Lelouch left the Corporal behind as he walked along the metal balcony to what seemed to be his Knightmare. His boots echoed loudly even though the people below were still cheering, but had quieted down enough and started moving onto fixing up there Knightmares for the battle ahead.
As Lelouch rounded the side of the balcony he found himself standing next to his old Shinkirō. He held C2 tighter which caused her to stir and look at him confused. Still holding her up with one hand he reached out placing his hand against the cold metal. "But how? Shinkirō was destroyed during the war." He spoke to himself more then anybody else. C2 seemed to ignore him as she closed her eyes out of comfort and boredom.
"There wasn't much left of it, but we rounded up all the pieces and slowly put it back together." A voice came from behind Lelouch causing him to turn around quickly, an action that brought an annoyed grunt from the girl in his arms. Suzaku smiled at him as he walked up to him.
"Oh Suzaku it is you." Suzaku walked up to stand next to him looking at Shinkirō, Lelouch fallowing suit. "You guys re-built Shinkirō? But doesn't that go against the point of reducing military if you are building more Knightmares?" He gave Suzaku a questioning look who just smiled staring at the Knightmare.
"Shinkirō became something of a symbol for Zero so it was worth the cost to fix it." He winked at him then placed his hands where his blade was on his hip. "So you never explained how you lived?" He gave Lelouch a questioning look.
"I prefer to keep that a secret for now. But I will say C2 helped make it happen." Lelouch smiled down at her but she still had her eyes closed, obviously ignoring his words. Suzaku didn't seem convinced but he didn't push the subject. He gave them a quick wave before heading out to prepare for the battle ahead.
Lelouch placed C2 in the back seat and started strapping her in when she suddenly slapped his hands. "I am not a child, I can hook myself up." With an annoyed expression she strapped herself the rest of the way in. Lelouch rubbed his hand before sitting in the seat directly in front of hers. He pressed several buttons starting up the Knightmare.
"Just like I remember it." His hand griped the handle and pulled on it and instantly all the lights turned on in the monitors. "How are the weapons?" He turned his head slightly to look behind him but still not enough to see her.
"Weapons are online." He heard her clicking at some of the buttons. She never had much to do even during the last war. She was usually there for support more then aid. "Shields power is at a hundred percent."
A voice cracked over the radio. "The E.U. has attacked the capital. They have broken threw our defenses and are flooding into the city. Battle stations, battle stations." He felt C2 shift behind him uncomfortable.
"They got here faster then I expected" He leaned his head against his hand and stared at the screen in front of him which was giving off different commands for different groups. Lelouch's mind was already racing at which would be the best move to do first. "Alright, Let us begin." He sat up straight and pulled on the controls hard which caused the jets go start up and he leaves the restraints on the Shinkirō falling to the ground.
The soldiers in the hanger flooded out in different directions to take up defensive positions. "Lelouch…I have a bad feeling." Lelouch could hear the concern in her voice, which was not normal. He nodded his head. "Don't worry, we will be fine." Just then they could hear the sound of what seemed to be thunder, but they knew other wise. The battle for the capital had begun.
Hours later Lelouch was hidden inside one of the tall buildings. From this standing point in a blown out part near the roof he could see much of the battle and he was giving out orders accordingly. "Things are going well on the ground, but the problem is that floating fortress they have in the air."
Lelouch looked up towards the out skirts of the city where what can only be described as a circler UFO mother ship. As it slowly turned the light shined off each of its giant guns that would fire and shot down any near by enemy Knightmares. "How the heck did the E.U. build that in secret?"
"It is going to be a serious problem taking it out, won't it Lelouch?" Lelouch didn't answer her but gave a silent nod. It wasn't going to be easy to take out that super fortress, but Lelouch probably had the only Knightmare able to get close enough. He reached up and rubbed his forehead out of frustration. "It could be risky, but it could work."
"Easy for you to say, you can't die." C2 said with amusement in her voice. He waved his hand in her direction. "Don't speak of such things." He replied with annoyance. "Let's get this over with. Now I need you to convert all energy to the Wing System and the Absolute Defense if we have a chance of making this work."
Both of them set at work setting up the power and systems to start there plan. Once done Lelouch took a deep breath and a silent chuckle escaped C2's lips. "What's so funny?" He heard her shuffling against her restraints for a better position to sit, her leg irritating her.
"You risking so much for these people. That's not like you Lelouch, at least not in the open like this." She spoke with amusement in her voice. Lelouch sighed closing his eyes. "Things change." He said simple. "I have stuff I want to protect."
Lelouch's hands moved fast as he powered up the shields. "Okay, get read to fire up the Wings." He placed his hand on a switch and waited a couple seconds. Then he pulled the switch as fast as he could. "Now!"
The jets in the back turned on in a blink of an eye. The force of the jets caused the inside of the building to shake and suddenly the partially bombed out building started to collapse around them. Lelouch pulled another level and they shot out of the collapsing building like a bullet. "Preparing to start up defensive shield."
