The Long, Ugly Road Home (Code Geass SI)

[Bacle]

"Normal" = Speech "BOLD" = Radio "Underscore" = Thought


***
Chapter 1​

I turned off the shower, having finally washed the spilled motor oil off of me.

"Last time I try to change the oil in that old wreck, why won't Gramps just sell it already." Grabbing a towel off the rack, I dried myself off before changing into the clean khakis and t-shirt I'd gotten out of my room beforehand.

As I finished combing my hair in the mirror and as I put my glasses on, a shooting pain passed through my skull, nearly causing me to black out. "Fuck, not another migraine, thought the new meds had stopped 'em."

I grabbed the door handle, my eyes shut from the pain, and staggered out into the hallway, taking a left, shortly before slamming into a wall that hadn't been there a half hour ago. Now the pain in my knee was slightly distracting me from the pain in my head, so I opened my eyes for a second to figure out why the wall had apparently moved.

"The hell..." I said as I got a look at the area around me. What had been a small, modern condo was now a slightly dingy concrete walled apartment, with a rather ragged couch across from a TV that looked 15 years behind the times. There was a small kitchenette next to the bathroom, with a dinged up fridge, a small microwave, and a 4 place electric stove/oven combo present. There was a small cabinet next to the fridge, which I discovered contained a few plates, bowls, cups, and oddly enough a nice looking sake set.

"Wonder if that migraine knocked me out and I'm really just unconscious right now." I pondered as I went to the door across from the one into the bathroom. It turned out to be a small closet, with a few coats and jackets inside, as well as a couple umbrellas. On the floor of the closet was a lockbox the size of a suitcase, with a small three-turner combination lock on the front. Off to one side was a pair of beaten up binoculars and a small canteen hanging on a hook.

Checking the closest unopened door to me, which was in the wall I had slammed into, I found a small bedroom that ran the width of the apartment. On one side was a single person bed, with rather questionable looking sheets spread over it. The other end of the room had a small wooden desk and unfamiliar looking computer on it, with a rotating chair in front of it, and few USB looking things on a shelf under one side of the desk.

But what really caught my attention was the big sliding glass door that went out onto a small deck. There as a plastic folding chair and small round end table occupying one side of it, with a 3 foot concrete barrier going around the whole thing. There wasn't much of a view, as it seemed to be looking out on the side of another rundown building. From looking over the side I guessed I was 6 or 7 floors up, based on the number of deck edges I could see in the feeble light cast by a few the street lights below.

"Okay, this is getting a bit surreal, hope I wake up soon." I noticed a lot of light in the sky off to the right, coming up from behind a bunch of other fairly dilapidated buildings. I couldn't make anything out from my current vantage point, so I looked up to figure out how far it would be to the roof. As luck would have it, the roof seemed to be about 4 or 5 floors above me.

"Probably don't want to climb a bunch of concrete stairs in my socks." I looked around for any sort of footware, finding only a pair of plastic flip-flops. They turned out to actually fit decently well, which seemed a bit weird.

"Everything is fucking weird as hell about this and here I am complaining about finding footware that fits." I chuckled as I slipped on one of the jackets from the closet, which seemed a little snug in the shoulders and long in the arms.

I was about to head out through the door that I assumed led to the main hallway of this floor, when I realized the binoculars would probably be a big help. The climb to the roof revealed most of the building was abandoned, with only a few units seemingly occupied. When I reached the roof, I finally got a look at the source of all that light. It was a big gray urban expanse, with weird tilted structures sticking out of it in clusters here and there. Out towards what I guessed was the middle of the area was a large, brightly lit up edifice that seemed vaguely familiar. I took the binoculars out and focused them in on the structure.

"Nope, no, I can't be seeing that, please let that be a trick of my eyes." I wiped off the front and back of the binocs on my shirt, hoping that maybe it was a dust smear messing with my vision.

"...still there. That damn flag, the damn Union Jack with a serpent and lion on it is still there." I let the binocs hang around my neck as I sagged against the stairwell entryway.

It was all coming together; the sake set, the dilapidated buildings surrounding me, the gray urban expanse, the weird tilted structures, the huge complex, and that damn flag that I had just seen.

"Somehow, some way, I've been stuck into the Code Geass universe, and into what I'm betting is the Shinjuku ghetto no less. Fuck, I'm probably a deadman."

***​

So this is a rehost of my fic from SB; all future chapters will be put out here.

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 2​

I came down from the roof in a daze, my mind still overloaded by what I had discovered. I slipped back into the apartment, dead-bolted the door, and collapsed into the couch to think over my situation."Ok, first things first, I need to get a better idea of what point in the timeline I've been dropped in."

Booting up the computer in the bedroom, I realized that I wasn't even sure I could operate the damn thing, as the computer architecture might be completely different than what I'm familiar with. This worry turned out to be needless, as the computer booted up to a screen that looked like the old Windows XP, even if the names attached were different. Checking the time and date settings, I discovered that it was October 8, 2016 a.t.b. I was here at least a full 8 months before things kicked off, if I remembered correctly. Searching through the computer some more, I found a email address, bank account login, and prescription order form for one "Eugene Franklin".

"Guess that's who owns this apartment, though why is someone with such an Anglican name is living in the ghetto?" I mumbled to myself as I kept rooting through the files and programs.

A few more minutes and no other important information discovered, I left the computer to take a better look at the apartment. A search of the bedroom revealed a few things that I hadn't previously noticed. Between the mattress and box spring I found what looked like a Brit service pistol and several magazines, which both did and didn't reassure me about my situation. In the small dresser on besides the bed I found an assortment of the usual clothing a man would have, along with a vial of what I guessed was Refrain and an accompanying injector hidden under the socks.

A closer look at the bathroom I had stumbled out of revealed it to be a rather basic affair, with a sink, commode, and shower fitting into something the size of a walk-in closet. The cabinet above the sink held a couple disposable razors, some floss, and an box full of anti-septic wipes; the last presumably was for use during Refrain injections.

The kitchen turned out to have also held a sink which I missed on my first glance, as it was hidden in the corner behind the stove/oven combo. The fridge held what I guess where a few beers, though the label was in Japanese so I had no idea what it was called, some white bread, a package of bacon, a half dozen eggs, some apple juice, and what looked like a cooked roast of some sort. The freezer portion contained some frozen pees, bag of chicken breasts, and a half full ice tray. The microwave was a mess on the inside, and had probably never been cleaned if I had to guess; I resolved to change that if I was stuck here for any length of time.

A search of the "living room", for want of a better term, turned up a TV remote stuck between the couch cushions, and wicked looking knife stashed in a hide-away compartment in one of the armrests. The TV refused to come on when I tried it, but a few minutes of fiddling showed it was disconnected from the wall socket. Plugging it back in worked immediately, and I was treated to viewing a news show blathering on about Prince Clovis's latest art gallery project. Deciding to leave it on so I could pick up a bit of info about what was going on currently, I moved on to search the closet.

This yielded me a wallet, map, and some heavily tinted sunglasses from one of the coat pockets. Inside was some cash, presumably in pound form, a transit pass for the train system, a debit card from the "Shinjuku Financial Assistance Authority", and an ID. The ID was the real important part, as I finally got a look at the face of the owner of the apartment, and nearly dropped the card.

"He looks almost exactly like me, minus the burn scar on his chin and those glasses." I nearly had a panic attack there and then, all this freaky shit was really starting to get to me.

I focused back on the lockbox, if only to occupy my mind and avoid a breakdown. It was only a 3 turner lock, so the number of combinations wasn't huge, but it did take the better part of 4 hours to get the right one and open the damn thing. Inside were what had to be several tens of thousands of pounds, all in note form, bundled into neat stacks. Off to one side was also a small diary and more rounds of ammo for the pistol.

"Whoever this dude is or was, I'm guessing he's not exactly on the up and up at the moment." I thought as I grabbed the dairy. I was beginning to suspect that the original owner wouldn't be needing it anymore, given I probably had switched places with my counter-part, or at least taken over his place in this world. Going through the diary, I learn a bit about my doppleganger from the bits and pieces written in the book.

Eugene Franklin had been born to middle class Brit parents in Seattle, with the mother Yvonne passing away when he was 2, and the father Rick moving the two of them to Japan after the invasion, seeking a fresh start away from the pain of losing his wife. Eugene had attended Ashford shortly after it opened, completing his sophomore through senior years of highschool there. This had been complicated by the onset of a sort of extreme sensitivity to light, which required Eugene to wear a type of prescription sunglasses whenever he was outside during the day or anywhere with bright lighting. The father Rick had been killed shortly after graduation, victim of a train derailment caused by what Franklin though was subpar work on the part of the construction firm responsible for that part of the line. Franklin had then started work with a catering group that served several of the Settlement's hotels and conference centers. An accident with a frying pan during one event had given him the burn scar on his chin, and left him in the hospital for a week.

This had eventually led to him being stripped of his Brit citizenship when he had continued to treat the Japanese with respect and often voice an opinion that more rights needed to be extended to them, even around nobles and other upper crust clients. A friend had given him the heads up before Eugene was to be stripped of his citizenship, and had given him time to pawn off most of his possessions for cold hard cash before heading into the ghetto to hide from the authorities. Eugene had picked up the Refrain to give him something to take the edge off how shitty his situation had become, though he hadn't used it more than a few times according to the diary. The last entry mentioned something about seeing what he thought were resistance fighters moving a Glasgow into a garage several blocks away; it had been dated 3 days ago.

"This Eugene guy's history I can work with, though I doubt his eye prescription is the same as mine, but that's a minor detail. Ok, so Ohgi's, or I guess it might still be Naoto's group right now, isn't far off. That gives me something to work with, or at least some people I can trust hopefully won't rob me. But the question is, do I stand a better chance of surviving if I avoid trying to get involved in that train-wreck?" I thought as I sat back down on the couch.

After about nearly an hour of wracking my brain, I realized if I had any chance of getting home, it was probably going to involve the Sword of Akasha. That meant that I needed to be close to the action, preferably within the Black Knights command structure, which meant I had to get involved with Ohgi's group. I figured the cash in the lockbox would be my best way in. I'd feed them the story of how "Eugene" had noticed their activities with the Glasgow, and decided his money was better spent helping them instead of wasting it all on a Refrain fueled bliss.

But one obstacle remained; I was lacking Eugene's burn scar, which would be needed to hold up the facade. Grimacing at what I had to do, I found a frying pan in a compartment below the stove/oven combo, and set it on one of the electric cooking elements. When it was nearly red hot, I pulled it from the stove and steadied myself for what I was about to do.

"This is going to fucking suck."

***​

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 3
I nearly passed out from the pain, and was glad I was so near the fridge when I did this. Grabbing the bag of frozen peas, I jammed it against my chin waiting for the pain to subside. It was so bad I almost grabbed the Refrain, if only so I could escape the pain for a little while.

"No, can't touch that shit, not if I want to be functional later today."

After about a half hour the pain subsided, though a sore throbbing remained. I had discovered that the bed, while somewhat...unclean, was still fairly comfortable. Though I would need to pick up a real pillow at some point, as the "pillow" on it currently was little more than a couple sweatshirts stuffed in a pillow case.

"I need to get in contact with the resistance ASAP, about a 1000 pounds should suffice to show them I'm serious. Should probably also take along the pistol for personal protection, just in case."

Now that I had at least a short term plan, I began searching through the diary for any specific info on where the Glasgow had been seen. I didn't want to spend a lot of time wandering through the ghetto, given my Brit appearance. The diary only gave a vague location "3 blocks north", which while somewhat helpful, was less than great given the state of the ghetto's buildings. On a lark I checked the map I had found in the jacket pocket, and was rewarded with a little mark with the word "Glasgow" beside it, unfortunately it didn't mark which building I was in. Using what I had gleaned from the diary, I guess I was in 1 of 3 buildings, so I at least narrowed the search area significantly. I was hoping there would be street signs when I got outside that I could match up with the ones on the map, but given the state of the ghetto I wasn't banking on it.

"Well I should probably get some food in me before anything else, I don't think I should try to make contact till at least midday."

Grabbing the frying pan I had burned myself with earlier, which was still somewhat warm, I cooked up quick meal of bacon and eggs. After scarfing that down I decided to make a quick check of exactly how much cash I had in the lockbox and the debit card. The lockbox turned out to have something close to 1.5 million pounds in it, which was far more than I previously thought. A search of the web got me to the site of the "Shinjuku Financial Assistance Authority", which upon further examination of several articles in the local news, turned out to be a thinly disguised front for a Yakuza loan-shark operation. The card number, along with a bit of info in the diary, got me a look at "my" account; it was apparently set up to receive a monthly 100 pound stipend from the "Ashford Alumni Assistance Fund".

"Heh, guess old Reuben Ashford probably has a soft spot for those who irritate and defy the nobles like Eugene did. Still, I'm surprised he would give rather openly to someone who's been stripped of their citizenship, I would have thought that might bring unwanted heat down on his head. Guess it's a privilege of Ashford's place in Brit society." I chuckled as I looked over the account in detail. It had a little under 2000 pounds in it at the moment, which would be useful for living off of and allow me to spend most of the rest of my money assisting the resistance.

At about 11:00 am I ventured outside for the first time, after securing the apartment with 2 separate deadbolts. I had put on one of the larger jackets, a partial long coat, to hide the fact I was walking around in flip-flops. The prescription sunglasses made it hard to see very far, even with my own hidden underneath. The streets were dirty, but clear enough so as to not impede movement of vehicles or pedestrians. Only a few Japanese were out and about, most carrying bundles of food or sitting in stoops of buildings. I got the stink eye from a few, but none hassled me as I moved closer to where the garage was supposed to be located. It took about 15 minutes to find the place, and about another 5 to find a side door, as knocking on the main door probably wasn't the best idea. It was opened by a tall, blue haired Japanese man who I had to guess was in his mid twenties; Kent something was his name if I remembered correctly.

"What do you want?" He said with thinly disguised annoyance.

"My name's Eugene Franklin, I'd like to talk to Naoto Kozuki or Kaname Ohgi." I said, putting on the friendliest face I could.

"What about? And how the hell do you even know who they are or why they would be here?" Kent said, suspicion seeming to grow on his face.

"I'll be honest, I saw you guys moving the Glasgow in here the other day. I figured-" Was all I got out before he pulled me inside by the lapels of my jacket and slammed me into a wall next to the door. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bespectacled man, Minami was his name I think, slam the door shut before he stuck a pistol to the side of my head. I nearly shit myself right then and there, but I had prepared for something like this happening. A slender girl, I believe her name is Inoue, was standing at the other door into the break-room I had been dragged into; it looked like the door opened out into the garage proper.

"Inoue, get Naoto and Ohgi in here fast. As for you, Mr. Franklin, you are going to keep your mouth shut till they get here, unless you want to die." Kent said, his face barely inches away from mine. It was a tense few minutes till Ohgi, and a man I didn't recognize but presumed was Naoto Kozuki, ran into the room and stalked over to where I was being held.

"Mr. Franklin, I'm Naoto Kozuki, and I will be deciding whether you live or die depending on your answers. Now my first question is, have you told anyone else what you saw?" He said with a level but cold tone.

"No, but I left a diary that does have everything I saw in it with a lawyer, to be given to the local authorities if I don't contact him every two days." I lied through my teeth, hoping they bought it.

"So you're not an idiot, that somewhat reassuring to know. Second question, how did you ID us by name?" Naoto asked with a slight smirk.

"Your group is known to the people around here, you're not as hidden as you think. And before you ask, no, I won't say who gave me the names, I don't want them hurt even if I'm killed." I figured that angle would probably net me more respect in their eyes, though as another lie it had it's own dangers.

"Fine, that's one of the risks of what we do. Next question, and this is the big one, why are you here?" Naoto asked, giving me an appraising look.

