AN: So as a backdrop to where this came from, I read a dead crossover fic about Lelouch acquiring a Biometal based on C.C. (Whether she was originally a reploid or human in that fic's timeline will never be made clear since the second chapter of it was the last thing that author ever posted on this site, and the publishing date was 4 years ago...)
(On that note, RIP my stories I have no idea what to do with. I apologize to everyone who likes them but goddamn do I suck at writing things on the fly. Like, a lot.)
And then I began to wonder, Reploids are practically immortal until ZX right…?
So basically, I began to work under the premise of the Code R project finding a Final Generation Robot Master (AKA a counterpart to Mega Man X and Zero) C.C. or C2 here for simplicity's sake and begin to experiment on her in hopes of creating their own Reploid super soldier army for Britannia, this being Clovis he naturally assumes that if word gets out he'll be investigated for treason, that or his more ambitious siblings will attempt to murder him and seize the Reploid for their own ends.
Essentially, this means the events of Episode 1 play out similarly, with Lelouch gaining not only Geass (Yeah, not including the Power of the King in some form is pretty limiting for Code Geass as it is key to many if not most of Lelouch's successes and feats, blame the writers for him becoming over-reliant on it.) but a very powerful Reploid.
Of course, that means the Maverick Hunters and Repliforce (In this timeline a Britannian special corps made up entirely of Reploids, with 'General' having authority on par with the Knights of the Round.) get involved as naturally C2 will be labeled a Maverick for attacking Britannian military and government assets on Zero's orders.
But now, I don't want to explain too much.
And as for going from 20XX to 2017 ATB.… Let's just say it involves Time Man and Flash Man, and Bass being Bass.
We're also going by the initial Code Geass calendar as well, so the 55 year difference is a go.
Oh and one last note, if you're one of the few people who wants a theme song for it, yeah I'm not writing one up, takes too long and it's just chapter padding to me.
Just imagine COLORS or Be Somewhere from Rockman EXE Stream if you really want one.
Also yes, I am finally making my ANs more distinct from the chapters.
KEY (For here on out so I don't get bitched at about what X special text thing means.)
" "- Speaking normally (obvious)
"Italics"- Thoughts, including thought based communication (READ: Code). (also obvious).
"With bold or italics mixed in"-Emphasis on certain words.
"Italics with normal text and bold mixed in"- Emphasis on certain words in thoughts.
="Text"=-Low level voice modulation, typically Zero's mask.
="With bold text"=- Character with heavy voice modulation.
"ALLCAPS"-Yelling/screaming.
"ALLCAPS WITH BOLD"-Violently enraged or terrified screaming.
["Text"]-Speakers/Radio Communications.
[TEXT]-Computer readouts/networked communications. (If I ever actually use this.)
Flames will be used to roast Headcrabs.
"Text with underline"-Geass Command.
20XX AD.
Geoworks International Robotics Labs, The Philippines. Unknown hours.
Doctor Noele Lalinde brought up another scenario that her latest creation was working on and sighed as she sipped her coffee and crosschecked the latest data from the scenarios that Dr. Light was working on for his own new generation Robot Master. "Everything seems to be going fine…" She stood up and headed down the hallway after checking in on their progress in a sim of an old situation involving Time Man and Flash Man suffering from a case of faulty weapon chip limiters, she shouldn't really have been worried at the time it occurred but…
Thomas and Albert were messing with something beyond human comprehension when those two were built, out of all the petitions to have Robot Masters scrapped, those two had been constantly at the top alongside Gravity Man and Galaxy Man as some felt that they could potentially destroy the planet if their powers ever went out of control.
But since they'd been decommissioned and stored in the Robotics Museum alongside the other retired Robot Masters it was a moot point.
She noted that her creation had gunned both Robot Masters down while avoiding the destruction of their I.C. chips after only a moment's contemplation, an excellent outcome for the sim given that Megaman performed the same feat after agonizing about it for several minutes and only pulling the trigger after both Robot Masters yelled at him to just shoot them. Sometimes the 'hard' option was the only good one after all...
Glancing back at the stasis pod containing her finest work, one that would aid Light's in the future she hoped, Noele felt pride well up in her.
Her creation would be a pragmatic counterpart to X, to match his naivety with a more measured sense of how the world actually worked. Although she hoped X would in turn temper that with his idealism lest her final daughter become too cynical.
"We're not as young as we used to be... Are we Thomas..." She mumbled to herself. "Maybe Mikhail was right about us... We refer to our machines as our children to fill a hole left in our hearts... Still... I wouldn't trade them for anything..." She sighed as she thought about the future.
"Someday mankind will be ready for truly sapient machines, free of Asimov's laws... But not now... All these incidents over the years with robotics have people scared witless by thinking machines regardless off how well the robot masters help society. In the future hopefully this won't be the case... But I sincerely doubt I'll live long enough to ever see such a day."
Alarms suddenly started blaring as Quake Woman's terrified face appeared on a monitor.
"Tempo, what's wrong!?" Noele asked quickly. She'd never seen her first 'daughter' this afraid before.
["It's Bass! He broke into the museum and stole Time Man's and Flash Man's Special Weapon chips! He's facing down Mega Man now in the Chronos Institute, talking some nonsense about showing Wily he didn't need to build a new Robot!"]
That caught her attention. Nobody had seen Bass since Wily went dark years ago.
"Impossible!" Noele shot out of her chair. "He may be based on Mega Man but he shouldn't be able to integrate other Robot Master's abilities!"
["Proto Man just showed up to help and... Rock is trying to copy Bass's weapon chips!"]
["ROCK NO! THEY'RE UNSTAB-"] Proto Man shouted in the background before something happened.
The transmission then cut out as the uncontrolled temporal energies of four time-based robot master powers, in addition to those from experimental time machine technology located at the institute, ripped into the local space time continuity around the Earth.
Noele didn't even have the time to think as brightness overtook her lab.
August 10, 2010 ATB.
Midway-class Supercarrier HIMS Franklin D. Roosevelt. West Pacific. H-Hour+7
Commodore John "Jimmy" Thach watched a pair of F-11 Sea Vixens roar into the sky from the EMALS catapults, the stealthy jets screaming into the air as a pair of more conventional A4 Barracuda IIs followed soon after. Rosie's sister ships, Midway, and Coral Sea, were visible in the haze to both port and starboard, as were the escorting BBGs, BBVGs, CAGs, CLGs, CGs, FFGs and DDGs, plus the accompanying support vessels, including command ships, supply and replenishment vessels, and amphibious assault transports and LHDs.
A full scale invasion fleet like this hadn't been seen since the First Pacific War.
A volley of land attack missiles roared out from the VLS cells of the Destroyers, Battleships and Cruisers before swinging about and screaming towards Japan, softening up the defense positions at range before the landing force would approach the shore and begin gunfire bombardment.
The Japanese Naval Forces had either fled outright to Australia or been sunk by Britannia as far as he knew, with a handful of ships boarded and captured by the Special Naval Service's SEALs and the Imperial Marine Corps, so their entire coastline was now at the mercy of the Imperial Britannian Navy and Naval Air Service.
Their Air Forces had been similarly devastated, and had either been shot down or forced to RTB, whereupon their airfields were hit by naval strikes and strategic bombers flying from the Homeland and Areas 9, 12 and 15. Now Japan proper was vulnerable, protected from invasion only by SAMs, artillery, AAA and AShMs, while arranged in a formidable net, they too had been at the mercy of defense suppression strikes, and massive gaps existed as a result of this and lack of resources in the face of a total encirclement of the entire nation.
"Are the amphibious groups and their special complements ready?" He asked a subordinate as the enhanced carrier strike group continued alongside the special amphibious taskforce.
"Affirmative sir!" One of the bridge crew reported.
He nodded at the man and watched as a sizable number of Japanese coastal launched anti-ship missiles roared in on the radar screen, only to be intercepted by the fleet's SAMs, CIWS, and cannon-fire, with many of the rest missing horribly.
"Once they depart we'll be continuing our harassment raids up and down the coastline."
"The composite amphibious assault group led by the Warspite is detaching to begin their landings." Someone else reported as the Amphibious group off in the distance began to peel away,
Thach nodded as he watched another pair of Sea Vixens line up on the catapults. "Welp, time for the jarheads to earn their pay." Someone said as Thach turned to look at the IFF signals of the Amphibious group on the TACNET as they closed with the Japanese coastline.
"You'd think that the Europeans, Soviets and Chinese would be more concerned about this much Sakuradite falling into Britannia's hands..." Thach mused softly.
"Sir?"
"Just thinking aloud son. The 70% of all reserves figure is probably just Japanese propaganda if intel is correct anyways, it likely only represents the most accessible Sakuradite deposits, prior to the invasion buildup our point of pride was that Britannia has control of far larger veins throughout the Americas but they're trapped inside remote areas that are difficult or impossible to mine with current methods."
The sailor nodded and returned to his console as Thach gazed out the bridge windows as the latest group of fighters took off.
