My name is Ylva Lamperouge. I am eighteen and a boarding student at Ashford Academy in Tokyo, Area Eleven which I attend along with my twin brother Lelouch. We are orphans and therefore each of us is the only family that the other has.
Much of what I have just told you is a lie. At least I think it is a lie. What is truth and what is not can be mutable I have found. But this is my story and I will tell it the way I choose.
It was just another day at Ashford Academy. Lelouch was playing truant, being chased by the PE teacher. Since Lelouch is not what one might call athletic his flight involved a smokescreen, a decoy and my hotwiring the motorcycle of our good friend Rivalz so that I could act as his getaway driver. It was a classic triumph of brains over brawn.
Of course it’s an open question how much brains my brother was displaying in running away from the rather shapely Miss Viletta. Most of the boys in the school would adore the prospect of remedial teaching by someone with such impressive... assets. And legs that her rather tight clothes made quite clear went all the way up. Then again, Lelouch has never been all that interested in the fairer sex. The reverse, I hasten to add, is by no means the case.
“For crying out loud,” he complained from the sidecar, unwrapping a sandwich as we zipped along the highway. “Can’t they give me a break and leave me alone after school.”
“It’s just a theory,” I pointed out, “But they might do so less persistently if you didn’t keep skipping classes.”
“And I wouldn’t do that if they weren’t insufferably boring,” Lelouch countered my arguement. “Here, have some.” He tore away part of his sandwich and offered it to me. “It’s from Milly.”
I leant down and snagged it with my teeth, then panicked as the motion left the motorcycle sliding out of our lane and had to straighten sharply, almost losing the half-sandwich in the process. I’m not sure what he was thinking, handing me such a huge mouthful while I negotiated the traffic. Nonetheless I choked it down. If today went true to form any dinner or supper would be an afterthought at best.
“Didn’t you hand in your career guidance report yet? Is that the reason Miss Viletta was so upset today?”
“Oh.” Lelouch propped his chin on one hand. “I forgot.”
“What about college? We graduate this year, or did you forget that too?”
“Well I haven’t decided yet. I am sick and tired of being a student but I’m not ready to get a job and join the system either.” He looked up at me. “And what about you, Ylva? Did you hand in the pack.”
I hadn’t but I gave him a confident grin and lied: “Of course.” I lie to Lelouch every day. I wonder if other sisters do the same with their brothers. “Unfortunately there aren’t any openings for supreme deities in Britannian society right now so I may have to go with my second choice.”
“Oh?”
“A burden on society.”
He laughed. That had been predicted for him more than once by frustrated teachers.
We entered the car parks of Babel Tower. It’s a place of entertainment for those with the money to enjoy it, which isn’t something that either of us should have been able to boast. We depended on Milly’s charity to afford the fees for Ashford Academy. Then again, Lelouch had other sources of income and so we were less of a burden on the Student President than we might otherwise have been. So naturally I did what I could to assist him.
Until today that had been limited to providing him with assistance on the school grounds and some transportation but Babel Tower worried me in ways that previous venues had not. It wasn’t the first time he’d been here, but since then I’d done research and I had come to conclude that it was more dangerous than its reputation suggested. Particularly to an upstart commoner like Lelouch. My brother’s nerve sometime reaches the degree of hubris (while my own judgement, naturally, is flawless).
“Alright then,” conceded Lelouch as we dismounted. “You can come with me but I warn you, you’ll have to watch out because today I’m going to be breaking the law.”
“More precisely we will be breaking the law,” I corrected him. “This is a family operation, remember?”
We rode a glass elevator up the side of the tower, leaning against opposite sides like framing decorations. Lelouch’s black school uniform combined with the jet black hair we both sport was a slim and brooding shadow, drumming his fingers against the rail. The tan jacket of the girl’s uniform made me out a less solemn profile although for once I was glad that I didn’t fill it out as impressively as Milly or our mutual friend Shirley. I had a suspicion that young women in school uniforms might play other roles in this tower of sinful pleasures and being mistaken for one would be unfortunate in many ways.
I could deal with it, of course, but the tools to do so were ones I would prefer not to exercise for trivial reasons.
Or at all.
