Part V: To Strive, To Seek, To Find
Where will all the martyrs go when the virus cures itself?
And where will we all go when it's too late?
-"Letterbomb", by Green Day
"What do you mean Toudou isn't available! Where is he!" Xing-ke snapped furiously, slamming his fist into the wood of his desk, sending pictures and papers scattering to the floor like snowfall from nuclear winter. The officer on the phone fell silent before his commander's fury.
The walls of his modest office were bare, as if all decoration stripped away by the commander's fury. It contained only a desk, a computer, three chairs (one behind the desk and two in front), and a television screen, a testament to the Spartan décor Xing-ke preferred.
Zhou Xianglin, his executive officer since he'd been in the Chinese Federation's military, placed a calming hand on his shoulder, looking concerned. "Commander, please, your health…"
He brushed her away, too focused on the phone right now.
"I'm sorry sir," came the officer's subdued, nervous tone, "He's still sequestering himself in his private residence. We've sent officers, but Colonel Nagisa has sent them away."
"The Empress is dead and he's staying neutral?" the Commander of the Black Knights spat incredulously, eyes wide. "Damn him!"
A stab of pain, like white hot knives slicing through his veins, came suddenly, and he gave out a low groan, clutching his chest, hacking violently.
"Xing-ke-san!" Xianglin paled and moved to support him, but he brushed her aside. He paid her no mind still.
"What about Cornelia?" he asked, voice hoarse with barely suppressed agony. "We haven't had any word from her for more than a day."
"No one's seen her yet, sir, but considering the situation in Japan she's like gone to ground or been captured," the officer informed him.
Xing-ke bit out a violent curse in his native tongue, and scowling. "My Chief of Staff isn't taking sides, and the Commander of the Police is completely AWOL. Goddamnit." He glanced at Xianglin, before instructing, in a voice that was laced with barely checked irritation, "Tell Guilford to do what he can to contain this incident. We need to secure the wreckage of the Empress' plane, and get some answers. I don't care what the Japanese government says, our authority supersedes theirs right now."
"Understood, sir," the officer said quietly.
He set the phone down and sank back into his chair, closing his eyes and exhaling with an exhausted sigh. "What word from Chairwoman Kaguya and the Council?" he asked tiredly.
"Kaguya is organizing another emergency session of the Council. Right now the distribution of the Empress' powers in this time is unknown… we never prepared for such a thing," Xianglin reported, a harried tone in her voice.
"Damn it… we were too naive," Xing-ke cursed, before another, more violent coughing fit overtook him, and he was forced to cover his mouth reflexively as small spatters of blood covered his desk.
Concerned, she leaned forward, offering him a handkerchief, which he took gratefully.
"I'm not long for this world, Xianglin," he whispered tiredly, shaking his head. "I can't take command here… I need someone else to be the leader for this situation. As much as I hate to admit it… We need help."
The silent question was left hanging in the air, as weighty and crushing as a corpse hanging from the ceiling.
But who is there left to help us, they both wondered.
00000
Suzaku could count the two times he'd had a complete and total breakdown of his (admittedly fragile) mental stability. The first was Euphie's death, a madness of blood and rage and betrayal. The second was the aftermath of the FLEIJA bomb, which had been a cold, silent madness, something that wrested away all of his pretty ideals and self deceptions.
This was not a breakdown, but it was damn near close.
The television screen on the wall was oblivious to his agony, continuing its merciless coverage of Nunnally's death.
("You're not Onii-sama," said the tiny, blind slip of a girl that his father had said was a princess. "What's your name?
"Kururugi Suzaku," he said in reply.
"I'm Nunnally, Suzaku-san. It's very nice to meet you."And she smiled, and it was one of the most brilliant things he had ever seen in his young life.
"It's... uh… nice to meet you too," he replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.)
His strength seemed to have left him, and he collapsed, leaning against Ougi's desk, chest tight, constricted, as if no air could get into his lungs. The spacious walls of the office, decorated with pictures and a large, dominating bookshelf opposite the television, seemed to be closing in on him.
Ougi leaned in next to him, looking at him concernedly.
"Are you alright, Zero?" he asked, voice shaky. He was trembling.
I couldn't protect her. Once again, I couldn't protect…
Suzaku sucked in a breath. Now was not the time.
"No," he admitted, "But that's not the issue. Right now, we need to get moving and secure the…" God she can't be "… the wreckage," he finished, half choked.
Dazed, the Prime Minister nodded in agreement, and reached over to the intercom.
"I'll have our men over there immediately," he said, voice unsteady.
But before he had even pushed the button, the door burst open and two of the Black Knights stepped into the room briskly, looking stern.
"Ah, you're here," Ougi said, sounding relieved, "We need to get moving right away-"
Suddenly, a familiar sensation overtook Suzaku's senses, and a single word boomed throughout his psyche like the voice of a god.
(LIVE)
In an instant, his reflexes, already at the peak of human ability, were sharpened by Lelouch's Geass order, and he took in the entire situation in a glance, with a speed that Lelouch himself would have been impressed with.
Suzaku saw, in slow motion, the Black Knights reaching for the safeties on their firearms, leveling them directly at him- at this range, they wouldn't even need to aim.
It came together in his mind like pieces of a puzzle, all these things suddenly coming into sharp focus.
They would assassinate Zero, the most powerful symbol of the new empire, and take Ougi hostage, forcing him to abdicate and giving power to Hideyoshi and the anti-Brittanian movement.
It would completely cripple the Empire, which had just lost its leader, and leave it staggering, the momentum to stop this coup de tat forgotten, and plunging the world into the kind of chaos it had not seen since the days when Lelouch reigned as Zero.
Not under my watch.