"I question the point of a full scale invasion when a punitive military action could've accomplished the same result for a much lower cost, both financially and in lives... Although, I did basically admit that just because we have a large supply of Sakuradite doesn't mean we can readily use it... But is all of this actually worth that when we could simply install a pro-Britannian puppet state?" The man wondered as one of the airborne AWACs planes came in for a landing to refuel.
The date was August 10 of the year 2010 of the Imperial Calendar. The Holy Britannian Empire had just declared war on the Nation of Japan. The Far East island nation had long clung to its neutrality in the face of increasing political pressure on four fronts.
The official reason for the attack was to secure access to the nation's Sakuradite stockpiles, an invaluable room temperature superconductor, which were said to be the largest and most accessible on the planet, and to avenge the supposed abuse of two young Britannian royals, the children of the deceased Empress Marianne.
The former was more widely reported globally as access to the Sakuradite supply was a hotly disputed issue politically, with Britannia's actions earning it the ire of the EU, Chinese Federation, Middle Eastern Federation, and the Soviet Union, all of which enacted embargoes on Britannian companies prior to the invasion.
These nations however stood idly by as Japan burned, caught up in either their indifference or circumstances that prevented decisive action.
The Japanese Defense Forces fought bravely but after their Maritime and Air Forces were defeated, the Ground Forces found themselves at the mercy of Britannia's newest weapons.
The Humanoid Manned Armored Knight, or Knightmare Frame. An advanced mobile weapon class designed for high mobility warfare in support of traditional armored and mechanized formations.
And the Replicant Android unit, or Reploid. An entire class of self-aware, sapient humanoid automatons capable of not only rationalization and emotion but that were also unchained by any of the laws of robotics, alongside their far less autonomous and intelligent cousins, the Mechaniloids.
The Japanese Military was unprepared for the rapid and massed deep strike deployments and their ground forces were left isolated from eachother and in often indefensible locations, many formations being wiped out or forced to scatter into the wilderness as a result. With the deciding battles won by Britannia's Glasgow and Liverpool Knightmare Frames working in concert with airpower, infantry, and traditional armor.
A few isolated Japanese units attempted to replicate the infamous banzai charges of the First Pacific War, only to be met with the superior physical strength of Reploid infantry once the survivors reached Britannian lines and were cut to pieces.
Aside from a single defeat, Britannia utterly crushed the Japanese Military once they landed on the Home Islands.
With their Prime Minister dead, their military shattered, and their government scattered to the winds following the death of Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi, Japan took the only recourse it had left.
It surrendered, their people stripped of their lands, pride, freedom, rights and their national identity.
Area 11 had been established as dominion of Britannia, the defeated Japanese now labeled as Elevens and made second-class citizens, at best, in their own homeland. And their once proud nation now a mere cog in the increasing global dominion of Britannia.
The shock-waves of the war would resonate across the world, Worker Frames, Mechaniloids and Reploids weren't just for civil purposes anymore, they could be directed towards warfare and killing in ways people had once scoffed at as impractical.
As a result, the number of militarized Reploids and Mechaniloids increased a thousandfold, as did the number of Knightmare Frame units.
And by extension, so too did the mandate of the Maverick Hunters, a multinational organization based out of Abel City, Australia, and devoted to hunting down Reploid criminals of any type. The Hunters became increasingly militarized in response to the number of combat grade Maverick outbreaks. Simultaneously new innovations in combat Reploids became increasingly difficult to achieve, as the technology behind the original Reploid template, a robot known only as X, was far more advanced than most human minds could comprehend, and the spread of technology deliberately stifled by elements of the Australian government to prevent an arms race that could lead to ever more disastrous Maverick incidents. As concepts such as high-output solar reactors, elemental attributes, full self-powered flight, and energy weapons were commonplace among higher-end combat Reploid units that were manufactured either for the Hunters or on commission for various nations.
However all of these might innovations pale in comparison to a single promise made during the invasion, which would come to haunt the Earth in seven years time.
"I swear… I swear Suzaku so help me… I will one day… OBLITERATE BRITANNIA!"
But such a promise could not become reality without great power backing it up...
February 21, 2013 ATB.
Code R dig site RM-10, Area 12. 2300 Hours local time.
General Bartley Asprius frowned as his men continued to excavate the area around an old set of ruins from some old civilization like those discovered by Dr. Cain in the homeland several years ago while looking for plant fossils of all things.
"Hurry up, we're on a schedule!" He ordered as the excavation personnel, MR-1 series Worker Frames and Reploids continued digging up the site, several Glasgows, Liverpools and APCs standing guard with infantrymen and Royal Guard combat Reploids, floodlights illuminating the surrounding jungle and the dig site itself as heavy equipment and generators hummed in the background.
Much like the Reploids, the Knightmare Frames that Britannia was so proud of had come so far in such a short amount of time, the '1st Generation' units having been little more than escape modules for combat vehicles with legs added on to enable the crew to continue withdrawing from the battlefield in relative security.
Over time people wondered what would happen if that concept became an entirely new class of fighting vehicle, and thus the Knightmare Frame was born.
The Soviets had a far more accurate designation for Knightmares if Bartley was to be entirely honest, Индивидуальный боевой машина пехоты, which translated literally to Individual Infantry Fighting Vehicle, or IBMP as the Soviet Knightmares were commonly called.
One of the diggers stopped and waved up at him, distracting Bartley from his mental tirade on Knightmares thankfully enough. "General! We've found something!"
Bartley glanced down at them before heading down a lift to the bottom of the dig site with a trio of guards and a junior officer.
"What is it…?"
"It seems like a blast door sir." The Digger Reploid unit responded as a C-15 Mettaur prodded at the door with their foot, the metal barely making a sound due to its thickness.
"That much is obvious… In your opinion what do you think it'll take to crack it open without damaging what's inside?" Bartley asked.
The Reploid tapped the side of his pickaxe against his hardhat, red eyes glowing before he spoke up again. "I ain't a metalworker or demolitions unit but we could probably cut it open with a shipbreaking mechaniloid."
"Out of the question, too many people would question the transfer of such a unit to this wilderness for an Archaeological dig, we're lucky we got away with the guard detail because Area 12 is still subject to terrorist attacks on isolated convoys." Bartley replied, cutting off that idea.
"Then our best bet is to blow it open with successive low yield breaching charges to reduce the structural integrity in a careful manner, the facility has some kind of reactor that's sending most of its remaining output to whatever is on the other side, if it's that important then you probably don't wanna break it." The Reploid responded, rubbing the chin of their angular vocoder unit.
Bartley nodded. "Very well then. Bring down the charges and have a Mettaur monitor it so we don't overdo the blasting."
Bartley returned to the lift as the crews cleared out and the charges emplaced by the Royal Guardsmen, once everything was clear but the lone Mettaur that had ducked down under its helmetlike shell, the first set of charges were detonated, the shock and noise of the blast sending nearby groups of birds scrambling for the sky, squawking loudly.
"The Mettaur is reporting that the charges have caused the door to collapse." A Guardsman reported from a nearby console as Bartley nodded and headed back to the lift, the Mettaur waddling away down below, completely unscathed despite its close proximity to the blasts.
Once at the bottom he marched into the room, spotting various degraded computer consoles and repair robots that littered the floor like pebbles, having slowly been worn down over centuries of constant maintenance work. "How long as all of this been down here…?" He stepped further into the room and headed over to a cryo-tube-like module and wiped off the collected dust on the glass window, a grin breaking out onto his face as he turned to look at the Junior Officer behind him.
"Contact Prince Clovis and the research team, we've found a jackpot." The General stated as he turned and stared down at the female form seemingly sleeping inside the stasis chamber.
"A Reploid just like the unit Doctor Cain found… With this, we can create an invincible army for Britannia." He said softly as several technicians began working on disconnecting the stasis chamber from its mountings.
Wiping off a panel on the side he spotted a designation, partially faded due to time and wear next to a stylized logo of a C connected to a two and bordered on the top and bottom by two lines. LM -C M g Wo a C2.
"Hmm, a type designation? Possibly based on primary armament or the designed purpose, impossible to read anyways but we have the designation at least... C2..." Bartley mused as the machinery was hauled out before him.
He glanced around the empty room again, looking through the banks of inoperable computers before turning and leaving.
There was nothing left for them to uncover, nothing that they were still able to anyways…
Or so they thought.
August 15, 2017 ATB.
Babel Tower district, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11. 0830 Hours local time.
Lelouch and Rivalz stepped out of Babel Tower after having finished their latest chess match and glanced up at a large television screen mounted to a nearby building, the chatter of nearby Humans and Reploids audible around them, some of the crowd murmuring about Mavericks or Elevens. The image of a pair of linked skyscrapers with smoke pouring out from the upper floors of the right hand building being replaced by the Imperial Flag as a tone indicated a government announcement from the viceroy was to begin.
["We apologize for the delay, now His Royal Highness Prince Clovis la Britannia, Third Prince of Britannia and Viceroy of Area 11, will address the Area."] The female voice stated.
The screen transitioned to a live broadcast of Area 11's viceroy in his press hall. Lelouch narrowing his eyes at the sight of his elder brother, Rivalz too distracted to notice the subtle change in mood of his friend.
