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:
Both Zero and Marc are on their wit's end, battling their own demons in and out of Area 11. Will be able to defeat them and live on for a few more days? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.
Chapter 17: Faito!
Somewhere in Edogawa Stadium, Edogawa Ghetto, Area 11, Britannian Empire
There they are!
Marc had used his geass to sense out the remaining COSMOS child soldiers, as well as the traps planted throughout the ruins of the Edogawa Stadium.
Gotta get rid of those two... Marc dashed towards the two soldiers, thanks to the super speed reflexes implanted in him by his ex-Britannian masters.
"Look out..." The COSMOS soldier was not able to get his bearing up as he was gunned down by Marc's Heckler and Koch G36, thanks to the semi-close distance that the Lost Soldier leader was in. The other COSMOS soldier too shared the same fate, also being shot by the German-made assault rifle.
"Hmph." Marc rolled on the ground when he was on the ground level of the stadium's seating area, taking cover behind a pillar to prevent himself from being shot by Darlton's Remington M24A2.
"So, Darlton's about to get in another round on his bolt-action weapon." Marc chuckled. "Seems like the traps are Claymores. M18A1s."
He continued to use his geass to sense the distance of the Claymore traps planted around the stadium. "Planted around 50 meters each. Not to mention Darlton still hanging around the control room."
Marc crouched, still using the pillar as cover, making sure the G36 was slinged with the stock folded before he held his own M24A2.
"Hmm..." Marc sensed his radio was going live, hearing a transmission going in.
"Yeah?" Marc went to respond to the transmission.
"Hey, mate." Rai was on the line. "I'm getting to you there. I need about two minutes or so."
"Thanks. And Diethard?"
"He's helping out. And don't worry, I have a contingency plan ready in case he's about to do something stupid."
Outskirts of Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Hah!"
The ninjas, in unison, hurled most of their shurikens at Zero.
"Like these things will get me..." Zero smirked at the sight of the incoming shurikens.
"Hey?" One of the ninjas was alarmed. "They stopped..."
"How come they're in mid-air?" Another ninja said, getting his ninjato ready.
What alarmed the ninjas was the shurikens were suddenly flinged back at them, still in mid-air.
"I told you." Zero told the ninjas as some of them were being killed by the very things they used to try and kill Zero with. "Nothing can harm the Demon King."
Jeremiah, from behind Zero, began to feel the brunt of engaging Sayoko. Her kunoichi skills were too great for him to take on and since he was surprised by her after spending a huge amount of time in fighting Zero earlier on, he decided on the next best thing.
It's best if I retreat for now. Jeremiah took a few feet back after taking two kunais on his right arm. Afterwards, he dashed out and away from the Clubhouse towards the directions of the academy's walls.
Silenced shots were fired from the Clubhouse's roof to finish off the other stragglers still alive from being killed from their own shurikens. Zero counted around five before they were gunned down, all of them in the head.
Zero faced the Clubhouse to see that it was Kallen, who had ported the VSS Vintorez on her arms a few minutes ago before she retreated from the area after she quickly disassembled the weapon.
Looks like I do need to thank her.
"Freeze!"
Zero turned around and saw that it was Sayoko, who had held two kunais against him. Their blades were already near his helmet.
"Identify yourself!" Sayoko challenged Zero.
"I am Zero..." Zero began to tell his identity to Sayoko.
"Not that!" Sayoko insisted. "You have a real name behind that mask!"
"Well..."
"What is your real name, Zero?!" Zero sighed, still seeing the kunai blades against him. He saw that Sayoko's eyes were still on him, glaring at him without her moving away from her position at all.
"It seems that you are quite persistent, Sayoko Shinozaki."
"Wait." Sayoko was suspicious that Zero knew her name. "How did you know my name?"
"It's simple really... Zero's gloved hands went for his helmet.
Somewhere in Edogawa Stadium, Edogawa Ghetto, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"I still have lead."
