Chapter Ten: Showdown Among the Ruins
Two years later, Lelouch Lamprouge was sweating like a dog.
His legs were pumping as he ran around the track, breathing as he did. The morning light was rising that weekend, and he kept glancing at Sayoko. Eventually, he slid to a halt as she blew the whistle. Coming forward, the maid bowed.
"Well done, Master Lelouch," said Sayoko. "You've made a great deal of progress in two years."
Lelouch panted for breath for a moment before summoning the energy to speak. "Thank you, Sayoko."
At that moment, he saw Nina Einstein making her way forward, a book in her hand. "Um, Lelouch."
"Oh, Nina, I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?" asked Lelouch, drinking from a water bottle.
"Fine, I didn't mean to miss that council meeting," said Nina. "I just, um, I've been working on something. In fact, I was hoping to get your help on it."
"Sure, what's the problem?" asked Lelouch.
"Remember how you asked me to do an economic analysis of the Britannian occupation?" asked Nina.
"Yes," said Lelouch. "That was two years ago, though. I'd thought for sure you'd finished by now."
"Well, I decided to put more research into the subject," said Nina. "I've been doing some analysis, and I'd love it if you could double-check it for me. I'd talk to Madam President and Shirley, but they don't have the head for numbers."
"When do you have in mind?" asked Lelouch.
Nina shifted. "Now would be nice."
Lelouch sighed. "Ordinarily, I would, but I only just finished my exercises with Sayoko."
"I'm sure we can pick up later," said Sayoko.
Nina seemed to find this odd. She'd been aware of what he was doing. But so much time had been taken up undermining Britannia they hardly talked. "Um... you never really did like to exercise, Lelouch."
"I had one too many close calls," admitted Lelouch. "We haven't been able to do any reporting with all the chaos in the streets. I've heard that Luciano Bradley was called in to put down the violence in New York."
"Luciano Bradley?" asked Nina stuttering. "Have things really gotten that bad?"
"Yeah, that bad," said Lelouch. Sir Bradley had, until now, been used on only the most brutal of rebellions. But in the past two years, Britannia had been forced on the defensive. Cornelia had won many great victories in that time, all of them defensive. One crisis fed another, and Lelouch could not have been happier. "A lot of northern cities are a full-on war zone. The Washington Party blew up an entire factory yesterday. They say the EU is supplying them with weapons."
"Why would they do those things to fellow Britannians?" asked Nina, horror in her tone.
"They consider themselves American, Nina," said Lelouch. "As far as the Washington Party is concerned, the American Revolution never ended. And the brutality some of the governors used in response to any and all dissent has radicalized a lot of people.
"So uh, what kind of results did your studies have?" Best to change the subject, Nina was a conservative.
"...Well, Imperialism doesn't work," said Nina, after a moment.
"What do you mean?" asked Lelouch, surprised to hear it from her.
"It's a bit complicated, but I ran the numbers," said Nina. "And I concluded that conquering all these different nations is ultimately too expensive. See, when you conquer a nation, you might get direct access to its natural resources. But at the same time, you have to spend money and troops to keep it in your control.
"At the end of the day, it's a lot cheaper to just get good prices from a nation that runs itself.
We weren't able to do that with Japan because the natives were using their monopoly against us. I think...
"Well, it might have been better just to force Japan into submission. From a strictly economic perspective, I'm glad I met all of you. So can you take a look?"
"Lelouch buddy, you ready to go?!" called Rivalz.
"Oh right," said Lelouch. "Nina, I'll look at it after I get back. For now, I have to get cleaned up. Rivalz and I have some work to do."
"Hang on, you're not gambling, are you?" asked Nina. "You know Shirley hates that?"
Lelouch had not gone gambling nearly as much as he used to. Before, it had been idle entertainment. Now he had something productive he could do to hurt Britannia. "No, that's only on Tuesdays. We're doing research."
"But you haven't posted anything for years," said Nina, before her eyes went wide. "You're not going to break-"
"Don't worry, Nina. It's just research," said Lelouch. "Kallen had an idea that we could do research on the hijackings of food trucks. We did a bit of investigating, and our leads have led us to a lot of places. We want to get absolutely all the facts before we put it up."
