OK Number 22 - Viva La France!

"I remember thinking to myself… that's it, it's just happened. I've just watched someone die in front of me. I remember the eighties and nineties well, and it was a common thing, and this had all the same elements. She just… rocked, up and down, her car lifted off the deck at an angle as it skated up the backside of the other car before the floor slammed into side of the wall, and then it just shot through the air and into the barrier on the far side. Then the car just… stopped, with her head bobbing limply. They always say that the worst crashes are the ones where the car doesn't hit much, and stops very suddenly; if it bounces off a lot of stuff, it loses speed gradually, but if it just stops in one hit, the g forces… yeah."

Diethard paused, and sighed. Turning away from the camera for a moment, he took a breath. The history of fatalities in the sport had largely ended in the modern era, but for those who remembered it, it was an emotional matter. Gathering himself, he resumed his note.

"Of course, after she came together with Suzaku, she was livid. She was looking to get back up and fighting with him, and was in no mood to deal with the cars she had let past. She took Nu on the outside of turn one, which was successful, but she caught Li Xingke in the esses, where the dirty air made it hard to follow. She must have lost two seconds, or more, following him through at his slowed pace. When they went down towards the Degners, she was seeing red, and went for the move."

"She dove to the inside, however she made the move too late, and her front left tyre went into the back of Xingke at a hundred and twenty miles per hour. Her car shot off the back of Xingke as if he was a launch pad and she flew up into the air."

"Rolling to the side, she hit the tower at the side at full speed before bouncing off into the Armco, stopping from a hundred miles per hour in under a second, landed upside down."

"Then there was silence. I think that was the worst bit; it was just sitting there, upside down, but there was no movement. Kaname Ohgi was calling her on the radio, but there was no response. I think everyone in the paddock got the most horrible sinking feeling the longer we went on without Kallen climbing out of the car. There was no reassurance, and every nerve screamed at me that we had returned to a very dark place, that we should prepare for the worst. It was only when they righted the car that Kallen made a move we could see, and I think everyone took a massive sigh of relief. We were all quite shaken up."

"She blacked out under the deceleration, but she was ultimately fine, thank goodness. The race was red-flagged, ultimately, beginning again after an hour. Suzaku led from lights to flag, pulling out a big gap to Lelouch and Marrybel respectively."

"Thing is, it was her fault. It is not at all expected or feasible to attempt a pass into Degner One, and, I don't know, I guess she just saw red and shot the car down the inside when there was no having it, and the car just launched into Xingke's backside. The stewards did not look kindly on her aggressive move, and she was handed a five place grid penalty for Monaco, citing dangerous driving, which by all accounts was not taken well by the Japanese driver."

"Bullshit!"

"Kallen, calm down, you've got a concussion, it's not good to get worked up like this."

Kallen huffed and leaned back into her pillow, as Naoto sighed, his head ticking back frustratedly as the team gathered around the bed winced to absorb the moment. Ohgi, stood behind Naoto, seemed to defer to him in light of their long friendship. Lelouch, near the back of the room, kept a keen ear in the conversation without drawing attention to himself. Front and centre were team management, eager to work through the implications of what this penalty meant.

"Is it appealable?" Kallen asked from her prone position, commanding the tempo of the room. However, in spite of this, they could not change the reality of the facts of the case.

"Unfortunately no. We could in theory, but the race is in two weeks, and it would not be concluded by that time. Further, you approached from behind, and precedent suggests that that would be where liability is imposed."

"Which you knew." Naoto harshly added, clearly displeased. Lelouch, silent at the back, hid a smile. While Nunnally had mentioned that Naoto had warmed to her and had enjoyed himself prior to the crash, he was certainly in no such mood now.

Though no one had bothered to ask, Lelouch had had a very decent race, climbing up three places to secure a podium for the team. He had now pulled ahead of his teammate in the championship standings, placing him ahead of one of the most highly rated young drivers on the grid. No mean feat, and a point in his favour in contract negotiations. Even now with Nunnally out of hospital, she still required Sayako's services, and he was still financing Rolo's rise through the junior formulae. This result was a welcome stroke of fortune, and the pursuant grid penalty at the hardest track on the calender to overtake put him in prime position to build a gap for when she came charging back.

However such sentiments were not for polite company, and as the room quietened in the awkward moment after Naoto's growl, he did not air them. Instead, he allowed Kallen to begin "So, when do I get out of hospital?"

Naoto's face adopted a more scrutinising mould, though, notably for someone who was historically so parental, he did not bite. Having spoken with Kirihara at length, it struck him as out of character on Naoto's part to not be more chastising.