In a flash, Suzaku leapt forward and delivered a crushing snap kick to the closest member of the Black Knights, sending him crashing backwards, straight back out into the hallway and into a wall with an audible crack. Before the remaining enemy could turn and react, Suzaku, still hyped up on adrenaline and the coercive power of Geass, lashed out with a roundhouse kick to the man's ribs, sending him crashing into the bookshelf against one of the walls, slumping bonelessly to the ground as a rain of heavy books covered his unconscious body.
It was over in seconds, and Ougi had barely finished his sentence and realized the men had been aiming at him before Zero dropped the two men and put them into unconsciousness. And he stood still in shock, unable to believe that two of his own soldiers had just attempted to remove him from power, until Zero pressed a rifle roughly into his hands and pushed him away from the doorway.
"It's a coup," Suzaku hissed, holding the other rifle and pointing it cautiously at the door. "We need to get out of here. Where's the nearest exit?"
They had based the new Diet building off of the old Brittanian government building in design- it was a veritable fortress, and it had to have several different escape routes already planned out.
Briefly, he cursed himself for not bothering to study the layout of the building beforehand. Sloppy.
"I…" Ougi swallowed, and straightened. "There's a hangar three floors down. There should still be a plane down there- I took it here from New Pendragon when all this started."
That's three floors too many, Zero thought to himself, but resigned himself. Policing a grenade from the belt of one of the unconscious soldiers, he motioned for Ougi to follow him towards the door, where he peered cautiously out into the hallway. Seeing no one, he sprinted for the elevators, which were around the corner and behind a set of double doors, the Minister following close behind.
They were nearly to the elevator when the doors burst open and five Black Knights came in. Suzaku barely had time to register their presence before they raised their weapons and opened fire.
"Halt!" one of them, with the insignia of a Sergeant, barked.
Zero grabbed Ougi by the wrist, kicked open the closest office door, and threw him inside, just in time to avoid the first hail of gunfire.
"Damn," Suzaku swore. Without poking his head out, he pointed the rifle around the corner of the door and squeezed off a quick burst of blind fire. He didn't expect to hit anything, but he hoped that it would keep them from storming the room. With their superior numbers and firepower, even his superhuman reflexes under the Geass would eventually falter, especially if he had to protect Ougi.
"We need another route," he said hurriedly, and fired another burst of blind fire around the corner. He glanced around the room- it was a windowless office, facing inward into the building- only one way in or out.
He was about to curse again, when suddenly the gunfire suddenly ceased, leaving a curiously empty silence in its wake.
Ougi and Suzaku shared a bewildered, suspicious glance.
"They might be sneaking up," Zero whispered, and jerked his head for Ougi to position himself behind a bookshelf, just out of the line of sight of the door. Slowly, creeping forward, he made his way toward the door.
Sure enough, he could hear the sound of footsteps making their way down the hallway. Heavy footsteps.
Giving a steady nod to Ougi, Suzaku took a deep breath, and burst out of the room, whirling about, leveling his gun at-
"Jeremiah?" he blinked.
"Glad to see your reflexes haven't dulled," the cyborg knight complimented, smiling cordially, "But could you please lower the gun, Zero?"
Suzaku glanced behind Jeremiah, moving the gun away as he did so, recognizing the figure behind the knight. "Minami-san?"
Minami gave him an acknowledging nod, even as he policed the last of the weapons from the soldiers.
"We fought our way up here after realizing what was happening," Jeremiah informed him quickly. "They've taken over all the offices- no one in the public knows what's happening yet though."
Suzaku swallowed, dipping his head ever so slightly in understanding at how broad this coup actually ran. Something big was working against them, some kind of threat they hadn't seen- there was no way the separatist faction in Japan had thought of this entire scenario on their own.
Kallen, wherever you are, you'd better get back here with C.C. soon.
"For now, I believe we should escape." The knight glanced about. "Do you have the Prime Minister?"
Zero nodded, and Ougi stepped out of the room cautiously. Minami rushed over to him, a relieved look on his face.
"I'm glad you're safe, sir," he said quickly, bowing his head respectfully.
"You too, Minami. What about the others?" the Minister asked, half dreading the answer.
Minami sighed, pinching his nose in frustration. "Hideyoshi's men have taken over. This was very well planned- the soldiers here are loyal to him, and because of that no one will dare speak out against him, even if they oppose him."
Ougi frowned. "As long as no one tried to be a martyr," he muttered, sounding older than he was. "No one should have to die for this."
Jeremiah coughed. "I apologize, Minister, Minami-san, but we must leave immediately. More guards are on their way. I've already made the arrangements for our escape."
"Wait!" the minister blurted, eyes widening. "My family! We need to get them-"
A calming hand was placed on his shoulder, and Ougi glanced back to see Zero's mask behind him.
"Panic won't serve us," Suzaku said quietly, trying to inject a note of comfort into his tone. He was Zero now, no longer a man but the symbol of justice for the world- he had to be level-headed, ready to lead through this crisis, regardless of his own personal feelings and sorrows. "If we don't escape no one will be able to help your family."
"I… You're right," the Prime Minister admitted, sighing, but his fists remained tense, the violent protectiveness of a father and husband barely kept in check.
"Don't worry," Jeremiah assured him, and all eyes turned towards the knight, who smiled. "There's no cause for concern. We've already anticipated this, and I've sent our most trustworthy agent to protect your family."
00000
"God damn it!" Tamaki swore loudly, delivering a swift haymaker to the jaw of the last unfortunate member of the Black Knights who attempted to cross the threshold of the bar and take the Prime Minister's family hostage. "I only had a few payments left on this place, and these pricks go and destroy my door!"