Marc ejected another used 10-round magazine from the M24A2, slapping another full magazine into place.
"But I don't have much time. I need to evenly match up with Darlton before Rai arrives here with backup."
I need to take note of the Claymores. They'll limit my movements. My only key to avoid them would be my meta-human speed and reflexes since I won't have to disarm them and all.
"I'll need to take the risk." Marc dashed out of the pillar, going for his left while avoid two claymores that have been planted on the floor. One on another pillar nearby, the other on one of ground level seats.
Marc had to thank his speed when he glanced at Darlton on the side, firing his M24A2 at him. His shot didn't do any good as it missed, zooming above his head.
"Thank you, Darlton." Marc skidded on the side, using his left foot to make him halt at his tracks while he had aimed his M24A2 right at Darlton. He grinned since the scarred Britannian officer had completely exposed his entire body. "I have you now."
This time, Marc took a good aim at Darlton's chest. Without anything obstructing him, Marc fired his M24A2.
"And he's down..." whispered the masked soldier. He watched Darlton go down after getting shot at the right side of his chest.
"Thanks for waiting, Marc..."
Marc then realized what his reinforcements were...
"Wow. I don't frickin' believe it."
A black Mil-Mi SuperHind Mark IV helicopter gunship, modified by the South African-based Advanced Technologies and Engineering, had been hovering at the center of the stadium. It positioned itself at the center near the control room.
"Rai!"
"Hurry, get inside!"
Deciding to follow Rai's advise, Marc ran at a greater speed than any normal human would run like in a marathon. The Mark IV, in response, repositioned itself in order to get closer and closer to Marc without compromising itself to either MANPADs or small arms that could bring the chopper down.
"Move it! Get closer!" Seeing that the Mark IV was already somewhere near him, Marc hopped over the railing and jumped towards the chopper without having any concern that his slinged G36 or M24A2 would hinder his progress.
"Move in!" Rai yelled to the Mark IV pilot, inching a bit closer before Marc caught the chopper by getting a grip on the bottom latch. "And be sure not to damage it! We need to get out of here ASAP!"
"Thanks man." Marc panted, being given a helping hand by Rai to help him get inside.
"Now that you're here," Rai grinned at the Lost Soldiers CO, now safely recovered. "We can get the hell out of here."
Outskirts of Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Sayoko waited for Zero when he placed his hands on his helmets, keeping her grip on the kunais. Its blades were pressed on the neck that would have been his neck, which was also kept under Zero's helmet.
"Take it off!" commanded Sayoko, keeping an eye on the masked leader of the Black Knights. "And do it...slowly..."
Zero complied, slowly taking off the helmet as Sayoko had instructed him.
"What?" Sayoko was shocked to see who the leader of the Black Knights. "Master Lelouch?!"
"Greetings, Sayoko." Lelouch grinned when he saw the shocked look on the maid's face.
"But then? What..."
"Relax." Lelouch sighed, holding up a hand in front of her. "Everything will be explained in due time..."
"But what now?" Sayoko looked around the empty grounds of Ashford Academy to see that no one was around.
Aside from the corpses of the ninjas.
"Like I said," Lelouch reiterated what he told Sayoko a while ago. "Everything will be explained, Sayoko."
"For now," Lelouch replaced his helmet back on. "We need to get back inside the Clubhouse."
"O-of course!" Sayoko said, blurting out her reply.
"Oh yes." Zero faced the maid. "We'll need to tell someone to clean them up." He pointed to the ninja's corpses around. "And I remember one of the guards was patrolling around here, so we need to tell the police..."
"LELOUCH!"
Zero turned around to see who was calling for him.
As I thought...
Zero knew that it was Cornelia. She was next to Nunnally. And she was next to someone familiar.
Of all the people that Zero aka Lelouch wanted to see next to the people he cared...
Oh god. C.C.'s there. Zero sighed when he she C.C. smile and wave at him, wearing her straitjacket.