"Where is Kallen anyway?" asked Nina. "I haven't seen her around."
"She's been getting sick a lot," said Rivalz. "I guess her condition is getting worse with all the work we do. I really hope she's alright.
"Hey, Nina, do you want to come with us? We could show you what we've been working on."
"Rivalz, are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Lelouch, regarding it as a terrible plan.
"Of course it is, you wanted a second opinion on the base, didn't you?" asked Rivalz.
"Yeah, I guess I did," said Lelouch.
"What base?" asked Nina.
Lelouch and Rivalz didn't tell her anything else until they were driving. As they did, Lelouch glanced at Rivalz, who began to explain. "Alright, so we went and investigated a food truck that had been hijacked. Only when we got there, this was two years ago; we found it had a fake back. Opening it, we found an air-sealed capsule, the kind used to store chemical weapons.
"We did a bit of asking around and found where it was headed.
"Ended up heading to a facility on the outskirts of the ghettos. So we staked out and watched for a while, but we think it was only a relay point. Everything that is unloaded there gets sent somewhere else."
"Sounds like this is something secret. Are you sure we should be looking for it?" asked Nina.
"It's chemical weapons, Nina," said Lelouch. "What kind of use could Britannia put it to?"
Nina caught his drift. "You don't think...
"Prince Clovis wants to use it on the elevens?"
"We don't think anything," said Rivalz. "But if he is working on chemical weapons, his possible uses are few and far between. All the bases we checked are near the ghettos too. If there was an accident or something, it would end up only hurting elevens."
When had the term ghettos replaced ruins? It had been some time in the last two years. Lelouch wasn't sure the change was a good one. Ruins implied outside destruction. The term ghetto spoke of failure on those who lived there.
It was probably a deliberate policy.
"Well, yes, but that's better than Britannians getting hurt," said Nina.
"And what if an accident happened to end up hitting some of the hot spots?" asked Lelouch simply. "Could anyone prove anything else?"
"Prince Clovis would never do anything like that," said Nina.
"I believe you," lied Lelouch. "But there's no sense in not being prepared. We want to have a full-on documentary ready just in case. If there is a full-on massacre in the ghettos, I plan to make sure Clovis pays the price.
"We've got hours worth of footage, and we've already edited it into a full-length documentary.
"Officially, of course, it's focused on the food shortages in the ghettos."
"Are you sure about this?" asked Nina. "Prince Clovis could have you both killed!"
Lelouch looked up surprised she'd said it. Oddly enough, it was Rivalz who spoke first. "Yeah, we know. Nina, this is kind of one of those things you have to take a stand on. If we don't do something about it, then we are letting it happen.
"And if we let it happened, we're responsible."
Nina sighed. "I know.
"Imperialism is going to kill Britannia. I got a look at the casualty figures. Ever since we pulled out of the EU, we lose tens of thousands of fewer men a day. The news didn't talk about it at all. But the nobles were throwing waves of men into a meatgrinder.
"Princess Cornelia and Prince Schneizel always use their troops carefully and win. But other generals just sacrifice them en masse for no gains at all. I've been holding back on publishing my papers because I'm afraid it will do more harm than good."
"Send it to Schneizel," said Lelouch, having researched the subject.
"What?" asked Nina.
"Prince Schneizel is a well-documented moderate. He's by far the most efficient of the Princes of Britannia," said Lelouch. "If he gets your reports, you can bet he'll look at them at their own merits. It might help-"
And then Rivalz swerved as something went up behind them. Glancing back, Lelouch saw a huge military supply truck cruise past them. Rivalz swerved and ended up nearing crashing into the wall. The truck, meanwhile, swerved down off the road and crashed into some construction.
"...So uh, would you call that a hit and run?" asked Rivalz, in the understatement of the century.
"Was that our fault?" asked Nina.
Lelouch saw a crowd gathering at the edge of the sidewalk, snapping pictures. In the past two years, enough normalcy had returned that the sheep were complacent again. Lelouch had been hoping not to see this kind of thing in the future.
No such luck.