Though, to be honest, it wasn't just the wooden door that was destroyed in the bar now. The windows at the entrance were also shattered, as were a few bottles behind the bar counter that had accidentally been shot while the first Black Knights attempted to breach the entrance, the glass shards littering the floor in a manner that should have pissed him off, but he was more preoccupied at the moment with hoping the whole bistro wouldn't be destroyed by tomorrow.
Behind him, Viletta raised a rifle she had policed from one of the unconscious Black Knights, covering his back in a practiced military sweep, ready to fire at the next figure who attempted to breach the bar. Though she had not been on the battlefield for years, she was still an ex-officer of the Brittanian military, and some instincts weren't so easily forgotten.
"Ayame's got the kids barricaded upstairs," Tamaki said breathlessly, grabbing a pistol off of another one of the prone soldiers on the floor. "You should go up there. I got this."
"Don't be stupid," Viletta muttered, giving him a severe look as she pushed a table up against the now broken door to act as a barrier. "If you think you can just shuffle me off to the sidelines just because I'm a woman-"
"You're my friend's wife and a mom, y'know!" he refuted, crossing his arms as he moved behind a wall next to the door. "It's a man's job to protect people."
"I'm pretty sure I have a higher rating in battle than you," she reminded him, narrowing her eyes.
She was about to add another stinging statement to her tirade when she noticed movement beyond the door and fired off a quick burst from the rifle, sending the would-be invaders scattering again. She doubted she would hit anything, firing basically blindly, but buying time was more important than killing.
"But… you're a…" Tamaki began again, before Viletta shot him a withering glare.
"If you say 'you're a woman', Tamaki, I am going to kick you straight in the crotch. With a smile."
He swallowed, throat tight, and looked away. Ougi man, your wife is one scary lady.
Their banter was interrupted suddenly by a loud, booming voice echoing out of some kind of amplifier or speaker.
"Ougi Viletta, we know you're in there. We have the perimeter completely secured. Surrender and come out peacefully, and we will spare your children."
"Bullshit," Tamaki muttered, glaring at the unseen enemies on the other side of the wall. "They want control of the government- they'll only keep the kids alive until Ougi gives them power!"
Viletta agreed with the sentiment, but couldn't reply as the amplified voice came through again.
"If you refuse our terms, we will have no choice but to use lethal force, as authorized by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideyoshi."
The two of them shared a glance.
"Last chance," Tamaki offered, grinning morbidly.
"And leave you here to defend us? I'd be better off running through that crowd myself," Viletta joked back.
They shared a brief, determined grin, ready to die at a moment's notice.
"Crazy how this finally went down though," he commented, scratching the back of his head and wrinkling his nose, "I mean we lived through Lelouch, man. And now we get taken out by some nobody punk."
She nodded, privately agreeing that it was ridiculous to have escaped death from the hands of so many more dangerous men to fall here. But, she steeled herself- they weren't dead yet, and as long as she could breathe she would fight to make sure her children were safe.
A staccato burst of gunfire rang out, and Viletta shut her eyes briefly. Ougi… I-
Her wishes to her husband were interrupted by the sounds of screaming and bodies falling replacing the gunfire.
"What was that?" Tamaki sputtered, glancing about wildly, clutching his gun tightly.
"It's coming from outside," Viletta said quickly, and hesitantly took a peek outside.
What happened in the next few moments would remain etched in both hers and Tamaki's mind forever, and the recording of which would become legend amongst military academies the world over.
00000
"Remember, this, daughter. When facing many enemies, no mercy can be shown. Reducing the number of threats, whether through lethal force or destruction of morale, is key. As the next master of the Shinozaki school, your duty to those you are sworn to protect goes above all else."
I remember, father.
"Who the-"
One swiftly thrown kunai, one kill.
"Where the hell-"
Sayoko disliked killing as a rule, but she was also a student of the deadly arts, and as such preparation to do so was ingrained in her heart. And right now, taking on a squad of Black Knights, alone, she could not afford to hesitate.
There were eight of them left standing in a semi-circle on the street, guarding the entrance to Tamaki's bar, waiting to breach. Traffic had been blocked off, on either side of the street- Sayoko had slipped past the blockade before, but it was likely she'd have to fight her way back out. There were likely more guards as well, posted around the side entrances in the alleyways on either side of the building, but right now she was more concerned with dealing with the larger group first.
With a sprinting start, she kicked off the ground and leapt high overhead, hurling several more knives down onto the soldiers who were still scrambling to realize they were under attack. She struck home with another two, hitting their necks with pinpoint accuracy.
They were dead before they hit the ground.
She landed behind the squad, which now only consisted of six men. The element of surprise was still with her, if only for a few more seconds, and she would have to do as much as possible in this timeframe.
Quickly grabbing another kunai from her thigh holster, she whipped her hand out like a lash and threw it, striking another soldier between the eyes. Grabbing two more kunai, Sayoko sprang forward into their midst, a whirlwind dervish of blades at a range that made rifles useless. She slashed out the throats of two more men in a single quick movement, fluid and deadly, like flowing water.
Another soldier brought his gun to bear on her, eyes wide with terror and fright, almost childlike. But there was no pity in her heart, not now, not when she was prepared to kill- another core part of her training. In a flash, she stepped inside his guard and rammed her kunai into his chest, kicking the body towards one of his compatriots, who floundered beneath the weighty corpse of his comrade, until Sayoko eased his burden by putting a knife between his eyes.
The last of the soldiers dropped his gun and fled in terror. Sayoko almost let him go, but she knew that if she let him go he'd only end up bringing more reinforcements- with so many people to evacuate out of this area, including Ougi's children, bringing more danger onto them would be irresponsible. With a hint of regret, she hurled another kunai, burying it between his shoulder blades.
"Tamaki-san, Viletta-san, it's me, Shinozaki Sayoko," she announced, keeping her eyes open for any sign of reinforcements as she spoke, without looking, to the occupants of the bar.
