New chapter inbound.
Morning in the Shinjuku ghettos were an exercise of futility and misery. Since the Britannians conquered Japan, those who didn't bend the knee against a foreigner that sought to erase everything of your culture and leave you less than human, were condemned to exile in the remains of their own decaying cities, under the mocking gaze of the ivory towers of the remodeled Britannian's own.
But even then, criminal elements from the Homeland saw the opportunity there and set shop in the ghettos, running every "enterprise" they knew almost unopposed, thanks that the local yakuza were gutted by the invasion and the purges of any potential opponents Britannia may had.
In the end, Britannia oppressed the lives of the Japanese no matter where they hid and given the last failure of the JLF three weeks ago, some of the anguished locals woke up hoping that the death that was common in the ghettos would free them of this torture at long last.
"What the hell is a military Knightmare doing here!?"
This time, death came for someone who deserved it instead.
Leos yawned as Annihilator tore apart a handful of trucks filled with members from the Snake Hands gang, who the intelligence said they were in route to raid some minor Eleven refuge for supplies to keep their war going. Only the last one at the back was spared of the missile fire.
"Trucks eliminated, let's see if that rat leads us to its hideout." Lana sounded just as bored. The job was about the extermination of the gang, which accidentally(?) assaulted a cohort of Knightpolice doing patrol in the ghetto. Given that the Tokyo Police Force had their hands full in other matters, it was decided that execution by Knightmare was a proper sentence for them.
Despite the size of Annihilator, Leos managed to keep tail of the surviving truck without its driver noticing, as they slipped inside one of the many tunnels below the ghettos.
"When Clovis is going to do something about the countless tunnels?" Leos asked as Annihilator rolled crouched down.
"If he does that, it will be the death of us."
"Good point."
For their own part, the truck went full gas upon the refuge, not caring to watch their backs for the giant Knightmare that as far as they knew, came out of nowhere and blasted all their friends into bits. The tunnels of the old Eleven city were the perfect place where lowlifes in Area 11 could hide and plan their climbing to the top, legitimate or not. After almost spending all the fuel, the truck arrives at their stronghold, an abandoned warehouse for the old metro armed enough to drive back other gangs or terrorist cells looking for loot.
"Larry? Where the hell are the rest?" the leader of the gang came out of the building.
"They are dead!" the drivers shouted. "A big blue Knightmare just appeared behind the building and blew up everyone!" Then the gang leader slapped the driver to calm him down, which wasn't effective.
"And did that thing followed at you lot?" asked the criminal leader to anyone else who still had their wits.
"It's alright boss." Another of his men replied. "It was a big bloke. If he was pursuing us, we would have saw it." Then Annihilator appeared right next to them.
"Surprise, wankers." Leos greeted them without emotion. What happened after was not worth describing.
"This would be… the sixth gang you destroyed this last three weeks?" Lana asked from Leos' phone as the Raven stretched his back outside of Annihilator back into the KMF garage.
"I think so, what month are we now again?" While the current gang extermination was starting to get monotone, Leos did earn enough pounds to improve Annihilator. First, he installed an external antenna in the head that improves his IFF signals and serves as a potential protection against scrambling tactics. Second, he bought new wheels for his Landspinners. Apparently, the vendors were eager to sell it not because of a fatal flaw in the design (The Nest would've put a bounty on them otherwise), but because of rumors that Schneizel el Britannia was funding a group of genius scientists to evolve their KMFs to no longer depend on wheels. Third, he finished the 'basic' Britannian KMF equipment by getting some Chaos Mines, the devastating hand grenades that claimed countless lives in its career.
"February, it ends in in two days by the way."
"I still can't get used to the Britannian months." Leos grumbled as he looked on his brand-new top of the line cellphone, his fourth investment in this month with his blood money. Not only it replaced the bottoms with an interactive screen, but also has an app, a direct way with the Nest services, including the shop and his e-mails.
"Then I remind you that today is when Ed is finally available for a face-to-face reunion." Leos was grateful he wasn't drinking anything because he would've spat it all in shock. "I know I should have told you, but you were a bit eager for those Chaos Mines."