"Because I want to join your resistance group. I may be a Brit, but that doesn't mean I like the way the Japanese are treated; not all of us are racist bastards like the Purists. I was stripped of my citizenship for speaking out against the policies that the Japanese suffer under, or at least speaking out where a few nobles could hear it. I sold off most of my stuff before coming to the ghetto to hide." I stated simply. The flabbergasted look on the faces of pretty much the whole group, save Ohgi who look more thoughtful, spoke volumes.

"Ok, say we believe you, and that's not a sure thing yet, what exactly do you have to offer us?" Ohgi said, the first time he had spoken while I was there.

"I have a lot of money that I got when I liquidated most of my possessions and those I inherited. I was going to use it to lose myself in a Refrain fueled bliss, but after seeing you guys and your Glasgow, I figured helping your group was a better use of it. As a show of good faith, I have a 1000 pounds in my left jacket pocket, it's yours. I also have a few other ways I could help." I looked straight into Ohgi's eyes the whole time I spoke. Naoto reached into the pocket indicated and pulled out the bundle of notes I had stashed in there. He also pulled out the pistol I had put in the other pocket.

"Kento, ease up on him. Mr Franklin, you can take a seat over at the table. I'm going to trust you a little bit, but betray that trust and you'll wish for death. Are we clear?" Naoto's face made it perfectly clear he meant every word, so I nodded vigorously.

"Ok, I'm going to be blunt. Your money will be useful, but I don't like funding myself through a Britannian. It feels too much like I'm fighting in an inter-factional squabble, and not for the liberation of Japan. You haven't once used the word "Eleven" to refer to the Japanese people, so for the moment I'm going to believe you are who you say you are. Of course we'll have to check up on your story, which may take a few days. Till then you'll be our guest. We'll-" Naoto said as he sat across from me at the little fold out table.

"I can give you information on where to look for my background. I went to Ashford, graduated-" I started to say before Naoto slammed his hand down on the table.

"I'll forgive that one interruption, but only that one. I don't want your info; if you are who you say you are, we'll find it ourselves. Now as I was saying before, we'll set up a cot in one of the other rooms for you to sleep on, and we'll have somebody watching you the entire time. If your story checks out, we'll go from there about what you might do for this group. I'll give you my personal guarantee that you won't be harmed while we are checking. Trying to escape or resisting our instructions will be considered a betrayal of my trust, and I've already gone over what that means. Now Kento here will watch you while we set up the room for you." Naoto then motioned to Ohgi and Inoue, before the three of them went back through the door into the garage. Several minutes later I was escorted to what had probably been a supply closet not even an hour before; it contained a small cot and not much else.

"We'll have somebody bring by a meal for you at around 6 pm, and you are permitted to use the bathroom once an hour with an escort. As a courtesy, I'll have somebody bring some reading material by with the meal. Now sit tight Mr. Franklin, it might be a few days before we've vetted you." With that everyone left, except for Minami who I guessed was going to be taking the first shift as my guard.

"Well, hopefully they can get my history vetted fairly quickly, particularly given I was able to mention "Eugene" went to Ashford, so Kallen might be able to dig up the information. Guess now it's a waiting game."

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 4​

With the exception of Ohgi, who was fairly amiable, my guards were usually grim and tight-lipped. All I had to occupy my time was reading the few magazines they gave me, which actually was far more useful than I let on. Unfortunately, once I finished the magazines, there wasn't really anything to do. I ended up sleeping a lot, just to make the time go by faster. The meals were...passable, but nothing to write home about. Time was both flying, and standing still, which was nearly driving me up the wall.

During my few trips to the bathroom I did notice a few things about the place I was being kept in. The bathroom was on the other side of the garage from the converted closet where I was being kept, and we had to pass through the garage to get there. The Glasgow was a lot more impressive than it seemed on the TV, and I could feel the power it represented every time I saw it. I did notice that it was never powered up, and what looked like the "energy filler" port was empty.

"They must have moved it in here with the tow truck I saw parked outside."

Midway through the second day of my detainment I requested a phone so I could "make a call to my lawyer so the diary isn't sent out", and haggled it so I would have some privacy while I made the call. Ohgi and Naoto would listen in from around the corner of the hallway as part of the agreement, but would not visually observe me while making the call. I punched in the number for a bank that had advertised in one of the magazines I had been given, and got an automated voice menu. A few minutes of acting like the call was to my lawyer, while pressing a few buttons to make it seem I had used the voice menu, and I was in the clear for a few more days. My second night of detainment was when I had to deal with the first real challenge to my plan.

"I notice you have two pairs of glasses on, but the info we've dug up says you only have the one prescription for light sensitivity. Mind explaining why you have the second pair underneath?" Naoto asked in a friendly tone, but I could see he was slightly on edge. It was obvious they had gotten some info on "Eugene", and wanted to figure out the discrepancy that my regular glasses represented.

"My eye-sight deteriorated shortly after I moved into the ghetto, possibly from the Refrain use, and getting a prescription change for my main glasses seemed unworkable given my status. I went through the black market to get an exam in the settlement, and the second pair, off the record. Spent about 15,000 pounds for one pair of glasses, when all was said and done." I groused, knowing if they didn't buy this, it could be the end of the line for me.

"Ok, yeah, I can see that happening. Mr. Franklin, we've got a bit of information on you at this point, and so far everything checks out. We aren't done, and you could be here a few more days so hang tight. I'll speak with you again when I feel we've gotten a complete enough picture." Naoto stated as he got up to leave the room. I was left with Minami as a guard while I crashed out.

It was later the next day when a real surprise occurred. I awoke to the sound of a commotion coming from the break-room, and the guard stool was empty. Risking Naoto's wrath, I moved over to the doorway to the break-room to see what was going on. There was shouting coming from inside, but it was mostly in Japanese, so I barely understood even a few words. Looking in, I got my first look at Kallen, who appeared to be in a heated shouting match with her brother and Ohgi. Her hair was in the style she kept it in at Ashford, and she had the school's uniform on, so I assumed she had probably just come from class. I tried to duck back and head back to the closet so no one would be the wiser, but it was too late as Kento noticed my head poking around the doorframe.

"What the hell are you doing out of your room without an escort?" Kento said as he grabbed me and forcibly sat my in a chair at the table. All eyes were on me, whatever argument had been going on seemingly forgotten.

"Um, well the shouting match woke me up, there was no one at guarding me, and I figured seeing what was going on was worth the risk." I said, my voice as calm as could be expected in such a tense situation.

"Wait, no one was guarding you?" Naoto broke in.

"Nope, no one was there and I was kinda concerned about what was happening, given the shouting match I heard. By the way, what's going on?" I stated, hoping the lack of guard would get me off the hook.

"Dammit, that's the last time we put Tamaki on guard duty. Anyway, as to your question, we were just...discussing your situation. That girl over there is my sister Kallen, and she's been the one getting us part of the information on you. Right now she's worried you're a Britannian spy, while me and Ohgi think you're on the level." Naoto said with a bit of a chuckle.

"His record and situation are too well put together, almost perfect for getting a Brit spy into our group. You can't trust Britannians in general, and I don't see one of them turning against their own country like he did." Kallen said, glaring daggers at me the whole time.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you Kallen, but I can't say that or I'll blow the progress I've made so far." I thought, only for my thoughts to basically be echo'd by Naoto.

"That's a weird way to look at things, given we're both Japanese-Brit half bloods." Naoto said as he took a seat across from me; Kallen was left fuming, but she held her piece. I also noticed she was holding her knife-wallet, but didn't say anything about it.

"Look, we might as well get this over with now. Mr. Franklin, everything about you has checked out so far, which honestly was not what I was expecting. For now, were going to let you join, at least on an assistance level. I'm also going to require that you allow one of us to stay with you at your apartment for the time being." Naoto said as he poured himself a glass of water.

"Mr. Franklin, right now we want to trust you, because we could benefit from your help. But given our circumstances, we simply can't trust you completely yet, so for now you're on a leash. Letting one of us stay with you, and having you assist us where we think it could help will go a long way towards building that trust up from both ends." Ohgi stated from behind Naoto's seat.

"Do I have any say or choice in this?" I asked bluntly.

"Your only other choice is to let us blindfold you, take you back to your apartment, and only undue the blindfold once we have relocated everything. In that case , if we ever see you near our operations again, we'll shoot you on sight." Naoto said plainly.

"Fair enough. I'll follow the conditions you have set down, if that's what it takes to convince you of my sincerity." I said, my optimism buoyed by the fact that I was being given a chance to prove myself.

"We'll figure out the shadowing schedule during the evening. For now I'll have Ohgi and Kento take you back to your apartment. It's a little early to officially welcome you to the group, but I hope we are able to do so in the near future Mr. Franklin." Naoto stated with a slight grin. With that I was one big step closer to getting my main plan off the ground.

***​

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 5​

The walk back to "my" apartment was done about an hour after my semi-official induction into Naoto's group. Kento was still slightly on edge, I guessed he was of a similar mind to Kallen when it came to me. Ohgi on the other hand was quite personable and we chatted inconsequentially the whole way back. When we reached the apartment, we all received a nasty shock. While I had been away, someone had tagged "Brit Slaver" on the door; we all panicked, thinking I had been robbed as well. Once inside, and with a quick check on the lockbox, those robbery concerns were laid to rest.

"Guess someone just wanted to make a statement or chase me out of the area. Might need to see about getting a new place to live in the near future."

Realizing some of the food in the apartment was probably about to go bad, and already had in the case of the pre-cooked roast, I decided to make the 3 of us some dinner. Wasn't anything fancy, just some chicken, pees, and a beer a piece, but it did seem to break the ice a bit with Kento. After some conversation, it was decided that Ohgi would stay the first night, with Kento going back to report to Naoto. Before Kento left, I pulled out another 1000 pound bundle for the group and told him to get it to Naoto as thanks for giving me a chance. While Kento wasn't terribly impressed by the gesture, he did seem to take it in the spirit intended.

Shortly after Kento left, I asked Ohgi to explain to me what the groups aims actually were. I knew the overall goal of making life miserable for the Brits, hoping to drive them out, but I wanted to know how the actual people involved thought of it.

"On our own we don't expect to chase the Brits out, but hopefully the JLF, Yamato Alliance, and the Kyoto Group can one day gain enough power that our help will matter in turning the tide. At least that's what we tell ourselves, to keep us going. Naoto seems to have a plan in the works he says will tip the balance into our hands, or at least make us a major contender, but he hasn't shared the long term goal with anyone. Privately I think he's flying by the seat of his pants and has only a vague goal in mind, but so far we done better than most resistance organizations of our size. What about you, just us having the Glasgow can't have been the only reason you wanted to join?" Ohgi asked as we watched a soccer match on the TV.

"The Glasgow was the big difference, though not the only reason. Imagine having everything stripped away from you, and having to sell off pretty much everything that wasn't, all because you didn't look at the locals as sub-humans. I mean I know the Royals have their own grudges with Japan because of the hostages that died during the invasion. But the average Brit doesn't really have anything over the average Japanese except what society they were born into, so I see no reason not to treat Japanese people like everyone else. Basically I think the only way to knock out the stupid and petty racism going on here, which is worse than in any other conquered area by the way, is to show that even average Brits don't all support it. I don't think we can ever expect to beat the Brits to the point they just leave Japan, but I think if we fight long and hard enough the Brits may extend the Japanese full rights out of respect for your tenacity and resourcefulness." I stated as a commercial break came on.

"I'm not going to pretend to be happy about that assessment, but if we can't kick the Brits out then gaining full rights isn't a horrible outcome either. Still, most of our actions will probably cause some level of civilian casualties. Are you really ok with killing fellow Britannians, many of whom won't be part of the military?" Ohgi asked, obviously testing my resolve and loyalty to the group.

"I'm not gonna lie, it's not a thought I relish, but it's one I think I can live with. Asymmetrical warfare pretty much requires some level of disregard for civilian causalities, and there is no way we have any chance of accomplishing anything if we try to fight a symmetrical war." I said, staring hard at the bottle in my hands.

I had known that going this route would result in civilian causalities from the get go, none of Lelouch's plans were very clean in that respect. But confronting the issue with someone that would likely become a comrade in arms just made it explicit. Hopefully, if some of my plans went well, I could reduce the number of causalities on all sides; at the very least I could reduce the chance of plot critical deaths. I knew that if I couldn't find a way to keep the SAZ Massacre from happening, there wasn't much of a chance of re-railing the train-wreck. Still, that was planning for the summit push when I hadn't even reached the trailhead yet, and I knew that my plans were just as liable to fall apart as anyone else's.

"Well at least you aren't squeamish about what might be in the cards from here on out, and that's not a small thing." Ohgi commented.

"Look, I'm gonna crash out fairly soon, if you need anything from me knock twice and announce yourself. I still have a bit of Refrain left, but I don't want it anymore; if the group has a use for it, they're welcome to it." I said as I moved towards the bedroom.

"I despise that stuff, but if we ever capture a Brit soldier and need to interrogate them it could come in handy. I'll take it with me when I'm relieved tomorrow." Ohgi stated with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Ok, see you in the morning" I said before closing the door and flopping down on the bed. The cot at the hideout had been anything but comfortable, so I was asleep in minutes.

The next day came too soon for my liking, but I was presented with a big opportunity to prove my worth. Naoto had devised a mission to nail an energy filler and the equipment to recharge it, which was necessary if we ever wanted to make use of the Glasgow. I was going to be used as a scout and look-out, with Inoue acting as my partner/guard. Naoto didn't let everyone in on the whole operation, only their parts and the overall goal, but the gist was that he was planning to hit a Knight-Police substation and raid it's maintenance shop for the supplies we needed.

My mind was occupied with how to best make myself useful in my assigned role, and whether this was the mission where Naoto was killed in OTL. If it wasn't, and I screwed it up by trying to protect Naoto unnecessarily, I could completely fuck any chance of getting to the Sword of Akasha at all. On the other hand, if he was killed here and I didn't try to help, then my place amongst the resistance could be in jeopardy.

"About all I can do is wing it and go with the flow. It won't be the end of the world if Naoto dies, no matter how much I personally like him in charge."

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 6​

"When we get back, I'm going to ask Naoto how exactly this is supposed to qualify as 'recon/lookout', and not 'big fat target and getaway car." I thought as me and Inoue rolled into the Tokyo Docks.

I was driving the Brit equivalent to a medium-weight freight truck, sans the trailer, right into the middle of one of the busiest ports in the world. Our assignment has myself and Inoue posing as a Brit trucker name "Kensey" and an "Eleven whore", with the aim being to get into a position where we could keep eyes on a small Knight-Police substation near the edge of the docks. It didn't sound all that difficult, or dangerous, except we had to get through a military checkpoint at the entrance to the docks. Naoto had provided forged papers which indicated "Kensey" was supposed to pick up a container of foodstuffs from a freighter that was due to arrive that night.

If everything went to plan, we'd radio Naoto when the shift change started, at which point one of the groups would detonate a tiny explosive charge on one of the barges docked at the other end of the port. Supposedly it would mimic a burst sea-chest, not exactly a terrorist action, but it would force the Knight-Police to deploy most of their manpower from both shifts to aid the vessel before it sank and shutdown one of the piers. While most of the cops were away, part of the group would sneak into the substation, grab the energy filler and recharge gear, then load it and themselves into the container "Kensey" was to pick up. Fairly simple plan, but those are often the best type.

"Look Ms. Inoue, before we get to the checkpoint, I want to apologize before hand for anything I have to say or do to get us through." I said quietly as we approached the checkpoint.

"Just get us though and to the look out spot safely, then you can consider yourself forgiven." Inoue said as she adjusted the "hooker" get up she had worn.

I had given her a once over before setting out, just to make sure her outfit was believable for her "profession", and had studiously ignored her skimpy attire ever sense. Now I had to play a lecherous bastard, so ignoring it was no longer a practical option, and it took every ounce of self-control to keep my eyes on the road. When we reached the checkpoint a soldier in full gear came out of the kiosk and marched up to the truck's window.

"Manifest and I.D. please." He said with a professional, though bored sounding tone.