"I've taken care of the guards outside, but please wait a moment while I make sure the area is secure."
Just as she finished speaking, a flash of movement, to the left, appeared at the edges of her vision, and Sayoko sprang backwards, just in time to avoid a deafening burst of fire that pounded and shattered the concrete where she had previously been standing, leaving several fist sized craters in its wake.
No singular person could carry that caliber of rifle… this has to be…
Sayoko glanced up, and, with a hint of dread, confirmed it.
Standing over her, a metal demon of violence and destruction, was a Sutherland Knightmare Frame. While outdated, functioning mostly as armored attachments to the Black Knight's police squads, they were still terrifyingly powerful against anything short of another Knightmare Frame. Coated black to confirm its service to the Black Knights, it was armed with a standard rifle for Knightmare Frames, which had the power to punch through a tank's armor with ease and reduce buildings to rubble.
Without mercy, the Sutherland raised that same rifle, and opened fire.
Sayoko leapt to the side, but the Knightmare frame tracked her movements, keeping a continuous rate of fire that continued tearing apart the sidewalk. She kicked off the wall of Tamaki's bar to avoid being trapped, moving to the opposite side of the empty middle of the street, considering her options- the only weapons available were her kunai and whatever weapons the soldiers she just killed had dropped. Backup was impossible to get in time.
Conventional tactics told her to retreat and regroup, to find a way to even the difference in sheer firepower and defensive capability between them. To do that, however, would be to abandon everyone inside the bar to the mercy of the insurrection.
Which meant she'd have to take down this Knightmare on her own.
Absurd.
But it was her only option if she was going to protect these people.
The Knightmare took aim again, and Sayoko took her chance, darting, not away, not to dodge and retreat and inevitably get shot, but towards the Knightmare, running so that she was underneath the Knightmare, between its legs. As the pilot scrambled to reorient himself, she sprinted off behind the Sutherland, down the street again, ducking out behind the alleyway one building over from Tamaki's bar.
A noise behind her startled her, and Sayoko whirled about, knife held high, coming face to face with the startled, bearded face of a homeless man, who had been hiding out in this alley.
"My apologies," she said quickly, and the man fled in terror, leaving her alone once again- except for the five ton death machine actively searching for her, that is. Still, as she ducked down the alleyway and into a conjoining one, making sure to keep to places too small for a Knightmare Frame to fit in comfortably, she managed to keep the machine off her proverbial scent.
Eventually, after a few minutes of scanning the street, the undoubtedly frustrated pilot activated the Factsphere contained in the Sutherland's 'head', scanning the area for her, that distinct beep of the Knightmare's proverbial eyes echoing throughout the street, revealing her location in an instant.
Glancing over at the machine, which continued to run its scans, Sayoko suddenly knew there was a way to win.
Nothing was invincible, not even a Knightmare Frame. It was just a matter of knowing when, where, and how to strike.
Taking a few slow, careful steps forward until she reached the end of the alleyway she'd moved to, and the shifting and using that same sprinting start and kick off the ground to get herself high in the air, Sayoko took aim at the Sutherland's Factsphere, praying her years of training and effort would not fail her at this one critical moment.
The kunai soared in a perfect movement, perfectly aimed and balanced against the wind, soaring straight towards the target-
And just at that moment, the pilot shifted ever so slightly, and her kunai bounced off, ricocheting off of the side of the head of the Sutherland instead of piercing the sensor.
If Sayoko had been the type to swear, she would have done so, with gratuity. Instead, she gritted her teeth and used her momentum to flip through the air again, trying to keep the pilot's aim off balance as she waited for another opportunity to strike- even a glancing hit from the Knightmare Frame's rifle would probably kill her.
The Sutherland opened fire again, turning the ground next to her into a cloud of dust, sending a piece of cement shrapnel close enough to her to cut a slight furrow in her cheek- not enough to draw blood, thankfully, but it stung nonetheless.
Narrowing her eyes, Sayoko sprang forward again, lunging between the Knightmare's legs again. Only this time, instead of just running straight past it, she spun a kunai in her hands and stabbed it straight down, jamming it into the Landspinner of the Sutherland, the mechanism which allowed it to move, and then sprinting off behind the Knightmare.
The Sutherland turned rapidly to take aim at her again, tearing off down the street like a rampaging demon, gun raised to turn her into so much fine red mist-
When the kunai that she had jammed into the Landspinner suddenly came into effect, and one of the Sutherland's legs suddenly stalled, while the other continued to advance, causing it to stumble forward, one gigantic metal knee crashing into the concrete of the street.
On reflex, with its pilot's equilibrium and sense of the world disrupted, the Factsphere in the Knightmare's head opened up again-
And Sayoko threw her kunai again, punching straight through the Factsphere, effectively blinding the Knightmare.
Now, without its sensors, the pilot wouldn't be able to notice her attack. With a bounding, running leap, she landed atop the still kneeling Knightmare's 'back', on top of its cockpit unit, and stabbed a kunai into the external panel, causing the hatch to open a fraction, just enough for Sayoko see inside and get a glimpse of the pilot, who was still scrambling to right his machine and didn't even realize his cockpit had already been breached.
Before he could get his machine upright, he was stopped by a sudden and fatal pain in his neck, courtesy of Sayoko's last kunai.
00000
"That," Tamaki breathed, eyes wide from his position at the door of his destroyed bistro (which hardly seemed important in the face of what he had just witnessed), "Was the coolest thing I have ever seen."
And to that, Viletta could only nod in dumbfounded agreement.
00000
Neither Kallen nor C.C. said a word as they left the house. The only words spoken were to the cab driver C.C. wordlessly waved over once they reached a main road, and those were directions to wherever she was intending to take them.