"I'm going to head down there to help," said Lelouch, remembering his camera in his breast pocket. These days he always kept one on him. "Guard the bike, Rivalz."
"Shouldn't we both go?" asked Rivalz.
"Take some shots from up here," said Lelouch. "And get the license plate. That's a supply truck, and they usually have good drivers."
Then Lelouch made his way down into the construction site. As he did, he heard someone laughing. "Look, the student rescue team has arrived."
Idiots. People who wouldn't do anything about problems loved to make fun of people who tried. It made them feel safe in their cynical little bubble. But it did no one any good.
There was a ladder leading into the truck, and Lelouch scaled up it quickly. Far quicker than he ever would have before. The top of the truck was open as well. "Hey, down there, are you alright?"
Then he saw something in the cargo bay—a Glasgow Knightmare frame of the kind used in the invasion of Japan. And a little way beyond it was a capsule used for storing poison gas. Lelouch calculated this quickly. A government transport truck would never be carrying an out of date Knightmare.
Lelouch realized he was looking at a truck under the control of terrorists.
'It's you! Finally, I have found my-' said a voice.
Then the truck backed up suddenly. Lelouch was thrown forward but landed on his hands and feet, even as the truck sped away. Thinking quickly, he slid behind the poison gas canister. Then he drew his pistol out of his other breast pocket. Undoing the safety, he waited.
There were probably at most two people in this truck. One of them was a driver.
Lelouch could probably kill one, then force the other to park and surrender. But if he did that, he'd end up in the paper. He'd cut it too close already. Maybe if he waited until they were at a deserted location-
And then came the sound of gunfire. The truck shoot and a voice came over through the metal. "This is the police! Surrender now, and we'll give you a chance to defend yourself in court!"
"...I wasn't expecting things to escalate this quickly," mused Lelouch.
He'd, on some level, always planned to obliterate Britannia. He'd come far closer to doing so two years ago than he ever expected. But a transition into the service of terrorists was... difficult.
And then a voluptuous, red-haired girl walked into sight, throwing off a lab coat. Underneath it was a red and brown outside that clung to her curves. Her hair was held up by a headband in a spiky haircut and-
Kallen?
"Kallen, let's use it now! Why not?" asked someone.
"Because that would cause a bloodbath!" said Kallen to him.
Lelouch had wondered why she'd directed them to investigate the transport trucks. Now he knew why. Lelouch cocked the gun and pointed it at Kallen. "You keep dangerous company."
Kallen shifted. "...I can explain."
"Oh, really?" asked Lelouch. "You can explain why you're carrying a chemical WMD while being pursued by the police?"
Kallen stepped back. "Lelouch listen, that stuff was made in Britannia. They're going to use it on the ruins. Clovis will probably drop it on the most populated areas and then pretend like it's an accident.
"I know he pretends to be this reasonable guy, but...
"You've seen what things are like out there, haven't you?" Another row of machinegun fired hit the truck, and dents were made in the metal. "If I don't get into this Knightmare, they'll kill us all!"
"Kallen, what is going on back there!" said the man. "Get into the Knightmare!"
Lelouch lowered the gun. "...Go ahead."
"We'll talk later," said Kallen.
She climbed into the Knightmare, and the cockpit shut behind her. As the armored giant arose, the back of the truck opened, and she surged out. Her slash harkens shot out to tear down the helicopters, smashing them down onto the streets.
"You fellows know full well what this badass mother can do!" snarled Kallen.
Was that supposed to be a one-liner? Oh, and apparently, Kallen knew how to use a Knightmare. Glancing over to her lab coat, Lelouch noticed a walkie-talkie within it. Grabbing it, he stowed it away for later use.
At that moment, however, a Sutherland Transport arrived. The Southerland dropped down as the helicopters drew back. "The rest of you stay back. Your units aren't equipped to handle that kind of firepower," said an imperial voice.
The Sutherland dropped down to land in front of Kallen and parried a slash harken, before firing at her. Kallen maneuvered out of the way as they moved on landspeeders in a dance. But the Sutherland was just a better Knightmare. "Well, what do we have here? Is that a Glasgow, I had no idea they were still making those. What scrapheap did you drag that up from?"
