The White Knight and the King of Knights
Author's Note: I got this chapter done before family came to visit, so enjoy, and I did watch the Code Geass stream on Funimation's website, and they have the non Pizza Hut version, oh well, I suppose it's better to not be annoyed by so much Pizza Hut advertising, but I'm pretty sure the blu-ray will be censored too. And to the guest reviewer, your Tsundere has arrived!
The 46 favorites have blown my mind! Thank you!
Master, stall for time while I get behind her, we will interrogate her for information.
You can use telepathy? Lelouch thought in wonder, what else was she capable of?
It is our bond as Master and Servant, Saber explained. She must not see me; we could use her as a hostage.
No, we'll steal her Knightmare frame to aid in our escape. Lelouch replied in his mind.
Master, is that necessary, I am more than able to protect you, Saber informed him.
I want payback for being dragged into this fight, so I will win this battle without your help.
I see I understand, Lelouch, Saber edged away as her Master kept the woman's attention occupied.
Villetta Nu repeated herself, "Answer me!"
Villetta fired warning shots at Lelouch who didn't even flinch.
Lelouch thought fast, "My name's Allan Spacer, my father's a duke."
"Nobility? Villetta asked herself.
"My ID card's in my breast pocket after you confirm who I am I'll request your protection."
"Keep your hands up in the air I'll take out your ID."
Suddenly, Villetta felt a blade placed at her throat.
"Give me the ID code for your Knightmare frame," Saber said in a low voice, Lelouch was surprised, for a second, had he not known her true gender, he would have sworn the voice belonged to a man.
"I'll never hand over my Knightmare frame to a terrorist!"
"No, you'll tell me," Saber hissed, she pressed the blade of Excalibur, once again hidden by the Invisible Air, against her neck, cutting her a little.
"N-no, never!" Villetta stammered.
"Fine, I'll break all your fingers, then you won't be piloting a Knightmare frame, as much as I don't like hurting people if I can help it, I'll make exceptions for a soldier who would threaten an unarmed civilian."
"Wait!"
Saber snapped her pinky finger and the Britannian screamed in agony. This was bad, either keep her Knightmare frame but be unable to pilot it, or relinquish it to a terrorist. Saber moved to her next finger.
"No, stop! Stop, I'll tell you, the code is X21D2D4! Please no more, just let me go!"
"As you wish," Saber pointed the sword at Lelouch, "You Britannian schoolboy, you're my hostage now; the terrorists won't shoot if I have a human shield, they might risk it because you're Britannian, but I'm sure they don't want to have a reputation for killing unarmed civilians!"
"I'll go with you, just don't kill me!" Lelouch told her, panic in his voice.
Saber slammed the hilt of her sword into the back of Villetta's head. She hit the ground out cold.
"Excellent, taking me as a hostage makes it appear that we have nothing to do with each other, and this was your idea." Lelouch smiled.
"We should go," Lelouch prepared to enter the Knightmare frame.
"No, Master, I should pilot the Knightmare frame, I have the ability to control any beast or vehicle I can ride in or on, the only exceptions are holy beasts or demons."
"Is there anything you can't do?" Lelouch asked curiously.
"I can't swim," Saber admitted. Lelouch raised his eyebrows.
"Of all the things you can't do, you can't swim?" Lelouch found it amusing.
"I was blessed by the Lady of the Lake with the ability to walk on water, so I do not swim. I was never fond of the ocean. In my country and way back in my time, the sea was a source of attacks by barbarians from the mainland. I never felt any affection for it, and even hated it. But enough talk, we should go."
"I must ask you one more question, what are these markings on my left hand?"
"Those are what are called Command Seals, you may order me up to three times to obey whatever order you wish, even if is against my own will, but I will be angry if you force me to do something against my nature or my chivalry. Do you understand me Master? Since they are precious, you should not waste them."
"I see, but how is this possible?"
"I sense Mana in you, you were born with Magic Circuits, but they have never been activated. Does no one in your family practice Magecraft?"
"No, if they did they would flaunt it openly to show their superiority to the commoners."
"I see, but your parents have dabbled in something supernatural, it caused you to be born with Magic Circuits, and you are clearly a first generation Mage, still, you would need proper training."
"I can be trained to use Magecraft?"
"Yes, if I could locate Rin and Shirou, it would be for your benefit, I intend to go to Fuyuki as soon as possible."
"Fuyuki exists?! I thought it was a Japanese myth, a city that Britannia could never find!"
"It is guarded by a very powerful Mage, of course she wouldn't let them find it," Saber grinned. "That's Rin Tohsaka for you, and Merlin, he would just have to protect my second home."
"You've...lived here before?" Lelouch was surprised.
"Yes, a long time ago," she sighed wistfully. "I will see if I can sense them here, I still have my bond with my Master, even if the Fifth Holy Grail War is over."
"The Holy Grail War?" Lelouch asked, he'd never heard of that before.