"Dammit, Lara. You know I have a life beyond being a Raven."
"Have you made any meaningful contacts, even among The Nest? And no, talking with the old lady who's going to collect your rent doesn't count."
Leos was going to point at something with his right hand, until he realized Lara had a point, so he went for an excuse "In my defense, everyone here is a racist prick at best, and I highly doubt the Japanese would identify me as something beyond another scummy foreigner."
"Well, all humans have something nasty inside, and like to hide it if it means people will grant them some companionship, at worst."
"Even you?"
"I'm working with an organization that profits of the seemly eternal war in this planet." The deadpanning dripped from the cellphone. "You bet your ass I have a quite share of skeletons in my closet."
"Good point."
"Besides," Lana finished. "You already knew Ed before. I'm sure you can ask him which Brits are worth trusting these days."
Leos sighs at the comment, wondering if he gave too much of himself when he made the paperwork. Nevertheless, he said goodbye to Lana and called Ed.
While the last weeks proved to Leos that Area 11 didn't need terrorists to remain a fresh warzone, the interior of the Tokyo Settlement looked eerily peaceful and calm in comparation, as if the chaos outside wasn't part of the daily life. Oh sure, the news has been warning their commoners to not go outside of the Settlement at night, but they didn't tell it was because their own criminals were armed enough wage their personal wars.
And since the ghettos were dangerous enough to make business due to the risk of getting shot at by any random KMF (he was not apologizing), the petty crooks of Area 11 had to make their deals inside the Britannian cities, and Leos' destination was near the limits of Tokyo.
Just as he expected from Ed Weisz.
Even back when Leos believed in the cause of the EU, their military coordination was lousy at best, to the point more than more than one time the ST-21 had to loot the remains of past Knightmare battles to remain fully equipped. It was then when he met Ed.
Officially he was a minor officer assigned to the army supplies, which would make him a target by the battered troops who once again got their ammunition send to somewhere else and was forced to win by the skin of the teeth against the Brits and the Arabs who sold their souls at Emperor Charles. Instead, Ed knew where to get the resources without the generals and oligarchs knowing they were getting robbed, for the right price, of course.
Then the Brits discovered that one of their own was financing Ed's antics and sent the Glinda Knights of all people to blast one of Ed's hideouts when he was in middle of one of his negotiations. It was dumb luck that Leos and the rest of the ST-21 were patrolling nearby when they heard Ed's call for help, and trough coordinated tactics, lots of luck, and a clever ruse involving smuggled Chaos Mines, Ed was rescued without any losses.
Sadly, given that both the angry EU generals and the minions of Marrybell mel Britannia were for his head, Ed had to go AWOL and seek refuge with The Nest. As reward from saving his ass, Ed gave at ST-21 the position of the remaining caches he had in the warzone. Leos made sure to give that information to the remaining KMF battalions worth trusting after he decided to fake his death.
Back to the present, Leos was in the entrance of what seemed a middle-high bar. This wasn't the place where mere crooks would set foot. This was the place where the middlemen and those in the middle of the road forward nobility gathered to plan their own little wars.
"Who are you?" the dark-skinned bouncer said.
"I'm Fritz Byne. I come in part of Edward Carmony." Leos replied, remembering the fake name Ed put for himself.
The bouncer took a look at his list. "It checks out, welcome to Autobahn." Leos nodded at the bouncer and went inside the building.
Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised, but Leos was a bit in awe at how luxurious the interior was, with clear lights, pretty plants, the occasional copy of Clovis' latest paintings, and the obligatory violinist band playing the usual classical music. The clients were wearing the usual clothing, with the occasional slip that told him they weren't "proper" nobility just yet.
"They're not even there, and they already living like they belong in the ivory towers." Leos turned around and saw a slightly overweight, middle-aged bearded man of dark-brown hair, wearing a black office man suit with a blue necktie, sitting in a table. "Hello, skinny." He smirked.
"Hello, fatarse." Leos smiled and sat in the table where Ed was already sampling a cheeseburger alongside some tea. A waiter asked Leos what his order was, which he replied with a beer and a cheeseburger of his own. "How's the Nest treating you."
