The Demon and the Red Moon

Disclaimer: Code Geass is owned by Sunrise and not me. Please support the official release.

This may not be updated as quickly as my last fiction. But I may have a back up writer as well.

Turn 01-War for Two

Lelouch considered the bodies at his feet. Britannian soldiers. He felt their warm blood on his cheek. So clearly he was still awake. And therefore still alive. But he'd ordered them to die, and they'd obliged. The multiple impossibilities circulated through Lelouch's consciousness. Power. The witch's power, and he felt it behind his left eye, waiting for him.

Dead. Dead for years. Those things father had said to him. How all that he had was given to him by his father. Including Nunnally's disability and their exile. Pain. But this, this father hadn't given him. He owed this to the green-haired enigma who lay dead at his feet. All of these, from the pain to his education, to the power burning bright in his mind, these he could use. Against his father. And Britannia.

"Well then," Lelouch remarked, suddenly excited at the possibilities.

"Ooph!" Rubble was shifted, drawing Lelouch's surprised attention. He looked down into the darkened stairs from which he and the girl had come.

"Who's there?!" he demanded, trying to use his power. When no one came out immediately, Lelouch raised an eyebrow. He'd tried to use the power, but it hadn't drawn the person out. Some kind of limitation? Dammit, now wasn't the time for experimentation to discover his limits. Then the red-haired girl from earlier emerged, leveling a pistol at his direction. "You were the girl from the truck, the one with the Knightmare."

"I'm the one asking questions here!" the girl replied angrily. Walking up from the underground tunnel, she leveled her gun at him with both hands. Lelouch hesitated. How much did she know? Had she heard his command? That would mean she heard his name. His real name. "How did you kill these men? How did you make them commit suicide like that."

"Magic," Lelouch answered after a moment of thought, smirking. "Here, I'll show you-"

"If you try anything, I'll kill you. Lelouch vi Britannia," she declared, stepping closer, the pistol still held in both hands. Lelouch's eyes narrowed, in concern. "What are you doing here in Shinjuku? Admiring your country's handiwork?"

"It's not like I wanted to be here," Lelouch commented, running his hand through his hair in annoyance. But it was all an act. Inside he was intensely worried. "Are you an Eleven?"

"I'm Japanese!" she corrected, forcefully. She jammed the gun even closer, and Lelouch threw his hands up in surprise. "Filthy Britannian, always leaving us Japanese out in the mud. I hate your kind. You think your so superior to everybody else, just because you belong to a bigger country!"

"I meant no offense," Lelouch apologized, smiling sincerely this time. "And your right. They do enjoy leaving us in the dirt."

"What us? You're not Japanese," the woman pointed out. Lelouch frowned, conceding the point. He glanced away, then back to the red head, thoughtfully.

"But I am an Eleven," he said, drawing the girl's surprise. Lelouch looked away, frowning to himself. "The Eleventh prince of Britannia, yet here I am, discarded like a piece of trash. I guess we're similar in that regard." He lowered his raised hands slightly, then looked back to her. "I'm going to lower my hands because my arms are getting tired." The girl looked at him, dumbstruck as he lowered his hands to his sides.

"Wait a minute," she cried, shaking her head, remembering what was going on, "that's not the point!" Lelouch raised an eyebrow, curious. "We could use you as a hostage to get Britannia to leave Japan!" Lelouch instantly thought this plan through. Even if Charles considered him valuable, his value would be eliminated as soon as he was used as leverage against Britannia.

"Clearly you don't understand Britannia," Lelouch commented. The redhead's face blazed with anger at the comment. Before she could speak. "You're not thinking the situation through. Why am I here? I'll tell you. I was used as a hostage to give Japan a false bargaining chip against Britannia. They invaded anyway, risking my life, and didn't bother to try to find me after. I think you're overstating my value by several orders of magnitude. And even if they decide I'm worth something now, it'd be more likely they would pursue you even more to free me from your clutches."