"I shall explain later, now is not the time, but I should get you to safety." Saber's eyes widened, "Wait, I can sense them, what are Shirou and Rin doing in the Shinjuku Ghetto?"
Lelouch looked at her, "I will be safe inside the Knightmare frame, if I'm to win, I'll need to see the board."
Arturia looked at him, "This is not a game Master, but I'll concede to your wishes, but I'm the one who should be piloting that machine."
Lelouch got into the cockpit.
"I will go and search for Shirou and Rin, I sensed them in this area, once I find them, I shall return and accompany you," Saber informed him.
"Then go find them, I need all the allies I can get." he instructed.
Together, they walked out onto the battlefield, the Demon and the King of Knights.
"So are we having a bad day?" Lloyd Asplund asked cheerfully.
Suzaku Kururugi woke with a start looking up at him. "Huh?"
"It looks like you missed a chance to go to Heaven Private Kururugi," Lloyd told him.
"I did?" Suzaku grunted. "Where…?"
"We're still in the Shinjuku Ghetto," he replied.
"With Prince Clovis nearby this is probably the safest place anywhere," Cecile Groom told him.
"This is what saved your life Mister Suzaku," Cecile held out a watch that she had in her hand covered by a cloth on the bottom.
"You're lucky it was under your protective suit because that's what deflected the bullet," Lloyd observed.
"Is it a keepsake?" Cecile asked curiously.
"Yeah, very," Suzaku replied, taking back the watch and looking at the broken glass.
"You Elevens believe that gods live inside of everything, including objects, I guess this one—"
"Is Lelou—what's the situation?" Suzaku started to question him, and then stopped himself; Lloyd wouldn't know what happened to Lelouch anyway.
"It looks like the poison gas was released, massive Eleven casualties have been reported," Lloyd informed Suzaku in a grim tone.
"They haven't caught the perpetrators yet," Cecile added.
"They haven't, huh," Suzaku sighed, "Not yet?"
"Private Kururugi, how much experience do you have piloting a Knightmare frame?"
"What? There's no way an Eleven would be made a knight," Suzaku informed him in surprise.
"Well supposing you could," Lloyd told him, holding up the ignition key that looked like a USB drive.
He led Suzaku to another room where a large Knightmare frame was covered by a large black cloth.
"Congratulations! A one of a kind Knightmare frame awaits you! Once you take the controls of this big beauty everything will change, you and your world!"
"Whether you want it to or not!" Cecile added.
Meanwhile in the Shinjuku Ghetto, the Britannians continued to fire on innocent Japanese civilians as they tried to flee the Shinjuku Ghetto.
Kallen Stadtfeld slammed her Slash Harken into a nearby tank.
Tears were on the verge of spilling down her cheeks in anger, sorrow and hatred.
"Those damn Britannians!" she screamed.
"Kallen, can the Glasgow still move?" Ohgi asked over the comm.
"Don't worry Ohgi, it's all right I'll decoy them! Get the people out of here, the only one who will be captured are those of us in the resistance!"
"I know but we're trapped! They've got us completely surrounded!" Ohgi replied.
Yoshida fired off a rocket-propelled grenade at a helicopter.
At Ashford Academy, Shirley Fenette was standing at her gym locker when heard her phone ring. She picked it up.
"Lulu, what in the world have you been doing? And where are you now? If you keep cutting class, you'll get held back!" Shirley asked, concerned.
"Are you near a TV?" Lelouch asked.
"A TV?" Shirley repeated.
"Yes, this is very important," Lelouch informed her.
"Hmm, hang on can I change the channel?" Shirley asked one of the students.
"Huh? To what?"
"The news, is there anything about Shinjuku?"
'Huh, let's see. There's nothing on. Traffic restrictions?"
"Why is it restricted?"
"I don't know, they're not saying," Shirley replied.
I get it, once they finish everything off they'll release news that favors the military, Lelouch thought to himself.
"Hmm?" Lelouch noticed a chess set and pieces lying on the ground. He zoomed in on the pieces.
"Oh, you're gambling again, aren't you?" Shirley scolded him. "I've warned you more than once how dangerous that is!"
"Yeah, you caught me," Lelouch admitted. "By the way, tell my little sister I'm going to be home late tonight, would you? Thanks." He hung up on her.
"Oh! Why does he always hang up on me like that?!" Shirley shouted at the phone as she redialed the number.
"The number you have dialed is beyond service range."
"Darn it, not this again!"
They need to keep a lid on this information so it'll be hard for them to call in reinforcements. They'll have to make do with the pieces they have on the board.
Lelouch glanced at the screen; he could see himself and the Britannian forces, their location.
But I'm hemmed in here, and it'd be tough to break through by myself. I could have let Saber pilot, but what can even King Arthur do against a force this size? I know I can get out of this mess without her help. She said her friends were here in the Ghetto, so getting them out would be her first priority. Gaining refuge carries its own risks too.
