Hmm...have a few ideas to put out there, still haven't decided on the whole cast but I do have plans for the plot in total. Also if you're curious what the outfit Clovis chooses for Lelouch looks like, it's basically Julius Kingsley's (AKA Geass'd Lelouch) from Akito the Exiled...sans the fabulous eyepatch.

Prince Clovis la Britannia was frankly one straw away from a complete and total nervous breakdown and he had no idea what to do about it. Everything had gone to Hell after the Shinjuku disaster; the Code R test subject had escaped, his best pilots were made a joke of by a junker Glasgow, and someone had leaked footage of the systematic slaughter of the Eleven denizens of the ghetto on the internet.

Clovis had barely managed to finally tamp down the media end of that fiasco just before the Prime Minister's surprise visit, a stroke of luck there at least. While Schneizel would have undoubtedly asked questions Clovis was fairly certain he would have been able to deflect most inquiries away and move on as if nothing had happened.

Unfortunately what would have only been a rather awkward visit with his older brother had quickly devolved into an unmitigated disaster when the remnants of the former Japanese government launched a massive surprise invasion with the help of the Chinese of all people.

As of yesterday they had completely taken over Kyushu and managed to damage several outlier bases with long range surgical strikes courtesy of their newly captured Britannian missile batteries. Apparently someone hadn't renewed the launch codes in some time and the Chinese had little trouble cracking the encryptions, Clovis reflected that those responsible would most certainly have to be executed later if they weren't already dead.

Hopefully by his hand, the fools.

To top off the fiasco Schneizel had been injured in one of the missile attacks due to his new toy the Avalon being far too tempting a target for the invaders and their ill-begotten anti-air systems. While the airship had managed to limp away from the danger it meant that Schneizel's brilliant mind was currently unavailable leaving Clovis floundering to try and stave off disaster.

He was just as skeptical of his ability to pull it off as everyone else, unfortunatly.

"Your Highness, we've just picked up an open transmission on the 'Guards' channel, I think you may want to hear this yourself," a tech nervously called out from one of the various terminals lining the Viceroy Palace's command information center.

Sighing Clovis nodded slowly, "This better not be a waste of time, we have enough on our plates as is, go ahead and play the transmission."

What followed made Clovis very nearly choke on air.

*Bzzt* This is Princess Nunnally vi Britannia of the Royal Family, I am currently pinned down outside the Viceroy Palace of the Tokyo settlement by Chinese military units while my brother, the Prince Lelouch vi Britannia is desperately fighting to protect us. Authorization code VB-12100508-RED12, authentication ZB4, 'Bad Moon Rising. *Bzzt*

For a moment Clovis just stared at the speaker mounted in his command chair trying to process this turn of events.

Nunnally and Lelouch were still alive? They'd been hiding in Area Eleven this entire time? Why hadn't they come to him for aid, and why were they hiding?

These questions were important, but not as important as the need to take action. Say what you will about the pampered Prince no one would ever argue the fact that Clovis loved his younger siblings dearly, and he owed it to Lady Marianne to ensure their survival regardless.

Opening a channel to the leader of the Pure-Blood faction Clovis glanced at the monitor just in time to meet the gaze of the equally shocked Margrave, not that he could blame the man. After all both of them had come to Area Eleven all those years ago to find out what had happened to the missing vi Britannia siblings, and had found nothing but dust and echoes for their efforts.

Fate, it would seem, had a rather crass sense of humor.

"Lord Jeremiah...take as many units as you need along with an APC and verify the validity of this transmission... Once confirmed... bring my little brother and sister home..."

Not bothering to supress his grin Jeremiah saluted once while stating, "Gladly your Highness!" before cutting the transmission.

Clovis pressed his fingertips to his temples and rubbed them in rough semi-circles a few moments before coming to a decision. He had not seen Lelouch in over seven years, but even as a boy he had consistently and rather embarrassingly defeated Clovis at games of strategy; he had apparently acquired skills in subterfuge as well if he'd kept himself and his sister hidden this long.

It was a long shot but Clovis would do what it took to survive, and really at this point what did he have to lose? It wasn't like the Prince in hiding could possibly be any worse then Bartley, frankly Clovis was shocked the man hadn't had a stroke yet as bad as things were going.