The doors slid open, admitting us to a casino. I’d seen them on television shows of course so the trappings were familiar: brightly chiming slot machines, green baize tables surrounded by luxuriously clad men and women, the sunken arena occupied by a pair of pit fighters. Lelouch barely gave them a second glance, instead heading through another pair of sliding doors into a quieter room. His sudden arrival however caught a waitress wearing what would have been a ridiculous outfit for its revealing nature even without the bunny ears and tail off guard: she walked directly into my brother, spilling her tray and the three glasses upon it to the floor.
“I’m terribly sorry,” she gasped and dropped to her knees, trying to dab away the liquid from his trousers.
Lelouch barely seemed to notice. “It’s fine, don’t worry.” Even I worry about him sometimes. A girl like that on her knees in front of him (and once again, a girl who makes me look flat by comparison) and he doesn’t bat an eyelid. I’m not saying that I want my brother to take advantage of a girl, but I’m sure it isn’t healthy for him not even to feel tempted.
“But I’m an Eleven and you’re a Britannian student. This is inexcusable.”
“My brother has already excused you,” I pointed out. “So it is hardly inexcusable.”
Leluch dropped to one knee himself. “As for your nationality, I hate having your social class held over you like a sword.” How very un-Britannian of my brother. Still, the fact he was face to face with her might be a sign of progress. The girl’s ethnicity wasn’t clear from looking at her – I guessed she could probably have moved unremarked among the students at Ashford if she’d been dressed decently. Or even if not, since it could always be blamed on Milly.
“It doesn’t matter. The powerless have no choice but to bear their lot in life.” The waitress smiled slightly and I marked down another conquest for my brother. “Regardless if their oppressor is wrong.”
There was a hint of steel in Lelouch’s reply: “I’d appreciate if you didn’t push your values on me. I’m not interested.”
“I beg your pardon -”
Whatever else she might have said was cut off as she was pulled backwards by her hair, a large and formally dressed man – by appearance but not conduct a gentleman – having approached and caught the waitress by her long fringe. I took a half-step back, one of the precautions I had prepared for some disaster dropping into my hand. Dammit. This was my fault for being distracted by the waitress’ cleavage from keeping a watch on our surroundings.
“C’mere, let me take a look at you,” he demanded. “Hmm. Mmmm. Nice goods you have here.” It was clear that he wasn’t talking to the waitress.
“Yes, Mr. King we have a large quality batch of bunnies today.” The host rubbing his hands together was plain enough in his meaning. Three more girls in the same stupid costumes were behind him, except their wrists were manacled and the chains held by a pair of big bruisers who looked like they’d had to be sewn into the suits they worse.
“You’re wrong, sir. I’m not for sale.”
“But you are for sale,” the man told the waitress, not letting go of her. “You should know by now that losers don’t have any rights. Curse your own wretched birth for not having been born with power. That’s what His Majesty always says, isn’t it? The strong feed upon the weak. That’s the rule, kid.”
I moved closer to my brother and touched his hand with mine. “Trouble.” Not that he didn’t know that, but a reminder that it was perhaps more trouble than a pair of poor students such as ourselves could...
“What an arrogant display,” my brother declared scornfully. Yeah, what was I thinking. Lelouch act cautiously? “Feeding upon the weak are you?”
“The strong are torn down by those who would supplant them,” I added, seeking to split the man’s – no, the enemy’s - attention between us.
He looked us over dismissively. “This is the grown up world in here, school kids. So get lost.”
“Then will the adult world devour the student or is it the other way around?” Lelouch opened his attaché case, revealing a chessboard and pieces within. “Why don’t we find out the answer with this?”
“With chess?” Mr. King sneered. “Too late, right boys.” His personal brute squad snickered obediently. If we needed to escape, I’d need to leave the leader to Lelouch while I took those two out. They were very likely armed. “You school kids really don’t know anything, do you?”
Lelouch didn’t quail. “That’s not true, Mr. Black King.” That caused a fraction’s hesitation. “You’re a famous chess player in the gambling arena, aren’t you?”
“So, you know who I am.” He clenched his fist. I knew that Lelouch had him then. But beating him on a gameboard wasn’t quite the same as beating him in the game of life.
So I was glad I’d come. Because if I hadn’t, this might well be the last day of Lelouch’s life.
)(
“Checkmate.”
Black King’s eyes went wide. “Impossible!” he pronounced. He simply didn’t believe it and nor did most of the crowd.
There was a moment’s opportunity there. What I might have made of it in Lelouch’s shoes I will never know, but he of course decided to gloat. “Looks like you’re the one who’s been devoured then.”