Lelouch got out of his Knightmare frame. Lelouch watched as Kallen destroyed a helicopter with her Slash Harken.
I want payback for being dragged into your fight.
Kallen gasped and glanced behind her as Jeremiah Gottwald pulled up behind her.
"It's our Glasgow friend!" he sneered, opening fire on her. She moved away around a corner.
She looked at her energy filler meter, "Only thirty minutes left!"
"The west entrance!" Lelouch instructed.
"Huh?!" Kallen asked surprised
"Use the tracks to move to the west entrance!" Lelouch told her.
"Who's this? How do you know this code?" Kallen demanded.
"It doesn't matter! If you want to win you're just gonna have to trust me!"
"To win?!" Kallen exclaimed in shock. She turned the corner and hopped onto the train tracks. "Okay, what am I supposed to do now?"
Jeremiah Gottwald was in hot pursuit of the Glasgow. "You pathetic Eleven! If you run away there isn't much to offer in the way of sport!"
Kallen gasped as she heard and swathe train coming straight at her.
"Since you trusted me you're gonna win. Jump onto the train!"
"Gotcha!" Kallen replied, following his instructions, she jumped onto the train.
Jeremiah stopped the train using his Sutherland, "You think you can get away that way hmm? If that's the case then—you, go after the Glasgow!" he ordered the unit behind him.
"Yes, my lord!" he prepared to jump up to give chase but was suddenly knocked over by a pair of Slash Harkens.
He spotted a Sutherland perched up in a ruined building. "What the—shot by friendly fire?!" he exclaimed. "You! What's your name and your unit? We're after the one-armed Glasg—"
Lelouch opened fired on him, shooting out the Knightmare frame's knees.
"Oh my God, a terrorist?!"
Although his Knightmare frame's knees were shot out, he prepared to shoot the terrorist. "You son of a—"
Suddenly he spotted Kallen, who was screaming inside her Glasgow as she charged forward.
Lord Jeremiah was pinned down; he had no choice but to eject from his vehicle.
Kallen knocked it over. "You saved me! But how did you get a hold of a Sutherland?"
She looked up at the empty building, "What, where did he go?"
"Kallen, what the hell was that radio message earlier?" Ohgi asked
"He contacted you too?" Kallen was surprised.
"Sure did," Kaname Ohgi replied. "And Yoshida's group ought to be here soon!"
'Are you in charge?" Lelouch asked Ohgi.
"Uh, yeah," Ohgi replied.
"I present to you the cargo in that train over there. They're tools for your victory. If you want to use them to win, then follow my orders!"
"There's more in here!" Kallen exclaimed.
"In here too!" Shinichirō Tamaki was happy to find more equipment.
"Amazing! Maybe we should give this guy a chance!" Kento Sugiyama added.
"All this? But how?" Kallen asked herself in awe.
"Woman in the Glasgow!" Lelouch ordered.
"Y-yes," she replied, ready to do whatever he said.
"Stay where you are, your unit's gonna run decoy, got it?"
'Understood!" Kallen replied.
"Energy filler status?" Lelouch queried.
"About 30 minutes worth," she informed him.
"Then recharge it, in 10 minutes I'll contact you with your next instructions," Lelouch ended the communication. He sighed. "This is wearing me out! Regardless, I'll need determination to succeed. After all, I'm betting my life on this game."
He clutched the king chess piece in his hand.
General Bartley was explaining the situation to Prince Clovis La Britannia.
"The terrorists are mixed among the Eleven populous and they're mounting a minor resistance against us. But they pose little threat to our vastly superior army."
"We know that, moving on," Clovis said flippantly.
"Understood Your Highness. The gas capsules will be—" Bartley told him.
"Exactly what the public thinks," Clovis told him.
"Yes, well keep searching for her," Bartley told him.
Clovis sighed, "Either way, I want her captured dead or alive."
"Hey are you certain about this whole thing? They've all had their IFFs removed. What if this is a trap?" Shinichirō Tamaki asked.
"The other side has complete advantage in this war; they don't need to set any traps! All right people, let's move! Get to your assigned points!" Ohgi ordered.
"P1 can you move? It operates basically the same as what you're used to," Lelouch told him.
"Can't you tell us who you are? At least your name!" Ohgi replied.
"I can't do that," Lelouch told him, "What if these signals are being intercepted? Anyway, if Q1 is on schedule, enemy Sutherlands probably two of them should reach you in 23 seconds. Shoot them through the wall!"
Tamaki was skeptical, "Nah, he's out of his mind!"
"Everyone, double check your weapons!" Kanme Ohgi instructed.
"What?" Tamaki was stunned
"Enemy unit spotted at point 31," the Britannian soldier told them.
"A Feint eh, how pedestrian," Clovis was bored.
"Tell Lazlo Squad to go straight in. Have Eugen and Valerie strike from the rear!" General Bartley ordered.
