Gundam SEED: Lelouch of Britannia
Cosmic Era 70, and the world is divided into four superpowers. First there is ZAFT, which is in charge PLANTs and contains most of the world's Coordinator population. Second is Orb, a small but powerful nation which centers around Papa New Guinea, and welcomes both Natural and Coordinator civilians so long as they wish for peace. Also welcoming both Natural and Coordinator citizens is the third power The Holy Empire of Britannia, which is militant and controls Western Europe as well as North America. Last, is the Earth Alliance, which only wishes for Naturals within its ranks and controls the rest of the pure blue world…
Following the tragedy of "Bloody Valentine", the tension between the Earth and PLANT immediately developed into serious military engagements. A misplaced bomb has also drawn the otherwise neutral Holy Empire of Britannia into the conflict. Without a doubt, everyone believed in victory of the Earth Alliance and The Holy Empire of Britannia which outnumbered ZAFT. However, the Holy Empire of Britannia stubbornly refuses to ally itself with the Earth Alliance, which creates much unnecessary confusion and is slowly turning the conflict into a three front war. The war has become drawn out, with 11 months having already passed….
Phase 01
Revised Plans
"Are you sure about this, my lord?"
Lelouch slipped the blueprints of the factory into his back pockets and turned to his knight with an amused smile, "Have I ever acted when I am unsure, Jeremiah?"
Jeremiah Gottwald, Mobile Suit Pilot Extraordinaire, Margrave of Kent, Knight of Lelouch Vi Britannia the eleventh prince of The Holy Empire, blushed. "Of course not, your highness."
"Then you don't need to worry," Lelouch said assuredly, adjusting his cap slightly as he continued his walk down the corridors. "Besides, I trust you to protect me. Oh and, none of that 'your highness' stuff. Remember, I'm just a rich lord here."
They were in some sort of industrial unit, with high ceilings and wide hallways. Getting in had been extraordinarily easily, despite all the security checks they had to go through. But ah, his man was good at what he did.
Jeremiah nodded, looking ashamed. Satisfied with his knight's response, Lelouch turned his attention back to the maze of hallways that spread out before him. That was the good thing about Jeremiah, one didn't have to tell him twice what to do. Next time… well, there would be a no 'next time' where Jeremiah slipped up.
It was actually rare for Jeremiah not to have keyed into the fact that Lelouch couldn't be referred to as a prince here, but then, perhaps it was simply the fact that Jeremiah was so used to being formal.
Not calling Lelouch 'your highness' must have been killing the turquoise haired man inside. Lelouch smiled at that.
They turned another corner, just as was indicated on the set of blueprints Lelouch's spy had got for him.
For once, Lelouch had to congratulate the Federation. Whatever they were doing, it was apparently so secret that even one of Lelouch's best spies couldn't find out. Then again, Lelouch's best spies were hardly The Empire's best spies.
Still, this level of discretion for the Federation was commendable. It had after all, forced Lelouch himself to come to investigate.
And that was why Lelouch was wearing dull brown contact lenses, dressed in civilian clothing, and pretending that his personal knight was just a butler.
Well, he supposed he had it a bit better than Jeremiah.
Lelouch sneaked a glance at his knight, and couldn't help the slight twitching of his lips. Jeremiah didn't look bad exactly, just not himself. Lelouch had practically forced Jeremiah to dye his hair into a dirty blond, saying that aqua-tinted hair would draw too much attention. After all, they didn't want anyone to know that the eleventh prince of Britannia had been here, and it was well known that Lelouch Vi Britannia had a person knight who had green hair.
Just as it was well known that The Black Prince of Britannia who conquered Mexico had shocking violet eyes—the same quality as the Emperor. Thankfully, nothing else was known about him. Nothing appearances-wise anyway.
Father didn't value public image, and Lelouch had long decided that he didn't care much for it either. If he needed to appear on television, then by all means he would, but Lelouch was hardly as much of a glamour seeker as his older brother Clovis.
Besides, the facelessness of The Black Prince to the general public left a small twinge of fear within his enemies' hearts. People feared most what they could not see. Lelouch refused to think that part of his reasoning might be that people wouldn't be all that terrified of a scrawny teenager.
They neared the end of the corridor. Taking a step out of the threshold, Lelouch was greeted with the sight of a large, airy rectangular space. The ground was below, and Lelouch and Jeremiah were standing on the blue tiled platform surrounding the area.
A few workers at their level glanced at the two, confused, but at Lelouch's glare they quickly turned back to their work, a flash of fear in their eyes. Obviously they thought that he was one of the project managers for this or something. Inwardly Lelouch snorted. Oh how easily people were deceived.
"Looks like we're here," Lelouch said softly, stepping forward to the railings and looking down at the expanse below. There six trucks under them. Inside the trucks were mobile suits, grey in colour but obviously a design that had never been seen before.
Hidden violet eyes fluttered closed.
"Clovis," Lelouch murmured, hardly able to believe it, "You betrayed us all…"
Yes, yes he had suspected it. Father had suspected it, Schneizel had suspected it, but Lelouch was the only one available to check if it were true. They had all been hoping that they were wrong. It was stupid really: how often could all three of The Empire's greatest minds be wrong?
And quite suddenly, he felt anger well up within him.
Still… How could he?! How dare he?! After the disaster at Junius Seven, how dare Clovis even consider aiding the Earth Alliance?
But Clovis was like that. Always looking for his own advancement, no matter whose memories he was stepping on. And this time, Clovis was bought with promise of power from the Earth Alliance should he fund their little military project. Clovis knew that Father was unlikely to choose him as successor, so obviously Clovis had decided to take his chances with the Earth Alliance instead. It was such a Clovis thing to do.