Lelouch gripped his teeth as the pressure of the G-forces pressed him into the back of the chair. He struggled to respond to her. "Wait, not yet. Wait until they fire. We must save as much energy as possible." They shot across the sky passing enemy and ally Knightmares a like, going so fast they barley had time to react.
The Super Fortress drew nearer and nearer. So close, Lelouch can see the guns turning to point at them. "Okay, wait…wait, activate them." The shields forms up in front of them just in time as there guns fired. They impacted the shields but it didn't slow down Shinkirō. Some of the guns stopped firing as the crew ran away before the Shinkirō impacted into the side.
Smoke rose high into the sky blackening the clear blue sky. Shinkirō straitened up without a scratch but the shield seemed to be depleted. "Okay, time to fire. Power up the Hadron Cannons. Direct the fire to the middle of this Super Fortress. That's the only place where there power source could be." Lelouch looked down watching the power meter increase, very slowly. "Faster, faster."
Lelouch looked up in time to see two Knightmares coming over the edge of the Fortress. He grabbed the controls and turned to them firing off the Transition Cannon mounted on the chest of the Shinkirō and the two Knightmares are sent falling towards the battle below. "If we don't get the power needed soon we will be swarmed like bees in a hive."
Lelouch slammed his fist against the controls and a loud buzzer went off announcing it was at a hundred percent. "Hadron Cannon as full capacity, ready to fire." C2 announced behind him. Lelouch blinked in confusion. "So it's true, hitting it does make it work." He turned Shinkirō and pointed it at a round dome in the center of the Fortress.
"Fire, Hydron Cannon." He pulled on a lever and the beams shot out tearing through the dome like it was butter. A few seconds went by without any reaction and Lelouch thought perhaps he made a mistake when suddenly huge explosions came bursting out every part of the ship; one directly underneath them. They were sent flying into the air.
"Power up the Wings." He shouted back at C2 but she shook her head with a frown. "The Wings have been blown off. We are in free fall."
Lelouch spit out a curse and started thinking as fast as he could. "Alright direct the few remaining energy into the shields underneath us. But wait until we are at two-hundred feet and increase the shields as much as possible." Lelouch took a deep breath and made sure his straps were as tight as possible. The shields will help but it can only help so much. They will be lucky if they don't blow up.
"According to the map, we are going to fall into a pipe factory. Can you guess what they make? It's not pillows unfortunately." C2's words only annoyed Lelouch further. "Lelouch I feel I should tell you something before it is too late."
Lelouch shook his head quickly. "No, tell me after. We will be fine." The response he got from C2 was a silent growl. "I just wanted to tell you I thought this idea was completely retarded."
Lelouch would have fallen out of his seat if not for the straps. "Great, I feel much better." His words reached C2 just in time before the sound of breaking glass and metal scraping against metal filled there years and sent there minds scrambling. The impact came a second later. The screens blacked out as the remaining of the energy drained because of the shield.
Only one monitor came back on but it was just silent fuzz, obviously broken but lit the dark area enough to see. Lelouch let out a groan and opened his eyes. "We did it!" He let out a chuckle. "You still alive back there?" He tried to look at her but the straps didn't allow him to turn around.
"Lelouch…." Her voice came out in a groan. "Oh good you are alive. It seems we are out of power so we are going to have to-"Something wet dripped onto his shoulder and he reached over placing his hand over it and examined the liquid. The bright red shined in the dim light. Lelouch's eyes opened wide in shock. He wasn't injured so that means.
He struggled against the restraints until he got the last one off. Spinning around his eyes opened in shock and he almost hurled. Sticking out of C2's chest was a long pipe. There Knightmare most of landed in a pile of them because they were sticking out in several different places.
C2 lay slumped, only sitting up because of the pipe in her chest. Lelouch scrambled crawling over his seat to be next to her. "Don't move, it's going to be okay." Even though he spoke the words he knew there was no way to save someone from such a serious wound.
"Lelouch…." He placed his bloodied hand against her cheek as tears were now leaking out of the corner of his eyes. "Do not talk. I think you punctured a lounge." He grabbed the pipe and pulled with all of his strength. C2 let out a scream of agony as the pipe wiggled but did not budge.
Lelouch let the pipe go out of exustion. He looked at his raw hands that had cracked and started to bleed. "We will get some help, don't worry." Her head slowly raised to look at him, her eyes already filling with despair.
"Lelouch…I…" He shook his head placing both his hands on her cheeks. "Don't say it. You…we….I can still think of something." Her head slowly moved side to side.
"I…I still think…you're a…idiot." A small smile came across her lips and Lelouch couldn't help but chuckle as tears streamed down his cheeks. C2's eyes slowly closed and she went limps against the pipe.
"You stupid…witch. I love you too." He shook his head and started to sob holding C2's head against his chest.
****The story is not over****