Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion/Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch: Lost Soldiers
by: Ominae
Rating: T
NOTE:
All characters of Code Geass are under the copyright of Goro Taniguchi, Sunrise, CLAMP and Bandai Entertainment. All other characters are under my jurisdiction.
Summary:
The Britannian forces in Narita are on the verge of defeat, even with the mysterious intervention of the Cardinal from Eden Vital. Meanwhile, unknown forces have converged into the battlefield to search for a corpse needed for Eden Vital's secret cyborg program. What is the purpose of this program? How will it affect the course of the conflict between Britannia and the Area/s that seek independence from the mainland? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.
Chapter 13: Aftermath
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Can you contact the base?"
One of the Eden Tengu ninjas kept checking Jeremiah's body, seeing if he still had a pulse.
"No." The other ninja shook his head. "Line's busy, even though we usually get priority in getting a connection."
"Keep trying." A syringe was taken from the ninja's pants pocket. "Meanwhile, I'll go sedate him to make sure he sleeps like a little baby. The others are keeping watch of the battle near the Narita mountains, so we should be safe." The ninja used his gloved right index finger to flick the syringe's needle to make sure it was working fine.
"For our sake, I hope you're right."
Cockpit, Cardinal's RPI-212 Vincent Prototype
"This is the first time that I've made a persistent opponent such as you, Zero!"
The Cardinal wanted to laugh, being at an advantage over Zero as he had a knightmare to fight in and he didn't. "Face it, you're no match for me without having a decent knightmare to use."
"Really?" Zero smirked under his helmet. "You think so?"
"Are you mocking me?" The Cardinal was infuriated by Zero's remarks; he had noted in his console that Michael's Vincent was still busy engaging the Club with occasional assistance from the Guren Mk II.
Zero replied to the Cardinal's question. "Of course I am. We're now enemies, aren't we?"
Not knowing what Zero was saying, the Cardinal opted to be in the air with the aid of the air glide wing system and use the handgun to harass the masked Black Knights leader on the ground.
Command Center, JLF Headquarters, somewhere in Narita Mountains, Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"General!" The Electronic warfare officer studied the main screen as he spoke to Katase. "Our blitz attack against the Britannians is working! Our joint attacks with the Black Knights and the Lost Soldiers is a complete success!"
"Good work." Katase was delighted to see the results; he noted the blips on the main screen that indicated Britannian forces were decreasing at a high and fast rate. "How is Todo-chusa doing out there with the Four Holy Swords?"
"He's able to divert the attention of the Britannian force's rear guard." The officer told Katase. "It seems that Princess Ambrosia's deployed out there to meet him in battle."
Todo... Katase watched the command center, observing his subordinates doing their tasks in manning the command center. Please bring us another miracle like what happened back in Itsukushima.
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Still nothing?"
The ninja who had administered the sedative on the unconscious Jeremiah asked his colleague, who was still checking the earpiece hidden by his balaclava.
"No." The other ninja shook his head. "I know that we got high priority in making contact with the base, but it's not working for some reason."
"I'll try mine then." The ninja kneeling next to the unconscious Purist checked his earpiece. "Hmm..."
"Is it working?"
The ninja nodded, not facing his colleague. "I think so....Yeah, it's working."
"All right, let's see if we can contact Master VV on this."
"Got it."
In another part of the forests, the two Vincents had still been engaging the Guren Mk II, the Lancelot Club and a lone Zero, who was strangely fighting against the gold and red knightmares while being on foot.
"Man, this is giving me a real workout." Marc panted when he fired a shot from the VARIS at Michael's flying Vincent. The Malaysian COSMOS soldier of Chinese descent had maneuvered his Vincent to dodge the shot.
Crap! Marc berated himself. Sometimes I forget that Michael underwent the same meta-human reflex operation back in Britannia years ago...
"You're all too easy!" Michael fired the Vincent's handgun at the Guren Mk II, harassing it to prevent it from using its own handgun in retaliation.
"Really?" Michael was surprised to hear Marc. "You think so?"
The Club's VARIS fired off a shot that struck the flying Vincent's right arm, damaging its hand. It unfortunately held the knightmare's handgun.
"Dammit!" Michael began to mumble swear words for not noticing Marc was behind him. He tried to turn his Vincent around to confront Marc, but another shot fired from the VARIS struck the Vincent's head. This time, it was entirely destroyed.
"Got kena kantoi!" The COSMOS soldier ranted in Malay, beginning to make his retreat. "Blast you, Marc! I'll come back to have your head!"
"No need to!" Marc continued to fire shot after shot from his VARIS. "You need to take a number; Darlton wants to be the first, you know!"
Kallen watched Marc fire his VARIS at the fleeing Vincent before she said. "That's enough! Firing on the fleeing knightmare like that won't help."
"You're right." The Club lowered the VARIS. "Come on, we better go help Zero."
Cockpit, Cardinal's RPI-212 Vincent Prototype
So he retreated?
The Cardinal noticed from his display that Michael's Vincent had to retreat due to damage sustained after engaging the Club. No matter, I still have Zero to take care of...
Seeing the Zero zip left and right to get near it, the Cardinal fired the Vincent's handgun again in a sweeping motion from right to left.
"Aren't you running out of tricks, already?" Zero mocked the Cardinal once more, further increasing the rate of handgun fire against him.
"How dare you mock me?!"
"I'm not really." Zero insisted. "I just want to show up some tricks of my own to you, my good man."
The Cardinal was skeptical of Zero's claims. "Like what for instance?"
Without answering the mysterious person, Zero leaped into the air near the Cardinal. It shocked him so far.
He's jumping? Is he a crazy loon or something?
Zero raised his left arm, extending it horizontally from the right before he slowly moved it to the left. Next, he brought his arms close to his chest and extended them outwards with his gloved hands open.
He then yelled, "To me, Gawain!"
Cockpit, Type-02 Guren Mk II
Kallen was the first to arrive at the scene, seeing Zero fighting the Cardinal's Vincent for a few seconds before she saw him leap towards his adversary.