The girl's face twisted into increasingly uncertainty as Lelouch spoke. She gritted her teeth, eyes narrowing, brow furrowed in worry. Lelouch cocked his head to the side slightly, giving her a friendly smile. She gave him distrusting look.

"And yet, if you kill me, if they discover my body, they'll attack you even more." Lelouch found himself admiring the girl as she lowered the pistol a fraction of an inch. "But," he added, surprising the girl, "I guess you don't need me." The girl was lost in thought, still pointing the gun at him. Ignoring her, Lelouch walked over to one of the bodies and turned it over, ignoring the gunshot. He picked the radio off of the body and examined it.

"What are you doing?!" the girl demanded, swinging the gun back to point at his kneeling form.

"I could use this radio to intercept their transmissions," Lelouch explained, thoughtfully. "But I don't know any of their codes or designations." He narrowed his eyes, looking off into space. "Maybe I could order someone to tell me." The radio issued a burble of static.

One of the walls suddenly burst, and in rolled a purple and crimson Knightmare. Lelouch jumped to a standing position in surprise.

"Get rid of the gun!" Lelouch shouted. The girl looked at the pistol in her hand in surprise and threw it away, then lowered her hands to her side quickly. The Knightmare leveled its assault rifle. Lelouch let the power flow into his eye, aiming it directly at the machine. "Give me your Knightmare."

"Excuse me?" the pilot replied, angrily. It was a woman's voice. But the Knightmare didn't open. Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "You've got a lot of nerve." Did it require direct eye contact. Thinking of the incident with the girl, Lelouch considered this. Maybe the combination of eye contact and verbal command. "Are you a Britannian student?"

"Uh," Lelouch began, switching to his student tone, "Yes! I'm the son of a duke! My girlfriend and I were playing around when...the battle!"

"I'm not your girlfriend!" the girl hissed, angrily.

"Shut up, do you wanna die?" Lelouch hissed back, gritting his teeth in the corner of his mouth. "If you got us out of here, my father would surely reward you! My identification card is in my breast pocket, I can show you if you like." He began to reach for it, just a farce.

"Don't move!" the woman ordered over the Knightmare's speakers. "I'll get it." the back hatch of the Knightmare opened, and Lelouch smirked. The woman who climbed out was tall, but not much taller than the red head, and similarly built. Lelouch's raised hands bore false witness to who was really in charge. "You're the son of a duke?" Lelouch's eye turned red.

"Give me your Knightmare and your clothes," Lelouch ordered.

0.0.0

When Villeta was aware of her own actions again, she was dressed only in a brown Britannian soldier's long coat. She jumped in alarm, crying out. She looked over to the bodies. A dead man's coat, too. This was so humiliating! What the hell had happened? Then she noticed that one of the soldiers, dressed in a combat coverall, was actually trying to get up, grunting in the effort. Villeta ran over, snatching up a radio.

0.0.0

Lelouch was looking through the various maps and screens in the Sutherland's cockpit. With what he had he could take out a few units. Even with his piloting skills. Or lack thereof. He reminded himself to run the Ganymede more. He looked over his shoulder at Kallen. She was staring intently into a radio as the battle was raging over the radio waves.

"How are your friends doing?" He asked her loudly, drawing her attention. She frowned angrily at him, making him frown with disinterest. Her anger at him made her less appealing, he decided.

"They'd be doing better if they had that Knightmare!" Kallen pointed out, standing from her crouched position atop a small mound of rubble. Lelouch narrowed his eyes. They needed more than one Knightmare. One Knightmare could win a skirmish, but little else. They needed a small army of Knightmares. He examined the map. There was no way he could order the pilots out of the machines. Even if he could get one to get out, they'd quickly start figuring it out. Then he noticed a curious sight. He checked the map. It was on the monorail.

"What about twelve?" he asked Kallen, stunning her speechless. He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Get changed, we have work to do." He looked back to the screen.

"You're joking!" Kallen shouted angrily, making Lelouch growl. He looked back at her. "You think I'm just going to follow your orders like a maid? I'm a proud member of the Japanese resistance against your kind! If anything you should take orders from me!" Lelouch waited a second as she ceased her ranting.

