Perhaps.
I went with them using a fingerprint database in the snippet I wrote.
Speaking of which, I'll post it here and allow you all to ladle scorn on the idea and try to get me to write more of something else.
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It had been an understandable, if reckless, course of action from the Japan Liberation Front to take several Britannians hostage at the luxury hotel at Lake Kawaguchi.
The Britannian Empire understood and respected strength, and by taking hostages at a luxury retreat, the Japan Liberation Front was displaying its strength.
“I am Kusakube, and these are my hostages!” Josui Kusakabe announced to the camera. “Britannia, are you really willing to allow these people to die here today? You will release ALL JLF personnel that you have arrested, regardless of what crimes you have accused them of committing. You have ten minutes to start releasing all of my comrades and I will start executing my hostages, one every five minutes, until all my fellow freedom fighters are allowed to go free!”
Kusakube looked over the crowd of terrified captives and smiled as he turned back to the camera. “In case you think I’m bluffing, I’m going to start with the cripple.”
A single gunshot rang out as Nunnally Lamperouge was executed with a 9mm bullet behind the ear.
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In his operations room, Lelouch stood in shock at the scenes on the TV screen. Nunnally, his biggest reason to keep living, had just been killed in cold blood by someone whose cause he supported.
The wayward prince’s stomach turned cold as the thought that his noble plan to create a better world for his sister was losing its purpose.
“No…”
“Zero,” Ohgi said, unsure of how he should approach the mysterious man who had brought success to his resistance cell.
“Ohgi, as much as you might hate Britannians, you wouldn’t ever execute someone like that, would you?”
“Of course not!” the Japanese man insisted. “The JLF have gone too far with this atrocity.”
There was a silence as Zero seemed to ponder how to deal with the situation.
“D-did you know the girl?”
“She… I did,” Zero said, his voice hollow. “She… I’ve said too much already. We need to resolve this situation before more people are hurt.”
“Agreed! I’ll do everything I can to help you, but I’m not sure what can we do,” Ohgi said.
“I’ll handle this personally. Get me Kusakabe on the phone.”
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“Boss, there’s someone calling himself Zero on the phone for you,” a JLF soldier said, handing a phone to his mission commander.
“Zero? Let’s see what he thinks to our glorious plan,” Kusakabe smiled.
“¬I don’t care how many people you think you’re going to free with this mission, but the masses just saw you execute a disabled girl.¬”
“Since when did you care for the Britannians? You hate them as much as we do! Besides, they’re all about Darwinism, they’ll never shed tears for a cripple.”
“¬My hatred for Britannia is irrelevant. You have made a terrible mistake.¬”
“How? By showing them that we mean business?” the Lieutenant-Colonel said dismissively. “It’s actions like this that will get us what we want, not theatrics!”
“¬You don’t get it, do you? If the Britannian army storms that building, and they’re looking at the best way in right now, they’re going to slaughter you all like animals. You’ll be lucky if they don’t just shoot all the rebel prisoners in their custody, regardless of affiliation,¬” Zero chided. “¬But sure, just act like you haven’t just slapped the biggest empire in the history of the world in the face by executing one of its citizens on live television. Do even know anything about the girl you killed?¬”
The call was terminated and Kusakabe looked confused. He turned to his subordinate, a Major Yamada. “It seems that Zero doesn’t have the stomach for this kind of thing. He’s all talk.”
“He did seem a bit melodramatic during when he revealed himself to the world,” Yamada conceded. “We’ve got another three minutes before we need to select another hostage.”
“Yes.”
The rebel fighters walked to the room where the hostages were being held.
Nina Einstein, already nervous enough around non-Britannian people, was starting to panic. She was babbling to herself about how it was going to be all right, when a soldier told her to shut up.
“Don’t tell me to shut you, you Eleven!” the bespectacled girl snapped back. Her eyes widened as she realised what she’d said.
“‘Eleven’? You bitch! I’ll kill you!” the soldier growled.
“Wait!” a pink-haired girl said, putting herself in harm’s way. “You leave her alone!”
“Why? You want to die, too?”
“No, but I can’t allow you to hurt her.”
“And you are?” Kusakabe asked from the doorway.
“I am Princess Euphemia li Britannia,” the pink-haired girl announced, removing her hat to reveal her identity to the room.
Whispers of “princess?” echoed around the room from both the Japanese and Britannians.
Kusakabe smiled. “We have ourselves a valuable hostage. Bring her to the office.”
“No!” Nina’s protests were rewarded with a kick to the ribs from the soldier.
“Colonel, permission to select the next hostage to be executed, sir?”
“Granted, Sergeant.”
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In the command post, Cornelia li Britannia was not happy with what she was seeing.
“These barbarians will be punished. I will execute them myself!”
“Ma’am, I… I have some bad news,” an aide said nervously.
“What?” the Viceroy or Area 11 demanded.
“It’s… It’s your sister, Princess Euphemia. The footage of the room has been analysed and we think she’s one of the hostages.”
“WHAT?”
“Look here,” the aide said, gesturing to a screenshot of the footage.
