Story: Britannian Breeding

 

So this was what a Japanese resistance cell looked like? At once, Lelouch was impressed and dismayed. Their resources were sparse, but they had also been creative with what they had been able to access. They all had mobile phones, for one thing-  Elevens weren't supposed to have those. The layman would be surprised at how absolutely vital communications is for a group like this. Organisation is the watchword for any cell, alongside security, secrecy - neither of which are possible when you cannot effectively talk to one another.

Their weapons, on the other hand, were out of date. To be expected. Kallen had warned him they had a Knightmare that she and her brother were pretty decent at piloting. A Glasgow they had retrieved from some trash heap and then fixed up to make operable. Trouble is, a Glasgow would be in the trash for a reason. They were obsolete. They were designed to combat infantry, not other Knightmares. Once the world started catching up to Knightmare design, Britannia had moved on, adapted, learned from what they'd observed from Knightmares in the field - and then made Knightmares that were smoother, faster, had more durable armour, a superior user interface, or to put it another way, designed to combat other Knightmares.

The specifics were rather lost to Lelouch as he was not a member of the military, but he could imagine well enough what it meant. No matter how skilled the pilot - and Kallen claimed to be a very good pilot - there is only so much one can do without adequate equipment. The miracle that allowed David to defeat Goliath was not merely that Goliath towered over him, it was also because David was using a weapon ill suited for close combat. When it came to Knightmare combat, Japan was both outnumbered and up against superior armaments. It would take more than a miracle to gain their freedom, as he was certain Kyoshiroh Tohdoh, the vaunted Man of Miracles who won the only, miraculous victory against Britannia during the invasion, would surely attest.

As for the members of this cell, aside from Kallen there was also Kaname Ohgi, second in command. A listless man, who hadn't impressed him at all. A couple of other men who seemed fairly nondescript... and a woman named Inoue, who was giving him a long, long stare with heavy bedroom eyes. Lelouch had the impression she hadn't gotten laid in a while, which was a shame for her - he wasn't looking to expand his 'harem' any.

"So, MIster... Zero, was it?" Then there was Naoto. A very smart man. Insightful, charismatic, cautious and yet audacious. Well suited to be the leader of the cell. From his body language alone, it was plain to see, he cared about every member of this cell, and understood that a King must lead the way in order to be followed. "Tell us a bit more about your grand scheme?"

Very well then. Lelouch sat down, flipped back his cape and crossed his legs, observing Kallen squirming a bit. He could tell she wanted to sit upon his lap, but - no, perhaps later. He allowed a dramatic pause before continuing.

"Terrorism shall not work against Britannia," he began. "Perhaps, against a less corrupt state that cared somewhat about its citizens, you might make a dent. But you should know as well as I, they only truly care about those at the top. All else is pretense to keep the rabble under control."

"Direct military action is even less feasible," Naoto observed. "Even if we did muster a force that could push the forces presently inside Britannia out, they can summon reinforcements -"

"The same logic applies to the terror approach," Zero interrupted. The role came more and more naturally to him with each breath he drew. "Do you think Britannia foolish? They are well aware of such strategies - and know well enough how to disarm them. The only reason Japan's resistance movement has lasted as long as it has, is because you surrendered before your military apparatus was smashed to pieces." And that Clovis is a complete imbecile when it comes to military matters, more preferring to rest on his laurels and party. Had, for example, Cornelia or Schneizel been placed in charge, or someone that actually cared about stamping out the resistance cell, then it's very likely they would have been put down a long time ago.

"On the other hand, they have little experience in dealing with vigilantism," Zero said. "Genuine, well meaning vigilantism is outside of their experience. Look around! While Britannia is the biggest mob in town, they're far from the only ones! There are Japanese taking advantage of Japanese as well. Should we present ourselves correctly, the media will be caught completely off guard! At first, they will not know how to handle us, and that will create the gap in which we shall lever open the ultimate weapon against an Empire like Britannia's! Public opinion! They shall scramble to paint us as villains when they realise what we are doing, but -"

"But our actions and our deeds will make them turn towards us," Naoto said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "There is merit to that. There is one big problem, though - In order for us to have that sort of effect on the media, we would need to target a Japanese group <i>first</i>."

"Huh? Like hell we will!" said the loud redhead, Tamaki wasn't it? "Our enemy is Britannia, going against fellow Japanese - "

"Short term thinking is what is leading to your defeat, as it did for Japan," Zero warned. "Let us say that you drive Britannia out, right now, today. Who would take the lead? I shall tell you what you would have. It would be worse than Britannia! A chaotic dictatorship, the worst of both worlds at once! We must smash any trace of evil we encounter, and in time people would turn towards us, and turn against the true source of their misery! The system that oppresses them, even if it offers candy and artificial happiness, is still holding them down!"

"I think this guy might be onto something," Kallen whispered in her brother's ear. "Our current approach is obviously not working, we need to try something new!"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we should jump at the first new thing to come our way," Naoto said. "You don't mind if we have time to discuss this, it wouldn't be right to jump on this right away."

"Very well," Zero stood, bowed, and took his leave. "As a token of goodwill, I shall arrange for you to have superior equipment using my contacts. I expect nothing in exchange for this - besides that you use it well."

Easy enough to arrange, now that he'd seen what they had already. For which, he had C.C. to thank. The two of them left quickly, Lelouch taking off his cape, donning a hood that went over his mask, and then ducking down to keep his head low.

=====

Okay, so, Kallen couldn't take it anymore. She'd tried to push her brother into bringing Lelouch in, but he seemed super dubious about it.  Probably the mask that was doing it. If he learned the guy was a Britannian Prince, he'd probably have tried taking him hostage or... or something like that.

"I'll follow him," Kallen said. "See if I can figure out who he is, at least."

"You're sure about that?" Naoto asked. "You seemed in favour of -"

"Yeah, but I'm not stupid," Kallen said, while heading on out to do a very, very stupid thing. "I'm the one that has the best shot of catching him!"

She ran out into the street and looked around. Not exactly hard to spot them. C.C.'s green hair was like a beacon. She quickly rushed up to them, looked around at the street to check where they were - this should be far enough away, and that building isn't being used right now, so... She grabbed both of them and dragged them inside.

"I need you to put a baby in me, right now," Kallen whispered to Lelouch, taking off his mask so she could kiss him right on the mouth. "No argument. Knock me up."

"Well now, Kallen, I didn't realise you were so hard up," Lelouch let his hand wander down her body. Like watching a master pianist tune a piano before playing a masterpiece. "Alright, alright, if you're that needy, then -"

"Ahem."

Oh. Oh crap. That was Inoue. She'd been followed!

"That's not like you, Kallen," Inoue said, while unbuttoning her top. "You should've noticed I was there. This guy must've rocked your world something rotten to make you this stupid."

"W-wait! It's not - " Kallen protested uselessly. "Ah, hold on, why are you taking off your clothes?"

"She wants in on this, little miss tsundere," C.C. whispered in Kallen's ear. "She's kinda cute, so I say we go for it."

"Don't I get a say in -"

"No!" said every woman in the room to Lelouch's question. He was getting a new harem member whether he wanted one or not. If nothing else, so that Kallen felt a bit less embarrassed about letting herself get tailed like that.