Once upon a time there was a mighty bronze statue named Talos, who acted as a guardian for the royalty of Crete. Talos was enchanted, brought to life by a single vein of ichor that flowed from neck to ankle, plugged by a single nail at the foot.
When the Argo attempted to approach the island, Talos threw boulders at them in a terrifying display of strength. With no other resort, Jason's wife Medea deceived the creature into removing its nail, and so the ichor ran out of it like molten lead. Shortly thereafter mighty Talos exsanguinated and died.
Bear heed to this lesson from this ancient tale: It does not matter how mighty the warrior. It does not matter how high minded the philosophy. It does not matter how clever the tactician. For in the end there is one truth that all people must abide by.
You cannot live without your blood.
Chapter 50: Fool's Mate
Kallen/Suzaku/Both
Here we have it. The finest pair of Knightmare pilots within Area Eleven, making ready to test their skills against each other yet again. Each pilot considered the other with due care before making their first move, an automatic process performed by any fighter of worth.
That's the Guren. It's a fast Knightmare, with a dangerous Stand.
That's Suzaku. I didn't want to fight him. I wonder if he knows what's really going on.
So long as I stay out of its reach that shouldn't be a problem.
Lancelot is flight enabled. That means he's probably going to stay out of my reach.
The main problem is her Stand. If it works the way that I think it does...
The main problem is his Spin technique, I don't know much about it.
And Lancelot was damaged during my fight with Master Tohdoh.
I used Jumpin' Jack Flash too much against C.C. I'm starting to feel a little worn down.
Which means I have to end this quickly!
====Suzaku====
The Guren moved first, wheeling around on the pavement away from C.C.'s downed Knightmare, lifting its arm and firing up into the sky.
"Be careful Suzaku!" Cecile warned even as Lancelot dodged around the incoming projectiles. "This pilot has demonstrated amazing speed in the past, and can use her Stand to blind you. She'll be able to track your position easier than you can track hers!"
"Noted," Suzaku agreed. Lancelot pulled out its VARIS rifle while dodging and began returning fire. "But I don't intend to make it easy for her!"
That being said she didn't seem to have much difficulty keeping away from his returning fire. However, the pavement around her was being peppered with holes: This was making the ground much less even, more difficult to move on, while Lancelot was as free as a bird.
"When we fought together at Kyushu, I thought there was a chance," Suzaku announced. His voice was filled with fury and disappointment in equal measure. "I thought maybe you were starting to understand what we needed to do."
"Oh, I understand plenty," Q1 replied. She couldn't keep this up for longer and they both knew it. He was too far away for her Stand to reach, which meant she was probably about to do one of two things. Q1 chose the mundane option: Her Guren's slash harken fired upwards, but it was as easy to dodge as her cannon fire. Not that hitting him was her intention anyway. "I'm wondering if you understand, Suzaku. You've been around Britannians too long. You've forgotten how things really are out here!"
"I've forgotten?" Suzaku answered, putting away his VARIS to draw out his swords. As expected, the Guren used its harken cable to pull itself up to his level. He veered around to the opposite side of that radiant wave claw and slashed out - but was kicked for his trouble as the Guren kept on going. "What do you presume to know about what I've forgotten?! You don't know the first thing about me!"
The Guren landed on the side of a building with its claw grabbing hold of the side, freeing up the slash harken to reel back in. She was trying to negate Lancelot's sole advantage: Flight!
"Remember to stay out of range of her Stand." Lloyd advised.
"If I do that, she'll wear me down and win!" Suzaku retorted. "I have no choice but to fight her head on, no matter what!" Lancelot pushed onwards, and he left the second half of his thought process unsaid: While the Guren's radiant wave claw was stuck within the building, this was the best possible time for him to get close.
"What do I know about you?" Q1 asked as Suzaku rushed forwards. To his shock the Guren's cockpit opened up. "I know plenty about you, Suzaku Kururugi," said the Guren's pilot, the Stand master of Jumpin' Jack Flash. "After all, we've been classmates for half a year now."
"... Kallen?" he asked in total disbelief. Impossible. That sickly quiet girl was really...? There was no mistaking her. The hairstyle was different - actually, it suited her a bit better - but it was definitely her. "But why? Aren't you –"
"A nobleman's daughter?" she finished, mocking him. "What about you? Aren't you the son of Japan's last prime minister? Funny isn't it, you'd think we'd be on different sides than this."
Suzaku lifted his sword, but Kallen's Stand - and that felt really weird to think - manifested right at the tip. Its arms waved around, while its face leered menacingly at Lancelot's cockpit. "Then leave the Black Knights," he offered. And he meant it honestly. It was one thing fighting a nameless enemy, but he had to give her at least one last chance. "Kallen, you'll do a lot more good working for us than working for Zero."
Kallen smiled and shook her head, then closed the Guren's cockpit. Suzaku's heart welled up with disappointment. "Sorry," she said, and she certainly sounded like she meant it. "There's far too much on the line tonight to give up just like that."
"I was afraid you'd say that."
The two Knightmares reacted at almost the same time, with the Guren being just a shade faster. It fired its slash harken across towards the next building over, and let go of the side of this one. Lancelot swung its arm across and fired out a steel ball, striking the harken's cable midflight and sending its head flying off in a whole other direction.
"Thanks a million!" Kallen chirped back. Her Stand give him a sarcastic salute as a sharp tug of her wrist let her anchor the harken onto her real target - the next side of the building she'd been holding onto. From this angle she could more easily swing off towards her target. The Viceroy's Palace!
Incredible! How the hell did she know that he would - Never mind! Suzaku had to hurry after her before she got anywhere near Nunnally! Fortunately he still had the air advantage and Kallen would have to move on foot, which meant he still had the advantage.
"Suzaku! There's a growing heat signature to your right!" Cecile warned.
To his right...? The building? He glimpsed at it en route and fell pale at the realisation. The Guren hadn't just been holding onto the building with its claw. It had also been using the radiant wave surge to set off a chain reaction within the building!
"In Lancelot's current condition, there's no way you'll be able to use the Blaze Luminous properly," Lloyd reported. "You see, you took too much damage against that mentor of yours. You should have come in for repairs when you had the chance."
"While there's still people to save out here?" Suzaku asked. The side of the building was bubbling quite badly. Any second now it would burst, and wouldn't be able to get out of the way of the explosion in time. "How can I possibly rest until the job is done?"
He fired a spinning ball point blank into the centre of the bubbling mass and tucked in Lancelot's arms and legs. If Kallen or anyone attacked him right now he'd be totally vulnerable, but under these conditions it was the only way to be sure. The explosion happened a half second later. The steel spinning ball had partially melted from the heat, but it had done its work. The heat and debris had been mostly spun away from Lancelot, minimising the damage and letting him go on to continue fighting.