"Fine, for my circumstances." Ed replied. "The Nest has more than enough arms dealers associated with them, but you remember back in the Middle East, you had to know how the big boys were acting, so they wouldn't try to kill me."
"Not that it worked with the carpet munching princess."
"Hey! Nobody was aware the Brits realized their losses were because of internal sabotage." Ed defended himself. "Then again, the Glinda Knights were formed to deal with 'terrorism', and we all know that word describes a lot of things in Britannia."
"Everything the Emperor doesn't like."
"Anyway, I offered the Nest's Council my skills of analyst and they liked what I could do after a few test missions." Ed said. "You'll surprised how little Ravens give a damn about the consequences of their actions beyond their pay and who they pissed off."
"What the hell happened to self-preservation?" While the Ravens were making a name for themselves in the wider world – mostly because of big names like Hustler One, Antares, Jack-O, the Anatolian, and Blue Magnolia – it didn't change the Three Superpowers didn't like them at all, mostly because they refused to outright bend to their wills, instead of just their wallets. "Speaking of which, did you find my request?"
"I heard Lana's question about how the JLF got grenade launchers inserted in their rifles." Ed replied. "To put it simple they've friends in India, who're currently dominated by the Chinese Federation, and the former are not very happy about their situation." Leos found that understandable. Who would be happy to be under the High Eunuchs in the first place? "And so, the JLF or their benefactors made a deal with the Indians, the latter supply armaments to kick Charlie's arse out of Area 11, and the former help them with their own resources to deal with whatever warlord is bowing to the Dickless Ones."
"Makes sense," Leos mused as he took a sip of tea. "From what I hear, the Japanese and the Chinese hate each other as much as the Britannians hate everyone else." Neverminded the lack of competence the JLF has showed in the Skirmish of Marianne's highway.
"I know that a member of Kururugi's administration found refuge in China, and there are rumors that he's planning to 'eventually' take back Japan from Britannia with help of the Federation's army."
"The Eunuchs must be feeling very daring if they're planning to steal the biggest source of sakurite in the world."
"Losing the sakurite will be a kick in the bollocks Britannia is not in position to receive right now." Ed said. "At least until the MEF gets totally steamrolled by the Witch herself."
"I'll rather not talk about that cunt yet." Leos said with a harsh tone.
Ed knew about Leos' anger, given that himself was almost killed by another royal zealot from that family of psychopaths.
"Anyway…" He chooses to change the theme. "How's your job?"
"Policemen, policemen everywhere." Leos facepalmed, sighing. "It seems like my stunt in the highway confirmed that the Britannian police are alone in this hellhole, so they grab me like some clingy octopus because somehow I'm the best thing that happened to them since they were given the KMF Glasgow."
"To be fair with them, the war between the ghetto's gangs has been going since a few months, but Clovis has been ignoring it, because its only victims tend to be Elevens." Ed shrugged. "It doesn't help that a quite lot of the police officers are very corrupt, and I suspect some of your gigs were meant to expand the power of some of the gangs they're affiliated with."
Leos' head fell to the table. "Why I'm not surprised…?"
Ed took a sip from his tea. "It's not like the Ravens were going to be the ones who'll stop the bomb that is Area 11 of going off. The good news is that someone posted an assignment that will end the gang war for now, and he's asking for you specifically."
Raising an eyebrow, Leos went to his phone and opened the app from the Nest, seeing which mission Ed meant.
Crush the Upstarts
Reward: 360000 £
Requester: The Black King
I've been hearing things about you, Raven. Mostly about a glorified riot policeman. I believe it's time to prove the world you're better than that.
One of my former lieutenants, Burt Baton, managed to steal a KMF Sutherland meant for some brat among the Purists and instead of tearing it apart for salvage, he thought it was a good idea to use it to turn on me, which was what started the war in the ghettos.
It's clear the police don't want to go to the root of the matter, so I want you to kill Burt and his worms at the Azura Ecstasy in the Shinjuku ghetto. I want you to demolish that place, so the other gangs won't dare to question my authority in the foreseeable future.