Unfortunately the man across the table was also a chess player – not merely in talent (because I had no doubt of his expertise) but in disposition. He didn’t lose his temper, he simply changed strategy. I could see it in his eyes, like a switch being thrown. “Defeated,” he remarked casually. “How will I ever be able to show my face in public if word of this gets around?”
Lelouch fell for it. “I would never spread rumours.”
“No school boy, not that. What I’m saying is that others will hear how you cunningly cheated me.”
“The trouble with rumours, Mr King.” I interjected, “Is that the first rumour heard is the first believed.” I held up a cellphone, indicating the camera between two fingers and poising my thumb over one of the keys. “I’m sure that anyone who’s played against you will want to see your defeat when the video of this game is posted onto the gambling arena’s websites.” A smile crossed my face. “Smile for the camera.”
In disregard of my request, the smile fell off his face. “Naughty girl. But here inside the Tower only a member’s telephones will connect to the outside world.”
“I know.” Then I let him see more of the cellphone’s case. “Thank you for the loan. This will have far more credibility coming from you.”
“What!” Mr. King checked his pocket and found, of course, that he had no phone. What he did have however was a pistol. Whoops. “Get them and hold them!”
The pair of them were fast, although not fast enough to prevent my thumb from carrying out my threat. Never make a threat that you won’t follow through with, that’s one of my mottos. Then I lobbed it towards our enemy. His men were still a hair away from seizing hold of us and I was weighing the options of desperate measures when the entire building shook and the lights flickered.
“Terrorists!?” exclaimed Mr Black King. A logical conclusion. It was only a year since the Black Rebellion after all. And a number of the Black Knights had never been captured. Mostly small fry but...
The expression on the face of the waitress, who had been a helpless bystander a moment ago, snapped suddenly from surprise to focus and she landed a punch against the Black King’s face, following it with a kick to head that dropped him. Huh. Something told me I’d just spotted the inside man. Or woman as the case might be. Pity that I hadn’t paid more attention to her face earlier.
That caught his thug’s attention however and they forgot all about Lelouch and I, going for their own guns. Well, one good turn deserves another. They were still trying to work out where the guns had disappeared to when she kicked them both to the floor.
“Come on!” the girl shouted, grabbing Lelouch by the arm and dragging him after her. “This way!”
“What? Hey!”
The game was afoot I realised as I chased after them, the thugs’ guns in my hands. Guns registered in the name of a likely criminal? How wonderfully deniable. There was a crash and I realised that the skylight of the towering main chamber had been brought down by heavy objects crashing through it. Knightmare Frames! This was for real!
Crowds were flooding towards the lift shafts and stairwells but Lelouch’s new ladyfriend wasn’t leading him towards any of them. She might be who I’d been waiting for... but perhaps not. In either case, she was dragging Lelouch along faster than I could run, which wasn’t part of my plan. I tripped her and as she fell took the brief opportunity to examine her hair. Real, and no sign of dye to suggest that it was originally green. She wasn’t the target.
“Hey!” she shouted in protest once she realised she had lost her grip on my brother.
“This way, brother!” I towed him towards another door. If my information was correct – and it had better be – this would take us through the shopping mall part of the tower to another section that was still being completed.
)(
We’d made it about halfway when another Knightmare Frame came crashing through the ceiling. A Burai, the trademark unit of the Black Knights and other Eleven rebel groups. This one had a custom red sensor unit and golden horns: the markings used by Zero.
Although it had landed directly in front of Lelouch and I, the machine did not attack us. Instead it held out one hand towards him, as if in appeal, and the factsphere exposed itself. I tensed. This might be it. No, it had to be.
Then more Knightmare Frames burst through the windows, guns blazing. These were Sutherlands, their markings showing that they were piloted by Britannian soldiers. Their cannons blazed, but they weren’t just shooting at the Burai. Instead they fired at everyone in sight.
It was hard to tell if they were bloodcrazy psychopaths or cold-blooded murderers: we ran. It was the only way to stay alive.
The entrance to the construction site was open. Lelouch reached it first. “Ylva! In here!” I dashed inside and he slid the door closed behind us, falling against it panting after the unaccustomed exertion.
“Well, this isn’t what I expected when you promised me an exciting afternoon,” I told him.