"Three, two, one, fire!" Ohgi ordered as the Knightmare frames shot Sir Eugen and Valerie through the wall.
"Sir Eugen and Sir Valerie both lost!" the officer shouted.
"Huh? An ambush?" Clovis asked, surprised.
Lelouch chuckled to himself, smiling. His plan was working perfectly. "An ID signal can be a double-edged sword. Besides, if the terrorists follow the orders I issue, my tasks at hand are sure to be completed!"
"P1, P4,P7, move a hundred meters to the right and fire your Slash Harkens towards three o' clock!"
"You heard him! Do as the voice says!" Ohgi shouted.
"Damn, what else does he want us to do?" Tamaki asked.
"P5 ready?"
"Ah, quit calling me that!" Tamaki got into his Knightmare frame.
The resistance continued to beat back the other Knightmares.
"Enemy spotted at G-28!"
General Bartley was panicking, "Send Lazlo squad, I mean Claube Squad!"
"This means terrorists have our military weaponry?!" Clovis felt fear creeping into his voice.
Kallen pulled herself up onto a roof and barreling towards Sir Claube, she slammed her arm into him, knocking him over, he managed to eject before it hit the ground.
"Sir Claube has ejected! His signal has been lost!"
"Change our codes they're intercepting our transmission!" Bartley ordered.
"We already have Sir, four times!"
"Do it again!" Bartley ordered.
"This failure is unacceptable!" Clovis threw down his hands in anger.
"Good afternoon," Lloyd greeted them.
"What is it? We're in the middle of an operation!" Bartley shouted angrily.
"I'd say it's time to deploy the A.C.E.E.C's special weapon!" Lloyd suggested.
"We have no time for this right now!" Prince Clovis snapped.
Lelouch and the terrorists were taking out the enemy tanks.
"R2 fire anchor! P7 use U.N. Ordinance! N group, you'll continue your advance!" Lelouch placed down chess pieces to represent them.
They charged forward, guns blazing.
"You bloody Elevens!" the Britannians screamed as they died in a blaze of something that wasn't glory as they were shot from behind.
"We just lost Lazlo Squad!"
"So do it, we'll have to bring up Quincy Squad!"
"But My Lord that will break the encirclement!" General Bartley warned.
"Now then, the enemy has five options! Their move!" Lelouch told himself.
"Reinforce the breach with some of the units guarding me!" Clovis ordered. "All we know for certain is that enemy forces are here!"
Jeremiah Gottwald stared in surprise as Quincy Squad broke formation. "Who ordered them to break formation?"
"Now that's a more stupid move than I expected," Lelouch said to himself. He spoke into the comm. "You, Q1, do you have an area map?"
"Yes," Kallen replied. "Yes, I have a map of the old town, but it has no current landmarks."
"It'll do," Lelouch told her.
"All right, now send in Bertz and the others too," Prince Clovis ordered.
"Mission number three now," Lelouch continued.
"Concentrate all our forces there, surround them!"
"Is everything prepared?" Lelouch asked.
"The enemy's main force is that center dot! Finish every one of them off!" Clovis ordered.
"Hnn," Lelouch grinned, his plan was working perfectly.
Suddenly, the Prince Clovis' horror, the blip representing the enemy on the map disappeared. "What? Where's the enemy?!"
Kallen and the other Sutherlands rode underneath them using the tunnels. She used her Slash Harkens to pull the concrete foundations down, causing the ground to collapse beneath the Britannian Knightmare frames.
The Britannian forces were lost. Prince Clovis could only watch his forces were defeated.
Lelouch laughed, overjoyed, "My plan worked didn't it? I can do it! I can! I can defeat Britannia!"
Prince Clovis staggered back. W-who in the hell am I up against? What if he's even better than Tohdoh!
"Lloyd!" Clovis called out to the researcher. "Can you do it? Can your toy beat them?"
"My Lord, please be so kind as to call it Lancelot?" Lloyd asked.
Meanwhile, the Lancelot prepared to activate.
"Lancelot Z-01 now activating. Lancelot activating. Releasing hatch. Z-01 Lancelot stand by for activation. Pallet extension activated. "
"Did you read the manual?" Cecile asked.
"More or less," Suzaku replied, pulling on his pilot vest over his bandaged chest.
"Well done, you scored at the top of the class in the simulator!" Cecile informed him.
"Hey look, about what you told me earlier," Suzaku wanted to know about Lelouch and that girl.
"Huh? It could be. But the possibility is nearly zero."
"But that means there's still a chance right?" Suzaku said, hopeful that they could have survived the poison gas.
"Yes, but I'm afraid that's true. Even so, you're not to do anything reckless. The new system is not outfitted with an ejection mechanism."
"Yes, I understand Miss Cecile," Suzaku said as he approached the Lancelot, they began to disengage the Knightmare frame from its station.