"You better get inside right now!" Cornelia yelled at Zero. Nunnally was a bit nervous at Cornelia's shouting. She didn't believe that C.C. had told her during the fighting outside the Clubhouse that Zero was in fact, her older brother Lelouch.
"All right. All right."
Goddamit! I can't believe that Cornelia's doing this to me. Cornelia, Nunnally and C.C. were the first ones to enter. Sayoko came running up to go after them.
"At least there's no one around to see this taking place now." Lelouch said, minutes after changing his form from wearing his Zero outfit to his civilian clothing.
Cabin, Mil-Mi SuperHind Mark IV gunship, en route to Lost Soldiers Base, somewhere over Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Thanks for saving my butt, Rai." Marc said on one of the many empty seats of the gunship. "I'm surprised that we got a South African upgrade for this dang cool Russian gunship that we have here."
"Not a problem." Rai patted his right shoulder, seated next to him. "We should thank Kyoto for this when you proposed to them that we get them after you made a joke at them."
"Yeah." Marc chuckled. "I can't believe that Kirihara took my joke seriously."
"By the way." Rai spoke to Marc again. "Check out who's in the cockpit."
"Howdy, boss!"
Marc was surprised to see Michelle was in the pilot seat. "Michelle?"
"Nice surprise, huh?" grinned the female. "I'm not the only one who's here though."
"Hello." greeted Edward, seated at the Mark IV's Weapon Station Officer seat. "I have to tell you, I think it's a good thing I joined up with you guys."
"What, you a Hind freak or something?" Michelle asked the Britannian deserter.
"Alright, enough chatter." Rai scolded them a bit. "Let's concentrate on getting back to base, yeah?"
Dining Room, Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Lelouch was seated in one of the dining room's chairs with Cornelia seated across him. Nunnally, due to her being in a wheelchair, was next to Cornelia. C.C. was not in said room as she wanted to "discuss" certain things with Kallen. Sayoko excused herself to call on the paramedics to have them clear the front area of the Clubhouse of the Eden Tengu ninja's corpses.
"C.C. has told me everything that happened to you, Lelouch." Cornelia said, glaring at her younger stepbrother. "Even with the fact that you made a pact with her back at the Shinjuku ghetto..."
Nunnally couldn't do anything except to listen in to Cornelia beginning to scold at Lelouch.
"Is it true?" Cornelia asked, glaring at Lelouch. "You made this secret pact with C.C. that gave you...whatever the heck is the thing that C.C. gave you?" A geass? That sounds like a fairy tale to me and Nunnally.
"I see..." Lelouch made no attempt to hide his identity as Zero or to deny Cornelia's accusations against him. It looks like C.C. told them the details about the pact that gave me the geass. Dammit, doing things behind my back.
"Well, Cornelia." Lelouch spoke to Cornelia calmly. Now what...
"Excuse me, Ms. Cornelia." Sayoko appeared with Kallen next to her. "Ms. Kallen will be taking her leave now."
"Since with the incident outside." Kallen explained. "I'll come back tomorrow to continue my project with Lelouch..."
"Why don't you stay here?" Nunnally told Kallen before she faced Sayoko. "I insist..."
"Um..." Kallen was confused by Nunnally's invitation.
"I insist." Cornelia stood up from her seat, going to speak to Kallen. "Nunnally was actually looking forward to see you a few days ago, but you were apparently busy with school work. Besides, it's getting dark."
Kallen looked at the blind young girl and smiled. "Well if Nunnally insists."
"And don't leave from that seat, mister." Cornelia turned her head around to face Lelouch, glaring at him.
Throne Room, Britannia Palace, Pendragon Palace, Pendragon, Phoenix, Arizona, United States, Britannian Empire
"Why do you seek an audience with me at this time, Schneizel?"
Charles zi Britannia, all powerful emperor of Britannia, found it surprising and perhaps amusing to him that someone he knows had sought an audience with him once more.
