1 「Operation: Protecc」

「Area 11: Tokyo Settlement. August 15, 2017」

Zach Graham opened his eyes, allowing them to flutter open calmly, as he heard the military radio he had secretly installed in his room squeak and squawk like a bird in binary codes.

01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01000001 01101100 01110000 01101000 01100001 00101101 00110011 00100000 01010100 01100001 01110010 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101111 01101101 00100000 01000100 01100101 01101100 01110100 01100001 00101101 00110001 00110010 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01000100 01100101 01101100 01110100 01100001 00101101 00110001 00110100

"This is Alpha-3! Target is moving from Delta-12 to Delta-14!" The binary code had said to those whom could understand it. Unless they were a programmer, networker or something along those lines in computer sciences, it was unlikely. they understood the systemic sounds it made.

His eyes narrowed as he slowly raised from his fluffy pillow littered grave and got to his feet. Dressed in a pair of boxer briefs, he walked over to the mirror, staring at his appearance.

Hazel Green eyes, sprinkled with golden flakes of yellow-orange. His face was a clean shaven masterpiece and dominantly Japanese, his hair was an ash brown, styled layers on the top with an average length of four-five inches and cut short by scissors on all sides to about two-three inches in length.

His brows remained relaxed, being thick and straight, his overall expression seemed indifferent.

The chin and jawline were gently sculpted and everytime he shared a smile to his reflection, dimples dominated the tamed battlefield which was his face.

He glanced down at his right hand for a moment, staring at its soft uncalloused surface. His skin was abnormally soft and pale. Yet he saw what the war had done to him only seven years ago. A frown decorated his lips.

"Wait... If I just got that message from the radio," Zach's eyes gazed over towards the clock and he pursed his lips. "Guess I'm playing Hooky today," he snickered to himself before walking over to his dorm room closet.and opening the door.

There were plenty of Ashford Academy uniforms available for him to choose from, but he wasn't going to wear his uniform if he wasn't attending school. That wasn't necessarily a good idea, since he wasn't supposed to be off campus.

"From what I remember... He should be entering the nobleman's chambers around this time to challenge him to a game of chess." He nodded to himself as he remembered the events of Code Geass chronologically in his head. "That means I have around fifteen minutes to go to the abandoned construction site and intercept C.C."

'The Power of the King is one that Isolates,' he recited a line in the back of his head.

"No time to take a shower," he continued to talk to himself as he went through various preset outfits he had set aside for himself for a rainy day.

Most of its clothes were of the same color palette, consisting of greys, blacks and blues with the occasional red. He chose a pair of black cargo pants, matching steel toe combat boots, a grey undershirt and an asymmetric tunic with a sewn on hood and scarf-esque mask. He put no a belt equipped with a holstered machine pistol of chinese make, which he had hidden within a small safe at the bottom of his closet.

It took him only a few seconds to get dressed, having lazily tied his shoes in the wrong way and a little too loose. He then made his way out of the dormroom through the second story window and landed on the campus grounds, rolling forward as he landed and springing to his feet.

Glancing around, he grinned to himself, unseen he made his way over to the student garage and climbed into a car which he himself designed and built on his own. The seventeen years he lived as Zakku, he used his university training in engineering and computer sciences to create his own line of civilian transportation vehicles.

Due to his physical age, he was considered a genius in his fields. Knowing more than the typical seventeen year old. Though it was clear that his mental state had begun to regress, his knowledge remained, yet he barely remembered his previous life other than what the entertainment industry had to offer.

Turning on the vehicle, it hummed to life. The vehicle had a sleek wedge-like design and three pairs of wheels. This was clearly a custom make. The exterior had a coating of nanites within its paint which allowed it to virtually disappear from the naked eye. It was even equipped with an Electronic Counter Measure, which erased itself from radar and sensory systems that happen to pick it up.

It was a James Bond car, in a sense.

With a purple neon light kit beneath, the black shiny wedge-like car burnt rubber before storming out of the garage as if it were on a rampage.

...

Several minutes later, he was on the road and heading to his destination. He knew where the large truck would end up crashing due to the present of Lelouch who was heading back to the Academy.

He also knew that if he could get ahold of C.C. before she could give Lelouch the abilities of a Geass, he would be able to allow Zero to take over Japan without killing Princess Euphemia. He would just have to come up with an Alter-Ego.

Though instead of calling the new state of Japan the United States of Japan, he would more so head in the direction of the name: The "Japanese Empire" as it had once held in the past on several occasions.

Pulling into the abandoned lot, he positioned his car out of the way and activated its invisibility coating. Causing it to vanish from sight, though there was no one really watching at the moment.

Climbing out of the vehicle, he would pocket his hands and look towards the blue skies above.

It was a sunny day outside, there was no chance of rain. At least, not water. He could tell there was going to be a forecast of bullets and bloodshed. The only question was, would Lelouch follow him? If he got a Geass from C.C. was he going to get the same as Lelouch did in the show he remembered?