"Here you go sir." I said as I handed the forged papers over to him.

"Seems in order, but I need the Eleven's I.D. was well." He said , obviously leering at Inoue.

"Don't think she has any, they probably are with her "master". She's my fun for the night, and I payed her boss 800 pounds for the privilege, so just let me through already." I said, giving the soldier a wink.

"Elevens aren't allowed on the docks without supervision. Keep her in the cab or she'll be shot and you'll be fined." He said, obviously slightly annoyed by my attitude, as he hit the gate control.

"Thanks." With that we set off across the docks, with Inoue acting as navigator.

We reached our designated spot about a half hour later and settled in for the wait.

"You know, if you want to change I can step out of the truck for a minute." I said as we waited for the shift change.

"I appreciate the thought, but we need to keep our covers intact. If a guard comes by, I'll get in your lap till they pass by." She said as she looked out the window with a pair of electronic binoculars.

"Not that it wouldn't be pleasant, but lets hope it doesn't come to that." I joked.

Several minutes later some guards started running out of the substation, and down towards the far end of the docks. Shortly after a pair of Knight-Police KMFs went charging after them.

"Ok, that can't be good. I'm contacting Naoto." Inoue said before pulling out the encrypted radio we had stashed in the glove box. I didn't know where the Naoto had gotten it, but guessed it might have come from the Kyoto Group.

"Naoto, come in. We've sighted guards and 2 Knight-Police KMF's heading towards where the decoy barge is docked. What's going on?" Inoue said into the radio.

"I think my group was spotted leaving the area after planting the charge, and unauthorized or supervised Japanese are supposed to be shot on sight. We're trying to lose them by splitting up. The infil group is still good, so the mission is still on. Contact Ohgi when the shift change happens. Naoto out."
"Shit, hope this doesn't screw up the shift change schedule." I said as we watch the KMF's disappear around a stack of containers.

It was a long wait till shift change, nearly two hours, but eventually a small troop truck pulled up in front of the substation and people began filtering in and out. The KMF's and soldiers who had been chasing Naoto's group hadn't returned, but we hadn't heard anything more from him, so we assumed the operation was still on.

"Ohgi, shift change is occurring, you know what to do." Inoue whispered into the radio, and several seconds later the decoy barge began to list on it starboard side.

"Ok, lets hope they know what they're doing." I said as what seemed like several dozen guards and 3 KMF's headed towards the barge.

It was an agonizing wait, but about a half hour later Ohgi contacted us over the radio to say they and the cargo were ready for pick up. We made our way over to the designated container, and hitched it up to the truck. Now was the "fun" part, or at least for me it was. I had never before driven a semi, or even a truck with a trailer on it, and now I had to get the whole thing out of the port without any room for error. It was going pretty well for about the first 10 minutes, till we got a radio call from Naoto.

"I've lost my pursuers, but I don't think it's safe for me to use the planned ex-fil route. I need you to drive the truck by pier 6 and stop near the first crane. I'll hop in once you get here."

"Roger Naoto, but that's going to take us a little out of the way, so it'll probably be about 20 minutes till we get there." Inoue said as she tried to find the location on the harbor map she had in her lap.

It only took about 15 minutes to reach the spot Naoto indicated, and almost as soon as the truck stopped he ran out from between 2 stacks of containers. I got out to open the container for Naoto to get in, and nearly had it open when shit hit the fan.

"Freeze, get your hands above your heads, both of you!" I heard from behind me. I immediately looked to Naoto for direction; his eyes were wide, but his hand was on the pistol in his jacket.

"Ok, so that's how we're going to handle this. Not how I wanted to have my first combat experience occur." I thought as I reached for the pistol Naoto had given back to me before the mission.

I'd never shot at a human before, or even a living creature for that matter, other than a with paintball gun. But I had enough target shooting experience to have the muscle memory down. Me and Naoto wheeled around at nearly the same time, pulling the pistols as we went. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Inoue leaning out of the cab with her own weapon.

The guard had his weapon up, and I saw him tighten his finger on the trigger as he came into view. The recoil on the Brit pistol was far less than the explosive based guns I was used to, so I ended up overcompensating, and my shot went wide. I fired again, hitting the guard in the thigh, but the shot deflected and didn't seem to affect him. I saw a spurt of blood in the corner of my vision, but it didn't really register as I fired my third shot. It went between the guard's legs, and his fire shifted my direction.

Almost simultaneously I felt a sharp pain in my left hand, causing me to drop the pistol, then a explosion of pain on the left side of my face and head. My ears were ringing, my vision was swimming, and I felt myself hit the pavement, though I didn't recall falling. The last thing I saw before passing out was Naoto splayed out on his back, with a pool of blood growing under him.

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 7​

The first thing I became aware of was several voices carrying through the blackness. Words were indistinct, but the voices were familiar; I knew Ohgi, Inoue, and Kento were nearby. Slowly I tried to pry my eyes open; thankfully the lights seem to either be very heavily dimmed or off, so my sight returned without any significant discomfort. I was apparently in my apartment's bedroom, and their was an IV hooked up to my right arm. I heard more voices out on the small deck outside the room.

"Look, that money would be useful, and he wanted to help us out. If he doesn't wake up, I think he'd prefer we used it to help the group." Inoue said from near the door to the deck.

"I agree, but I think we're jumping the gun a bit talking about it. Eugene still stands a good chance of pulling through." Ohgi said, though he was out of view.

"Ohgi, he sustained a serious concussion and hasn't woken up for 5 days. How much longer do you want to wait before accepting that the Brit is probably never going to wake up. We should drop him off at a Brit hospital and let them deal with his long term care." Kento stated, though I couldn't see him either.

"Shit, I've been out 5 days?! Fuck, come on voice, no time for cotton mouth to slow us down."

"He-hey, I'm awake, I'm awake guys!" was what I tried to say, but it came out more as a bunch of raspy gurgles.

"Huh, you hear something?" Said Ohgi as he poked his head around the deck door. I waved my right arm weakly, but it was enough that he noticed it.

"Thank god, you're awake. Kento, grab him a glass of water, Inoue see if you can find anything we can use to help him sit up." Ohgi said as he walked over to my bedside. Once Kento brought me a glass of water I was able to speak.

"Thanks Kento. What the hell happened, last thing I remember was getting hit by fire from that guard at the docks. Oh, shit; Naoto, what happened to him?" I stated as I tried to pull myself into a sitting position.

"Naoto survived, but...well he's in a lot worse shape than you. He lost a lot of blood, at least one of his kidneys, and his heart stopped several times before we could get him treatment. Kallen used her family's pull to get a private doctor to treat him in the settlement. He still hasn't woken up, and the doc said he could be in a persistent vegetative state." Ohgi said with downcast eyes.

"Don't sugar coat it Ohgi, the doc said he's pretty much brain-dead and has a 1 in several million chance of ever waking up." Kento said from the door to the deck.

I was in shock, but more from the fact that Naoto had survived at all. I thought he was dead when I passed out, but I guess I was wrong.

"Still, you can't do anything about that Mr. Franklin; you need to focus on you're own recovery. Particularly given that hand wound." Inoue chimed in.

"Huh, oh yeah, I was hit in the hand." I thought as I raised my left hand to look at it for the first time. What I saw left me kinda numb, as apparently I had lost the pinky finger off that hand.

"Well, guess it will take getting used to, but given what happened to Naoto, I'm not going to complain much." I said as I felt around the nub where the first knuckle of that finger had been.

"Not the worst way to look at things I suppose." Said Ohgi, who I just noticed seemed to be squinting a lot.

"If you want to turn the lights on, you can, my sight probably is fine now." I remarked, realizing the might be worried about "Eugene's" photosensitivity.

"Thanks, it's been a bit of a pain treating you in low light conditions." Kento said as he hit the main light switch; it dazzled me for a few seconds, but was hardly an annoyance.

"Thought you should also know we recovered what we could of your glasses. We couldn't get a pair of your specialty sunglasses made, but we were about to get you a new pair of the normal corrective lenses." Ohgi said, pulling out a pair of glasses from the bedside table.

I accepted them, and the whole world suddenly came into much sharper focus. I for the first time notice how haggard all 3 of the resistance members looked.

"Guess you all took turns watching over me, didn't ya?" I commented as I looked at all their faces.

"You bled for us, you nearly died for us, and you're willing to fight your own countrymen. You're one of us now Eugene, and we look after each other, because no one else will." Ohgi stated with an unexpectedly somber tone while looking me dead in the eyes.

I started to feel the tears gathering in the corners of my eyes, despite my efforts not to get choked up. My 3 comrades simply smiled as I wiped the moisture from my eyes, not judging me for the emotional display.

"I'm not sure what to say, besides that you all have my eternal gratitude. I do want to know how the hell we got out of the docks, and didn't end up in a Brit prison cell." I said after I took another sip of water.

"Don't think anyone heard the shots, and Inoue killed the guard before he could radio in it seems. The Brits know something went on with the barge and the dead guard, but so far they haven't acknowledged the theft of the equipment we took. The news blamed it on organized crime using "Elevens" as patsies, so I think we're safe for the moment." Kento explained.

"Yeah, we pretty much got away scot-free and now have the ability to make the Glasgow operational. The mission succeeded, but we took a pretty bad hit." Ohgi said.

I smiled, and knew that while this was an unforeseen complication, I had only lost a relatively unimportant bit of flesh. The time-line was getting a bit wonky, but nothing that seemed like it would derail the main sequence of events.

"Any chance I could get some real food, as that IV probably has run it's course now." I said as I became aware of exactly how hungry I was.

"We were just about to cook up some dinner, so I don't see why not." Inoue said before heading out to the kitchen with Kento right behind her.

"Heh, he's definitely trying to tap that ass if his behavior is anything to go by" I snickered once they both left the room; Ohgi chuckled as well, before putting on a very serious face.

"Look Eugene, I'm the de facto leader of this group now, and I need all the help I can get. I'm want you, once you feel you're ready, to start acting as our eyes and ears within the settlement. Kallen tries to help us in that area, but she's just a kid and still in school. I know what Naoto's long-term plan was, and I intend to carry it out if at all possible." Ohgi said as he looked between me and his own hands, like he wasn't sure about this himself.

"I'm not adverse to that course of action, but if I'm caught in the settlement I'm not going to be coming back I suspect. Unless you got some nice forged papers for me to take along, I'm not sure how much use I can really be in that area." I said, working over how I could carry out that mission without completely blowing my cover do to lack of local knowledge.

"Don't worry about it now, just get back on you're feet, then we can talk about it again." Ohgi said as Kento and Inoue brought in some bowls of rice and pork in what smelled like a curry sauce.

The meal passed without much more said of consequence, which was fine as I was so focused on filling my starving belly that I barely had any attention to spare for what was going on around me. Kento and Inoue left soon afterwards, because now that I was awake I no longer need round the clock care. I took a badly needed shower soon after they left, and crashed right after that. Ohgi stayed out on the couch, just as a safeguard incase something caused my condition to start backsliding.

All I could think as I drifted off to sleep was "Sorry Naoto, not sure this is any better than what I guess was a relatively clean death in canon."

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 8​

Several days had passed since I had regained consciousness. It was a bit of a nuisance getting used to not having my left pinky finger, but nothing horrible. Soon however I realized that if I was going to hold up the "Eugene" identity long-term, I'd need to get another pair of the special sunglasses "my" condition required. The problem was, I had no real way to go about doing that. Eugene's medical records would have the necessary info to have new ones made, but I had no idea how to get those files. I didn't even know if I could, since Eugene had had his citizenship stripped from him. I decided that going to Ohgi with the problem was the least risky avenue I had available. We met in the garage where the Glasgow was stored, the unofficial home base of our group.

"Ohgi, before I can start acting as the group's eyes in the settlement, I need at least 1 pair of those prescription sunglasses. Problem is, I have no access to my old medical records, and my old eye doctor would probably report me to the cops if I tried to go to him. Do you have any idea where I might be able to obtain a copy of my medical records, but without risking the authorities coming down on me?" I asked as me, Ohgi, and Minami sat around the table.

"Don't you have a copy of your own records?" Minami asked, looking a little surprised.

"No, it's an oversight on my part; I ran to hide in the ghetto so quickly it simply slipped my mind." I lied, though as far as I knew it was probably not far from what had actually happened.

"Understandable. Honestly, I don't have much of a clue where you might be able to find those records at this point. They probably exist in a Brit computer system somewhere, but frankly I don't think any of us have the hacking expertise to safely get at them." Ohgi stated as he scratched his chin.

"Figured that was the case." I grumbled.

We sat there for several minutes in silence, each of us obviously annoyed by the lack of options for dealing with this problem. I knew I could use regular sunglasses and function, but considering the shit I was likely to be dealing with down the road, any inconsistency in my story or behavior could end up getting me killed. I couldn't even use a black market doctor for this, because I didn't actually have the condition the prescription sunglasses treated, so they wouldn't be able to diagnose me with it.

"Never thought one pair of busted glasses would be the thing to doom me."

I was still deep in thought when Kallen burst in, ran through the break room, and out into the garage. I noticed her eyes were red, and she wasn't in her school outfit. Something was obviously up, and I had an ugly feeling I knew what it was. Ohgi pardoned himself to go talk to her, while Minami moved towards the rooms phone. I followed Ohgi back to one of the small offices that was on the second floor of the auto-shop, where it was obvious Kallen had secluded herself.

"Kallen, what's going on? Come on, talk to me." Ohgi was saying through the door as I caught up with him.

There was no answer, but we could both here sniffles coming from in the room. Slowly, Ohgi opened the door and we found Kallen sitting at the desk, looking through a photo album. Most of the pictures where of her, Naoto, and Ohgi, though some seemed to be from before the invasion.

"He's dead, Naoto's dead. Mrs. Stadfeld didn't want to pay for life support anymore and had it disconnected an hour ago. Mom tried to get Mr. Stadfeld to intervene, but he said Naoto was already dead and that it was time to let him go." Kallen said, almost in a daze.

Ohgi went over and enveloped her in a comforting hug, obvious pain and sadness evident on his face. I was left at a loss of how to respond. I knew that this was likely to happen, and yet I still couldn't help but feel guilty that I hadn't been able to save Naoto. He'd let me into the group, given me a chance to help, and allowed me to fight beside him. If Naoto hadn't believed me, I'd be without any means to easily get into the Black Knights, and that would have likely doomed me from the get go.

"Kallen, I didn't know your brother that well, but he gave me a chance when he had little reason to. I can't fathom what you're going through, and feel like shit for not being able to stop the guard before he shot Naoto. You're brother was a good man, a smart man, and I hope that gives you a little solace." I said, not really knowing what was the right thing to say in situations like this. She wasn't the future pilot of the Gurren or the Ace of the Black Knights right now, she was just a teenage girl who had just lost her only brother to a struggle against those who had invaded her homeland.

"Th-thank you Mr. Franklin. I originally thought you were a spy here to nail us, and still thought that until I heard what happened at the docks. Inoue and Ohgi told me about what you did, and how you didn't hesitate to fight along side Naoto. I misjudged you, and I am grateful you tried to save my brother." Kallen said, looking slightly abashed.

"No need to apologize kiddo, you were just looking out for everyone. Anyway, Ohgi, I'm going to head back downstairs and wait for everyone to get here. Come on down when you're both ready." I patted Kallen on the head then turned to leave.

"Thanks, we'll be down in a bit." Ohgi said.

When I arrived back downstairs, Tamaki, Inoue, Nagato, and Kento had arrived; we were still waiting on the others. They all looked at me expectantly.

"Naoto's gone; Kallen said he was taken off life support about an hour ago." I stated simply.

Varied combinations of sadness and resignation crossed all their faces. Tamaki teared up slightly before punching one of the walls.

"Dammit, if I'd been faster Naoto would be alive and you wouldn't have been injured." Inoue said as she sat down and hung her head.

