Code Geass: Continued Story
by DreamersLTD
If you can dream, then anything is possible. – DreamersLTD Motto
Disclaimer: As with my Gundam SEED fics; I do not own Code Geass.
"So… how did the mission go?" questioned Zero as Kallen, Ohgi, and Gino entered his dark office. Kallen had sent Tienn and Jamsen home; since it was past midnight.
Kallen responded. "Not too well. All we were able to determine from the battle was that the pilot was female, and that she has a Geass similar to Lelouch's."
"…I see. Then how were they 'similar'?"
"The girl could command the raiders to kill themselves, just like Lelouch was able to, but unlike Lelouch, her ability seemed to not require direct visual contact… If you were to ask my opinion, I believe that she's able to Geass others just looking at them through a camera."
"Then a potentially dangerous adversary if we were forced to face her."
"Potentially…? She has a Geass, and along with her unit, she could undermine anyone if left free!" stated Gino.
"Calm down Gino. She's probably not the only one," stated Zero.
That surprised the group. "What! What do you mean, 'she's probably not the only one'!" questioned Ohgi.
Zero turned to regard them. "Five other attacks on raiders and bandits occurred almost exactly at the same time as the one you three had seen. Though there were differences in how they were carried out, they all pretty much died in the end."
"…" A long silence followed Zero's statement as the three pondered the results of six Geass users if they ever decided to turn. "…Do you want us to investigate them all?" questioned Kallen.
"No need. Since the bandits, or raiders, are all former Charles Extremists, it doesn't hurt to have them silenced."
"We know that. But what will happen if they eventually turn on us?" questioned Gino.
"If they ever do, then the only thing you could do then is pray that you don't find yourself killing against your own will. Against a Geass as powerful as Absolute Command, it'd be wise to question why they decided to attack you," replied Zero. "You three did confirm some important information, and understandably, there'd be additional questions as well. But it's clearly past midnight, so go home, and get some rest. In fact, go ahead and take the day off. The day-to-day routines can be handled by almost everyone."
"But Zero…" began Ohgi.
"You especially; since you just recently came back from your previous assignment. Go home. Go check in on your family." Zero then pointed at Kallen and Gino. "Same for your two workaholics. Family is just as, if not more, important as keeping the peace."
"Understood." All three of them saluted before turning to leave. Kallen then paused.
"Something wrong, Kallen?" questioned Gino.
Kallen shook her head. "No, nothing. I just need to ask Zero some questions before I go. Just go ahead and wait for me in the car."
"If you say so," stated Gino as he yawned. "Don't take too long…" he trailed off.
After Gino left, Kallen then turned back to Zero. "Ze– no… Suzaku… What are your thoughts on what's going on…?"
Zero then turned back to assessing the pictures within his office. "…I have my own theories… But it'd be best if I don't voice them just yet."
"Why…? Could he possibly still be alive? Or…?" she trailed off.
"All I can say is this: the green-haired woman, C.C., was the one who gave the power of Geass to Lelouch the day he freed her from that capsule. Since she disappeared after I stabbed Lelouch, it's possible that she has once again resumed her search for a replacement, granting Geass abilities to several others."
"…What…?"
"It's complicated; and I only understood a bit when I had been with her and Lelouch in the world of C. Honestly though, it's a topic that's best forgotten. Go home, Kallen."
"…I see." She looked down for a moment before looking at him again. "Very well then, I'll be heading home. Goodnight, Zero."
"Goodnight, Kallen." Once Kallen was out of his office, he took off his mask, and looked at it for a long time. "Is this the C.C.'s doing…? Or is it really your doing…? Have you Geassed Death into letting you come back…? Or was this too, part of Zero Requiem…?"
The next 'day' was a Saturday, and since Kallen and Gino were forced to take the day off, they decided to enjoy their time together going out on a date. Kallen unfortunately seemed out of it. 'Could it really have been C.C. that granted Geass to new people…? Or… Could it be that she did conceive a child with Lelouch before he died…?'