"That was close," Cecile breathed a sigh of relief. "Suzaku, you should consider returning to the hangar for repairs. I can have support at the palace within a few minutes."
But down on the streets below he could already see the Guren moving swiftly towards the palace. Whatever defenses were set up to stop her, they wouldn't be enough. That combination was a terrifying enemy. "A few minutes is far too long!" Suzaku answered, flying down towards the Guren from above. He fired his slash harkens out, not really expecting to hit the Guren but instead trying to create an opening. "Kallen! Stop!"
Now she was using her Stand. The manic looking apparition flew upwards towards Suzaku, but he wasn't going to be in its range for a little while yet. The sight of this thing sickened him, even if it did belong to someone he thought of as a friend.
It was drawing back its fists and feet, taking aim for all four of the harkens at once. Its blindness inducing effect! Working quickly, Suzaku redirected the focus of his Knightmare's factsphere directly onto the Guren and away from the harken heads. So long as he didn't see the point of impact he should be able to see... But Kallen would not be.
"Do you really think you can change things from the inside?" Kallen asked. The Guren stopped and turned around to face Lancelot's general direction. It fired its slash harken upwards into the air in a wild angle, then used its other arm to guide the wire through the air. "I've seen the inside of Britannia's system! Before you know it, you'll be the same as any of them!"
This movement... She was firing blind and thinking he was blind as well. Right then! "You gave up too easily!" Suzaku retorted, and then quickly lowered Lancelot's position. Aha! As he expected, she swung the cable off towards where he'd spoken from. She was trying to figure out where he was by luring him into an argument. He put away his sword and drew out the VARIS rifle to draw a clear bead on her. If he took out a leg, he could end this right here and now. "If you want to make change meaningful, it has to be done the right way or everything will just repeat itself."
"The only thing repeating itself is your circular argument."
A cable crossed Suzaku's field of vision. But it wasn't the Guren's sole harken cable. Something struck hard against both of Lancelot's arms, and without warning both of the white Knightmare's arms were being pinned against its body.
"What?" Suzaku asked. What was going on here? He broadened the field of his factsphere's vision again and gawped in disbelief. "When did you do that?!"
More crucially, how had she done it? No matter the method it would require knowing Lancelot's exact movements. It would be one thing doing this to a Knightmare on the ground, triangulation would be a simple enough task. With the third dimension offered by a flying Knightmare this would be completely impossible without knowing exactly where he was -
Which meant she wasn't blind. Which meant Jumpin' Jack Flash had never struck the harkens. Instead, it had wrapped its coil limbs around the cables; Taking advantage of the certainty that Suzaku would look away to prevent being blinded mid-fight. Throw in a little distraction, and from there it was a simple task to pull the cables to make them wrap up the very Knightmare that had fired them in the first place! How thoroughly devious!
Jumpin' Jack Flash pulled all four cables, essentially luring Lancelot closer to the ground inch by inch. He was within reach of the Guren's radiant wave arm, but it was a funny thing. Somehow Suzaku was completely calm and relaxed even in this crisis situation.
"You know, it's funny," Suzaku said after a moment. "Milly was always working behind your back trying to work out what kind of guy you liked." He stopped for a moment. "Then she tried to work out what kind of girl you liked. Then she gave up and –"
"Tried to get me to cosplay for her," Kallen interrupted. "Which is what I think she really wanted from the start."
"You know, you're a lot more lively like this. It's a shame I never got to know the real you."
"Still trying to win me over?" Kallen asked. "You really shouldn't bother. If you're that worried about Nunnally –"
"I'm not," Suzaku interrupted. "I'm worried about you."
The steel ball launchers embedded in Lancelot's arms opened up and a pair of balls spun out into the cables tying down Lancelot. The spin on the cable began to tug it, pull it, altering the tension and gradually freeing up Lancelot's arms.
"When will you learn to give up?" Kallen yelled. Jumpin' Jack Flash rushed forward as far as it could probably go and lashed out with both of its hands, extending its coil arms to reach just a little bit further to strike the balls away from the cables.
"When I'm dead," Suzaku answered. Jumpin' Jack Flash's hands hit the spinning balls and for five seconds they were both struck blind by the Stand's abilities. Suzaku made no effort to move, he simply waited for it. The wait was short, but felt a hundred times longer than it was in reality. At first glance it would seem that the situation had not changed. Lancelot was still tied up while the Guren was free.
Yet nothing could be further from the truth.
"What?" Kallen asked. "What the hell is this? What did you do to me?!"
"I put a new spin on things," Suzaku said. "Sorry, couldn't resist, but what's a pun between friends?"
What had happened? The answer is simple: When Jumpin' Jack Flash had struck the balls they did not fly off into the city skyline. Instead, while Kallen was blinded by her own Stand's abilities the balls had stuck to those hands and continued spinning down, spinning along the Stand's hands. As he suspected, Kallen had no real knowledge of how Spin could interact with Stands, otherwise she would have taken a vastly different tactic.
The balls had moved quickly. Even if Kallen could have seen it, she would not have been able to do anything at this point. It was already too late for her to escape the devious trap set for her. The balls spun along the coil-like arm unimpeded, for the metal was stretched out more and more the closer you got to the fist. Yet the closer you got to the body, the tighter the metal loops became until eventually the ball simply could not travel any further.
The Stand was left hovering in mid-air with half its arms hanging out, with spinning steel balls trapped within them. And whatever fate befalls a Stand will usually befall its master: If Jumpin' Jack Flash's arms were trapped, then so too were Kallen's!
"N-No!" Kallen grunted. "It's not meant to be like this! We're supposed to finally win!"
"Now who is being naive?" It was a bit of a struggle, but - there! A little leverage to pull away the cables! "Kallen, you're an amazing pilot, but those skills don't matter if you can't even use your arms. It's over, give up!"
"Not a chance!" Kallen retorted. Still trying to fight? "I can't pilot in this condition... But I'll be damned if I become your prisoner!" Suddenly the Guren's arm whipped around, grabbing itself with its own radiant wave surger. "And you aren't getting the Guren either!"
"Kallen, stop!" Suzaku yelled, still struggling in the cables. To his relief, he saw an escape pod trigger as the silver claw began to shine red. Yes, relief. Even though she was a dangerous enemy, she was also a close friend. "That was incredibly risky! What if your systems had failed?
"What, as if I'd let you get the Guren," she sniffed. "I shudder to think what your team would make if you got your hands on it. Sayonara Suzaku. You win this time."
"You know, she has a good point..." Lloyd mused. The Guren began to burst and melt under the effect of its own signature weapon, while the escape pod flew off a short distance. "If I had Rakshata's pet toy, it would open up quite the possibilities for us."
"Not... The... Time!" Suzaku yelled. There! The last of the cables were free! Finally! "Kallen! There's no need to run! We can talk this through! We can find some other way if we just work together!"