The Prime Minister and second heir to the Britannian throne, Schneizel el Britannia, was seen kneeling in front of Charle's throne before he stood up.
"I've been hearing some strange rumors in and another Pendragon that I wish to confirm with you privately."
Charles raised an eyebrow. "And what about these...rumors?"
"Rumor has it that you're trying to do something that would change the face of all Britannian politics." Schneizel began to explain to Charles. "In fact, I've also heard some rumors from certain sources that you also plan to change how Britannia is to be ruled. Parliament and the Senate are concerned about this when they brought the matter to me."
Charles did not either attempt to deny or confirm Schneizel's words. What he did next simply confused the blonde-haired man.
He simply laughed. Laughed very hard that Schneizel did not notice two cloak-wearing men make their entrance when they ran inside without using the room's main entrance.
"Wha..." Schneizel noted that the men were armed with Heckler and Koch UMP9 submachine guns, their barrels aimed at the back of his head. "How did you get here..."
"Surprised?" Charles grinned at his son. "I didn't expect you to be anyway..."
"Your Majesty?!" Schneizel shouted at his father. "What's the meaning of this?"
"Don't you see?" Charles began to stand up from his throne. "Even if Parliament and the Senate would invoke their right to veto the changes that I wish to put in place," Bismarck and several men wearing masks with the trident symbol of Eden Vital on their faces and covered in black cloaks appeared from behind the throne.
"When my work is done..." Charles began to speak once more. "I shall appoint myself as the ABSOLUTE EMPEROR to rule this country with the dissolution of both the Senate and the Parliament." The UMP9-armed men began to drag Schneizel away from the throne. "And afterwards..."
Schneizel was shocked to hear what Charles had said next.
"This nation will be known from THE HOLY BRITANNIAN EMPIRE to THE HOLY EDEN VITAL EMPIRE."
"You are insane! What you're doing is not the will of the Britannian nation." Schneizel yelled when he heard his father's plans.
"No..." Charles spoke in a low tone only for him and Schneizel to hear. "You and the rest of the world are..."
It was the last remark Schneizel heard one of the cloaked men struck his neck with the buttstock of his UMP9.
Dining Room, Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Cornelia and Nunnally were once more alone in the dining room with Lelouch after Sayoko had personally shown Kallen the Clubhouse, especially a change of clothes and the shower. The Ashford Academy history teacher once more went all out to interrogate her stepbrother.
"So you're saying C.C. saved your life when you went through the Shinjuku ghetto." Cornelia tried to reiterate what she had previously told Lelouch, asking if it was true. "And she gave you some power that resulted in wearing some kind of indestructible suit of armor-like body suit or whatever it is?"
"Yes, that's true." Lelouch said calmly. "I won't deny that she saved my life."
"But weren't you worried?" Nunnally asked her big brother.
"Hmm..." Lelouch said. "About what, Nunnally?"
"About..." Nunnally mused before she said. "The things that can happen."
"Don't worry, Nunnally." Lelouch tried to reassure his younger sister. "I know the things about the geass C.C. was kind enough to give me." He then took a glance to his left. "I nearly forgot to thank you, C.C. You helped saved me back in the ghetto."
Cornelia and Nunnally looked at the dining room entrance to see C.C. standing there.
"You're very welcome, Lelouch." C.C. said calmly too.
Geez... Cornelia became irritated at the two. To think that they're not afraid of what they've been doing.
"Ms. Cornelia." Sayoko appeared at the doorway next to C.C. "I've already helped Ms. Kallen to her needs and has changed."
"All right." Cornelia sighed and looked at the dining room clock on the wall behind Lelouch. "It's already 10:55. We'll continue this tomorrow."
"Okay." Lelouch, Cornelia and Nunnally went out of the dining room, going to get ready for bed.