Lelouch clenched his fists. Yes, he understood Clovis's reasoning, but that didn't mean he could forgive the third prince. Lelouch pulled out his phone and dialled a number. A second later, alarms resonated throughout the area.
Biohazard Warning.
Oh yes, he loved the art of hacking.
The people on the top panicked, running off to find gas masks. Some workers on the lower levels were a little bit braver, staying loyally beside the army trucks, just in case the alarm was false.
But those people hardly mattered.
Lelouch nodded to Jeremiah, and without a word the knight leaped off the catwalk, landing in a crouch inside one of the trucks. From above, they had perfect access to the new machines, and nobody on the ground floor would notice. People so rarely looked up.
Lelouch climbed onto the railing, and flung himself in Jeremiah's direction. He hardly had the same physical abilities as his knight, but he trusted Jeremiah. Jeremiah didn't disappoint.
The Black Prince of Britannia landed with a slight oomph of compact as Jeremiah caught him, but was overall unharmed, just as he had calculated. Licking his lips, Lelouch lowered himself into the cockpit of the machine, with Jeremiah standing over him on guard.
He started up the system, keeping the door to the cockpit open and knowing that the blaring alarms would cover whatever noises he would make. Surprisingly, the mobile suit didn't make any noises at all.
Words flashed across the screen.
Model Number: GAT X106
Codename: The Victory
Head Height: 17.52 meters
Max Weight: 69.32 metric tons
Power Plant: Ultracompact Energy Battery
Armour: Phase Shift Armour
Armaments: 2 x beamsabre, 2 x "Armor Schneider" combat knife, 57mm high-energy beam rifle, XM404 "Grandslam" sword, Shield
"The Victory?" Lelouch arched a brow, feeling contempt rise within him. The Earth Alliance sure had a lot of confidence in these machines. He dug the floppy disk out of his back pockets, and inserted it within the open port. Then, Lelouch started rapidly typing, trying to copy all of the mobile suit's information onto his key.
The information was impressive, and for a brief moment Lelouch couldn't help but applaud Clovis, and then he remembered who Clovis had betrayed.
Euphie.
That couldn't be forgiven.
Lelouch started typing faster. He didn't take long to finish. The security for such a high class machine was actually ridiculously low, and Lelouch got past it within minutes. Really, what were these Earth Alliance people thinking?
However, there was quite a lot of information, and Lelouch estimated that it would take about 10 minutes to finish downloading. He climbed out of the cockpit, knowing he had to inform Jeremiah, when suddenly an explosion rocked the colony, sending Lelouch wheeling forwards.
Jeremiah caught him.
Lelouch furrowed his brows, pushing himself off Jeremiah and brushing off his coat. He looked up, wondering what in the world had caused that.
Experimentation? No, impossible, the citizens of Heliopolis would suspect something was wrong if earthquakes suddenly started happening in space. Was it perhaps a malfunction in the PLANT system? Well, it was plausible expect for the fact that if the EA was secretly building machines in Heliopolis, they would make certain that the PLANT wouldn't malfunction. Even the EA wasn't that incompetent. Or perhaps, it was—
Lelouch gasped as the thought struck him. No, impossible. Lelouch looked back down at the cockpit, searching frantically for the status bar of the download. Not even half. Lelouch let out a deep breath. Well, shit.
"Should we be worried, my lord?" Jeremiah asked, remembering to keep his voice low.
"ZAFT's attacking," Lelouch snapped, turning back to his knight and staring him straight in the eyes, "and our download is far from being complete. Chances are that ZAFT has also heard about these new mobile suits and—"
A deafening boom cut him off, and a second later Lelouch was knocked to the ground, Jeremiah hovering protectively over him.
"Bombs," Jeremiah hissed, looking towards the sky, "They have—"
Another boom, this time much closer. The sky lit with a brilliant white. Lelouch gritted his teeth, rolling into the cockpit of the Victory and tugging Jeremiah after him. Lelouch couldn't overpower the knight, but he knew that Jeremiah would understand his instructions and follow. Confused but trusting, Jeremiah hopped in.
Lelouch's fingers danced across the keyboard. Slowly, the hatch closed over them. Lelouch glanced at the download status bar, but continued typing, and as if just waiting for the right nourishment, the cockpit flared to life.
Take the calibrations and reset the zero moment point and CPG. Then connect the control module directly to the molecular ion pump, Reconstruct the neural linkage network. Renew meta-active field…
Honestly, this OS was horrible. As amazing as the machine's capacities were, how in the world did the EA hope to use them with this kind of operating system?
"…your highness?"
"ZAFT's attacking this factory," Lelouch replied calmly as he continued typing. "The best chance we have to escape this alive is to be inside this machine. It has something called the phase shift armour, which I've activated as soon as the hatch closed over us. It can apparently, withstand bomb attacks."
Lelouch took a deep breath as he finished adjusting the OS, moving off the pilot seat and motioning for Jeremiah to take his place. At the knight's questioning look, Lelouch expanded, "We cannot simply just wait here like sitting ducks. The EA will probably panic at ZAFT's attack and try to retrieve the mobile suits before ZAFT can, so either way one side will be coming for the one we are in. Our best option is to therefore, evacuate with this mobile suit and get out as soon as we're in an area that's relatively safe."
Jeremiah nodded, and climbed onto the pilot seat.
"Adjust the OS as you see fit, as I'm no expert on machinery my calibrations may be a bit off."