Is he nuts? Jumping like that towards a flying knightmare?
What rocked Kallen's world next came to shock her. A towering gold and black knightmare had seemingly materialized out of nowhere, right behind the leaping Zero.
"Oh my god." The next time she saw, Zero had entered the knightmare by merging himself as he moved backwards further in the Gawain.
Cockpit, IFX-V301 Gawain
"Let's see what this Gawain can do."
Zero stretched his arms before he settled into the knightmare's controls, seated in cockpit's pilot seat.
"An interesting knightmare." Noticing some Sutherlands coming to intercept him, Zero activated the Gawain's finger tipped slash harkens to attack them. It seems to be quite efficient. The slash harkens dove through the knightmares and onto the ground, disconnecting their arms and legs in an instant.
"Quite an interesting knightmare, Zero." The Cardinal's Vincent charged in, MVS lance at the ready. "But are you fast enough to defeat me?!"
"ZERO!" Even with the Guren moving at its maximum speed to assist the Gawain, it was thanks to the Vincent's air glide system that the Cardinal got close to the Gawain.
"Why you I oughta..." Zero immediately fired all of the Gawain's slash harkens at the incoming Vincent.
"Hah!" Zero cringed at seeing the slash harkens miss when the Vincent dodged them all when he heard the Cardinal mock him. "Is that the best that you can do, Zero?! You're just too slow for me!"
Dammit! Zero tried to get some other weapon ready. All this knightmare has is the Hadron Cannons...
Before Zero could get the Hadron Cannons ready to be fired, the Vincent used its MVS lance to dismember its arms, legs and head before it took a stab near its cockpit area after he got in close to the Gawain.
WHAT? The masked leader of the Black Knights leaped out of safety, away from the Gawain after it had been stabbed in the cockpit. It appears that I may have underestimated the use of the Gawain...
However, the gold and black knightmare exploded due to the damage it had sustained, knocking out Zero in mid-air.
Cockpit, Z-01B Lancelot Club
"Appears I'm too late."
Marc arrived to the fight scene, only to see Zero being knocked out of the air by an explosion that has destroyed his Gawain.
"Kallen! Get Zero out of here to some place safe!" Marc yelled to Kallen's Guren, drawing out the VARIS.
"What about you?" Kallen safely caught Zero, using the Guren's hands to catch him before he could fall to the ground.
The Eurasian grunted, firing his VARIS. "Don't worry about me! Just get the hell out of here!"
"Understood!" Seeing the Guren evacuate with Zero in tow, Marc kept the pressure up to drive the Cardinal's Vincent away with VARIS shots.
"Hmph." The Cardinal merely evaded the shots. "My fight, unfortunately, is not with you."
The Vincent drew out a machine pistol after the Cardinal kept the dual MVS swords. It then fired an unknown grenade from the machine pistol's grenade launcher near the Club.
"Crap!" Marc moved the Club away from the area where the grenade had landed. However, it exploded and dissipated gray smoke that enveloped his vision.
"I'll see you soon, Number 33."
Marc gritted his teeth when he heard the Cardinal speak of his hated code name.
Only a few know of my code name. That person, from that knightmare, is probably the Cardinal...
Bridge, G-1 Base, near Narita Mountains, Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
This is not good.
Clovis observed the situation from outside the G-1's bridge. A wave of Burais piloted by JLF forces have arrived near the outskirts of the massive mobile base; many of them were in numerous variants. Leading the JLF vanguard were several Burai Close Combat Types, using their spike shields when up close against the surprised Sutherlands at their bodies followed by a few Burai Drill Types that finished the work of their Close Combat comrades by drilling into the Sutherland's cockpits, slowly killing the Devicers in agony.
"I can't believe it." Clovis muttered. "The JLF's been able to mobilize a counteroffensive against our forces, thanks to those Black Knights and the Lost Soldiers."
"Soon enough, the media will get wind of this battle." Madd advised Clovis. "We'll need to do something about this."
I know. Clovis voiced his thoughts in his head. Even with Ambrosia, Guilford, Darlton and the recalled Irregulars were summoned to fight Todo and the Four Holy Swords, the battle was getting nowhere since the newly arrived JLF Burais were constantly harassing the Britannians with support from the Black Knight's own Burai forces that they were feeling overwhelmed.
"We're getting overwhelmed!" Bartley also advised Clovis. "Even princess Ambrosia and her own subordinates are feeling the pinch too."
"I hate to say this, your Highness." Madd sighed. "But we may need to eventually withdraw."
"What?!" Clovis snarled at Madd. "I WILL NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!"
Suddenly, a Burai Heavy Weapons Type of the JLF and a Burai Enhanced Long Range Type of the Black Knights had fired their weapons at the stationary G-1. The former had its dual arm grenade launchers and bunker missile launchers fired to score hits on the scattered Sutherlands and two Gloucesters under Ambrosia. The latter fired its super electromagnetic shotcannon, hitting the top of the G-1's bridge.
"EERRRGGGHGH!" Clovis felt the shotcannon projectile hitting the top of the G-1, heavily damaging the area. A few of the bridge officers were killed when the attack resulted in an explosion that took out most of the bridge's ceiling. He, Bartley and Madd were lucky to be alive with a few bridge officers, also alive from the attack.
"Dammit." Clovis gritted his teeth. The impact soon followed with a missile attack from another Heavy Weapons Type of the JLF; the Viceroy saw that the second volley of bunker missiles made more damage to the G-1. Most of its body had holes in them, but the biggest damage came from its catapult launchers as they were completely demolished.
"RRRGGGGHHH!" Clovis clenched his gloved hands before he gave the orders. "Signal all our forces to retreat! This is an order! Anyone found not obeying it shall be severely punished!"
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Unghh..."
Alice found herself wandering a bit through the forests of Narita, dazed and tired after being temporarily knocked out by the explosion of her GX-01 Alpha knightmare that was destroyed by the Fukushahado arm of the Gekka Prototype.
