One: The day a new warrior was born
When Nunnally vi Britannia dreamed, visions of blood and death danced before her mind's eye. She saw her mother Marianne and brother Lelouch on the steps of the villa, blood pooling around them as their lives seeped away. In the weeks after she had been numb with shock, confronting their father in a tearful lecture that only resulted in her being exiled to Japan.
Held as a virtual hostage by the ruling Kururugi family Nunnally began to recover her balance, seeking allies and preparing for the invasion that she knew would come. When Britannia finally launched their war she regretfully escaped her new friend Suzaku and dropped out of sighed, seeking out the Ashford family and taking on a new name even as Japan was dubbed Area Eleven.
The woman now known as Nunnally Lamperouge strode down the hallway of the Ashford academy, her mind churning over the news and information she had picked up that day. Her mother had been a excellent tactician and pilot and Nunnally sought to follow that path as well.
“Miss Vice-President!” a familiar voice called and Nunnally slowed, her normally serious expression softening a bit. Shirley Fenette hurried over to her side, her darker brown hair flowing down her back in a caramel wave. Her full breasts reminded one of a somewhat older woman, but her cheerful manner was pure high school girl. “I'm glad I caught you,” Shirley added.
“Shirley,” Nunnally smiled wryly, “do I have to reign in Milly again?”
Shirley giggled at that, both of them falling into step. As the daughter of the founder of Ashford Academy Milly was given free reign in following her whims, which could be rather uncomfortable for the students. She had launched silent day, crossdressing day and a wear your swimsuit to school day, as well as some truly spectacular festivals.
“No,” Shirley shook her head, “it's something else.“ She looked around a bit nervously, “I know how interested you can be in the Elevens, so when a classmate told me I knew I had to tell you. Apparently there's been a terrorist attack in the Shinjuku district using poison gas!”
'That makes no sense,' Nunnally quickly realized, 'Shinjiku is full of Elevens, terrorists would have no reason to attack there. There must be something else going on....'
“Nunnally?” Shirley asked, seeing the other girl seemingly spacing out.
“I'm sorry,” Nunnally shook herself. She smiled slightly, “Excuse me, I need to go make sure Sayoko is all right!” With that she hurried off, her lighter brown hair shimmering in the sunlight.
Stopping in at her suite nearby the student council chambers Nunnally instructed her Eleven maid Sayoko to cover for her before changing out of her school uniform. Hurrying away in a jacket, jeans and tunic she stole Rivalz's bike and raced off, the helm hiding her face.
The Shinjuku slums were as bad as Nunnally had heard, buildings fallen into ruin and full of people barely surviving. Abandoning the bike at the edge of the military perimeter she advanced cautiously through the rubble, studying the soldiers movements as she went on.
'This isn't a terrorist plot,' Nunnally thought bleakly as she found a room full of shot Elevens, 'someone, probably Viceroy Clovis, is using this to wipe out the people here. Damn them!'
“You there! Stop!” a Britannia trooper called out, wearing black fatigues and the usual black helmet that covered the whole top of his head.
“My name is Priscilla Scott,” she lied boldly as the soldier advanced, “my father is a duke. I have my ID in my breast pocket.”
“Don't move,” he ordered as he walked up to her, “I'll check your ID.”
Nunnally waited till he reached for her pocket before swiftly kicking his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. As the stunned young man tried to recover she struck him on the chin with the base of her hand, knocking him out.
'Thank god for martial arts classes with Sayoko,' Nunnally thought grimly, swiftly stripping him and pulling on the combat gear. She was slim enough the armor fit, though her breasts would not be happy with her later.
Penetrating deeper into Shinjuku she encountered other soldiers, in the process hearing fragments of what happened. It seemed the Elevens were involved, but had hijacked a container of some kind, fleeing into Shinjuku to escape the Royal Guard.
'Bad tactics,' Nunnally thought grimly, feeling a stab of pain at all the dead Elevens. 'Dead Japanese,' she reminded herself as she entered the ruined shell of a building, scanning the darkness until she picked up a group of men standing in the shadows.
“Well done, Private Kururugi. It appears you've found our errant CC,” the tall soldier said coldly, holding a gun on one of his own soldiers, and a green haired woman laying sprawled out behind him. Nearby was a large device, some kind of containment unit that had been cracked open.
'Suzaku?!' Nunnally blinked, recognizing the helmet-less young man who looked up at his commanding officer defiantly. 'Oh, don't do something foolish,' she thought, seeing the determined look on his face. Silently she crept forward, using the rubble to give her some cover.
“There is no poison gas, is there?” Suzaku demanded, blocking them from getting at the girl. “What's really going on?”
“Private Kururugi, stand aside,” the older man ordered as he leveled his pistol at Suzaku, his expression full of contempt.
“No,” Suzaku said flatly.
The older man fired without warning, blood splattering as Suzaku crashed to the ground. “No!” Nunnally yelled as she came up, the stolen soldier's rifle coming around as she opened fire. The soldiers were caught off guard, diving for cover as Nunnally raced forward.
“You,” the green haired girl seemed stunned as she looked up at Nunnally, her blue eyes wide.
Looking at Suzaku she saw the bullet wound to the head, knowing the boy was either dead or so brain damaged he might as well be. With a snarl of fury she turned her gun on the scrambling soldiers, driving them back as she grabbed the girl's arm. “Come on,” she ordered as they took off, keeping the soldiers pinned with weapon fire.
“Why are you helping me?” CC demanded as Nunnally dragged her outside, looking around as the madness of combat spiraled around them.
“Britannia wants you dead,” Nunnally answered as they ducked behind a nearly shattered wall, “and I don't like Britannia much.” She peered up, trying to gage the distance to another bit of cover, “And Suzaku was a friend of mine. If he thought you were worth saving....”
“I see,” CC murmured, studying Nunnally with a strange sort of intensity.
“What?” Nunnally asked even as she plotted their escape, mentally calling up the routes of the soldiers she had encountered in her mind. 'It was just like chess....'
“Do you want power?” CC asked suddenly.
Nunnally looked at her in surprise as she said flatly, “Of course I do. Everyone wants the power to achieve their goals.”
CC looked back at her steadily as they hid in the rubble, “I'll make you a deal. In exchange for power, you must make my one wish come true.”
“What is that?” Nunnally had to ask.
CC leaned forward to whisper, “I want....”
Nunnally looked at her in shock, “You're mad.”
“Some have said so,” CC agreed as she added intensely, “but I can grant you the power you need... to make your own wish come true.” She hesitated, “The power I'm offering will change you. You will live among humans without being one of them, forever apart. Will you accept my contract?”
Nunnally still thought she was mad, but there was something strangely compelling about the other woman. “Yes,” she found herself answering, “I accept your contract.”
“Good,” and CC swiftly pressed herself to Nunnally, kissing her as a spark of unearthly power ran through them both!