"No my lord," Jeremiah said reverently, "it's perfect. Even Coordinators such as myself would have a hard time making an OS like this, and this quickly too."
Lelouch smiled despite himself, pleased at the praise. Jeremiah was forever loyal, but he only gave congratulation when it was well earned. "Walk slowly. We don't want to attract attention."
The Victory slowly rose from its straps, looking like a demon in the midst of explosions. Instantly, someone tried to contact them through a coded channel.
"Open it," Lelouch commanded as they began walking, "But only allow the voice to be transmitted."
Jeremiah nodded, typing in a series of commands.
The radio buzzed, and a second later a young, impatient voice broke through, "Nick? Are you done yet?"
Lelouch blinked, and then motioned for Jeremiah to remain quiet. He adjusted his voice, so that it was crackly and sounded as if he had just received a deep wound. That way, their communicator would think that any differences in voice were due to injury.
"Almost," Lelouch croaked out, wincing a little at the strain on his throat.
"Good," The voice breathed a sigh of relief, "Wait a minute, are you injured?"
"A little, but I'm good enough to pilot." Something seemed to have risen in the distance, in the area he and Jeremiah had just recently left. The last mobile suit perhaps?
"Those bastard Earth Alliance people—"
Ah, so this was ZAFT, then.
"—don't worry Nick, we'll make them pay!"
That last G-weapon was staggering, moving about clumsily. Obviously, it was being piloted by a Natural, and not one of Lelouch's calibre either. So, the EA had managed to salvage at least one of their machines… not that it would do them any good. "Don't worry, I think they're paying enough."
"Tch," The voice sounded annoyed, "You're too soft Nick. How are Athrun and Rusty? Have they gotten the other two mobile suits?"
They started walking. Burning buildings passed by them, civilians running about looking stricken because they couldn't find a shelter in time. "Not yet, what about on your side?"
"Dearka, Nicol, CC and I have all got ours. We'll wait for you three back in the ship."
"That's fine, we'll meet you there."
The less soldiers on Heliopolis to stop Lelouch's and Jeremiah's escape, the better. Although Lelouch loathed the fact that he was essentially allowing ZAFT to escape with valuable technology, there was little he could do about it. He and Jeremiah were only two people after all, and despite their skills they could not match a whole battalion.
Unless… unless he took command of the EA forces on Heliopolis and showed them the way to victory…
No!
He wouldn't, he couldn't, not even if it meant surrendering the mobile suits to ZAFT. It would make him no better than Clovis. Besides, ZAFT having the mobile suits wasn't that bad. It only kept the balance of power, since now all three of the warring superpowers would have the same technology.
"My lord."
Jeremiah's voice broke Lelouch from his thoughts.
"We have a problem."
A problem? Lelouch scanned the outside, wondering what in the world Jeremiah could have considered a problem. It only took him an instant to recognize the landscape. It was where their spacecraft had landed, and now that they were here, they could leave. And then, Lelouch felt his eyes widen as they landed on what Jeremiah had obviously seen.
The spacecraft was gone.
Well no, it was still there, but half of the metal was gone, bent in odd shapes with the edges red with heat. A bomb had hit it, and now it could no longer be used.
Lelouch took a deep breath for the third time that day, forcing himself not to rage and instead think of a logical solution out of the problem. It was hard. It was just… nothing was going right for them today. Did he anger Murphy somehow by drinking orange juice this morning?!
Lelouch closed his eyes, "Alright Jeremiah, we'll just…"
Just what? They could hardly go to a shelter; chances are there were none left. And besides, it was hardly as if shelters for civilians were safe. Lelouch had learned that in the Battle of Mexico. And going to ZAFT? Completely out of the question. ZAFT would at best use Lelouch as a political hostage, at worst just kill them on the spot when they realized Jeremiah wasn't whoever this 'Nick' was. As for contacting the Earth Alliance…
It left a bitter taste in Lelouch's mouth. Besides, it looked as if the EA could hardly help themselves, and were going to be killed anyway.
And then suddenly, a miracle happened.
The new mobile suit that Lelouch had previously assumed belonged to a Natural lashed out, going through a serious of complex manoeuvres that only the rookies of the military could do. The GINN fighting it was slowly being beaten back. It was as if suddenly the new mobile suit had become possessed.
"My lord?"
"We'll wait," Lelouch murmured, a plan already forming in his mind. Yes, yes this could work, and it would all depend on what that pilot would do. "Let's wait and see if it's worth our while to stick around."
Kira stumbled off of the Gundam, shaken. His friends instantly rushed to his side, worried questions and exclamations of amazement on the edges of their tongues.
He could not believe that just seconds before, he had been fighting a mobile suit of all things, and he had won. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It had just been a regular day in Heliopolis when suddenly the sky was aflame with bombs and he was out of a shelter. He thought he saw Athrun too, which was the weirdest thing, and then even odder was the woman who he had met and then had to help so that they would both survive. Well, he had done it. They had both survived.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kira muttered, more to reassure his friends then anything else. He looked up towards the cockpit of the deadly machine he had been piloting just moments before, thinking of the lady he had left there, "By the way, there's a woman up there, unconscious. Does anyone want to…?"
Tolle and Kuzzey were away before he could finish the sentence, climbing the Gundam in their excitement to get to the mysterious military woman.
Kira sighed.
Miriallia giggled, patting Kira's back, "Don't worry about it, you know them. They're like children, but they'll do the right thing."
Kira could only smile tiredly, shaking his head. He opened his mouth to reply to Miriallia's comment, when something caught his eye.