"Never have I thought..." Alice murmured. "that an Irregular operative like me would be defeated in the midst of a battle."
She kept walking, not wearing she was going go to.
"What the?"
Until she was facing the damaged Mark Nemo, its combat ability diminished without the use of its left arm and its right arm being greatly damaged during the previous fighting.
"And here I am, meeting with that thing in battle."
The Mark Nemo shrieked, about to use its blonde knives to finish the weakened Alice off. But somehow, it seemed like it was restraining itself from attacking the young Devicer and Irregulars operative.
"Huh?" Alice raised an eyebrow, seeing the Mark Nemo shriek further. "What's it trying to do?"
The blonde girl then saw the knightmare go down on its knees, giving off a final shriek before it began to dissolve.
"How can a knightmare vanish like that?" Alice was bewildered to see the Mark Nemo dissolving before her eyes. "It's...it's impossible."
Alice stepped closer to the spot where the Mark Nemo once stood.
"It...can't be."
Cockpit, Type 3F Gekka Prototype
"Good work guys!" Rai congratulated his fellow Lost Soldiers, seeing the G-1 starting its retreat with the surviving Sutherlands and some of Ambrosia's Gloucesters protecting the rear in order to give it time to leave the Narita area.
"Looks like Ambrosia's Gloucesters are reduced to four from the original six." Ken commented from his Sutherland, standing near the Gekka Prototype.
"Hmm?" Rai noticed some movement in the forest. "Strange. There's some movement out there..." He made the Gekka Prototype kneel and ejected himself from the knightmare's cockpit.
"Rai!" Ken yelled on his radio. "Where are you going?"
"I found someone acting very suspicious in the forest." He drew out his Smith & Wesson M-50 pistol from his assault vest. "Come with me if you want to live."
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Strange." The lone Eden Tengu ninja wondering in the Narita forests muttered. "Thought that I was being followed by the guys or by someone else." He continued to look around until he confirmed his position was okay. "Alright, looks like this position is safe. No one's around anyway to spy on me."
Kneeling down while being hidden in the bushes, the ninja began to use his earpiece to begin communication. "Agent 1 to Bismarck, Agent 1 to Bismarck. Do you copy, over?"
The ninja suddenly felt the end of a pistol pressed on the rear of his head.
"Sure I copy ya. What about you, pal?"
What the hell? The ninja felt bad that he was taken by surprise. I better take care of the problem and fast.
Executing a backfist after standing up, the ninja turned around fast to confront his attacker. Seeing that the backfist missed, the ninja followed it up with a two jabs, an elbow strike and a roundhouse.
"What?"
All of the attacks had missed.
"It seemed that having meta-human reflex is a blessing after all."
The ninja saw his opponent was someone dressed up in Britannian infantry gear, with an assault vest that had the Japanese flag on it.
"Surprised?" The supposed soldier drew out a combat knife from his vest, fast and quick that the ninja didn't blink twice. "I'm sure you have at least heard of COSMOS!" The soldier swinged his knife at the ninja, forcing him to draw out his High Frequency ninjato to block the attack.
"COSMOS?" The ninja grunted, using his ninjato to fight back. "Children of Soldier Machine Organic System?"
"How smart of you." The soldier grinned back before kicking the ninja at his chest to break the stalemate as their blade had been clashing for a while.
Cockpit, Cardinal's RPI-212 Vincent Prototype
"Anya!" The Cardinal communicated with Anya, seeing the Britannian forces from the air. "Do you copy, over?"
"Anya here." Anya replied. "I have retreated as ordered from the Viceroy himself."
I see. Looks like she had no choice. "Alright, Anya. Return back to base. Sergeant Yoong should be meeting with you back there to rendezvous with you."
"Understood."
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Hah! Hrah!"
The ninja swinged his ninjato left and right, all of them effortless as his soldier opponent had somehow evaded them like he was somehow reading his mind.
Somehow this soldier can evade my moves, even dodge the High Frequency ninjato blade itself. Just how far is the meta-human reflex modification done to COSMOS soldiers like him?
Gripping the ninjato, the ninja decided to do for a horizontal slashing attack at his opponent.
"Missed by a mile!" The soldier did a backflip, firing his pistol upon landing.
"RHRAAAA!" The ninja yelled, moving close to his opponent and bringing his weapon to down in order to cut him down after deflecting the bullets meant for him.
"Gotcha!" The soldier blocked the attack, executing a strong punch on the hands holding the ninjato's hilt.
"W-what?" The ninja was shocked to see someone do a punch on the hands that held the bladed weapon's hilt. That's unseen before for someone facing against someone with a ninjato like mine!
"Next up!" Moving up close, the soldier stepped close to the ninja and stabbed his back twice with his knife before he stabbed the ninja's stomach hard. "A special attack move courtesy of me!"
Somewhere in Britannia Palace, Pendragon Palace, Pendragon, Phoenix, Arizona, United States, Britannian Empire
"Hmph? Strange..."
Bismarck was in one of the many corridors of Britannia Palace, located at the center of Pendragon's Pendragon Palace. This isn't right. The agent was suppose to contact me a minute ago after maintaining radio silence from his covert deployment back in Narita?
Walking down the corridor alone, the personal knight of Charles Zi Britannia sighed. Did something happen to him? It is not right at all...
"I better do something about this before it's too late." Bismarck murmured to himself. "It seems best if the emperor himself knows about this latest development regarding the agent I recruited with Eden Vital."
The man known as the Knight of One kept walking towards the emperor's throne room, wondering if the emperor would be able to come up with an alternate plan or something for Bismarck to do.
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"You got him, Rai?"
Another soldier, similar to the knife-wielding one, also had Britannian infantry gear on with an assault vest worn on his chest with a Japanese flag on.
"Yeah, Ken." Rai said, kneeling over the wounded ninja. "Pretty crazy though. He used a High Frequency ninjato to block my pistol shots when I fired them at him."
"Oooh..." Ken snickered. "Pretty feisty for our little friend."
