Code Geass: A different Code

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass

The year was august 10th in the year 2010 of the imperial calender. The holy Britannian Empire had just declared war upon Japan. The far-east island nation had held vast to its neutrality, and now Britannia looms as the worlds only superpower. Japan became a dominion of the Empire. The country was tripped of its freedom, its rights and its name. Area 11. The defeated and once proud nation of Japan was rechristened with a mere number.

-0-

2010 a.t.b.

Lelouch vi Britannia stood in the ruins of a small town at the shore, his best friend Suzaku sitting beside him, staring at the remains of his country. His sister, blind and crippled, was waiting in a car the Ashford family, old friends of their mother who had fallen from the emperor's graze after she had been assassinated. Lelouch looked around him again. Why had his father sent them to a country he invaded not a month afterwards? Apparently, when his father had said they were dead to him, he hadn't been kidding. His father was a heartless monster. He had decided to disappear with his sister before his father found them and found a new way to use them as pawns. But Lelouch knew that he would make those who had wronged them pay dearly for what they did. They had destroyed his world, so he would destroy theirs.

"I swear" Suzaku looked up as his best friend spoke "I swear Suzaku so help me. I will one day..."

Suzaku had never seen his friend so angered before. Something dangerous was glowing in his eyes.

"...obliterate Britannia!" He had no doubts that his friend was dead serious.

-0-

2017 a.t.b.

Lelouch Lamperouge was sitting in the side-car of his self-proclaimed best friend Rivalz bike, on his way to a technically illegal chess match. If he won, he'd have enough money to support him and his sister Nunnally for more than a month. Not that he was worried about losing, most nobles hardly knew how to play and intimidated their opponents into making mistakes and using these to win. He noticed the viceroy of Area 11, Clovis la Britannia, was making another speech about something. He smiled sadly. If fate had been less cruel to him, chances were he could have been in Clovis place, holding a similar speech. He remembered the day where it all went wrong.

-0-

2010 a.t.b.

It was a warm day and the young prince, Lelouch vi Britannia, had returned from the gardens of the Aries Villa where he had played hide and seek with his younger sister, Nunnaly. Nunnaly had found a little glass bear in a tree branch, but Lelouch was sure his mother had put it there for them to find. Not that that stopped his sister from bragging.

"Look, Lelouch, he's so cute." He rolled his eyes.

"Yes Nunnally, you've said that five times already, I heard you the first time. But I'm willing to bet it was mother who put that bear in one of your favorite hiding places." Marianne vi Britannia could be a intimidating woman, but to her children, she had always been kind and gentle.

Nunnally stretched her tongue out towards him and said "You're just jealous because I found it. Come on, I want to show it to mommy. Maybe we can have a picnic afterwards, we have such nice weather." Lelouch liked the idea and smiled.

"Let's find mother so we can ask her."

They searched the villa for their mother, but initially couldn't find her, until they searched the entrance hall. There she was, standing on the stairs apparently waiting for someone, although Lelouch had no idea who might be coming today. Maybe Schneizel, Lelouch wanted a rematch after that last round of chess he had lost. Nunnally ran towards their mother showing her the glass bear.

"Mommy, look what I found!" For a moment, his mother looked annoyed, but when Lelouch looked again, she had her usual, kind expression. He must have imagined it. Then, a young boy about Lelouch's age entered, a determined look on his face, like he was about to try to do something he considered nearly impossible. Lelouch knew that look very well. It was the same look his big brother Clovis and his big sister Cornelia had when they challenged him to a game of chess. And then, in a split second, Lelouch's world broke apart.

The window shattered, gunfire roaring through the frame and hitting Marianne vi Britannia who was trying to shield her daughter, but to no avail. Nunnally vi Britannia was hit in the legs multiple times. A second later, it was over. The boy was gone.

His mother had been looking behind her, but now she slowly turned her head, as if trying to look at him, but before their eyes could meet, she slumped together and didn't move anymore. His sister was under his mother, blood flowing from her legs, her eyes opened wide in shock. The bear had shattered, if the cause was a bullet or simply the fall was not clear. Blood and pain and shambles, that was all that was left of his happiness, his loved ones. Lelouch started to scream.

-0-

2017 a.t.b.

"Hey Lelouch, did you fall asleep? We're here." Rivalz called. Lelouch looked up. They had indeed arrived. It was time to earn some money.

Lelouch looked his opponent. Another arrogant noble, who hardly payed any attention to them, his main focus being on his nails. Lelouch glanced at the board to see what his predecessor had left him to work with.

"You can't win this one, it's impossible, right?" Rivalz had looked at the chessboard. Indeed, it seemed like an almost certain victory for the noble, but Lelouch knew that if he'd play seriously he could crush the man in five minutes at most. But what fun would that be?

"Rivalz, when would have to leave in order to make our next class?" Lelouch asked. Rivalz thought about it for a minute.

"Twenty minutes, if we bust our humps." He then answered. Lelouch smiled.