"Suzaku!" Cecile interrupted. "Return to base immediately. Forget about your friend, you must refill your energy reserves."
Perhaps it was an excuse. Perhaps it was genuine concern. But Suzaku wasn't willing to forget about her quite that easily. "And give up a prime chance to put an end to this? If I can get hold of Kallen –"
"There's no need for that anymore," Cecile interrupted yet again. "I've just received an urgent message. We can put an end to the fighting right away. Nobody else has to die."
The conflict was heavy. Tonight he had to fight his best teacher and a friend. Was this what sensei meant when he asked about Suzaku's burden? He must have known this might happen, or at least something like it. Nonetheless, under these conditions what choice did he have?
In the end, friends or teachers or monsters alike, Suzaku was a soldier. It was his job description: One who fights in order to stop the fighting.
====Chigusa ====
It is not an easy thing to do, tailing after a vehicle going through a warzone. Fortunately Chigusa had two things going for her: The first was a motorcycle she'd stolen. The second, the occupants of that vehicle were all conditioned to forget about her the second they looked away from her. Even if one glanced back, if they looked away to tell their colleagues the memory would already be gone.
Be less obvious. They might not look away.
"Sure," Chigusa mumbled to herself. "And while I'm at it, why don't I also learn how to juggle?" Thank goodness Villetta at least knew how to drive one of these things, crashing without a helmet was not her preferred method of going out. Fortunately her coordination was spot on, and her nerves were like steel. Try riding one of these fast things when there's the sound of battle going on all over the place!
You mean my coordination is spot on, and my nerves are like steel.
"Shut up!" Ah, never mind her for now! The van was turning off into an underpass. Chigusa turned off to follow it in, though cautiously, and was completely caught off guard by a G1 base with its Britannian markings painted over. Her jaw dropped in surprise as she watched it moving through the underground tunnel, turning off through an intersection: No wonder they could never find these people! They probably moved location regularly, never concentrating their resources in one place!
It is your duty to call this in.
"Okay great... How do I do that, genius? In case you didn't notice they weren't exactly willing to listen to anything I had to say."
You have your phone. You have Miss Cecile's phone number. She will make them listen.
At this point Chigusa leaned against a nearby wall. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths and asked probably the most important question out of all of this. "You didn't bring that up earlier because...?"
It would not be appropriate for an Eleven to be allowed into a secure location during a crisis.
Right! Of course! Racism! Of course it was racism, why wouldn't it be? She hadn't remembered it herself right away because Miss Cecile had given her number to Chigusa after the transformation, so that was not affected by the Geass command. It was only Villetta's accursed life that she remembered in vivid excruciating detail, not her own!
Besides which, we are not actually holding a conversation right now. I am a subconsciously constructed ghost of what those vivid, excruciating memories of Villetta tell you that she would say under the circumstances.
Chigusa threw up her arms. "Fantastic, just what I need! The voice in my head is telling me that I'm crazy." And that she had already subconsciously noticed the phone issue, but was letting herself get distracted. That was another problem with her situation, it was so easy to get distracted by this confusing set of -
Pay more attention to your surroundings!
"Hey! You! Hands in the air!"
Those seemed like sensible suggestions for the immediate future. Chigusa obeyed the man standing at a distance with a firearm and his nice friends. There was not, unfortunately, anywhere for her to hide in the immediate vicinity so her Geass trick wouldn't work here. She kept her hands where they could see and stepped forward so they could get a better look at her.
"Huh? You're Japanese!"
"And you're the Black Knights," Chigusa calmly replied. "Now that introductions are out of the way, what are you going to do with me?"
They seemed genuinely confused about what to do. No, not confused. Conflicted. If it was a Britannian who had stumbled onto them, they might well have shot her right now. Since she was Japanese, they were hesitating. Was she on their side? Was she an enemy? That's the funny thing about racism. When it cuts one way for long enough, it starts to cut the other way after a while.
"I don't like this," she heard one of them whisper to another. "I don't trust her. Why the hell did she come this way?"
"Maybe she's come to join us?" another answered. "Is that it? Huh? You want to join the winning team?"
We're already on the winning team, idiotic Eleven!
"I don't know yet," Chigusa answered, ignoring that voice in her head for the time being. "I suppose that is why I am here."
There was a brief moment of awkward silence. It felt like they might just open fire at any moment, but then the last Black Knight to speak up cocked his head and smiled. "I appreciate your honesty, if not your intelligence. Check her for weapons or anything suspicious, then get her inside. I bet the guys on top will want to interview her."
Interview. Such a neutral term. It could mean like a job interview... Or it could mean an interrogation. Though some might say there's not really all that much of a difference anyway.
Actually, Chigusa really had already made her mind up about what to do. It was a little sneaky, and very underhanded... But ultimately she had little choice.
"Turn out your pockets," the Black Knight said, just outside of arm's reach.
"Alright," Chigusa replied. She put her hand in her pocket and paused for a moment while retrieving it. This was risky, but... "I did have one question though."
"Oh yeah?"
"Is there a spider in this tunnel?" Chigusa asked, then took her hand out of her pocket and showed him what was in it, holding it in front of her face. But then, as she did so her eye flashed and changed colours...
====Nina====
On reflection, Nina spent a lot of time being afraid. Which only made sense, really: The more she learned about the way the world works, the scarier it seemed. The human body was surprisingly resilient in some ways, yet fragile in others. Just like glass.
"It's okay," Milly lied, but convincingly. As always, the beautiful and confident council president had no trouble at all intruding on another's personal space. "It'll be alright, Nina. We're here to help you."
Milly had her arm around Nina's shoulder and was making an effort to hug her. In response, Nina had twisted her body away to make it as awkward as possible. Maybe then she'd cut it out. Stop getting so close before she - Before she did to Milly what she'd done to Rivalz!
"Please Milly, don't touch me," Nina begged. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Nobody's getting hurt," she promised, a promise they both knew she could not keep. Such a blatant attempt to calm her down, she must be really desperate. It was amazing how much she didn't show it, she sounded and looked like she truly, honestly believed it. "You get that? Nobody else is getting hurt."
Unfortunately, it seemed as though the Black Knights left standing disagreed. One of them towered over the two girls with a face like thunder, pointing his rifle at the two of them. "I went into the funhouse to look for my friends," he seethed. The Eleven was like a walking pressure cooker, you could almost see the steam coming out the top of his head. "You made quite the mess, huh?"
"I would advise against that."
To Nina's surprise, a young boy stepped in between the furious Eleven and the two of them. Ronald, wasn't that his name? He'd moved so quickly and quietly that Nina hadn't even noticed! Though the younger boy was a little smaller than Nina, it was strange, but he seemed to be the tallest person around all of a sudden. It wasn't an entirely scientific way to put it, but somehow she felt like he was projecting an intensely menacing aura.