"Ah, ah, ah..." Rai saw the wounded ninja try to make a grab for his ninjato nearby. "You're not doing that today, pal." He grabbed him by the neck, tightening his hold on him.
"GACK!" The ninja gasped, trying to struggle when he saw Ken aim his M-50 at the ninja's head at point-blank range.
"Like my pal said, mister ninja." Ken reiterated Rai's point, right index finger gently touching his pistol's trigger in case things were about to get out of hand for the two Lost Soldiers. "Don't even try to think about it, or else."
"First things first," Rai examined the ninja's left arm, noticing something familiar. "it seems I've found something familiar."
"The trident." Ken murmured. "Just like the Black Knights."
Rai eyed Ken after examining the arm. "There's only one organization in the underground that has this symbol."
"You mean?" Ken asked.
"Yeah." Rai nodded, eyeing their wounded captive with his hand still having a firm grip on his neck for emergency measures. "But I'll need to interrogate this guy to make sure."
The ninja's eyes widened when he heard the word interrogate.
"That's right." Rai eyed the ninja, glaring at him. "But since you may have been trained to resist interrogation tactics, I have this idea that might just you for ya."
Rai's geass sigil appeared from the depths of his mind.
"Okay mister ninja." Rai began to interrogate the wounded ninja, placing him under the influence of his geass. "I have a few things that I want to ask you."
"For instance," The Japanese-Britannian began to question the prisoner. "who's employing you and where can I find them?"
Cave, somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Kallen was in a deserted cave in the forests of Narita, a cave that she chose out of random out of her concern of hiding herself, the Guren and an unconscious Zero until she could at least receive confirmation that Britannian forces have withdrawn from the area.
"Nothing on the radio?" Kallen murmured, checking the Guren's radio to see if any Black Knight guerrillas were out there to pick up her transmission. "Cave must be making transmission a bit difficult."
Deciding to come back and radio again for help, Kallen left her kneeling knightmare alone and went to check up on the unconscious Zero.
"Lelouch."
Correction, an unconscious Lelouch Lamperouge.
The Eurasian Black Knight guerrilla sighed, seeing Lelouch in his Zero costume without the known tulip mask lying down on a flat rock slab.
Of all the people who could be the leader of the Black Knights, why Lelouch?
Kallen sat down on the slab, right next to Lelouch's head. Who is the real Lelouch and what makes him tick?
The red-haired girl slowly reached her right hand, initially hesitating to do so. "I'm not usually like this." Kallen whispered, feeling her hand shaking. "But why am I like this?"
Her hand continued to shake until she lightly touched Lelouch's black hair.
"What?" Kallen was confused. My hand stopped shaking when I touched Lelouch's hair? Is there a meaning to this?
She felt confused; her initial impression on Lelouch was one of being popular with all the ladies of Ashford Academy. It didn't even help when she heard rumors from some of the boys that there was perhaps a female teacher or two, in their late 20s, were said to be very interested in the mysterious Lelouch.
"Lelouch is different." Kallen murmured, seeing Lelouch not waking up even though she checked his pulse previously and determined that he was still alive. "Both in his civilian and Black Knights life."
Kallen bit her lower lip; she had remembered a previous vow she promised to herself. That promise was to kill off Lelouch as she remembered seeing his face from the cracked tulip helmet when it was partially cracked for her to see a glimpse of Lelouch's face.
"I remember making a promise that I'd kill Lelouch when I found out that he was Zero since he could have known my dual identity as an Ashford Academy student and pro-independence guerrilla." Kallen whispered to herself. "But the more I see Zero fighting with us, the more I feel confused about whether to go through with it."
"Nnnggghhh..." Kallen saw Lelouch cringe in pain, eyes closed and sweating a bit.
What do I do? Kallen felt the urge to hesitate even more, not knowing what to do after seeing Lelouch cringe even more. I guess I have no choice.
Kallen took hold of Lelouch's head and gently placed it on her lap. What happened next startled the young guerrilla.
She saw Lelouch's face with a now calm expression.
This is making things even more complicated.
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Nunnally?"
Alice was shocked to see Nunnally lying on the ground, fully nude and unconscious.
"Why is she the pilot of that..." Alice mumbled. "that thing?"
"That happens to be a good question, Alice."
Surprised by the unknown voice, Alice pulled out a Glock 19 pistol from her rear hip holster. Having pulled the slide back to ensure a 9mm round was ready in the weapon's chamber, Alice aimed it in front of her.
"Who's there?" Alice challenged the unknown voice. "Show yourself!"
"No need for you to be so threatening." The blond-haired girl saw Zero emerge from being hidden among the trees.
"Zero?" Alice questioned Zero, trying to confirm his identity.
"You're quite wrong there." Zero's tulip mask began to change, somehow dissolving to reveal the person's face.
"C.C.?" Knowing that C.C. was in the Zero costume in front of her, it gave Alice more determination to aim the Glock 19 at her and try to pull its trigger.
"I'm not here to fight." C.C. went towards the unconscious Nunnally. "But if you wish, I'll refer you to someone instead in my place..."
"What..." Alice went to interrogate C.C. "are you doing here, C.C.? For all I've been told by my superiors, something had happened to you."
"You mean being killed?" C.C. replied, having Nunnally in her arms. "I think you're misinformed."
"Whatever." Alice glared at C.C. "Drop her this instant, C.C."
"Why?" C.C. raised an eyebrow. "Is she that important to you so much, Alice?"
Alice remained silent, still aiming her pistol at C.C.
Underground Knightmare Hangar, JLF Headquarters, somewhere in Narita Mountains, Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"ALRIGHT GUYS! WE DID IT!"
"YEEEHAHAHAHAHHA!!!"
Both JLF and Black Knight forces celebrated at the JLF's underground knightmare hangar, being able to push back the Britannian forces led by Clovis from attacking the JLF Headquarters.
"I must thank you Black Knights for helping us." Katase bowed in front of Ougi and the other ex-NRA guerrillas alongside Todo and the Four Holy Swords.
"It was nothing, Katase-san." Ougi insisted, waving his hands to emphasis his point.
