Turn Four: Competition
"For as long as man has had civilization there have been contests between warriors. Tests of strength, endurance, and skill in battle for the purpose of proving the immeasurable value of veterans while at the same time sharpening the abilities of the next generation in preparation for the constant specter of war. The International KnightMare Competition was no different. It was a true test of a Devicer's abilities as a KnightMare pilot, but what made the 4th Annual Competition so special was that it was the Olympiad of its day and the gods of Olympus took notice."-Excerpt from an interview with Major Rivaltz Ashford of the Order of the Black Knights (Japan division) in the International Political Forecaster Magazine dated November 14th, 2024 a.t.b.
The roar of the crowd in the massive Sidney stadium thundered into the depths of the KnightMare hangars below it. Valletta Nu and her team of Japan Jaguars walked towards their designated hangar bay where fifteen Akatsuki model KnightMare Frames (of various types) sat in their respective gantries awaiting their Devicers.
Valletta stopped the troupe in the center of the bay.
"Alright listen up, all of you have made me proud these past three days, but these are the last two days of the competition and the final matches. All Japan is counting on all of you and rooting for you, especially Captain Chiba whose watched your progress with admiration as you beat the Russian Cossacks yesterday in the float racing course, and whipped the German Panzer team in the KnightMare wrestling the day before, and trumped the Australian Outlanders in the underwater match on your first day here; but that was just a warm up for these last two crucial days. Today we begin the combat portion of the competition. This is where fully armed KnightMares go head to head against each other until only one team is left standing. Those of you who will compete today will need to pull together everything all of you have learned from the last three days and use it to beat not one, but every single other team here that you're going up against. On this final stretch of the competition each team is broken up into four assault groups by their respective coach for a game of capture the flag in four different battlegrounds. Each member of an assault group is able to move onto the next match if his KnightMare survives each course. The object is for each assault group to survive with as many KnightMares as possible to gain the advantage in numbers and thus strength in subsequent matches; in other words if say three of our KnightMares from the first match survive, then we'll have eight KnightMares in the second match. If any one team losses all of the KnightMares of their assault group in any one match then their whole team is out of the competition, so none of you can afford to fail in this. Are you all ready?"
The Jaguars nodded in unison.
"Good," Valletta Nu smiled, "then let's get this show started."
"Toshiro, Kanada, Yumi, Maya, and Bron; I'm calling your assault group the Edo group." Valletta eyed the members of her varsity team who excelled in built-up area operations. "You're going to make up our first line of defense against Britannia's Templar Knights in the urban combat course match. I want you to use standard Akatsuki types against them, so get into the number 14 through 18 machines and arm them with one autocannon and one MVS each."
"Yes Ma'am," They said in unison as the five pilots headed for their machines.
"Ichiro, Yoshiro, Reiji, Matsuda, and Hikaru; you'll make up the Grenadier assault group." Valletta Nu said to the five Devicers, "You're in the long range competition course match where we're supposed to go up against the French Falchon Team; assuming their first team survives the urban course; if not we'll be matched to another team. I want the five of you to pilot Akatsuki numbers 1 to 5 and arm them with one grenade launcher, one bazooka launcher, and a pair of eight-shot missile packs each."
"Yes coach," the five of them said together as they raced off for their machines.
"Collin, Henry, Yuki, Bella, and Cera; you'll comprise the Dueler assault group for the close-quarters combat match." Valletta told them as she seemed to ponder the weapon selection. "Each of you will arm your KnightMares with two MVS and one Lance."
The five members of the Dueler team nodded and took off towards their machines.
Lena looked around the bay, "Mrs. Nu, there aren't any other KnightMare frames."
"Yah, what happened to our machines?" Gregor inquired.
Valletta addressed the five remaining pilots, "You five are the best Devicers on this team so I've saved you for the Decisive Battle match tomorrow. That match is between two or more assault groups of flight capable KnightMare Frames launched from aerial warships. The object of the match is for at least one of your KnightMares to board your opponent's aerial warship and remain on it for sixty seconds without being knocked off. After the time has elapsed your opponent's airship is considered destroyed and thus their team loses.
Over the last three International Competitions there have only been at most two teams that have survived this match in a tie victory. However, it is possible for three or even four of the twenty assault groups competing in this final contest to win this match together and share a victory. In any event, your main objective should be to take down your opponents' KnightMare Frames first, then proceed to their ship or ships. Watch out for assault groups which try to gang up on other individual groups just to eliminate them first. The European teams are notorious for this which is how two teams won last year; it was France and Germany who shared the victory by mutually conceding to each other after knocking out all of the other teams. And don't worry about the airships themselves, they won't fire on you; all you have to do to score a victory is land on the ship and remain there for the one full minute without getting knocked off by an enemy KnightMare from one of the other teams, then you can take off for your next target."