"Are you done?" he asked, irritated. Kallen huffed in anger. "Who do you think is the enemy commander?" Kallen blinked at the question. "I'll give you a hint. His last name is Britannia. Only one person in the Royal Family ever beat me in chess. I can beat him here. That's why I give the orders."

"You're joking. I'm not going to follow your orders!" Kallen argued, holding her fists out at her sides. Lelouch stood in the seat of the Sutherland.

"Do you want to win?" Lelouch asked angrily. "If not, fine!" He sat down again. "I can break out on my own."

"Wait!" Kallen demanded. Lelouch froze. Her tone was desperate. She wanted to win. "What is your plan? How are you going to defeat them?" Lelouch looked over his shoulder. Her face was angry, certainly, but she had a desperate hope in her eyes.

"Get changed. I'll explain along the way," Lelouch promised, looking away again. Kallen picked up the purple uniform by the shoulders and scanned it with a grimace.

"It doesn't leave a lot to the imagination," she commented as she started to unbutton her vest. Lelouch blinked his eyes wider. "You think we can defeat Britannia?" Lelouch looked over his shoulder at her, suddenly annoyed.

"You don't think so?" Lelouch asked, suddenly curious. His mind stopped mid step as he saw her nearly bare back, only broken by her pink bra straps. Her skin was smooth. Perfect. Part of Lelouch's mind wanted to have it close so he could feel it. His eyes widened and he looked back to his lap, blushing. He heard her clothes rustling again and he looked to see her dropping her shorts and leggings.

"It's just not something I think we're capable of," Kallen admitted. Lelouch's mind was an empty hollow. "Hey, you better not be looking!" Kallen looked over her shoulder and saw Lelouch examining over a map, his hand on his chin. She looked away again. Unseen to Kallen, Lelouch was blushing and biting down on his finger hard to focus.

0.0.0

"Are you having a bad day?!" came a loud voice. Suzaku looked up to see a white-haired man standing over him. The nearly silver blonde hair hung over some of his glasses. Before him sat a brunnette woman wearing the standard Britannian uniform. Suzaku blinked and looked up. "You nearly got to go to heaven."

"This stopped the bullet," the brunette woman said, holding out something in a white tissue. Suzaku reached out and she handed it to him. With a start, Suzaku realized what it was. His watch. Father...forgive me. The glass over the face was cracked. "Was it a keepsake?"

"You Elevens have your gods for everything!" the silver-haired man commented. Suzaku winced, then frowned, saddened. He noticed his surroundings and looked around in surprise. An ambulance? How did he get here? "We're still in the shinjuku ghetto."

"Is Lelo-is the fight still going on?" The white haired man blinked in surprise at Suzaku's question.

"Mmhmm," he hummed in the positive, disappointed. "It looks like the poison gas was released. There are many eleven casualties." Suzaku looked down, his teeth gritted. More of his people dying for no reason. "Say, Private Kururugi, do you have experience piloting a Knightmare frame?"

0.0.0

"I still think you should've let me drive," Kallen said in Lelouch's lap. They were heading for the west entrance. Lelouch sighed in annoyance. "What, you don't like it when a woman has an opinion?" Lelouch rolled his eyes. A rebel and a feminist.

"I wouldn't call you much of a woman just yet," Lelouch commented. He gasped when he realized how it sounded and looked back at Kallen. "I mean, you're still so young! Uh..."

"You could let me drive as an apology," Kallen teased, smiling. Lelouch stopped at her expression, his eyes going wide in sudden recognition. He stopped the Knightmare and moved his hands to her hair, holding it down over Kallen's protests.

"You're a student from Asheford Academy," Lelouch muttered in realization. Before Kallen could reply, another voice interrupted over the radio.

'You! What's your name and unit?' came Jeremiah Gottwald's voice. Lelouch blinked and looked around. He saw a pair of Knightmares approaching. Lelouch gritted his teeth.