"Go to hell!" snarled Kallen. Then, raising her Knightmare, she fired a hand out of it to smash into the other Knightmare. It was thrown back, and the air was filled with smoke.
Lelouch shut the doors to the truck. Then he turned back to the driver's seat and moved forward. "If I jump out, I have a choice between getting shot and breaking my neck.
"I could probably force the driver to pull over, then hand the poison gas over to Britannia in public. But that would hand the weapon over to Clovis, and he might want me removed just in case. Then again, these rebels might as well."
Lelouch knew Kallen's group had a use for him. That didn't mean his use would outweigh the risk of keeping him alive, which is why he walked up to the front seat and pointed a gun at the driver's head. "Get off the highway now."
"What?" said the man. "Who are-"
"Do it," said Lelouch, looking out the window to see more Southerland Transports. "They'll be dropping down ahead of us soon." It was a good thing Jeremiah Gottwald, and his Purebloods spent most of their time fighting the JLF. Otherwise, they'd probably have been gunned down.
The man obeyed quickly. "You're that student who works with Kallen? How did you-"
"Not important," said Lelouch. "Get into the subways."
The man nodded. Heading into the old subways tunnels, the ground beneath their feet began to rumble. As they walked, Lelouch noticed that there was a makeshift detonation device. It was rigged into the dashboard with a switch and everything. This truck was rigged to blow on a moment's notice.
On and on, they went, and finally, the man slid to a halt.
"From the looks of things, we're a bit safer now," said Lelouch, noticing a woman and little girl's picture. "If you want to see your wife and child in that picture again, I suggest you tell me what you're doing here. And where are you taking that canister?"
"To Kyoto," said the man. "We don't have anywhere to store that kind of device, but they could dispose of it. What, do you expect us to just wait around for Clovis to gas us to death during an 'urban renewal.'"
"What's your name?' asked Lelouch.
"Nagata," said the man.
"...Alright, I'm going to tell you what is going to happen here, Nagata," said Lelouch. "You're going to get out of this car and walk. I'm going to use this radio to start a broadcast that the police can home in on. You will run off to wherever you want to go. I will go home, and then I will reveal that Clovis has made this kind of thing to the public.
"He won't be able to use it then.
"Then we will never see eachother again.
"Go. Now."
Nagata obeyed opened the door, and sprinted for his life. Lelouch watched him go and wondered if he should have blown his brains out all over the dashboard. It would have silenced him, but then Kallen knew Lelouch had been here. So it wasn't worth the risk.
He drew out a phone and made a call.
"Lelouch, there you are," said Shirley. "Where did you go? You're not gambling, are you?"
"Afraid so," said Lelouch, walking back into the main part of the truck and opening the side door. "Shirley, is there anything on the news right now?"
"...Well, they've cordoned off the Shinjuku Ghetto," said Shirley. "It says they are considering a planned urban renewal. You don't think they're hiding something, do you?"
"I'm on site right now, and yes," said Lelouch, looking out.
"What?!" said Shirley. "Lulu, you can't just do that without consulting us!"
"It was an accident," said Lelouch. "Tell Milly and your people to get ready to broadcast on a moment's notice. This might just be the Event Horizon."
"...You're serious?" asked Shirley.
"Yes," said Lelouch.
"I'll get to work right away," said Shirley.
The Event Horizon, named for the point at which no light could return after entering a black hole. Code for the ultimate plan Lelouch had been making. He'd realized after they'd had to abort their plans that Clovis wouldn't fall to what they were doing. His original plan had been to continue sabotage of his reputation. But he did far more damage than anticipated.
If that strategy had continued, Clovis would have dispensed with the charade. He'd have started killing people.
So Lelouch had chosen to scale operations back. Milly had begun networking with friends of nobles. Shirley had spoken to people word of mouth, and Kallen, Lelouch, and Rivalz had done the legwork. More and more data was being compiled, waiting for the Event Horizon. A point where the Student Council went to war with Clovis. To creat such a massive media firestorm that it toppled the Area 11 government. They had to force a change of rulers or die trying. There was no turning back. Half of Lelouch was glad the period of inaction was nearly over. The other half was dreading it.