"That seems pretty hard Mrs. Nu," Mika lamented. "If we loose even a few members of our team we'll be overwhelmed by the other teams."
"That's the idea," Valletta smirked. "It's supposed to force you to react both as a group and individually to simulate real aerial combat."
Gregor smirked, "So that's why it's so important for the teams in the matches before this one to survive, I take it that their ranks can be added to the last assault group's for this final match."
"Yes," Valletta replied with a serious expression, "But keep in mind that most if not all of the KnightMares which make it through to join you in the last stage will be damaged from today's contests, we are NOT allowed to repair them for tomorrow's match except to allow for flight; and since the sensitivity of the ejection units has been raised to the maximum, your ejection system will activate with far less damage than you'd incur in real combat. Thus the KnightMares damaged today will likely be knocked out of tomorrows match very quickly."
"Is that why the bullets and missiles of our projectile weapons have been reduced in power?" Tetsuo, the fifth member of the assault group, asked; referring to the sensitivity of the KnightMares.
"Precisely," Valletta smirked. "The lethality of the projectile weapons is nil, they won't penetrate the armor of any KnightMare here. However they do contain a signal-warhead which will tell the computer of your KnightMare Frame that its energy has been drained by a certain percentage. The energy filler of your machines are thus technically drained with each hit so avoid getting shot or else you could find yourself out of energy really quick."
"So what KnightMares are we flying Mrs. Nu?" Akira inquired.
Valletta gave him a warm smile, "Captain Chiba has requested that since this is the fourth International Competition to take place and the first Decisive Battle match that the newly re-commissioned Ikaruga is taking part in," She blushed, "which all of you know was once the home of the original Black Knights, Nagisa thought that you five should pilot the Zangetsu and the Type-3f Gekkas of the Four Holy Swords."
Gregor hung his broad shoulders low, "Oh yah, no pressure!"
Mika was stunned, "What?"
Lena jumped, "Yah! We're going to be the new Four Holy Swords!"
"Great Lena," Tetsuo lamented. "Can you imagine the shame we'll suffer if we fail?"
Akira raised his chin, "We won't"
"Anybody see anything on their long range sensors?" Kallen inquired as their KnightMares flew over the southern tip of South America in Fighter-mode at moderate speed to conserve energy. They had flown for a full day and night and stopped for another day and a half in Cape Horn to rest and replenish themselves with fresh water and rations that were stored in the emergency kits of their fighters. Now they were in the air again and headed for the nearest place that could refuel their machines.
"Just fishing boats, and small villages Captain," Tamaki replied with a sigh as they flew over the eastern coastline of Argentina at dangerously low altitude.
"What's our energy filler status look like?" Gino asked.
"We should have about four, maybe five, minutes of power left," Anya stated in her monotone as she kept watch on the output of each of the Type-21s via one of her small monitors in the cockpit.
"The closest major city to us is Buenos Ares; that's about 2200 Kilometers." Kallen told them, "At our current heading and speed we should be able to just barely make it there in about three and a half minutes."
"That's cutting it pretty close Captain," Tamaki grumbled.
"Yah, but we don't have any choice." Gino told him. "If we don't acquire new energy fillers soon, we'll be out of power and stuck in Cornelia's neck of the woods."
"Literally by the looks of the forest areas down there," Kallen said as she visually scanned the treetop canopy below them for any signs of anti-KnightMare weapons.
"Enemy units at four O'clock!" Anya called out over the radio.
"Looks like six Vincent Ward types equipped with flight-packs and autocannon gunpods," Gino read off the data from his attack computer.
"We should try to avoid them if we..." Kallen started to say before a salvo of autocannon fire zipped past her Type-21S. Damn it! We don't have enough power for a confrontation.
"There's only one way we can avoid them Captain!" Gino barked. "We have to go supersonic NOW!"
"But that will drain our energy fillers almost completely and we won't be able to fight." Tamaki whined.
"We won't last long anyway and we might be captured or killed if we stay and fight with our energy so low," Anya explained.
"Alright, go to supersonic speed NOW!" Kallen ordered them as she squeezed her graviton-impeller's super-cruise button on the control stick.
The four Type-21s boosted forward with sonic booms trailing them; the sudden acceleration causing the four Devicers to be pushed back into the seats of their cockpits as the G-forces kicked in.