"This is it?"
"Yes, the advanced weapon developed by us in the Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps. Lancelot the world's first Seventh Generation Knightmare frame."
"Well if you're ready, Suzaku, shall we proceed with the initial startup?" Lloyd asked him.
"Initial startup now initiating form phase twenty," Cecile began. "Equipping Energy Filler."
"Confirmed energy restart. Energy filler now at full output," a technician replied. "30 seconds to reach critical voltage. Core luminous, shifting phase. Yggdrasil driver tuning correct."
"Initiating devicer set up," Cecile told them.
Confirming entry of devicer into Z-01. Individual ID registration confirmed. Confirm man machine interface, engaged. Condition resonance confirmed. Rejection response: weak, devicer rejection response: weak. Readings nominal."
"So far it's going per the data," Lloyd told his assistant.
"Status: All green. Status of backup tactical bank: authorized. Second confirmation given."
Suzaku kept entering information, punching it in quickly.
Suzaku felt the engines rev and he twitched the hands, preparing to launch the Lancelot.
The back wheels dropped and the cables detached from the Knightmare frame.
"Lancelot, activate ME Boost!" Suzaku went off and flying as he rushed towards the Shinjuku Ghetto. He was determined to save Lelouch and that girl and put an end to all the fighting.
"Lancelot: Launch!" Cecile shouted.
Lloyd laughed gleefully, "Running full throttle out of the gate!"
"Cooler than the manual! With this—!" Suzaku suddenly clutched his ribs in pain.
Tamaki looked up as he saw the white Knightmare frame charging him out of nowhere.
"What is that? It doesn't look like a Sutherland—" He was taken out before he could react.
Lelouch laughed to himself, "Another push and the checkpoint will fall!"
"This is B Group, reporting enemy presence," Kento Sugiyama informed him.
"Reinforcements? Real battle is different isn't it?" Lelouch said to himself.
"Status?" Lelouch asked.
"Everyone ejected, but they took out four units in nothing flat!"
"Enemy numbers?" Lelouch needed information.
"Just one. It must be a new model; I've never seen anything like—ah!" Kento screamed as he was attacked.
"What's going on out there?!" Lelouch demanded.
Suzaku rushed through his opponents, destroying Knightmare frames with his Slash Harkens.
Suzaku activated his energy shield as the Japanese resistance opened fire screaming, "Bastard!"
He deflected the gunfire.
"It deflects bullets?" Lelouch was stunned.
"No, what do we do? Ishida!" one of the screamed.
Useless so-called terrorists. With all the resources they have, they're being beaten by one unit.
Suzaku whipped around his Slash Harken, launching himself into the air as he attacked them from above. He slammed the Lancelot's foot into the head of the other Knightmare frame.
"I can do this! With Lancelot I can stop this all at once!" Suzaku told himself.
"N4, N5, hold there. When the units arrive, surround that thing!"
"Got you," they replied. They fired at Suzaku who kept charging forward. He slashed them to pieces.
"We can't stop him!" one of them screamed as he fired his Slash Harkens. He missed, but Suzaku didn't.
"N unit what is it?" Lelouch asked. "What happened? Something I didn't foresee?"
"Good grief," Prince Clovis sighed, "Now I'll owe my brother a debt I don't want to incur. It's for the best though."
Suzaku avoided Ohgi's attacks by leaping ricocheting between buildings as he took him out.
"P1, report!"
The enemy, Lelouch thought. Can it really be only one unit?
"These readings are even higher than predicted!" Cecile stared at her screen, amazed.
"That's because our pilot is taking his job very seriously," Lloyd noted.
Suzaku leapt up. If I can stop all the Knightmare then this battle is over! No matter what it takes, I've got to rescue Lelouch and that girl!
He spotted a unit inside a building and leapt up.
Lelouch looked up just as the white Knightmare appeared in his viewport, punching him against the wall.
You mean this thing's what's ruining my plan?" Lelouch asked as he barely managed to block the next blow.
"Are you the guy who's in command?" Suzaku shouted.
"Nothing more than a pilot! How dare he!" Lelouch growled. He blocked a kick as best he could.
The two Knightmare frames fell through multiple floors to the ground.
"No choice, I've got to get out of here! Saber! Where is she?"
Lelouch tried to block a kick as he was knocked over.
The red Glasgow came out of nowhere, blocking the blow. "I'm returning the favor!" Kallen shouted.
She did her best to hold him off, but he overpowered her, catching her Slash Harken. "I can't!" she activated her ejection seat.
"Saber, I need help!" Lelouch shouted.
"Bastard! He's tearing things up for no reason!" Suzaku said as he rode across a wall and cut through the debris thrown at him.
Lelouch began running away from the white Knightmare, firing his assault rifle, only to have his shots dodged. He suddenly felt something land atop his Knightmare frame.
"Open the hatch, Master, let me drive!"