Kallen herself didn't hear the directions that well (and barely even realized that C.C. spoke fluent Spanish, a notion that would have amused her had any other time, but right now barely served as an afterthought), as though the bomb blast that had killed- no, that wasn't right- murdered Nunnally had deafened her to everything.
It was all over. Even if they stopped… whoever was behind this, what did it matter? Who else but Nunnally could have kept this peaceful world intact? She was the sweetest, kindest girl Kallen had ever met, and now she was dead, murdered because she was too nice for her own good.
Why didn't Lelouch plan for this, she thought bitterly. He had planned for everything else before this, so why not this? He knew Nunnally- she was his beloved little sister, for God's sake, the one he swore to protect and burned the entire world for- he should have known she would do that, and that someone would try to kill her.
"Get ahold of yourself," C.C. said suddenly, looking out the window of the cab, chin resting in the palm of her hand.
"How can you be so calm, goddamnit?" Kallen swore, whirling on her, suddenly enraged. The cab driver up front jerked, startled, but quickly realized it was only a squabble between the two women in the back, and brushed it off.
It wasn't the first time he'd had some kind of lesbian lover's quarrel in the back anyway.
"Because panic and despair won't help anyone, least of all the dead," C.C. rebuked distantly, eyes gazing far off into the horizon, as though she could see something Kallen couldn't. "Think about what you can still do, and do it. When this is all over, then you can cry and scream all you want, like a child."
Before Kallen could respond, the cab came to a stop, and C.C. spoke again. "We're here."
'Here' turned out to be a small private airfield, that looked like it needed several weeks of reroofing, filling in potholes, and a good hard scrubbing. The chain link fence was practically rotting away with rust, the tarmac was cracked in several places, and the walls of the hangar and control tower looked like they might have, at one time, been a proud red, but had long since worn down to black.
"Please tell me we're not hiring a pilot out of here," Kallen begged, shaking her head. "Why can't we just use a commercial jet?"
"Takes too long, and standard air traffic to Japan is going to be heavily watched from now on, by both sides," C.C. replied easily, striding towards one of the hangars, which was already open and lit. "And we're not hiring a pilot."
A figure approached them from the hangar, and Kallen, out of reflex due to recent events, moved towards her holster, but before she could C.C. stepped forward and shook the figure's hand.
"Buenos días, Señorita C.C.,"said the figure, a large, pot bellied but jolly looking man clad in a flamboyantly red Hawaiian shirt and white shorts, with a large, bushy mustache and overly large aviator sunglasses. "And a good morning to your lovely friend, as well," he added, switching languages, his accent thick but understandable.
Kallen nodded in greeting, still uncertain over this place.
"Flirt later, Marcus," C.C. cut in, striding towards the open hangar doors. "Is she fueled?"
"Just like you asked, señorita," Marcus said, nodding. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Just clear the runway, we're in a hurry," she said cuttingly, and waved him away.
Kallen followed her inside, where a single, tiny private plane sat, ramp stairs already set down upon the ground, awaiting their arrival. Unlike its surroundings, the silver-white plane looked brand new, state of the art, featuring sleek engines and a streamlined frame.
"That's our ride?" she asked, blinking.
C.C. nodded, smiling. "Do you like it? Another gift from Lelouch and the Imperial treasury."
"You had him buy you a plane?" Kallen said disbelievingly, eyes wide, and for the first time in over an hour the thoughts about Nunnally were driven from her mind.
"I hate flying commercial air," C.C. replied casually, shrugging as she stepped onto the ramp.
Kallen watched her go for a moment, unable to move due to sheer disbelief at how brazen the witch really was. This thing looked as if were worth more than her salary for the next four months, and C.C. just happened to have one on hand?
Finally, she started towards the stairs, when her original question finally returned to her.
"Wait, what about our pilot?" Kallen suddenly blurted.
C.C. glanced back at her from the top of the stairs, smiling cattily.
"You're looking at her."
00000
"You're telling me they escaped. All of them. Zero, Ougi, and even his family." Hideyoshi rubbed his temples, doing his best to remain calm, drawing back to the lessons he learned from Colonel Kusakabe, his mentor. Though the Colonel had died in the disastrous attempt to take the Kawaguchi hotel hostage, thanks to Zero's treachery, Hideyoshi still kept the lessons the man had passed on to him close to his heart, one of the foremost being to look at a bad situation and try to find the good points.
Hanekoma nodded hesitantly.
They had taken over Ougi's office, under the official pretext that Ougi was a traitor and fleeing government capture, leading Hideyoshi to temporarily hold the office. They hadn't yet cleaned up the broken bookshelf or the scattered number of books that littered the floor, the aftermath of Zero and Ougi's escape.
Hideyoshi blew out a low, steady breath. After a few more moments, his irritation passed, and his mind cleared again.
"It doesn't matter," he said slowly, leaning back into what was formerly Ougi's chair, the shade of a smile on his face. "Ougi has lost all influence and power, and we control Japan at the moment- they'll have to smuggle him out of the city if they want to try and stand against us. Sooner or later, he'll have to surface, and then we can crush him."
"What about the Black Knights? They'll be forced to respond," Hanekoma reminded him, fixing his glasses idly.
"Let them," Hideyoshi replied calmly, the smile becoming a full blown smirk now. "I've already entered talks with several other heads of state beforehand. They too, share our fear of a Brittanian hegemony, and should Brittania strike at us, they will join us in alliance, under the pretext of treaties we are currently drafting. In the meantime, we've managed to gain control of several Black Knight's bases, including the all important Shiroda base."
"And Toudou-san? Without him leading our forces, many of our allies are hesitant to go to war against Zero and Brittania," Hanekoma questioned, frowning. "Our mutual associate cannot do more than act in the shadows, you know that."