Their graviton-impellers hummed at full throttle for two minutes then went dead.
"We don't have enough power left to maintain supersonic speed," Anya announced as the four Type-21s started to fall from the sky. "In fact, it would seem we have less than a minute of energy left each."
"Transform into KnightMare mode if you can and glide down towards the trees, and try to avoid coming down to close to that town up ahead." Kallen told them as her 'Shogun' transformed into KnightMare mode.
The other three members of the Yamato no Orochi were able to do likewise and guided their machines down with Kallen's towards a thick mesh of strong trees that jutted out above the forest.
The four Type-21 KnightMares crashed through the thick jungle; smashing branches and tearing through vines as they plummeted to the floor of the woods below. Within a few seconds the four machines came to a crashing halt on the soft earth of the forest.
"Where the heck are we?" Tamaki asked as he joined up with his three companions who had disembarked from their KnightMares.
"About 225 Kilometers from Buenos Ares, near the small city of Azul." Anya told him nonchalantly.
"How far are we from Azul?" Gino asked the pink-haired girl.
"About 20 Kilometers to the South-west of the city," She replied looking down at the digital compass on her wrist.
"Which means if we start out now we should reach the city by nightfall," Kallen said as she unpacked the emergency gear from her 'Shogun' KnightMare's left leg compartment. The survival equipment consisted of a small backpack with seven (now five and a half) day supply of food, a survival knife with a fourteen inch blade and blade sharpening sheath, a 1 liter plastic water canteen with purification tablets for four bottles worth, an automatic pistol with two extra magazines, a first aid kit, basic camp gear (all weather matches, eating utensils, a small flashlight, and a two-way short range radio), and an all weather sleeping bag.
"Man it's hot and humid here," Tamaki blurt out as he donned his pack. "It must be like thirty-seven degrees out here."
Gino gave Tamaki a puzzled look, "Thirty-seven degrees? I thought you said it was hot?"
Kallen laughed, "He means Celsius, Gino."
Gino put his hand on the back of his neck in embarrassment, "Oh yah...guess he would you two being from Japan."
Tamaki just shook his head as he passed Gino, "And they say I'm not so smart."
"You aren't," Kallen giggled. "But you've got guts and guts are enough old man."
"OLD MAN!" Tamaki gave her a hurt expression. "After all we've been through."
"Well, you are older than I am," Kallen snickered.
Tamaki defended himself. "By what? Like a couple a years?"
"I think it's more than a couple," Kallen taunted him with a wink.
"We may want to get going," Anya said. "There are bound to be patrols looking for us out here. If we remain here we may be discovered."
"She's right, we should get moving," Gino concurred.
"What about our KnightMares?" Tamaki asked.
"We'll just have to hope no one finds them until we make it back here." Kallen said; she didn't like leaving them anymore than he did, but they had no choice at the moment.
With that, the four Black Knights walked off into the depths of the jungles of Argentina towards the city of Azul and whatever awaited them there.
"Where exactly is the Black Knight task force now General Tohdoh," Li Xingke's image inquired on the laptop computer Kyoshiro had in the back seat of his personal Limousine.
His driver stopped the conveyance at a red-light before Tohdoh replied, "The combined aerial and ocean South African and Australian Black Knight Corps are nearing the Coast of Kerguelen Island in the South Indian Ocean. We plan on using Kerguelen Island as our primary base of operations to ensure that if Schneizel does have anything planned for us, he won't be able to inflict damage to all our forces at once."
"You seem like you're already acting upon the assumption that Schneizel is lying," Xingke was cautious. "What if he's not?"
"Then I'll apologize to him later." Tohdoh's tone was sarcastic.
"How did the UFN council react when you first informed them of this situation," Li raised an eyebrow as he asked.
"With total panic," Kyoshiro replied in disgust.
"None of them even questioned me when I told them that I had sent out the South African and Australian Corps to Kerguelen Island. In fact I was complimented on my quick thinking." Tohdoh's expression was stone cold. "The council has become so inundated with schemers and cutthroats that the very thought of someone else getting the proverbial jump on their personal interests frightens them to death."
"And you think this situation will help clear out the corrupt elements of the UFN?" Xingke inquired.
"If we can maneuver the situation to our advantage, we can split up the UFN government into a Tri-Lateral system of three major regions; The Asian-Pacific Alliance, the Britannian-Atlantic Alliance, and the Euro-African Alliance. In this way we'll have three councils or houses of government instead of just one."
"I see," Li said with a thin smile. "So this new system you're proposing will impose a series of checks and balances within a three-tier government system...like a parliamentary system."