"I was sent to secure the shipment in case the terrorists tried to capture it," Lelouch lied into his radio. Kallen blinked at his words. He hadn't explained that far into his plans. Meanwhile Lelouch used the time to prepare to fire.

'What shipment?' Lelouch fired his slash harkens. The twin anchors ripped into the sutherland's chest and triggered the auto-eject. Then Lelouch fired his assault rifle, ripping the other unit to shreds. Another projectile struck the Sutherland. It was a rocket-propelled grenade. Lelouch traced the source to see a group of men with red headbands.

"Friends of yours?" Lelouch asked. Kallen looked over her shoulder to see what Lelouch was looking for at his right. Lelouch began scanning with his fact-sphere sensor in the Sutherland's face. The small scanning window stopped on a man with curly brown hair.

"Ohgi!" she shouted. She pressed on the third red button on the Sutherland's radio console. "Ohgi, I'm in here!" The face's eyes shot wide in surprise and recognition. Lelouch just waited patiently, eyes narrowed in boredom.

'Kallen? How did you get a Sutherland?' the man asked, over the Knightmare's sound system.

"Don't tell them about me," Lelouch said. He winced when he heard his voice echo over the speaker system. He gritted his teeth and looked back at Ohgi. "You there, are you the leader? I can help you defeat the Britannian forces here, but you must do exactly what I say." Ohgi narrowed his eyes, mouth turning into a thin line from suspicion and thought.

'What do you want me to do?' Ohgi asked. Another man began to loudly argue against following Lelouch. Lelouch personally ignored the argument entirely.

"We're waiting," Lelouch said, looking up at the ceiling of the cockpit, straining to hear.

'Waiting for what?' Ohgi asked, confused. Lelouch heard it, the sound of wheels on track.

"Be right back," Lelouch said, and began to ascend between two columns, land-spinners pressed against them. As soon as he was atop the raised railway. He aimed at the automated train and fired the assault rifle. The rounds ripped up the electric motors, and train's humming ceased and it began to slow. Lelouch put his Sutherland in front of the train and began to push it to a stop.

"What was that for?" Kallen asked angrily. Lelouch gave her a smirk and moved the Sutherland to the side of one of the train cars. He lifted one of the many doors, and revealed the cargo within. Kallen's eyes went wide as she took in the site. "Oh, that's..."

Ohgi saw the Knightmare drop back over the side of the rails and hold out a hand to them.

'Are you ready to fight for justice?' Ohgi's eyebrows shot up.

Kallen undid the many doors along the train, revealing more and more Sutherlands. Ohgi's jaw dropped as he took in the sight of the many Knightmares. The Sutherland with the red markings joined the rest of the resistance group atop the tracks.

'You'll be able to fight evenly with your opponent now. Our struggle requires greater weapons than we have now,' Lelouch said through the Sutherland. 'So therefore I give you the contents of this train. We'll need them.'

"What's this 'we' crap?" Tamaki shouted in his usual aggressive arguing tone. "Why don't you come out that Knightmare and show us your face?" Kallen turned at the argument. She was wondering if Lelouch really would reveal who he was. She gritted her teeth in hesitation. Could she? Should she? Before she could speak, Lelouch interrupted.

'You can call me Zero,' Lelouch said over his speakers. Kallen blinked as he spoke. 'With these weapons and my commands, you can beat Britannia. I'll give you designations as soon as your ready in your Knightmares. They should operate the same as the Glasgow your used to.' Ohgi saw Tamaki giving him an angry glare.

"Everybody, pick a Knightmare," Ohgi ordered. Kallen smiled as the resistance members walked over to the many machines. Ohgi stopped beside her, eying her new uniform. "Change of wardrobe? That's not your usual look."

'After we defeat the army we're going to deal with its commander. I've engaged Kallen into a plan after we take out the rest of the force,' Lelouch explained. 'I hope you don't mind.' Ohgi just eyed the Knightmare with some suspicion. 'It's perfectly fine if you feel it's too dangerous.' Kallen walked over and stood beside Ohgi with a anger written over her face.