"Aw come on." Tamaki placed his left arm over Ougi's shoulders. "We did give the JLF a big hand, so we should celebrate."
"Here come the other guests." Nagata smirked, using his left thumb in a hitchhiker's position to show Ougi the newly arrived Lost Soldiers.
"Shouldn't we thank them too?" Tamaki pointed out Marc and Rai, wearing their personal assault vests even though the battle's already over.
"Katase-san." Marc greeted the old general with a bow. "My respects to you."
"No, no." Katase insisted, returning the bow. "I should thank you for helping my forces turn the tide of battle towards our favor."
"I see."
"Speaking of which," Inoue asked Ougi. "has anyone seen Kallen and Zero?"
Cave, somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Hmmmm..."
For the past few minutes, Kallen had Lelouch's head on her lap. She made her decision to wait for Zero, or rather Lelouch, to get conscious again since her radio was not being picked up by her Black Knight comrades or by other friendly forces in the Narita mountain area.
"Damn it." Kallen sighed, eyeing her kneeling Guren. "It's still not working." She felt nervous, feeling as if the Guren was waiting for its master to ride her again into battle.
"W-wh..." Lelouch mumbled, apparently about to get up.
Oh god! Kallen realized that Lelouch was about to be conscious again. I can't drop him from my lap! I'll just hurt him again! She felt her cheeks go red.
"What happened?" Lelouch blinked twice, knowing that he didn't have his Zero tulip mask on. He placed his gloved left hand over his face, further confirming his suspicions regarding his mask. "It's gone."
"It must have been destroyed when you were fighting that gold and red knightmare." Kallen suggested, helping Lelouch sit up properly.
"I see." Lelouch sighed before he faced Kallen, smiling at her. "Thank you."
Kallen didn't answer, feeling her heartbeat go fast.
Why did my heartbeat go fast? All Lelouch did was to thank me.
"What happened when I was out?" Lelouch asked Kallen, massaging his temples.
"Well..." Kallen nervously began, trying to recall what had happened after she saved him from being killed by debris coming from the destroyed Gawain. "I brought you here into this cave while the Club provided cover fire."
"Oh." Lelouch simply replied. "I'll need to thank him later." He eyed the Guren too, smirking at it. "And it seems that I'll need to thank him too for saving my life."
"Kallen..." The Guren's radio came to life. "Kallen. Can...hear...acknowl...over..."
"Must be some interference due to the cave." Kallen ran for the Guren. "I'll go get it."
Dangit! I think I need some time off when this is over.
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"It seems that you're at your limit."
C.C. noticed Alice beginning to feel some pain, clutching her Glock 19 with her right hand.
"Shut it." Alice muttered. Must be from the explosion that took out my GX-01 Alpha. Her left hand clutched the area near her stomach.
"Wait!" Alice shouted, seeing C.C. take Nunnally away. "Where are you taking Nunnally?"
"Somewhere where she can recover." C.C. glared at Nunnally.
"But..."
C.C. eyed Alice. "Do you think you can ensure Nunnally's protection? In fact, do you even know why the Irregulars have sent you to Ashford Academy in the first place?"
My god. Alice felt C.C.'s words pierce her, dropping to her knees. My orders were to check on Nunnally and her big brother to see whether they were the same as the Nunnally and Lelouch vi Britannia killed with Cornelia li Britannia during the Second Pacific War.
"Try to think about that, will you?" Alice saw C.C. walk towards the bushes, carrying Nunnally in her arms with the Zero bodysuit on. "And see if your loyalties still lie with the Irregulars."
I befriended Nunnally just to see if she's still using her old royal ties to get back to Britannia. Alice clutched her temples with the pistol still at her right hand. I thought that wasn't true, until that infiltration mission I conducted to check on the school's servers.
A few weeks ago
Server Room, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"I don't believe this!"
Alice, now clad in a black sneaking suit with a tactical holster placed on her left leg, used a small PDA to scan the servers of Ashford Academy after placing a retractable cable she plugged into an unused USB port.
"This is from the school's official dossier on the students." Alice studied the data on her PDA, seeing personal information regarding Nunnally and Lelouch. What startled the Irregulars operative was the bio data she obtained regarding Marianne Lamperouge when it had been downloaded from the servers to her PDA after obtaining the electronic application forms of Nunnally and Lelouch with Cornelia's employee information form.
"It can't be." Alice whispered. "These two are Lamperouges with the princess too? That means..." She remembered hearing on national TV years ago that Marianne Lamperouge, known as Marianne vi Britannia, was said to be assassinated by pro-Britannian republican terrorists in Pendragon.
Alice tried to check the information she got. The information found on the application forms of the Lamperouge children had confirmed their links with Marianne Lamperouge, surmising their real surnames as vi Britannia. She tried to delete the information from her PDA and redownload it again, including Cornelia's. Maybe it was all a sick mistake placed by someone back at the Irregulars and tonight was merely a test mission for her.
"This isn't right." She pulled the USB cable back from the server. "They're my friends. I can't report back to Colonel Madd after this..."
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Alice gritted her teeth, on her knees and placing her hands on top of her head. She had dropped her Glock 19 on the ground after she grabbed her head, remembering what C.C. had said to her.
"What am I going to do?" whispered Alice, feeling nervous since her entire body was shaking. "What am I going to do?"
She didn't notice a squad of heavily armed Britannian Guards approaching her from behind.
"We found her, sir." One of the Guards told his CO, seeing Alice faint. "She's from the Irregulars. And boy, she doesn't look that good."
"Let's take her back with us." The squad CO told his subordinates.
"Yes, sir." The Guards began to evacuate the unconscious Alice, placing her in a portable stretcher before they carried her out of the forest towards a waiting Royal Britannian Air Force Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
Somewhere in the forests of Narita, en route to Underground Knightmare Hangar, JLF Headquarters, somewhere in Narita Mountains, Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Looks like we can keep to the schedule!"