"No...not a parliamentary system, a World Constitutional Republic." Tohdoh told him with conviction in his voice. "If we are to have a world peace that is not this simplistic state of a lack of all resistance to the power of government...if we are to have real peace in which all peoples can coexist without being persecuted by others through government... then we must balance the practice of the redistribution of wealth and resources with a redistribution of power back to the people from government not the other way around. We must craft a system by which all peoples have the right to be masters of their own destinies with inalienable human rights that cannot be stripped from them with the stroke of a political pen or the whim of a single council."
"Who would have thought you'd become an idealist?" Xingke chortled.
"I've lived long enough to have seen Emperors, Prime Ministers, and now the UFN council all speak of freedom and of peace, yet all they've ever wrought is self-aggrandizement of their own power and wealth while our peoples have suffered because of it. It's not idealism that drives me to this conclusion Xingke; it is the experience of a life as a warrior. I now understand what Zero, no Lelouch vi Britannia, tried to teach us. That democracy was only the beginning of a road to peace, not the end. I believe that he meant for us to go beyond this and to strip down and crush Tyranny no matter where it existed or in what form; be it Scientific-Socialism, Corporatism, Fascism, Feudalism, Theocracy, or otherwise. Lelouch understood that states with absolute power become absolutely corrupt."
"I agree," Li told him flatly. "But how do you plan to force such a change?"
A harsh grin crossed Tohdoh's face, "I plan on using the symbol that people look to for hope...the Knight of Justice."
"Zero?" Li was shocked. "Do you expect him to agree to your plan?"
"Not at first." Kyoshiro said. "But if he's the kind of man I think he is, then he'll see that the next war has already begun and the Britannians will soon go back to their old ways. The only real way to secure the peace he chose to defend when he took the life of the real Zero is to push for a diminished power of government and an increase in the power of the people."
"What can I do to assist you in this endeavor General?" Xingke asked.
Tohdoh smiled devilishly, "All you have to do is listen my friend."
"They're almost here," Heracles said over the communicator of his Automatos; the Helios.
The large machine stood atop Cape D'Estaing overlooking Christmas Harbour of Kerguelen Island. Its form was that of a giant bronze-colored battlerobot in a facsimile of Greek armor complete with a Greco-Roman style helm that covered a mirrored silver colored faceplate. Large mechanical angelic wings jutted out from the back of the mecha and flanked each side of the machine. In its left hand it held a massive bronze-colored mechanized club and in the other a round bronze-colored shield.
"I know," Jason replied to him in their native Greek tongue, "I can see them." Jason sat within the cockpit of Talos, the twin Automatos of Helios. The primary difference between the two was in their weapons. Talos did not carry a club nor shield, instead it had an adamantine sword in its right hand and a clawed gauntlet over its left arm.
Both machines stood atop the peak as the snow rained down upon them.
"This doesn't seem right Jason," Heracles said. "We should go out and face them man-to-man in honorable combat, not just sit here and wait for Scylla to devour them with Charybdis and pick up the survivors afterwards."
Jason thought for a moment before answering his friend and comrade, "I know Heracles, but for now we must heed Sthenno's wishes. I know not why she confides in that Prince of hers so heavily, but I do know this, I will not tolerate her insolent disregard for our code of honor for long. Hephaestus told me that once we've conquered the lower regions of the world that he is going to wake Athena and the others."
"Let us hope for our sakes that he does," Heracles lamented. "I doubt we can thrust the three sisters for long. After what happened with Medusa back in Tartarus the other day..."
"You mean when Euryale resurrected her because the fools who thawed her ice-cloak scorched her to death." Jason let out a sarcastic laugh, "As much as I hate Medusa I don't think that a sorceress of her stature deserved to be roasted like a frozen pig."
"What of the poor man who was responsible?" Heracles asked sadly. "What was his name again?"
"I believe it was Professor Cornwallis...or it was before Euryale beheaded him on the spot." Jason replied in disgust.
"You'd think that Euryale would have spared the man considering she is a goddess with the power to resurrect Champions and Sorcerers." Heracles mused.
"I think she killed the man first in one of her emotional outbursts, and then she resurrected Medusa." Jason corrected him.
Heracles tittered, "How many times has she raised her sister from the dead?"
"I have no idea," Jason snickered. "But one thing is for sure, Charon must be getting quite irate by now."
"Indeed!" Heracles chuckled. "You'd think Medusa would learn not to get killed."
"Or Euryale would just leave her dead..." Jason stopped speaking and looked out at the sea. A white flash of brilliant light lit up the horizon.