"Not your fault, that guard got the drop on all of us. Fuck, I just can't believe the he's gone. What the hell are we going to do now." Kento said as he collapsed onto the couch, looking off into the middle distance.

"Naoto supposedly told Ohgi his overall plan before he died, so I guess we follow him now." Nagato said from where he was leaning against the wall.

"Look, Ohgi's smart and he has us to back him up. We can still fight and win if we just keep at it." Tamaki after he grabbed a beer from the communal fridge.

"For now, lets just give Kallen the support she's gonna need. We may have lost a leader and friend, but she lost her brother. We can get back to fighting once we're all past this." I said, knowing that making sure Kallen pulled through alright was key. If she didn't, the future could easily be butterflied to the point my knowledge would be useless.

I knew my issue with the glasses would need to be addressed, and soon, but I also knew pushing it at this point would be more than counter-productive. We needed to get everyone through this, and rally under Ohgi, before I would try to bring the issue up again. I just hoped it wouldn't take too long, as I wasn't sure how long I could hide my lack of photosensitivity from the group.

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 9​

On the night of Naoto's death we turned the garage into an impromptu memorial service for Naoto. Everyone had contributed what little food or booze they had to spare, which was depressing small till I went to pull some of the money out of my lockbox. A little money to a few shady merchants, and we had enough to allow a proper wake. I had left before I could get too drunk and free-tongued, lest I let something slip and fuck everything up. The next morning I got a surprise phone-call from Ohgi, who I figured would either be still passed out, or taking Kallen home.

"Ohgi, what's up?" I said as I rolled out of bed.

"Just got back from dropping Kallen off at the edge of the Settlement, and we may have come up with a way to get your medical records. Apparently, there should be a copy of your student medical records left in the archives at Ashford. They keep those records for all students, even after they graduate." Ohgi said with what might be a hint of optimism in his voice.

"Makes sense, any idea how I could get a hold of them?" Maybe his optimism was going to be infectious.

"Well Eugene, if you still had you're citizenship you could just walk right in and request a copy. But as it is now, I'd say the only way is if you give Kallen your personal student ID number, she might be able to ferret it out for you." Ohgi stated.

"Could she get in trouble for doing that?" I wondered, thinking about the timeline.

"Well yeah, but-" That was all I needed to hear.

"Ohgi, I'm not going to have her risk her status and cover at Ashford just so I can get some glasses. I know where a copy likely is now, I'll handle it." I said, trying to come up with a way to use this info.

"Just let me know how it progresses." Ohgi said, seemingly appreciative of my concern for Kallen.

"No problem, see you later." I said as I hung up.

Well now at least I had somewhere to aim my plans, rather than going in blind. It seems luck was with me at least in this, as I did still have one active connection to the school. The "Ashford Alumni Assistance Fund" would give me a way to make contact with the school that wasn't going to flag any warnings on government channels. Still, going near Ashford at this point, even via email, could be dangerous unless handled carefully.

It took a few tries, and an look over by Ohgi, but I got the first email out to the Ashford Alumni group within the day. It took about a two days to hear back, which was a little nerve-racking. My request was being sent up to Reuben Ashford himself, as I guess he was the head of the Alumni group, I was told to expect an answer within a day. Knowing this was going all the way to Ashford himself, did anything but calm my nerves, and nearly sent me into a panic attack.

When the final email came, it nearly sent me over the edge. Not only would I need to meet Reuben in person to get the records, it would be at Ashford and I was going to be chauffeured in none other than Sayako Shinozaki. I was going to have to be very careful with what I said, to pretty much everyone, or I could butterfly everything far beyond my ability to usefully predict.

"Oh, this is going to fucking suck. I need to be prepared to short circuit everything and take control, if shit starts getting out of hand. Better that than leaving things to spiral out of control at completely." I thought as I saw the black sedan approach my apartment building.

"Still, not the scariest maid I could have been dealing with. She just a ninja maid, not a terminator maid." I said to myself in an effort to calm my nerves. I kinda worked, and I was more or less centered by the time Sayako stepped out of the car to open the passenger door.

"If you'll take a seat Mr. Franklin, I'll take you to Ashford." Sayako said with a demure tone, playing the part of the obedient house maid; she had the tone down very well.

"Thank you miss...?"I asked, feigning not knowing her name.

"Sayako." She said with a nod.

"Very well, thank you Ms. Sayako." I said with a reciprocal nod, before entering the limo.

After about 20 minutes we left the ghetto, passed through a police checkpoint, and were in the Settlement proper. It was amazing to see all the buildings up close, and realize just how far ahead Britannia was tech-wise compared to 21st century Earth in my universe.

As I was watching the Government Bureau slip past, Sayako asked a question that caught me a little off-guard.

"If you don't mind me asking sir, why is a Britannian gentlemen such as yourself living in the ghetto?" She asked, with what sounded like genuine curiosity.

"I had my citizenship stripped for speaking out against abuse against Japanese by us Brits. Had to sell off my processions before they were confiscated and am basically in exile in the ghetto." I said, with a tired sigh. I was getting tired of having to rehash this with a new people, but it was necessary to keep my cover intact.

"I...appreciate that someone holds views such as yours." Was all she said, before silence descended on the cab again.

"Well that just happened. Maybe I can use this later on, if the timeline doesn't get to wonky. Wouldn't hurt to have her goodwill when dealing with Lelouch down the road." I thought as we approached Ashford Academy.

I tried to make out landmarks, particularly the Student Council Clubhouse, but it seemed like we were coming in a side entrance on the other side of the campus. There weren't many students on the grounds, it being a Saturday morning. Still, I managed to spy a blue haired kid working on a bike with a sidecar, who had to be Rivalz.

"Enjoy normality while it lasts Rivalz, cause it won't exist for all that much longer." I thought with a grin as the limo pulled up to what I assumed was the administrative wing.

The building was beautiful, the stone work and inlays much more vivid than in the show, and as such that much more impressive. Sayako led me down a hall towards what she said was the main office for the school.

What she didn't tell me, and nearly caused me to crap myself, was that this hallway also contained the door to the Student Council Room. A very occupied Student Council Room, where I could discern the voices of several people, who included at least Nina, Milly, and possibly Lelouch himself. I was very happy when I reached the office area proper and had a few doors between me and the Student Council. Sayako left me there, and said Headmaster Ashford would be out to collect me shortly.

A short while later a man with short, silvery-gray hair stepped out of the other door.

"Mr. Franklin, it's been a long time." Reuben said, extending a hand.

"Thank you for seeing Headmaster." I said as he showed me into his office.

"Now your request was for you're old student medical records to replace lost information, correct?" Reuben said as he settled across from me at the desk.

"Yes. I lost my old ones during the...unpleasantness that led to me living in the ghetto. I recently got a job at an auto-mechanic in the ghetto, and lost my proscription sunglasses during an accident. That's why I need the old copy in the school's archives." I explained.

"Hm, I would be very willing to give you a hand, but due to the citizenship issue, I legally cannot. Even the Alumni Stipend you receive is skirting the edge of what I can get away with. But if I was to say, leave a certain file folder on this desk, and leave to use the restroom, I couldn't be held responsible for what someone else did during that time." The old man said with a wry smile, before getting out of his seat and leaving the room.

Taking his meaning, I snatched up the copies, folded them up, and stuck them under my shirt. When Reuben returned, we chatted for a bit over tea, before I thanked him for his hospitality and he apologized for not being able to meet my request. I was driven back to my apartment by Sayako after the meeting, watching the beginning of sunset approach.

As I got out of the car and headed into my apartment building, Sayako said before driving off "Hopefully in the future more Britannian's will come to see things as you do, Mr. Franklin."

"If all goes to plan, that won't be that huge of an issue in the near future." I thought as I entered the building. Now all I needed was to get those new glasses made, and I could begin to seriously assist the resistance once again.

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 10

​

Using the same black-market connection Ohgi went through to replace my main glasses, I was able to procure 2 sets of the dark prescription glasses. In the end getting the glasses cost me 50,000 pounds, which was a not insignificant chunk of my funds. Still, it was safer to use the black-market to get the glasses, compared to trying to get them in the Settlement itself. I expected Ohgi would call me into plan my activities in the Settlement within the next few days, which left me with a little free time to myself. Said free time ended up being taken up teaching Kento to play poker, which I did in exchange for him spreading the word to the locals that I was officially under Ohgi and his group's protection.

"Got my own red head band now, I really am one of them now."

Kento was only middling at poker it seem, but I figured he'd be a card shark if exposed to blackjack. We were about to stop to cook up some rice and pork for dinner when the phone Ohgi had given me rang.

"Hey boss, what's up?"

"Eugene, I need you to meet me at the garage in about 20 minutes, can you make it?"

"Sure. Kento's here, should I bring him along?"

"No, I got something for him to do. Can you hand him the phone, please."

"Here you go Kento, it's Ohgi." I said as I handed him the cell.

"Hey Ohgi, what's up...ok, no that shouldn't be a problem...I'll call Inoue and have her meet me there so we can get it done faster...Is Kallen going to be there?...Ok, I'll call you when I get there, bye." Kento said as he spoke to Ohgi on the phone.

"What's Ohgi got you doing?" I asked.

"He wants a few of us to help clean out Naoto's old apartment and bring the stuff over to the garage. What about you?" Kento replied.

"Not sure, Ohgi just wants to see me down at the garage in 20 minutes." I said as I grabbed my coat.

"Maybe he wants you to help clear space for the stuff were bringing in from Naoto's?" Kento stated as we both walked down the stairs.

"Could easily be the case. See you in a while." I said as Kento and I separated outside my apartment building.

When I arrived at the garage, the side door was already open with several boxes stacked against it. Inside I found Tamaki passed out on the couch, and Nagato reading a newspaper at the table. I waved hello as I passed through, expecting to find Ohgi in one of the up-stairs offices. When I found him, he seemed to be in urgent conversation with someone important, so I politely waited in the office where Kallen had secluded herself the night Naoto died. The office had turned into a small shrine to Naoto, with several pictures of him in one corner surrounded by candles and a small incense stick.

"Sorry about calling you in on such short notice, but we're about to get a visit from a Kyoto House representative. They heard about Naoto's death and my taking over the leadership role; they want to meet me to see if the group is still worth even the token support they give us." Ohgi said as he entered the room.

"Is that what you called me over for?" I asked, slightly concerned about possibly ending up on Kyoto House's radar this soon.

"No, I don't want them knowing about your involvement with us just yet. I want to know were I, and the group overall, stand in Kyoto's eye's before we throw the curveball you represent into the mix." Ohgi said as he relit a candle that had gone out in the shrine to Naoto.

"So if that wasn't it, why'd you call me down?" I asked, hoping to get out of here before the Kyoto rep showed up.

"I might have found you a way to move around the Settlement without raising too much suspicion. Your cover would be as a chauffeur for Kallen, hired by her family, to take her to school when she feels like attending. The Stadfeld's, because of their noble status, can hire you on despite the citizenship issue." Ohgi stated as he went to pull some files out of a cabinet drawer.

"This all sounds interesting, but I don't see the Stadfeld's hiring me on if they get wind of why my citizenship was stripped." I said, working over the new possibilities in my head.

"They wouldn't, but luckily Kallen does have the power to hire and fire auxiliary domestic staff. Now whether you want to go through with this is completely up to you. But Eugene, to be very honest, I don't know of a safer way to get you into, around, and back out of the Settlement." Ohgi said as he handed me some papers.

They were employment documents, nearly completely filled out, needing only a few initials and signatures in order to be complete. It was a perfect set up, and Ohgi was right about it being a fairly safe way to hide any activities within the Settlement. But I was worried about unduly influencing Kallen because of this new position, and it also put me at risk of exposure to certain critical people at Ashford. I was already interfering just be my very presence, but being that close to such a key player for a long time upped the potential I could butterfly shit in ways I couldn't imagine. Another part of me also point out that any activity I under took in the Settlement could also be tied to the Stadfelds, and thus Kallen, which meant they were also at risk if I fouled up.

"Ohgi, I can see why you brought this to my attention, and thank you for putting in the work, but I think we need to go with another plan. Preferably one that doesn't risk our only other member who can safely and legally travel throughout the Settlement." I said, handing him back the papers.

"Kallen said she was fine with the risks." Ohgi stated simply.

"She may be, but she also is a kid who's still dealing with the emotional fallout from losing her brother. Successful resistance cells limit information flow to safeguard each other, like how Naoto didn't tell me or Inoue what they were going to be doing over by the barge or anything else we didn't need to know. If I'm associated with the Stadfelds, it means any fuck ups on my end endanger Kallen and increase the likelihood this group is discovered." I explained.

"You have a point, but what I said about this being our best shot at getting you into the Settlement safely is still true." Ohgi pointed out.

"Our best shot so far." I amended.

"Ok, you seem to have a better eye for this, I'll let you put together an infiltration plan while I go meet with the Kyoto rep." Ohgi said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Fair enough, good luck with the rep." I said as he headed downstairs.

I had several plans in the theoretical stages in my mind, and now I was being given the resources to actually see if they were feasible. It quickly became apparent that an authentic looking forged ID was going to be fairly easy to get, especially since "Eugene" was born a Brit anyway. Transportation wasn't going to be a huge issue, particularly given the large railway system the Brits had built up. Still, it wasn't easy finding a cover that would allow easy access to a large amount of the Settlement, had enough flex time to excuse any loitering or useful observation, and was low key enough to keep me off the radar of anyone important.

In the end, I found one cover that would work, and may even be useful long term. One of the Pizza Huts had several delivery person positions open. It would give me an easy way to excuse being all sorts of places within the Settlement, and could potentially give me a way to contact Lelouch outside of the main channels once everything kicked off.

"Figured anything out yet, you've been at it for close to 2 hours?" Ohgi said from behind me, snapping me out of my work on the infiltration plan.

"Got a promising idea, just need a dummy bank account I can use to receive a paycheck under the cover identity." I said.

"Really, you got that much done? What's your plan?" Ohgi said, with a very interested look on his face.

"Using a fake identity, I try to get a position as a delivery boy with Pizza Hut. That will give me easy, suspicion-free access to plenty of places within the Settlement, more places than I would have be able to get to even with the chauffeur idea." I explained, handing Ohgi the papers I had put together.

"Huh, seems like you actually know what you're doing. Sorry about getting snippy earlier." Ohgi stated, with an embarrassed look on his face.

"No problem. So what did Kyoto think of us and you?" I asked.

"Were not going to have our funding cut, but they won't consider upping it again until I can prove I'm just as solid a leader as Naoto was." Ohgi said with a sigh.

"Well, guess I can understand that. At least they're giving you a chance." I stated.

"True enough, though it does mean we may need to lean on you for some cash if something comes up." Ohgi replied.

"Already knew that was likely to happen. Just let me know how much you need and I'll see what I can spare. Need anything else from me, or can I head back to get some dinner?" I asked.

"Go ahead, I'll contact you about the fake ID and bank account once I have something. See you later." Ohgi said as I headed out the door and back to my apartment.

"This could work very well. Once CC moves into the clubhouse, I suspect I'll be over there more than a few times."

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 11​

Driving a delivery scooter around the Settlement for Pizza Hut turned out to be less than pleasant. Mostly because the constant smell of pizza, none of which I could eat, was a long, slow torture. I was able to put together a pretty good map of the Settlement and it's surroundings, though the Government Bureau was still a blank spot. Another discovery I made, completely by accident, was that when surrounded by 100% electric vehicles, some of the old methods of detecting cars on the road went out the window. Nearly getting run over by a swanky looking limo that I didn't hear coming quickly forced me to change my driving habits.

After about two weeks of doing deliveries, I got a call from the military airstrip on one edge of the Settlement. It was the first time I had gotten a delivery order that would take me inside a secure military facility. I decided to call Ohgi to get some quick advice about how to deal with the soldiers on base.

"Ohgi, I got a delivery to the air field on the west side of the Settlement. It looks like I'll be going into the secured areas to deliver the order. Any advice for dealing with the soldiers?" I asked as I passed the remains of Toyko Tower.

