Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever owned Code Geass. If I did… well, I'd probably have a lot more money than I do right now and we'd already have a spin off series dealing SPECIFICALLY with the life of CC pre Season 1.
Rolo's eyes flicked up from the report and settled on 24, widening. 24? But why… He opened his mouth as if too speak, but 24 placed a finger on his lips and scratched his ear nonchalantly, a well practiced warning against possible bugs and listening devices. Rolo's mouth closed and he continued his report while his thought assailed 24.
"Zero has uncovered a hidden Brittanian base in China." What the hell are you doing here?
The job you were supposed to be doing: recon and keeping a close eye on Zero and his plans.
"The exact purpose of this base is at present unknown." But I am doing that job.
Then why did the reports stop?
"It is suspected that the facility is a training ground and research center for a new and dangerous kind of soldier." Rolo's thoughts furiously focused on the task of delivering the orders.
24 frowned and delved deeper. So that's it. You let him get to you.
"You are to report for duty tomorrow at 0400 in the main hangar." Rolo hurried through the rest of the briefing. "You will receive further instructions then." Turning, he left the room hurriedly.
24 frowned and thought to himself. Rollo has betrayed us? I didn't think it possible. The things this Zero, this Lelouch- a brief wave of inexplicable jealousy rolled over him, catching 24 off guard. Shaken, he returned to his thoughts. They can't be true. Zero knows Rollo was never his brother. Zero knows Rollo was set as a spy, nothing more. Can this man really read a person as easily as I can? That Zero possesses the Geass I am well aware of from the mission briefing, but there were no telltale signs of its use on Rolo. Could Lelouch truly be so naturally charming? Does he read people as openly and as well as I without the need to peek into their thoughts?
With a start, 24 recalled the mission details. They were vague at best, but clearly seemed to indicate the Geass Directorate. Had Rollo betrayed their location? No, it had to have been somebody else. Rollo had as many friends amongst the directorate as 24 himself, and likely knew as much about the actual location.
Regardless of how it had come about, Zero had seemingly learned of the Directorate and its location. That presented another problem entirely. He had to get Sara out. Despite the several services he had done the directorate, he had no loyalty to them. They had simply come along and scooped him up in a time of confusion.
It was Sara who rescued me. She cared for me and helped me. She's the only one that cares about me the person rather than me the asset. She loves me, I know she does. She has to! Why else would she have come with me to the Directorate? 24 quelled the rising doubts that put her love into question. Of course she loved him, and he her. How could it be any other way?
I will not let Lelouch take her. I won't lose anyone to him again! That last thought brought him up short. What did he mean "again?" He had never met the man before to his knowledge. The thought seemed… off. It was his thought, but it had a different… edge to it. Something confused and twisted. But the thought was irrelevant. All that mattered now was saving Sara.
The specially selected squadron comprised of Squad 0 and an elite selection of other pilots stood at attention before Zero, masked and standing alongside Rollo and a blue haired man wearing an orange half mask.
That man… I know him from somewhere. 24 reached out to the man's mind and found… nothing. What in the world…
"Knights!" came Zero's voice, echoing in the hangar. "Today I task you with a mission of the upmost importance. We have learned of a secret Britannian research facility within the Chinese Federation." Murmurs began spreading across the crowd. "This facility holds a dark and terrible secret, one the Britannia would use only as a weapon to instill fear and tyranny around the world! They are researching… immortality!"
A wave of gasps and shocked utterances swept the room. 24 smirked, knowing the lie for what it was.
"You are the best the Knights have to offer, and we cannot allow the Britannians to complete this research. The facility and all its occupants must be eliminated!" This proclamation was met with nods of agreement. After all, who could war against an undying army? "Tomorrow we march on this facility and we will ensure Britannia is unable to bring this tree to fruition." Zero turned to the man with the blue hair. "Jeremiah Gottwald, will you please provide us with the location of the facility." The man nodded and stepped forward.
With a start, 24 recognized him as the test subject from the directorate, the one they had been trying to replicate V.V.'s abilities with.
The man smiled and the eye on his masked flashed open briefly. For a mere moment, 24's head went silent. For that blissful moment, his thoughts were all his own again. He felt something loosen within him and something inside him relaxed. He exhaled softly. "Damn," he whispered.
Shocked, 24's eyes widened briefly before he regained his composure. Somehow, whatever that man had done had caused him to regain his speech. He knew little about the project the man had been involved with, but hadn't there been something about the ability to negate a Geass? Did that mean he had been Geassed before? Could it have been someone at the directorate? No.
24 leveled his eyes at Zero, at Lelouch. It made sense. The ability to give an absolute order to anyone could easily be used as a gag. Could this be the first real window into his past?
Jeremiah finished entering the data into the computer, his Geass Canceller sliding closed. As the silver lens shut, the thoughts flooded back in.
"Gentlemen, you have your orders."
24 gritted his teeth as he listened to the communications between Lelouch and V.V., waiting for the signal that would begin the attack. He found it odd that Lelouch had forsaken his Zero guise for this confrontation. It appeared he placed an absolute trust in this "Squad 0" of his.
"But by the time you get here, we will already have moved to another place." There was the signal. Zero's capacity to anticipate the responses and actions of his opponents proved itself yet again. The first volley struck the Directorate and Knightmares began to pour in.
24 followed them in his Akatsuki, gun and Revolving Blade Sword at the ready, desperately making his way to his former home and the possibility of Sara.
…this isn't a battle…
…oh god, somebody help!
…massacre…
…really necessary?