Besides, nothing gambled, nothing gained.

He would swallow his pride and ask his little brother for advice, anything to stave off complete defeat.

As Lelouch followed the APC holding his family and classmates through the massive egress gates of the Viceroy Palace he couldn't help shivering at the appraising gazes of the gathered troops. It was quite disconcerting to be stared at in shock and awe, as if being confronted with supposedly murdered royals returning from the dead was the most important thing to worry about in the midst of an invasion.

Goddamn did he hate Britannia.

Steering Ganymede towards the center of the court yard he brought his badly damaged frame to a stop next to the white and gold knightmare piloted by Margrave Jeremiah.

Jeremiah, now hadn't that been a surprise? He had not recognized the man at first but eventually the teary eyed officer had explained he'd been a member of his mother's guard and one of many who had been sent away shortly before her assassination. When recognition had crossed Lelouch's face Jeremiah had quickly explained how he had created the Pure-Blood Faction in an attempt to wash away his failure at protecting the Empress and avenging the 'fallen' Prince and Princess.

Wasted effort there, and if what he heard about the Pure-Bloods was true he really didn't want his name attached to their actions. Lelouch may have been willing to accept being drawn back into the snake pit that was Pendragon if it meant saving Nunnally and Milly, but he had no interest in pretending he gave a damn about any of the nobility's prejudices.

That was neither here nor there though, first course of action was survival and hopefully escape, he'd deal with the messy details later. Bringing his knightmare to a crouch Lelouch wearily pulled himself from the cockpit and had barely managed to touch his feet to the concrete before he was tackled by both Milly and Shirley.

"Lulu are you ok!?"

"DON'T EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN VI BRITANNIA!"

"Big brother are you all right!? Your eye it looks..."

"Master Lelouch, I must say your piloting skills are quite exemplary."

Lelouch let out a resigned sigh as he shuffled his girlfriend and his stalker off to the side to stand back up, turning to Milly first he pulled her back to her feet and did the same for Shirley before responding to the gathered women of his life.

"Yes Shirley I'm fine, I'm sorry Milly it won't happen again unless we're met with more people who wish to kill my little sister and girlfriend. Nunnally I won't lie to you my eye hurts quite badly at the moment, Sayoko...thank you, nice shot with the missile launcher by the way."

Without prompting Rivalz stepped forward to pull the flustered Shirley back to the rest of the group, he'd have to give his man servant...friend... a bonus of some sort later for deflecting that exasperation later on. Milly for her part grabbed Lelouch by the head and pulled him into a searing kiss before breaking it off giving him a saucy wink as she sauntered back to her grandfather who was currently talking to the gathering troops.

Nunnally just rolled her eyes and huffed as Sayoko laughed into her hand, at least some people around here could comport themselves with a bit of dignity.

"I thank you my lord, if I am to continue protecting you and your sister though I request a larger variety of weapons...oh." Taking a step back the Japanese woman bowed once and walked behind Nunnally's wheel chair as their small group was approached by none other then the Viceroy himself, along with Lord Jeremiah.

"Lelouch! It's so good to see that you've survived! And Nunnally too! How are you little sister?" The brunette teen gave Clovis a watery smile and as he leaned down she threw her arms around him sobbing loudly, thus causing Lelouch to wince and Clovis to wrap his arms around her tightly in return.

"Oh it's so good to see you again brother, I can see, literally...I can see again, can you believe it?! Oh Clovis what are we going to do? We're being invaded and...and what is to become of us?" Releasing the chair-bound Princess the blonde man stood and appraised Lelouch a moment before turning back to his little sister smiling widely.

"Why Lelouch and I are going to repel these invaders and keep you safe, isn't that right, brother?" Lelouch quirked an eyebrow at that, not 'little' brother, but brother, an equal...

Smiling in return Lelouch patted Nunnally's clasped hands once as he nodded quickly, "That's right little sister, we'll figure out how to get out of this. Brother, is there anywhere Nunnally and the rest of my friends can relax while we figure things out?"

Clovis nodded quickly as he turned to Jeremiah, "Margrave, while it is a beneath your station would you see to Princess Nunnally and her friend's needs while Lelouch and I catch up?"