"Then be sure to drive safely on the way back, I'll need nine minutes." Enough time to play a bit of cat and mouse with his unsuspecting opponent. The nobleman seemed surprised.

"Nine minutes? But you have only twenty seconds per move!"

"Enough time." Lelouch stated and moved his king. The nobleman seemed amused.

"You start with the king? Mwhahaha!" Lelouch smiled a seemingly innocent smile. The would never know what hit him.

-0-

Meanwhile, a truck was being driven over a street, heading into the Tokyo settlement, a military helicopter hot on their trail. A man was driving, while a young woman on the passenger seat kept looking in the rear mirror. They were wearing blueish-white uniforms and were nervous. The woman cursed.

"Damn it! How did they find us so soon?" The man ground his teeth.

"Perfect," He swore "after we finally steal this damn thing! And it's all because Tamaki couldn't stick to Naoto's plan, and now we've got a problem!"

-0-

Rivalz looked at his stopwatch. Eight minutes and twelve seconds had passed, and Lelouch looked like he was in trouble. The noble was smiling, he was certain the boy would lose, in fact, he would checkmate him in two turns. Suddenly Lelouch smiled and moved his queen right next to the nobleman's king.

"Checkmate." He said while smiling. The noble blinked. It was true, the queen would take his king next turn and he couldn't take the boy's queen because it was protected by a pawn. He had lost because of a pawn, and while he had the advantage as well. He had had the chance to take that pawn many times, but he had always went after the more valuable pieces instead. He couldn't believe it. He had given the wager to his butler, who handed it to the boy, seeing that the lord of the house would be unable to act for a while. The boys left, while the noble was still staring at the board.

When they left the mansion, Rivalz cheered. "I just love playing against the nobility. When they lose, they always pay out of pride. By the way, eight minutes thirty-two seconds is a new record."

Lelouch seemed bored."He also didn't have much time to move either. And as opponents go, the nobles are tepid. They're just overprivileged parasites, that's all."

"Well then, why don't you challenge one of the Elevens? They're nothing like us Britannians. Huh?" Rivalz turned around to see the news reporting about a new terrorist attack. Then Clovis was holding some cheesy speech about how it hurt him to see all that suffering. 'That might actually be true, he always was more of a pacifist. But then again, he used to be rather quiet, and nowadays it's near impossible to get him to shut up. He spends half his time on television. No wonder terrorism is blooming.'

While the television asked for a moment of silence, Lelouch helped Rivalz get his bike ready to leave. Rivalz looked at Lelouch. "Aren't you going to join in?"

"Aren't you?" Lelouch replied. Rivalz grinned.

"It's kinda embarrassing."

"And I agree with you. Besides, spilling tears over those people won't bring them back to life, now will it?" If it did, Lelouch's tears would have brought his mother back long ago.

Rivalz put on his goggles. "Dang, that's dark, buddy."

"It's all about self-satisfaction. In the end, it's impossible to change the world." Lelouch stated, a bitter tone hidden in his voice.

-0-

The cameras stopped filming and Clovis stepped down from the stage.

"You were magnificent, your highness. One would never guess you were attending a party while doing that." A noblewoman stated. Clovis smiled.

"It's all in the performance. Since the media want a charismatic leader, I give them one." He said, before mentally adding 'And since you blood-suckers want an arrogant, number-hating prince, I give you one.' He wished Lelouch were here. He would find a way to kick all of them out forever without sounding impolite, but Clovis hadn't even managed to get much pro-number legislation down because they would always object. Clovis was working on a way to do both, but without success so far. Clovis really only wanted to have his peace, remember happier times and finish the painting he had recently started, not to be involved with these rich racists or that Code-R project his adviser Bartley worked on with such fascination. 'Well, speak of the devil.' Clovis thought as Bartley came rushing in, a slightly stressed look on his face. Clovis liked that look, it was finally a change to the smug grin he started to wear permanently since he had heard that there was some sort of major promotion planned for him. Bartley had started to act like he was some sort of demigod, and as if failure was now beneath him. Which made the almost panicked look on the man's so much more amusing. But when Clovis heard what had happened, he almost panicked himself.

"You fool!" He shouted, enjoying the fact that he could finally put the man back in his place "How could this have happened?" Then he added, this time whispering to avoid listeners "What now? If this is discovered..." Even though he had nothing to do with this project besides having a vague idea what it was about, he knew that if that information reached the public, he would be seen as an accomplice. And if that happened, he would be disinherited at best, maybe even banished like his siblings Lelouch and Nunnally, and he knew how that would end.

"I think it's best if we deploy all available forces, including the Knightmares and the royal guard, to solve this affair quickly." Clovis nodded. That seemed to be the only way. He only hoped it wouldn't cause too much bloodshed.

-0-

Lelouch and Rivalz were heading back to the academy when Rivalz asked "That first move you made, why did you start with the king?"

"If the king does not lead, how can expect his subordinates to follow?" Lelouch replied.