"Hey, what's wrong?" questioned Gino, noticing the troubled look on his wife's face.
Kallen snapped out of it. "Ah, I was just in thought."
"Well, care to share it? The look on your face said it apparently wasn't a good thought." He then paused. "Was it the fact that we have six possible Geass users running loose?"
Kallen nodded. "Yes… And for some reason, it just bothers me," she admitted, looking up at her husband.
"Well, just let it go for now… I have to as well, you know. Let it go and let's enjoy today, alright?" Gino kissed his wife's head. "And besides, you're coming with me to Lyoko's school."
"What? Why?" questioned Kallen. "I thought this was all about you?"
"Yes, but I wasn't given advanced notification. You just dropped it on me. As punishment, you're going to be there to help me explain what we do; me explaining what it's like being a Knight of One to Nunnally, and you explaining what a Black Knight does."
"Hey, she wanted you to come, not me."
"Too bad. We both have the day off, and I'm not going to suffer talking to kids who aren't mine alone."
Kallen sighed. "Fine…"
Gino then smiled. "So, just to sweeten the deal, how about I take you out to your favorite restaurant and I pay?"
Kallen had to smile while shaking her head. "Sure, why not?" She then looked up; her internal troubles temporarily moved to the back of her mind.
As the couple passed a restaurant with outdoor seating, they failed to spot two people watching them from a table occupied by five more; all in varying ages.
"That's Kallen Weinburg. She was the one that piloted the Guren unit. Her husband is the man next to her, Gino Weinburg. He pilots the Tristan Exceed. Those two appeared at your intervention?" questioned one of the people at the table, without looking up.
"Yes, and it was Mr. Weinburg that attacked me. I of course simply brought up my defenses so that he'd stop. And as you commanded, I didn't fire."
One of the people at the table then turned to the other one that had watched the couple. "And you're sure that you time-stopped them and their escorts?"
"Of course! It would've been a hassle attempting to evade them if they gave chase. After all, their units were all geared for speed and close combat."
"Well, if that's true, then we can relax and just enjoy today."
Another one of the seven spoke. "Are you sure that we shouldn't have erased their memories?"
"No. It's fine if they realize that there is something going on. It'll force them to stay alert as well. After 18 years of hard earned peace, we don't want the very people who have promised to ensure the peace of the world from becoming lax."
"…But still, the peace is already fragmenting. The rebels that we've been silencing seem to have deeper roots; as other areas around the world also seem to be experiencing unrest."
"After 18 years of peace, we shouldn't be surprised. Remaining peaceful that long was rather impressive, to say the least."
"But don't forget; had we not begun our interventions four years back, they peace would've been more unstable. We were lucky enough to silence some of the Charles Loyalists that had enough influence to possibly break the peace."
After some silence, one of the seven then spoke up. "Will we reveal ourselves to the world?"
The rest looked up from their meals. "I will reveal myself first, and if necessary, Selene next. But we will not reveal ourselves until a threat large enough warrants us to reveal ourselves."
"And the rest of us?"
"I'd prefer that you all would never be revealed to the world. But if necessary, we'll let some key people in on just who they're working with. But until then, just follow as you've been doing." The person then turned towards another. "By the way, don't you have a career fair to attend later?"
"Yes…"
"What's the matter?"
"I was asked if I could bring a parent to the fair, and have them describe what they do for a living. It's sort of a "meet the parents and learn their profession" type of thing crossed with a school fair…"
"I see. Well, I can go. After all, I'm of legal age and have a job."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. After all, you're my younger sister. Why shouldn't I help you?"
"…But you're not mother or father…"
"Does it matter? I can easily play the role of working sister and guardian. Don't worry. It's just for today."
"Ok then. Thank you."
"No problem!"
After enjoying a good, afternoon meal, Gino and Kallen then headed off for Ashford Academy, where their children went for education. "Welcome to Ashford!" greeted a woman. "Are you two here for the Career Fair?"