Lelouch shouted to Kallen, manning the Guren en route to the JLF's underground knightmare hangar after Ougi and Tamaki had sent her the coordinates. He was kneeling on the Guren's left hand after he previously sat down to help regain his composure.
"I know!" Kallen told Lelouch. "We should be there in a few minutes. I think we can use a shortcut to get to the JLF's hangar."
"I see!" Lelouch faced the Guren. "And one thing..."
"Yes?"
The tulip mask began to form up, covering all of Lelouch's head. "Keep this a secret between us, Kallen!"
"Oh. Okay!" Kallen nodded. Oh, why am I going to keep this a secret? I mean, it's not like Lelouch and I are friends that his Zero identity mustn't be exposed to the others...
"Thanks, Kallen! It means a lot. I really meant it when I said thank you for saving me."
Honestly, what do I know? I feel like they're two different people. Lelouch and Zero, I mean. They act so differently that I can't seen to reconcile the fact that they're one and the same.
"You're welcome." Kallen replied. I guess.
Underground Knightmare Hangar, JLF Headquarters, somewhere in Narita Mountains, Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Hey Ougi!" Tamaki yelled to Ougi, getting everyone's attention. "Look! Kallen and Zero made it!"
The Black Knights and the JLF gathered near the Guren, which deposited Zero on the ground first after it knelt on the ground.
"Apologies to all." Zero announced to those gathered near him. "I was...temporarily held up by the enemy."
"That true, Kallen?" Tamaki asked. "Or maybe..." The guerrilla placed a grin. "You did something with Zero. You know, celebrate by yourselves and all..."
"Of course not!" Kallen was now blushing again, her heartbeat increasing once again. Just when I think this was over...
"Which reminds me," Zero asked Ougi. "where are the Lost Soldiers?"
"They said that they'll meet with you later when I told them you're here." Ougi replied, seeing the other Black Knight guerrillas talking to Zero and Kallen before Katase personally arrived to speak with Zero with the Four Holy Swords and Todo flanking his sides. "Last thing I heard, they needed to talk about something between themselves."
Briefing Room, JLF Headquarters, somewhere in Narita Mountains, Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
The JLF's briefing room looked a bit differently than the one the Lost Soldier had back at the ex-JGSDF base they had commandeered, hidden at the Okuchichibu Mountains. For one, the briefing room had their seats based on the seats of modern move theaters. All of them were facing the front of the room, the seats facing a projector screen.
"Man, this briefing room looks a hell lot better than ours." moaned Ken, now seated. As the gathered Lost Soldiers were alone for the time being, they had temporarily removed their helmets and respirators including balaclavas.
"Agree here." Jean lazily raised his right hand, seated near Ken at the rear. "Reminds me of being in a movie theater or something."
"Quiet you guys." Marc sighed. I don't know what's worse. Taking command of a bunch of ex-COSMOS soldiers acting like high schoolers or being in command of Britannia while doing their dirty work. He was leaning on the wall in front of his comrades, retracting the screen as it wasn't needed.
"So why'd you ask old man Katase to let us use this briefing room?" Henri asked Marc, yawning on one of the seats next to Ken. "There something that only us guys should know about."
Marc was silent for a minute, waiting for everyone to keep quiet.
"Now that I've gotten your attention," Marc grinned, seeing his comrades were now quiet. "I got some news that should bring us all up to speed."
"What is it?" Michael asked, being all ears. "Is it something that should boost our morale?" He grinned like some mad pervert, something that Yi and Michelle resented when they glared at him.
"Even better." Marc chuckled. "We now know the location of Eden Vital's main base of operations."
"Eden Vital?" Michelle gasped. "Aren't they the underground group that's researching on the use of geass as a military weapon as a pro-Britannia group?"
Marc nodded. "In addition, they're the ones who bastardized us as the first humans ever to have meta-human reflex, speed and agility through the Code-R program in cooperation with COSMOS."
"Ah..." Domingo nodded. "So who got the information?"
"I did." Rai stood up, seated from several seats away from Ken.
"How?"
"Simple." Rai pointed to himself. "My geass did the rest of the work for me when I interrogated the guy dressed up as a ninja."
"So it seems you interrogated someone." Marc asked the white-haired teen.
"What happened to him?" Domingo asked.
"KHHHHKKKKKKK!!!!" Rai did a cutting motion, using his gloved right index finger near his neck to indicate that he had killed the prisoner.
"Never mind." Domingo decided not to bother asking further.
Rai nodded. "Indeed. He was dressed as a ninja, but had the trident insignia on his uniform and all."
"The trident insignia?" Yi was shocked to hear it. "The Black Knights too have them..."
"Calm yourself." Marc told the Korean.
"Sorry."
"It's fine." Marc shrugged it off. "Anyway, it's true that the Black Knights have the same insignia, but they must've taken it from them somehow one way or another. Otherwise, they should've attacked us by now as we're trying to get rid of Eden Vital for so long."
"So where are they located?" Jean asked again.
"According to the guy I interrogated," Rai explained to the group. "one of their locations is a hidden base in Kaminejima near Shikinejima."
"Those islands are south of the Tokyo Settlement." Ken told his comrades. "We'll need some logistics to covertly infiltrate the area without being seen."
"I agree." Marc nodded. "For that, we need to return back to base ASAP."
"Speaking of which," Jean patted Ken's shoulder. "your sis in that red claw-armed knightmare was pretty impressive out there."
"Wh-what's that suppose to mean?" Ken shouted, feeling embarrassed. "You trying to score her after we defeat Britannia?"
Outside Briefing Room, JLF Headquarters, somewhere in Narita Mountains, Narita, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Interesting. So one of the Lost Soldiers is Kallen's long lost brother huh?
Zero was standing outside, about to knock on the door when curiosity got the better of him and decided to listen in. It was thanks to the helmet's advanced capabilities that he was able to eavesdrop without the need of leaning near the door.
As much as this is interesting, I need to figure out what this Eden Vital is they're trying to talk about. Zero shook his head. No matter, I'll eventually find out about it in the near future.
Deciding to worry about the details that he overheard later, Zero gently knocked on the door leading to the briefing room.