Jeremiah gave both Princes a shrewd look before nodding, "It would be an honor, your highness." Giving his farewells to his friends, and receiving a promise of painful castration from Milly if he did anything stupid without her around, Lelouch followed his brother through the palace.

"Soooo..." Lelouch began, Clovis much to his surprise snorted as he waved a white gloved finger languidly towards the sky.

"We are so fucked it isn't even funny." Well...shit.

Trying to keep his stray thoughts in order Lelouch shook his head slightly before turning to his brother to reply. "O...k...where are we going?"

Clovis sighed at that as they entered a large suite, gesturing towards an open bathroom the Viceroy practically pushed his younger brother through the door.

"You're going to take a shower, then we're going to patch up those wounds, then we're going to get you properly attired and then save this bloody Area before the sodding Chinese burn it to the ground." Turning to face his brother Lelouch was about to argue until he saw the firm set to the mans jaw as he huffed and crossed his arms glaring at the younger Prince.

Lelouch was uncomfortably reminded of his terrifying older sister Cornelia a moment before acquiescing. "Fine fine, but we don't have time for fanfare so lets make this quick."

Turning on the faucets Lelouch stripped and stepped into the hot cascade of water sighing as it melted away the grim and blood of the day. As he went about cleaning himself Lelouch yelled out to his brother not wishing to waste any time that could possibly help them.

"So, what are we looking at in terms of field able units in Tokyo?" He thought Clovis was ignoring him before he heard the toilet seat slam shut, glancing around the curtain he watched the blonde man fall on the porcelain throne as he gripped the bridge of his nose.

"We have roughly four hundred knightmares in total counting the Knight Police, somewhere between two hundred and three hundred tanks, roughly five hundred VTOL gunships, and one hundred forty eight Trident air superiority fighters. For sea combat we have around three hundred Portman units as well as one carrier battleship and twelve missile cruisers."

Lelouch hummed to himself as he processed this. It was...a rather sizable force, but if he split it up it would all collapse under the shear weight of numbers that the Chinese could field, so they had to play this smart. Sighing he turned off the water and stuck his arm out of the curtains as his rather bemused brother tossed a towel into his hand.

Drying himself off Lelouch wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower as Clovis followed him into the main room that already had a woman in white waiting for him, the look she was giving the injured Prince caused him to gulp audibly. Forced to a sitting position he was made to suffer the indignity of the woman pulling shrapnel from his wounds and stitching them up while she growled in irritation the entire time.

Lelouch had no desire to anger her further and wisely kept quiet despite the indignity of it all.

After he was properly stitched and sanitized the woman handed him a plain black eyepatch while pointing at the vertical scar marring the left side of his face that cut perfectly across his eye.

"Cover that up for the next few weeks, if you want to keep using it that is, outside of that you're good to go, and I better not see you in my infirmary or there will be hell to pay!"

As the woman left the room Lelouch shot Clovis a look that earned him a shrug in turn, "Cornelia's recommendation, I've been too terrified to transfer her elsewhere." Nodding in understanding Lelouch accepted the rather gaudy gold and black clothes offered up by his brother and re-entered the bathroom.

Pulling on the silk boxers and the black slacks he managed to fumble through pulling on the undershirt as well as buttoning the jacket, sodding lack of depth perception! Eventually getting his new outfit in order he took a step back and stared into the mirror in shock.

The gold embroidered black tunic and cape looked both aristocratic and refined while the mantle and cuffs emphasized an undisclosed rank. He was important, obviously, so important in fact you didn't even know who he was.

So bloody Britannian...

His shaggy bangs hung over his eye patched face and the various pockmarks earned in his recent sortie gave him a roguish look, after a moment he let out an exasperated snort as he shook his head.

"I look like I"m either a gay pirate or a rather fabulous warlord..." a moment later the door swung open and Clovis stepped into the room. Turning around Lelouch met his brother's gaze as the blonde grinned widely.

"You look perfect! Come now we have to get to the CIC and turn the tide of this battle!" As Clovis grabbed his brother's hand and dragged him out into the halls Lelouch couldn't help but consider that perhaps he would have been better off holing up at the Academy with Milly and Nunnally letting everyone else fend for themselves.

Picking up steam, thoughts?