"Eugene, just act calm and natural, with just a slight bit of submissiveness so the guards are less likely to see you as a threat. Try to get some pictures if you can, any info we can get on those installations can only help." Ohgi said over the cell.

"Cool, thanks. If everything goes smoothly, this should be my last delivery of the day. I'll probably be by the garage about 6-ish with a full report." I said before hanging up.

The drive in was rather boring, as I had been in this section of the Settlement several times, though I had never been closer than a mile from the air field itself. As I drove up to the gate, I could see several of the Brit fighters on the tarmac. They looked like a mix of an F-22 and F-35, though the over-wing engines were something I had never seen before with my own eyes. I was stopped by the guard on duty at the main gate, who ran some sort of sensor suite over the entire scooter before even asking what I was there for. I told him I was supposed to deliver 3 pizzas to one of the barracks on base, and after confirming that someone had indeed placed an order from inside the base, I was authorized to go in.

What happened next forced me to put on my best game face, lest shit start going very wrong.

"You'll have to have an escort into the base, sorry but it's standard procedure." The guard said as he went back inside to fetch my escort. When he came back out, a young private was following him.

"Private Kururugi here will be your escort. I know he's an Eleven, but he's an honorary Britannian, so follow his orders. Here's a map to the barracks, don't stray from the assigned route." The guard said to me as that moronic fool of an escort pulled a jeep up behind me.

"Private, if you don't want to be cleaning the latrines with your toothbrush for a week, you'll keep the delivery on track and out of restricted areas. Is that understood?" The guard yelled.

"Yes sir." Said Suzaku as he pulled in behind my scooter. This was not a person I wanted any contact with so soon, but I didn't really have a choice in the matter.

The route I had been given was long, as it circled around a few areas that were obviously no-go zones, and it took about 15 minutes to actually get to the barracks that had placed the order. Suzaku, being his ever dutiful self, was never more than about ten feet behind me the whole route. I decided not to say anything to Suzaku unless absolutely necessary, both because too many butterfly's could be set in motion dealing with him, and because I didn't trust myself not to launch into a rant. When we reached the designated barracks, I hopped off my scooter and took out the pizza's before heading up to the door. Suzaku was about 3 paces behind me at all times, so I knew trying to get any photos of the base wouldn't be happening. I was met by a very hungry looking pilot who came to the door when I knocked.

"Here's you pizza's sir; 1 pepperoni, 1 anchovy special, and 1 blood sausage. That will be 24 pounds please." I said politely.

"Thanks son. Hey boys, chow's here! Thanks for the prompt service, keep the change." With that he handed my 30 pound notes, took the pizzas out of my hands, and closed the door.

The large tip was nice, as my funds were not inexhaustible, and I hopped by on the scooter with a smile on my face. The drive back to the gate was uneventful, thankfully, and I was back on the civilian roads within a few minutes.

Well, that was way more exciting than I really wanted.

About an hour later I was back in the ghetto at the garage, waiting for Ohgi to get off the phone before I could make my report. After a few minutes Ohgi finished his call and turned to speak with me.

"So Eugene, did you get any good photo's from inside the base?" Ohgi asked with hope in his eyes.

"Sorry boss, I had an escort the whole way in and out, couldn't risk it. They didn't let me into any restricted area's either, so nothing substantial to report on that front. I did see several fighters on the tarmac, but that's hardly unexpected. Only interesting thing I really have to report is about my escort." I said, as Ohgi's faced deflated slightly.

"What about it?" He asked.

"I'm not a 100% sure, but I think my escort was the son of the former Prime Minister of Japan, Genbo Kururugi. His name was Kururugi, and he was an Honorary Brit. Not sure if the info means anything to you, but figured it wouldn't hurt to have it." Most of this was a lie, as I knew for damn sure that is was Suzaku, and I was unsure if telling Ohgi about him would cause any butterflies.

"Disappointing to hear, but frankly I don't think we can use him in anyway. If he volunteered to join the Brit military, despite everything that happened, I doubt he'll be sympathetic to our cause. Still, good work spotting that, though I'm surprised you would even know our late Prime Minister's name or family structure." Ohgi said as he wrote down what I had been saying.

"Figured it was a good idea to learn as much about Japan as possible if I am going to help this group out." I mentioned with a shrugged, hoping Ohgi bought the line.

"Eh, well thanks for that. Anyway, I wanted to tell you, Kento finally got those KMF sim programs for us. He had to get some Chinese knock-offs, but they should still get us what we need. I think all of us should use the programs, if we ever get more KMF's we'll need qualified pilots." Ohgi said, handing me some papers that looked a lot like an instruction manual.

"Ok, I'll look those over tonight. I'll try to take some time off from the Pizza Hut gig so I can train, any idea when some open time might be?" I asked.

"Not really sure, they're still trying to get the sims properly integrated with the cockpit. I doubt it will be for a few days, so I'll give you a call when I have a better idea of how the training schedule is going to pan out." Ohgi said, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

"Fine by me. Well I'll see you later, need to get back and hit the sack. Tell everyone hello for me." I said as I headed out the building's side door.

"Later Eugene." Ohgi said as I closed the door.

Hmm, KMF training sims, that should definitely help me survive a bit better. Plus I can figure out how those damn things work, those controls don't seem to have a whole lot of rhyme or reason from what I saw in the show.

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 12​

About a week had passed since Ohgi had informed me that the training sims had come in. Most of the others had already completed their basic instruction, with only myself and Tamaki left. Me, because the pizza delivery gig was keeping me busy, and Tamaki because he insisted he'd be awesome and wanted to beat everyone else's score. I rolled my eyes at that, given his record with KMFs in the show, but I didn't say anything. I was going to be trying it out today after work, and was very interested to see how the cockpit functioned, since that was glossed over in the show. I arrived at the garage at about 7, and found Ohgi helping Kento get out of the cockpit.

"How'd it go?" I asked as grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Well lets just say I hope I never face any Knights of the Round." Kento said in a slightly chagrined voice.

"Lets hope none of us do, even though Kallen might at least be able to give them a slight challenge." Ohgi commented. It took all of my self-control not to break out laughing, knowing exactly how good a pilot she potentially was.

"You ready for you're test Eugene?" Kento asked.

"Yes and no. I'm very willing to give it a go, but I know almost nothing about piloting KMFs. Run me through it as though I have never even laid eyes on a KMF cockpit before." I said, giving them a partial truth.

"Well first things first, we have to calibrate the starter to you're biometric specifics, using a rudimentary analysis routine in the sim. Most KMF pilots are go through a battery of tests and physical measurements to calibrate their starter key before they even enter the cockpit. It allows for a more fine tuned and individualized set up. We don't have that luxury, so we're using something meant for Chinese conscript pilots. Hop on in and I'll get the routine started for you." Ohgi said as he went to a small desktop diagnostic/maintenance computer that was in the back of the garage.

The interior of the KMF was fairly cramped, especially for someone with long legs, and smelled faintly of bleach. I decided not to ask about the smell; some things were better left unknown. I strapped in as Ohgi began the power up procedures. The screen blinked on and displayed some message in Chinese script, which might as well be whale song given how much I could understand it.

"Ohgi, any chance you could switch the language settings over to English. I know only a few symbols in Japanese and no Chinese." I said into the mic attached to the control panel.

"Oh sorry, give me a sec...how's it now." Ohgi said after a second. The start up screen had switched over to English and now showed what looked like a tutorial menu.

"Fine. I'm at a tutorial menu, where do I go from here." I asked.

"Select 'Systems interface', go to the 'New Pilot' submenu, and then select 'Biometric Calibration'. Oh, also, you'll need to take your glasses off for this to work correctly. If the screen isn't close enough for you to see well, there should be a 'pilot position adjustment panel' on the right side of the seat itself." Ohgi said over the com.

I took my glasses off and realized I would have to adjust the seat forward by about 6 inches to be able to see the screen clearly. It took me a minute or two to figure out how to navigate the menus using the thumb ball on the left hand control yoke, but I got to the calibration screen fairly easily.

"So what do I do now?" I asked as a the screen said 'awaiting instructor set up'.

"Just a sec, got to in put some basic info so the program can function properly. There, it should have step-by-step instructions on the screen now." He commented as a new screen popped up in front of me.

"Yep, it's up. I'll let you know if I'm having any problems." I said as the screen displayed a basic human figure with instructions to hold still for 30 seconds.

After those 30 seconds, a blank screen with a few dots appeared, instructing me to follow the red dot with both my eyes, but not move my head, till instructed otherwise. I guessed it was doing a retinal tracking calibration. After about a minute of following the dot around, it instructed me to place my thumb on the start up key, to log my specific retinal pattern and hook it to my finger prints.

"Huh, so those keys can't just be used by anyone, they have to be keyed to specific people, even if multiple people can use the same key. Guess that's why the only time a KMF was hijacked was when it was a prototype unit that didn't have a dedicated pilot and had an advanced computer system."

I was run through a bunch of basic maneuvers first, and gained a decent understanding of the controls. The yokes were used to maneuver the arms and to indicate which direction the pilot wished to maneuver, while the targeting reticle was linked to retinal movement. The few toggles and switches seemed to be weapons selectors and similar functions. The hand rests also doubled as the ejection handles, which I had figured was the case, but wasn't sure if it was that way for all models.

"Ok, you seem to have the basics down, now I'll give you a few combat sims to see how you do." Ohgi said over the com.

Shortly afterwards the screen switch to a fairly basic animated urban landscape, with a Sutherland about a hundred yards away from me and a count down timer in the corner of the screen. When the count down ended, it began shooting at me, though very inaccurately, but enough to force me to move for cover. Using the yokes, I maneuvered the KMF's submachine gun around the corner of the building and began firing back at it. It took me several shots to walk my fire on to the target, which exploded after I put a sustained burst into it. The sim reset, this time with two Sutherlands facing me. It went like this for the next hour or so, giving me progressively more difficult scenarios and opponents. In the end, I found that, while I was never going to be a good brawler, I did have a knack for heavy weapons.

"Too bad we'll probably never get any KMF scale recoilless rifles or rocket launchers, you seem excel with those. Still, not too bad a showing, even if you usually got mangled anytime someone got close." Kento joked as he helped me out of the cockpit.

"Eh, I doubt I'll be doing much piloting, we only have one KMF and Kallen's miles above most of us." I said as I grabbed the water bottle I had left on the table.

"You want to stick around to watch Tamaki take his turn? Should be worth a laugh or two." Ohgi said as he reset the program.

"Thanks, but I'd rather not watch that train-wreck. I'll see you guys later, I need to get some dinner." I said as I headed for the front door.

"We'll probably all be getting together next Wednesday. I may have a new operation for us to attempt, if Kyoto comes through with some information. Good night." Ohgi said as I headed out.

"I wonder if this is it, if this is the op where we'll grab CC. The timing seems off, but the dates in the show weren't terribly specific. Still, need to be on my toes."

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 13​

With Ohgi setting up a meeting for what sounded like the operation that netted CC and kicked everything off, I had to start some serious planning. I knew that there were several ways to short circuit things to my advantage at various points in the timeline, but the sooner it happened the less likely it was that events would overtake my ability to act. To this end, I spent several hours going over various scenarios, ranking them from most feasible to least, and figuring out what I would need to accomplish them.

"Hmm, need to keep in mind my finances aren't unlimited, so I need something simple and cheap that will tip the balance."

In the end I settled on a two-part plan that required only a sniper rifle and a set of untraceable sat-phones. The plan could eliminate any real chance of Lelouch being discovered at all, provided I survived the ghetto purge and was able to figure out where the warehouse he made the contract with CC was. The second could possibly reduce the amount of collateral damage the conflict may incur, give me a solid link into the Brit command structure in Japan, and lay the ground work for possibly turning the Brit military under Cornelia against Emperor Chuck, all at the same time.

"Now to make a few calls."

First I made a call to Ohgi. "Hey boss, do you have the contact info for our black market connection. There's some gear I want to get from them."

"Sure, it's the tool shop on the north side of the old Shinjuku Imperial Gardens. Ask for Tomio. Mind if I ask what you're going to be buying?" Ohgi said with a relaxed voice.

"Well I was kinda building a plan for the group to use for the op after this next one you're planning, and needed a few thing to make it feasible. I won't worry you with the details till after this next op is done, you've got enough on your plate already." I said rather nonchalantly.

"Interesting. Well keep me in the loop when you get it all figured out. Talk to you later." With that, Ohgi hung up.

"Sorry I had to lie again Ohgi, as I won't be planning our op's after the next one, we'll all be taking orders from someone a bit more qualified."

Later that day I made my way over to the tool shop Ohgi told me about. The owner let me into the back room when I told him I was there to seem Tomio, who turned out to be a rather heavy set Japanese man with several gold rings on his fingers.

"So, what can I do for a member of Kozuki's little band of mischief makers." He said with a bit of a laugh.

"I need a sniper rifle, the best you can offer on short notice, ammo to go with it, a sight with a built in range finder, and a pair of untraceable sat-phones that can only call each other." I said, as Tomio raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to ask what you need these for, but if a public figure gets assassinated and they trace the weapon back to me, I'm not going cover for you or your group. Just so there are no misunderstanding, you see." He said in a dead serious voice.

"This is just business, I get that, now show me what you have." I said calmly, despite finding his attitude towards those fighting to free Japan repulsive.

Several minutes later he came back with 5 rifle cases, 2 sights, and several sets of sat-phones. It took me about 10 minutes worth of examination, but I finally ended up picking a sniper rifle that looked like a mash-up of a PSG-1 and a Barrett .50, with an integrated suppressor. The sight was a no brainer, as one had 3x zoom, while the other had 10x. Picking a sat-phone set was just as quick, given it was only battery life that differentiated them. Unfortunately, the equipment cost me a pretty penny because of black market prices. Between these purchases and the others I had previously made, I was down to 120,000 of the original 1.5 million pounds in Eugene's lockbox by the time I left.

"Now I need to find that warehouse, so I know where to be when the time comes."

I didn't have the greatest memory of that part of the show, and the warehouse was fairly non-descript as it was. But I remembered the placement of the stairwell Lelouch tried to hide in with CC, before Shirley's mistimed call alerted the Royal Guards to his presence. That, combined with a map of the underground I got from Ohgi previously, helped me narrow down my search to one of 3 warehouses, though they were all spread across the ghetto. One I immediately ruled out because it was being used as a frozen goods storehouse, and the amount of equipment in it didn't match up with what I remembered. The other two were nearly identical, which caused me no small amount of frustration. In the end, I chose the one that had some graffiti on the back wall, after wracking my brain for anything else I remembered seeing in the show. I had no guarantee that this graffiti wouldn't be washed off and other graffiti put up in the other warehouse by the time things got going, but it was better than nothing. The sniper perch I picked was about 150 yards up the block in an abandoned 2 story gym, which had a great view of the entrance to the warehouse.

"And honestly, if the first part of the plan fails, it isn't the end of the world. The second bit has far more important potential impacts."

When I got back to the apartment, I immediately began stripping down the sniper rifle and putting it back together, timing myself and trying to do it faster and faster. For my plan to work, I would need to be able to set up and break down the rifle in a very short amount of time, lest I invite a KMF round into my sniper perch when the time came. Once I had some dinner in me, I went down to practice my shooting in one of the abandoned tunnels beneath the ghetto. Pacing out about how long of a shot I would likely be making, I set up some roughly human sized targets and started plinking away as I zero'd in my sights. I ran through about 20 rounds before I was satisfied that I could make the shot when the time came.

"Been nice knowing you, Ms. Nu" I said to myself with a wicked grin on my face.

 

[Bacle]

Omake 1​

Let it never be said I didn't try to enjoy myself during my long misadventure into the Geass-verse, when I felt it wouldn't screw with the timeline to badly.