He did as she said, shutting off the engines for a brief second. She grabbed his shirt and without any warning, threw him out of the Knightmare frame.
"Shirou, handle the landing!" Saber shouted.
Shirou and Rin Emiya had arrived in the Shinjuku Ghetto to distribute food and medical supplies. What they got was a bloodbath and they were trying to help as many civilians escape as possible.
No matter how many Britannian soldiers they killed, there always seemed to be more of them.
"Shirou, is there anything we can do?" Rin Emiya asked.
"All we can do is save anyone we can," Shirou sighed. "We can't give up hope yet. We have to hold on for her sake. She wouldn't want us to quit fighting. I'll go out and use Unlimited Blade Works to buy you some time to get more people out of there."
Rin's eyes widened, so did Shirou's. There was a powerful surge of magical energy; they looked towards a distant area of the Shinjuku Ghetto.
"Rin, it's her! It can only be her! Those damn Britannians, they would use her as their weapon, wouldn't they?!"
"Shirou, Saber's not stupid, she'd never believe anything they'd tell her."
They came upon an alleyway, and saw the corpses of their dead countrymen. Whole families slaughtered, even children and babies.
Shirou Emiya shook with rage. "How could they?! Even the children? Those monsters, how could these animals evoke the name of Britain, name their capital after her, and call themselves knights when they are little better than lowly beasts?!"
Rin put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm pissed too, but there's nothing we can do now, we have to help civilians escape."
Saber found her former Master, shaking with righteous anger and fury. She saw the dead bodies and knew that she needed to calm him, to soothe his anger so he could focus on saving any survivors.
"Shirou, is it day?" Saber asked him gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Rin and Shirou froze; the sound of her voice, clear as a bell. The beauty of it calmed Shirou's rage and warmed their hearts. The hope that had been clinging to had not been in vain. Saber had returned to them to set things right.
"Yes, Arturia, it's day. What took you so long?" Shirou asked, tears slipping down his face.
"Forgive me, Shirou. I returned to Camlann and hoped to continue the dream. But it seems my dream has become a nightmare."
"That's not your fault Saber," Shirou turned around, putting his hand on her shoulders.
"We must go, my Master's in danger!"
"Did your new Master summon you here Saber?" Rin asked, curious.
"No, my new Master Lelouch Vi Britannia pulled me out of the coffin that I was brought to Japan by the Britannians. I slew the soldiers who were going to kill him."
"So they woke you before it was time, bastards!" Shirou snarled.
"It was time for me to awaken, this is not the Britain I dedicated my whole life to, I intend to save it!"
"Then we'll follow you to the end, Saber," Shirou smiled at her.
"Thank you, Shirou, Rin. Let's go!" Saber ran ahead of them.
They ran back to the battlefield.
"I sense Mana in him, does he have any training?" Shirou asked.
"No, he's not even a novice," Saber replied. "I had hoped that you and Rin would teach him."
"I see, it's been years since I had an apprentice," Rin mused. "He's worse than you Shirou."
"Knock it off!" Shirou scowled.
They found Lelouch fleeing from the white Knightmare frame. Saber jumped up on top of it. "Open the hatch, Master, let me drive!"
"Shirou, handle the landing!" Saber shouted as she tossed Lelouch without preamble out of the Knightmare frame.
Shirou? Lelouch thought as he let out a scream and felt himself falling, he felt someone catch him and they began to run, faster than a normal human should be able to run, away from the warzone.
"Rin, give us cover!" Shirou called to his companion.
"Now Stark, Groß zwei!"
A bright white light hid them from view of Suzaku.
"Wait, you have to go back! Saber can't fight that thing, that damn monster's unstoppable!"
"Don't worry about Saber," the voice replied. "She's never lost a fight, and she told me that she slew the Britannian soldiers who tried to kill you. She's used to fighting opponents more powerful than she is."
"How do you know that?" Lelouch asked in awe. Was this man a Mage?
"I was Saber's Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War; my name is Shirou, Shirou Emiya."
The man set Lelouch down an although they were some distance away, Lelouch could still see Saber fighting, he was dismayed to see that she had dropped the assault rifle and was using a discarded jousting lance to bat off blows from the white Knightmare frame and the pilot was using a pair of maser vibration swords!
Lelouch was stunned, she shouldn't be able to fend off the superior technology in the white Knightmare frame, but she was, easily parrying blows that usually cut down other Sutherlands as if it were nothing! There was some sort of air surrounding the lance that Lelouch could see the outline, but not the actual lance itself.
"Don't worry my good novice Master, Saber will return to you alive. She has only once known defeat, and she won't be killed by an ordinary human, not easily anyway. Just sit back and watch her work."
"So that is how it is to be, you newbie," Rin grinned at Lelouch.
Then he remembered reading internet forum posts about these two. The Britannian military had a nickname for them: The Eleven Mages.
He heard outlandish stories that they wreaked havoc on the Britannian military whenever they were sighted. That they weren't human beings.