"Oh yeah?" the Eleven snapped. "After what she's done? Give me one good reason -"
"Because her Stand is automatically protecting her," Ronald interrupted. The Eleven fell silent on the spot, as though he'd been slapped in the middle of talking. "So if you try to fire that gun at her and Milly, I can assure you... None of you will survive."
The Eleven actually backed off a little, even though he had the gun and Ronald did not. At first Nina thought that he was being even more of a coward than she was - Until she looked at Ronald's back and was left with the overpowering sensation that the assurance he was giving them was not that Nina would kill them, but rather...
"Y-You think I'm scared of some little brats?!" the Eleven yelled, lifting his gun and taking aim. "Forget this, I'm done with you Brit brats! Like hell I'm letting a Stand user that dangerous hang about!"
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
A series of letters flew by Nina's head and circled around the rifle's barrel, making it hang loose like a damp noodle, aiming down at the ground.
"Remind me to make an impotence joke when we're out of danger," Milly whispered. Nina nodded, but internally resolved herself to do everything she could to make her forget.
"Tamaki! What the hell! We don't have time to mess around!"
"Exactly," Tamaki answered. The injured Eleven pushed himself off the ground on shaking limbs. Oh no! He was getting back up to finish her off himself! "Our guys can only keep the military away for so long before they get here." his head snapped up, with twin streaks of blood flowing down the side of his face, framing it in a horrific, monstrously freaky way. "So why the hell are you trying to start another Stand battle when I've shed my own blood calming her down?! And you people call me a hotheaded idiot?!"
As if this entire situation couldn't get any worse. Nina's hands gripped tightly into fists until they turned white. Surely it couldn't have got worse after that vampire attack, but here she was, in the middle of an Eleven revolt. Then one of her friends was taken hostage by another friend, she has freak powers, nearly killed her friends and - And had to be stopped by that Eleven freak who was now saving her life on top of everything else?!
It was too much. Her breathing began to climb in rate, upwards and upwards. Some lowly Eleven freak thought he was better than her? An idiot like that was trying to be cool? She ought to remind him of his place right here and now! When they'd fought, she'd only stopped because she'd hurt Rivalz by mistake! But now that she could see where they all were, it wouldn't be too difficult to finish the job. Scoot off, get some glass and finish them all before they knew what was happening!
But Nina did not do this foolish thing because Milly Ashford's grip on her shoulders was present. It was not strong enough to hold her in place, and that was for the best: Strength would have made her struggle, which the Elevens would have noticed right away. Instead it was a grip of 'friendliness' and 'comfort' that kept Nina from moving even an inch, just long enough for her to look again at Rivalz, clutching at his arm and seething in pain to make her think again.
"Get in the van," the Eleven demanded. "We're getting out of here."
"Will you give Rivalz the treatment he needs?" Nina asked.
"Sure! When it's safe! Get in the goddamn van!"
They climbed inside, with Ronald in particular watching the Elevens with a wary eye. This was far from her preferred method of resolving this conflict, however... Sometimes when you win, you lose something more important.
====Kaguya====
Fun though it may be to watch all the insects scurrying around in a blind panic, Kaguya rather wanted to feel more directly useful before the time came. A Japanese woman being brought right to them, why, that provided her with the perfect distraction.
"Greetings to you," Lady Kaguya bowed to the woman bound to a chair. "I am truly sorry for any rough treatment you may have received. However, we can hardly be too cautious at this critical time. Now can we, Miss...?"
"Chigusa," the woman replied. "And no need to apologise, Lady Kaguya. I've been treated quite well all things considered. Even though I don't agree that this is as critical a time as you think."
Oho? How delightful! It had been a while since she'd had a good debate. Inside her head, the flesh bud squirmed in response to her delight at the potential intellectual challenge. Kaguya pulled up a chair and sat down face to face with this fascinating woman. She glanced at the armed guards around the door. Armed with rifles, but her personal safety wasn't really that much of an issue in any event. She would be perfectly safe even if they were not here, and even if Miss Chigusa here was completely unbound, free to move.
"You disagree with the rebellion?" Kaguya asked. "Ah, please don't hesitate to speak your mind. If a new Japan is to be born we must pay attention to the will of its people. Even those that may not think it is a good idea must have some kind of voice. What objections do you have?"
"Timing," Chigusa answered. How blunt, how forthright. Such a nice change of pace, she was so used to people being political and tactful. "This is the wrong time for a rebellion. It's obvious, you're not reacting on rational planning. You're reacting on instinct and it's going to get you all killed! It'll justify everything the Britannians have been thinking the last six months, and roll back all our rights to an even worse level than before!"
"You don't have much experience debating, do you?" Kaguya asked. "No, I expect not. I expect that Britannians don't normally listen to you, so you're used to getting everything out there in case you say something that catches their attention." She smiled brightly. "And then they can steal credit for your idea while you cannot say anything at all."
"Don't pretend like you know me," Chigusa retorted, which was exactly the response Kaguya was hoping for.
"Oh? But why not, when you're pretending like you know us!" Kaguya giggled into the back of her hand and peered over it with eyes that were full of mockery and disdain. "Claiming that we're reacting on instinct instead of rational planning when we've only just met, you sound just like a film critic who writes his review based only on the trailer."
"And you sound like a thrice damned saturday morning cartoon villain!" Chigusa snapped back at her. How rude! But she'd allow it because it was amusing. "You don't see it do you? You're having this rebellion right now when we still haven't captured the people responsible for the undead rising?" Chigusa tutted. "Don't you see? The Cult of K obviously want you to pick a fight with Britannia. It will make it easier to pick off the winner, and the way things are right now that's likely to be the Empire rather than you."
"Oh, that nonsense?" Kaguya dismissed with a wave of her hand. "How do we know that's what they're trying to do? Because the Britannian media tells us? Really now, we've all seen how trustworthy that can be! They always miss out vital information or change the details to make themselves look better. They abuse the truth almost as badly as they abuse us!"
As she suspected, Chigusa really didn't have much experience debating people. That expression on her face, all twisted up and trying to think. Ah, poor dear. Kaguya may have the flesh bud in her head, but unfortunately it seemed that Chigusa had her own bug in her head. A little bug called 'cognitive bias'. You see it all the time. People make their minds up ifirst/i about an issue, and then everything else they say is simply justification and deceit, to themselves and to others. Anything to prevent admitting they were wrong.
"It's still too soon," Chigusa insisted. "You clearly don't have enough of a military presence to both beat them and hold back any reinforcements Britannia sends."
"I see. So, pray tell: When would be a good time?" Kaguya asked. She began walking around Chigusa in a big circle, staying well out of arm's reach. She was going for the 'vulture circling the dying corpse' effect, though she suspected it came off more like a puppy being wary of its new owner. "A week from now? A month? A year? A decade? How long should we wait for the culprits to be found? How long before we rebel?"