["To all my Imperial subjects including of course the many cooperative Elevens and Honorary Britannians who choose to serve the Holy Empire of Britannia! Do you not see my pain? My heart has been ripped from my chest only to be torn asunder before me!"] Clovis announced as Lelouch resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the dramatics, his brother was putting on an act for the cameras and Lelouch sincerely doubted he actually cared.
A nearby Reploid with red armor snorted and muttered something under his breath, his blue armored compatriot hushing him, Lelouch's eyes widened slightly as he realized both of the Ride Chaser motorcycles bore markings of the Maverick Hunters' Elite 17th autonomous unit, one of around twenty mobile detachments of the Maverick Hunters that were shuffled around to hotspots worldwide as needed.
"Now, what are they doing here… I know the unit is currently on rotation to Area 11 but how do I run into two of their members here of all places?" Lelouch thought.
On screen, Clovis continued his performance. ["The shattered remnants are now only filled with rage and sadness! However, as ruler of Area 11, I will not tolerate terrorism of any kind! Because the battle we fight is a righteous one! A virtuous battle to protect the well-being of one and all! Now then everyone, I would like you to join me in observance of the eight who died for justice in the line of duty."]
An imperceptible frown crossed Lelouch's face. "If only those eight hadn't died for a corrupt nation that thrived on the conquest and subjugation of its lessers and threw those it deemed waste to the wolves." He thought darkly.
["Now, a moment of silence please."] The female announcer requested as Lelouch paid for Rivalz's parking fee at the meter, uncaring of the propaganda show being displayed to the public.
"Well aren't you gonna join in?" Rivalz asked as the gate in front of his motorcycle's parking slot descended into the pavement.
"Aren't you?" Lelouch responded.
Rivalz chuckled lightly and leaned on his bike. "It's sort of embarrassing." He admitted.
Lelouch plucked the receipt ticket out of the meter. "And I agree with you. Besides, spilling tears over those people won't bring them back to life, now will it?" He stated as he checked to ensure the amount of the fee was correct.
Rivalz put his goggles on and whistled. "Dang… That's dark buddy."
Lelouch stared at the print on the ticket. "It's all about self-satisfaction." He said coolly as he turned turned to look at the screen which again featured Clovis's face on it. "It doesn't matter how hard you try… You can't do it, there's no way you can change the world."
August 15, 2017 ATB.
Viceroy's Palace, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11.
The Cameras and sound recording equipment shut off and retracted on their arms as Prince Clovis stepped down from the podium, several mechaniloids scrambling about to their idle positions, chattering amongst themselves about the on-air edits they'd make to make the Prince look more visually appealing.
One of the noblewomen spoke up. "You were magnificent your highness. One would never guess that you were attending a party just before doing that." She purred.
"After all, the Viceroy is the marquee actor of Area 11, I need to change costumes quickly." Clovis replied as his attendants took his Imperial cloak and epaulettes off.
"My, you're so self-confident." The woman appraised as Clovis adjusted his cravat.
"It's all in the performance, since the media wanted a charismatic prince, I give them one." Clovis said as he looked over at the media representatives standing along the wall.
A rather heavyset man in a brown business suit spoke up in response. "Untrue, Prince Clovis, our key purpose in life is to assist your reign in any way we can." The man stated as Diethard Ried glanced over from where he was reading the press release book, his contempt for his toadying media colleagues barely disguised by a thin veneer of indifference.
"His reign is a pathetic sham…" Diethard mumbled as Bartley marched past him in full uniform.
"You… Your highness!" Bartley announced as a confused Diethard watched him rush by.
"Hmm… A General?" He murmured to himself.
"Egad how boorish of you."
"I beg your pardon your highness… My lord…" Bartley sounded out of breath to Diethard as if something major had just happened.
The Hi-TV representative closed his press book and stood straight up, assuming it was something that required a statement by him for the military. "Not another appearance for him, hope it's not as dreary."
"BARTLEY YOU IMBECILE!" Clovis hissed rather loudly from behind as he began to walk out, catching Diethard's attention.
General Bartley lowered his voice and continued. "The police and the Maverick Hunters were informed it was medical equipment, that's all. If we scramble the army there'll be a record-"
Clovis cut him off. "Deploy the Royal Guard. The Purist Faction and the local Foreign Legion unit as well!" He ordered, surprising Diethard with his sudden display of decisive leadership.
"This should be interesting..." He thought, if the normally indifferent Prince Clovis was actually this riled up it must be something big.
Alarms blared in the garrison level of the Palace, KMFs loading up ammo, energy fillers, and their pilots.
["Alert one, alert one. Fourth, Seventh and Eighth rapid reaction companies as well as the Thirty-First air assault team, immediate scramble!"] A controller announced over the hangar PA system.
Jerimiah Gottwald remained even faced as his Sutherland powered up, a pair of human model Reploid maintenance personnel watched his, Kewell Soresei's and Viletta Nu's frames be moved for loading onto rapid deployment VTOLs.
["Special division nine, standby for deployment."] Another announcement declared as more troops rushed about.
Tokyo Settlement Highway, Area 11.
Rivalz and Lelouch passed under a train bridge, a passenger train rumbling overhead.
"That first move you made."
"Hmm?" Lelouch looked up slightly from his book.
"Why'd you move the king?"
"If the king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?" Lelouch posited to him.
"What's with that?" Rivalz asked as he glanced briefly at Lelouch.
"With what?" Lelouch responded without looking up from his book.
"Do you fantasize about running a major corporation? Or maybe commanding an army?" His friend asked him.
"No way, ambitions like that will ruin your life." Lelouch replied as a blaring truck horn drowned out the tail end of his statement, looking back he spotted a massive semi-truck, the kind optimized to carry massive loads like worker frames or medium type Mechaniloids, rumbling up right behind them at high speed.
Rivalz squawked in alarm. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!" He screamed as he hit the gas, Lelouch ducking his head to avoid suffering from whiplash.
"Rivalz, cool it before you get us both killed!" He shouted to no effect.
"You idiot! Watch where you're going!" Nagata shouted in anger before swerving the Truck to avoid running over the motorbike and giving the Settlement police an excuse to start trying to gun them down.
"Nagata wait! You're oversteering!" Kallen exclaimed as the truck headed down an offramp and into a construction zone, idle worker Reploids, human construction workers and Mechaniloids scattering before the vehicle to avoid being crushed as the vehicle turned and skidded before halting itself on the sides of an opening for an internal parking lot, a cloud of dust spreading as the workers stared dumbfounded.
Inside the truck's trailer, a signal pulsed out of a damaged container.
Rivalz stopped the bike and as he and Lelouch stared at the wreck from the side of the highway. "Ehh… Was that our fault…?" He asked.
"I don't think so." Lelouch responded calmly, as if his life hadn't just been in danger from either Rivalz panicking or a massive truck suddenly tailgating them at high speed. Lelouch's phone promptly vibrated softly, he pulled it out but saw no caller. "Huh…?" He murmured as two motorbikes rolled up behind them, the same Reploids from earlier stopping to inspect the wreck.
"You think this is the work of Mavericks X?" The Red One asked.
"Hard to say Zero… The police report said the terrorists were human… But I'm getting a weird signal from that truck…" X replied as he glanced at the wreck site.
"Yeah so am I… What's going on..." Zero whispered.
Above the city a police observation VTOL's camera pods zoomed in on the wreck. "Control, the target has crashed into the VO building construction site." The observer in the front seat reported.
["The Military will take over from here, General Bartley's command. Alert the foreman to vacate the site."] The police controller responded as the pilot and the observer glanced at eachother, the former mouthing 'him?' at his partner who simply shrugged and activated his transmitter again.
"Roger that Control, we're switching to local construction radio channels now." The Observer said as before switching over to the local channel for the contractor working on the VO building. "Attention, this is the Tokyo Concession Police Force, Evacuate the premises discreetly and at once, military forces will handle the wreck."
Bartley walked through the hall of the Viceroy's Palace thinking about his situation. "We have to retrieve it at all costs… That thing… In the wrong hands…"
He shivered as he remembered the testing results.
Lelouch's phone continued vibrating as he stepped away from Rivalz's bike and took his helmet off, the vibration growing more intense when he pointed it at the truck. "What the…?" He muttered.
"Oh man this sucks. Looks like the power line on the bike finally gave out." Rivalz said as he looked at the vehicle's engine after failing to start it back up.
Lelouch looked down at his phone and then at the truck as the screen flashed green and yellow. "Yeah… Hey, Rivalz come check this out…" Lelouch said before hearing other people talking as a crowd of humans and Reploids began to form on the pedestrian pathways and balconies below the highway.
Lelouch looked back at the truck, the others were only talking idly and taking pictures or checking their phones as they too had technical issues, not one even bothering to call for emergency services as they rubber-necked like morons. "Hmph… All those idiots…" He dumped his helmet inside the side car's seat before running down the road and to the ramp that led to the site, noting the workers, human and Reploid alike, had cleared out alongside the Mechaniloids for some reason, leaving him confused given that they should've at least tried to help.
"Lelouch wait!" Rivalz shouted to no avail, catching X's and Zero's attention.