Had he stepped into the world of fantasy now?
Saber slid easily into the cockpit, gripping the controls, her riding ability gave her instant knowledge of how to handle the machine, its controls, and weapons. She spotted a nearby lance and grabbed it, tossing aside the useless assault rifle, after observing how Lelouch hadn't even been able to hit the Knightmare frame because the pilot was too agile.
"If I could hold my Holy Sword, I would be much more comfortable fighting, but I'll make do with what I can, I must have a Knightmare frame customized to suit my needs," Saber said to herself.
She instantly slashed left to right batting away the Slash Harkens. She thrust the lance straight ahead, aiming for the Knightmare frame's head as the pilot seat was located right behind its head.
Suzaku managed to block the thrust with his energy shield; he quickly removed a pair of maser vibration swords and went on the offensive.
"Who is this guy? And why can't I get a read on that lance? Is it a new cloaking technology?"
Suzaku slashed at the Sutherland, but the pilot avoided the blows, blocking them, it was hard to get a read on any attack pattern as he couldn't see the length of the jousting lance.
The Sutherland was also unbelievably fast, the pilot had somehow modified the Knightmare frame to be faster and even more agile, he kept running circles around Suzaku, jumping straight at him with a huge burst of energy that startled the young private.
Saber made use of her Mana Burst ability and Invisible Air to compensate for her inability to use her Holy Sword Excalibur, but even without it, she was formidable.
Saber lodged her lance between one of the white Knightmare frame's hands, launching the maser vibration sword into the air that she caught effortlessly. She began a succession of attacks so fast and furious that Suzaku couldn't raise his energy shield in time and he could barely see his own sword that she had stolen! Every slash and cut was meant to take out the cockpit and the speed and power of each blow were beyond superhuman. She kept circling around him, raining blows from all sides.
"What?!" Suzaku exclaimed in shock. He had never seen such superb swordsmanship. Who was he?!
Suzaku managed to fend off the blows with his outstanding reflexes, but his arms were burning from the strain of trying to keep up with the enemy pilot. Was this even the same man he'd been chasing, who could hardly block his blows? No, somehow they had switched out during their chase. How was that even possible?!
Shirou noted Saber was using the technique of switching sides when she attacked with her sword, a technique she had used on Berserker during their fight outside of Kotomine Church long ago.
Saber retaliated quickly, "This man is impressive; no ordinary human should be able to keep up with me, even in a Knightmare frame. He must be a knight of some renown in the Britannian army."
Suzaku slammed his sword down, Saber jumped back as it hit the ground she used the Knightmare frame to stop him from moving his sword.
Suzaku gasped, that maneuver shouldn't be possible, the maser vibration sword should have cut through the Knightmare frame.
Saber swung her blade and aimed for the cockpit of the Knightmare frame.
Suddenly Suzaku let go and somersaulted back.
"Quick on your feet and very skilled, you remind me of Berserker, but you are noble and valiant, much like Sir Lancelot," Saber mused, not knowing that the Knightmare frame itself was named for her greatest knight and her close friend.
She backed picked up the other sword and much to Suzaku's surprise; she tossed it back to him!
"Give me your name, Sir Knight, and I shall give you mine as a knight's pride demands."
"I'm not a knight; I am just an ordinary Britannian soldier," Suzaku told her. This man seemed like a very honorable person, why did he have to be a terrorist?
"It is further proof that I must save Britannia from the hollow, rotting corpse it has become. A man such as you should be a knight of great honor and renown, not a lowly grunt that slaughters innocent people."
"That's rich coming from a terrorist!" Suzaku snapped.
"I am no terrorist, I made a promise to my people I would come back when they needed me, and I am displeased by what they have become. So I will save Britannia, just as I promised."
"Save Britannia…?" Suzaku asked in surprise. Suddenly, he heard a woman's terrified scream and spotted her holding a baby as she fell from a building. He rushed immediately to save her.
Suzaku heard a voice on the communicator. "I concede to your tactical victory, you have done your duty as a true knight, rescuing a mother and her child."
The mother screamed in terror and ran away, to Suzaku's astonishment.
"Huh? He saved someone?" Lloyd asked, surprised.
"Yes, so it would seem," an operator told him.
"It's strange of him," Lloyd said to himself.
"Suzaku, are you tired? We'll call it quits for today."
"No, I'm fine. Please let me keep going!" Suzaku had to find Lelouch and that girl.
"Be careful with his operational time!" Lloyd warned.
"Yes sir!" Cecile replied.
"My, that boy's an excellent piece of equipment!" he exclaimed.
The fight was over; it was time to go back to work.
Lelouch glanced at Saber, Shirou, and Rin.
"At last, the checkpoint, and barely guarded per my plan! How do we get passed the guard?"
"Leave that to us!" Rin told him. She raised up her finger and pointed it like a gun.