"Yes. I'm Gino Weinburg, and this is my wife, Kallen. Our children study here."
"Oh really? And which child is it that you're here for?"
"Lyoko Weinburg; she asked us to come and be one of those that discuss our profession."
"Okay, just one moment…" the woman then went to the nearby kiosk and searched up the data. "Thank you for waiting! Right this way!" the woman then led them through a maze of booths and scattered items until they got to a section that they quickly realized was their daughter's class. "Here you are! Class A-4. Have a nice day!"
"Thank you, and you too." Once the woman left, Gino's smile turned into a frown. "I don't know why I used to like small events such as this… Now I hate it," he muttered.
Kallen laughed. "Well, you used to drag that girl, Anya, around with you when all of us were still studying here. You even took over Ashford's second attempt to create the world's largest pizza."
"Yeah, but I was still not able to complete it, due to unexpected circumstances," commented Gino as he momentarily thought back on it.
"Well, no use reminiscining; we need to find our daughter's booth. It didn't take long finding her; her booth stated Knight of One, along with Gino's personal crest.
"Lyoko!" called Kallen.
A red haired, blue eyed girl turned. "Mother! Father! You both came!" she exclaimed as she ran up to Kallen, hugging her first before jumping into her father's arms.
"Of course! You asked us to come!" replied Gino as he set his daughter down.
"But I thought that you and mom wouldn't arrive until later today."
"We were kicked out of the base. Our boss wanted us both to take the day off, so we both decided to come early."
"Well, since you're here as well mom, I'll go paint up a sign for you as well!" Lyoko then ran back to the supply rooms at the Academy.
Gino looked at his wife. "I told you that I was going to take you down with me," he stated.
Kallen rolled her eyes and laughed. "Baka, get used to this. You still have three more children who will end up asking for their 'daddy knight'."
Gino slapped his face. "Don't remind me."
Kallen made use of the opening. "Hey, I wasn't the one that had insisted on five children. I was content with two or three. But noooo, you had to seduce two more out of me."
Gino went a bit red with embarrassment. "Don't say such things in public…"
"Aww… I can't tease the Knight of One?"
"No," he stated with mock-seriousness.
"Too bad. I still will."
Gino sighed before searching out his daughter. "She has your sign as well."
Kallen looked up to see tacked on underneath 'Knight of One' was 'and Black Knight's 2nd in Command'. "Well, let's go take our place with her then."
On their way there, Kallen accidentally bumped into a young woman. "Oh, I'm sorry, are you alright?" she questioned as she helped the woman up.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you... miss…"
"Kallen. Kallen Kozuki Weinburg. And you are…?"
The young woman looked up. "Selene. Selene Latona." She had short red hair with a long black braid, gold eyes, and her facial features vaguely reminded her of someone… but just who, she couldn't remember.
"You're welcome, Selene. You seem to be a bit old for this school… No offense or anything…"
Selene laughed. "No, no I don't go here. I have a job; I'm part of an Australian-based company called Leonora Enterprises. I'm part of their R & D division. I came here as legal guardian to my young sister. Our parents had died in a tragic plane crash."
"I'm sorry to hear that…"
"It's ok. We're used to it." Selene then glanced at her watch. "Are you here to give a job description as well?"
"Yes."
"And may I ask what?"
"I'm the 2nd in command to the Black Knights. My husband, Gino, is the Knight of One to Queen Nunnally."
"Impressive! I didn't expect that I'd personally run into two legends!"
Kallen lightly laughed while waving it off. "It's not a big deal really…"
"Ah, but I've only seen you and your husband in the news!"
Kallen nervously laughed again. "Well, I think the career fair is about to begin. If you'll excuse me, I'll be joining my husband and daughter."
"Oh, ok then. Well, see you around!"
"You too."
As Kallen walked off, a young girl approached Selene. "Hey sis, was there any particular reason you decided to chat with Mrs. Kallen?"