Lelouch decided to focus on the task at hand. "Why would Clovis want to cover this up? If he were pursuing terrorists with stolen weaponry, he'd proclaim it to the sky. He wants to control information about this, probably doesn't want it getting out.
"They'll probably just shoot me as soon as they arrive."
And then there was light. Whirling around, Lelouch saw the canister opening before him.
Realizing the poison gas was about to be released, he jumped for cover. Yet there was no poison gas, only light. And out of that light fell a beautiful, green-haired girl. She was bound inside a straightjacket.
Lelouch stood up and kneeled by her. Then he glanced out the door and realized how exposed this position was. Any moment the Britannian Police could be arriving, and if this girl was so important, Clovis would rather pretend she was chemical weapons...
Well, Lelouch didn't want to be around when they found this truck.
Grabbing the girl, he quickly carried her out of the truck. Yet even as he did, he heard footsteps coming forward from the hall. Without anywhere else to go, Lelouch ran behind the truck, right near the wall, and threw the girl there. Falling forward, out of sight, he found himself pressed against her breasts. The girl narrowed her eyes, but Lelouch shoved her down, then peered through the driver's side.
Lights turned on, and men, clad in the brown uniforms of the Royal Guard marched forward. There looked to be about a dozen of them, and they were checking their corners. At their head was Captain Milner, Clovis' personal attack dog. Lelouch had seen him on television and knew he'd been the one to order the Viceroy Palace Massacre.
This was obviously important.
"There's the truck!" said Milner. "Search it now!"
The Royal Guard marched forward into the truck. Lelouch stepped back out of sight, so he was wedged between the wall and the truck. He could see men check the front of the card.
"No one here, Captain," said a guard, running back.
Peering under the truck, Lelouch saw only a few pairs of feet. And he could hear a lot of men walking within the truck. And he couldn't see any explosives on the outside of a truck that had been resisting gunfire. If so, that meant that the bombs had been meant to destroy what was inside the truck.
A just in case measure to ensure the Britannians couldn't reclaim it.
"Bartley, we have a problem," said Milner. "We've arrived at the truck, but the Poison Gas has already been released."
"She got away?" shouted a voice. "And you call yourselves the royal guard? Why the hell do you think I only told you people about this! You must-" Then Bartley went quiet. "Milord, are you sure?
"Continue the search, Milner. Be advised; we will be carrying out a full purge of the Shinjuku Ghetto. I hope you're proud of yourself."
Oh, of course. It wasn't Bartley's fault that the troops under his command were going to commit a massacre. It wasn't Britannia's fault, and it certainly wasn't Prince Clovis' fault. It was Milner's fault because he was a convenient patsy.
"A purge?" muttered Milner. "Great, alright, all of you get out of there. This is going to get-"
"Sir, we've got explosives-rigged throughout this truck!" said a man.
"What!" said Milner. "Get out! Get out now!"
Lelouch knew that he must act, or be caught. Rushing forward, he reached into the truck and flipped the detonating switch. Then he leaped back.
The world went white, and there was a scream.
"My men..." Milner was saying, voice choking. "Uncivilized monkeys!"
Lelouch forced himself up, picked up the girl, and threw her over one shoulder before making a run for it. Someone must have seen him because there were gunshots that rang off the ground. He didn't look back, just ran, ran faster and harder than he ever had his entire life. If he were back on the jogging track, he'd have made the hundred no problem.
At some point, he must have stopped running because he threw down the girl and leaned against a wall. He almost blamed her, but he heard the distant sound of gunfire and screaming. And he knew he had to act.
The Event Horizon was here.
Lelouch drew his phone and made a call. "Rivalz! Where are you?"
"Lelouch, some friend you are, leaving me behind-" began Rivalz.
"Would you shut up and listen to me!" snarled Lelouch. "Get over to Shinjuku now! I think there is going to be a genocide there, and we need it on camera!"
"But there's an entire army blocking the place off-"
"Get on a tower! Sneak through the guards! Bluff your way in!" shouted Lelouch. "Get the footage, or everything we've done is for nothing!"