It was one of the Gundams, the one that hadn't moved the entire time during Kira's battle with the other mobile suit. That Gundam hadn't even gone to join ZAFT. Kira had thought that it was perhaps an EA soldier piloting it, except that the movements it did make were too smooth, clearly marking the pilot to be a Coordinator.
Now, the cockpit to the Gundam was opening, its light orange armour dissolving back into a dull grey to conserve energy. Two people came out of the Gundam, and even with his enhanced Coordinator abilities Kira couldn't clearly make out their features.
Slowly, the pair started walking towards him.
"Kira? Kira what are you looking a—" Miriallia trailed off, her eyes growing wide as she turned her head to follow Kira's gaze. A light blush dusted her cheeks.
Now, the pair had finally walked close enough for Kira to discern their features. One was a tall man, in his thirties if Kira guessed correctly, with dirty blond hair and sharp blue eyes. There was something in the man's step that reminded Kira of... who?
On the man's side was a boy, probably the same age as Kira himself. Kira instantly knew that this was who Miriallia had blushed for. Although Kira was by no means a 'handsome, smexy, boy-toy' expert (and he had no wish to be), even he could see that the man's companion was someone used to charming the ladies.
The boy had pitch black hair, and noble features, all aristocratic without a hint of blemish. His posture, the way he moved, spoke of wealth and confidence, while his lithe features spoke of grace. Lastly, now that he was close enough, Kira could see that in the other boy's dark brown eyes there was that hint of… something. Something that spoke of danger.
"Hey Kira," Kuzzy's voice called out from a distance, "we've got her down! Mind giving us a little help here?"
Kira turned, his attention momentarily take away from the strange pair and resting on Kuzzy and Tolle, who were staggering under the weight of the officer. Kira sighed, and ran towards them, stopping his analysis of the two people. After all, they didn't really matter, did they?
If they were with the EA, then they could help this female officer, and if they were with ZAFT they would have already left. Perhaps they were just civilians like Kira was and had simply gotten into the strange machines to avoid the crossfire. It certainly looked like that was what they were doing.
Kira placed his hands underneath the woman's middle as soon as he got to his friends, with Tolle carrying her head and Kuzzy her legs. "Alright guys, let's put her on that bench over there."
Tolle and Kuzzy nodded their agreement, and together the three of them slowly moved over to the canopied place where the bench was situated. When they got there, Kira noticed that the two strangers had also made it.
Kira gently set the woman down, and then turned to the strangers with a glare, "Who are you?"
"Kira," Miriallia admonished, "Don't be so rude."
"It's fine," the dark haired boy smiled, nodding towards Kira, "he's right to be suspicious. After all, we just got attacked didn't we?"
"But still," Miriallia frowned, "Kira's not usually this. He's—"
"Miri." Kira said sternly, effectively shutting her up. He knew he had never been so harsh before, but this was different. His friends had never been so blatantly threatened before. "May you please tell us who you two are?"
"But of course." The boy smiled a dazzling smile, which made Kira instantly distrust it. He didn't know why, but something about the boy just seemed… fake. Though, if Tolle's responding smile was any indication, none of Kira's friends sensed it. "I'm Lelouch Lamperouge, and my companion… is Orenji Nu."
Kira saw the man's finger twitch ever so slightly, but his face remained impassive. The man simply bowed, "Pleased to meet you."
Everyone gave their introductions, and even Kira consented in the end. After all, there was no real reason not to trust them right? It was just that there was a tingling in the back of Kira's mind that just wouldn't leave him alone, but it made no sense even to him. The pair did seem nice enough. Besides, if Kira could trust an apparent EA soldier, why couldn't he trust two civilians?
"By the way," Lamperouge said as soon as they were done with introductions, his eyes straying to the kneeling Gundam. "Did you pilot that thing? We saw the battle and I admit we were suitably impressed."
Kira tensed again; so, was this what the pair was after?
Lamperouge seemed to notice Kira's stiffness, and smiled apologetically, "Oh well it doesn't really matter whether you piloted it or not, I was just curious. And I want to see if this machine's the same as the one we were in."
Oh right, they were also in a Gundam. Really, why in the world was Kira being so wary? It was unlike him.
Kira let out a small breath, trying to regain his calm. He nodded, managing a small, sincere smile, "Yes, I am the pilot, though not by choice. It's not my machine, so I don't really have any authority over it. Are they yours?"
"No," Lamperouge shook his head, "But I have a small fascination with technology. Do you think… um… this woman will mind if I take a look at it?"
"Who cares?!" Tolle grinned from ear to ear, "Kira's the one who saved her anyways, there's no way she'll complain! I also want to look at it!"
"Me first," Lamperouge said mischievously, running off to the blue and white Gundam.
Tolle blew out his cheeks, and snatched Kuzzy by the wrist, dragging the black haired boy with him after Lelouch. Sai sighed, following the three boys and muttering something about keeping them out of trouble.
In what seemed like an instant, only Kira, Miriallia, Nu, and the mysterious woman were left under the canopy.
"Amazing." Nu muttered as Lelouch climbed into the cockpit of Gundam, the hatch closing over him. Tolle banged on the door, locked out, shouting about how unfair it was that Lelouch would have all the fun.
"What's amazing?" Miriallia asked curiously.
"That he could…" Nu sighed, "My lord was never very athletic, and it's quite amazing that he has beaten your friends to the Gundam. I suppose his head start was just too great."
Kira blinked, catching the odd reference, "My lord?"