Selene then turned to look at her younger sister. "You should know why, Crystal. I just wanted to personally meet the legendary Kallen Kouzuki, pilot of the Guren Mk. II and its evolutions, and attempt to better understand who she is out of the news and as a normal person."
Crystal sighed. "Well, I'll take you to my booth. This boring event is about to begin."
"Don't be so glum about it! After all, it wouldn't do any good. Just be patient. This'll be over sooner or later."
The fair lasted from noon until four, and the students of Ashford quickly learned a myriad of jobs that were available. Now all students and their parents were packing up whatever information packets that they had brought with them. As the Weinburg family began to walk out of the gates, Kallen's observant eyes spotted something on the ground.
"Wait a moment…" she walked towards a pamphlet that seemed to have been left behind. Her eyes widened upon seeing the image that graced the back of it. "It can't be…!" There on the back of the pamphlet, was a mech that looked almost exactly like the one she, Gino, and Ohgi encountered during the bandit raid. Turning it over, her eyes widened more upon seeing the company logo, "Leonora Enterprises".
"What's the matter?" questioned Gino as he and Lyoko approached her.
Kallen stood and turned. "Gino, you remember the mech we encountered back during the raid? The black unit that looked similar to the Gawain?"
"Yes, why?"
"Take a look at this," she stated, turning the pamphlet over so that the picture she was referring to faced Gino. "It looks too similar, doesn't it?"
Gino's own eyes widened in recognition. "It does look almost like it. Who made it?"
"Leonora Enterprises."
"Is there some contact information on it?"
Kallen then opened the pamphlet, and skimmed through the information. There, at the end, was what she was looking for, but didn't expect.
Selene Latona
Marketing Director and Head of R&D.
Then two numbers, a cell and work number. "I just met her…" Kallen murmured.
"Who was she? Who are you referring to?"
"The girl I accidentally ran into while I was on my way to Lyoko's booth. This is her contact information."
"When we get home, run that through Headquarters. We'll see if they're clean or not."
"I will."
"Sorry, but Leonora Enterprises and each of their staff members are clean. We couldn't find a single bit of evidence that would warrant further investigation," stated a female two hours later.
"I see. What about the unit that was posted?"
"According to what we've been able to discover, it's a standard 14th generation, multipurpose unit built with modularity in mind. The reason it looks similar to both the Gawain and Galahad units is because the company purchased the blueprints and some of the tech through official channels. According to their the unit's development history, since Britannia decided to pursue the Tristan and Lancelot series, further development of the Gawain and Galahad lines officially ended with the Gareth series. Leon Leonora, who at the time was just a regular businessman, purchased the designs and remaining units of the series since Britannia considered it old (Britannia already had 9th generation Knightmares being mass-produced at that time) and public knowledge, and because when compared to the current units that they fielded (Australia only had subpar 7th generation units), the efficiency and superiority of Britannia-designed units exceeded their own. Leon would then set up Leonora Enterprises using a completely upgraded redesign of the Gawain line as their flagship model, manufactured under the name Adelaide. Thanks to aggressive research as well as anonymous funders, the newest units of the Adelaide series, the Mk. X's, are on par with other 14th generation units of today."
"…I see. Thanks for the update. I'll call them myself and question them."
"No problem, commander!" The Black Knight operator then hung up.
Kallen picked up the pamphlet and examined it again. Readying herself, she dialed Selene's cell.
After several rings, the girl picked up. "Selene Latona, may I ask who's calling?"
"Hello. My name is Kallen Weinburg, we literally ran into each other at the career fair in Ashford earlier today."
"Ah, hello again! Did you need something?"
"Yes actually. I would like to inquire about the Adelaide units that your company is selling?"
"Of course! Ask away!"
"First off, do you sell them outside of Australia?"
"Yes, but only to officially recognized forces, such as the UN Peacekeepers, or Chinese Royal Guards. Why? Does the Black Knights plan to buy a set?"