“Euphie…” Cornelia whispered. She took a deep breath and turned to face the soldier who had given her the news. “We have to get her out safely.”
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Lelouch, dressed in his Zero costume, was making his way through the tunnel complex under the hotel.
“Zero!” a JLF soldier greeted with a bow. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to free the hostages.”
“But…”
“I can’t allow that!” another soldier said, readying his weapon. “Even if you have given us hope, you don’t command us!”
“Wrong.” A small section of the mask opened up to reveal Zero’s eye. “I command you to free the hostages.”
“I… Of course, sir,” the soldier replied, placing the sling of his rifle over his shoulder and running to where the hostages were being held.
“Allow me to escort you through the tunnels, Zero-sama,” the first soldier said.
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“Euphemia li Britannia. Third princess of the Britannian Imperial family. Sub-viceroy of Japan,” Lieutenant-Colonel Kusakabe said. “And, most importantly, my prisoner.”
“I saw you kill my sister,” Euphemia said defiantly.
“I haven’t killed Cornelia. Yet.”
“I was referring to Nunnally. The girl in the wheelchair.”
“Oh? And who is Nunnally?”
“My half-sister,” Euphemia replied tersely.
The Japanese soldier waited for the princess to explain more thoroughly. He was almost impressed by the stoicism on display.
“Explain who Nunnally is. Do not make me ask you again.”
“Torture? You’re going to use torture to extract information?”
“Not necessarily on you. That girl who you defended. The one that upset my soldier earlier will do for a start.”
Euphemia stood ramrod straight as she recited basic facts about Nunnally. “Nunnally vi Britannia, younger sister of the Eleventh prince, Lelouch vi Britannia. She was injured in the attack that killed her mother, Marianne vi Britannia. Her brother was always very protective of her.”
“And what can one prince thousands of kilometres away do to me?” the rebel sneered.
The door swung open and in walked Zero with his JLF guide.
“Zero! What are you doing here?”
“Kusakabe will never let the hostages go while he’s alive, Tamura. You know what you have to do,” Zero said with an eerie calmness in his voice.
“Wait! You can’t do that! I’m your commanding officer, Tamura!” Kusakabe insisted.
“You also murdered my sister,” the masked man whispered.
Euphemia blinked, unsure of what she heard, but before she could ask who this “Zero” person, the Lieutenant-Colonel’s head exploded.
“Tamura, go check on the rest of the hostages,” the masked man instructed.
“Of course, Zero-sama.”
“Zero…” Euphemia said, unsure of what to make of this villainous man saving her.
“I must go,” the masked man said, turning on his heel.
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It hadn’t taken the Britannian army very long to apprehend the remaining JLF troops. They knelt on the ground outside the hotel complex, their hands tied behind their backs.
Cornelia li Britannia was walking back and forth along the line of prisoners, her face etched with scorn as she looked at the terrorists. “I should shoot you all now.”
“Princess Cornelia…” Captain Joshua Stanley said.
“What?”
“I… There’s something I need you to see,” the soldier said. He walked with the Viceroy to the gurney where the body of the dead hostage lay. “According to her ID, this is Nunnally Lamperouge. She attends… attended Ashford Academy. However.”
Stanley pulled down the sheet that covered her face.
“As standard procedure, I ran her fingerprints through the database. It seems that her real name is Nunnally vi Britannia.”
“Nunnally?” Cornelia said, unsure of what she was seeing. She leant in to get a better look at the face of her long lost half-sister. “Oh Nunnally…”
“Cornelia!” a voice called out, surprising the Viceroy.
“Euphie!” the purple-haired princess exclaimed. She embraced her sister tightly. “Oh Euphie…”
“I’m OK, Cornelia. But I… I couldn’t save Nunnally,” the younger princess said, tears leaking from her eyes.
“I will make them pay for what they did to Nunnally,” Cornelia said as she continued her embrace. “But there is one thing I want to know.”
“Lulu...” Euphie said, quickly piecing together the situation. “He was at Ashford Academy.”
“Then we’ll go get him and bring him to the palace! I can’t let another person I care for get hurt by these barbarians!”
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Lelouch Lamperouge was sitting in silence as he contemplated his situation. As far as his peers knew, he was content to coast by on his charm and natural talent, but that was just a facade. He’d long been planning to get to the truth about the death of his mother, but the gift of his Geass powers from C.C. had allowed him to accelerate and expand his plans to create a better world for his sister.
It was a dangerous course of action, but it was something that he felt he had to do to strike back at Britannia for the sake of his mother and sister.
But now he was wondering what the point of it all was.
Part of him wanted to join his sister in the next world. But would that be giving his father, who had already considered him dead to him, what he wanted?
No, suicide was not the right thing to do.
At least, not yet.
‘Maybe when I know the truth about Mother…’ Lelouch thought as he saw the sun start to rise in the sky.
Thoughts of about the purpose of his plans alternated with anger that the JLF could think it was a good idea for them to take hostages.