"What? I mean—"
Just then, the woman let out a loud groan, throwing a hand over her forehead and wincing in pain.
Kira was instantly on his knees, looking over the wounded woman to make sure she was alright, "Oh, you'd better stay still for now."
She just stared at him, making Kira slightly unnerved.
"I apologize," Kira finally murmured, thinking he understood what exactly the woman might have been upset about. His raw movements with the hulking machine couldn't have been gentle for the one in the back seat. Proof was that she was knocked unconscious. "I got kinda carried away in there. Care for some water?"
She nodded, thankfully looking away, "Thank you."
He helped her up, and she greedily drunk in the water that Miriallia held out for her.
"Man Lelouch, are you done yet? I want a chance to play too!" Tolle's loud voice brought them out of their revere. It was then that the woman seemed to notice the Gundam, and the closed hatch.
She slammed the cup down, her eyes demanding, "Who's in there?!"
"Just a civilian," Kira responded unsurely. "It's fine, he's just interested in—"
The woman didn't seem to care about what he was going to say however. She slid her legs over the side of the bench raised her gun, firing three consecutive shots, all aimed towards the hatch.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Kira saw Nu tense, the man's hand twitching towards his belt, possibly to use as a weapon of defence? Kira felt tense too. There was a moment's pause, and then the hatch slowly opened.
The colour bled out of the Gundam, turning it back to grey, and Kira assumed that the machine had just ran out of power. Lamperouge sat in the cockpit, looking warily at the woman with the gun.
"Stay away from that machine!" The wounded women —no, correct that— the dangerous woman yelled, standing up and walking towards the Gundam, gun still raised.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kira protested, getting up and running after her. Really, this was too much. He had thought that she was a reasonable person. "Please stop it! Those are the guys who carried you out while you were unconscious!"
Suddenly, she turned her gun on Kira. "I'm grateful that you saved me, but that thing is a top military secret! It's not something civilians should be allowed to touch thoughtlessly!"
"Give me a break!" Sai snorted as he, Kuzzy, Tolle and Lamperouge descended from the Gundam, and walked back towards them. "It was Kira piloting it a moment ago."
She turned her gun on his friends again, gesturing towards Kira, "All of you, this way."
Tolle put up his hands in surrender, but Sai didn't look too pleased. Nonetheless, they followed her instructions. Surprisingly, Lamperouge didn't look at all disgruntled, and in fact he looked a little pleased with himself, but Kira was feeling too agitated to really think about it.
As soon as they gathered into a large group, the military personnel started walking around them, never lowering her gun, "All of you, your names. One at a time."
They all introduced themselves, or rather, stated their names. When it was Kira's turn though, he couldn't bring himself to respond. The woman narrowed her eyes.
"Kira Yamato." Kira finally said, if not a bit defiantly.
"I'm Murrue Ramius." She introduced, looking slightly apologetic. "I'm an officer with the Earth Alliance Forces. I hate to say this, but I cannot allow you to leave."
She explained her reasons, and Kira's friends didn't take it well. Heck, Kira didn't take it well. Yeah, he agreed with Tolle and Sai, it was all the Earth Alliance's fault. His parents had come here to get away from the discrimination! How could the officer demand for them to help her? Kira's friends descended into protests, and Kira could help but agree with them.
Bang.
Kira startled, brought out of his thoughts.
Ramius was standing with a gun in the air, having fired a shot to get their attention, but as soon as she saw that she had it she lowered the gun again, "Quiet! You kids don't understand anything! By declaring that you're neutral and have nothing to do with this, you can still distance yourself from what's happening! You don't really believe that, do you? The Earth Forces' most vital secret was here, and you people saw it. That is the reality that you people face right now."
"It couldn't be helped," Lamperouge muttered, so low that Kira was sure that if he weren't a Coordinator he wouldn't have heard it, "How do you expect nobody in Heliopolis to not see your inventions when you so deliberately put it here and guard your information so inadequately?"
Kira couldn't help but silently agree, though he knew he had to keep quiet about it. No matter what he felt towards Lamperouge, he didn't exactly want the black haired boy to get into serious trouble— especially not getting shot for his comment.
"That's kinda being rough right now." Sai replied to Ramius's comment, his shoulders slumping.
"It may well be pretty rough, but we're in the midst of a war here. Between the PLANTs and Earth. Between Coordinators and Naturals. Outside of the world you live in."
Lamperouge's lips thinned, and this time his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear, "Isn't this war so stupid? PLANTs and Earth? Coordinator and Natural? What's the difference? There will be idiotic Coordinators, and brilliant Naturals, as shown by the way this war is progressing. Isn't it better not to differentiate between them, as we've been doing in Heliopolis? Suddenly seeing a difference—well isn't that just discrimination?"
Ramius narrowed her eyes, "Yes, if the whole world thought that way it'd be nice, but unfortunately it doesn't. You are an enlightened being, but the rest of us mortals have to fight to survive. Maybe what you're talking about is ideal, but we're not living in the ideal. You must realize that!"
Lamperouge clenched his fists, looking frustrated, "But why can't it be the ideal? If you keep on having war, then obviously nothing will change!"
"Kid…"
"He's right you know," Kira said quietly, causing everyone to turn to him in surprise, "What you say may be correct, that there is a war going on outside of our world. But we don't agree with it. We dislike war. That is why we chose to be here in a neutral territory. Yet you…"
"Stop this!" Ramius said sternly, waving her gun to belly her words, "This is a pointless argument. The fact is, you're stuck in this war now, and there's no way to change it. Now Kira, I would like for you to do something for me."