Tamaki had, after Naoto's death and my recovery, decided to see if my "Brit" liver could hold a candle to his, which he claimed was the "pride of Japan's karaoke circuit" before the war. I decided to humor him, knowing the poor SOB had no idea about my high-altitude alcohol acclimatization. It used to take a 12 pack of high ABV beers before I even felt a buzz when at sea level, and I was pretty sure Japanese beer was still pretty weak, comparatively, in this universe.

We met at Kento's apartment, who would be the neutral party and supply all the alcohol. He'd also call the rest of the group to help out if me or Tamaki got alcohol poisoning.

"So, Kento, what's our first round gonna be!" Tamaki slammed his hands on the table we were sitting at while Kento dug into his pantry.

"Well I thought we'd just dive right in, so I got some top-shelf sake from I guy I know in Kure." Kento said as he picked out a few shot glasses for us to use.

"Really, just sake? No whiskey, rum, not even vodka? Man Tamaki, guess he's giving you a handicap." I snarked.

"Just you wait, you'll be puking your guts out in no time." Tamaki shot back, cocky grin on his face.

The first bottle of sake was gone in about 5 minutes; it was so smooth I actually had to ask Kento if he hadn't accidently given us stuff from a water bottle. Tamaki seemed fine, not even any glassiness showing in his eyes yet.

So at least he's not all hot air, this might even be interesting.

After 3 more bottles, 1 of scotch and 2 of some weird fruity liqueur from what I knew of as the Philippines, I even began to feel a pleasant numbness begin to come on. Tamaki was still holding on pretty well, though glassiness had final started creeping into his eyes.

"If you want you can forfeit now, and make it back to your place under your own power. No one would blame you." I intoned as Tamaki started to pour a shot from the bottle of vodka Kento had just placed on the table.

"Screw you Franklin, I want to see your face when I'm standing proud and you're flat on the ground." Tamaki growled at me.

The next hour or so was a bit of a blur, but I know we ended up polishing off another bottle of vodka, a bottle of some Irish Cream (where the fuck Kento got that I don't know), and finally a handle of tequila. That last one finally started to get to me (tequila always had hit me hard back home) and the room had started swaying slightly. Tamaki was starting to get green around the gills, and had nearly fallen out of his chair a few times, but was still hanging on somehow.

"I'll give you this Tamaki, you far surpassed my expectations of what you could do." I said, before letting out a large belch.

"Fuck yeah I have. Still, you ain't a panty-waist when it comes to booze, which is more than many Brits I've seen." Tamaki replied, using one hand to steady himself against the table as he groped around for another full bottle.

"Fuck, Kento, we're out of booze over here. Where's the next bottle?" Tamaki shouted to Kento, who had passed out on the couch after pulling out the last several bottles we had consumed.

"Wait, you're both still going at it? Fuck Tamaki, I have one bottle left, and that shit really isn't meant for use in a drinking contest." Kento whined from the couch.

"I said I'd pay you back, so bring it out and lets finish this." Tamaki snapped, or well tried to as his words slurred together.

"What poison is it Kento?" I asked while he trudged over to his pantry.

"I don't know the proper name for it, and the label is all fucked up, but the shit is as close as you can get to paint-thinner and still be safe for human consumption." Kento muttered as he hefted a large, likely gallon jug out onto the table.

"Fuck me, Kento, that looks like Everclear. You sure you don't have anything else left we could try first?" I ask, slight bit of fear entering my voice.

"Nope, this is it, unless you want to do shots of mouthwash." He said, shrugging.

"That almost sounds better, but fuck it, this should at least end things quick." I said, before pouring me and Tamaki a shot.

3 shots later Tamaki toppled over and passed out on the floor, nearly breaking Kento's shot glass. I was left with a heavily fogged mind, a vague feeling like I might be puking my guts out in the near future, and the certainty that I was in for a world class hangover the next day.

"So, because you won, you can crash on the couch, but first can you help me get Tamaki into the bathtub. Also, here's 20 pounds." Kento said before slapping the pound notes in my hands.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"Had a bet with the others about who would win tonight. Me and Kallen were the only ones who put money on you, though Ohgi favored you but wasn't comfortable getting in on the action. You just made me 300 pounds, figure I could cut you in for a bit." Kento said as we maneuvered the insensate Tamaki into his bathroom.

I fell asleep that night with a huge smile on my face and a wad of pound notes in my hand.

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 14​

"This is not how I imagined Ohgi would end up using me for the big day." I thought to myself.

I was sitting on the scooter I used to deliver pizzas, waiting by the entrance Kallen and Nagato were supposed to use to get the "cargo" into the ghetto. Of course I knew they'd have to divert after the crash and chase by Jeremiah, but I couldn't exactly tell Ohgi that. So I was stuck waiting here till I got word the plan had changed, at which point I was going to say I was headed off towards the duo's location regardless of Ohgi's orders.

Or at least that was what I wanted Ohgi to think I was doing. Once I knew Nagato was taking the alternate route and was moving into the subterranean tunnels, I was actually going to make my way covertly to the snipers nest I'd picked out for dealing with Villeta. I'd ditch the scooter and smash the radio once the attack began, so I could keep out of contact with the rest of the group until after the fighting was over. This was one part of the plot where I needed to make sure I didn't interfere with Lelouch's actions in any noticeable way, and not being on the radio was the simplest option I had. I planned to use a cover story of nearly being run over by a Sutherland and the radio being smashed when I lost control of the scooter.

The real danger was going to come once Clovis ordered troops into the ghetto, but that couldn't be avoided. I felt guilty about the people that were still going to die in the purge before Lelouch could stop it, but I'd just get myself killed if I tried to evac people while also dealing with avoiding Brit troops and Knightmares.

The first signs of the plot noticeably kicking off was a swarm of Brit attack chopper analogs racing across the horizon towards the center of the Settlement.

"Been nice knowing you Nagato, but you have to die for all of this to play out right. I'll hoist a beer to you afterwards." I mumbled to myself as I checked the carrying case I had put the sniper rifle in one last time. About 10 minutes later, Ohgi came over the radio.

"Eugene, there's been complications. Kallen's engaged several Knightmare's and Nagato's going to the back-up entrance with the cargo. I need you to run to my apartment and grab the first aid kit in the kitchen, Nagato sounds like he's been hit. Once you have it, radio me and I'll guide you to Nagato."

Not the order I'd been expecting, but it was useful for my purposes. Plus, Ohgi's apartment was nearly on the other side of the ghetto from my current location. By the time I would be reaching his apartment, Clovis would likely be ordering the first round of recon troops into the ghetto.

"Got it. Your place is unlocked, right?" I replied as I kicked the scooter into gear.

"If it isn't just bust the door in or shoot the lock off; Nagato's life's more important than my door." Ohgi said, the stress evident in his voice.

"Copy. I'll radio you when I have the kit. Eugene out." I answered.

I reached Ohgi's apartment, which was more or less in the same building complex as the original garage, just as the first of the recon troops began to drop into the ghetto. As I was pulling up to park, I saw a group of young Japanese kids playing with a soccer ball in the alley. I froze as my plans, my will to survive, and my ability to live with myself warred inside me.

"I can't save everyone here and hope to survive, but maybe I can save these kids without screwing things up."

"Hey you rugrats, the Brits are up to something, it's probably not safe outside right now." I called out to them.

"You're a Brit, why do you care?" Answered a young, slightly punk-ish looking boy.

"Shut up Ginji. You see that headband he has? That means he's with the freedom fighters, so show some respect." A bald adolescent boy shot back before I could get a word in.

"Look, I don't care if you respect me, it isn't safe out here. You all can try to get home from here, but I got a bad feeling the Brits aren't just here for their usual intimidation patrol. I know a few places in this complex you can hide till things calm down, if you kiddos want to avoid running into trouble trying to get home." I said, knowing that there were a few disguised storage lockers in the garage that Ohgi's used to hide the group's more contraband or valuable (often both at once) items.

The kids looked at one another, then a few muttered in low Japanese that I couldn't translate (not that I could translate much anyway), before one of the young girls in the group stepped forward.

"My name's Miki, and we've decided to trust you. But if this is a trick, everyone will find out and then run you out of the ghetto." She said, with an adorably serious face that might have made me chuckle if it was a different time and place.

"Fine, just follow me and once I get you hidden, stay quiet till me or someone else in Ohgi's group comes to let you out. If no one comes to get you within 8 hours, then head out and try to get to one of the other ghettos if you can." I said as I lead the little troop into the back of the garage near where the old tow truck was parked. I hit the release hidden under the workbench and an oil stained section of the floor lifted up. Before I had the kids get in, I had to remove what seemed to be several hazmat suits and respirators, and chuck them in the bathroom. Probably were meant for use with what Ohgi thought was a cargo of poison gas, I figured. A few of the kids complained about it stinking and being a tight squeeze, but otherwise they all got in without incident. I tossed in a couple water bottles from the fridge before closed the hatch, just to make sure they weren't stuck without some sort of provisions in case things went awry.

I ran up to Ohgi's apartment, and was forced to kick the door in, ruining the rather flimsy lock before I grabbed the med kit. Nagato was still going to die, but if I had a chance to help someone else without undue risk to myself, after I took care of Villeta, I would be able to use it.

"Ohgi, I got the kit, and owe you a new lock. You know where Nagato is?" I radio'd in.

"He's in the old service tunnels for the subway. Not sure which, the radio's are having trouble with all the concrete. But there's aren't many tunnels that can hold the truck, and fewer that connect to the back up entrance. Head to the nearest entrance and make you're way towards where Nagato pulled in. You should be able to pick up his trail somewhere in there, if only from the disturbed dust tracks the truck'll make." Ohgi said.

"Copy, on my way. Eugene out." I replied as I ran down the stairs.

By the time I got back out to my scooter, their were recon troops all over the place; I took off the red head band so I would simply appear to be a delivery boy in the wrong place at the wrong time. About two minutes later, I heard the detonation that signaled Nagato's death and the start of the purge. I found a convenient intersection, then purposely ran the scooter up over the curb and glanced off the side of a building. I had wanted a decent looking scene in case one of the others found it and didn't buy my story without question. Though my aim was a bit off unfortunately, and a faked glance turned into an actual, if mild, crash.

"Shit, ok, might have actually broken a toe or two with that stunt." I thought as I stood up from the crashed scooter, before smashing my radio on the inside of the handle bars.

It took me about 20 minutes to find a tunnel entrance, orient myself, and start making my way to the sniper's nest I set up. I heard explosions and gun fire start up not to long after I entered the tunnels. With the sniper rifle case and med kit slung on my back, it was slower going than I'd planned, as I had to carefully avoid fallen debris and snags that hadn't been in the tunnel before. As I closed on my target building, an enormous roar and pressure wave hit me, knocking me to the ground. Staggering back to my feet, I kept trudging on, till I found my path blocked by a complete cave in.

"Shit, ok, I need a new plan. There's supposed to be another above ground exit if I go back and take that last left for a bit." I said to myself.

When I reached the surface, I was confronted by a whole new, and massively problematic, complication. The building I had been planning to shoot from was half the size it used to be thanks to either Brit Knightmares or tanks.

"Probably explains what I felt earlier. This day just keeps getting better and better." I muttered as I surveyed my options.

Staying in the open to take the shot, with this many Brit units nearby, was suicide. I couldn't trust the rubble of the building I had planned to use to be stable enough to be safe. That left one option, the building right next to me, which was a single story laundromat that barely had a sight line on the warehouse and was at least two hundred yards farther out than I'd practiced for. It took several tense minutes to find a way onto the roof via a large dumpster. Then it became a waiting game as I laid down to watch the warehouse as I put the rifle together.

I was only waiting about 10 minutes before I saw the Royal Guards Clovis had dispatched march into the warehouse and start gunning down the people inside. The screams were something I knew would haunt me for a long time, but I held my fire till I heard the shouting/gloating that signified the Royal Guards had encountered Lelouch. When I heard the gun shot that would temporarily put down CC, I pulled the rifle back and hid myself as well as I could on the roof. I knew Villeta's Knightmare, like most others, had thermal detection equipment and it would be all for naught if either her or Lelouch spotted me.

Not more than a 2 or 3 minutes later I heard what had to be Villeta's Knightmare rumble into the area, before she entered the warehouse. The sounds of her firing the unit's anti-personnel cannon let me know she was just about to effectively hand over the unit to Lelouch. I hugged the roof for about another minute or so while Lelouch headed off with the hijacked unit, thankfully not in my direction, then got my rifle back in place. Villeta, looking utterly confused and a little scared, exited the building shortly afterwards. This was make or break time.

I steadied the sniper rifle in preparation for the shot, only to notice to my alarm that I couldn't get a steady bead on her. The scope was wobbling more than I had anticipated, likely from the adrenaline rushing through my system, and due to the increased range I was firing from, every wobble was even more problematic. I felt I finally had a decent shot at center mass, after what seemed like an eternity, I brushed the trigger and tried to change fate.

Villeta was looking away from me as I fired, and my first attempt missed just outside her left arm. She instantly reacted, running over to the side of the warehouse seeking cover. I fired twice more as she ran, with the first grazing her right calf mid-stride out of sheer luck, while the second missing by more than a foot behind her. Villeta stumbled and hit the ground in a mad scramble, still trying to reach cover. Taking a chance, I fired through the thin metal wall of the warehouse as she reached it. She dodged back when she saw the hole appear, which proved to be a mistake. My next shot caught Villeta in the flank, going right through the lower left side of her abdomen as she turned towards me while trying identify my position. To her credit, Villeta hunched over momentarily out of pain, but didn't go down. The shot had gone through and through, so the damage was not as severe as it could have been. It was then that I noticed we had attracted company. A squad of Brit soldiers and a APC had rounded the corner several blocks beyond the warehouse and were making for Villeta's position, though they didn't seem to have a fix on my location yet.

"Fuck, no, I am too damn close for this to fail." I swore before settling the sights back on Villeta as she tried to point the Brits in the general direction she though my fire was coming from. The APC's turret swiveled to target the building a block down, across the street from where I had originally planned to take my shots, then blew several massive chucks out of the façade and interior. I held fire as this happened, knowing my only chance now was if I could hit Villeta after she thought the threat had been dealt with but before she got inside the APC.

Villeta seemed to, if not relax, at least look less guarded, and the APC with it's squad began to move down the street to her. When they were about 20 feet apart, Villeta stepped slightly out of cover to greet the commander, and I took my last 3 shoots almost as one. The first hit the ground in front of her, the third winged a Brit soldier near the back of the group, but the second shot nailed Villeta in the upper portion of her head as she began to duck. I saw blood erupt, and some of her scalp seemed to come loose from her head, but before Villeta even hit the ground my position was filled with flying lead. I felt one round wizz through my hair as I ducked down, trying to crawl to the rear of the laundromat and get to the tunnels before the Brits surrounded me.

Turns out, they had no intention of surrounding me. As I was about halfway across the roof, everything behind me exploded in a cloud of debris and threw me over the side of the roof. I hit the ground hard, with several painful cracks informing me I had likely just broken several ribs. Before I could even get up, several more explosions ripped through the air and the last thing I remembered was the dumpster I had used to get on the roof flying at my face very fast.

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 15​

There's darkness, then a fuzzy light that resolves into my face in my bathroom mirror looking back at me, but it isn't quite my face. The hair is longer, the scar that I had received fighting next to Naoto has faded significantly, my face seems weathered, and there is a drawn look to it I never remember having before. But then I realized, it's not simply my bathroom, it's my bathroom, the one I was in when I had that splitting headache before I got dumbed into the Code Geass world. Even my loafers are right where I remember leaving them.

"Am, am I home? But if I am, why do I look like that? The hell is going on?" I said to myself.

"You're not home, and you won't be till you pay the toll." My reflection says back to me in a reverbing monotone, causing me to jump back in shock.

"Who, who are you?" I tentatively ask.

"I am a reflection of the future, a shade of what is to come. I'm not you, and before you ask, I'm not part of the World of C either. Suffice to say I am the will of the many who would see fate change, and you are my instrument." It replies.