Heracles' mood became serious, "Looks like it's begun."
"Yes, it has." Jason said as his machine turned to face the legion of Spartan-class Automatos below him. He touched a holographic button on the display panel of his pilot's seat. "Attention men, Scylla has begun her assault on the enemy, prepare your Automatos for flight, and remember we want as many captives as possible once she's finished, so try to disable their machines not destroy them...we move out at once."
The fleet of UFN warships drew close to the coastline of the Isle of Kerguelen.
"Admiral Wagner, we're nearing our destination now. There's still no reply from our outpost base there sir." A young male sailor said as the Australian Black Knight ocean warship rode through the turbulent waters of the South Indian Ocean.
The Admiral looked out towards the increasingly visible edge of the Island coast. "Very well then, inform Air-Marshal Mobatu of the African Aerial-Navy that we shall commence landing operations at once to secure our base here, and that he has permission to launch his Vincent Wards and Gareth KnightMare units to secure the airspace around the Island."
"Aye sir," the young man replied.
Within moments flights of KnightMares began pouring out of the airships above the armada of surface warships.
"Captain, I have a large underwater object that just appeared on my scope," The SONAR officer said frantically.
"What is it?" The Admiral asked.
The man spoke quickly, "Judging by its size and speed I'd say it's some kind of submarine sir."
"Launch depth charges..." The Admiral never finished his sentence.
In an instant the waters below his fleet gave way to a maelstrom of massive proportions which drew down the fleet of Black Knight ships within seconds; causing the ships to collide with one another as they were pulled down.
"Air-Marshal Mobatu," an airman called out in a panic. "Admiral Wagner's fleet has been caught in a huge whirlpool."
The man's aged features wrinkled in a frown, "How? There's no current in this area that can produce that kind of vortex."
"I know sir, but they're gone." The man replied in fear.
"Air-Marshal, our ventral RADAR is detecting a large metallic object at the center of the maelstrom." Another airman blurt out.
"Destroy it! Fire all Hadron cannons at its position at once!" The Air-Marshal ordered.
The massive fleet of aerial ships showered the center of the whirlpool with a rain of Hadron beams from the main cannon of their vessels. The force of the converging beams exploded in a brilliant white light which was sucked into the vortex.
"Did we hit it?" The Air-Marshal inquired.
"Aye sir," the RADAR operator confirmed. "Direct hit to the...wait...there's something coming out of the...."
A large, wide-angle, beam of silvery-white energy spewed up out of the maelstrom at the fleet of air-warships; disintegrating the lot of them in one fell swoop.
"The operation is a success Prince Schneizel," Kannon smiled. "The entire Black Knight armada has been destroyed and Kerguelen Island is ours. Nearly two-hundred KnightMares and their pilots have been captured by Jason and his forces."
Schneizel looked out at the Island ahead of them though the bridge viewports of the Thor. "Very good Kannon, have the prisoners rounded up and brought to our landing zone without their KnightMares. I wish to address them all directly."
"Your plan seems to have started quite well my Prince," Sthenno said as she waltzed onto the bridge and came over to stand next to where Schneizel sat.
Schneizel stood up and bowed to her, "Thank you milady. Would you care to join me as I start the next phase of this operation?"
Sthenno put her hand over her mouth as she let out a wicked laugh, "I would love to my Prince."
Schneizel took hold of her hand gently as Kannon looked on with an angry expression. "Prince Schneizel, shouldn't we focus on the consolidation of our control of this Island first?" Kannon pressed.
Schneizel smiled at him, "That is precisely what I plan on doing Kannon."
"Through Geass?" The Yeoman inquired.
"If necessary," Schneizel said.
"It will take some time for Jason and his men to herd the prisoners into the landing zone. Perhaps you should remain on the bridge until then?" Kannon stated with concern.
"Oh?" Sthenno tittered, "Did you hear that my Prince? We have some time before your new servants arrive. Let us retire to your chambers until they do so that I may reward you for your victory here." Sthenno rubbed her lithe voluptuous form onto Schneizel's body.
Schneizel blushed, "You are to kind milady. I do not deserve such pleasures."
"Perhaps not, but you are a handsome Prince whom I find exciting in ways that the men of my people cannot cause to well up within me." Sthenno cooed.
Kannon burned with inner fury, but kept his jealous hatred of this woman in check, "I'll inform you when Jason has finished rounding them up."
Sthenno gave Kannon a victorious look, "See that you do not disturb us before that boy, lest you suffer my wrath."