Lelouch shut the phone and collapsed against the wall, gasping. He still had his pistol; he'd reholstered it at some point. Looking to the girl, he quickly began undoing the restraints on her, ungagging her. "What the hell. Why are they after you? How could one person possibly be worth all this?"
The girl did not answer. She seemed to be eyeing him with a calculating gaze.
Lelouch considered leaving her here but decided he couldn't do so in good conscience. So instead, he picked her up and moved on. And as he made his way through the tunnels, he heard gunfire getting louder and louder. At the very least, Lelouch had killed most of Milner's men.
Except he felt sick about it.
Yes, Milner and his thugs were brutes, responsible for all kinds of misery. But they were human, and Lelouch had ended most of their lives with the flick of switch. It had been so impersonal, so devoid of choice. Now Lelouch knew how the Knightmares had managed to massacre crowds of civilians. The men in the front seat had been playing video games.
It took nothing to kill a man from the seat of a Knightmare frame.
Cowards.
Every one of them were cowards, and Lelouch was just as bad.
Gradually, Lelouch managed to find his way up a set of stairs and into a warehouse. There he was greeted by the scent of death. Looking on, he saw dozens of corpses, ripped to shreds by high powers Knightmare rounds. Distantly, he saw Kallen's Red Glasgow destroy a Southerland, only to be chased by more.
Clovis would pay for this.
"You're sure the subway system comes out here?" asked Milner's voice.
Lelouch ducked down and drew his gun. Peering up, he saw Milner and two of his men moving. One of them had their arm in a sling, and their guns were drawn.
"Yes sir," said an officer. "Shouldn't we pull back? There are only three of us left."
"We'll complete our orders or die in the attempt," said Milner. "Our duty is to serve Prince Clovis and Britannia. Besides, it's one terrorist and a drugged girl. As long as we got here in time, we'll be fine."
"Death to Britannia!" cried a voice.
Then gunfire ripped through the warehouse. Milner and his men ducked for cover as a group of five men with AK 47's sprayed fire into it. One of Milner's men was caught in the leg and fell downward. To Lelouch's surprise, however, Milner leaped into the line of fire. Firing twice, two of the attackers fell dead. The others ducked for cover as Milner dragged his fallen comrade away, only to find him dead.
The one with the bandaged arm shot raised his pistol and shot one more of the attackers dead. Suddenly he was hit by a flurry of shots in the chest. Miler stood in cover as waves of bullets shattered the masonry around him. Shrapnel sliced his chin and blood poured down it, before he fired back several times.
"I'm out!" cried Milner. "I need a mag!"
Sensing an opportunity, the last attacker raced out with his AK 47. Coming around the corner with a smirk, he was blasted through the head by a single shot from Milner.
"Fucking animals," snarled Milner, reloading his gun and moving over to the one who had been shot. "George, are you alright?"
George said nothing.
Milner slammed a fist against the floor and glanced back toward the lines of battle. He seemed to be thinking of heading back to safety. But eventually, he turned back and decided to wait.
Lelouch could have shot him at any time.
However, he found he could not shoot the man in the back, however much he deserved it. So instead, he made his way out into the open, gun in hand. "Tell me, how should a student who detests his own nation live his life?"
Milner eyed him, and recognition hit his eyes. Even so, he did not raise his gun yet. "Trying to die like a man, then, student?"
"And you like a beast?" asked Lelouch. "That is the new god of Britannia after all. Natural selection."
Milner scoffed. "It's honest enough work, putting down rabid animals. What about you, schoolboy? I believe you're part of the Ashford Academy Student Council."
"Guilty as charged," admitted Lelouch, motioning with his head. "The girl you want is over there." He glanced at the radio on Milner's breast and made a plan. "And the transmitter I need is in your hand."
Milner laughed bitterly. "Good to know.
"I have to admit; I've been looking forward to do this for a long time. Your little collection of ingrates has caused more problems than the terrorists. Still, that's to be expected. You're a Britannian."
Lelouch returned the smile and tensed. "Then will the heroic Captain of the Guard shoot first? Or will the student be the faster draw?"
