese volleys.

"Break their formations! Grenades!" The Japanese soldiers armed with grenade launchers fired over the Chinese lines, finally drawing Federation blood for the brigade.

Soon they reached the tree line where the Colonel ducked into for cover.

"Fire some smoke grenades!" That'd give them some cover at least.

The APCs auto cannons were causing the greatest damage, their high calibre rounds tearing through terrain and men alike.

The Colonel knew the brigade was being torn to pieces. Whole regiments cut down to a man. Those that did survive were all weary and wounded from the fight.

Yet, they must press on.

He waited for a few more companies to arrive, coordinating with their captains to reach his position.

A 20mm round almost took his head as the Japanese officer moved to monitor the enemy position.

"Get ready to charge."

High-pitched pings of metal on rock and tree echoed deafeningly, like an endless box of nails being emptied onto hard stone from a great height.

Those hitting the ground caused tiny eruptions of dirt bombarding everyone like a dirty shower.

The Colonel brushed some dirt from his eyes and checked his pistol.

He waited for the next volley of autocannon rounds to end before giving the order.

"BANZAI!" The Japanese soldiers screaming their war cries as they converged on the enemy position, guns blazing as they went.

The timing proved true as they charged into enemy lines the exact moment the autocannons were forced to stop to be reloaded.

The Chinese stood their ground and met the charge. Several died from point blank range fire on both sides and armoured bodies littered the lines.

The Colonel emptied several rounds into the head of a Chinese soldier then stabbed his katana into the face of another.

As he withdrew his sword, the APC's autocannon was turning around but fortunately one of his men had used one of the few rocket launchers they had left and totalled the vehicle in a blaze of fire.

So they stormed the infantry escort lines with heavy losses, grenades, rifles, swords and mass of body.

Despite that they were facing what felt like mere handful of regiments as if the Chinese numbers were almost equal to their own.

"Push them to the next line!" The Colonel yelled out, firing a fallen soldier's rifle into a group of Chinese soldiers.

Several Japanese soldiers boarded the Chinese APCs and turned their own guns on them.

Using the commandeered APCs as a shield, the brigade continued to push forward through the flank of the Chinese army.

Chinese troopers appeared from several directions and poured gun fire into them. The Colonel directed his men to use the APCs for cover and to overwhelm the enemy positions.

Many fled from the ferocity of the Japanese attack. Unfortunately many others drew swords of their own and engaged the Japanese in melee combat.

One Chinese officer, a youth with long black hair wielding a straight long sword, the Chinese jian held off a full squad on his own.

A Japanese soldier swung his rifle at him but the Chinese man dodged the blow and slashed the man's throat and skilfully blocking an incoming sword swing right before countering. His movements were a dance of death through the heavy melee.

Avoiding gun fire and sword strikes with ease only under heavy fire did he retreated.

"They're falling back! Private! Hold your fire with that, we'll need it against the tanks later."

No sooner had he said it, one of the APCs exploded in a ball of fire.

A dark green Chinese tank rolled towards them.

"Fire! Take that tank down!" Several soldiers let fly with their rocket launchers though only two managed to strike home and only slowed the tank down.

The APCs' auto cannons opened up on the tank. The tank's missile launcher turned around and fired a missile into a second APC, turning into another flaming pile of metal and rubber.

The Colonel saw that the tank was advancing down the lines towards the APCs, aiming to destroy all their captured APCs.

He ran to the next regiment along the line and took a rocket launcher. He loaded one round in and aimed for the tank's chain. The Colonel waited until he was sure of hitting and squeezed the trigger.

The rocket flew and hit home and stopping the tank dead, chain falling back.

The tanks' crew began to escape the metal death trap and the Japanese cut them down easily.

We're doing it. We just need to keep them focus on us. The Colonel thought.

"Sir! We have another tank incoming!"

"Gather the heavy weapons! We…oh gods…"

The Colonel saw the tank…then another. And another. And beside that one there were two more.

At least fifty tanks were heading towards them. And from the movement in the distance, it means the Chinese infantry was returning with full force.

The Colonel took a deep breath and gripped his rifle.

They had done their duty.

The lead tank turned its turret towards him and the Colonel prayed to the gods that their sacrifice had saved more lives.

But then in an instant, the tank exploded. Not just set aflame but literally exploded into different pieces.

As if it was a chain reaction more tanks in the distance exploded, some were even overturned.

The men cheered at the sight. The Colonel joined them. Praise the gods, their artillery had returned.

And then the cheering stopped.

Towering black and grey humanoid figures appeared on the horizon, moving on what it seems were wheels on attached on their feet.

The Chinese tanks turned to their new enemy and open up in a volley of cannon fire.

These dark figures moved pass the cannon shells. They dodging with such speed and grace, it shamed even the most skilfully warrior. They moved faster than any vehicle they had ever seen.

"Giants…" One of the soldiers muttered.

He was right. They were metal giants in huge armoured suits.

Bullets bounced off and cannon shells were easily avoided.

They fired their weapons as they swept through the tank line. Their oversized rifles fired what was likely to be 30 mm rounds cutting through tank armour like a knife through butter.

Several Chinese drivers abandoned their tanks altogether seeing no way to defeat them. Some were crushed by the giants who trampled them or knocked them aside with a simple wave.

Some tanks fought back futilely. One of them near the 27th's position emptied its stockpile of missiles at one of them.

Up close, it looked like a giant robot, like those mechas written in science fiction novels.

This one fired its rifle but a missile destroyed it. The mecha merely tossed it aside and charged head on the tank, dodging the oncoming projectiles easily.

It leapt over the tank and landed on it with a punch through the diver's position.

The landing caused a small earthquake, sending all the men off balance.

When they looked up gain, the tank was crushed like a child had stepped on a toy.

The mecha turned its head, four glowing eyes staring at the Japanese soldiers. The infantrymen jumped as the face opened up revealing a glowing camera sphere where it seemed to examine them.

The colonel then heard more rumbles and saw that sky once filled with Chinese rockets was now home to a swarm.

A swarm of fighter jets, VTOL gunships and troop transporters.

And the Colonel knew that Japan did not have such numbers.

Several of the mechas stayed with the destroyed tanks.

One of them deployed a flag.

The Colonel recognised it at once.

As one, the mechas raised their fists and from their speakers shouted.

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

That's the end of that for now! Hope you guys enjoyed that.