Kira listened to Ramius's request carefully. Well, truthfully it wasn't a request, but Kira thought that the only way he wouldn't go crazy was to think of it as one. She wanted him to contact her ship members, get transport here. Apparently all the radio technology was busted and they had to use the Gundam. Well… okay.
Maybe her ship members would agree that Heliopolis civilians had nothing to do with war, and let them go. It was that, or getting shot.
Kira climbed onto the Gundam again, sending out distress signals. Still, no matter how many times Kira called, nobody responded. He couldn't help but get the sinking feeling that everybody was dead.
"Hey by the way," Sai questioned after he drove a truck from the area Ramius had ordered him to, stopping at Kira and the Gundam's feet, "is this the right one?"
Ramius narrowed her eyes, and then gave a slight nod of satisfaction. She then turned to something in the distance, squinting, "Is that… The Victory?"
"Do you mean the machine?" Lamperouge asked from where he sat, still under the canopied bench, "Orenji and I were in that to avoid the bombs. We've moved it a little."
"What is it with kids and being able to manoeuvre crazily complex machines?" Ramius muttered, and then turned on Lamperouge with the full force of her glare, "Get it and bring it here. It's too far."
Lamperouge narrowed his eyes, then slowly got up from his seat. Back stiff, he started walking towards the other Gundam. Nu jogged after him.
"Hey hold on! I didn't say you could go with him!"
Nu turned to Ramius with a look of animalistic craze, "I don't care what you say, I will always follow my lord."
"Wha..?"
"Orenji," Lamperouge sighed, "it's fine. I'm sorry Miss Ramius, he's been my butler ever since I was six, and sometimes he takes his job a little too seriously."
With a little bow of apology, Lamperouge left for the Gundam, leaving Nu behind. Nu did not follow, but Kira's noticed the slight twitching of the hands ever few seconds, and the way Nu's eyes trailed Lamperouge looking for any possible dangers. Now, Kira finally knew whom he thought Nu resembled when the brown haired boy first laid eyes on the man. Murrue Ramius.
"I respect you as a soldier," Nu said quietly as he walked past Ramius, so quietly that Kira was sure Ramius was the only one who was supposed to hear, "but if you separate me from my master again, I will make you pay."
Ramius stiffened, but didn't comment. Instead, she turned to Kira, barking instructions to mount the Strike Gundam with the equipment from the truck Sai brought in. With a sigh, Kira started moving the Gundam, making sure to keep up with Ramius's instructions down to a tee.
"Which one is the power pack?" He asked, climbing out of the cockpit to ask. By this time, he realized that Lamperouge was back, sitting calmly beside his butler. They were still in the canopied area with the EA woman.
"One's power, one's weapons, so put them both on, and hurry up!" Ramius called back, before turning back to the aristocratic boy, her voice too quiet to catch. Lamperouge sighed good naturedly before getting up and walking back towards The Victory, waving a hand to Nu to get the man to back off. Nu bowed and sat back on the bench.
Suddenly Ramius turned a glare towards him that was probably hot enough to melt even this new phase shift armour thing. Gulping, Kira quickly moved back to the cockpit, deciding that maybe he had better get started on it. He'd just about finished, when suddenly, the sky shattered.
A section in the long aerial pipe that allowed spacecraft passage exploded outwards, sending flames and shrapnel raining down on the unfortunates below.
Nu swore, bolting after the direction Lamperouge had been walking. The Victory's distance wasn't far, and but it was most likely out of batteries too. Kira typed faster, trying to load the equipment sooner; he had to help them!
Suddenly another mobile suit was there, attacking their rag-tag team, dropping discharges and opening fire. Kira gritted his teeth; no, not now! The Strike wasn't ready yet, and Kira was powerless without it. But, but he had to help Lamperouge, even if he was wary of the boy, because no one deserved to die! Plus… plus he had to save his friends. He had to!
And then a fighter jet came out of nowhere it seemed, attacking the invading mobile suit. Still, it was small and lacked sophisticated weaponry. It didn't look like it could win.
And suddenly another, huge aircraft flew out of an explosion, reflecting the light like an angel.
The mobile suit instantly changed its target of attack. Raining bullets on the huge ship, it manoeuvred like a fly against a lion, which although smaller, wasn't something a lion could get rid of. It did fly past Kira once, shooting at his friends, which forced Kira to go down on one knee and defend, but that was all. The engagement with the new ship was much heavier.
As another set of missiles shot off, destroying yet another support for the colony, Kira found himself getting increasingly frustrated. They were tearing up Heliopolis with their attacks, and with every passing minute there was more of a chance that one of his friends would be hurt.
"Damn it," he muttered angrily, narrowing his eyes at the mobile suit, "hold it right there."
The guy wasn't going to get away with this. Using the newest weapon at his disposal, Kira switched the target system online, hardly noticing as a huge lump of machinery shifted over his right eye, allowing him to mark his enemy. Hefting the newly installed cannon, he took aim. The mobile suit moved fast, but Kira was faster. Catching it in a moment, he pressed down on the trigger.
Ramius's voice cried out among the mass, "Wait, Kira, that's…!"
The mobile suit careened to the side, barely dodging the beam of light that cleaved through Kira's rifle. The sky warped where the beam touched, and ripped asunder. A huge hole tore through Heliopolis.
Kira felt his heart skip a beat. The attacking mobile suit was sucked through, and even if it wasn't, the missing arm that it now had was not going to let it do much damage. But Kira wasn't feeling the least bit happy.
He felt the arm that held the rifle drop. Had he just done that to Heliopolis…?