Milner matched his stance, gun in hand. "A western showdown? You certainly have a sense of drama, if nothing else."
The two of them stood silent for a moment, eyes meeting in the mid-morning light. Around them, the gunfire seemed to blur into silence as the two stood in silence. Waiting as if for some unspoken signal. In the distance, someone fired a rocket launcher, and a helicoptor was blown out of the case.
Lelouch's gun came up, and so did Milner's at the same moment. Their pistols were aimed at one another's breasts, and someone fired. Lelouch wasn't sure who at first had he been shot and not realized it. Red appeared upon Milner's breast, and blood poured from the wound. A moment later, Lelouch felt the pain hit him as well.
Milner fell back, landing in the cold earth and ruins of his own creation, dead.
Lelouch gasped and fell to one knee, checking his breast pocket. Within, he drew out his camera and found a bullet lodged within it. He was glad he'd bought an industrial-strength one now. Still, he was going to have a nasty bruise from this.
Moving over to Milner, Lelouch removed the transmitter from his uniform. For a moment, he paused, then he closed the man's eyes. More than he deserved, but he was a better man than Clovis.
Opening a channel, Lelouch sent it on a military channel. He moved out into better reception. "Hello! Is anyone there?!"
His voice was panicked, terrified, and petulant. Lelouch doubted Clovis had told the Sutherlands shooting the place up the details. It would have been enough to know Clovis wanted these people dead.
"What the-" said a voice. "Who is this? This is Lady Villetta Nu of the Purebloods? How did you get on this channel?"
Lelouch smiled. Clovis' favorite Knightmare commander after Gottwald. "I found this radio on a dead soldier ma'am, please, you've got to help me! My name is Alan Spacer; my father's a Duke! I was kidnapped by terrorists, and I'm trying to escape!
"I... I found a lot of Royal Guard dead out here. That's where I found the transmitter. They were escorting a green-haired girl in restraints, but then they were ambushed. She can't move, but I think she needs help."
Villetta was silent for a moment, and Lelouch wondered if he'd overplayed. "Keep this channel on. I'll trace it to your coordinates. The rest of you continue operations."
"Thank you..." said Lelouch.
Quickly he moved back to the green-haired girl and found she'd made her way up on foot. "With any luck, Lady Villetta will want to come here to collect you herself. Can you move?"
The girl nodded. "Good.
"I'm going to ask you to type in some numbers in a little while. You'll have to do a bit of climbing as well. Can you do that?"
This was a risk. But the alternative was letting Clovis have it all his own way.
Lelouch had the girl stand somewhere in plain sight. At the same time, he hoped Villetta wouldn't gun both of them down. She seemed annoyed at being used as a decoy, but he wasn't inclined to care. To his surprise, however, Villetta Nu came through the wall. She smashed it open in a Knightmare frame and scanned the building.
"...There are the Royal Guard," said Villetta. "You, boy, do you have any identification to prove who you say you are?"
"My ID is in my breast pocket," said Lelouch. "Once you've confirmed who I am, I'll request your protection." Should he kill her? It wasn't as though it was undeserved.
One thing at a time.
Villetta opened her hatch and lowered herself down on a rope. As it turned out, she was a stunningly gorgeous silver-haired, half-African woman. She wore a violet leotard that barded her legs and arms and clung to her ample curves. Her hands wore long violet gloves, and her long legs were set into a pair of thigh-high boots.
"Stay where you are," said Villetta, moving forward. "I'll take out your ID."
Villetta Nu did not have his real name. Villetta Nu was going to be out of power once this was over, or Lelouch was dead anyway. And given what he was going to prove about her, it was doubtful anyone would care what she thought.
Just as Villetta drew near, Lelouch sprung. His hand moved faster than any normal student could and gripped her wrist. Then he twisted around her and forced her arm behind her back. Gripping her other arm, he put a gun to her head as he pressed her against his chest.
"...Who are you?" asked Villetta, holding her gun in one hand and her Knightmare key the other.
"It doesn't matter who I am," said Lelouch. He dragged her key out of her hand and tossed it to the green-haired girl. "What are the IFF codes?"