"Ashford Academy students…?" X whispered to Zero, who shrugged as he and X waited for further instructions, before the blue Reploid moved to dismount from his bike.
"Hold up X, this isn't our jurisdiction." Zero said, putting a hand on his partner's shoulderplate.
"But..."
"If they're conscious, a Maverick Hunter walking towards them might cause them to pull something stupid." Zero stated wisely.
Inside the truck, Kallen groaned as she began to stir.
The crowd chattered endlessly amongst themselves as Lelouch ran up to the vehicle and tried to get to the cab. "Hey are you alright!?" He shouted as he tried to squeeze past the wreckage, noting the truck was remarkably intact, as he looked around and spotted a ladder Lelouch realized there was probably an entry hatch or two atop the vehicle.
X and Zero briefly watched Rivalz grouse and grumble as he walked his bike down the road, before looking back at the truck, both Maverick Hunters staying out of the situation unless Human or Reploid life was directly threatened as per the Maverick Hunters' ROE, or a Maverick got involved, whichever came first.
Nagata groaned as he began to stir as well, Kallen having deflated the airbags. "Nagata? Nagata!?" Kallen asked as the man next to her began to wake up.
Lelouch peered over the roof of the truck towards the cab, unaware that someone was watching him from a level above him in the VO tower. "Can you hear me?! Are you okay in there!?" He shouted.
His phone buzzed again as it somehow tugged towards the vehicle's roof, indecipherable combinations of characters crossing its screen.
And then a voice echoed in his mind. "Hmm… So you're the one...-"
"Huh… But where…?" He asked, not noticing a blond haired figure retreating into the shadows of the construction site. He looked down into the open roof hatch of the vehicle, the unsecured entry point having flung open in the crash. "Is anyone in there!?" He shouted, getting no response.
Now wide awake, Nagata shifted the vehicle's gears and began to press down on the gas pedal, sending Lelouch tumbling into the vehicle. "Wait! Stop! I've fallen in!" He yelled futilely before being tossed against a cylinder shaped container of some kind as the truck began to drive down the site road, X and Zero frowning as they watched.
"Now it's a hostage situation…" X muttered, the Reploid clenching his fist.
"Kid probably doesn't know…" Zero replied calmly, putting a hand on his partner's shoulder armor and gestured at the cab with a thumb. "Besides, I doubt they realize he's there…" He continued as four Royal Guard AV-1 Cobra VTOL attack gunships roared overhead with live rocket pods and ATGM racks loaded on their pylons.
X frowned and hopped back on his Ride Chaser, Zero doing the same and both took off after the gunship flight and the truck.
As it drove forwards the truck rumbled over a foundation for some support beams, sending Lelouch stumbling into the wall of the trailer. "You'd think they'd stick a ladder on the inside of the trailer too." He grumbled as he tried to climb the container in front of him, which had numerous wires hooked up into a generator next to it.
["ATTENTION! STOP THE VEHICLE AND PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"] A voice announced over a loudspeaker, causing his eyes to widen as the final piece of the puzzle set into place.
He was either inside a stolen government truck or a reinforced terrorist vehicle, he assumed the former.
And that was either the police or the military outside, chasing them down.
Probably military given the familiar thrum of high powered VTOL engines.
"Shit."
The Cobras formed up above and behind the truck as X and Zero followed on their motorcycles at a safe distance, observing for the moment.
["SURRENDER NOW AND YOU'LL GET THE CHANCE TO DEFEND YOURSELF IN COURT!"] The pilot of the lead gunship announced. ["I REPEAT, STOP AND SURRENDER AT ONCE."] The 20mm linear chainguns of the gunships aimed and then began firing, fragmenting the road just behind the truck before it went under a rail overpass.
["GIVE UP NOW OR WE'LL SHOOT TO KILL!"]
"Now what do we do?! That's the damn army!" Nagata asked Kallen as he kept driving.
"Have you forgotten? That's what I'm here for!" She replied confidently as she took off her disguise's cap.
Nagata sighed at her dramatics. "Alright, just go deal with them."
The truck rumbled into a tunnel, Lelouch contemplating his choices as he hid behind a power converter, looking for a way up to the roof of the trailer. "If I jump out I have the choice of breaking my neck or getting shot… I can try to call-" He stopped as the door at the front of the trailer opened and a girl he didn't immediately recognize with an admittedly Milly rivaling chest walked through and pulled off her coat, revealing a somewhat more combat suited brown and red outfit underneath. "Can you enter the subway via the Azabu route?" She inquired as she walked to the back.
"Kallen! Let's use it here! Why not?" Nagata suggested.
"Because that would mean a bloodbath!" She retorted heatedly as she climbed up a stepladder at the back of the trailer.
"Ngh… You're right…" Nagata admitted from the cab as Lelouch peeked out.
"I've seen her before…" He thought as she vanished into something at the back of the trailer, the section too dark for him to see whatever it was clearly, although he had an inkling suspicion at the back of his mind.
["Target is moving from the settlement towards the ghetto."] The lead pursuit gunship reported.
["Copy that, corner them."]
["Roger!"] The pilot responded as his gunner aimed the 20mm chaingun again, this time so that their shots would hit the vehicle directly.
At that moment a slash harken rocketed out of a gap in the rear door of the trailer and punctured the cockpit of the gunship, crushing the pilot whilst simultaneously decapitating the gunner, the vehicle falling out of the sky as it retracted, X and Zero swerving to avoid the hulk as it crashed into the highway and detonated into a fireball. "A slash harken?!" The gunner of one of the surviving Cobras choked out, stunned.
The red Glasgow retracted its harken and closed its factsphere sensor.
"A Knightmare!" The man gasped as the Glasgow leapt out of the vehicle, deploying its landspinners in reverse and keeping pace to guard the rear of the truck.
As the rear ramp closed behind it, Lelouch slammed his fists against the hatch as he realized his one opening to escape, no matter how suicidal it was, was gone. "Oh crap! These guys are actual terrorists!"
"You fellas know full well what this badass motherfucker can do!" Kallen shouted over the speakers as the frame weaved around gunfire the moment she saw the flashes of the linear chainguns. X and Zero left dumbfounded before raising their megabuster cannons, their ROE clear now that human lives had been lost, a Catch-22 that would pain X not for the last time in the coming days.
"God these guys are idiots, what kind of training are the Area 11 forces doing if this is the quality of the Royal Guard units here?!" She thought as she lined up another slash harken shot on a second gunship.
A low power buster shot intercepted the slash harken that would have pierced through a gunship, flinging off to the side.
Kallen swore as she saw the Maverick hunters, eyes widening as she recognized two of the international force's most well known agents.
"Oh fuck…" She murmured as the anchor wires spooled back in, remembering that while they weren't allied with Britannia and were legally neutral, they had a special dispensation to step in and preserve human and Reploid life in low intensity conflicts if they saw fit, and higher end Reploids like X and Zero could dismantle Knightmare Frames and tanks with relative ease, worse still, these two were from Sigma's Elite 17th autonomous force so there were more just like them waiting in the wings. "Better not give them more reasons to come after my ass…"
At that moment a T-4 Knightmare transport VTOL swooped down. ["The rest of you back off. I'll take this guy."] Jeremiah ordered as the gunships and the two Maverick hunters fell back, the latter two having only intervened to save the lives of the remaining gunship crews in the first place, Kallen's slash harkens retracting back into their mounts.
["I can only assume you dug that obsolete relic out of some scrapheap."] Jeremiah taunted as he dropped from the transport VTOL and intercepted a slash harken with one of his own before touching down. ["An over the hill Glasgow is no match for a Sutherland!"] He scoffed as his Knightmare spun before gripping the fore handle of its rifle and charging forwards. ["Not to mention a filthy Eleven who spurns the compassion of our glorious Emperor!"] Jeremiah sneered as he fired an anti-armor grenade, missing the torso of the Glasgow by mere centimeters and blowing off the left forearm.
Nagata radioed Kallen as her Glasgow shook, the machine seeming to scream as it vibrated while reversing at top speed. ["Kallen! We should both split up! Both of us can't risk being killed! Run for it!"]
["But!"] She radioed back as another Sutherland with purist faction colors marked on its shoulders and factsphere panels climbed up from between an alley using its landspinners and landed on the road in front of the truck, opening fire on the vehicle as Nagata grunted and turned down a restricted road into the subway tunnels under the Ghetto.
Viletta Nu scoffed derisively as she sat inside her frame. "Hmph… Simple minded Eleven…"
X and Zero watched as one of the Glasgow's slash harkens refused to fire, disabled from the hit to the left arm. "Looks like that one is finished… Should we step in…?" X asked.
"We're dealing with the Purist Faction… They won't be as… Amenable as the regular army would even under these conditions, besides, our mandate doesn't cover saving terrorists." Zero replied as X resigned himself to watching.
["Second hand junk!"] Jeremiah roared as the Glasgow swiveled and ejected the remainder of its left arm right into the right arm of the Sutherland before turning and running away in the ensuing cloud of dust and smoke.
[I'll admit, I really like your spirit… However, you're still no match for me!"] The Purist Faction's leader shouted as he followed after her in pursuit.