The vacuum of air created by the hole he created sucked everything through, satellites included. There could have been people in there… He could have killed; him, a civilian who hated war. But, he could have taken a life, no, more than one probably. And then, he would have destroyed the lives of the family members, making… making…
He shook his head, letting out a deep breath. No, he couldn't afford to think like that; he'd go crazy. He took a deep breath, and decided that he had to check to see if his friends were alright.
Ramius was barking orders at him again, telling him to dock in the archangel. Still not completely recovered, Kira followed in a daze, hardly even seeing what he was doing. When he was finally done, he took a deep breath, typing shaky instructions over the keypad before the door latch drew open. He sat there for only a moment, before creeping out and descending from his Gundam.
There was a new crowd of strangers there.
"Come on," one of the newcomers was saying, his face a picture of confusion, "what's going on here? He's only a kid. You mean that child piloted that thing?"
Kira's feet touched the ground, and his friends ran over to him, their babble filling his ears. Relief filled him. Still, he kept one ear open to listen to what the adults were discussing, and he saw that Lamperouge was doing the same.
"Lieutenant Ramius, what's going on?" The woman standing in front of Ramius asked.
"Wow, what a surprise." A new voice. Footsteps. "I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Seventh Orbital Fleet. Nice to meet you."
"Kira, Kira!" Tolle was grinning from ear to ear, "You were awesome!"
"I'm Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of Sector Two, Fifth Special Division."
"Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, of the same division."
"I'd like authorization to board this ship. Who's in charge here?"
"Thanks," Kira replied automatically, not really listening to his friend's praise.
"The captain and the top officers of this ship have all perished in battle." Badgiruel's voice sounded solemn, wistful. "Therefore, I believe Lieutenant Ramius is now in the position of responsibility. Only a dozen or so of us were saved, mostly non-commissioned officers. Fortunately, being in the shaft, I was able to escape danger."
"A lieutenant left in charge?" Lamperouge muttered, his voice again, too soft for anyone but a Coordinator to hear.
"The captain?" Ramius asked in shock, "How could that be?"
"Oh man," La Flaga muttered, "what a disaster. In any case, please give me permission, Lieutenant Ramius. The ship that I came in has been shot down."
There were more ships outside Heliopolis? Kira felt his fists clench. Just how 'neutral' was their colony really? His friends had finally stopped talking, seeming to pick up on the fact that something serious was happening. They all turned their attention on the military crew.
"Ah, sure," quite frankly Ramius sounded a bit dazed, "I grant you permission."
"And who's that?" La Flaga's attention finally turned to them. Kira met La Flaga's gaze back defiantly.
"As you can see," Ramius answered politely, "he's a civilian teenager. For some reason, he was in the factory district while we were under attack. I let him on the G-weapon. His name is Kira Yamato. Th-thanks to him, we were able to fight off a GINN, and protect this one machine."
GINN? Kira guessed that it was the mobile suit that he had been fighting.
"I came here as an escort to the young pilots trained to pilot that. Where are they?" La Flaga asked.
"We were bombed when they were in the control booth being welcomed by the captain," Badgiruel replied, "So they too…"
"I see…" La Flaga suddenly started walking towards them, leading the rest of the newcomers with him.
"Wh-what is it?" Kira asked, wary.
"You're a Coordinator, aren't you?"
There was a long moment of silence. After all, how did one respond to that? It was apparently a war between Coordinators and Naturals. In the end though, Kira decided honesty was the best policy. "Yes."
Instantly, most of the newcomers dug out guns, pointing it towards him.
Lamperouge was there in a second, a little in front of Kira as if to shield him from gunfire and glares of hate. Kira couldn't see Lamperouge's face, but he did hear the calm, disappointed voice, "Are you really going to kill a civilian who's declared himself neutral, just because of his race? If so, then the Earth Alliance is more hopeless than I thought."
"Yeah!" Tolle agreed, also jumping in front of Kira, "Kira might be a Coordinator, but he's not the enemy! Didn't you see what went on earlier? You've gotta be outta your mind!"
Ramius sighed, walking towards the gunmen, "Lower your rifles!"
They did so with only a trace amount of hesitation, and perhaps a little bit of guilt. Kira was hardly paying attention.
Why? Why had Lelouch jumped in front of him? Sure, Tolle Kira could sort of understand, but Lelouch barely even knew him! Was the black haired boy simply willing to go that far for his principals, even if it meant risking his own life?
It made no sense.
"…come here to avoid being involved in the war. Am I wrong, Kira?"
Huh? What? Kira turned to Ramius, who had just spoken. He tried to recall what she was talking about while he had spaced out, and slowly the half caught words caught up with him. "No, you're right. Especially with me being a first generation Coordinator."
"First generation?" Somebody asked.
La Flaga sighed, "Meaning your parents are Naturals. Well, I apologize for causing such a stir. I was just curious, nothing more."
"Lieutenant La Flaga…"
"On my way here, I've observed a fair number of simulations involving the guys who are expected to pilot this but none of them could do much more than get it to move." The blond shook his head, walking off, "Man oh man."
"Lieutenant!" Badriguel shouted, "Where to?"
"Where to?" La Flaga turned his head, "I landed after being shot down, and the team waiting outside is Le Creuset's. He's one persistent fellow. If you ask me, I don't think we can afford to spend too much time here."
"It always seems to amaze me my lord, how easily you can make strangers into friends."
They were sitting in a room within the Archangel, the door closed so that no one could hear their conversation. Lelouch had hacked into the security cameras already, making the film of their room into a loop so that no one would suspect anything.