"Toudou-san will see that Japan needs him, and will do as he always has done," the Cabinet Secretary responded slyly. "I knew him, back when we fought for the Japanese Liberation Front. His first and foremost loyalty is to this country, and like so many of our soldiers, he will fight for us if he understands this is what Japan desires."
00000
It would have been a lie to say Guilford never once wished he could regain his eyes, lost in that FLEIJA blast, or that he still had the soldier's body he had once been proud to swear to the service of his princess. It pained him that he could no longer see his princess' visage, nor could he serve as her loyal sword as he once did, that he was no longer a man worthy to be called her knight.
But it was only today that Guilford truly realized just how much of his old self he had lost that day. In this time of crisis, with his princess missing in action, the Empress dead, and the world about to plunge into a bloody civil war, he was still hesitating.
The old Gilbert P. Guilford, Knight of Cornelia Li Brittania, would never have done that.
"Adjutant Guilford, your orders, sir."
Guilford straightened. Though he remained blind to physically see reports and receive visual information, Cornelia had dictated that all orders would therefore be issued in brail as well as normal, to accommodate her adjutant.
"Issue standing orders to all Black Knights Police currently stationed in Japan, to hold their positions and to perform only the minimum necessary self-defense to remain active and unharmed as they secure the wreckage of the Empress' plane and ensure the safety of VIP personnel. The priority is to secure Prime Minister Ougi, Zero, and" he hesitated, cursed himself, and continued, "And Commander Cornelia."
"Understood sir," the officer on the communication screen replied, and verbally repeated the orders to ensure understanding.
"We cannot let this grow out of control, but we need our forces there to find out what happened to the Empress and the Commander," Guilford ordered swiftly, trying his best to remember what he sounded like when he had commanded armies and fought in the seat of a Knightmare- tasks that seemed like they were part of a different man's life now.
"And the Shiroda forward base, sir? The secessionist forces have completely taken over there- we have no confirmation as to the status or whereabouts of Colonel Weinberg."
Guilford bit his lip, frowning. That was the focal point of this conflict, even more so than Tokyo- it was a Black Knight's base, meaning it was still officially designated as Brittanian territory, and to secede it to the rebellious Japanese forces would mean conceding to the enemy which had just murdered the Empress.
"Assemble all forces on standby, and prepare the 5th Airborne Fleet to mobilize," Guilford said briskly. "We have to secure that base and any of our soldiers still loyal to us there."
"We're going there ourselves, sir? But the Empress' orders said not to make any overt military maneuvers-" the officer began hesitantly, when he cut him off.
"The Empress is dead, soldier," Guilford said coldly, a rippling undercurrent of white hot fury beneath his tightrope steady voice.
"The time for half measures is over."
00000
"We can catch our breath here," Jeremiah assured them slowly, peering out through the window blinds to double check that they hadn't been followed. "It's a safe house we established a while ago, in case of emergency. The neighborhood is a former ghetto, so it's still mostly abandoned, and there shouldn't be anyone around here right now."
Suzaku glanced about, taking the room in with a glance. It was fairly barren, with generic teal carpeting on the floor, a single stiff looking couch, a large but simplistic lamp stand in the corner most opposite the door, with a small kitchen area complete with a sink, a fridge, several built-in cabinets, attached to the room and a single hallway that led to what Suzaku guessed was the bathroom and bedroom, possibly more than that, but the size of this safe house didn't ensure very much space.
How well did Lelouch prepare everything for just this day, Suzaku wondered to himself. Is this why it took so long after the Damocles battle to culminate the Zero Requiem? Because he needed to finish the preparations for what would come after?
He wanted to ask about Nunnally- why Lelouch hadn't taken more steps to ensure her safety. But he steeled himself and bit down those questions, for they were probably useless- the dead wouldn't give him any answers, not again.
No, the only time he'd let himself regret and be angry over Nunnally would be when all this was resolved… for now, the world needed him to be Zero, and that was what he would have do, so that Nunnally's dream, if not her life, would remain.
Beneath his gloves, his fists clenched, as though aching to break.
Ougi and Minami stepped inside behind him hesitantly, scanning the room, obviously still nervous about being in the custody of a man who had once been their enemy.
"Kaname!"
Ougi's hesitation was lost, however, as he heard a familiar voice, and his head jerked up just in time to see his wife's joyous face before she threw her arms around him, burying her face against his neck.
"Thank God you're safe," Viletta whispered softly, gratefully.
As for the Prime Minister, he himself said nothing, only relishing the soft, familiar warmth of his wife in his arms, a comfort he might have lost today.
"Minami! My man!" Tamaki's loud, boisterous voice suddenly broke into the moment, as he ran towards the surprised Minami and clasped his old comrade's hand.
"Tamaki?" Minami blinked. "You're here too?"
"Yeah, we've been here a while now. That ninja lady got us out of the bar- and oh man, my bar's totally wrecked by the way man!" Tamaki said hurriedly, barely pausing to draw breath as he related his story.
Behind them, Sayoko appeared from the hallway, and Jeremiah gave her an acknowledging nod.
"Were there any problems?" he asked, stepping towards her.
Sayoko shook her head. "Some, but we managed to escape without much notice after I dispatched the initial forces. They were more pressed with learning your location, I assume."
"So we're all gathered now," Suzaku said slowly, having been watching, distantly, as though he were just an observer, this joyous reunion of comrades and lovers- but he was Zero now, and he had to be objective. He glanced towards Jeremiah. "So where do we go from here?"
Jeremiah straightened. "I would suggest that the Prime Minister, his family, and possibly Minami-san and Tamaki-san hide here for now. The new Japanese government will be looking for you. As for you, Zero, you must meet up with C.C.-sama and Kallen, at Kaminejima."
