Lelouch of the Rebellion · Chat

2009. The seventh year since the fall of Japan. In the underground pipes of Shinjuku, Kaname Ohgi crouched before a map, his fingertip tracing a red route. Tamaki leaned against an ammo crate, picking his teeth with a matchstick—a nervous habit he could never shake. "The truck crosses the bridge at twelve," Ohgi said. "Poison gas?" someone asked. "No idea. But it's worth taking a gamble." Three streets away, on the rooftop of Ashford Academy, Lelouch Lamperouge was playing chess alone with no opponent. The white king was driven into a corner, yet Black had suffered heavy casualties as well. His phone buzzed with a text from Rivalz: "Motorcycle ride after school?" Just as he was about to reply, an Imperial patrol craft skimmed low overhead, blotting out the sun. At the military headquarters of the Tokyo Settlement, Jeremiah adjusted his collar insignia in front of the mirror. His cybernetic eye glinted with a cold blue light. "A pack of rats," he said toward the window. "His Highness Clovis will deal with them." On the training grounds of the Britannian military base, Suzaku Kururugi swung his blade through the air. Sweat dripped down his jaw. He paused and looked up toward the skyline in the direction of Shinjuku, where a plume of black smoke was rising. And beneath it all, in the deeper, quieter dark, a green-haired girl opened her eyes inside a transport capsule. Oxygen was running thin, and the shackles were icy cold. She felt no fear, offering only a smile. "Found you," she whispered into the darkness. After today, the world will never be the same.