He's also in possession of a cargo of Refrain. You'll get a bonus if it remains intact. We cannot deny the Elevens the few reprieves they have in their miserable lives, can't we?
"Wow, Mr. Black King. Who knew the only way to save Area 11 of itself is by being your petty hired gun?" Leos knew the Black King wasn't hearing him, but it still needed to be said.
"Technically Leos, that's all you've been doing in the last weeks." Ed interjected. "The only difference is that there's a little drug-running in the way today."
"I don't know what this Refrain is, beyond that people are literally killing for it." Leos grumbled and saw if there any other jobs that weren't from the bobbies. No luck so far.
"Long story short, it's a Britannian-made drug that normally forces your brain to remind the best moments of your life, at the insignificant cost of temporal muteness, gradual loss of motor abilities, and eventually death. The Brits also have a version that works as a truth serum."
"Given the state of this bloody place, can't blame the Japs for trying to get any."
"Word of the street says that there has been a rise of smuggled Refrain in the ghettos, and people don't know who the suppliers are because everyone and their mother are corrupt enough to participate, except the JLF."
"Even the House of Kyoto?"
"I heard rumors about one or two members but can't confirm it." Ed said after another bite. "Definitely not Kirihara nor Sumeragi, though. They're as clean as a Number can get without getting ruined by the system."
"Is this place that corrupt?"
"The Nest wouldn't had sent you nor the other newbie Ravens if Clovis had any governmental skills," Ed said. "In fact, I betted with some contacts that we will have a change of Viceroy before the end of the year."
"Because Daddy Charlie will get tired of his incompetence?"
"Because he'll get sacked either by an Eleven or a fellow Britannian." Ed gave a wicked smirk. "And buddy, I don't make this type of bets lightly."
Lana informed him that the Nest were making negotiations with the militarized zone of India to see if they could relieve some blueprints of the Grenade Launcher add-on. She expected it would take a few weeks before the Shop would have some disponible for buy, but Leos had to earn enough money to get one for himself.
Which was why he's accepted the mission from the Black King. Independently of if Burt's death would end the gang wars, Leos would get a kick of profiting by putting down a scumbag who made others' lives a hellhole to make a profit.
Conveniently ignoring his client was also a scumbag who also made a profit by making people's lives a hellhole, Leos moved his KMF in direction of the target building. He needed to know where the Refrain cargo was before he demolished the place.
Three floors, no Knightmares around, instead there were a pair of cars and a handful of armed thugs with rifles.
Just as Leos prepared to fire at them, he received a warning of being locked on and jumped back as a blue light almost struck Annihilator from an elevated position.
"Is that an energy rifle?" Lana said just as surprised as Klein.
"You must be the asshole the Lard Bitch sent to kill me." Burt Baton said from his yellow-copper, four legged Sutherland. Proudly showing off his big energy rifle as he stood above a larger building. "Your head will make a nice trophy!"
The Sutherland fired its missiles at Annihilator, forcing Leos to avoid them as he fired back with his rifle
The four-legged KMF had Landspinners of its own, moving fast to another position as Annihilator moved to the chase. Baton was counting on it, as a pair of Glasgow KMFs jumped at Leos armed with rusty swords ready to swing at him. Having learnt his lesson from the JLF assault, Leos pulled his wrist-sword out and stabbed one right at the chest, then aim his rifle at his startled friend and fire at him.
With the Glasgow duo gone, Leos checked his radar if Baton was around. He got his answer with an energy shot at the chest that pushed him into crash course into another building.
"And here I though only the elite used the Gloucesters." Baton mocked as he moved away. "Are you trying to make a mockery of the concept of Knightmare?"
The Slash Harkens were still in good condition, so Leos choose to use them to leave the demolished place, just as a volley of missiles finished destroying it.
"Another pair of Glasgows inbound." Lana warned. A quick check in the radar informed that they were firing at him from above another tall building. Using the harkens, Annihilator arrives at the top and with the swords he slashes the KMFs apart. The Raven instantly ducked as another laser shot from Baton's Sutherland almost grazed Annihilator's head and replied by a volley of missiles, some of which manages to land on target before it slips away, but not enough to destroy it.
