Thanks to the powers of telekinesis and their non-material forms, Lelouch was able to stand beside the floating drones he had reprogrammed as Jeremiah moved countless amounts of rock and the ore that were recently mined by the drones. When the ship landed, Earl Asplund was hard at work in setting up a small laboratory with stripped down materials of said ship.
The teen looked back, he mused over what they had taken; A ship with militarized autonomous fighters, programmed to destroy all life which was not theirs. It was more than safe to assume whomever created these things perished by their own hands. The machines had no algorithm to tell what was friend and what was foe, aside from each other. Lelouch believed if they let the machines alone, they might one day reawaken and destroy everything in their path.
He had only reprogrammed around a bakers dozen of drones, each were commanded from a newly redesigned laptop all thanks to Lloyd. It was small, tablet sized even, much smaller than the ones he had used at his education in Ashford. Thinking back, the former emperor couldn't help but worry. Did their world turn out alright? Was peace still standing strong?
A crash and a scream from Lloyd a few meters away brought him back to reality. Turning around, Lelouch watched the scientist quake in his non-existent boots as wires and large pieces of machinery be stripped from the ship. Thankfully Lloyd's telekinesis was a great help, the boy calculated three or five whole knightmares wouldn't even remotely have the capacity to carry what Lloyd was doing himself.
"My lord?" As dutiful as when he was in life, Jeremiah was beside the boy within moments. He had forgone any salute and kneeling as decreed by his master.
Even while Lelouch protested any act of loyalty from the two companions they kept calling him their lord. The boy was at least grateful they stopped saluting. Somewhere in his mind, Lelouch believed they naturally pushed the ball of leadership to him. Why not? Lloyd only concerned himself of Science, Technology and Philosophy; While Jeremiah was a soldier, despite his original rank in nobility.
Not willing to leave his knight ignored, Lelouch reassured him, "It's alright, Jeremiah. This isn't something what I expected after dying but, it is original."
"Regardless my lord, it is better than what many have expected since man first died."
Lelouch studied the man in front of him. He had already resumed back to moving materials from the moon to a central loading zone for manufacturing. The boy wondered why he left his previous life to follow him, and so he asked, "Jeremiah, why did you follow me? Last I recall, I had set you for life."
The question earned a nod, and Jeremiah had a look of fulfillment on his face. He kept at work as the man replied, "Indeed. I managed to own an orange farm since your death. I also took Anya Alstreim in as she had never found a family. I could no longer stay as a Knight for Lady Nunnally; Lady Sayoko and the masked one had taken over that duty."
"You left her for me? Did you have anything else?"
Jeremiah bowed with his right hand over his heart. His voice came out resolved, honest and unwavering. "Sire, believe me. The Gottwald name has always been synonymous to Chivalry and Knighthood since Washington's Rebellion. Loyalty and Duty is all that we know. As a consequence of your denouncement of nobility, my family lost very little. However, the Gottwald family still supported you as they lost their title. I know it would honor my family to be your knight for however long this new life leads us."
"No children?" Lelouch asked in a befuddled expression. He did not remember all the roles and ancestry of each noble family; It was quaint to know some had stuck to the path they've always been. It even gave the boy slight confusion. Men and women after reaching a certain age within the nobility would end up being courted at the behest of their family. Jeremiah must have been at least his late twenties. He should have been already married with children on the way.
"Aside from Anya, who is like a daughter to me, I sent her to Lady Nunnally, hoping she would break out of her shell and grasp the bright future you gave her. I have no children, no beloved, and no true friend since Villetta Nu's betrayal."
Something clicked. The boy smirked as he quipped back, voicing his thoughts, "A career knight. Heading off to new adventures, slaying dragons and bringing prosperity like the reign of King Arthur?"
It seemed the assumption was correct. Jeremiah could only clear his throat out in embarrassment. The man had nothing but his job and apparently he loved it. Now that they were no longer mortal in a sense, they had all the time in the universe. Lelouch could only laugh as he pointed a finger to him.
"I think I'll make it a hobby to order you to save a princess one day." joked the boy. The knight sputtered, protesting at the mere possibility he would try and imitate the original knights of the round.