Pursing his lips, he would make his way into the abandoned construction site and up to the second floor. Where he would stand in wait, watching off in the distance. He had a few more minutes until they action began.

Taking out his phone, he would look over a handful of notifications which were popping up. He had his phone set to do not disturb, so it wouldn't ring nor vibrate. Shirley was sending him messages, asking if he had seen Lelouch and if he was even going to bother coming in at all today. Unlike Shirley and Lelouch, Zach and Shirley's relationship is that of an acquaintance simply because he is around Lelouch but doesn't socialize with many people.

Zach is also known to tease and prod Nina for reactions, since he is half Japanese and is often reprimanded by the President and Shirley for it.

He simply snickered to himself quietly as he watched her spam his inbox since he wasn't answering, which was per usual with his demeanor. He turned off his phone and tucked it away in his pocket as he heard the announcement off in the distance made by Princes Clovis of the Holy Britannian Empire.

Mere minutes had come to pass as His sights proceeded to watch the horizon. Soon enough he could see the aerial unit appear and soon afterward, the trailer carrying the 'poisonous gas' was seen closing in.

In front of the trailer however was a duo on a motorbike, completely oblivious of their surroundings. A small chuckle escaped Zach's throat as his thoughts ran wild, like a California Forest Fire.

He closed his eyes as he heard the truck blow its horn and go off road and onto the site.

BADOOM! The truck crashed into the incomplete abandoned building, shaking it, causing a ruckus. His eyes opened as he was greeted by the appearance of Lelouch rushing to the rescue.

"Hey! Can you hear me in there?"

Hopping down from the second floor, he landed inside the trailer as the top hatch had been opened by Lelouch as he was calling out to see if the 'terrorists' were alright.

"Zach!?" His eyes widened, a single brow raised. In that moment, he paused as if he was spaced out.

"I found you, my..." A female's voice boomed in Lelouch's head, he didn't quite understand what just happened. Confused, he returned to his senses, his attention on his childhood friend who made a sudden unwarranted appearance at the scene.

"I know you like boxes, but now is not the time! What are you doing here? These people could be hur–" He was cut off as he was thrown into the trailer, landing on top of Zach, as the truck began to move once again.

It didn't take long for them to recollect themselves, Zach dusting himself off with a light chuckle, whilst Lelouch was checking out their surroundings.

Lelouch went to pull out his phone and Zach simply shook his head, "No signal," he informed in which Lelouch nodded as he confirmed it. Slipping his phone away, they moved over to investigate the pod which was in the utmost forward part of the trailer by the door.

"Why isn't there a ladder on the inside too?" Lelouch asked himself inquisitively, attempting to crawl out, only for Zach to pull him back down as he heard the Military call for the Terrorist Cell's surrender.

"Surrender at Once!" The truck began to swerve and zigzag concurrently with machine gun fire.

While Zach knew what the pod was, Lelouch was almost clueless. Huddled in the corner, Kallen would make her appearance, pulling off her pale cyan attire and revealing her more expressive outfit beneath.

"Can you enter the Subway route via the Azabu Route?" Kallen asked Nagata, the driver, as she was preparing to enter the Knightmare which they had stowed away on the trailer near the rear of the vehicle.

"Kallen, let's use it here!" Nagata suggested with an excited, heated, tone.

"It'd be a slaughter!" Kallen denied the idea, thinking of the primary outcome of using the supposed weapon which they had stolen from the Empire. It was quite clear, that wasn't an option.

The funny part was however, the Resistance actually believed they were carrying chemical weapons. Surely, they were entirely mistaken, but they were definitely carrying a weapon that could unravel the entire Empire's plans, mainly the Emperor's.

"... Yeah, you're right." Nagata seemed to reluctantly agree, lowering his eyes unto the road.

Lelouch seemed to glare after Kallen as the scene began to change around them. It was clear they were entering a combat situation. The question was, what and how was this going to go down?

"That woman..."

Zach looked towards Lelouch, before focusing back on Kallen. He was wondering what was going on in Lelouch's mind. He knew that he himself knew who the girl was, but he didn't know what he was thinking, not entirely anyway.

As the back door of the trailer opens partially, an explosion engulfs their eardrums as they watched the older model Knightmare roll out the back.

Lelouch ran to the door, attempting to get out, only for it to close. "Dammit, these guys are actual terrorists!"

He turned back to see his friend still holding a calm demeanor, which isn't completely strange, but it seemed he was completely comfortable in this situation. It was as if he knew what was going on, and what's more, he seemed more interested in the capsule stored with them.

"Graham," Lelouch addressed Zach with his Britannian Surname, a frown visible across his lips as he covered part of his face in annoyance and panic. "What exactly is in that thing, that you seem oh-so-interested in? Hmmm?"

Reapproached by Lelouch, Zach found his friends hand on his shoulder. He simply gazed back at his friend and gave him a coy, shy, smile. "You'll see, momentarily."