"Will you be alright?" Kallen had volunteered to accompany Zero on his way to visit the Lost Soldiers.
"Don't worry about me." Zero assured Kallen. "It'll be a small chat."
Kallen nodded. "Okay."
"Inform the others that we can celebrate tomorrow of our victory at Narita as well." Zero instructed Kallen. "They deserve it."
Maintenance Hangar, RBA Tokyo, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
A day had passed since the defeat of the Britannians at Narita, leaving most of the military forces stationed in Area 11 with low morale as they had suffered a major defeat at the hands of the JLF. Being backed up by the Black Knights and the Lost Soldiers, the JLF were able to secure their foothold in Narita and deliver a crushing blow to Clovis.
"This isn't just my day. Especially given our defeat in Narita."
Darlton visited the maintenance hangar of RBA Tokyo, his face having some adhesive bandages on. He was on hand to inspect the maintenance work done on his personal Gloucester.
Our defeat was being used worldwide, including the mainland too. Darlton remembered after getting up first thing in the morning was to see the newspaper of the Britannia Daily Tribune, a pro-republican and anti-monarchy newspaper that criticized the Britannian attempt to subdue the JLF with an editorial that further called for Britannian forces in Area 11 to be withdrawn immediately. He felt down after reading other newspapers that reported on their defeat in Narita, most of them criticizing the military.
"Damn republicans." Darlton muttered, eyeing the technicians repairing the damages on the Gloucester's head unit. "All they do is bring nothing but trouble."
Darlton's thoughts of the defeat at the hands of the JLF, Black Knights and the Lost Soldiers coalition brought back some memories for him during his time with COSMOS.
2010 ATB
Training Room, RBA Camp Red Cloud, somewhere in California, United States, Britannian Empire
Darlton had been ordered to train up the COSMOS soldiers prior to the invasion of Japan in order to maintain combat readiness. In doing so, Darlton ordered all active COSMOS soldiers to conduct training in hand-to-hand combat. Sancia of the Irregulars was on hand to watch the sparring matches with Major Madd, CO of the Irregulars Corp. aka the Special Honorary Foreign Legion Corp. as knwon to the public.
Marc had engaged against Michael Yoong in one part of the training room, being armed with training knives. These were different from actual ones as they had plastic blades to prevent accidental injuries and deaths.
"EYAH!" Michael tried to charge in, training knife held in reverse grip. Marc responded in kind by grabbing him by the shoulders and doing a knee attack on the chest. The attack was then followed up by a a right shoulder throw and an attempt to stab Michael's chest. THe Malaysian COSMOS soldier kicked Marc's face and executed a foot sweep, sending him to the ground.
"Excellent work all of you!" Darlton had been impressed with the fighting skills of the COSMOS soldiers. "This is what you will need when you get to Japan! Remember that even with your training, you must become more than just a man in the mind of your opponent."
Nearby, Darlton saw Jean and Rai now sparring with each other using kicks. However, these kicks were connecting all the time that these two COSMOS soldiers were irritated that neither was getting the stalemate. Jean broke it by ducking the roundhouse done by Rai and did a foot sweep of his own, followed up with a headlock.
"Remember this COSMOS!" Darlton began to lecture his COSMOS subordinates, all of them now standing at attention to face Darlton with their training knives placed down on the ground next to their boots. "Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate, or fair! And make no mistake: here, you face Death."
"Yes, sir!" The COSMOS child soldiers gave a salute to Darlton. "For COSMOS and Britannia. Our duty until our deaths!"
Maintenance Hangar, RBA Tokyo, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"So you're here, Darlton."
Darlton turned around, seeing Guilford arrive. Like him, Guilford had some minor adhesive bandages on his face.
"What are you doing here, Guilford?" Darlton glared at his fellow officer.
"Nothing really." Guilford shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just wondering if you're holding up fine."
"Don't worry about me." Darlton insisted. "I'm all right, as far as you can see."
"Well," Guilford scratched his head. "looks like our defeat in Narita has further intensified fighting in the other Areas. I got news that the Philippine Liberation Front with the Moro Islamic Liberation had staged a series of attacks against our forces in the Mindanao region of Area 9 followed with a New People's Army attack near the Manila Settlement with some cells from the PLF joining in."
"Hmph." Darlton sneered. "Not of my concern in the meantime." He eyed the repairs on the Gloucester. "But it is true; those Eleven rebels are going to use the Narita battle as a form of rallying form for all anti-Area forces to boost their morale."
"Which is why Clovis has appointed Princess Ambrosia to head up a task force to wipe them out." Guilford continued. "I'm here to tell you that one; it was decided on in a meeting with the Prime Minister."
"Prince Schneizel approved of it?" Darlton asked. Guilford nodded in reply.
"Well it looks like we're going to work again soon." Darlton sighed.
Guilford adjusted his glasses. "Quite true."
Research Center, Eden Vital Base, somewhere in Area 11, Britannian Empire
"It seems that we have a live subject that we can use for the Perfect Cyborg program."
V.V. entered the chambers, greeted by cloaked men in the room.
"Yes, master." One of the cloaked men told V.V. "However, we have not received word with one of our ninja agents yesterday. We have presumed that he's been killed out in the field..."
"Such a pity." V.V. closed his eyes and sighed. He observed the vacuum tube-like cylinder where the unconscious Jeremiah was seen resting with the cylinder encased in water. "How's the progress for the project?"
"It's been good so far." The cloaked man told V.V. "So far, we were able to conduct surgery on him as instructed to ensure Margrave Gottwald's survival rate as part of the Perfect Cyborg program. In addition, we're about to insert the Geass Canceler as an eyepiece once we run tests on it to make sure it's working."
V.V. nodded. "Excellent. Anything else?"
"Our agents in the military have already doctored his records. I ordered additional implementations into faking his death with his records to our agents to ensure no one snoops around for information regarding him."
"Good work." V.V. grinned. "Once the Perfect Cyborg is complete, no one will be able to stop us in implementing Ragnarök."