Both men quickly stopped the banter as above them dozens of hyperspace wormholes appeared in a green swirl. From each spike of energy, ships emerged. Each one was nearly identical to the ship they had taken for themselves. They made no aggressive moves, in fact they each systematically moved closer towards where they were staying and set themselves to land. Lelouch could only think of one person responsible.
"LLOYD!"
The scientist in question raised both his hands in celebration. A wide eyed grin came from his face as he laughed, "Ahahahaha~ Yes, your majesty?!"
"Explain! I count at least fifty more ships exactly like this one orbiting around us." screamed Lelouch as he dashed across the distance towards his scientist, Jeremiah right beside him. This was way more than they bargained for. Who knows what life out there could be still around, searching and investigating these ships. This stunt lead every society right to them!
"There are fifty nine ships, my lord." Lloyd corrected with a high pitch note when the nine was spoken. He lifted a hand to placate the boy as he gestured them to a workstation. The scientist was hard at work, setting a laboratory with tables, workstations and various parts of the ship strewn about. "Oh~ don't get your knickers in a twist, This is a good thing!"
Looking at where Lloyd suggested, both men raised an eyebrow. The workstation had lines of coding being strewn all about as another window was filled with ships logs from presumably the other ships. Having some coding experience himself, Lelouch read over the entries and lines before he spoke out in realization, "They all activated the moment ours was turned on."
"Hip hip hooray~ I had reports being sent to and fro periodically the moment we landed." the scientist congratulated with a nod.
There was reasonable cause to control them then. Lelouch could see the possibilities with an armada of ships just like this one. Aside from the firepower, it was free labor from mindless drones under their command. Lloyd could have ample materials for his experiments, and no doubt the already pre-made alloys and machinery they could use.
Jeremiah was quick to see the bigger picture, he understood the cause and effect of leaving the ships unattended, since they were at fault in awakening them. "I assume you took them all here in case they went along and tried to destroy everything?"
Lloyd nodded more and more vigorously as he knew he was getting closer to having more toys to play with. Without signs of guilt he waited for an answer to an unspoken question. 'Can we keep these?'
"No doubt all this tearing into space and time for them to get here made an impact on anyone with the capability to notice us. Were they followed?" Lelouch's question came out in a somber tone. If anything were to happen, they weren't prepared. Of course, if any species advanced enough to follow them would show, all of the 59 ships under their command would attack simultaneously. This would only work if they had an inkling of their own capabilities; If they knew nothing of their enemies and nothing of themselves, they will always be lain in defeat.
The Earl was given some time to think about it. He had read a little on what the ships logs had and he knew everything from their home universe was merely scientific theory. Thus he shook his head in a thinking posture as he answered, "Based on my knowledge so far, I'd say 'following' a ship through the same hyperspace window is impossible. However, the ship does have sensors that read faster than light windows."
"So it's much like a radar, nothing more."
Jeremiah's remark was quickly interjected while Lelouch thought intently, setting plans for the immediate future. They needed to move quickly, a foundation needed to be set up before unexpected obstacles be thrown their way, "This has hastened our time frame considerably. I believe we need roles as we continue onwards. I will handle designing, schematics and start into reading up on space warfare." He turned to the two other and set his commands.
"Jeremiah, sadly there's nothing that currently requires the expertise of a knight." The man deflated at his words, but understood there was little to do in their situation. He quickly perked up as he was commanded to help in administration. "You will be helping me and be in charge of drones, manufacturing, and the protection of this solar system. We're neighbors to what might be alien life on those planets, primitive life. I want them safe for as long as we're living here."
With a salute, Jeremiah quickly went to gather the materials necessary for his duties. "Yes, your majesty."
"Lloyd… You know what to do." The moment the words left the former monarch's lips, his quirky scientist jumped and crashed into the opened up ship. Sounds of metal creaked as tools shot out of the ship. Lelouch quickly added, "I want reports! You hear me?!"
A crazed laugh afterwards were the only indication of him listening.
"I want things run by me before you might accidentally turn this gas giant into another star!"
A quip was heard, "Stellification is still theoretical!"
"I don't want it becoming true anytime soon!"
Chapter 5: 1,771
Next Update: 12/23/2017