Then his thoughts went down the path of how many deaths he might have caused through carelessness. He’d already killed his own half-brother, Clovis, not to mention those half dozen soldiers he’d compelled to take their own lives.
Was he no better than the JLF? Was it time to put away this foolish notion that he could bring any justice to this world as Zero?
Where should he go now? What should he do?
“I don’t know what to do…” Lelouch sighed tiredly. He let out a long yawn, almost causing him to miss the arrival of several military vehicles approach the house.
“What the hell?” he asked rhetorically as the surprise caused a burst of adrenaline to wake up his tired mind. ‘Wait, if they’re coming here, then they know about Nunnally’s true identity and they’re coming for me…’
Lelouch realised that he had to get out of there and fast, but how could he evade the soldiers? He couldn’t out run them, but maybe he could use his Geass?
Realising that he had to leave now if he was to have any hope of evading capture, the wayward prince grabbed his wallet and phone and ran down the stairs to the back door.
Upon opening it, he was greeted with by a soldier.
“Lelouch Lamperouge? I need you to come with me.”
“I...”
“Please do not make this any more awkward than it has to be, Mr. Lamperouge. I’m acting on the orders of the Viceroy herself, Princess Cornelia li Britannia.”
“But… I’m not Lelouch Lamperouge! I’m…”
“If you’re not Mr. Lamperouge, then I’m going to have to arrest you on suspicion of burglary,” the soldier countered. “That would make this more awkward than it has to be.”
“… Fine. I’ll go with you,” Lelouch finally conceded.
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Lelouch spent the ride to the Viceroy’s palace in silence, contemplating his options. Opening the door while the car was in motion was out of the question, even if he could manage to unlock it.
Slipping away from the guards as they escorted him to Cornelia was also a non-starter as he didn’t know the building’s layout.
‘Geass, that’s my only option.’
“Before you ask, I haven’t been briefed on why the Viceroy has requested your presence, Mr. Lamperouge,” the soldier said, his eyes scanning the sides of the road for potential threats. “For all I know, she’s going to ask you out on a date or arrange a marriage between you and Princess Euphemia.”
“That’s not going to be the case,” Lelouch said with a small smile, unsure if he should be amused or appalled by the idea of Cornelia asking him out on a date or trying to set him up with Euphie.
The Second Princess had always been the kind of woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it.
“Don’t discount your chances. You’re a handsome young man, I’m sure that you and the Princesses would get on well.”
The car pulled up to the Viceroy’s palace and a group of soldiers approached the door. An officer spoke first.
“This way please, Mr. Lamperouge,” the captain said.
“And who do I have the pleasure of escorting me to the Viceroy?”
“I’m Captain Stanley, Mr. Lamperouge.”
The pair walked in silence as they passed several guards. When they were alone, the soldier turned to face his charge. “I know who you are. The Viceroy knows who you are.”
Lelouch played dumb. “And who might that be?”
The Captain said nothing as he opened the door to the Viceroy’s office.
“LULU!”
“Euphie…” Lelouch wheezed, the air knocked out of his lungs by the impact.
“Allow him to breath, Euphie,” Cornelia warned. “I’m not burying a second family member this week.”
“Cornelia…” Lelouch said, swallowing nervously.
“Come here, Lelouch. Let me be sure that you’re you and that you’re alive.”
After a quick inspection, Cornelia embraced her half-brother tightly. “Lelouch… I’m sorry about Nunnally. We might have been able to protect her if we’d known about you two still being alive.”
“Anonymity was the best way to protect us. What do you think the Elevens would have done if they’d known they had Britannian royalty in their midst?”
“The JLF did try to capitalise on using me as their hostage,” Euphemia added. “Perhaps it was the best thing to do at the time.”
A silence descended on the trio as they continued to process the loss of Nunnally.
Euphemia had only just been reunited with her half-sister, only for her to be cruelly taken away forever. She wasn’t about to let Lelouch leave her so soon.
Cornelia was angry that the more rebellious Elevens had not only the audacity, but also the resources to pull off such an extortion attempt. Evidently, they needed to be taught a lesson, but what lesson and how should it be taught?
If they cracked down on the Elevens too hard, they risked creating more rebels and rebel sympathisers. But it they were too lenient, then Elevens would be emboldened by their actions.
“What are we going to do now?” Lelouch asked.
“That’s a good question,” Cornelia replied. “We need to discuss how best to proceed. Do we reveal the truth about Nunnally or do we keep it hidden? If we reveal it, your life changes from slacker student to long lost prince.”
“Slacker?” the young man protested.
“I’ve seen your school records, Lelouch. You’re a bright but incredibly lazy student,” the Viceroy smiled. “However, I’m still concerned for your safety. I can’t let things go back to the way they were. It’s too risky.”
“I’m not sure that any rebels are about to attempt a raid on Ashford,” Lelouch replied. “I mean, I’m pretty sure that public opinion is against rebel groups right now.”
“It’s hard to get accurate polling numbers on rebellions, so I’ll have to take your word for it,” Cornelia winked playfully. She let out a sigh. “I’ve missed you, Lelouch. I think I want you to stay here at the palace.”
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