Lelouch tapped his phone again. "No cellphone reception, either out of range or too deep… Plus the apps are still locked by whatever is screwing with this thing so I'm literally just making an educated guess… And judging from the darkness and road surface we must be driving along the old subway lines, they're heading for an exit somewhere in the Ghetto, getting out will be dangerous... Still… Okay I've got it… I'm not big on the military but I'll take their protection unless the Maverick Hunters get to me first… So I should keep this on hand just in case…" He picked up the radio Kallen left. Only remembering Rivalz as he pocketed the communication device.
"Crap, I forgot about him..." Rivalz was probably being forced to walk his bike back to Ashford through Traffic. "Oh well… He'll just have to suck it up, he's more physically fit than I am anyways."
August 15, 2017 ATB.
Shinjuku Ghetto, Area 11.
General Bartley frowned as Lloyd Asplund bent over in front of him, as if examining a stain on the General's uniform. "A ha…"
"What are you doing…" Bartley asked, confused by the admittedly eccentric man's behavior.
"Looking at a man who blundered am I right…?" He asked jovially.
"Why you…" Bartley growled as tanks, IFVs, APCs, light, medium and heavy trucks, military Mechaniloids, Ride Armors being driven by Royal Guard Reploids, Sutherlands, Liverpools and the Prince's immense G-1 command center landship passed by them. The rumble of engines, landspinners, and tracks echoing around them as the G-1's suspension groaned and creaked noisily.
"You really screwed this one up… Terrorists came along and stole whatever you and Prince Clovis were secretly working on. Retrieving it is simple but you want to sweep up all their compatriots in addition to avoid further incidents happening. Thus, you let the terrorists go and so you can find their hideout too." He turned to the woman behind him. "Congratulations your reasoning was spot on!"
Cecile Croomy looked mildly embarrassed. "It was nothing… I just thought it was strange…"
Bartley frowned, realizing the Earl of Pudding's game. "Okay that's enough, what is it that the special corps wants out of this?" He demanded angrily.
Lloyd bent over before him again, Bartley not sure if it was some weird bow or if the man was mocking him. "I'm merely saying that I'd like to assist with the cleanup."
"To assist…?" Bartley asked, incredulous.
"Correct. Because it's data I want." Lloyd stated matter-of-factly.
"For Prince Schneizel's new Knightmare project I assume?"
Cecile spoke up again to interrupt, asking the question that was lingering on her mind. "Excuse me, but what in the world have they just stolen anyway?"
Bartley frowned as he remembered Code R's emergency scenario to throw off the rest of the military and government in the event of the subject's theft by outside forces. "Nngh… Chemical weapons… In other words, poison gas."
"Oh dear I'm getting flashbacks from college again." Lloyd mumbled idly to himself.
"What."
A massive group of VTOLs soared over the ruins that constituted the Shinjuku Ghetto, a mix of UV-1s and CV-47s.
["The terrorists are hiding in the subway system. Your mission is to locate the weapon that they've have stolen. Investigate the old subway system that runs through the Eleven residential district in the Shinjuku Ghetto. Report in the moment you spot them, recovery of the target will be handled by us, the Royal Guard. You people may bear the honorary title of Britannians now but you were born Elevens.] The Captain of Clovis's personal bodyguard detachment of his Royal Guard stated over an all forces broadcast.
The CV-47 VTOLs dispersed squads of unarmed Foreign Legion soldiers in full BC sealed Britannian combat uniforms from their rappelling lines, whom promptly began entering the tunnels, the subjugated Japanese scattering before them, only seeing Britannian soldiers and not their own countrymen and women underneath the uniforms. ["Therefore the stench of these monkeys ought to be a familiar one. If you want to earn the right to carry arms, then show some results! This is your opportunity to show your loyalty to Britannia!"]
["YES MY LORD!"] They replied in unison over the radio.
Legionnaire number 404 rushed down a subway entrance after one of his squadmates slapped him on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up, the young man nodding back at him as he entered the darkened tunnels.
Nagata grunted as he drove the truck with his good arm, the other one having been crippled by shrapnel from the second Sutherland's rounds, several slugs had embedded in the back of the armored truck cab, only failing to puncture through into the trailer due to the use of some turret armor plate taken from a pre-war Type-50 MBT.
He was losing blood quickly and with his vision blurring he was unable to see a crater in the tracks.
The vehicle rumbled right into the pit, the cab tilting down before ramming into the other side of the dip, its drive wheels entrapped by debris as it slammed forward, then back and finally settled.
In the trailer, Lelouch stood up again after being joled by the crash. "An accident, or…?"
Outside, an Honorary Britannian soldier turned his head towards the noise of the crash as the NVS sensors on his helmet active scanned across multiple spectrums, picking out every detail on the truck and trailer
The semi's drive wheels spun uselessly in the ditch. Nagata grunting. "Nngh… The tires are stuck…"
A spark emitted from the cables feeding from the generator to the container as the shock of the second impact caused the connection to loosen and disconnecting the power supply, forcing the capsule to begin counting down until subject release.
In the cab, Nagata weakly activated a locator beacon as he let up on the gas, the wheels slowing to a halt as the engine's RPMs slowed down. "Please Ohgi… Find me…" He rasped as he slumped onto his side.
Back in the trailer Lelouch scurried off to the side as the left-hand loading doors on the trailer slid open after a malfunction in the system's wiring forced them to open, unaware he was far from alone in the tunnels as the legionnaire tapped the beacon on his chestplate upon visually confirming the container was inside the truck.
["404 has sighted the target."] Someone reported on the Britannian radio networks.
["Roger, recall the Foreign Legion and prepare for recovery!"] The Guard Captain ordered as his VTOL began to move towards the closest entrance, the CV-3 beginning to descend towards the ground.
As the factgoggles did a sensor sweep over the truck, they picked up Lelouch kneeling next to the container, the young soldier gasping, unaware that the person he was looking at was in no way associated with the terrorist group. Determined to prevent the worst terror attack in Area 11's history, he rushed forwards.
"Now… I can use this chance to climb up." Lelouch murmured to himself as he looked for a good purchase on the side of the cylinder-like canister. Hearing movement behind him he turned and saw what was currently the most bizarre sight on the planet, a fully armored Britannian soldier spiraling towards him through the air like something out of an action movie, and considering Reploids existed, that was saying something.
Bracing himself, Lelouch was nonetheless sent flying to the floor of the trailer as the soldier's foot connected with his forearms, the man spinning before landing on the floor.
He grunted as he struggled to get up, knowing that kick would leave a rather nasty bruise. "Ungh… Are you Britannian..." He started before the soldier grabbed him by the collar, his gasmask unlocking.
"That's enough mindless murder." The soldier said, anger simmering in his voice, Lelouch detect a hint of an upper-class Japanese accent in his voice, marking him as a Foreign Legionary.
Lelouch's mind raced as he spotted the combat knife on the soldier's uniform, the only form of weaponry the Area 11 Foreign Legion was currently authorized to carry. "HE THINKS I'M A TERRORIST!" The prince in hiding thought as he realized one wrong move and this man might kill him. "Wait! I'm not-" He cried out only to be cut off by a kick to the gut.
"Planning to use poison gas?" The soldier stated, unconvinced, as Lelouch tried to sit up and forced him back down. "Don't play dumb with me!"
Lelouch kicked at him. "Get off me!" He cried out, rolling onto his side as the soldier leapt back, his fists raised as Lelouch stood up slowly. "I'm not here by choice, and if that's poison gas, it was made by Britannia wasn't it?" He challenged.
Now getting a clearer view of his face in the light from the upper levels, the soldier's mouth dropped open as Lelouch stepped forwards. "My god…"
Fury in his eyes, Lelouch spoke up again. "Mindless murder, poison gas… WHY DON'T YOU JUST OBLITERATE BRITANNIA BECAUSE ALL OF THIS IS THEIR DOING!" He shouted, expecting the soldier to try and deny the fact of the gas's origin or his nation's hypocrisy.
What the other young man said next was something he never would've expected in his life.
"It's really you Lelouch…" The soldier said before taking off his helmet, revealing a face Lelouch hadn't seen in nearly seven years. "It's me. Suzaku." The now revealed Suzaku Kururugi smiled at his old friend, leaving Lelouch speechless as memories flooded through his mind about the events during and prior to the Fall of Japan.
"You… You became a Britannian soldier…" Lelouch asked, incredulous and not entirely sure if this was a dream or not.
"Foreign Legion actually, and what about you? You're a-" Suzaku started hesitantly before Lelouch cut him off.
"I'm not with them, I just fell into the tr-" Lelouch attempted to respond before an alarm tone blared from the cylinder and light burst from a seam as the locks covering it began to open up, the closer half began to split open and spew some form of smoke from the gap and vents that had opened up. Suzaku reacting on instinct and covering his friend's mouth with the gasmask and tackling him to the ground, which Lelouch knew would have killed them both if it was poison gas, as a re-breather wouldn't have kept any of the chemicals off his skin or out of his eyes and ears.
As the light began to fade, he could see a vaguely humanoid form standing in the center, although somewhat bulkier, mostly on the forearms and lower legs, than either him or Suzaku even accounting for their builds.
