In a world dominated by the Holy Empire of Britannia, most of the globe has been conquered and forced into submission by this behemoth of a superpower. Japan, now renamed Area 11 after its defeat at the hands of the Empire, continues to harbour pockets of seemingly futile resistance that seems powerless in the face of the might before them.
Enter Lelouch Lamperouge, an exiled Britannian prince hidden away under a false name in Area 11 - harbouring a deep hatred for the empire which has forsaken him, he grabs the chance to fight back when a mysterious power known as "Geass" is bestowed upon him, and begins working from the shadows to bring Britannia to its knees as the faceless leader of Area 11's resistance.
It is the second year of the Kowa Period. The world has unified around the reorganize United Federation of Nations, and has enjoyed days of continuing peace, but now, that peace suddenly comes to an end. Suzaku, while travelling as the masked man "Zero" accompanying Nunnally on her visit to the refugee camp, is defeated by a mysterious Knightmare Frame, and the two of them are taken away. Following secret orders from Schneizel, Kallen, Lloyd and Sayoko infiltrate Zilkistan, the Land of Warriors, where they are attacked by a mysterious Geass user. There in Zilkhstan is a person named CC., known to the assailants as the "former master". In the indomitable kingdom which once conquered even the great army of the Holy Britannian Empire, what do the people desire? Hope, or despair? The people of Zilkhstan Palace certainly know of Geass. What are they, and C.C., planning.
"Mine has been a life of much shame." Tokyo, 2036 (Showa year 111): a revolution in medical treatment has conquered death... By means of internal nanomachines and the "SH.E.L.L." system whose network controls them, human beings suffer no diseases, require no treatment for injuries, and are guaranteed a 120-year lifespan, free from illness. Yet this consummate social system warps the Japanese nation in a host of ways: unresolved economic disparities, ethical decadence resulting from deathlessness, grave environmental pollution, and the "Human Lost" phenomenon, in which people themselves, disconnected from the S.H.E.L.L. network, become malformed. Japan teeters wildly between two potential futures: civilization's restoration or its destruction. Atmospheric pollution suffuses "Route 16" in the Outside-the area outside the Route 16 beltway. Youzou Oba, who lives an idle, drug-saturated life, joins Masao Horiki, a mysterious man who associates with the drag-racing gangs, on an incursion.
In CE.75, the fighting still continues. COMPASS a new a global peace monitoring agency headed by Lacus and Kira must fend off forces of Blue Cosmos.