"Maybe, but first, let me finish inquiring."
"Oh okay. Please continue."
"Second question. Does your company produce custom variations of the unit? Like for a military ace? Or is that done by the military that purchased them?"
"We only offer variations and factory-assembled customs after establishing a working relationship with any military force. If they're not a constant or semi-constant buyer, then we will not. Despite the modularity of the Adelaide units, it's not cost efficient to produce only a few variations or customs at the factory. It's often simpler to just manufacture the weapon modules and ship it directly to the military that plans to give it to whomever they wished to reward."
"How advanced are the special options that can be purchased? Or, how much advanced technology do you sell to foreign buyers?"
"While I cannot go into specifics, the technology isn't much more advanced that what most militaries field in their mainstream units."
"How about for aces or commanders that wish to customize their unit?"
"Well, we offer a variety of offensive and defensive options, such as the Assault Territory module set, which basically grants major offensive capabilities in a similar fashion to the 7th generation Knightmare frame Mordred, at the expense of speed. Or, if you need a mobile shield, we offer the Defense Territory module set. It's Leonora's best attempt to recreate the fabled Absolute Defense Territory system used by Britannia. It's simply multiple shield emitters that overlap each other to spread out the damage. Those are just two of the examples that we have available for purchase."
"I see… Well, if we do plan to buy, what deals are available?"
"Every five units you buy, we'll send a test type version ahead so that your military personnel may train and get the feel of the unit. The Test Type is simply a unit that's one generation behind what you ordered. Less armored, and not as modular, but near-identical internals, primarily in the cockpit and engine. With every ten units you buy, we'll add a small discount to the option modules if you purchase them at the same time. And that would still include two test types for training and practice maintenance."
"And for regular buyers?"
"If we establish a decent buyer/seller relationship, everything is discounted a bit, and we'll grant purchasing options to fancier and better-than-defaults option modules."
"Well, thank you for answering my questions. I'll contact the Black Knight Headquarters and see if we can negotiate something."
"Thank you, and any time. Take care!"
Kallen then hung up and sighed. What she had learned gave her more questions than answers.
On the other side, after chatting with Kallen, Selene smiled and reclined back in a leather office chair in the home that her younger sister, Crystal resided in.
"So, how did the call go?" questioned a young masculine voice from the shadows.
"She's putting the clues together, I think," replied Selene as she played around with a red wig.
"Do you think that the Black Knights would actually buy the Adelaide Mk. X units?"
"Possibly. If intel regarding Rakshata of the Black Knights R&D team is correct, she'd be all over the Mk. IX Test Types once shipped, attempting to see just how useful they are. And if they surpass her expectations, it's possible that the Black Knights may give the Mk. X units to some of their more prestigious members."
"And with custom mods courtesy of Rakshata."
Selene calmly smiled. "Of course."
Two more figures then walked into the shadow of the office. "No word on bandits this evening. They seem to be lying low… for now. If you ask me, I think that they're banding together and planning something," stated one of the newcomers.
"What do you want to do?" Selene questioned the tallest of the shadows.
"We'll go back to condition yellow, just in case. But in the meantime, we can relax a bit."
"I'll go tell the others," stated the other shadow as they and their partner left.
"So… how's mother and father doing?" questioned Selene.
To be continued…
The original plan for this chapter was too long, so I've decided to split it. The next chapter is partially finished, but I still don't like how it (and this chapter) was written.
Leonora Enterprises: An Australian-based company whose specialty is primarily in the civilian sector; such as construction and demolition knightmares, electronics, and some vehicles, though they can produce weapons-grade parts and units as well. They are an upstart company that produces some of the best cost-effective items available to both sides. Their R&D team rivals that of Britannia's Military Engineering Corps led by Lloyd Asplund and Japan's Black Knights resident specialist Rakshata Chawla.
Also, I want to thank everyone that had donated a name idea regarding Nunnally's husband. It really helped!