As the light faded, the figure became even clearer.
It was then that both realized it was a female Reploid of some kind, wearing a white bodysuit bearing green gauntlets, white feet and 'gloves', green bell-bottom style plating on her legs in typical reploid fashion. A multi-section green and white chestplate covered her upper torso, whilst lime green hair flowed down to her waist, with a pair of blade antennas projecting off of two discs and forming her 'ears'.
"That's not poison gas… A Reploid…?" Suzaku muttered as the two of them watched in confusion.
The Reploid's eyes fluttered open, golden irises gazing at them before the light left them as she shut down, her eyes and several vents on her body dimming as she slumped onto the floor of the trailer with an audible clank, offline, wires trailing from open panels on her arms and legs into the cylinder as the two boys got up and carefully stepped over to her.
"The hell..." Lelouch whispered as he inspected her more carefully. "Suzaku, help me get her outside."
"R... Right..." The other boy said nervously as he knelt down and carefully began to disconnect the wires.
"In all the confusion… I left it in the coat… Ugh Naoto would have been pissed about that, if only so he didn't yell at me about nearly dying..." Kallen admitted sheepishly as she hid in the subway, an antenna sticking out from a port on the Glasgow and up through a manhole, the sounds of VTOLs passing overhead were incessant.
["it's okay, the Glasgow's comms circuits are usable so at least you have that."] Ohgi responded reassuringly. ["So… Were we right…?"] He asked hesitantly.
Kallen sipped a water packet before replying. "Think so. I bet it's poison gas like Kyoto's intelligence said."
["And Nagata…?"]
"I dunno… I think he made it underground, I saw the truck get hit... Honestly I'd be surprised if he wasn't fatally injured... It's a miracle he survived at all with a Sutherland firing 25mm rounds into the cab." She said, frowning as she leaned back against her seat.
["Damn..."]
Nagata gasped and wheezed as he lay across the cab seats, growing weaker with each passing second.
At this point he was just waiting to kill some Britannians, to make his death hurt them.
It was all he had left...
Outside, Lelouch and Suzaku put the Reploid down, laying the inactive unit's frame against the side of the trailer. "Tell me the truth Suzaku… Poison gas… This Reploid? What's going on! What's the truth!?" He demanded heatedly.
Suzaku unlocked the restraints holding her legs together. "Hey, it's what they told us in the briefing I swear…"
Spotlights shone on the three as a pair of spiderlike mobile-floodlight Mechaniloids illuminated them. "Stinking monkey." Someone ground out as he and a mix of about at least nine or ten guardsmen and a handful Reploids in the maroon uniforms of Clovis's Royal Guard stepped forwards from the shadows, aiming their rifles at the two, with the Captain holding his arms behind his back. "Being an honorary Britannian will not excuse you for this!" He growled as Suzaku ran over to him.
"But sir! I was told this was poison gas." He replied, attempting to defend Lelouch and himself.
"How dare you question me." The man barked, leaving Suzaku speechless.
"This is bad…" Lelouch murmured. "A poisonous situation…" He knew that Suzaku's survival wasn't even guaranteed if he did for some reason turn on him. "Which would pose a threat to Suzaku's superiors if it's unleashed…" He glanced down at the Reploid. "What's so special about her that they need to go through all of this...?" The boy whispered.
"However, in light of your outstanding military achievements I'm going to be lenient." He pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and held it out by the slide, grip first, to Suzaku, whose eyes had gone wide. "Private Kururugi take this and execute the terrorist." The Captain ordered.
"But he's not a terrorist, he's just a civilian who got caught up in all of this!" Suzaku replied, the Guard Captain narrowing his eyes in response.
"You insubordinate little… That's an order, didn't you swear your loyalty and your life to Britannia? Execute the terrorist!" The Guard Captain repeated.
"Yes but… But… I can't…" Suzaku said as Lelouch's expression changed to one of fear, knowing his friend had practically signed his own death warrant, the orders of a Royal Guard officer were tantamount to the will of a Prince or Princess of the realm, unless a Knight of the Round or a higher ranked official such as the Prime Minister or Emperor rescinded them, disobeying them knowingly and willingly was grounds for immediate execution.
"What." The Captain growled, rage simmering in his tone.
"I won't do it sir. I won't shoot a civilian… I just can't follow your orders sir…" Suzaku stated simply as the Captain pressed the barrel of the pistol into his side in response, in the area unprotected by the ballistic plates.
"Very well then. It appears that Private Kururugi was a terrorist infiltrator the entire time men." He stated grimly and then pulled the trigger as Suzaku's eyes widened in horrific realization, the distinct ping of the coilgun firing echoed through the tunnel as the Japanese boy crumpled.
"SUZAKU!" Lelouch screamed as he watched his friend's body hit the ground, he'd just reunited with him and now he was probably dead, all because of something Clovis was doing. Another black mark against his homeland and family.
The Captain turned his attention to Lelouch, the exiled Prince realizing that he was a goner, if he so much as twitched to try and run he'd be dead before he knew what hit him with that many men and Reploids aiming guns at him.
"Well Britannian schoolboy, not a good day to cut class. Collect the Reploid, after you've secured her, kill the student."
"Yes my lord!" The guards echoed in unison, the voices of humans and machines echoed as one, all unified to kill him. Next to Lelouch the Reploid stirred slightly as if reacting negatively to that, her eyes lighting up and tracking onto the Royal Guards.
Inside the cab, Nagata, having heard the confrontation, reached for the self-destruct button, as he saw it that hapless schoolboy was just as dead as that stupid Honorary Britannian sap who'd gotten himself killed because he dared to have morals.
Plus it wasn't every day that you get a shot at distracted Royal Guardsmen.
"Death… To… Britannia…" He wheezed as he stared at the picture of his wife and daughter, who'd died those seven years ago.
"Nihon… Banzai...!" He cried out with the last of his strength as he pressed the button, the light above it glowing an ominous red.
The charges detonated the cab of the truck, sending dust, smoke and shrapnel flying in all directions, however the reinforced cab inadvertently directed most of the blast upwards, something not known to the Kozuki group when they'd fitted the charges due to a lack of expertise on the subject of physics, Lelouch taking the chance to drag the Reploid girl away as the Royal Guard scattered and tried to get their bearings, grunting as he realized she was lighter than he expected but still heavy enough to make him feel like his back was about to snap in half.
In the cityscape above a massive plume of black smoke billowed out of the new hole in the roof of the subway system and slowly climbed into the sky.
Aboard the G-1 Bartley slammed his fist on the side of a communications console at the tactical command table. "They got away! And you call yourselves the Royal Guard?!"
["Uh… Forgive me my lord… The blast was mainly directed upwards but the fact-"]
"Why the hell do you think I only told you people about this?! If this gets out we'll have a lot more than the SIB and the Maverick Hunters to worry about! Now get back to it or we'll replace you with someone who can get the job done!" Bartley scoffed, cutting the Captain's excuses off.
["W… We'll continue the search…"] The Captain sputtered, flustered by his embarrassment at the loss of subject and the thorough verbal wringing Bartley was giving him.
"The plan has moved forward to the next phase…" Clovis spoke up, as the eyes of the men on the bridge widened, all of them aware of what was about to come as their liege spoke of it like he was ordering a pizza.
"Uhh… But… But your Highness!" Bartley stuttered, even at this stage he still thought what his liege was about to order was too much.
"If word of her gets out I'll be disinherited… Tell them back home we're carrying out a planned 'urban renewal' here, Schneizel won't care, Odysseus is too much of a bore to do anything, and Cornelia hates the Elevens for what happened to our siblings. Thus, as Clovis, Third Prince of the Empire, I command you. Destroy the Shinjuku Ghetto, leave no one who isn't a member of our forces alive!" The Prince ordered, his tone brokering no room for dispute.
In the shadows of the bridge, a Reploid-shaped figure whistled. "Now things are getting interesting around here."
"Mind your place!" Bartley snapped at them.
"Alright, alright, I'm just here to protect his Highness from any random mavericks that get past your security anyways." They said, raising a hand to placate Bartley.
In the hangar bays of the G-1s, the Purist faction's Knightmares, rearmed and with their fillers replaced, launched out again alongside those of the Royal Guard as artillery, as more transports launched their own Sutherland and Liverpool detachments. Mechaniloid, mechanized, artillery, and armored units moved to firing positions around the Ghetto, gunships and utility VTOLs converted into light bombers roaring into the air in the distance.
The artillery batteries thundered as they sent the first salvos downrange, mortar and howitzer shells raining down on Shinjuku as the VTOLs dove in, bombing, strafing and rocketing everything that moved that wasn't Britannian.
A flare shot up and landspinners roared to life as dozens of tanks, APCs, Knightmares, Mechaniloids and Ride Armors rumbled into the ghetto.
The Purist Faction leading the way.
From their position at a checkpoint inside the settlement with some grunt Maverick Hunter Reploids, X and Zero looked towards the Ghetto as columns of smoke began to rise in the distance, X magnified his vision, spotting modified UV-1 Iroquois light utility VTOLs dropping five hundred and thousand pound bombs on the Ghetto from their stub wing and belly pylons, the markings of Clovis's Royal Guards visible on the tail booms and engine pods of the aircraft and the escorting gunships.