"Kaminejima?" Zero blinked. "That's where we need to go?"
"That's where Lelouch-sama said you would need to go once C.C. was found," Jeremiah replied calmly, nodding.
"Why just Zero?" Tamaki cut in, glancing about between the two. "Why can't we go help him do… whatever it is he's doing?"
"The instructions were clear," Sayoko interrupted, shaking her head. "Zero-sama would have to go alone to meet them. And in any case, you all are now fugitives from the government- it'd be best if you stayed in hiding until we can resolve this crisis."
"No."
All eyes in the room swiveled about, coming to rest on Ougi, who stared straight back at them with clear, defiant eyes, holding his wife in his arms as he did so.
"Kaname…" Viletta murmured softly, looking up at him.
"I will not run and hide," Ougi said firmly, jaw set determinedly. "I am still the Prime Minister of Japan, and I will do my duty to my country and steer it away from destruction, no matter what it may cost me."
"And how do you propose to do that?" Jeremiah questioned, raising his eyebrow. "With all due respect, Prime Minister, there are only a handful of us here, and even if we had an army, what would you do with it?"
"We don't need an army," he replied. "The secessionist movement is a snake coiled around Japan- we just need to sever the head."
"You want to go after Hideyoshi?" Minami blinked, mouth falling open into a soft 'O'.
Ougi nodded. "If we can capture him, we can halt the secessionist movement."
"You're risking a lot," Minami warned, looking hesitant.
"It's the only course left. Like Jeremiah-san said, we have no army, and I have no influence left," he responded, shrugging almost helplessly, a contrast to the stubborn tone in his voice. "But I can't abandon Japan now… not when it needs me the most."
"I will aid you in this most noble, if reckless, endeavor, then, Prime Minister," Jeremiah said quietly, stepping forward, bowing respectfully. "If you will have me."
"I'm with you too," Minami agreed.
"Aw hell, then you can't leave me out of this!" Tamaki said, laughing. "Besides, we're the original Black Knights- the impossible is nothing for us!"
Ougi shared a brief, boyish grin with him, before his mind return to the coldness of reality as he glanced back down at his wife, who had said nothing this entire time.
"Viletta, I…" he began, uncertain, but she quieted him with a shush and placed her finger over his lips.
"Last time you did something like this, I was pregnant and I couldn't follow," she whispered, an undercurrent of fierce determination in her soft tone. "I am not letting you leave me behind again."
"But… the children…" Ougi started, but was cut off.
"I can watch them, in this safe house, until your return," Sayoko promised, stepping forward and bowing. "I promise you, no harm will come to them as long as they are under my protection."
"Then it's settled," Viletta said slowly, pulling away from Ougi, turning her face away as well to hide her expression. "I won't take no for answer."
Ougi opened his mouth to protest again, but Tamaki clapped him on the shoulder and shook his head, laughing raucously.
"No sense in arguin' with her man," his old friend said, chuckling. "I guess we're all set then."
"What, you all are having a suicide mission and you didn't invite me?"
For the second time in so many minutes, everyone in the room stilled, and their eyes turned towards a single individual, standing at the doorway.
Gino Weinberg grinned. "Glad to see me, boys?"
00000
Several hours earlier…
The second the gunshots went off, Gino couldn't think of a single good moment in his life to reflect on, strange as it might seem.
Just the idea that this really sucked.
Totally sucked, really. Killed by his own men- what a way to go.
But he kept his back straight and his eyes open- no one was going to say Gino Weinberg didn't die like a man.
Which was why he was able to see the corporal who had been ordering the firing squad suddenly disappear in a shower of red mist, screaming as his gun arm was blown away by the distinctive crack of a rifle.
The rest of the squad faltered in confusion, and Gino, sensing an opportunity had come, leapt forward, catching the nearest Black Knight in the jaw with a resounding uppercut, sending him crashing to the floor.
The other three members of the squad wheeled on him, confused, but he was in the middle of their formation now, and they were all far too close to start shooting at him- they'd be just as likely to kill their comrades, so they'd have to let go of their rifles first.
Gino, using only his fists, had no such disadvantage. He stepped into the guard of the man on his left and delivered a knife chop to the man's neck. As the man's grip on his rifle faltered, the former Knight of Three ripped the gun from the Black Knight's hands and punched him in the nose.
He now had a weapon, and the remaining two squad members still hadn't reoriented themselves to strike. He could open fire and finish this in seconds.
But he still had time, and Gino wanted to avoid killing anybody here if he could help it- killing indiscriminately would only escalate the problem, not solve it. Not to mention the fact that, for what it was worth, they were still his men.
So, using the butt of the rifle, Gino whipped it forward and caught the man between the eyes with a brutal crack, sending him toppling to the floor bonelessly.
The last member of the firing squad was finally regaining his bearings, but so did Gino, who leapt to the side with a twist of his body, and squeezed off a three round burst that caught the man in the knees, sending him screaming to the floor as his leg disappeared in a spray of crimson.
Gino didn't wait for the man to try and get one last shot off- leaping to his feet, the former Knight of Three ran over to the man he just shot and kicked him in the chin, sending the last member of what had once been his execution squad into unconsciousness.
He might not have wanted to kill them, but it didn't mean he would be going easy on the guys who just tried to shoot him.
In the background, he couldn't yet hear the sounds of panic amongst the base, meaning that no one had yet noticed that something had gone wrong.
But unless a miracle happened, there was no way he was getting out of here alive.
His cellphone chirped with the welcoming bell of a text message.
Slowly, as if dumbfounded by the fact that he both still had his cellphone and that someone was bothering to text him, he pulled out the phone and looked down at the screen. The message was short, the number blocked.