He laughed lightly, hiding whatever concern he might have had. “Nor I, Ylva. Don’t worry. We’ll be alright, I promise you. I’ll get out of here.”
“I’m sure you will. But what about poor Rivalz’ motorcycle?”
“We can just tell his father he crashed it again.” Lelouch looked around. The block we were in had a huge block opened to below with walkways to either side. “Let’s find ourselves a stair- Ylva!”
He lunged forwards, throwing me aside as a gun fired from above us. I saw a blurred impression of a man in the uniform of the Black Knights and then an explosion. I was flung to the floor, but Lelouch was still standing and the force of the explosion propelled him backwards.
Over the edge.
I screamed and wished for time to stand still as I scrambled to catch him, but the laws of gravity are not mutable even by wishes. His hand, reaching upwards, missed mine reaching down.
Lelouch, my brother Lelouch, fell into the darkness.
With a desperate cry, I followed him.
)(
We lay on sheets of green plastic, suspended between scaffolding. Our plummeting bodies had broken through the uppermost levels, slowing our fall without killing us. The lower layer had caught us and there we lay, each in our own little cell of scaffolding.
“Ylva, are you hurt?”
Lelouch is cute when he’s panicking. “I’ll feel this in the morning. You?”
“That doesn’t matter now,” he told me.
“It matters to me!” I pushed myself up on my elbows and tried not to whimper. Oh, but that did hurt! I’m not used to throwing myself around like this.
“It’s alright,” he assured me. “I’m not hurt.”
We both crawled to the edge of the plastic and scrambled onto the nearest walkway. His uniform was scuffed and I’m sure mine was too. Also, of course, my uniform skirt did not disguise the bruises forming on my legs. It was an unfair advantage to Lelouch in judging my state and I saw his face tighten.
“At least we are lower now,” I said. “Away from the fighting. Perhaps if we hurry we can reach the ground before them.” Of course, Babel Tower was gigantic and Knightmare Frames move far faster than any human on foot. Particularly two teenagers who considered walking to class to be ‘physical exercise’.
“Ylva, where did you get those guns?”
“They were just lying around. You know, like in a video game. You want one?”
“I’ll take them both!” Lelouch demanded, holding out both hands. “Guns are dangerous.”
I handed him one gun. “But Lelouch. What if we are separated and one of the Black Knights corners me and tries to do terrible carnal things to my virgin body?”
“That isn’t going to happen, Ylva. Please, I will protect you. Trust me.”
“But Lelouch, what if one of the Britannian soldiers corners you and tries to do terrible carnal things to your virgin body? Shouldn’t I protect you if that happens?”
He went red. “Ylva! Such things don’t happen!”
“Then the love novels Milly loaned me aren’t true?”
“No!”
This riveting conversation distracted him from worrying as we found a staircase to descend, but I could still tell that a part of his mind was trying to dissect the puzzle of what was happening. For my part, I could only hope that by taking him through the construction area – a part of the tower that would be almost impossible to monitor. Here his pursuers might find us and be able to talk with some vestige of privacy and the chains of my own metaphorical collar would be at their slackest.
My luck was running true to form: we abandoned the stairwell rather than risk a damaged portion and came face to face with an OSI squad, supported by a Sutherland.
“What have we here?” their leader asked, the shadows masking our identity. “Your black uniform – one of the Black Knights?”
“Are you blind,” Lelouch demanded angrily. “This is a students’ uniform. My sister and I are fleeing from the Black Knights.” He stepped forwards so that he could be seen clearly.
“Be careful!” one of the soldiers snapped out, raising his rifle to aim at Lelouch. “He’s armed.”
I saw recognition in their leaders’s eye as he saw us clearly. “Ah. Well if he is an innocent bystander –“ His eyes flicked to me and I nodded slightly. “- then he won’t mind handing it over, will he?”
Lelouch took the hint and lowered the gun to the floor. He also looked at me, but my gun was hidden beneath my jacket and I wasn’t inclined to surrender it. I could see his lips think but he said nothing – I presume not wanting to risk provoking the soldiers into seeing me as a threat. “What’s going on?” he asked instead. “Why are the Black Knights attacking here of all places?”
“Boy, I’ll have you know that I am a Baron and I’m true wasting words on a brat like you. You, girl, did you see the Black Knights?”