"Can you promise she won't get hurt?" Ohgi asked, demanding a commitment from the boy in the giant death machine. Kallen looked at the Sutherland with her own curiosity.

'No,' the machine replied. 'This is war. There may not be casualties today, but we will eventually lose people. But for today, she'll be safe. The task at hand will be simple. Now, get ready. I'm going to begin the plan.' With that, the machine turned and jumped off of the raised railway, surprising Ohgi.

0.0.0

Lelouch closed his eyes with a sigh was he drove down the street. This was exhausting. He might not be a physical wreck, but he didn't have the stamina for this. He toyed with the black king piece in his hand. He'd found the black pieces in the ghetto while Kallen had changed. It was nice to focus on this like a chess game. It was familiar.

He checked the iff display in his cockpit. Three enemy combatants were approaching him from a street that crossed his in a hundred and fifty feet. Lelouch prepped his assault rifle. If he could take out all three, it wouldn't spur on the enemy as much. When the units crossed into the street, he fired and took out the first unit, then quickly reversed. The two began to chase him. He smiled, a wicked smile.

"Ohgi, you're B-1," he said into the radio he'd borrowed from Kallen's coat. "I have two enemies following me. You'll see them on your IFF. Shoot them. Try not to blow me away. Don't give the loud one a gun just yet."

0.0.0

'What do you mean, 'the loud one?!'' Tamaki raged over the radio. Ohgi gritted his teeth.

"Everybody," he told the radio, "check your weapons. Don't shoot Zero. Tamaki, don't shoot at all. Kallen, stick close to Zero, make sure he doesn't die." Ohgi smiled when he heard the affirmatives. In her new Sutherland, Kallen smiled at Ohgi's orders. The dozen resistance members moved to the edge of the railway and took aim. Ohgi sighted Zero's Knightmare, and the two following. "Wait," Ohgi ordered, carefully.

"Fire!" Ohgi said as soon as Zero was clear. The Machine gun fire ripped apart the Knightmares. Zero's stolen sutherland stopped and spun in place to face the destroyed remains of the enemy. Ohgi and Kallen dropped their knightmares down and faced him.

'I'll keep my IFF online for now. We'll destroy the units within the perimeter and see what Clovis does. Kallen,' when Kallen acknowledged, he continued talking. 'Your designation is Q-1. That means your my most important unit, and the most powerful. You'll also act as my personal guard.'

0.0.0

Clovis studied the tactical display in puzzlement. Two units had been taken out following another. Had a knightmare been captured? Clovis stood and walked over to the table display to stand beside the increasingly nervous general Bartley.

"Contact that unit that is alone!" he ordered, gesturing to the large screen. Bartley nodded and began to tap buttons on the table. He nodded to Clovis. "Identify yourself! Name and rank! What unit do you belong to?"

'Ah, the enemy commander, at last,' came a young voice. Clovis's eyes widened. 'And that voice, would I be correct in assuming you are Clovis la Britannia?' Clovis's face twisted into anger at the indignity. Refusing to use his title, what a monkey!

"I am Clovis la Britannia, third prince-"

'Your title is irrelevant. My name and rank do not exist. I am Zero! I now posses over fifty Knightmare Frames and the people to use them. And I declare war on Britannia, starting today!' Clovis was gripped with a sudden terror. If the others heard about this, he'd be ruined! He'd be recalled to the homeland, ruined!

"All units within the encirclement, converge on Zero!" Clovis ordered. Bartley began to order the units to move on a squad to squad basis.

0.0.0

In his Sutherland, Lelouch watched the units begin to turn. Heading for him. He reached out and turned off his IFF. He smiled to himself. This task might be easier than he thought. He checked the maps he had. The underground. He could use it to his advantage.

"Do you all have a map of the old city?" he asked into the borrowed resistance radio.

'Yes,' Ohgi responded. Lelouch smiled again.

"They try so hard to smash us into the dirt, why not show them what we can do with the dirt?" Lelouch asked, chuckling at the delicious irony of his plan. "Find the nearest underground entrances." he began to flash his IFF on and off.