"When you have enough strength to win, and stay standing afterwards."
Oh! And here was Kaguya thinking she was the adorable one in the room. "Ah, but what about Lelouch's new security measures?" Kaguya asked. "Why, if he is able to finish setting those up, then it will become completely impossible for us to mount any kind of rebellion. Japan will remain as Area Eleven in perpetuity, out of fear of an attack by undead forces that may never come."
"In that case, rebelling now will give Lelouch exactly the excuse he needs to discriminate against Elevens. Even the more liberal Britannians will be happy with this, and those Japanese that didn't join your rebellion will also be content!"
"Ah, like you for example?" Kaguya asked. "I think it seems pretty clear which side you're really on. Oh dear. You didn't find us by chance at all, did you? Oh no! That's such a shame. Unfortunately, if you're against us then that means –"
"It means that she will be treated as a prisoner until it's safe to release her," interrupted Kaname Ohgi. He stepped into the room and around Kaguya to examine their prisoner. Hrm? Was it her imagination or did she kind of blush a little? "I'm sorry for any mistreatment. Tensions are a little high right now. Don't worry, we're not going to kill you unless you try something against us." Oh, it was probably nothing important. What really mattered was keeping up her own facade.
"Why hello there!" Kaguya cheerfully greeted. "I did not expect to see you away from the command centre, my my! I would have thought you would be far too busy coordinating everything to come up here yourself. After all, was that not why I was questioning her?"
"From the sound of it, you were threatening her," Ohgi said. He stepped into the room and knelt down by the traitorous fool, much like a jester himself. "We're not going to change anyone's mind if we behave like oppressors ourselves, are we?"
"That doesn't seem likely," Chigusa agreed. Ooh! Now she was just stirring things up!
"Very well then," Kaguya huffed, then took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face. "Then I shall oversee matters in your absence. Have fun with the prisoner!"
En route back towards the command room, Kaguya thought it over. Perhaps she had been a little too eager to indulge? Yes, she would never normally be quite so bloodthirsty. There was no doubt about it, she had to keep that leashed. Fortunately they did not know her too well, or else they might have found it rather strange.
"Hi everyone!" she announced on entry. "I'll be taking over while Mister Ohgi interrogates the prisoner! Now, I'm sure everything is still going fine and well since a good system is a robust system, but please bring me up to date right away! What is the status on Taizo Kirihara and Lelouch?"
"It looks like Lelouch has brought Shinkiro down," she was told, and it brought out a twinge of disappointment and, from deeper within her controlled mind a terrible sadness that was quickly pushed down. "I'm sorry, but Mister Kirihara is not responding to attempts to communicate. I think he's..."
"Another death for Lelouch to atone for." Well, really it could only be self defense, but who cares about matters like that when she could use him as a rallying point? "What about Lelouch?"
"Zero is facing him now," Aha! Good! "And... we've sent out a retrieval team to grab both Shinkiro and what's left of the Guren. We don't want Britannia getting their hands on either of them, and Shinkiro looked like it could be useful."
Regarding Shinkiro, it's usefulness to them struck her as unlikely. The Black Knights didn't have any pilots with the mathematical abilities of a genius like Kirihara. Lelouch could probably use it effectively, but that was just another reason to keep it out of his hands. Her Masters would find it much more effectively neutralised if it was destroyed, but letting it fall into the hands of the Black Knights would be the next best thing. As for the Guren... Well, let them keep the irradiated scrap heap if they really wanted it. Her Masters had no need of it.
"I can't wait to see this," one of the workers moving about the room remarked to another. "Zero's been setting this up for weeks. I wish we could see the look on Lelouch's face when Talos hits."
"Me neither," Kaguya smirked. She sat down in a seat at the head of the room and thought the situation over. Kirihara had gone for the terrifying fiend approach, and he'd failed. The old man was intelligent, but given the choice he'd always preferred intimidation as the means to get what he wanted. Not her. All her life Kaguya would smile and nod and say cute things. She would charm people, distract them from the shrewd intellect behind her eyes and then they were more inclined to want to do what she asked. It was never something she'd done deliberately before, but now under the guidance of her Masters it was a whole other story.
Ah... but today had been so busy that she hadn't eaten yet. Nobody was watching so why not enjoy a tiny snack? Kaguya held out her hand and stared at it for a moment, hand open, palm turned downwards. Then she made a fist, turned her hand the other way up and opened her fist just a fraction to discretely study a grape that she was now holding within it. Seeming satisfied, she rested her open hand flat against the armrest. Of the grape, there was now no sign, though a few moments later Kaguya was making very discrete biting motions that would only be noticeable if one were watching for it. And nobody was.
"It's such a delightful trap that Zero has established," Kaguya said. Ah, as nice as a juicy grape could be it would not satisfy her half as much as seeing this through to the end. She smiled a sincere and true smile. "He won't stand a chance. Even so, we wouldn't have got this far without all of your hard work as well. Well done everyone!"
The mood of the room was already full of hope, but her words of encouragement spurred them on. You could almost see them pushing a little bit harder now that the end goal was in sight. Yes, there was no doubt about it. Being nice was so much more effective than being a scary monster.
====Ohgi====
This was a bit of a gamble, and Ohgi felt it keenly in his bones. He really should be out there, keeping an eye on the battlefield and making sure to properly relay all instructions and commands. Keep the engine running smoothly, make sure they could win. He should probably delegate this smaller task to someone else: Interrogate this mysterious Japanese woman they'd discovered outside their mobile base.
It could take moments to resolve, now that Kaguya had been chastened for her harshness. Use his Geass to make her more cooperative. Change her emotional state against her will to make her compliant. Force it on her, be done with the issue and return to the bigger picture.
So what does it make to be a truly great leader? There are numerous properties that are essential. A calm, level head. Charisma. The ability to make decisions, and see them through to the end. Yet these are the obvious qualities, those that stand out, can be easily measured and weighed. Less obvious are the subtler skills, the tendencies and habits which may not be noticed by the public and yet inform the greatest leaders, be they of nations or committees.
The first of these is the ability to see the importance of the little picture.
"Hi there," Ohgi said, stepping towards their prisoner with what he hoped was a charming, affable smile. "My name is Kaname Ohgi. I'm here to talk with you."
"Hello Kaname Ohgi," the woman said. "My name is Chigusa, and I'm being creeped out by that nervous, forced smile."
Chalk that up to a failure then. He grabbed a chair and sat in front of her, making a mental appraisal based on his first impressions and what little he knew already. She had been found outside their base, had surrendered immediately, was searched before they brought her in.