Helipad, Lost Soldiers Base, Okuchichibu Mountains, somewhere near Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Rakshata and Diethard, who chose to go with her and greet the Lost Soldiers team, saw the Mil-Mi SuperHind Mark IV land. Rai and Marc were the first ones to come out of the gunship.
"I see that you made it." Diethard stepped forward to shake hands with Marc.
"No worries." Marc reciprocated the handshake. "It seems you did well for a Britannian."
"Yeah I noticed that he's got a knack for information." Rai told Marc as the two walked off towards the base with Rakshata and Diethard. Edward and Michelle were busy disengaging the gunship from the cockpit.
"Right now, we need to get to work and find out where the Eden Vital base is." Marc said, getting into the elevator.
"Don't worry." Rai said, entering the elevator. "I've worked on that while you were facing Darlton in the Edogawa ghetto."
Lelouch's Room, Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Lelouch Lamperouge felt uncomfortable for the night.
But aside from the fact that his bed was very comfortable, for the opposite, and his bed was prepared thanks to Sayoko, he had to share it with a particular someone.
Namely Kallen Stadtfeld.
Normally, she would've slept in with Nunnally or (to Kallen's chagrin, Cornelia) for the night in order to be segregated and prevent "anything" from happening between the two Ashford Academy High School students/
However, Nunnally suggested to Cornelia that Kallen should spend the night with Lelouch. After all, her big brother wouldn't dare make a move on Kallen and believed that he was a gentleman due to her experiences with him. Sayoko too echoed the same opinion and told Cornelia that Lelouch needs to interact with the opposite sex.
Even with Cornelia's objections, Kallen said she didn't mind if she would spend the night with Lelouch.
After all, it was only one night.
"Lelouch?"
Lelouch heard Kallen whisper, calling for his name.
"Hmm...?" mumbled the ex-prince, trying to get some sleep from his side of the bed. He was facing the window, sleeping on the right side of the bed. Lelouch faced his right as he went to sleep.
"Are you all right?" Kallen whispered a question, checking up on her classmate.
"Mmmm..." Lelouch mumbled the answer without saying a "YES" to her.
I guess he'll all right. Kallen wondered to herself, sleeping on the left side of the bed and faced her left to catch some sleep.
Kallen had her eyes closed for a few minutes, wanting to get some sleep.
But after a minute, Kallen decided that she couldn't get some sleep. She faced her right, staring at Lelouch's back.
"Lelouch?" Kallen whispered to Lelouch.
"Yes?" Lelouch whispered in reply.
"Were you all right?" Kallen asked Lelouch softly. "With that..."
"You mean him?" Lelouch turned around to face Kallen, ensuring that he was still under the bedsheets. "He's been taken care of. Don't worry."
"But..." Kallen began to hesitate.
"I see..." Lelouch grinned at her. "You didn't see my earlier fight with that cyborg."
"Cyborg?" Kallen was in shock to hear what kind of opponent Lelouch had faced under his Zero armor. "Your opponent was a cyborg?"
"Wow." Lelouch was in awe, whispering softly to Kallen that she felt her legs go jelly. "I didn't know that you're that worried about me."
Kallen cursed herself when she saw Lelouch grin at her, making the red-haired girl's cheeks go red. I swear, I'll make you pay Lelouch.
"But thank you, Kallen." Lelouch said to Kallen, being sincere. "You helped me out back there."
Kallen was about to speak when Lelouch added. "Although I could've taken care of them by myself since I am the Demon King."
"Chauvinist." Kallen muttered, thinking of the only word that can describe one of the many things about Lelouch.
Lelouch turned his back on Kallen, facing the window as he began to catch some sleep.
Kallen didn't know what to do when she was staring at Lelouch's back.
What the?
Kallen suddenly began to have her arms moving towards Lelouch's waist.
"Doing it out of instinct, hm?" Lelouch teased Kallen, making her cheeks go red once more.
Kallen didn't have an answer to Lelouch's question.