In the main chamber of the mobile commander center, Clovis was smirking at the flashing IFF.

"The madman's broadcasting his location to us. What a stupid monkey," Clovis said hautily. "This is what you Elevens deserve for your crimes against my family." Suddenly the IFF didn't come back on. Clovis raised an eyebrow, confused. Was he trying to escape? The units continued to converge on the location from all sides.

'With this, I call check.'

At the signal, Kallen and Lelouch fired their assault rifles, blowing away the structural supports. The level above them, the ground level, began to collapse. The weight of the Britannian Knightmares susddenly falling in began to collapse the other supports. By that time Lelouch and Kallen were moving away quickly to leave the enemy to fall and die.

Lelouch watched the IFF screen change. There was no indication of the catastrophe, but the IFF signals quickly switched to say 'Signal Lost.' Lelouch merely laughed. It was too easy. He flicked his IFF back on.

In the main chamber, the now solitary IFF signal stood like a dragon to Clovis. He backed away, stammering. Who was this Zero? He was even better than Tohdoh! He was a demon summoned to bring ruin to Clovis!

"How?" Clovis asked the ether, like a whimpering child. "How is this possible?" The screen suddenly changed to the face of Lloyd Asplund. An idea, desperate, struck Clovis's mind like a lighting bolt.

"What are you doing?" demanded Bartley angrily. "We're in the middle of an operation!"

"Lloyd!" Clovis interrupted, loudly. "Can it win? Your little toy?"

'We have everything we need except permission to launch,' Lloyd confirmed, teasingly. 'Are you giving me permission?'

"Can it win?" Clovis pressed, desperately. "Your toy?" Lloyd smiled.

'Certainly. But my lord, please do me the favor of calling it Lancelot.'

0.0.0

Suzaku sat in the closed cockpit of the Lancelot, meditating as he waited. If he could launch, he could save Lelouch and that girl. He could defeat the rebels and stop the violence. But first he needed to launch. He debated launching without permission. If he produced results, maybe he wouldn't get collared for a court-martial. Suzaku began to reach for the controls to disconnect from the hangar when his communications beeped.

'Are you ready, Mr. Suzaku?' Lloyd asked in his usual excited tone. He blinked in surprise.

"You mean we got permission to launch?" Suzaku asked, surprised. He moved his hand from the disconnection controls.

'Yes sir-ee. Get ready, Kururugi, your entire world is about to change!' Lloyd said cheerfully.

'Whether you want it to or not,' Cecile added warningly. 'Are you ready to go, Suzaku?'

"Yes, Miss Cecile," Suzaku replied dutifully. The black tarp was dropped, revealing the white and gold Lancelot. The first seventh generation Knightmare of its kind. Suzaku's thoughts went back to Lelouch and the girl as the rest went through a checklist.

'Okay, Suzaku, you're cleared to launching of Z-01,' Cecile told him over the radio. Suzaku lowered the Lancelot into a crouch like a sprinting athlete, the tips of it fingers touching the ground. The land-spinners engaged, lowering the wheels to the ground.

"Z-01 Lancelot, launching!" Suzaku pressed the buttons on both reins and the wheels screeched into motion. The Lancelot shot forward. Behind him, Cecile and Lloyd were knocked flat by the shock wave of its launch.

0.0.0

Lelouch maneuvered his Sutherland back to street level alongside Kallen. He noted that none of the forces maintaining the encirclement had moved. Maybe he could use one of the sutherlands without the IFFs, claim it was a defective. Then the display made him pause. There was one unit coming from the enemy's center.

'Zero! We can move in on their command center now!' came Ohgi's voice. 'What's your plan?'