Indeed, he and Kirihara proved to be birds of a feather, with similar approaches to life and racing. Kirihara was a hard businessman with ties in the Japanese Diet, and he recognised who Lelouch was within one meeting, and pulled him aside after the fact to make his awareness plain. While Lelouch was terrified, he quickly realised that Kirihara simply desired clarity, and was content to humour Lelouch and his ambition, as the Frenchman spoke a language that he was familiar with both from his professional life with politicians and racing life with Tohdoh. By comparison with the choleric Kallen whose desires and motive were indeterminable, Lelouch was at pains to present himself as a known quantity, whose line of thinking and desires were easily understood and accommodated by political animals like Kirihara.

He could only imagine the headache having a disgruntled Kallen ordering the team members and Naoto floating about the place being grumpy was giving him. It was glorious, and the discordance could allow him to slip up the totem pole.

One way that would not happen would be him sticking his hat into the fire, and so he remained silent as the attending nurse sighed and said "We're oversubscribed anyway, so we'll try and have you out of here by tomorrow morning."

A lot of sighs, whether of tiredness, frustration, or whatever, were being exhumed, and Taizo joined in the trend, before explaining "It's early days, but it's worth noting that Suzaku is fifteen points clear of you now. Lelouch is keeping in the fight, but even he's three points adrift. Monaco may be a dud due to the grid penalty, but the fight back starts in Canada. Whatever you need, we'll get it, but we need to start putting heavy points on the board."

He looked down, as Lelouch picked at his words like a mealy soup. The screws were being turned for Kallen, which history inferred could play into his hands depending on her reaction. The new Rebellion was unstable, but it had lightning reactions, which should make it OP around the streets of Monte Carlo, and with Kallen out of the running to all intents and purposes, this was his moment to capitalise.

Acknowledging this, Kirihara turned across to Lelouch, sat behind the apostles gathered around the bedside, and said "Monaco will be your weekend. We need to ensure Suzaku scores as few points as possible, so you taking the win off him will reduce his points haul by seven. With a bit of luck, you'll take the lead of the championship at your home event."

Of course, it was nice to be in prime position to take P1 in the championship, but Taizo and Lelouch shared an understanding of what could flow from this. For Lelouch to carry P1 to Brazil would require quite a bit of bad luck on Kallen's part, which was certainly not what they had planned. However, to take the win and the championship lead in Monaco as a Frenchman would open up immense marketing and personal sponsorship opportunities, which Kirihara knew would pacify him.

Such was the benefits of being transparent with what one wanted.

Turning back around, Taizo cleared his throat and addressed the room.

"The setup is already under way in Monaco. The chassis is on this morning's flight to Italy, where the people on the ground will bring it through France and into the Principality. The engine and gearbox will be flying with the engineering group, touching base in Languedoc for stress testing. I want both cars ready to race by Wednesday. Understood?"

The room nodded, and with that, it began to file out, with business concluded. Lelouch hang back, sitting in silence as the strategists and tacticians moved to allow the some siblings time alone. With alert ears, he overheard the beginnings of a conversation between Naoto and Kallen, with Naoto beginning, as he finally shuffled out of the room, the last one to leave.

"So what's the plan?"

"Qualify first, start sixth, win the race."

Ohgi shook his head as he kept his hand at the signal controls, managing the signs posted out the edge of pit lane, with information on Kallen's lap time, and the gaps to the cars ahead and behind her, all to be signposted and held out feet above the racing line, condensed as much as possible to allow the drivers to glance at them as they skated down the narrow pinball streets of Monte Carlo, never more than inches from the walls. The pit board was low tech, but it had to be filled at a moments notice, hung out over seventy times with never an error, and it was, like everything else, honed to a fine art.

However, to watch the way the Rebellion team had run their race weekend, one would assume that the efficient management of plastic boards was the only thing they could pull off well. Suzaku Kururugi had reportedly locked himself in the simulator for hours on end, and had found another gear around Monaco, where his car was theoretically at a disadvantage compared to the short wheelbase Type-2/F19-Y. In spite of this, he was unchallenged by Lelouch in the fight for pole, and while Kallen set a faster lap time, her penalty dropped her down six positions. With Lelouch in P2, there was at least a hope he could take Suzaku on the inside, and that Kallen could repeat her feat from last year of overtaking car after car.

However, things really had not been going their way. Suzaku had launched off into the distance from the start, having fallen into a stupor with laps that were identical to within millimetres, with consistency that allowed him to pull ahead of Lelouch, who had thankfully at least retained second. Kallen had mugged Marrybel off the line, but in saving her tyres, she was struggling to make any headway on P4, caught up and limited to their pace. While Ohgi had done his best to arrange a strategy that could free her up to push and get ahead, however the undercut had failed, and now that all the pitstops had shaken out, he could only try and reassure Kallen as the whole field nursed wounded rubber to the end, with no one wanting to have to make another stop due to the difficulties in overtaking even if they were down to canvasses.