"You don't really think you'll be able to escape-" began Villetta, struggling in his arms.
"Do you think I'll survive this if I let you go?" asked Lelouch. "Tell me the IFF codes, or I'm killing you right here and now."
Villetta shuddered, probably thinking that she wasn't getting out of this alive. "Xg21-G2D4."
"Good to know," said Lelouch. "You, girl, try the code."
The girl nodded and immediately scaled up the rope.
"Even if you steal my Knightmare, you can't stop the Britannian military," said Villetta. "If you release me-"
The Knightmare activated.
Lelouch immediately gripped Villetta's neck in a precise way that Sayoko taught him. She collapsed unconscious to the ground and hit the floor. Then Lelouch raised his gun and pointed it at her. It would be so easy to kill her right here and now.
Pull the trigger, and Villetta Nu died. She was a liability.
Except Lelouch didn't know that she was. She'd had only a brief look at his face and that while pumped on adrenaline. She didn't know his name, and even if he left her here, she might end up dead anyway. Lowering his gun, he moved over to the Knightmare and scaled up to the top. He found the girl in the seat.
"Get out of the seat," said Lelouch flatly.
The girl stepped aside as Lelouch checked the systems. He'd been sure to familiarize himself with how these things operated a while back.
"You seem to have thought all this through very well," said the girl finally.
"Not really," admitted Lelouch. "There were dozens of different ways this plan could have gone south. For now, however, I've business with Clovis." Checking the Knightmare, he was pleased to see that he could see enemy knightmares. From that, he calculated that the west entrance to Shinjuku was completely unguarded.
Visual confirmation indicated that a train was inbound. Clovis hadn't even redirected it.
Observing several Britannian units pursuing a single enemy dot, Lelouch headed toward them. As he did, he saw corpses of all kinds. Men, women, and children gunned down in the street. He wondered if he shouldn't have killed Villetta back there.
Eventually, he drew out Kallen's communicator. Switching it on, he opened a channel, as he got into position in a vantage point. Looking down, he could see the train coming. It was heavy-duty, the kind used for transporting military equipment. Which meant it probably held weapons.
And there was Kallen. He opened a channel to the entire rebel forces. "The west entrance."
"What?" said Kallen. "Lelouch is that-"
"Take the west entrance if you want to win," said Lelouch. "And don't makeup names, Q1."
"...Right," said Kallen.
"Girlfriend?" asked the green-haired girl.
"Associate would be a better term," mused Lelouch.
Watching, he saw Kallen make her way in this direction. As she did, Lelouch opened a channel. "Since you trusted me, you're going to win. Jump onto the train."
Kallen did so, leaping onto the tracks pursued by Sutherlands. Leaping onto the train, one of the Sutherlands was pulverized by it. Another Lelouch blasted to smithereens with gunfire. The last, he took out with his slash harkens.
"You saved me," said Kallen. "But how did you get your hands on a Southerland?!"
"We have no time for that, Q1," said Lelouch, noticing other rebels making their way up the tracks.
"Kallen, did you hear the voice as well?" asked Oghi.
"Yes," said Kallen. "But-"
"Check inside that train," said Lelouch, cutting in. "They're tools for your victory."
And check inside they did. "Sutherlands! The entire thing is filled with Sutherlands."
"What would you have done if it had been filled with plastic toys?" asked the girl.
"Told them to hijack the train and make a run for it," said Lelouch. "If Clovis was stupid enough not to redirect it, he might not be able to stop it."
Then he got a phone call. Opening his phone, he put it to his ear. "Yes?"
"Lelouch," said Rivalz. "Nina and I... we're getting footage from one of the towers! This is... this is horrible..."
"Stay calm, Rivalz, and keep an eye out," said Lelouch. "Someone might come after you and Nina. If it happens, you scrap the mission and run for it.
"Now, keep taking footage." They'd kept a variety of cameras in Rivalz's bike, just in case.
"What about you?" asked Rivalz. "Are you okay, buddy?"
"Don't worry," said Lelouch. "I'm not out of the woods yet, but I think the main danger has passed. I'm going to make my way out soon. We'll talk later." He hung up and smiled. "Well then..."