“Yes, I did.” I kept my answer clipped. “One Knightmare Frame, a Burai, in the mall. It had a red sensor head, if that means anything. One soldier several floors up from here. He was blown to pieces. That’s all.”
“Interesting,” the Baron said. “Very well. We will secure this area. You and your brother can wait until I have men to spare to escort you from the building.” He gestured for us to take up a place out in the walkway well away from the staircases. I could see the plan as plainly as day: he was staking Lelouch out as bait.
Lelouch could see it too, but the difference was that he didn’t understand why we were bait. And naturally he decided that it would be intelligent to dispute this in a diplomatic fashion: “Have you lost your mind? Isn’t it obvious that any Knightmare Frames will come down here?” He pointed to the open space to the side of the walkway. “We’ll be right in the killing ground!”
“That’s exactly right.” The words were smugly indifferent. “Now be a good bait for me and if you’re very lucky you might be allowed to go back to your boring little life, Lelouch Lamperouge.”
Oh that incompetent idiot. Breaking tradecraft like that? Now? I could have shot him.
“But... how do you know my name?”
“Oh, I know a great deal about you, young man.”
In fact I did shoot him. It must have looked very strange to Lelouch: one moment he was confronted by a dozen armed soldiers and by a knightmare frame and the next all twelve soldiers lay dead and the noble moron who had been standing atop his open cockpit was still falling to the ground.
“What?” Lelouch looked around wildly. “Who shot them?”
“I did.” It was too late to go back now. “It’s a long and complicated story. But for now I’ll have to ask you to trust me.”
“Well of course I trust you. You’re my sister! But why did you open fire on Britannian soldiers? And why didn’t I see them being hit?”
“That would be the long story. For now, I‘m going to need you to get into the knightmare.”
“But I don’t know how to pilot a knightmare!” he protested, although he obediently started climbing up towards the cockpit.
“You’re a smart boy,” I pointed out. “How hard can it be? Anyway all I need you to do is use the radio.”
Lelouch sat down inside the cockpit and examined the controls. I could almost feel his surprise at how familiar they must seem. “I can do that,” he agreed. “What are you planning?”
“Imagine for the moment that you are the leader of a band of resistance fighters, drastically opposed to Britannia.”
“Ylva, this is no time for one of your roleplaying games.”
I climbed up beside him. “Trust me. Trust the sister who puts her trust in you. Imagine that you are such a leader, and on the frequency that you would use to communicate with your forces, tell Q-1 that you are here and need assistance.”
“Who is Q-1?”
I smiled. “You’ll see.”
He gave me an incredulous look and then started to adjust the settings on the radio. “Should I use a codename for myself too?”
“Oh, good point.” I actually hadn’t thought of that. Transmitting his own name wouldn’t work out so well. It would attract entirely too much attention. Then again, I didn’t know any nicknames or codes besides this one... although if the waitress from earlier was one of them... “You’re White King.”
Lelouch listened to the channel he’d selected. “This is some sort of military channel. Are you sure about this?”
“Trust me, Lelouch. This is our best way out of here. If the fighting continues then the entire tower will collapse and we both die. I don’t know about you but I’m in no hurry to do that.”
Obediently he tapped a control. “Q-1, this is White King. I’m here but I need assistance.”
After a moment’s hesitation the response came back: “White King, this is Q-1. Help is on the way.” It was the waitress’ voice. I’d won my bet. So far, at least.
)(
It took several minutes for anyone to arrive of course but when it did, the arrival was in style: the red-headed Burai from before and the infamous Gurren Knightmare Frame.
“Terrorists!” Lelouch hissed in dismay and pushed me behind him. “Ylva, run!”
“Don’t worry Lelouch. This is who we’re waiting for.”
“What have you gotten yourself involved in!?”
The Burai turned and we both saw the pilot: tall, for a girl and with waist-length green hair. The bait had been taken. The only part of this that now remained was which trap would close. “Lelouch,” she called in recognition. She saw me too, and her golden eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I came to get you out of here, Lelouch. I’m on your side. An ally. And your sworn enemy is Britannia.”
Lelouch gasped and looked at me in confusion.
“We have a contract,” she continued. “You and I are both accomplices.”
“Contract? Accomplices?”
“Be careful CC,” the Gurren’s pilot warned. Her cannon was aimed at Lelouch, and also at myself. “If you didn’t know that, then how did you know what to call me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lelouch dissembled. Trying to protect me, I suppose.