"Keep focused Kallen, we can still get a good result. Everyone is nursing tyres, they may make a mistake. The race isn't over yet."

He had to wait for a response, with Kallen, who was continuously running up behind the car ahead as close as she dared, peeking and poking at every avenue, however as they ran up onto the front straight, she was finally able to respond, though discouragingly it was a simple huff of "For these next few laps, I want less talking, minimal radio from now on."

He shook his head, and rubbed at his forehead with his sleeve. Kallen had been in a bullish headspace since the crash, somewhat down what with the blown opportunity and quietly determined to drive back into contention. However, it seemed to manifest with a brooding anger, which, while it may well have allowed her to drive closer to the limit, left Ohgi more than a little exasperated. She had the speed, but to work with she left much to be desired since she had gotten into this mindset.

He supposed it was not unique to her. Nobody liked to be on the back foot, and most everyone would want to compensate at the next bout, and Ohgi could not say that a little fire was not necessary for any comeback. In any case-

"Safety car! We have a safety car out! Watch the pits!"

The announcement did not come from his radio, but from his computer; an automated voiceover that called his attention to the screen. Watching intently, he looked for what had caused it. The camera was following Kururugi, with the TV director clearly as in the dark as he was. As the director cycled through camera views displayed over the public broadcast to find the victim, Ohgi grinned. This could be their chance! With the pack bunched up, both Kallen and Lelouch could make inroads if they had a good start. This was fantastic!

He didn't even consider the tragic possibility before the director arrived on it, showing the back of a purple rear wing and intricate exhaust system, faced the wrong way around at the swimming pool chicane. Without a view of the cockpit, Ohgi could not determine whether it was the fierce red helmet of Kallen or the black-with-white-accents one Lelouch wore adorned by the driver who had crashed, but either way, Ohgi's heart sank. The camera zoomed out, as cars slowed past the wreckage, yellow flags waved ferociously by the marshals at the scene of the accident.

And then, Ohgi's radio burst into life.

"I… I went for the overtake… but…"

Ohgi trembled. Kallen sounded on the verge of tears, and as the camera cut to a frontal view of the stricken car, with the distinctive helmet bowed, with the visor open and her hands covering her face. This could only be shattering, as Ohgi considered how bad he felt, and how much worse she must.

Watching a replay brought only more pain, as Ohgi watched her try to seize the outside line with the target having a slow line, however, with only half the track to work with, she couldn't slow the car in time, tagged the barrier with her rear tyre, and round she went. She had simply gotten too impatient, and forced the move. Hoping against hope, he asked "Can you get drive."

"No, suspension… the rear suspension's broke. Sorry guys, I'm so sorry..."

Ohgi could not think of any reply that could properly address anything about this situation, and if there had not been another radio interruption.

"Suzaku is pitting! Suzaku Kururugi has entered the pits! Moniter! Do not pit Lelouch under any circumstances, keep Lelouch out!"

"Copy!"

Ohgi had not partaken in any part of this conversation, held between the chief engineer Shogo Asahina and Lelouch's strategist and Ohgi's opposite number, Olivia Reuel, however it clued him into all the context he needed as he saw Suzaku's white Rosenberg stroll past down pit lane. As the cars ran slower on track under a safety car, the difference in speed between track and pit lane was far less pronounced, and so one could lose a lot less time in the pits compared to green flag running. With overtaking close to impossible, the Rosenberg team must have calculated that with Suzaku's large lead, he would wind up coming out ahead of Lelouch anyway, and with how much wear was on everyones tyres, any excuse to pit was a good excuse to pit.

Ohgi watched intently as the racer slotted into the garage and the mechanics set to work replacing his destroyed medium tyres, preserved beyond all sense to make the one-stop work, with brand new soft tyres, with them sliding on as smooth as-

No! Ohgi stood transfixed as the left rear wheel did not attach, and his breath caught as the mechanic swore, took it out, and had a second go of sliding it over the axle. It held, and Suzaku was waved off, but the damage was done. The failed attachment had lost him a second and a half as the mechanic struggled, gave up, and tried to begin again, which could mean-

Ohgi whipped around, almost hurting his neck as he looked from the pit lane to the race track, and just caught the purple car and black helmet streak past. Extending his body out, he looked to the first corner to see who would get out first. It would be close.

Suzaku came into view fifty meters ahead of the corner ahead of Lelouch, but with his speed limit still being slightly slower than the reduced track speed, Lelouch could pull ahead and line up behind the safety car ahead of the Japanese man. They had the lead, with twelve laps to go.

The engineer roared with laughter, as did the entire team, who did high fives and fist bumps all the way down the garage, in stark contrast to the Rosenberg engineers, who were all in some variation of the thousand yard stare as the safety car circulated, guiding the bunched up pack to allow the marshals to work safely.