"Well, I don't know. It somehow reminds me of being with mother."
So Lelouch lost his mother when he was young too.
Lelouch didn't tell Kallen to remove her arms from his waist. Somehow, Lelouch was feeling more at ease when Kallen snuggled a bit close to him.
Outside Lelouch's Room, Clubhouse, Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
Cornelia was walking past Lelouch's room after heading to the toilet to relieve herself in her nightwear.
Taking a peek inside, the purple-haired teacher noticed that Kallen was trying to get close to her younger stepbrother by snuggling close.
Ah what can I do about this? It's probably those teenage things these days.
Deciding to head back to her room, Cornelia yawned and began to walk back towards the direction of her room without making a sound to wake up the two Ashford Academy High School students.
Command Center, Lost Soldiers Base, Okuchichibu Mountains, somewhere near Tokyo Settlement, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Boss is back!"
Marc was being greeted by Ken and some of the other Kyoto staff in charge of maintaining the command center.
"Hey Ken!" Marc gave Ken the fist bump after entering with Rai, Rakshata and Diethard. "What happened to the others?"
"Most of them turned in for the night." Ken replied. "Right now, it's just me and Rai."
"You forgot Michelle and Edward." Rai corrected Ken. "They're busy maintaining the SuperHind Mark IV before they're going to turn in."
"Oh right." Ken chuckled. "But right now, I think Diethard here has some information that could be useful for us here."
"Of course." Diethard replied, affirming Ken's concern. "I believe that you were all trying to find out the hidden base of the Eden Vital, is that right?"
Marc nodded. "Yeah. Rai got the information from one of the ninjas he fought with back at Narita."
Rai began to inform the group about the said information. "Well according to the information that I got, he revealed two interesting things."
"Oh?" Marc suddenly became curious, raising his left eyebrow at the revelation.
"When I was told about the islands during my search of Eden Vital by the internet on underground cult web sites and forum boards," Diethard explained, approaching the digital map table in the center of the room. "there are two islands that are of interest with the information brought in by Rai."
"What kind?" Marc eyed the table, watching Diethard make the shape of a square with his right index finger on the Izu Islands.
"The Izu Islands." Diethard told Marc. "South of the Tokyo Settlement Area."
What about the islands? Marc wondered. If I remember, another COSMOS unit captured some of the Izu Islands when the Britannian army opened a southern invasion route from the Philippines.
"And here's the island which my ninja friend told us about." Rai stepped in next to Diethard and made a square outline with his left index finger over the four islands that were close to the settlement.
"Just a second..." Marc mused over the four islands that had been zoomed in and enhanced on the table. "Ah ha, I got this." Pressing his left index finger on the four islands that were highlighted, Marc eyed one particular island from out of the four after he worked his way with the table to zoom in on of them. "This one here."
"Why that's..." Rakshata eyed the main screen that also had a connection with the digital map table. "Kamine Island."
"Correct." Rai pointed to Shikine Island on the main screen. He had been familiar with Japanese geography at a young age, not to mention that it had been one of his strong points aside from when he was indoctrinated into COSMOS during the invasion of Japan. "There's another island here close to Kamine called Shikine Island or Shikinejima in Japanese. Only thing is prior to the invasion of Japan, we've heard talk that Shikinejima was taken by an unknown force."
"A COSMOS unit had worked with Britannian Marines in capturing the Izu Islands during the invasion of Japan a few years ago, particularly Shikine as the last one before they began the attack on the Greater Tokyo Area using that island as one of invasion force's launching platform." Marc explained to Rakshata and Diethard. "That's why I decided to check on that particular island in the first. But Rai's got a point, COSMOS didn't tell us about Kaminejima or anything like that."
"According to him before I executed the ninja when he decided to escape." Rai began to explain to the three. "Eden Vital has a major base in now modern Area 11 in that island. Of course, work's been done covertly after the forced execution of its residents to the mainland with thanks from Colonel Madd of the Irregulars."