"For a weird set up, this asshole is making it work."
"I saw Ravens using set ups similar to Baton's." Lana replied. "They use four-legged KMFs to facilitate use of heavy weapons."
"Duly noted." Annihilator lacked that, and Leos would test that after he was rich enough to play around it. But first, he had a crime lord to execute.
He checked his radar, only Baton's KMF was around, and it seemed moving to attack from behind. Leos decided to wait for him as he hears the enemy harken moving him upwards. Just as the Sutherland went upwards, Annihilator turned around and fired his assault rifle at the criminal's KMF, immobilizing it. He threw a Chaos Mine, which activated right at the Sutherland's face, and fired its shrapnel all over the custom Knightmare, destroying it completely.
"AAAH…!" Burt Baton died engulfed in flames and explosions.
"Target KMF eliminated; I'll mark where's the Refrain cargo." Lana said.
Following Lana's instructions, Annihilator moved forward the target club, making short work of the remaining thugs as he got inside the parking lot. Just as Lana's update to the radar showed, it was there where a truck with a container where Leos was informed it had the fabled drug. And it was 'guarded' by three male thugs.
"Who's the driver." Leos demanded trough the KMF's loudspeaker. One of them raised his hand, so Leos fired at the remaining pair.
"What do you want?!" the poor driver jumped on his back, scared of the pink stain his friend became.
"Drive this Refrain cargo where I tell you, and you won't die here." Then he opened his channel with Lana. "I got the cargo. Where the client wants to drop it?"
"Sending you coordinates." Just as she said it, the map pointed at a building at three blocks away from the battle zone. The truck carrying the container left the club and Leos left a pair of Chaos Mines at the bottom floor, letting them put the Azura Ecstasy out of its misery.
"Target building destroyed. I'm advising the client we got his cargo and we're sending it to his drop point."
The truck with the prized drugs crossed across the remains of the skirmish, the burning wrecks of Baton's KMFs from his doomed criminal fief. It didn't take much time before the truck and Annihilator arrived at the drop point, in a wasteland between broken buildings where one could see the towers from Tokyo. The scared thug came out of the vehicle just as they stopped.
"Ok, here's your stuff. That means I'm free, right?" he begged at the Raven.
"Yes." Leos replied, then fired the rifle at the driver, turning him into pink mist.
"All targets destroyed. I hope the Black King ends this mess soon." Evac would wait until the drug lord's men arrived to retrieve the cargo.
Another battle won; another player removed from the power games in Area 11. Leos Klein let Annihilator rest, sitting between the wreckage of the ghetto, under the uncaring gaze of the high white towers of the Tokyo Settlement.
Leos spent most of the day sleeping in the apartment, he only awoke once the old lady handling the payment asked him for it, which Leos replied by giving her a fat load of bills. With nothing else to do, he opened the TV to see how the news were spinning his actions.
"And another day follows, and the gang wars in the ghettos claims another victim as gang lord Burt Baton died this morning in a skirmish with rivals from the ghettos. While the Tokyo Police Force hasn't made any official declarations, some unknown sources claim that it was the Black King's men who put down Baton for good." The news reports were a bit more open than usual about what was really going on. If the EU was of any reference, someone was going to be sacked soon.
"Burt Baton was engaged in drug trafficking, murder, and most importantly terrorist actions against the police force. Thankfully, a Knightpolice squad managed to put down his kil-hang on…" Suddenly, the news presenter putted his hand in his ear, clearly hearing urgent orders. "We're now receiving an urgent message; the Deputy chief constable of the Tokyo Police Force is making a conference press in this moment."
The camera changed from the TV station to the entrance of the police station, where the alluded sub-boss of the Britannian bobbies was put in front of the cameras and many eager interviewers.
"Citizens of the Tokyo Settlement. I'm glad to announce that the gang wars that has been affecting the ghettos these last weeks are at an end. Since the confirmation of the death of Burt Baton, the Tokyo Police Force has worked tirelessly to put order in the ghettos at once."