"What's with that?" Rivalz asked "Do you fantasize about running a major company?" Lelouch laughed.

"No way, ambitions like that will ruin your health." In fact, he had once dreamed of running a major empire, but that was in the past. Suddenly, he got a very bad feeling and a moment later he knew why. A huge truck was right behind them, blocking practically the entire road. Rivalz noticed them as well and screamed in terror.

"We're gonna die!"

-0-

"You idiots! Watch where your going!" the driver shouted and turned the wheel.

"No, not that way!" the female passenger shouted, but it was too late. The truck drove on to a construction site and crashed into the metal bars.

-0-

Rivalz blinked. "Was that our fault?" he asked.

"I don't think so." Lelouch said, and then he had a feeling that there was something important in that truck. Though what really made him run toward the truck were people around him, who were just standing there taking pictures. 'I'm not like them!' he thought while he ran to the truck.

"Hey, is everything alright?" No answer. Lelouch saw a metal stairs leading to the top of the truck. He climbed them and called again, but suddenly the truck started moving again. 'Oh crap' were Lelouch's last thoughts before he lost his balance, rolled over the roof and fell through a ceiling opening. He somehow managed to roll over his shoulder (really happened, check episode 1) and came to his feet. He looked around and noticed some genius had forgot to add a ladder on the inside, but had instead built some kind of metal flask. Suddenly he heard a demanding voice shouting something about surrender and court, but what got Lelouch worried were the words 'shoot to kill', followed by the unmistakable sound of gunfire. "Great," he muttered "if I jump of, I have the choice of breaking my neck or getting shot. Maybe I should..." but his thoughts were interrupted when a door opened. He barely managed to hide behind the flask before a strangely familiar looking girl entered the backspace, slipped out of her coat and went to the back storage, which had been blocked by a door and now opened and then closed behind her. Lelouch noticed there was a communicator in the coat pocket. Lelouch took it, just in case. Now all he could do was wait for a chance to escape while a couple of explosions could be heard outside.

-0-

Bartley Aspirius was more than stressed. His hard work's most important part, the contents of the flask, had been stolen, not even two weeks after he obtained it. They had enough information from the time they possessed it, but it would work much faster with it. And now Earl Loyd Asplund was staring in his face from a distance of maybe three inches. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at a man who blundered, Am I right?" Bartley ground his teeth. How dare that man insult him. But what the man said after that left him speechless. He was precisely describing what had happened, his only mistake was that he considered Prince Clovis a part of the plot. The prince knew about parts of the project, but that was all. Loyd turned to his assistant, Cecile. "Congratulations, you're theory was spot-on." Bartley stared. That girl had figured all that out? Cecile blushed.

"I just thought it was strange, that's all. But, what exactly have the terrorists stolen?"

Bartley ground his teeth again. "Chemical weapons. In other words, poison gas."

-0-

After a bumpy ride, the truck finally stopped. Lelouch tried to climb the flask to reach the exit, not aware that the side of the truck behind him had opened. He only noticed a blur from the corner of his eye, and instinctively raised his arms to block. He was hit by a spinning kick and fell to the floor. Within a moment, the soldier, as Lelouch now recognized he was a military suit, was on him.

"That's enough mindless murder!" the soldier shouted while grabbing him by the throat.

"Wait, I'm not one of..." Lelouch started, but the soldier interrupted him.

"Trying to use poison gas? You should..." Enough was enough.

"Get off me!" Lelouch shouted while trying to kick the man, but he jumped backwards. " And if that's poison gas it was made in Britannia, wasn't it?" Lelouch asked. The man seemed shocked.

"My god!"

"Mindless murder? Then why don't you just destroy Britannia?" Lelouch was about to say more, but then the soldier took off his helmet and said his name.

"Lelouch, it's me Suzaku." Lelouch was shocked.

"Suzaku, you've joined the military?" Suzaku smiled, then his face darkened.

"Yeah, but what about you? You've joined a..." That was it!

"What are you saying?" Lelouch shouted. He wanted to say a few more things, but suddenly the flask opened. Suzaku threw Lelouch to the floor, shoving a gas mask in his face. But there was no gas. Instead, a young boy with long blond hair fell out off the flask. Lelouch ran to the boy and saw he was in heavy restraints. He turned to his best friend.

"Suzaku, tell me the truth. Poison gas, this boy?" Did Britannia stoop as low as kidnapping little kids?

Suzaku raised his hands in defense "It's what they told us at the briefing."

Meanwhile, the boy opened his reddish purple eyes and looked straight into a pair of amethyst eyes.

'It can't be.' he thought, still drowsy and unable to see clearly. 'Marianne?'

And that's the first chapter. I apologize that it' a retelling of the anime at some points, I just didn't get a better idea for the start of this story. The next chapters will vary more from the anime, though as a beginner at writing, I will use the original story as a basis, especially in the beginning. Tell me what you think about this chapter and the idea for the story in general.

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