"But what's in there?" Rakshata had asked.
"That's what I'd to know." Rai shrugged his shoulders. "But aside from that," He pointed to one spot near Kamine on the digital map. "there happens to be one island that's quite close to Kamine."
"You mean that's Shikine." Marc asked. He then saw Rai nod.
"You better thank Diethard here." Rai focused Marc's attention to the ex-BRBC producer. "After all, he did assist me in making sure that Kamine's the base of Eden Vital here in Japan."
"Don't thank me." Diethard chuckled. "In this case, you can thank the power of the internet."
"The thing is why we didn't have this thing taken care of in the first place." Marc frowned, staring at the Izu Islands on the main screen.
"Sorry about that." Rai tried to apologize. "I was busy with the other stuff, especially with the BDL trying to challenge us on the field and all that I almost forgot about that."
"All right." Marc stretched his arms before he turned around towards the entrance. "Forget it then, Rai."
"Where are you going?" The Indian scientist asked Marc.
"Bed. I'm dead tired."
Rai spoke to his ex-unit CO. "I have a feeling that bed is not the only thing you have in mind, Marc."
Marc grinned when he heard Rai call him by his first name. It's been a while since he called me that.
"No. But I have some plans in mind actually..."
Britannian Memorial Park, Manila Settlement, Area 9, Britannian Empire
Decked in a simple white shirt, jeans and black military-style boots, Marc sat down in one of the memorial park's benches near the statue of Dr. Jose Rizal, national hero of the Philippines now currently known in modern times as Area 9.
However instead of Philippine Marines being in charge of guarding the statue, the Navy chose Honorary Britannians of Filipino descent in the Marine Corp to be the honor guard in charge as a strategy to appease the majority of the people to accept long-term Britannian occupation and rule.
He hated it.
He hated it so bad that Marc didn't mind making a ruckus in the park if he would just beat the heck out of those two traitorous countrymen of his and take their rifles, also for the heck of it.
"Been glaring at them for a while?"
Marc had turned around, ready to throw whoever was touching his right shoulder. He was a bit surprised when the Eurasian found out who it was.
"Canaan?" Marc saw who it was. The Middle Eastern teenaged girl was behind him, wearing a red sleeveless shirt, brown pants with a shoulder bag worn over her left shoulder and a string necklace around her neck.
"I'm surprised you still remember my name." Canaan took a seat at the bench next to Marc.
"Ah..." Marc replied. And I nearly pulled a pistol on her. But I wonder if she knows and remembers my name?
"I see that you've already broken away from COSMOS."
"How can you tell?"
Canaan pointed to her eyes. "Remember what I had when I was in COSMOS too."
Marc nodded, remembering the fact that everyone in COSMOS had the synesthesia ability. No one knew how it originated, which left even the best scientists recruited by the military unit confused. Some scientists had proposed that the ability showed up after COSMOS soldiers had spent years conducting operations around the world, including those in the Britannian mainland.
"Yeah." Marc replied. "I remember that I had to bring you in after you went rogue according to the top brass years ago."
"And I never believe it." Canaan stretched her arms, being careful that her hands with not tangled in the white ponytail of hers. "I could still remember you trying to pull the trigger of your weapon when you were hesitant."
The Eurasian smirked at the Arab woman's remarks.
"I saw it in your eyes." Canaan stared at Marc. "You were ready to pull the trigger on me, but you suddenly hesitated."
"Yeah. I still remember it. I think that was back a year ago during a COSMOS black op."
"You're right. But still..."
"That's in the past now." Marc smiled at Canaan. "Don't worry about it, Canaan."
"Speaking of which," Canaan stretched her arms and legs. "what are you trying to do nowadays?"
Rooftop, somewhere in Vermillion Forbidden City, Luoyang, China, Chinese Federation
Nothing much... Except that I've got my own plans that involves the Chinese Federation and Britannia.