"No…" X whispered as he realized what was going on, Zero clenching his fists as they realized there was nothing they could do now that a Britannian Prince was involved.
"Damn it all…" Zero grumbled as he looked over at a nearby hunter. "Contact Commander Sigma, now!"
The hunter saluted and tapped on his comms unit while Zero watched another volley of artillery shells arc down into the Ghetto, far enough away that the average person inside the Settlement would neither notice nor hear such devastation.
"Damn Britannians… Why are their people so blind...?" He snarled under his breath.
Inside the Ghetto, Japanese, destitute Reploids and abandoned Mechaniloids scattered in fear as a Purist Faction KMF burst through the side of a building and began gunning down the fleeing crowd with its 25mm assault rifle while more units roared through the streets around it.
VTOLs and airborne Mechaniloids flitted past buildings as an elderly couple scrambled to grab their belongings and flee, neither got far as a Britannian infantry Reploid gunned them down. "Alright let's sweep the next floor… Thank god for dispensations for military Reploids…" He muttered as the mixed Reploid/Human unit proceeded to the next floor up on the apartment complex.
Tanks, self-propelled artillery guns, mortar carriers, Mechaniloids, Sutherlands, and Liverpools lobbed shells and rockets into the Ghetto as squads of gunships strafed and rocketed buildings and streets from overhead, ["The enemy is garbage that could never hope to become even Honorary Britannians! Wipe out every last one of them!"] Bartley ordered, putting up his best raging jingoist performance to rile up the Purists in order to hide the true reason he wanted them dead.
"Naturally." Jeremiah Gottwald purred as he watched the troops file into buildings to clear them out, few if any of the Elevens had firearms, it would be the Reploids and Mechaniloids that were more dangerous and they had more than enough firepower to deal with any of those, either way it would be a simple task to paint them as Mavericks to appease the Maverick Hunters.
["Supervisor Jeremiah. General Bartley requests that you take control of a speci-"] An operator began before being cut off.
"Bartley has staff officers. I haven't had this much fun on the frontlines in ages! Don't bother me about this again!" Jeremiah responded, excitement in his voice as he began firing at a group of civilians trying to run into a nearby alley, cutting them all down with bullets and shrapnel from the torn up road surfaces.
"Even if I have to kill every last Eleven, I will avenge them..." He thought darkly, remembering his failure to protect Empress Marianne's children, and how the Japanese murdered them to spite Britannia.
Aboard the G-1 Clovis watched with amusment as the red swathes that marked the Britannian front-line closed further in on the center of the Ghetto on the TACNET map.
Inside an underground station in the subway, Lelouch and the Reploid girl ran through the hallways, blasts echoing around them and casting eerie orange-red light into the subway as bombs, rockets and shells blew open chunks of the street above, the Reploid tripped on a crater and hit the ground, skidding to a halt, Lelouch winced at the painful noise of metal scraping on tile as he leaned against the wall, hand on his face as he tried to catch his breath as the shrieks of bombs and shells roared around them while loose debris fell from the ceiling.
"What the hell are you!" He demanded, attempting to make sense of his brother's madness, the Reploid soundlessly turning to look at him. "This Chaos is all your fault isn't it! Not only that but Britannia has… Killed Suzaku!" Lelouch accused between breaths, the Reploid staring at him with half-lidded golden eyes, he still wasn't sure why she wasn't doing anything beyond following him like a confused duckling, in all likelihood her programming was damaged or something he assumed given the fact she hadn't said a single word.
"He didn't even let them tell him…?" Lloyd asked as he sat uselessly on his prize project's transporter. Surrounded by Britannia's military might, and Clovis's defense line in the event someone somehow got past or overwhelmed the front-line troops.
"It looks like he's too far in to recall at this point." Cecile stated.
"Even though we brought the Lancelot here…?" Lloyd sighed, mildly annoyed and depressed.
"Now what'll we do…"
"We steamrolled our way in here hoping to test it, but now we don't have a devicer to use it…" Lloyd grumbled as he twirled the Lancelot's activation key uselessly in front of himself.
As Lelouch and the Reploid crawled up a flight of stairs, he looked back at her. "Stay quiet, and wait here…" He was still confused as to why Clovis wanted a civilian model Reploid this badly…
As he peered up and out of the stairwell, gunfire echoed from only a few feet away, Lelouch ducking back down as a well dressed Japanese businessman collapsed to the floor, blood pooling around his body and those of the people he was seeking shelter with.
The Royal Guard squad from before raised the barrels of their rifles up at a forty-five degree angle in ready position as the Captain walked into the poorly built warehouse intended to hide the station entrance by resistance groups. "Corporal, Report." He demanded.
"We found only Elevens here sir." The ranking enlisted Guardsman reported, the Captain sneering as he stared at the corpses.
"You're sure of it? That exit comes out here correct?" He asked.
"Yes sir, it matches up with our map of the old city, but the bombardment has opened up holes in the system that they could've climbed out of." The Corporal reported as Lelouch looked at C2 before he heard a young child begin to cry and turning his head to look for them. Then a burst of gunfire cut the noise off, Lelouch closing his eyes to avoid witnessing yet another mindless killing. "Trapped like rats… I'm going to die… Can this get any worse?"
As if to prove his point that he should have let things lie, his cellphone began to ring. Lelouch's eyes widened like a deer in the headlights as the Guardsmen and Reploids readied their rifles as the captain glanced towards the source of the new sound.
"What was that? You four go check it out, we'll cover you." The Captain ordered as four soldiers, two human and two Reploid, marched over as the rest leveled their rifles at the surroundings.
"Yes my Lord." They acknowledged.
Instinctively Lelouch had hit the end call button, figuring it was either Rivalz or Shirley despite knowing it was too late and they'd probably gotten him killed in an ironic attempt to figure out if he was okay or something.
The Guards spotted him as they approached, rushed the stairwell and the two Reploids seized the Reploid Girl by her arms, hauling her off to the side as the Captain marched over seized Lelouch from the grapple the two men had him in and tossed him at the wall.
"What an appropriate location for a terrorist to meet his end." He jeered smugly.
"You scum…" Lelouch muttered weakly as he slid up the wall to his feet.
"Still you did well for a student, but that's to be expected, you're a Britannian after all. Unfortunately for you, my clever young friend, you have no future." The Captain stated calmly as he pointed his sidearm at Lelouch and began to squeeze on the trigger.
As if to spite him a blond haired young woman dropped from the rafters above and intercepted the bullet with her body. "Sorry, can't let you do that... Now can I...?" She taunted as she expired, a smirk on her face as her red eyes closed shut.
The Captain reeled back slightly in shock at the sudden intrusion. "What the!?" He snarled.
Blood spread out on the floor from the hole that has blossomed in her chest, the Reploids tensing up a bit.
"You shot her!" Lelouch cried out as he walked over and knelt next to her.
"Hmph… She got in the way like the pathetic little fool she was. The bullet was meant for you after all boy." The Captain replied with a halfhearted shrug. "Oh well nothing to be done about it now, we'll tell our superiors that the Royal Guard found a terrorist hideout and killed them all, regrettably a female hostage had already been murdered by a radicalized Britannian shortly before we arrived, and that the Reploid was the only thing we could recover in the chaos. What do you think schoolboy? Would the media believe this story?" He taunted as the Reploid Guardsmen glanced at their captive, whom had lowered her head for some reason.
Lelouch could only stare in horror at the body of a girl he'd never even met before laying before him, blood leaking out as he reached for her. "How can this be happening… First Suzaku's killed… Then this girl… And now I'm about to die… Before I've had a chance to a single thing with my life…" A memory of Nunnally sitting in a wheelchair in a field full of flowers during a trip to the gardens earlier that year came to mind. "It's all gone in a heartbeat… I'M SORRY NUNNALLY!"
The golden eyes of the Reploid girl watched the student in front of her.
"Combat systems rebooting..." She whispered emotionlessly.
"What was that...?" One of the Reploid Guardsmen asked her, getting no response.
Lelouch stood there as the captain checked his pistol's battery charge to ensure it was optimal for firing.
And then Lelouch's face contorted in shock as the seemingly dead girl grabbed his shaking wrist.
Lelouch's face twisted in shock as well as an electrical sensation shot through his very being, dragging him into a place that he barely comprehended.
"You don't want it to end here do you?"
"What…?"
"You appear to have a reason for living… This... interests me."
"The girl…" Lelouch thought as he gazed upon indescribable sights he possibly couldn't hope to decipher. "That's impossible." He thought, focusing on her to avoid potentially going mad from what he was witnessing.
"Ugh, I hate this part, so cliche... But well, the show must go on."
"What...?"
"If I grant you power, could you go on? Could you use it to continue living?" She asked, dozens of images of her flashing before his eyes, intermixed with visions of incomprehensible worlds and machines contrasted against the backdrop of space, and a conduit of some kind blazing with electricity, like a neuron.