Schneizel smiled at her as he took her arm, "Come now my Goddess Sthenno, let us all be friends here and not enemies. Perhaps you could invite Kannon to join us?"
"Another time maybe," Sthenno stared up into his eyes. "But right now I want you all to myself."
"Empress Nunnally an aerial shuttle has arrived from Japan which demanded to land on the authority of the UFN." The Captain of the Emerald Queen said in a flustered tone as he spoke from the threshold of the ship's study to the three women that sat within.
"What do they want Captain McGovern?" Nunnally inquired.
"The three of you," Zhou Xianglin said as she pushed past Captain McGovern. Zhou wore the traditional dress of a warrior of the Chinese Federation with only one exception, the blue armband of an International Marshal of the UFN rested upon her left arm.
"What is the meaning of this Zhou Xianglin?" Empress Jiang Reika demanded.
"There has been…an incident which requires the immediate attention of all of the UFN council members. The three of you must come with me to the council headquarters in Kyoto Japan immediately. We've no time to lose."
"What is going on here?" Zero asked as he walked into the room.
"A dreadful thing," Zhou said with a strained expression. "I'm happy to see you Zero. Please get whatever things you feel you need and prepare to depart for Japan. You have been summoned by General Kyoshiro Tohdoh for an audience with him."
"Why Zero?" Nunnally started to protest.
Xianglin held a stern expression as she answered, "Because we need the Knight of Justice to declare to the people of the world exactly why we need to go to war."
"WAR?" Kaguya spouted out in disbelief. "With who?"
"It's Cornelia isn't it?" Zero asked Zhou.
Xianglin looked down at Nunnally with sadness in her eyes, "I'm sorry for you."
"I understand," Nunnally reassured her. "We should depart at once."
Zhou Xianglin bowed, "Thank you Empress Nunnally vi Britannia."
"Now we're on guard detail?" Heracles grumbled as their force of Automatos guarded the group of two-hundred Black Knight Devicers that sat in a large circle on the parade grounds of their former outpost base. "What's next, cleaning the kitchens?"
"I doubt we'll be here much longer my friend," Jason chuckled. "Have patience."
"Patience?" Heracles boomed. "It's been nearly two hours since we got this motley lot together down here. They may be the enemy but they'll freeze to death if we don't get them inside soon. The heat from our Icarus-wing flight units will only keep them warm for as long as the day lasts, in a short while it will be twilight Jason and even the warmth from our engine exhausts will not shield these people from the frigid temperature."
"I know Heracles…look if Sthenno and her Prince delay any longer then I'll take responsibility for these men and have them moved to the…" Jason was distracted by the arrival of an aerial shuttle from the Thor. The small craft landed on a raised platform at the far end of the mass of prisoners. "Looks like they're here."
The side door of the small Britannian-built conveyance opened up to allow the egress of Prince Schneizel with Sthenno at his side; both of them gleaming. The Prince walked out onto the podium of the raised platform so that he could look into the eyes of the shivering men and women before him.
"Greetings members of the Black Knights," He outstretched his left hand towards them in a gesture of sympathy. "I regret the conditions that you have been forced to endure here during your wait for my arrival, but other more strenuous matters required my personal attention."
"You're a traitor!" One of the prisoners yelled.
"Oh come now my good man," Schneizel regarded him with a look of pity. "You yourself saw the FLEIJA mine that destroyed your fleet. That unfortunate act of terrorism was done by the hand of my sister, Cornelia. Had my forces not arrived in time to save all of you; all of you would be dead now."
"Now I know why Sthenno has taken such a shine to this man," Heracles joked to Jason over their communications.
Jason snickered, "Be still my friend lest we incur his pleasantries on us."
"Indeed!" Heracles laughed.
A female prisoner shouted out at Schneizel, "How do we know you're not lying?"
"My dear I would never lie to my people," Schneizel said to her as he raised his chin. "I have always been a Prince of Peace, a person whose goal is to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of my subjects and to punish only those who would disturb this peace."
Another of the Black Knights spoke up, "Your people? We will never be your people Schneizel. Zero defeated you and for him we will die here and now before we ever serve the likes of you!"
The crowd cheered the man in defiance of Schneizel.
Schneizel put on a sad face, "How unfortunate for you all that you feel this way. You leave me with no choice." The Prince called forth the power of Geass into his right eye; the orange sigil formed and in an instant its glow filled the circle of prisoners.
Schneizel outstretched his arms, "I Prince Schneizel vi Britannia hereby command you to be my willing subjects and obey my every order."
The crowd stood up in unison, the faint orange glow of Geass around the iris of their eyes, as they spoke in one voice. "YES MY LORD!"