"They're hardly my friends," Lelouch spun in his chair, turning to face Jeremiah with one elbow leaning against his armrest, "They're the friends of the façade I carefully choose, an idealistic rich school boy who is easy to get along with. Very few people would dislike such a persona."
Jeremiah's lips twitched, an odd twinkle in his eyes.
Lelouch's face descended into a scowl. He knew what Jeremiah thought. The knight had wild delusions that the 'facades' that Lelouch showed were only a way of expressing a suppressed childlike side that Lelouch could rarely show. The cunning and harsh image Lelouch presented to the world were only half of Lelouch, and there was another, gentler, kinder, more playful side to him. It was, as Jeremiah once had said, what Lelouch would be like had he not been born a prince of Britannia.
Which was ridiculous.
Jeremiah's lips were practically having a spasm now.
"What is it?"
"It's just that…" Jeremiah looked like he was trying hard to keep down a smile, and failing miserably, "for people you don't consider friends, you've been awfully honest. I know for a fact that most of the opinions you expressed are actually how you really feel towards the situation."
Lelouch stiffened; how had he known that Jeremiah would bring that up? "It was needed. If my own view matched with my persona's, so much the better. Less chance of slipping up—though I would never slip up."
Jeremiah looked amused, but he had worked with Lelouch long enough to know when to quit, "My lord, if I may ask… why Orenji?"
A smirk made its way up the prince's lips. Ha, revenge. "Why, don't like being called 'Orange'? I thought it was your favourite fruit."
"Well it is but still—!" Jeremiah spluttered, "To be named after…? I honestly can't believe the EA bought it."
"The more unbelievable a name, the more real it seems. Names that are too common draw suspicion far more often than unique names. Thankfully, so many people now know me as The Black Prince that they don't actually know what my real name is, but for you the name of Jeremiah Gottwald is too well known. If there were a Lelouch with a Jeremiah for a guardian, it would take an idiot not to draw the right conclusion."
"Ah…" Jeremiah looked a bit dazed.
Lelouch decided to take pity on his poor knight. Oftentimes, Jeremiah had to put up with learning things he never wanted to know, and where almost every knight never really learned political intricacies, Lelouch liked for the people surrounding him to know what was going on. So much the better for developing strategies when someone was there to provide criticism—not that Lelouch ever got criticized anyway. But, who knew? Maybe one day it would save his life.
"The Coordinator's a problem," Lelouch continued, resting his cheek on his knuckles as he waited for Jeremiah to realize that they were on the next topic, "I don't understand why he's so hard to fool, but I think that my 'whispered' words to you, and my quick defence of him might have him second guessing the Earth Alliance. With luck, he'll join our side."
"Do you really think so my lord?" Jeremiah furrowed his brows, his voice thoughtful. "He doesn't seem the type to want to fight. Getting him to abandon the EA is a given, but for him to join Britannia…?"
"He will," Lelouch assured, crossing one leg over the other and turning his gaze to the chessboard set up on his table, "The EA will mess up sooner or later, marking them as something that needs to be fought against in Kira's mind. We couldn't have gotten a better chance. Did you hear what those soldier were talking about so blatantly in front of us? Although… I suppose that they couldn't have known that we would understand it. Still, talking about sensitive information in front of civilians is against protocol, and the rule was made up exactly for situations like this! When we get back to Britannia, I'm going to have to make sure my soldiers—"
"My lord!" Jeremiah coughed, urging Lelouch to go on.
"Yes well," Lelouch smiled like a canary, not even pretending to look abashed, "This is better than I could have hoped for. The highest ranking officer aboard this ship is a lieutenant, who should be easily manipulated and fooled. I'm sure I can plant something which makes the EA look like the worst force in the world, and deserves to be eradicated. Since Yamato will have already dirtied his hands by then, the only option left to him will be to join us."
"And what about ZAFT? Isn't the boy more likely to join them because he's a Coordinator?"
"Unlikely. He's First Generation remember? Besides, ZAFT attacking a neutral state is hardly going to paint them in a favourable light. And even if he does join ZAFT, it scarcely matters to us. Britannia after all, still has its Knights of the Rounds, who'll be only more formidable with the data we've collected."
Ah-ha, and what an amazing amount of data that was. Inside Lelouch's most inner pocket, held a disk with the world's most advanced technology. Both the Victory's and the Strike's, which Lelouch had downloaded during the time he was in the cockpit. But, so much the better would their information be if they could actually bring in the suits themselves! Suddenly, Lelouch couldn't refrain from smiling.
Lelouch leaned back in his seat, letting out a contented sigh, "Why, isn't this lovely Jeremiah?"
"My lord?"
Oh dear, Jeremiah looked confused. The poor knight was an excellent bodyguard, but he simply couldn't see the political implications of everything that had occurred, despite spending so much time around The Black Prince.
Lelouch tsked, picking up the a white knight from his chess set, brandishing it in front of Jeremiah like a sword, "We are aboard an enemy vessel, and nobody even suspects who we truly are. We have much opportunity to spy on and sabotage our enemies, plus…
"Plus it turns out that the EA do not have any access to the information gathered on Heliopolis. So, the only way for them to start mass constructing these 'G-weapons' is if they first analyze The Strike and The Victory. But, what if they never get to see the two G-weapons they have left?
"We'll stay with Archangel until it gets back to Earth, and then we can easily take the two G-weapons back to Britannia. Why Jeremiah, we can steal some pretty little toys for ourselves, and seriously set back the EA, all in one fell swoop!"