Go left. Now.
Behind him, the sounds of shouts and orders being barked became more and more audible.
You always were quick on the uptake, Keima, Gino thought wryly, and wished he hadn't picked such a capable lieutenant.
Deciding there was nothing else for it, Gino took off in a sprint, in the direction the text had indicated. Behind him, the shouts got louder, and he could hear a distinct "FIRE!" in the background.
On instinct, he ducked and sidestepped, and then leapt past a large, gray metal supply crate, using it as cover as he began running forward again, hoping the box would disrupt the soldier's aim, at least a little.
Shit, shit, shit! Gino cursed, and ducked his head as the vicious crack of gunfire whizzed by his head, one nearly close enough that it cut his cheek. I could really use something more than a text right about now!
As if on cue, another distinctive boom echoed through the air, another rifle shot- but this one was coming from the direction he was running in, and he heard one of the Black Knights behind him scream in agony.
Somebody up there still likes me, he thought, deliriously relieved. A part of him prayed that that wasn't a killing shot, but another part of him just wanted to get the hell out of there and didn't care enough to check.
"Sniper!" he heard Keima boom behind him. "Get behind cover!"
Another sharp, harsh chorus of shots came back in answer, to scatter the soldiers further. He didn't hear any screams this time, so it was likely Keima's order came just in time.
At the pace he was running, he was just a few more meters till the fence they had erected earlier around the base. But unfortunately, it was strong and barbed, and Gino was pretty damn sure his gun wouldn't cut through the fence.
Unless, of course, there was already a hole in the fence, that is. Gino blinked, stride faltering for a moment as he realized that someone had already cut a man-sized gap in the fence.
And waiting just beyond that fence, wielding a sniper rifle, was Anya Earlstreim, the former Knight of Six, clad, in a simple black shirt and jeans. She gave him an acknowledging nod, before putting her eye behind the sight again, firing another round off, laying down a nice hail of covering fire to keep them off his back.
Feeling a renewed sense of energy, the former Knight of Three pumped his legs harder, stride eating up the ground faster and faster, until the shouts of the men behind him grew more and more faint as blood pumped into his ears, his heartbeat overtaking all sounds. Finally, with one last burst, Gino was through the fence, and the two of them took off into the woods, Anya pulling the rifle's strap over her shoulder.
"You're an amazing woman, you know that?" Gino panted, as they ran, giving her the most grateful smile he could muster. "A goddess. I'm going to build a goddamn statue in your honor if we live through this."
Anya gave him a wry look, but her lips quirked in the barest hint of a genuine smile. "Good to see you too. Come on, it's not much farther."
He blinked, even as he was forced to duck a particularly low hanging branch. "What's not much farther?"
Anya opened her mouth to answer, but she was distracted as she leapt over an overgrown tree root, and afterwards didn't respond until they left the woods, reaching the high cliffs that the base had been situated next to.
"I hope you've got a plan that doesn't involve swimming," Gino joked grimly, glancing back into the tree line, hoping not to see any movement within.
"Look up," Anya replied simply.
He did.
"Yoo hoo!" Lloyd said cheerfully, waving from the open doorway of a small but sleek transport plane equipped with a Float System, as it slowly descended down towards them.
"Get inside, you idiot!" Rakshata snapped audibly, appearing next to him as she dragged him back inside.
"Come on up you two," Cecile said cheerily, poking her head out after the two clearly deranged scientists had vanished from sight. "I've got snacks- I hope you like wasabi sandwiches!"
"Hell of a cavalry," Gino muttered, grinning widely in relief. "Though I think I'll pass on the food."
00000
"Gino!" Suzaku said, relieved, his composure as Zero failing him for a moment.
"Heya Zero, glad to see you've been keeping everything quiet on the home front while I've been gone," Gino greeted, still smiling widely.
"Move," Anya cut in, brushing past him to step inside, shaking her head as she did so. "I'm thirsty." And without greeting anyone, she strode right towards the kitchen.
"Well, looks like the gang's all here!" came a sudden, chirping voice, and the lilting smile and lanky frame of Lloyd Asplund came into view from behind Gino.
"Lloyd?" Suzaku blinked in surprise, glancing about bewilderedly. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm your ride, Zero!" Lloyd replied, chuckling, waving. "So, are we all set?"
Despite everything, Zero laughed. A slight bitter, small thing of a laugh, but nonetheless it was still a laugh.
Maybe all hope wasn't lost just yet.
Author's Notes
The title of this chapter is taken from Ulysses, by Lord Alfred Tennyson. The full quote is "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield", due to the desperation in this chapter, as our heroes try to regain control of the situation.
The introduction to Sayoko's fight scene with the Knightmare was partially inspired by a scene in the book Artemis Fowl, which I highly recommend. (It's the troll versus Butler scene, for those who have read it)
I have no idea where the lesbian comment came from- I just suddenly thought it'd be funny if the cab driver thought they were in a lover's quarrel. Besides, this whole chapter's pretty depressing, except for that and Sayoko's fight, so I thought I'd cheer you guys up a bit. It's been like 10 years since I took Spanish, so forgive any kind of horrible errors I made with it.
Colonel Kusakabe, for those who might have forgotten, is the man who tried to take Euphemia hostage and got killed during the Black Knight's debut. I only remembered him now because I was using him for a different fic, but figured it was a good way to tie Hideyoshi back into canon.
Also, a big GOTCHA to everyone who thought Gino was dead. Suckers. I originally had that rescue scene located earlier in the story, but I thought it'd be more interesting to wait till the end to show that particular card.
As I finished this, I realize this might actually be the most lighthearted chapter of the story. Damn, I'm really going to have to make next chapter dark then…
See you next time folks!