Right now this Chigusa was tied to a chair and looking quite thoroughly annoyed at him. Which made sense: Her only crime had been discovering their mobile base by chance. She had not done anything to properly warrant such treatment as of yet, but the funny thing was that Ohgi couldn't see a trace of fear in her pretty yellow eyes. This was a confident, intelligent woman.
"Did you come up here to stare at me, or was there something you wanted?"
Ah! Had he been staring? "I'm sorry about Lady Kaguya. She's usually a lot nicer than that." Chigusa kept her head down, deliberately turned away from him. "It may be because Suzaku Kururugi is her cousin. I think she may be a bit wary of Honorary Britannians."
"Oh, I see how it is," Chigusa tutted. "Tsk, tsk. Good cop, bad cop. How utterly tedious. Although I must commend you on the reversal: I would have expected the girl to be the good cop." Her eyes flicked up towards him. "Then again, you are rather handsome. Perhaps I would not have believed your performance as a bad cop."
Handsome? Him? No, no. Don't get caught up in her pace. She's flirting with you to throw you off. He leaned back in his chair, trying his best to seem casual. "We could use someone as intelligent and resourceful as you working with us. We are really fighting for the sake of everyone."
"Even those who disagree with you?"
"Especially them."
She gave him a flat look in response to that.
"Too cheesy?" he asked. She nodded. "Sorry, I'm still kind of new to this. I'm not usually in charge of recruitment. So... What do you want for your own future?"
Chigusa stared at the floor in front of her, keeping her head hanging low as though she didn't want anyone to look her in the face right now. When she spoke, her voice was soft, defeated. "I do not have a future."
Without knowing it, Ohgi had stumbled upon an emotional landmine. "I'm sorry," he said, and he meant it as sincerely as anything else he'd said today. "I didn't realise you were..." Terminally ill, he couldn't quite bring himself to say aloud. "How long do you have?"
"No idea. It could happen at any time. It's... complicated."
That made it somehow much worse. That she could go at any time. No wonder she wasn't afraid, she must face the spectre of death every moment of every day. In that moment Ohgi discarded the possibility of persuading her to join with them, and in so doing illustrated another often overlooked skill that great leaders possessed: Kindness.
"What did you want to do with your life before?" he asked. "Maybe it's something we can help with."
"Doubtful. I wanted power. A position I could pass on to the next generation. Hah! Unfortunately, it seems as though I was a little too career focused. Not that most men who would be interested in me could meet my standards." There was a beat of silence, but before Ohgi could finish digesting that, she asked "How about you? Are you seeing anyone?"
"Me? No! Not right now, I'm also kind of, uh, career focused right now."
"Yes, I suppose rebelling against an Empire that controls a third of the planet would be a full time job. Not many people could commit to something like that."
She's doing it again. Flirting with him to take control over the conversation. Of course, knowing that wasn't helping him too much in resisting it. Still he had to make the attempt to steer things back on track.
"A-anyway! If you were after position and power, you must realise you'd never get that with Britannia. They'd never let an Honorary get a title."
Chigusa raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure Sir Kururugi feels differently."
"I don't think that's fair. His circumstance was once in a lifetime."
"You're wasting your time," Chigusa sternly said. "I've made up my mind. The Black Knights don't have what it takes to get this done properly."
That was unfortunate. Still though, he couldn't condone executing her just for having a difference of opinion. If that was the first thing they did, there'd be a lot of people with their backs to the wall, and that was no way to start a new nation. The United States of Japan would be a safe haven for all peoples, the Japanese and -
"What was that noise?" Ohgi asked. His thinking had been interrupted by a strange beeping noise from just behind Chigusa. "It sounded like a..."
"Forget about it," Chigusa commanded.
-andthe Britannians that had elected to assist in their Rebellion. All would be safe with them. All peoples, all nationalities, all religions, creeds and races would be welcomed. So long as they were willing to ally themselves with justice, against evil!
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Ohgi said, rising to leave. "We'll be keeping you here for your own safety, and for ours as well. We can't risk you telling the military anything about us. You'll be let go when the fighting is all over."
"Fine by me," Chigusa said. "But you shouldn't be so worried about the Britannian military. Your real enemies are out there in the Chinese Federation. That's one thing you should not forget."
On hearing this, Ohgi stopped just as he was leaving the room. At that time he illustrated yet another underrated leadership skill, as he considered Chigusa's words: The ability to keep one's mouth shut.
Because you see, he'd intended to give Chigusa something to think about, but now it seemed he had some things to reflect on as well. The real enemy was in the Chinese Federation, huh?
If only he could tell her how right she was.
====Rolo====
He should have killed them right away.
Sitting in the back of this Black Knight transport was a good opportunity for Rolo to reflect on the progress from tonight. In his assessment the current situation was suboptimal. Originally, he had intended to permit the Black Knights to escort the council to safety for multiple reasons: First, it was obviously not their intention to harm the council members. They were to essentially be used as hostages, and a dead hostage is a useless hostage. Therefore there was no immediate danger.
Secondly, if he did kill the initial team they would rush another team over to investigate. This could easily escalate the situation until his very act of defending the council would put them in greater jeopardy. On that basis he had intended to only act if and when there was a clear and immediate danger.
From there he turned his professional eye over to the two Stand users. While stuck inside this van, he had been unable to directly intervene in the ongoing battle between Nina and Tamaki in spite of his best efforts. The few times he had been able to activate his Geass, Nina had unknowingly moved into range, forcing him to drop it entirely.
His assessment, then: The Stand user identified as 'Tamaki' was injured and vulnerable, though under these conditions eliminating him was not currently a viable tactic: This would turn the other Black Knights hostile, and inhibit Rivalz from receiving required medical treatment. His Stand was capable of 'folding' through as yet unidentified means. This had the potential to turn the terrain against you, but could primarily be utilised as a means of self defence. On that basis, strangulation was probably the best means to deal with him. Stabbing could result in the knife folding, shooting could mean the bullet goes in a different direction than expected. However, the Stand would not be able to effectively defend against a rope quite as easily.
As for Nina Einstein: Though she was currently supposed to be under his protection, it behooved him to perform an analysis on her Stand for the purposes of future protection. It allowed her short range glass manipulation. Based on her behaviour, she only had it for a short time, but quickly developed means to deal with its vulnerabilities. With further training and control she could prove adept at defending herself and others from attack, which was definitely useful to his purposes.
Currently Nina was being embraced by student council president Milly Ashford.
"You see Nina? We're all safe. It's all going to be alright... And now you have a wicked cool superpower! I'm completely jealous."
"Milly..." Nina complained. "It's not cool!"
"Yes it is!" Milly stroked her hair. "And later on, we're going to help you learn how to use it productively. Glass tools, glass statues and no more glass weapons. Okay?"
Curious. For unknown reasons this close contact seemed to have a calming effect on Miss Einstein. Has potential as a means of making someone lower their guard without the use of Geass. Must investigate further.