…defenseless…
…they're everywh-
24 speed towards his home, ignoring the thoughts and pleas for help as he continued. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Amrick amongst a group of other Geass users trick a soldier into making eye contact and seizing control of his Knightmare. Suddenly, Rolo was there with Geass active, hesitating only a moment before murdering the children.
Reaching the house, 24 kneeled the Knightmare and exited, taking a gun with him and locking the cockpit. As he rushed into the house, he reved up his Geass and expanded his concentration to the surrounding area. She wasn't here. Rushing out of the building and back to his Knightmare frame, he extended the Geass to the furthest range he could manage. Dammit Sara, where are you?
Searching desperately, he sorted through the thoughts in rapid succession, searching for those of the one he knew and loved. Suddenly, he found her. Sara!
24!
Rounding his Knightmare, 24 sped off in the direction of the thought, dodging or simply knocking aside anyone that got in his way. Leaping up onto a building he saw her, terrified and huddled against the side of a building with three or four others. Another Knightmare rounded a corner and spotted the group.
"Shit!" 24 shot his Knightmare forward and fell from the building, crashing into the other mech as if by accident, allowing Sara and the group to escape into the building.
"The hell do you think you're doing?" came the other soldier's transmission.
"Sorry, I misjudged the distance of a jump."
"Well be more careful this time, these things are expensive."
"Roger that." 24 breathed a sigh of relief, checking and confirming that Sara and the others had made it out the other side of the building and into a safer location. Wheeling his Knightmare around the building, he stopped outside the wreckage they had found refuge in. Exiting the cockpit, he made his way towards them through the debris.
A sudden thought was his only warning as he dived beneath an iron rod that swished through the space his head had just been.
"Fucking Black Knight," Sara exclaimed as she took aim with the bar again. "We're unarmed! Why are you doing this."
24 caught the bar and ripped it from her hands, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Sara! Calm down Sara, it's me!"
Sara struggled to break free. "No! No! How do you know my name? Let me go!"
Sara, calm down!
She stopped struggling and looked up at him. "24?"
"I told you I'd be back before you knew it."
"Y-you got your voice back."
"I know."
"How?"
"I don't know."
The former nurse shuddered and collapsed into the arms of a traitor. 24 looked up at the small group that was beginning to come out of the rubble. Only two others had made it. He scanned their minds briefly to determine their abilities. The girl, only 8, was like a sponge that automatically collected knowledge from those around her. She could only retain the knowledge as long as she was in proximity to them or had written it down, though. The boy, at least 10, was able to stimulate the senses of another person through eye contact, be it causing hallucinations, stimulating pleasure or pain or simply sending shivers down their spines, a dangerous gift.
"The two of you can probably fit into the storage compartment of my Knightmare. Sara, you can ride with me in the cockpit. There is no way I can hide you on the Ikaruga for very long, but if my guess is right we will be launching an attack on Japan again very shortly. I can find a safe place for you there." 24 scanned the surrounding area, but it appeared the Knightmares had moved on to a new area of the facility. "I'm not leaving you, Sara. I'll never abandon you."
Fitting the two kids into the storage compartment proved to be only slightly difficult, having to rearrange the emergency supplies so that they would have room. Even then, it was a tight squeeze. Sara and 24 climbed into the cockpit, the hatch sliding closed with a pressurized hiss.
As the Knightmare's float system ignited and the frame lifted off, 24 turned and looked over his shoulder at Sara. "I'm sorry, for everything. If there was any way I could have prevented this, I would have."
Sara nodded, still in shock after the destruction of the facility and the casualties that surrounded her.
"Get all of the remaining Knightmares out!" squawked the radio. "Apparently the leader of this place is in that monster outside."
Looking up through the hole blasted in the roof of the facility, 24 could make out the massive orange form of the Siegfried battling with the Black Knights. One last stand for V.V.
Bending the frame down, 24 searched through the remains of some destroyed Knightmare Frames and retrieved their energy fillers, filling his own Akatsuki back to full power. He wouldn't respond to the call to arms. He couldn't respond to the call of arms. Sara was more important than that.
Wielding his sword carefully, he sliced through the opposite arm of his Knightmare, rendering it near useless in combat against such a formidable foe. Rising into the air, he made his way to the base camp and set down for repairs, but not before fishing out the spare uniform he had brought along for Sara to wear. He would have to find a way to hide the children, but with any luck the storage department would remain unchecked until he had a chance to smuggle them out. But Sara was safe, and that was all that mattered.
A/N: More repetitive apologies for the length of time in between updates. I hope my more faithful readers are still sticking around!
Well, we finally got some action this chapter! Woo! Expect it to calm down again though. He can't be on the front lines for every episode. No shout out this chapter so don't bother looking.
One of the most common complaints I've been getting is that Mao just doesn't feel like Mao, and I think it's only suitable that I explain myself here and now. In the series, Mao's defining character trait was his undying and unconditional love of C.C. and it was his obsession over her that caused him to go such extremes and appear as though he were insane. If you remove the memory of the object of obsession, suddenly you have these feelings of obsession that have nothing to anchor them. Naturally, the obsession became fixated on the first person to show him kindness after the memory loss, that being Nurse Veresin. I hope the obsession came across in this chapter after Sara had her life on the line (which is also the same reason he went to such extremes for C.C. if you think about it).
Also, I shouldn't have to remind people about this but it appears there is no other way. REVIEW! And I mean real reviews, not just a wimpy two-word review like "It's nice." Give me some real feedback! Authors thrive on constructive criticism and the more reviews we get the sooner you guys tend to get the next chapter! So take up the banner in the fight against writer's block and hit that review button!