"I propose a deal. In exchange for this power you must agree to make my one wish come true, whatever it might be. Accept this contract and you accept all of its conditions, every, last, one of them. While living in the physical world, you will live unlike any other, a different providence. A different time. A different life if you would. The Power of the King will condemn you to a life of solitude like it has countless others, are you prepared for this young man? Are you willing to accept this burden and curse?" She warned, giving Lelouch some pause at the word curse.
The images coalesced into one that Lelouch could recognize. Showing the back of his father, the Emperor Charles zi Britannia, standing on some ethereal place, flanked by four robed figures. "A convergence with the Ragnarok connection!? So, the myth is beginning once again!" His father's voice rumbled in his mind.
Seeing that, Lelouch's resolve hardened, if his father was somehow connected to this strange power, then he too must have it to destroy Britannia as it was now. "YES! I HEREBY ACCEPT THE TERMS OF YOUR CONTRACT!" He replied without a moment's hesitation as two cogs clicked into place, as if signifying the wheels of the world beginning to turn again.
Lelouch found himself suddenly in the ghetto again, staring down at the corpse of the blond haired girl, belatedly realizing she looked eerily similar to the Reploid he and Suzaku had found in the terrorist truck. Slowly and with purpose he stood up, covering his left eye.
The Guard Captain eyed him over, noting the sudden and inexplicable, to him, change in the boy's behavior.
"Say…" Lelouch asked. "How should a Britannian who detests his own country live his life?"
The Captain smirked wryly as he aimed his pistol at Lelouch again. "Are you some kind of radical?" He scoffed.
Then the smirk was wiped off his face as he finally realized something was very wrong with this situation. A lone, unarmed, schoolboy shouldn't be this confident in the face of around a dozen men and three Reploids armed with military spec coilarms.
"What's wrong…? Why not shoot? Your opponent is just a schoolboy. Or have you finally realized… The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed!" Lelouch exclaimed as he lowered his hand, revealing the mark of Geass in his left eye as he entrapped them in its baleful gaze.
Now it was the Captain's turn to quiver in fear as something he could not comprehend stood before him. "Uhn… Wh... What's happening here…"
"What sort of world is this where a human being's life is measured in his worth to some fool in a gilded ivory tower? Where small men feel it is their right to kill and to order others to kill on command!? Where tyrants deride the rights of others for their own ends!" He demanded, a hint of mania in his voice as his brain struggled against the raw power of his new Geass briefly. "No more of this farce, I shall burn this twisted stage down myself! Alongside all who dare to prop it up! Starting with the lot of you!"
Lelouch raised his left arm for added dramatic effect, gesturing at the men before him as the three Guard Reploids stood off to the side, watching with mouths agape. "I… Lelouch vi Britannia command you… Now all of you… Die!" He whispered as he swept his arm to the side, the Geass of absolute obedience leaping out to seize control of his victims' neural synapses.
The Captain took a step back and began chuckling psychotically as he pointed his pistol at his own neck, the Reploids stiffened in shock, unaffected due to their nature as automatons rather than organics.
"Happily your highness!" He shouted with demented glee as his men followed suit with their own sidearms. "Ready!" He shouted as his men flicked the safeties off their pre-cocked weapons.
"Fire!" He ordered as every single one of the human Guardsmen pulled the triggers of their sidearms, the coughlike pings of the coilarms discharging filling the room as Lelouch's facade dropped, shocked by his newfound power. The men dropped to the ground as he stared in horror at their corpses. Of how with but a single command he'd made nearly a dozen human beings commit suicide at a whim.
The switch to smug self-satisfaction died in his neurons as he remembered the Reploid Guardsmen, whom were now pointing their rifles at him and beginning to pull the triggers of the weapons, the Reploid girl obscured by their forms, even if they'd heard his statement that he was the 17th Prince, they were likely panicking given he'd just caused nearly a dozen grown men to commit suicide with a single command.
"No! HOW COULD I BE SO STUPID!" Lelouch thought before one of the Reploids suddenly screamed as the grooved cone-shaped head of a generic mining drill burst through his chest, lubricants and coolant leaking off the tip of the lethal tool as his rifle discharged into the floor until it emptied its magazine, the other two whirling around and backing off in fear as the female Reploid stood up straight and slid the husk off the drill, Lelouch stunned by her new appearance.
The lightly protected civilian outfit she wore earlier had been replaced by a full suit of armor, the white bodysuit now covered thoroughly in two-tone green plating that boasted white trimming, protecting her torso and limbs almost completely, excluding only the joints, two larger blade antennas stuck up on either side of her new helmet which in turn had two white cheek guards sticking out to the front. Her long green hair still flowed down to her waist and a vaguely diamond shaped violet gem was embedded in the center of the helmet's forehead, a lighter colored ridge tapering back towards the rear after emerging flush with the upper end of the gem, while a violet visor obscured her eyes in the low light.
She had the appearance of a lethal high-end combat Reploid like many Maverick Hunters rather than a helpless civilian model now.
"C2… My designation is C2…" She murmured, as if trying to remind herself who she was. The drill bit on her right arm retracted and was replaced by a cannon barrel of some kind.
"So this is why Clovis wants her back so desperately..." Lelouch thought as she stared at her arm cannon in brief confusion.
"A M... Mega B... Buster Cannon!" One of the surviving Reploids squeaked in horror as she aimed at him. "She's just like X and Zero!"
C2 fired a shot that blew the second Reploid's torso apart, the haunting image fire bursting out the mouth of his humanlike face would stay with Lelouch for some time.
The third screamed incoherently as he fired his rifle on full auto until it ran dry, the bullets bouncing off C2, with some narrowly missing Lelouch as he hit the deck. She strode forwards, calmly grabbed him with her left hand as he attempted to reload and retracted her buster cannon before reaching up to grab him by the face, muffling the Reploid's screams.
"Shut up." She ordered as she tore his flextanium face-plate clean off, circuits and machinery now exposed to the world as the other machine shut down and died, after which she promptly blasted all three of them in the head, to ensure no record of her would remain.
The battle grade Reploid turned to Lelouch, whom gazed in utter horror at the ease with which she'd just destroyed three Royal Guard spec Reploids, mortified by the thought she'd turn such power on him, his terrified reflection visible in her visor.
"Awaiting further instructions." She stated calmly and emotionlessly, as if bored now.
"What...?" He asked her, confused as to why she'd just follow his orders.
"A hardlock in my system forces me to obey the orders of Britannian Royalty, as you identified yourself as Lelouch vi Britannia I must follow any instruction you'll give me." The Reploid replied.
Lelouch's face twisted in disgust at what had been done to this Reploid on his brother's orders. "Override the hardlock and disengage it, in my name I order you."
There was a brief glimmer of confusion in her eyes as the lock disengaged, Clovis's programmers not having anticipated this from anyone except potentially Euphemia. "Why...?"
"Because that's no way to live..." He whispered. "As someone else's tool."
"Understood... I will still follow your orders..." She acknowledged, softer this time.
Lelouch raised an eyebrow, confused again.
"I... Do not have any other purpose and no end goal in mind..." She admitted only as someone who could only speak in monotone could.
"I see... And you wish for me to provide you with a purpose, a reason to utilize your power."
Now, with his attention undivided, he gazed upon the carnage around him and then at the Reploid that was the only other 'living' thing left in the room. Only now did he realize what power he had at his command as he thought back to the invasion of Japan. "That was the turning point. Since that day I've lived a lie. The lie of living. My name too was a lie. My personal history… A lie. Nothing but lies. I was sick to death of a world that couldn't be changed. But even in my lies I refused to give up and despair. But now these incredible powers… They're mine. And now, so many doors are open to me." He thought, electrified by the possibilities now avaliable to him.
His expression changed to one of self-assured smugness. "Well then." He purred as the wheels of his mind began turning in earnest.
"Where to from here?"
AN: Yep, not much I could've done differently to spruce it up with a more Mega Man X touch… For now... Because when the Reploids start getting more involved leaf shields will hit the Airman, quick.
Yep that sucked I know.
As for who the C.C. 'replacement' is, well, some might figure it out immediately, others probably won't.
Moreover since Code R never discovered the existence of Geass or immortality it's doubtful V.V. would initially care much about their expertise come R2, but in turn gives a good excuse for Jeremiah's cyborg state later on in R1 because honestly they had to pull that out of their asses given how popular he ended up being IRL, plus Reploid technology is a bit more applicable for it than Knightmare Frame tech.
The man has swords built into his arms for god's sake, that totally screams Mega Man in a lot of contexts.
The filler episodes with Mao in them will be more heavily Maverick themed, to the point that Mao probably won't even make it through the first chapter of that arc depending on how I do it, and I am going to have fun with those because it means eighty percent more usage of Vile being himself (AKA a total jackass who runs some pragmatism on the side).
As a side note, according to the Audio Drama, Jeremiah and Lloyd went to College together and the former took the fall for the latter's dorm-room experiments.
The more you learn.
And as for the Britannian Reploids and those of most national/multinational militaries, they typically have armor/uniforms identical to or inspired by the human counterpart for their positions, just adjusted for Reploid proportions.