"Hold on," Lelouch told the leader. He leaned forward in his chair, puzzled. "They've sent one unit out at us, but it's speed. It's three times faster than a sutherland!" Lelouch realized with a start that is was headed right for his IFF! "N group, move 50 meters ahead of me in the direction of the oncoming unit and prepare to fire!" Four of his units moved up the street as he ordered. He checked the screen again. It was going to be here in-

The white and gold unit was on the four in a few seconds. It rapidly punched the first and ripped its head clean off. It quickly moved to the other two and disabled both in three moves. Then raised its arm and fired a slash harken into the fourth's waist, triggering the auto-eject. Lelouch's eyes were wide in horror. It had disabled a squad in all of two seconds. What kind of monster was this? Ohgi and Kallen began to fire.

"Wait!" he shouted, but it was too late. The white unit scanned them quickly with its fact-sphere sensors in its chest and raised an arm. And the bullets were deflected. Lelouch could see the green shimmer in the air between the unit and the machine gun fire. "It can deflect bullets?" Kallen and Ohgi's guns clicked dry, and Ohgi added a round from his grenade launcher. The explosive threw up a cloud of dust around the white Knightmare.

"Back up," Lelouch ordered quickly. "That thing's going to come for us as soon as that dust is gone, and we're not even in the same league. Retreat, now!"

'You're joking,' Ohgi admonished. 'That thing's gone! Nothing could survive that!' You're wrong, Lelouch thought, gritting his teeth. True to his words, when the dust was falling, the white knightmare was revealed, not even suffering cosmetic damage. 'But how?!'

The machine moved at Ohgi's words, dashing right up to Ohgi's face and ramming its arm into the Knightmare's waist. Ohgi's cockpit was launched by the damage. Lelouch aimed and fired his assault rifle, but the white machine was already moving. Lelouch saw it on his front display with its arm drawn back for an attack. Lelouch's mind froze in a sudden fear.

However, the machine's arm flashing didn't rock the Knightmare around him. Instead now it held two slash harkens in its hand. But where had they...Lelouch looked to his left in realization. Kallen's sutherland had fired its anchors. The white machine crushed the harkens, shattering them, then slashed its arm vertically. Kallen's Sutherland's head was severed at the front of its neck.

"Kallen, eject!" Lelouch ordered, desperately.

'What?' Kallen asked, annoyed, 'you can't take this thing by yourself!'

"I don't plan to, but I made a promise," Lelouch reminded her quickly. "Eject!" In her cockpit, Kallen was shocked by Lelouch's words. Did she mean that much to him? It was a promise to a person he barely knew. "Eject!" Kallen gritted her teeth and yanked on the two levers by the seat. Lelouch rolled away from the white machine and spun to face it in time to see kallen's sutherland fall like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Now," he hissed, angrily, as the white machine turned to face him. "Now it's just you and me. And the rest of my forces." Into his radio, he added, "B group, aim at the machine to my twelve and open fire." They fired just as he planned. The machine reacted just as he had planned, raising its shimmering shield. It headed for the larger group. Lelouch drove his Knightmare rapidly after Kallen's ejection pod.

0.0.0

Suzaku paused to take a deep breath as the fourth unit was disabled. He turned to see if the other unit was still there. It had disappeared, the street appeared empty of any functional Knightmare, save his Lancelot. He began to manipulate the Lancelot by the reins, when his side twitched with pain. His hand went to his side with a pained hiss.

'Mr. Suzaku,' came Cecile's voice, making Suzaku jump. 'Are you getting tired?'

"No," he told her, smiling slightly. "I want to keep going."

0.0.0

Kallen sat with her back to Lelouch as he donned the soldier's coverall. She frowned to herself in thought. I made a promise. That's what he'd said. But why had it mattered to him. She glanced over her shoulder as he pulled on the boots. She looked away when she saw Lelouch's head turn to look at her. She reached down and tugged at the bikini line of the knight's borrowed uniform.

"This is a bit revealing," she commented. "How is this supposed to improve survivability?" Lelouch chuckled at her comments, making Kallen glance back at him again. "Earlier, why did you care about me ejecting?" Lelouch froze as he zipped up the coverall.

"I made a promise," Lelouch commented. Kallen turned to look at him now, unimpressed.