“He knows because I told him.” I stepped out from behind my overprotective brother. It had been... enjoyable, but no doubt that was over. “You understand, of course, that this was to be a trap for you. Fortunately, I sprang it pre-emptively. But we still have little time.”
“Who are you?”
I bowed slightly to the Gurren. “I was supposed to be part of the trap. But I have my own proposal to place before Zero: hard to do without intervention.”
“Ylva, what are you talking about? Do you mean... Zero? The leader of the Black Knights? He’s dead... isn’t he?”
CC sprang down from her cockpit. “Lelouch, I know you better than anyone. I know the real you.” She walked towards him and he took an unconscious step towards her.
They met. Kissed.
It was curiously anti-climactic but it nonetheless seemed to fix Gurren’s attention upon it. I took the opportunity to hide behind the leg of the Knightmare Frame I had captured. I got the distinct impression that I didn’t want to be in Lelouch’s line of sight when...
“Where is she!?” he all but screamed. “Imposter! Where is she!?”
“Where did she go?” the Gurren’s pilot demanded, exposing her fact sphere to scan for my hiding place. I didn’t have long to talk my way out of trouble. “Who was she?”
“I am what he said,” I called out. “An imposter. A spy, or rather a watchdog. A pawn in the games of Charles zi Britannia. But this pawn just promoted herself.”
“You will tell me where my sister is...!”
Obviously Lelouch was in the grip of a titanic rage and I honestly didn’t blame him. But that didn’t mean I wanted to be his target either. “Your father has her. Her safety depends upon his not learning that you have regained your memories. Let me help you with that.”
The Gurren’s pilot spotted me at last and brought the massively clawed hand around me. I had to fight down the urge to flee rather than wait, one twitch away from death. “Why would a Britannian want to help Zero?”
“You might as well ask: why would a Britannian be Zero?”
“Don’t try and change the subject.”
“Let her go.” I saw Lelouch staring at me, one hand raised like a claw uncoincidentally shielding his left eye from me. At first I was surprised to see that there was no Geass sign in the open eye but then he lowered the hand and pointed it at me. “You lied to me.”
“If you’re looking for the moral high ground, Zero, then it’s a long way behind you. Nunnally’s life – the life of your real sister – depends on your trusting me. Your only choice is in whether or not to use your Geass to enforce my trustworthiness.”
“She has a Geass.”
We both looked over at CC. I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me that she could tell. “That’s true.”
“What does it do?” Lelouch asked, intrigued. “Would it block my orders.”
The woman shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not.”
“Then...”
“I didn’t give it to her.”
The building shook slightly in reminder that battle was still raging around us. Lelouch... Zero... made an impatient noise. “What’s your plan then?”
“Get out of here and pretend that we escaped without your remembering anything. There were too many variables otherwise for me to plan far ahead.”
“Hmph.” A smug expression crossed his face. “I see why you need me. What if you’re called on to report?”
I held up my phone to show him that it had no signal. “The perfect excuse not to.”
“Stop,” he ordered as I lowered the phone. I looked at him questioningly. “That locket. Give it to me.”
I looked at small white, heart-shaped locket dangling from my phone and moved it back defensively. “Why?”
“I bought it for my sister,” explained Lelouch silkly. “There’s no reason for a fake like you to have it.”
Reluctantly I started to detach it and then: “But others know that I have it. If I lose it, then it will be remarked upon. Why don’t I hold onto it until you don’t need to pretend any more?”
“Give me the locket.”
His eyes... the same violet as mine. Why did they seem to flame? Was this his geass?
“Yes, my lord,” I spat sarcastically. “On Nunnally’s head be it.” I yanked at the locket, the cord holding it resisting me, and turning what might otherwise have been a dramatic gesture into a pathetic display. Untangling it I held it out. “Here, have it.”
“On second thoughts,” Lelouch answered, not reaching for the locket. “You’re right.” He smiled cruelly. “I wouldn’t want to give Nunnally something you’d touched anyway.”
Okay, I’d known Zero was a master strategist, but if this was an example of his people skills then I was surprised his own side hadn’t killed him off and saved Britannia the trouble.
Lelouch walked to the Burai and scrambled up towards its cockpit, CC behind him. “I presume that you can pilot a Sutherland,” he threw back over his shoulder. “Make yourself useful.”
Shatranj Kamil (Code Geass AU)
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