"H-Hey Ronald," said the final person back here Rolo had to study. Rivalz Cardemonde. At the conclusion of Nina and Tamaki's battle, he had pushed Rolo out of the way of a glass attack being used by Nina made from the windows. In the process his own arm was hurt. A reversal of what should have happened. Rolo should have been the one to protect him. "Man, that's a serious look on your face! How many times do I gotta tell you to lighten up?"
"Why?" Rolo asked. "I still don't understand. Why did you let yourself get hurt like this?"
"What, this?" Rivalz said with an odd lilt to his voice. His lips were upturned in a smile, even though he was grasping his folded over arm quite firmly, and Rolo could see a trickle of sweat coming down the side of his face. "It's just a scratch. Nothing serious."
"Now you're pretending not to be hurt at all," Rolo observed, still baffled by his behaviour. It did not make any sense at all. It was as if Rolo had been the one who had been hurt, and Rivalz was trying to do something to make him forget about the pain. For some reason thinking about this made him feel... Odd. Like he'd been overusing his Geass after a big hearty meal. The young assassin decided to kill that line of conversation and move onto a new one. "Depending on how deep that cut was, you may need a transfusion. What blood type are you? "
"He's AB," Milly answered immediately, before Rivalz even had the chance to speak up.
"You... Knew that so quickly?" Ronald asked.
"Of course she did," Nina sniffed. By now her head was being cradled under Milly's chin. "Milly's the kind of person who would know all of our blood types."
"That's... Perfectly Milly! Come on, prez! Share a hug with me! I'm the one that's hurting here!"
"Oh no," Milly wagged her finger. "Normally I like making everyone's heart beat a little faster, but in your condition it seems unwise to influence your blood flow."
The meaning behind that was lost on Rolo too, but he didn't really care too much. Probably another one of those "innuendo" things that Milly was apparently so fond of.
"You really memorised all of their blood types?" he asked. "In case of an emergency?"
Milly chuckled. "Of course! Any self respecting council president would do the same! Let's see... Lulu, Shirl and Nina are all A type. Nunnally is AB, like Rivalz. Suzaku is O, Kallen is..." A frown set upon her face on Kallen's name being mentioned. "Kallen is B, and so is yours."
"What about your blood type?" Rivalz asked. "You forgot to say yours."
"Oh! Silly me! I'm also B type."
That was... Quite something. Since taking this position, Ronald had the impression that he was an extraordinary person assigned to a group of otherwise ordinary children who happened to be friends of Royalty. Yet it seemed to be more than that. Suzaku Kururugi and Kallen Kozuki were more than capable of protecting themselves. Shirley Fenette was... Complicated. Nina Einstein was freshly discovering her Stand ability, and was a highly intelligent scientist on top of that. Then there was Milly and Rivalz, by far the most ordinary of all of them.
Except that Rivalz had acted to protect him without seeming to think about it. And Milly was the kind of person to memorise the emergency details of her friends before thinking about her own! In fact, Rolo was struck with the impression that she had only memorised her own blood type at all so she knew which of them it was safe to donate to, in case it was necessary.
"You're all amazing," he concluded aloud.
"Finally! Took you long enough to notice!" Milly chuckled, and when Milly's laugh got like that it was outright contagious. Before long, they all had it. Even Rolo could feel himself smiling.
"Shut up, you damn kids!" Tamaki sniped like a crotchety old man. "Making it so a guy can't even suffer quietly anymore, guh..."
They piped down after that, but Rolo's mind was still whirling and wheeling. He looked at them all in turn. Milly the president. Nina the genius. Rivalz the clown. It really made him wonder which one it would be, but he wouldn't know that until his Majesty came back with the second phase of his instructions. The first phase was to protect them, and yet he could only speculate with a strange sense of dread in the pit of his stomach:
Which of Lelouch's friends would he be ordered to kill?
====Lelouch/Shirley/Both====
So what have you prepared for me? I can't help but wonder.
No turning back now. We have to see this through.
This strategy is full of risks. So much can go wrong, and yet...
It's brilliant what you've done. You've set it up to look like they win no matter what.
It is the only way forward. It is the only way to counter them.
But the opposite is true. You're setting them up for defeat right beneath their noses.
If I win, the Black Knights will flee to their rebellious allies in the Chinese Federation.
If I win, we gain control over the Area and assist the rebels in overthrowing the High Eunuchs.
I'm going to win because I'm smarter, more tactically experienced. I've considered every possibility. Your Stand is strong, but I won't let it near me.
I'm going to win because I love you. I think about you all the time. I know you better than you know yourself. I can't stop you from beating me... So I'll have to win first!
And I have to win. To spare you the weight of what is still to come.
====Lelouch====
This was it. This was the confrontation which would decide the fate of Area Eleven. It would decide his fate. The fates of countless others all across the world. So much was resting in this fight. Which bloody path would he take? What course should he steer events? It all came down to this battle of wits. Lelouch versus Zero. It was a fight he never consciously expected to have to worry about, yet at the same time it felt like it was destined.
No. Destined is the wrong word. This was not fate at play. It was repentance.
"This is not a wise opening move," Lelouch said to Zero, hovering well above her with the Gawain. "I could obliterate you at any moment with the hadron cannons. Even your Stand would not be able to block such an attack. You ought to surrender before I decide to do so."
"Before you do, please scan this building directly behind me," Zero recommended.
Actually, Lelouch had already been doing that just before Zero had suggested it. He did not much like what he was seeing. There were a lot of people inside it. If he opened fire with the hadron cannon, then it would kill everyone inside. Good, but it was lacking a certain something, one last little push to make it all work.
"If you open fire carelessly, you'll risk hitting your girlfriend."
There it is! Most of those bodies were probably Elevens who couldn't fight, but wanted to help out in any way that they could. All they would have to do is lie down with the lights on at various points in the building, pretend that they were tied up, and it creates the perfect excuse for Lelouch to hold back. Good thinking!
"You've thought this through better than I thought," Lelouch said. He beamed with pride. "But a good first move is nothing unless you follow it up. Are you going to demand that I surrender in lieu of her safety?"
"No." Zero said. "We shall fight. You may do as you wish. At this point the circumstances are beyond your control: Bear in mind Lelouch that your girlfriend is right here. We shall make no moves to harm her. You are the only one capable of that tonight."
As she spoke a trio of flight enabled Burai Kai flew around nearby buildings, keeping themselves low and in front of the main building in front of him. The Druid System charted their likely attacks from these positions as trivially as a human bats an eye. "I see, so that is your plan?" Lelouch told her. "You intend to keep me from using my most powerful weapon while they attack me, is that right?"
"You will surely be more aware of collateral damage yes," Zero announced. "At the very least! More tonight than you were about Nerima!"