"What about the Lost Soldiers?"
"Must you be worried?" V.V. raised an eyebrow. "Once I take care of a particular nuisance," He stared back at the water-filled cylinder. "I'll set him loose to face off against those accursed brats."
Somewhere near the outskirts of the Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Two figures had landed on the grounds near the Ashford Academy's Clubhouse after previously scaling several trees above ground to avoid detection. So far, they weren't caught yet by the school's own roving guards in the middle of the day.
"This sure makes me tired a lot." The male Mao complained, stretching his back after being the first to land by jumping from a tree branch that was a few feet above the ground. "We should've used the sewers or something..."
"Don't complain, Mao." The female Mao snarled at her male counterpart. "This is the best way to do it." She looked around the grounds to see no one around, students, teachers and staff alike. "Good. We're still okay."
"I say though," The male Mao wanted to touch the metal eyepatch of the female Mao on her left eye. "I'm curious on what you have hidden underneath..."
"Don't try anything." Drawing a Glock 26 from her right leg holster, the female Mao aimed it at the male Mao's crotch. "Unless you don't want to see that anymore."
"Okay, okay." The male Mao raised his hands. "You win."
"Good." The female Mao lowered his hands. "Come on..."
"But admit it," The male Mao. "I'm pretty sure that you want to do something with me later..."
"Shut it." snarled the female Mao, leading the way towards the Clubhouse. Dammit! Reading my thoughts again! I need to do something about this.
"Hmm..." The male Mao stared at the female Mao. "You seem worked up..."
"I...AM...NOT!" The Glock 26 was aimed at the male Mao. "Understand?"
Throne Room, Britannia Palace, Pendragon Palace, Pendragon, Phoenix, Arizona, United States, Britannian Empire
"So you weren't able to secure anything from our agent in Eden Vital?"
Charles had been seated in his throne, alone in the room except for Bismarck. He had knelt in front of the emperor upon entrance.
"I'm afraid not, your Majesty." Bismarck replied. "I failed to secure further contact with our agent after initially having a failed connection when he contacted me yesterday."
Charles was now thinking carefully with the information provided by Bismarck.
"It's unfortunate." Charles sighed. "This means we need to move ahead than previously scheduled."
"Understood, your Majesty." Bismarck stood up. "What will happen next?"
"Proceed according to the plan I told you, Bismarck." Charles replied. "Tell our people to make sure everything is ready as much as possible."
"Yes, your Majesty." Bismarck said. He then excused himself, leaving Charles alone in the throne room
After all of this is done, I'll meet big brother again for the first time after 7 years. This time, he'll pay for what's he done to Marianne with my own two hands.
Corridor, Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Anything?" The male Mao asked, back against the wall with a Sig Sauer P228 at his hands. The two Maos were in a T-shaped corridor intersection when they sneaked at the corridor's back door.
"Nothing." The female Mao poked her head out to see everything was clear. "So far, so good. No one's around."
"What are waiting for?" whispered the male Mao, getting impatient. "Let's go already."
"Fine, fine. Keep your shirt on." The female Mao led the way, checking her surroundings as she led the male Mao towards their first destination.
Kitchen, Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Such a lovely day."
Sayoko had been cleaning the kitchen as part of her duties to the Lamperouge siblings in line with her maid duties. Since there wasn't any classes in the academy due to parent-teacher conferences held in the morning and afternoon, Sayoko decided to make something special for Nunnally's lunch. Lelouch, on the other hand, had been away for a while after telling Sayoko that he "needed to take care of something in the local malls for his personal affairs."
"I wonder what miss Nunnally would like for breakfast." Sayoko was about to open the refrigerator when she felt something was pressed at her back.
"Don't move." The male Mao threatened Sayoko, having his left index finger on his P228. "Or else..."
Sayoko was about to reach for something in the main pocket of her apron covertly when she noticed the female Mao near her, aiming her Glock 26 at her. "You heard him? He said not to try anything..."
Chapter 13 END
PS - Original plan for this chapter was for Todo and the Four Holy Swords to abandon the Burai Kais, in one form or another, and just get the hell outta Narita after meeting up with the JLF's main force for the Lost Soldiers to covertly acquire. Decided to not bother with that for now. I'll slowly implement them the Gekkas in a, IMO, better alternate way than the one presented in the show. Also did place some of the knightmare variants based on the DS game. They rock, especially the Long Range Type. XP
I'm afraid I'll be able to adapt some parts of R2 and all since I'm trying to go for an full-blown AU that ends with Charlie boy dying like the madman he was. In fact, this'll be ending really, really, really soon. Trust me on this.
Hope you guys/gals enjoy the two Maos I placed in the chapter. In fact, I kinda liked them both and imagined what would it be like if the Mao from the anime/manga and the other Mao were seen together. It's about time they showed up after some time. :D
For the end of this chapter, please let me know how the story went. Reviews/comments/suggestions/reactions are appreciated. Flames, as usual (Think I'm a broken tape recorder now), are appreciated too to help me check my writing for this AU story. Flames that criticize me personally or the story will be taken care of...
In the meantime, I would invite all the readers to check out and review my other written story, "Files of the 4th Division". Based on the first Ga-rei: Zero episode, it's an AU take on how they could have survived being killed by Yomi. I'd also urge you to check my two Martin Mystery/Kara no Kyokai stories also. I've been playing Infamous too for the PS3, so that's an excuse too as to why I didn't update a bit sooner than I had expected, not to mention watching E3 2009 live coverage on TV with lots of good games coming out this year. He he he...
Kena Kantoi is a Malaysian expression that can mean "Get shafted/caught" in English.
Yeah for a 2nd season of Darker than Black. Means more Hei in action for me. *Gives thumbs up*
I guess this chapter officially starts the beginning of Lelouch/Kallen. So let me know how I'm doing for starters, I may try to work up on them later on.
One more thing, I remember someone doing a Lelouch/Sayoko fic. But it hasn't been continued yet. Thoughts/opinions/violent reactions regarding the pairings?