"How did our Dueler assault group do?" Akira inquired of Valletta from the open cockpit hatch of the Zangetsu as she walked onto the KnightMare launch deck of the Ikaruga.
"Collin's whole team made it," Mrs. Nu smiled. "That means you'll have sixteen KnightMares under your command out there tomorrow Team-Captain Nobunaga. Think you can handle it?"
"Of course," he winked at her as he made the last of his pre-flight checks for the Decisive Battle contest that would commence at the crack of dawn the next day.
"Don't get cocky Akira," Valletta warned. "It's a lot tougher out there then you may think even though our team has a greater number of KnightMare pilots than the other two teams which have made it up to this point. You can still loose your advantage very quickly if you don't keep your head."
"He knows Mrs. Valletta; he's just psyched about actually making it to the final match when some of the other teams that lost are already leaving to go home." Gregor laughed as he started up his Gekka to test its power output.
"Where all pretty excited," Valletta said with a smirk, "but that's no excuse to blow it just because you're giddy."
"Don't worry coach, Akira is a natural leader. He'll do fine." Lena said.
"He'd better." Tetsuo snickered as he worked on his Type-3f Gekka, "Or else Mika will kick the crap out of him."
"Speaking of Mika, where is she?" Valletta asked looking around for the girl. "Why isn't she getting her KnightMare prepped?"
"Mika said she had to do some last minute software upgrades to our KnightMares for some reason." Gregor told her with a puzzled look, "Something about them needing to be made legal for the match."
"That's odd," Valletta replied a bit confused. "I thought Captain Chiba's technicians already did that."
"I wouldn't worry about Mika," Akira said. "She's nitpicky about everything. I'm sure whatever it is she's doing it's no big deal."
"I hope you're right Akira," Valletta sounded disturbed. "Tomorrow's contest is a big deal, and I would hate for you all to lose because of cheating after you've come so far."
"Mika maybe a pain in the butt sometimes but she's no cheater Mrs. Nu," Lena protested. "You know that."
Valletta smiled, "I know that under normal circumstances she would never do that, and I'm not saying she'd do it now…call it an intuition but I think that under the kind of pressure you are all going through some of you may do things you wouldn't normally do."
"Mrs. Nu, there is no way Mika would do something like that," Gregor was genuinely angry.
"I understand how you all feel," Valletta tried to relate to them. "But I'm still going to have to ask the deck-chief to do an Operating System check on all of your KnightMares tonight so that everything is within regulations for tomorrow. I'm sorry."
Gregor started to say something before Akira cut him off, "Thank you Mrs. Nu, I'm confident that you'll discover that Mika is no cheater and that she did nothing to tarnish our image."
"I hope your right Akira," Valletta said with a tired look. "It's getting late. I need to go and request the OS diagnostic for your machines now. You kids finish up here ASAP and get some sleep; I don't want my whole team getting wiped out from fatigue."
"Yes ma'am, we will." Lena said to Valletta as she left the hangar.
"According to our technicians nearly all 200 of the KnightMares of the Black Knights we recovered here at Kerguelen Island are useable Prince Schneizel and their Devicers have recovered from their mild exposure to the arctic air," Kannon told him on the bridge of the Thor. "Also, Jason reports that the Argo has not encountered any UFN airships during their six hour flight towards Australia. It appears the Black Knights have not yet taken any action after the loss of their fleet."
"Excellent," Schneizel smiled. "And have the commanders of our new found allies made their report to the UFN?"
"Yes my lord, as per your orders, Major Dundee spoke to General Tohdoh directly and informed Kyoshiro that a FLEIJA weapon destroyed the Australian and South African armada." The Yeoman was used to his Prince employing elaborate plans but this one seemed to escape him, "Was it wise to inform them of the destruction of the Black Knight combined fleet?"
"Yes Kannon," Schneizel laughed. "We need to deflect the attention of the UFN away from us and onto Cornelia as quickly and effectively as we can. It's common knowledge among the UFN bureaucrats that Nina Einstein is working for Cornelia in Brazil. No doubt the whole UFN military is preparing for an all out assault on South America as we speak, but they are allowing themselves to be held back by a frustrated fear of venturing out onto the now perilous oceans."
"Won't the UFN send another fleet to Antarctica and discover we've gone from there?" Kannon asked, still not following his master's line of thinking.