Gawain folded its arms, looking down on them all with disdain. "You are aware I could easily just retreat?"
Her answer was simple and terse. "Your pride won't allow it."
True enough. He had only fled from Kirihara because it seemed like staying near the garden was a needlessly suicidal tactical move. This situation was different. Zero was the enemy leader. If he fled from her this easily, what kind of leader would he be?
"I'm disappointed," he said. "A leader should lead, not send in pawns to fight for them. "
"These pawns are more than enough to take you down!" one of the pawns dared speak up. "So long as we're in this position you can't fire those cannons of yours!"
"Yeah! And that Knightmare is too slow to dodge us for long! We'll get you long before you reach us!"
Lelouch chuckled, and ignored the pawn to address Zero. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the fool's mate?"
"No, and I don't care to!"
The Burai Kai had their rifles drawn and were ready to open fire. Of course, they would have trouble hitting a moving target and so Gawain drifted lazily, very slow for a Knightmare through the open sky. Down below, the enemy Knightmares made ready to open fire, fingers tightening on the triggers.
"How unfortunate," Lelouch replied. "You might find it instructive."
Gawain threw its arms wide open - revealing that its fingers were missing. Just then, the Burai Kai were each systematically torn apart by wires that only then became visible. The wires attached to Gawain's slash harkens.
"The fool's mate is the fastest checkmate possible," Lelouch said. He pulled his harken cables in while the Burai Kai collapsed apart around him. "When you leave your King vulnerable by moving Pawns improperly, he can become totally trapped within three short turns!"
"Which of us is trapped?" a voice cried out. Shirley? But where - Suddenly Lelouch saw her. Not on the roof directing traffic. She was holding onto his harken cable through Schizoid Man, being pulled quickly towards him!
"That girl is insane!" Lelouch yelled, frantically working the controls while scanning the monitors in front of him. His vision blurred. No. Not yet. He couldn't rest yet. For the sake of those he had killed, for the sake of the plan he had to stay up, stay fighting, stay focused!
When it was close enough, Schizoid Man let go of the cable and rushed him, with Shirley landing on Gawain's cockpit. The mighty Stand drew back its fists with tears in its eyes, and yelled out a thunderous "Ora ora ora ora ora ora ora," raining fists down along the outside of Gawain's armour.
"Useless," Lelouch whispered. Then, louder each successive time he repeated the word; "Useless, useless, useless, useless!"
If she was expecting to pound Gawain into submission so easily, then Shirley would be disappointed. He lashed out with Gawain's hand and plucked her from the sky as easily as he might pluck a flower from the ground. The Stand kept up its attack, and so Lelouch peppered it with gleipnir infused bullets, disrupting its image and inhibiting its attack.
"Quite a devious approach," Lelouch admitted. "But your follow through was a little lacking. Gawain's armour is a little more advanced than your typical Knightmare."
"I am aware of that," Shirley said. "That is why I adopted a different approach."
A different approach...? Suddenly an alert flared up within his cockpit. Gefjun disturbance?! Ah, and additional weight to Gawain's exterior - Could it be, that she had attached disturbers to the outside of Gawain? If so then she was due for a disappointment.
"Your disturbers are too small," Lelouch chuckled. "And even if they weren't, I can still defend myself with ease." Schizoid Man made another appearance. Lelouch shot it down before it could pull out anything else. "It's useless to keep fighting! Zero, you've made a beginner's mistake in opening your flank without leaving room to retreat. A classic Fool's Mate!"
"Zero, I've got a shot!" yelled a voice, drawing Lelouch's attention to a flight enabled Burai that suddenly shot up into the air overhead. "Keep yourself covered!"
"Lelouch, leave him be!" Zero warned. "You do not want to open fire on that Knightmare!"
"You talk of justice," Lelouch answered, and opened fire on it with his hadron cannons. The attacking Burai was knocked out of the sky in a heartbeat. "Yet you deny me the right to self-defense?"
"No," Zero said with a hint of sadness tinged in her voice. "What I deny you is... Only victory."
Lelouch braced himself for whatever ploy she intended next - then jumped as his cockpit lit up with yet more alerts. "My... Energy resources?" he asked. "I have perhaps 3... no, two and a half... no, why is it dropping so quickly?" He returned his attention to Zero, mind racing. "What did you do?!"
"You were mistaken before," Zero said. "They were not Gefjun disturbers. Not by any means. We knew you were familiar with that technology. No... Those are Gefjun Enhancers! Devices designed to increase the radius of a Gefjun disturber, but at the cost to the energy reserves!"
It felt like Lelouch had been solving a jigsaw puzzle without knowing he was missing a large, vital piece. He had almost solved the puzzle, put everything together and yet the picture was coming out all wrong... Until this very moment. Now that piece had fallen into his lap and it all became as clear as crystal.
"Because no matter how strong the warrior."
The Gefjun field Gawain was detecting... Was being generated by Gawain itself. The Disturbers placed within its shoulders by the Black Knights as part of his "understanding" with them. He had them examined for signs of sabotage, but never in his wildest nightmares could he have guessed they could be used like this.
"Because no matter how high minded the philosophy."
The intention of the disturbers was to help control the cannons in terms of intensity and direction. Therefore the fields they generated were much too small to interfere with any of Gawain's other working parts.
"Because no matter how clever the tactician."
Even with the boost the field didn't quite reach anywhere critical - But it didn't have to. The energy drain was enormous and unstoppable. Gawain was being bled to death and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"You cannot live without your blood."
"How dare you!" he yelled, while the dispassionate part of his brain appreciated the trap. It was elegant, sublime and totally avoidable. It would have been trivial to do, and yet he had allowed his opponent to move freely while inadvertently closing up his ranks around him.
Lelouch's fingers flew uselessly across Gawain's Druid System, seeking a way to switch it off and finding none. "You think this will beat me?" he yelled, while internally he beamed with pride. She beat him! Without his help or guidance. "You think for one moment this will be enough?" Well done, good work. I'm the fool for not seeing it. "In the end, your efforts are all useless! Useless! Useless!" Now you must finish me, Shirley Fenette. Finish this artificial tyranny and let us move on to the next step, with you taking the lead.
"It's more than enough," Zero warned him. "No matter what you do now... Mighty Talos, lie and sleep. For you have shown the world your strength is great, yet nothing in this world lives by itself alone. It is time to become nothing but bronze as your Ichor runs free."
At last Gawain powered down. Dead. Silent. Dark and still. With tears in his eyes Lelouch pounded the console as if trying to will it back to life. But to no avail. Schizoid Man pried Zero out of Gawain's grip, and then Zero stood atop the wrist with her arms crossed. It felt like she was towering over him. Enormous. Larger than life. Or perhaps it was he that was shrinking away within the darkness.
[To Be Continued |\|]