As Marianne Vi Britannia indicated she planned to pull in after Kallen's car had been recovered, the teams thoughts returned to Lelouch, out there with Suzaku only inches behind with brand new tyres that were forty laps younger and a step softer. As Lelouch waited for the off, Ohgi could hear all the advice going to his earpiece.

"Okay Lelouch, ten laps, you can go when you want, the pack will go when you go, you dictate the pace. Suzaku will have extreme pace, we need everything you have to win this race, all or nothing. Don't crash, and keep heat in the tyres for the restart. DRS will not be enabled. Good luck."

As Lelouch crawled through Rascasse, backing up the pace, Ohgi swallowed down a nervous well, as all the cameras around Monaco followed the local through the twisty end to the lap. It was his impetus, and as he watched onboard with Suzaku's point of view, it appeared he was not taking it now.

However, suddenly, Lelouch lifted off, and Suzaku closed up quickly. The man was forced to brake to avoid running into the race leader from behind, which gave Lelouch his chance. As soon as Lelouch saw Suzaku brake, he stomped on the throttle, launching into the next dimension. As Suzaku was braking, it took him a moment to get out of it and press down on the accelerator, allowing Lelouch to breathe into turn one thanks to the concertina effect. It was well played, timing the off with when his opponent wasn't ready, but while it saved him in turn one, this did not last long. By Casino Square, Suzaku was all over the back of Lelouch, and the battle was joined.

Suzaku had grip that was orders of magnitude greater than Lelouch's, not to mention the skill gap, and it showed as Suzaku followed Lelouch's rear through Sector Two, sniffing at gaps and trying to find any space he could. Around every corner, Lelouch was forced into driving in the middle of the track, into hogging the apex, doing anything and everything to stem the tsunami behind. To borrow the phrase, it was like trying to stop the Niagara falls with a deck chair.

But, at present, the deck chair was winning. Lelouch took a defensive tack everywhere, and even in spite of the domineering presence behind him that weaved and hunted out any scent of a gap, filling up both of his mirrors, Suzaku was restrained to Lelouch's speed. With such a surplus, Suzaku could take corners at such strange lines in the hopes of overtaking, leading to several side by side moments, however Lelouch just about held on.

The tension was unbearable. Lelouch wasn't just living on borrowed time, he was actively haggling with the loan shark for precious seconds, all while fending off one of the best drivers on the grid. Ohgi's nails were long gone, and no one dared breathe as the pair entered their final lap, barely separable as they crossed the line.

All he could think was how much he could have done with a pillow to bite down on, he could barely stand it.

Suzaku, with far more longitudinal grip, had pulled a much better exit, and had even come alongside Lelouch into turn one, however with the inside line Lelouch lunged the apex, before allowing his nose to drift out wide and occupy the whole width of the track on exit, cutting off Suzaku and leaving him with a choice of either pulling out of the move or hitting the barrier on the outside. It was aggressive, hostile defending, and it only held off the oncoming storm for one corner, as as Lelouch ran up to Massenet, Suzaku was already on his tail again. But today, Lelouch was driving histories widest Formula One car, and he extended it further by intentionally missing the apex, not allowing enough space on the inside or outside for a move.

Only a few corners now, and Ohgi could not stand to look. At every opportunity, Lelouch would cut across Suzaku, as his defences grew more desperate. There was almost a t-bone collision at the Nouvelle chicane as Lelouch turned into Suzaku's line, only saved by Suzaku's better instincts as the driver braked to avoid the sidepod of the Franc, who had taken the earliest turn-in since Alain Prost.

Lelouch hung on with everything he had, like Brazil last year, and left nothing on the table. When the whole team rushed to the pit wall to see for themselves who would be ahead in the run up to the line, Ohgi was overwhelmed to see that Lelouch had done it. With a cars length in advantage, he streaked to the line parallel to the pit wall, where the whole team hung out over the fences in celebration, welcoming Lelouch home.

"Nice one mate, that's the Monaco Grand Prix! You had us worried there for a while, but you've done it! P1! P1! Good work!"

What followed from Lelouch was not safe for work and heavily censored, but it was undoubtedly joyous, as he pumped his fist victoriously crossing the line and beyond, only slowing to allow a marshal to hand him a French flag. Waving it from the depths of his cockpit, he was screaming like a madman over the radio.

"Monaco baby! Fantastic, holy- ahahahaa… let's go! Oh god, I…"

He paused, and Ohgi suspected that he was the second of their drivers today to start crying, though for a very different reason. The Monaco Grand Prix was special, and winning it was not like any other Grand Prix. Steeped in heritage, it was a gruelling track that punished mistakes and had been in use longer than any other track. In light of how he had grown up so close by, it was no wonder he was so excited.

"… aha… Well done, everyone. All tasks at hand, bloody well cleared, well done."

~Eth0