"Why would you care about a promise you made to someone you barely know?" Kallen pressed, curiosity and irritation at his deflection in equal measure. Lelouch finished zipping up the coverall and donned the flak jacket, fastening it at his sides. He picked up the helmet and paused with the helmet in his hands.

"I needed him to follow my orders," Lelouch said dismissively. Kallen looked away, frowning to herself. To gain their trust. That was all she was to him, then. Kallen was surprised out of her inner monologue by Lelouch's proffered hand. She blinked at the hand and looked up at Lelouch.

"Are you ready, Kallen?" She saw his face. He was smiling. Like she was a friend. She took his hand and he lifted her to her feet. He paused from his smile. "If you don't want to, I mean, if you have somewhere else you need to be, I'm sure I can get to Clovis by myself now." Kallen blinked at the remark, confused.

"Are you trying to protect me?" Kallen asked, incredulous. Lelouch scowled, annoyed. He let go of her hand and turned and began to walk. Kallen glanced in the direction of the shelter. Ohgi and the rest were probably already there. And then she followed Lelouch.

0.0.0

"Hey, you there!" said one of the soldiers stationed around the Mobile Command center. Lelouch exhaled with relief. Any more walking and he'd rather have given up. And it was poorly guarded. Despite the complication of the white machine showing up. He removed his helmet and felt his showed his power in his eye.

"Allow me to pass," he ordered. The man's face went slack. He heard Kallen walking behind him as the two moved into the control vehicle. His power made short work of all resistance. As he and Kallen entered the elevator, she didn't say anything. Lelouch frowned to himself, remembering their conversation.

"Why did you attack the white knightmare when it was about to take me out?" Lelouch asked suddenly. "I'm an exiled Britannian Prince, the highest target of your enemy." He didn't look at Kallen as he spoke.

"I was defending our commander from an enemy unit," Kallen replied, matter-of-factly. Lelouch looked down, frowning.

"I see," he said. In the corner of his eye, Kallen glanced at him, uncomfortable. Lelouch checked the floor indicator on the control pad and pulled out the gun he'd grabbed. Kallen noticed. When the door opened, Lelouch's left eye burned red with the bird sigil. The general and staff officers instantly began to question him.

"Leave Clovis and I alone," he ordered, "and tell no one that Clovis is alone with me and my friend." The officer's moved from the chamber in a trance as Lelouch stepped past them, aiming the gun at Clovis. "We meet at last. I must say, your reinforcements were most impressive." Clovis reacted as expected.

"You're zero?" he asked, unimpressed. "I thought you'd be older." Lelouch smirked under his helmet. He dropped the pistol and removed the helmet.

"I'd like you to order a cease fire and escort all Elevens from the ghetto," Lelouch said. The darkness obscured his face, but the pistol provided the motivation for Clovis to perform. When he was finished, Clovis sat back and crossed his legs.

"What next, a lovely ballad? A game of chess?" he asked haughtily. Lelouch began to stalk towards Clovis, the gun held out at his side. Kallen began to follow until Lelouch raised a hand for her to stand back. Lelouch smiled as Clovis began to see Lelouch's face. Lelouch kneeled before Clovis as soon as the light was on his face.

"Lelouch vi Britannia, at your service," Lelouch greeted, smiling humorously.

"Lelouch!" Clovis exclaimed with excitement. Lelouch was smiling until he heard several ringing gunshots. Clovis's chest burst into red. Lelouch looked over to the source. Kallen was holding the gun with both hands, crying with rage. Lelouch stood as Clovis began to choke on his own blood.

"That's for all the people you killed today, murderer!" Kallen screamed with rage. Then she fired, again and again, until the pistol in her hand clicked empty. Lelouch looked back at Clovis, wide eyed. Dammit, how was he going to get his answers? He looked back at Kallen angrily. She dropped to her knees, sobbing, shocking Lelouch.

"Naoto," she sobbed, lowering her head. Lelouch walked over and knelt in front of her. He had no idea what to do. Awkwardly, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, frowning. Kallen looked up at him, her eyes seeming grateful. Then she threw her head on his shoulder, putting an arm around his neck, sobbing harder.