"Not with what they have been told is a new weapon of Cornelia's prowling the seas of the Southern Hemisphere; a FLEIJA Ballistic-Missile Submarine. The threat of such a weapon of terror will force them to cry out for the Britannian military to come to their aide and launch a first strike against Cornelia directly; using the Britannian Central American forces." Schneizel continued, obviously pleased with his strategy. "And Nunnally will stand in their way and call for talks and negotiations before ever ordering an attack on her dear sister. Her tepid political tactics will irritate the UFN into sending aerial ships from every corner of the globe instead, and while the Black Knights fight Cornelia we will have all the time we need to secure the world's major Sakuradite deposits."
"Sounds like a brilliant strategy," Sthenno told him as she entered the bridge with two other women who looked identical to her in all physical aspects save for the clothing they wore. One of them wore a red jumpsuit with gold colored Greek robes while her younger twin wore the royal-blue uniform of an Automatos pilot.
"So this is the Prince you told us about Sthenno," the one in the red jumpsuit said in a melodic voice.
"He is attractive," the other added. "Perhaps I should add him to my collection."
"He is my champion," Sthenno glared at the young girl before she turned to Schneizel and caressed his cheek, "This is my twin sister Euryale, and my younger sister Medusa."
Schneizel stepped to the side of Sthenno and bowed to both of the women; kissing each of their right hands in turn.
"Such manners," Medusa cooed. "I do like him Sthenno."
"Do you now," She replied with a sly smile. "And you Euryale."
"He is charming," Euryale smiled. "But do you think he could handle the three of us?"
Sthenno let loose a wicked laugh, "Would you like to find out?"
"I would," Medusa gave Schneizel a seductive smile.
"Very well then, you shall have him," Sthenno giggled as she turned to Schneizel, "What say you my Prince? Are you not tired from our earlier endeavors of today?"
"Not remotely my goddess," Schneizel said in a daze that reminded him of a more pleasant version of the Geass Lelouch had put upon him. Am I willingly doing this or is she controlling me? He wondered to himself as she took hold of his right arm and Medusa slid up upon his left side; taking hold of his other arm in hers.
"Then let us retire to your bed-chambers my Prince," Euryale said to him as she led the way.
Schneizel turned to his Yeoman, "Kannon, please leave the ship in the care of Major Draconic and get some sleep. You've been up for over twenty-four hours and need your rest. I'm afraid you'll have to find sleeping quarters for this evening." The two sisters impatiently tugged Schneizel towards the door. "Feel free to use Captain Kouzuki's old quarters if you like, it was a full size stateroom equal to my own."
"Yes Prince Schneizel," Kannon said solemnly as he watched the three sisters drag his master off towards what he was certain would involve all manner of debauchery.
Kannon made his way down towards the cabin that was once Kallen Kouzuki's room less than a week before the awful events that took his Prince from him. The Yeoman opened up the door to the darkened chamber and turned on the lights.
For a woman's room it was annoyingly masculine yet it still held the elements of feminine charm that distinguished it from the male Devicers that were once on the ship; such was the manner of a female Devicer pilot and elite-warrior of the Black Knights.
The young man scanned over the sparsely filled bookcases; pictures of Kallen and her classmates adorned most of the shelving.
One picture caught his attention; it was of Lelouch vi Britannia dressed as Zero and two other people standing on what must surely have been the hangar deck of the Ikaruga. One of the two people standing next to Zero was a teenage Kallen in her Black Knights uniform, the other was a woman in a black outfit with long green-colored hair that once surrounded a face that had since been scratched out of the picture by someone.
"Green hair?" Kannon mused to himself. "I wonder if she was C.C.? Could she and Kallen have been rivals for Lelouch?" Suddenly Kannon felt bad for Captain Kouzuki. Kannon knew the pain of losing a person you love to a romantic rival or to circumstances beyond a person's control. Oddly he found that this ache in his heart was not for Schneizel, it was for someone who had touched his soul in a way no one else had or perhaps even could.
He put the photo back onto the shelf from which he had taken it and looked over the small stack of books that were hastily assembled on one of the shelves. He removed a volume from near the bottom of the stack entitled Ashford Academy Yearbook 2017 a.t.b.
Kannon flipped through the pages of the book lovingly as he glanced over every photo of Kallen, Lelouch, Milley Ashford, Major Rivaltz, even Euphemia li Britannia at Milley Ashford's failed school fair.
Then he came upon the photo of the person he yearned to see, a young girl whose humble appearance and innocent way had stole his heart the first time he had laid eyes upon her.
"There you are Nina," Kannon caressed the image lovingly as he lay back on Kallen's bed. His eyes were heavy from lack of sleep. "I miss you so much," he said before drifting off into a deep slumber.
End Turn Four:
Next; Turn Five: Champions