"Why me? I mean I liked the show, but I don't even own any paraphilia or media from it. Well besides those couple fanmade songs from that English band." I asked, still trying to comprehend what I was experiencing.

"You were chosen because you were knowledgeable, but not obsessed. You also are one of the few with compatible genetic duplicates in this world, and the only one who's duplicate was in Japan. Chaos theory and the multiverse are wondrous things, don't you agree." It replied with a small smirk.

"...okay, this is fucking weirding me the fuck out. What toll must I pay?" I asked, hoping to glean some hint about how to get home. Not that I hated living in the Geass-verse, but going home was always my ultimate goal.

"You wanted to change fate in your heart, and you will, but you cannot leave till the job is done. But blood will be on your hands by the time it is over; blood of those who should have lived and those who should have died. His blood unwillingly, her blood willingly, and you will know who I speak of when they die. Now it is time for you to wake, and begin your journey in earnest." The reflection said before the world faded to black once more.

I awoke to the sounds of shifting rock, muted grunts, and near total darkness. A pain in my face made me pretty sure I'd broken my nose, and I knew I'd had to have suffered another concussion if I'd been knocked out. The only light came my watch's flashing LED screen, which was cracked and read 11:36 pm. As I looked at the watch, I noticed my whole right arm seemed to be wedged under a large chunk of metal. The caster several inches down from my right arm made me realize I was partially wedged under a moderate sized rolling dumpster. The rest of my body seemed to be in a small pocket besides the dumpster, though I could feel something weighing down on my legs to the point I could barely flex or shift them.

Then it all came back to me. The attack on the ghetto, my plan to take out Villeta, and the image of a dumpster flying at my face after an APC made my position during my ill-fated assassination attempt.

"Fuck, this is not going to plan at all. That hit knocked me loopy for sure, that dream was way too trippy." I muttered.

"Hey guys, I think I heard something. Ohgi, get the pry bars and the teamsters, we might have located Eugene, or at least someone alive under the rubble." I heard a voice yell. It sounded like either Tamaki or Minami, it was hard to tell through all the rubble surrounding me.

"Eugene, if you're under there buddy and can here me, yell something." It was definitely Tamaki.

"You're a lightweight!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Ok, yeah, he's definitely in there. Eugene, we'll get you out fast as we can buddy, but there's some wrecked washing machines and concrete we'll need to move first." Tamaki replied.

"Tamaki, how the hell did you guys find me? My radio got busted and my phone's back in my apartment last I checked." I hollered.

"Yeah, we know, we were trying to raise you the whole time we were fighting off the Brits. Missed some badass shit buddy. Oh, and we found you cause of the emergency phone in the med pac you grabbed from Ohgi's. The kids you hid at the garage told us you were carrying it, though it took us a little while to rig a way to trace the signal with our radios." Tamaki shouted through the rubble.

I had completely forgotten I had left the med pac in the alleyway before climbing onto the laundromats roof. I was so focused on compensating for the complications in my plan that I didn't even realize I'd shrugged it off in the rush to get into the sniping position.

"Hey, you said the kids told you. They alright?" I yelled back.

"Yes, and you better be, we've already lost my brother and now Nagato, we're not losing you." Kallen's voice hollered through the rubble to my surprise.

"Good to see you're still kicking kiddo. Anyone else out there?" I inquired.

"Just me, Tamaki, Ohgi, and a few of the ghetto's construction workers who survived the purge." She replied.

"So that's why those Knightmares and APCs were rushing into the ghetto. I thought they were just trying to hunt down our base, but a full on purge...how bad was it? And wait, how are you guys even alive if he ordered a purge?" I asked, doing my best to sound honestly shocked and surprised.

I had a very good idea of what had happened after I was knocked out, but they couldn't know that. Hell, no one could know how much I really knew, or at least not till the asshole mind-reader Mao was dead. Too big a risk, even if it was only one person, and a risk that I had no real way to mitigate.

"That's a long and frankly insane story Eugene. Lets get you out of there and make sure you're ok so you can properly appreciate it." Ohgi finally chimed in, which meant he was back with the implements and muscles to hopefully get me free.

It took the better part of two hours to get the rubble safely moved away from me and extract me from by little prison. I thanked each of the construction guys who helped out, but they were more thankful to have found someone alive in the rubble; apparently they were pulling more cold bodies than warm from the wreckage of the battle. Ohgi said he needed to let the others know they'd found me and try to find a doc to check me over, so he had Tamaki and Kallen escort me back to my apartment.

My building was in worse shape than before, but most of the damage seemed to be on the outside of the lower floors, while the interior only had a smattering of bullet craters in the few areas that had actually been lived in. The building had been mostly empty even before the attack, with only me and a few others living in it, as the place was rundown and dilapidated even by the standards of the ghetto. My floor was pretty much untouched, except for a blood stain and some shell casings near the stairwell. I had purposely avoided getting to know my neighbors to any real degree specifically because of what I knew was going to happen.

My apartment, as I had hoped, was relatively untouched due to the fact no one had been home and the building had been sparsely inhabited as is. I was going to need a new TV, and probably some new plates, but it didn't seem like the purge troopers had wasted much time on an empty apartment when their were there buildings full of Japanese to kill.

"Well I guess I won't be watching the news or my movies for a bit." I said as I sat on the couch and gazed at the now useless TV.

"Heh, at least your placed it's totally trashed. Kento's apartment took a couple Knightmare cannon rounds and all he got from the wreckage was a couple shirts, his old yearbook, and the bracelet he apparently was saving to give to Inoue. I wonder when he's gonna man up and ask her out properly." Kallen remarked as she tried to find some intact glasses to fill with water.

"Look, no offense buddy, but I'm gonna crash on your bed for a bit. Been up all night trying to find you, then hauling that shit off you, and I'm gonna pass out on my feet if I don't lay down. Kallen, take first watch, and make sure he doesn't fall asleep before Ohgi gets here with the doc. Ohgi told us you've definitely got your head knocked around again, and we ain't letting you die on us in your sleep after all the work we put in digging your ass out." Tamaki said with far more seriousness than usual, before heading back to my bedroom. I wanted to retort, but the steadily growing ache in my forehead told me they were probably right to try and keep me awake.

A couple minutes later Kallen plopped herself on the couch, handing me a glass of water and several aspirin analogs she'd retrieved from my bathroom. I nodded in thanks before downing the pills and the whole glass. We sat in silence for a bit while the headache subsided.

"You really scared me and the others today, you know that? When we heard Nagato kil...activate the self-destruct, I was worried you might have been caught in the blast attempting to reach him to help him. We couldn't raise you on the radio, and your phone just went to voicemail after a few rings, so we knew you weren't back here. When we found your scooter with the busted radio nearby, I was worried you'd been captured and taken somewhere to be executed in a more public fashion as a traitor or be interrogated till you broke." Kallen said quietly after a few minutes.

"Sorry for worrying you guys." I said, this time with fully sincere.

I had seen how hard Kallen had taken her brothers death, and now that I had a chance to look a little closer, there were dried tear streaks on her cheeks and a slight glistening in her eyes. How much of it was from losing Nagato, and how much was worry over me, I didn't know.

"Just, next time, keep your phone on you, okay. I know you didn't want to risk it being tracked while scouting for us, but..." That was all Kallen could get out before her composure broke and she grabbed my chest tightly.

"My brother trusted you and died fighting next to you, even if his body took longer to give up. You nearly died defending him and the rest of us then, and nearly died defending the ghetto again today. The voice on the radio today that helped us could predict the Brits almost perfectly. We might have a chance now if it ever contacts us again! I want all of us there when Japan is finally free and that means you aren't allowed to die!" Kallen said through muffled sobs as she buried her face in my chest.

I didn't know how to respond to that. I hadn't realized how much the people in the group, particularly me given I didn't know how much she truly accepted me as part of it, meant to Kallen. But then, with her shitty home life, the façade she had to maintain at Ashford, and how tightknit the group was before I appeared, maybe I shouldn't have been quite as surprised.

"Kallen, kiddo, I don't know what the future holds for us." I said before using my hands to gently pull her head off my chest so I could look her straight in the eyes before I continued.

"But I have absolutely no intention of dying, or letting any of us die if there is anything I can do about it. Now, why don't you go wash you face off while I grab a new shirt. Then I'll teach you how to play blackjack, to pass the time. Now scoot." I said I as nudged her off me as I levered myself up. Kallen smiled at me briefly before heading over to the bathroom.

'Naoto I hope you can hear me in C's World. I'm may not be from this universe, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let anything happen to your sis or your friends under my watch. You have my promise on this.'

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 16​

"2 broken toes, 3 fractured ribs, 1 broken rib, a concussion, and a chipped tooth. You are very lucky it's not worse. Stay off that foot for a couple weeks if you can, keep that binding on you ribs for about the same time, and for the love of kami don't allow yourself anymore head trauma for several years. Hit your head like that again, and you might not wake up." Said the doctor Ohgi had brought over to check on me.

"Can you at least give me something for the ribs; it feels like I'm being stabbed every time I breath in." The pain had become noticeable once my adrenaline from the day before had worn off, and now it was barely being dulled by the aspirin-analog Kallen had found for me. She and Tamaki had headed out once Ohgi and the doc arrived. Ohgi wanted Kallen in school the next day to keep up appearances and throw off any possible suspicion.

"Here, take one of these every 6 hours or so, should keep it down to a dull ache. You can pay me later, too many other injured people in the ghetto that need to be looked at. Ohgi, make sure this man doesn't sleep for more than an hour or so at a time for the next 24-48 hours, he could still be in danger from that hit to the head." The doc said as he gathered up his gear and checked the splint he'd put on my leg. He then bid us good night before heading off to his next patient.

"Eugene, I gotta ask, what were you doing out there." Ohgi said after he was sure the area was clear and took a seat.

"I was trying to snipe some Brit officers and cause some confusion. I'd bought the rifle as part of that plan I told you I was putting together a few days ago. Thought maybe we could use it to knock off Clovis or one of his generals at the opening of that stupid Clovis-land theme park he's having built. Kinda pointless now, I'm in no shape to try for something like that and I'm pretty sure the rifle is beyond repair. Anyway I'd stashed it in the garage the night before, wanted to show you my idea after the plan went down, and after I hid those kids in there I grabbed it and start trying to knock off what Brits I could from concealed spots. The place you found me was the second spot I tried. Got there just as I heard some Japanese getting slaughter in that warehouse down the road, and was planning to take out the fuckers responsible when they exited the building. Never got a chance, as a Brit Knightmare showed up not long afterwards and started investigating the building for some reason. Then it left, but a female Brit pilot came out of the building looking kinda bewildered, so not really sure who was in the Knightmare when it left. Decided to take her out, but I was too far out and the missing finger on my left hand made my aim less steady than I'd have liked, so it took several shots to get her. I know I hit her leg, got her in what I think was probably a kidney, and may have put a round through her skull with the last shot, but a AFV squad zero'd in on me right then so I couldn't confirm the kill." I said I as got myself a glass of water.

"Saw that warehouse, didn't get a chance to look in it before the Brit casualty teams came in to take care of the wounded and remove the dead. Speaking of, did we tell you that the reason the attack stopped was because Clovis ordered a ceasefire? Not sure why, he nearly had the majority of the rest of us cornered in another of the garages with a bunch of civilians; the commander was just about to order his troops to gun us down when the ceasefire was announced. And we wouldn't have even got that far if not for that voice on the radio helping us hijack a train full of Knightmares as it was coming to reinforce Clovis." Ohgi said shaking his head.

"That's damn odd, both parts of it. Any idea who the voice was?" I asked, knowing full well who was on the other end but not letting it show.

"Not a clue, except that it sounded like it might have been a Brit. Who knows, maybe there are a few more like you out there and we got lucky that one was in a position to help us." Ohgi stated.

"It's possible, not all of us are racist pricks, we just live in a really screwed up system." I said as I settled back onto the couch.

The next 12 hours or so passed in kinda a haze as I tried to get as much sleep as I dared, with Ohgi waking me pretty regularly. It was later afternoon when Kento came by with news that Clovis had been murdered and Suzaku had been arrested. My TV was beyond repair, so we crowded round my computer to watch the news coverage. A part of me was concerned because during the announcement of Clovis's death, Villeta was not present like in the normal timeline, yet Jeremiah seemed no less composed than had had been originally.

'Either Jeremiah's is channeling genuine anger at her loss into the speech to make his anger at Clovis's death seem more real, or she's not dead yet. If she's still alive, at least she's not likely be to active in combat or the big picture anytime soon. A head wound like that would probably medically disqualify her from Knightmare service as is. Though need to be careful, she might still remember Lelouch.'

Ohgi left when he got a call from Tamaki, who wanted to meet him at the garage to "discuss" why we hadn't tried to claim credit. Not long after Ohgi called me saying Kallen had been contacted by the voice from the radio, who had requested a meeting the day after tomorrow at the repurposed Tokyo Tower. I spent the next day or so slowly starting to heal, with different members of the group coming by to keep an eye on me in shifts. The rib pain had started to ebb a bit by the time Ohgi, Yoshida, and Kento headed out to the meeting. Kallen hadn't been back to the ghetto since the attack, as Ohgi really did feel it was both safer for her in the Settlement, and that she did need to keep up with her education. Watching Clovis's funeral had been somewhat entertaining, but other than that it was mostly dull, and seeing as I couldn't move or sleep much, it almost became tedious waiting for Ohgi and Kallen to head off to grab Suzaku. I spent my time covertly digging for any references or photo's of Mao, as I knew I couldn't truly act with any sort of safety around Lelouch or CC till he was dealt with. I would have to fly under the metaphorical radar and mostly keep quiet about any ideas I had as long as there was a chance he be around.

When it came time for the procession that would take Suzaku to his court marshal, I decided to take a chance and grab both my sets of glasses then go along with Tamaki to the rendezvous location. Watching the whole scene on the TV via a Brit news chopper, with their rather biased and nationalist commentary, was a bit less enjoyable than watching the scene unfold in the show. When Ohgi, Kallen, Lelouch, and Suzaku arrived at the busted up theater we were using, I feigned needing to use the restroom so neither Lelouch or Suzaku would see me before they could talk privately. Meeting him while delivering that pizza could really screw things up if I wasn't careful, and my presence could derail the conversation Lelouch was supposed to have with Suzaku if either noticed me. While the rest of the group chatted about how Lelouch had pulled off the impossible, I stayed quiet and rested my eyes, thinking of how I was going to deal with the inevitable questions my presence would raise when Lelouch noticed me for the first time.

When he returned to the front of the building without Suzaku, he paused slightly when he noticed my presence, and to my slight dismay, started making a beeline right for me.

"Who are you? I've not seen you before and I've accounted for all the individuals I made contact with during the attack in Shinjuku. You're also a Brittannian, what are you doing helping these Japanese fight against your own country?" Lelouch demanded, and I knew I had to be very careful with how I responded, but was pre-empted by Kallen.

"That's Eugene Franklin, he's one of us. He saw how horribly the Japanese have been treated, and decided he couldn't let it slide any longer. That finger he's missing and those scars around his eye were inflicted while he tried to help my late brother on one of our last operations. He was unconscious for five days after that, and he was also wounded in Shinjuku. He has never referred to us as Elevens; I have no doubts about his loyalty, and neither do the rest of us." Kallen stated, looking Lelouch, or Zero as she knew him at the moment, square in the face.

"I can speak for myself, but I do appreciate the defense kiddo. She's correct, though it's a little more complicated than that. I was exiled to the ghetto for making statements about how the Japanese should be treated better while in earshot of some nobles during a catering job. Both my parents are dead, no real family to speak of, so I used my liquidated assets and some help from a sympathetic ex-noble to get a decent place in the ghetto. But I had no real job prospects due to my record, and my light sensitivity, so I drifted into a Refrain habit, looking to fade off in a blissful recollection of better times. Then one day I noticed some people moving a Glasgow into a garage not far from me. Few days later I made my decision to quit Refrain and see if I could help them fight back. Kallen's brother Naoto accepted me into the group after a bit, and I've been working with them ever since." I stated while giving Kallen an appreciative pat on the shoulder while she playfully slugged my arm for calling her 'kiddo'.