"You're gonna shoot him with a finger gun?" Lelouch was skeptical.
"Oh, shut up Vi Britannia!" Rin fired off a Gandr shot and knocked the guard out instantly.
"You have got to teach me that!" Lelouch grinned at her.
"Just get going!" Rin hissed. They made their way inside, Shirou and Rin knocked out everyone they saw before they knew they were there.
"Shirou, take out the security cameras! We can't let them see Saber!" Rin told him.
"Good idea, the Britannians would stop at nothing to get her back!" Lelouch commended her. Rin was smart, very smart.
They made their way towards the throne room; Lelouch was going to get answers about his mother's death.
Kallen Stadtfeld ran away and heard Ohgi call her name as they hid inside a warehouse.
"This is all your fault!" a Japanese man shouted. "This is what happens when you oppose the Britannians!"
Kento snarled at the men, "Why you gutless coward!"
"How many people were killed because of this?" a woman asked fearfully.
"Shut up! Do you know how many of us were killed or captured? Do you? Quit crying!"
"Ohgi, who was that voice on the radio?" Kallen asked.
Ohgi sat cross-legged. "Damned if I know. He doesn't answer when I call so maybe he bought it."
Kallen gasped as the door exploded and Britannians stormed the warehouse.
"There, you see? Instead of following somebody we don't even know we should have used the poison gas!"
"But he—" Kaname Ohgi interjected.
"Damn Nagata to Hell!" Kento snarled.
"So this is where you Eleven vermin scurried off to," the commander smirked. "Prepare to fire!" he raised his hand.
Kallen gasped in terror, screaming, "Naoto!" as tears leaked from her eyes. This was how she was going to die. Like she didn't even matter.
"Commence—"
"Attention all forces! Cease fire at once!" Clovis La Britannia's voice rang out over the communicator.
"Huh?" Kaname asked in shock.
"Cease fire?" Suzaku was stunned.
"Cease fire at once! I shall allow no further fighting! I Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia and Viceroy of Area 11 hereby command you; all forces are to cease fire at once! You shall also cease destruction of any buildings or property! All casualties, whether Britannian or Eleven shall be treated equally and without prejudice! In the name of Clovis La Britannia, you are hereby ordered, cease fire at once! I shall allow no further fighting!"
He ended the communication as Lelouch kept the gun trained on him.
"Are you satisfied?" Prince Clovis asked sarcastically.
"Very, well done," Lelouch told him.
"And what shall we do now? Sing a few lively ballads? Or perhaps a nice game of chess?" Prince Clovis sneered.
"Now that has a familiar ring," Lelouch replied, he approached the throne. Shirou had disabled all the security cameras. He didn't want anyone to see Saber's face.
"Don't you recall? You and I used to play chess together as boys, of course I would always win."
Prince Clovis was stunned. "What?!"
Lelouch cocked the gun, "You remember, at the Aries villa?"
"You, who are you?" the prince demanded angrily.
"It's been a long time, big brother!" Lelouch stepped into the light. Clovis gasped in shock.
Rin raised an eyebrow, "A noble, huh? It figures this is some stupid political squabble."
"He's no noble, he's a pig!" Shirou snarled.
Lelouch glared at Rin, then turned his attention back to his brother.
"The eldest son of the late consort Marianne, and 17th in line to the Imperial throne, Lelouch Vi Britannia at your service!" He bowed in royal fashion before Prince Clovis.
"Lelouch, but I thought—" Clovis was surprised to see that his younger brother was alive. He had heard that Lelouch and Nunnally had died during the invasion.
"That I was dead?" Lelouch queried. "You were wrong!"
He looked up at his older sibling.
"I have returned Your Highness, and I've come back to change everything!"
Lelouch stood and gestured to Saber. "I brought you an honored guest! You were looking for her after all!"
Arturia Pendragon stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Prince Clovis La Britannia shook with fear and awe. Every Britannian knew her identity on sight, her majesty and nobility, her golden Holy Sword and Magical Armor, her strength and power that came from the Age of Gods. She was King Arthur Pendragon, the greatest king of Britannia.
"Are you the man who would summon me? You think yourself my Master?!" Arturia seethed in fury. "A man such as you would no doubt view me as a medieval moron. You think I have no knowledge of the modern era, of your cars and aircraft, of your culture and your technology. When I was summoned here long ago, I was given knowledge of the modern era by the Holy Grail. Yet you would view me as you view the Japanese, as a primitive, a stinking monkey!"
Clovis stammered in terror, "Y-Your Highness, King Arthur, I would never think of you as—"
"Silence! I would rather keep company with the Japanese, they are good natured, well mannered and have far more intelligence than you possess! I have seen how you would rule over your people, and I find you abhorrent, so I, as the rightful king of Britain, will pass judgment on you!"
Lelouch touched her upper arm.
"Stay your blade a moment Saber, I must ask my brother some questions!"