"We discovered that Baton's sudden aggressive might was because he stole military gear, including a Sutherland KMF," he paused as the everyone present gasped at the revelation. "That's not all. I'm also allowed to reveal that the deceased terrorist got this far thanks to internal corruption among our forces. Do not worry, the suspects are already being interrogated and we expect to have answers at tomorrow morning."
Leos considered he had heard enough and put off the TV, deciding that he would better subscribe to Voices of War instead. He was already a killer for hire, why not indulge himself a little with the closest thing to objective journalism in this world?
It says a lot when that honor belongs to a group of psychos who apparently enjoyed this state of eternal war.
His cellphone warned him with the arrival of two e-mails, and Leos choose to open his notebook to read them. The first one was from Ed.
From: Ed Weisz
Re: OP "Crush the Upstarts" AAR
While the Black King's assignment did stop cold the gang wars for the time being, the destruction of Burt's KMF opened a few awkward questions in the Viceroyalty.
As the client must have informed you, the Sutherland you thrashed was part of some "donations" to the Purist cause that somehow Burt Baton got his hands on. Turns out that this particular trade went from Pendragon itself without Clovis' knowledge.
I discovered that the (soon-to-be-former) Chief Constable of the Tokyo Police force is a sympathizer of the Purist cause, which handily explains why neither you nor his men were sent at the root of the problem before. He probably hoped to find a way to solve this in a way that benefited his sponsors. Needless to say, those uncorrupted and/or under the Black King's pocket used this chance to make a grab for themselves, judging by the media bomb in the TV.
Nevertheless, the next days will see if you and the Black King managed to deliver an important blow at the Purebloods beyond the Chief Constable getting "reassigned", or if Gottwald will manage to salvage this to his benefit.
-Ed Weisz.
"Of course, things can't be that easy, can't they?" Leos grumbled as he made dinner for himself. Ed wasn't exaggerating about how rotten Area 11 has become.
Ed's first mail as his analyzer already prophesied that Leos and the Purebloods wouldn't get along, but Leos expected it would be because he killed Gottwald in a KMF duel or something like that, not because he killed a scumbag who accidently pulled a fast one on them, ruining their cover up in the process.
As he started to boil some water, Leos read the second message.
From: The Black King
Re: Ice Cold
I will confess something, Raven. When someone takes a job for me, I always like to send someone to see if they stick to their word.
And so, imagine my surprise when I thought you were going to spare that treacherous rat you used as a driver for the cargo, was turned around when you eliminated him once he outlived his usefulness.
Some may call that callous, I call it efficient. A man who sticks to his word is someone worth trusting in this era, but you must be careful. Gottwald is not going to sit idle after you ruined his coverup. Not everyone has a monumental failure that serves as motivation.
I'll be watching you.
-The Black King.
"Great… now I have to worry about the Kingpin and the Margrave." Leos wondered if other places of Britannia were also subject to KMF battles among gangs and criminals, and what 'monumental' failure the crime lord was referencing about.
Still, he was richer now, bad guys were dead, and soon he will have that sweet grenade launcher, which he would use to teach the JLF how to use it.
Ideally by firing it in their faces.
With that done, Leos decided to make a call to Ed. "Hey, I'm done here. Do you have any free time around the week?"
"Actually, tomorrow I need a friend. Some Count is looking to stroke his ego and believes I'll be his designated jobber."
"Chess gambling, or normal gambling?"
"Chess."
"As long it doesn't involve Lulu-what his face, I'm in." Leos smiled. Maybe this place won't be that bad after all.
First, I'm aware that in Code Geass canon the Glinda Knights weren't founded until after the failure of the Black Rebellion, but here, with the mercenaries and other scumbags for hire making the inner conflicts of Britannia bloodier than canon, they were formed sooner to avoid Britannia killing itself before Charles' Instrumentality project is finished.
Second, this chapter was ready at the start of this month, the thing is that I tried to find a beta, someone offered, I sent the chapter... and I haven't heard from them in all the month. I don't know how betaing works, so perhaps I'm missing something here, but eventually my patience ran out and decided to post this after a reading of my own.
So, yeah... should I ask for a new beta reader? Be warned that I'm a lazy arse, though.