"That still does not explain why you were not on the radio during the attack." Lelouch said, clearly still somewhat suspicious.

"I was on my way to try to help one of our other members, a man name Nagato who died during the fighting, when my transportation was nearly run over by a Sutherland and I crashed into a wall. My radio got wrecked in the impact, and my phone was back at my apartment, so I had no way to contact anyone. I had a sniper rifle I was saving for another operation, ironically one moot now that Clovis is dead, so I decided to try and take out any Brit officer I could without giving myself away. I was on top of a small building, trying to nail an important looking Brit officer when an AFV plus it's supporting squad zero'd in on me and blew the building I was on to pieces around me as I was trying to escape the area. The group dug me out of the rubble later that night after tracking down an emergency phone that was in the med pack I had picked up; really wish I'd known it was in there beforehand. Got lucky, only a concussion, a few busted ribs, and chipped tooth for my trouble." I said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Are you willing to war not just as an annoying resistance, but a full scale war? Are you willing to trust in the miracles I can produce for us?" Lelouch asked, seeming to press in closer to me.

"Yes to the first, but I don't believe in miracles, only good planning, covert resources, and luck." I said with a slight grin.

Lelouch took a moment to absorb this, seemingly lost in thought, before pivoting to face Ohgi.

"This man is proof that our war is with Britannia as an empire, but not with it's people, as I said on the train when we met. I will be contacting your group again in the future, so be ready." With that he turned and made his exit, heading out in vaguely the same direction Suzaku had.

"Well, that was...enlightening. Seems we got someone with the power to actually make us a force to be reckoned with." I quipped.

"Maybe, but for now lets not get our hopes up too far." Commented Tamaki.

'Coming from someone who is probably going to end up claiming to be "ZERO'S NUMBER ONE FANBOY/BUDDY!", that's too damn funny'

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 17​

In the days that followed Lelouch's debut a Zero, I spent most of my time trying to heal and recover from the injuries I sustained in the attack on the ghetto. It was somewhat annoying having nearly nothing to do, as Ohgi had said he didn't want me trying to help the group out physically till the doc was satisfied my ribs and toes had healed enough. My boss at Pizza Hut had given me 3 weeks leave for my injuries, which I had led him to believe had been caused by a crowd of angry Japanese at the edge of the ghetto. All I could really do was sit back and wait for Lelouch to make his play.

Flipping through the channels, I saw that Cornelia was due to arrive and take over as Viceroy the next day. That got my mind churning, as I knew this meant that Jeremiah was facing Kewell's assassination type-attack today, and if the timeline wasn't completely FUBAR, Suzaku and Euphie would intervene to save his Orange ass. My gut felt that Jeremiah would probably be fine, but with Villeta's survival, or lack thereof, still in question, I also had accepted the whole incident could play out much differently.

"Please don't die today Orange." I whispered in silent prayer as I watched the news channels for any news that might hint at his fate.

I had a high-end radio scanner set up as well, which I had asked Ohgi to procure off the black market with funds I gave him. But it was silent so far, and I knew it was a long shot that I'd be able to pick up any of the transmissions from the fight. A knock at my door broke me out of my musings.

"Who's there?" I asked, my right hand sliding into the hidden compartment in the couch's armrest, where I had stashed my pistol.

"It's me buddy, I need some help." I heard Tamaki's voice say from the other side of the door.

"Come on in. What's up?" I said. Tamaki then came into the apartment, definitely looking pissed off.

"That stinking traitor Kururugi was in the ghetto not too long ago with some pink-haired Brit chick, looked like he was taking her for a tour. Got between me and some scumbag Brit teens who were taking pictures of bullet holes in the park down by the old stadium. Ohgi told me about the sniper rifle you bought, it fixed yet?" Tamaki said as he headed towards my tiny balcony.

"Tamaki, are you seriously thinking about trying to kill Kururugi for being an Honorary Brit?" I asked, a little put off by this change in the timeline as I followed him.

"Hell yes I am. He didn't join Zero when we gave him a chance, so he's the enemy. Might even give us a boost in the eye's of Kyoto, taking him out. So, the rifle working or not?" He asked as he pulled out one of the chairs at the small table.

"It's not. I'm probably going to sell it for scrap if the black market guy I got it from can't fix it quickly. Still, even if I did have it, I wouldn't lend it to you for this." I said, and readied myself for Tamaki's irate response. Instead, he just kinda deflated and started staring at the sky.

After a few seconds, I sat down and continued. "Look, I get why you want to, I really do. But I think maybe Zero is hoping to convert him slowly, so I don't think we should off that fucker just yet."

"You heard from Zero!" Tamaki asked, taking the wrong message from what I had said.

"No, and why would I; he seems to use Ohgi and Kallen as his contacts. And hell, I don't think either Ohgi or Kallen has said anything about being in contact with him since Zero left that night." I said, a little fear starting to percolate up my spine as I realized I may have said too much earlier.

"Oh, damn...well why do you figure Zero wants Kururugi alive for now?" Tamaki asked as he fiddled with his red headband.

"Simple. If he didn't, Zero would have killed him that night after Kururugi rejected his offer." I explained, leaving out the real reasons why killing Suzaku at this point would be utterly counterproductive and why Zero would want him alive.

"Well shit, you got a point there. Still would like to see that traitor hang someday. Look, I'll get out of your hair, need to find Ohgi and see if he's got any news." Tamaki said as he rose from the seat and headed back through the apartment.

"Tamaki, when you see Ohgi, see if he can get that doc over here again soon, want him to see if my toes are safe to walk on yet." I commented as I shifted back to the couch. Tamaki gave me a thumbs up as he closed the door, so I figured he would pass on my request to Ohgi.

The next few days were mostly filled with more watching news and scanning the radio. Cornelia's induction as Viceroy, and news of the attack against the Saitama ghetto, were the effective highlights of those days, but I also saw news about the Sakuradite summit that would be the Black Knight's introduction. As the day came closer, I got antsy because the doc had not yet cleared me for...well much of anything really. And I knew that in my state, there was already a 50/50 shot Lelouch would request I stay behind when the moment came.

"If I can't get that sat phone into Euphie's hands at the hotel, then my main plan is toast."

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 18

***​

'Just about show time', I thought as the van approached the waiting Knightmares.

Lake Kawaguchi was going off as expected. Zero/Lelouch had called us all together several hours before to give us the uniforms and events had played out from their when the news hit. On the ride to the hotel, one thing that hadn't been apparent in the TV version was just how distressed Kallen was because of what was happening to her Ashford friends. Shortly after we arrived at the lake, I had tried to reassure her.

"Reuben Ashford would have the Emperor's head if anything happened to Milly, and Cornelia would be devastated when she learned Euphie's old playmate was killed in the crossfire. Or at least that's the impression I got from the conversations I overheard when I catered a few events for the old man, before my exile. So, really, were saving the Emperor's bacon tonight, and he doesn't even know it. We can stick that in his craw when we nail that Royal Asshat to the wall." I murmured to Kallen on the while Zero was out of earshot, surveying the lake and hotel from the shore line with Ohgi.

My off-color humor had to calmed her down and gotten her mind off it. The laugh Kallen let out was not quite whole-hearted, but it at least got a smile on her face.

Now, however, she had a complete game face on and had the Black Knight uniform visor on. I stayed quiet during Zero's exchange with Cornelia, but Kallen looked at Zero and then at me and mouthed "What else does he know?" as he went on.

"You'll see." I mouth back, then shrug. Kallen nods, and refocused as the van moves past Cornelia's group. I was watching the guards as we pulled into the underground garage, when Zero directed a question at me.

"Are you still surprised I let you come, Mr. Franklin?" He asked.

"You made my job clear, and you understood my worriers about being recognized by my missing finger and catering service at some of Clovis's parties. Still, using me recon with the boats and make sure we have enough to evac the entire civie contingent, when you come down with the guests. During the theatrics, I stay below deck manning the conn, and keep my cover intact." I stated.

"Yes, pizza boys like you can get rather un-fettered access to many locations and are so ubiquitous that you do not arouse suspicion as a scout and agent in the Settlement. Also, your employee discount make feeding our budding army a bit less of a drain on our resources." He said, then added quietly.

"You also are less likely to get...confrontational with her security, than other members." Zero finished, before moving on to speak with Inoue.

'What you actually mean Lelouch is that CC wants the pizza at staff meetings' I think to myself as I start heading for the boat docks. There were a lot of very fine yachts, speed boats, and up-scale charter outfits docked in the slips around the hotel. Getting the engines started and checking for life-vests was my main concern, as well as pulling out and setting up the inflatable rafts, occupied my attention.

"We're coming down, ready the boats." was my queue that Zero's Big Intro was about to kick off.

Double checking my sleeve, I noted that the note I had made for Euphie was still in place. Down in the nearest raft, the sat phone intended for Euphie was securely in a water-proof pouch, taped to the floor under what a repurposed bit of rubber patching material. Now I just had to get her in to the that specific raft and get her the note without Zero thinking anything odds was occurring or her security interfering. I moved down the dock, and stood by near the doors to the docks

'Now comes the hard part' I thought when I saw Zero open the door and lead the group out of the hotel, with Euphie and her under-cover security detail a few steps behind Zero and Kallen.

"Uh, Zero, is that the Princess. Which boat you want her on?" I ask as they approach.

"Yes, she is, and as planned we're putting her and her security in a raft with a few selected civies to maintain their cover. They will get he safely back to the her sister after we finish here." Zero stated as the other Black Knights started moving people onto boats.

"I got the inflatable rafts set up a coupled slips down, if you'll follow me Princess." I say as Lelouch and the others continue to help get people sorted into their boats or rafts.

"Princess, I may be a Black Knight, but it is an honor meeting someone as brave as you were tonight. May I help you into the raft?" I said with a bow to Euphie and her security detail, when we reached the rafts.

"Thank you for the kind words, and yes you may." Euphie said with one of those guileless smiles of hers, despite her security agents protesting.

As I helped her climb down into the raft, I slipped the note into her hand and quietly said "If you want to know more about Zero and the Black Knights, read the note I have just given you, but let no one else see it. Peace is achievable. You'll know what to do."

With that, I walked away and boarded the yacht that would be the Black Knights and Zero's first true stage. As he introduced our group to the world, I sat in the cabin of the boat, with a little grin and purloined ice tea in my hand watching the spectacle unfold.

"Welp, now it's a waiting game; in 3 days, I'll find out if this plan has a chance of working or not. Till then, well, guess that's gonna be up to Zero." I murmured to myself as Zero wrapped up unveiling our group to the world.

 

[Bacle]

Chapter 19

***​

"The phone under the patch in this raft is for you, and you alone Princess.

There can be no peace without truth, and the invasion of Japan was built on a lie. Even Zero does not know the whole truth, and he is not yet prepared to hear it.

At noon, 3 days from now, hit the dial button on this phone, and you can begin to learn the truth. With this truth, a path to peace can begin to be built.

You can not yet tell anyone, even your sister, about this contact. You will only make yourself, and anyone you tell, a target for forces beyond your comprehension.

Call from some place outside, private, and not easily observed by any sort of recording device. This is for your safety, not mine.

Expect to hear from you soon,
Pi"
I had gambled everything on that note and the phone in the raft, knowing that if Euphie didn't heed my instructions, things were going to butterfly far beyond what I could handle. I hoped that her suspicions about Zero's identity, combined with my note, would make her curious, but cautious.

It had been 3 days, which mostly consisted of Zero prepping for the raids against the Refrain dealers. I had actually been roped in carrying out preliminary surveillance on several suspected dealer locations. This was due to 'my' previous experience with the substance, and ability to get around the Settlement easily under my 'pizza delivery boy' cover.

I was expecting Euphie's call within the next few minutes, and had pulled off to the side of the road, pretending to be fiddling with the engine on my delivery scooter. Zero/Lelouch expected me to be on my way to the next likely drug den, but I knew that he knew my delivery scooter had been damaged in the Shinjuku uprising. I was going to use engine trouble as my excuse if Zero asked why I was behind schedule, and as the reason I pulled over if anyone passerby inquired.

A few seconds after 12 pm, the sat phone began to beep and vibrate.

"Hello Princess, glad to see you decided to seek the truth."

"You certainly picked an...unusual moniker for yourself, Mister Pi. But you said there is a path to peace and that the invasion of this Area was built on a lie. What do you mean?" Euphie asked.

"The path to peace and the lie are part of the same...set of circumstances. I would very much like to tell you all I know, but there is a...complication that means it is not yet safe for you to know more. I can-" I was saying, before Euphie interrupted me.

"Do you know who Zero is?"

'Shit, was really hoping she wouldn't ask that yet.'

"I am afraid that I cannot confirm or deny that I know Zero's identity. Princess, I want to make something clear. I will not give you information that can be used against the Black Knights, but I will give you information that can help get innocents out of harms way and information to help shed light on the lie that the invasion and this rebellion was built upon. Is this acceptable to you?" I inquired.

It took a few seconds, but Euphie's reply was...both expect and unexpected.

"Yes, I am willing to agree to those terms. However, I would like you to do something for me in exchange, to prove you are trustworthy." the Princess stated.

"Uh, ok, what would like me to do." I asked hesitantly.

"I want you to let me speak to Zero on this phone, next time you are able to get him alone. I have an...idea who your leader might be, and if I am right, it would explain part of what you are saying about the invasion being a lie." Euphie replied.

'Fuck, she's already wanting to see if there is a way to confirm that Zero is Lelouch. This is too damn soon.'

"No can do. Zero does not know that I gave you that note or that we are speaking. There are things beyond my control which are...evolving, and you speaking to Zero, at this time, could endanger any attempt at showing you the truth and building a peace. Is there another way I could prove my honorable intentions to you?" I said, very nervous at the direction Euphie had taken this conversation.

"Tell me...tell me why you, a fellow Britannian, are fighting against your own people. We as a nation can be...harsh and heartless at times, but what made you turn?" Euphie said in a sad voice.

"I...cannot reveal much about that, not now. Maybe, if this deal continues to workout, I will be able to tell you more. For now, suffice to say that, to me, the Japanese people are not 'Elevens', they are humans like you and me. This made me...unpopular in certain circles, and I was forced out of Britannian society for my views. I must be going now, but I plan speak again with you soon; things will begin moving very fast in the not to distant future. I will text you a time to call. Good day, Princess."

"Good day, Mister Pi."

***​

"What do you mean, I can't come along on the raids? You worried some old contact or dealer might recognize me?" I asked Zero as he prepared to depart with the rest of the Black Knights begin raiding Refrain dens.

"That, and I have been made aware that you have suffered two recent concussions, both of which have rendered you unconscious. It would not be wise to risk your value as a scout by putting you on the front lines, especially when your health is in a relatively fragile state already. I want you to remain here at our base, and monitor police bands for their response to our actions. Report anything mentioning the Black Knights or terrorists. This will allow us to remain ahead of any response units or roadblocks." Zero stated.

"Oh, ok, yeah that I can do. Good luck out there boss." I say as Zero heads out to leave with the rest of the group.

'Well, guess Kallen will discover her mom's little secret fairly soon. I really pity that poor woman.'

While I did spend the next several hours sitting by the police scanner, I knew what was going to happen anyway. A single corrupt Knight Police cop would only be involved in the final raid, and thus the task Zero had set for me was pointless. Smart, but pointless.

So I decided to start in on the next bit of my plan, and that required me to begin the process of re-inventing, or more accurately inventing for the first time in this world, a little substance that would be key to any future peace plan. And all it involved as a bunch of desk tape and ground up pencil lead.

'Wait till Rakshata gets a load of graphene; all the usefulness of Sakuradite, none of the volatility. And with the tech in this world, likely far easier to mass produce.'