"Ah geez..." Jean began to complain, keeping low by kneeling while moving to avoid being detected by Forbidden City guards manning patrols on the city's high walls or in the Central Palace. "Why did I even agree with boss man in coming to China?" He wore his gear like usual in most of his Lost Soldiers-based missions, including the assault vest that had the imprint of the supposed US flag, with the exception of being armed with a Heckler and Koch G36A2 assault rifle. Oh well, least we didn't have to use a respirator and just our balaclavas on this mission. Not to mention we changed our G36s with these...
"Because..." Ken sighed, trying to keep pace with Jean even when he was next to him. "The boss wanted you to be in some action once in a while. Not to mention that he said you were bored." He had a Tula VSS Vintorez sniper rifle slinged on his back. Like Jean, Ken opted not to use the respirator and have the balaclava on as well while having the rest of his gear with him.
"Okay, okay..." Jean agreed with Ken's explanation, feeling for the Sig SP 2022 pistol on the pistol holster of his vest. "I get your point."
"All right." Ken began to unsling the VSS after confirming their position is safe; Jean went to conduct rear guard security, aiming the G36A2 at all areas in a 360 arc at anything or anyone in the vicinity if and when the two soldiers are spotted.
"Targets are there." Ken told Jean, taking aim with the VSS. "General Zhao of the Chinese Federation Army and Atsushi Sawasaki, ex-Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Kururugi Government before the Britannian invasion." The Britannian-Japanese observed the two via the PSO-1-1 scope mounted on the rifle's upper receiver.
"What the hell?" Jean murmured, getting into a prone position after Ken initially took the lead. "You're kidding right?" Jean observed the two men on his own from lenses of his Steiner 20x80 binoculars.
"It's them all right." Ken replied, confirming the the identities of the two men on the PSO-1-1. "Sawasaki's getting some heat a few years ago with some of the overseas Japanese communities from Australia all the way to Europe and some parts of the Chinese Federation when he called for the full backing of the Chinese Federation military to restore Japanese independence. Apparently, some of the communities don't like the Eunuchs trying to put their influence on him."
"Oh that one?" Ken asked. "I almost forgot about that thing a few years ago when I heard the news meself while we were underground."
"Nah, don't worry about that." Jean coughed a bit, still keeping an eye on the two men from his binoculars when he heard Ken speak up on their targets.
"Kyoto, the JLF and the ex-NRA all are suspicious and dubious of Sawasaki too. All of them are sure that those Eunuch bastards are going to use him as a figurehead for an independent Japan for sure, but under their guidance."
"Yeah. Those guys are running the show nowadays instead of the Emperor of the good old days too. According to intel too, Zhao's helping him stage an eventual invasion of Japan too if things get right."
Okay. Ken continued to conduct observations on Zhao and Sawasaki as they were conversing while eating in some sort of dining room. "Whatever that is anyway. Boss man said we're to get rid of them ASAP. Kyoto insisted on that too aside from him."
"I guess if we kill them," Jean surmised on the supposed plan. "the Eunuchs in the Forbidden City won't have a second though of finding someone who wants to get their backing."
"Here goes nothing." Ken took a deep breath after aligning the PSO-1-1, taking aim first at Zhao. "I'll take out Zhao seated at the right, if you don't have any target preferences." Specifically at his left temple.
"Be my guest." Jean smirked at Ken.
"Sure."
A second later, Ken pulled the VSS's trigger. "Target one is dowwwnnn..." The silenced 9 x 39 mm bullet made its mark on the Chinese officer.
"Alright." Jean confirmed the kill, watching Zhao fall down sideways on his left. "Looks like Sawasaki's a bit surprised."
"Really?" Ken tried to be a bit surprised himself. "Okay then, let's give him the same treatment like Zhao."
After Ken shifted the PSO-1-1 to take aim at Sawasaki's right temple, he gave the VSS' trigger a quick squeeze.
"And target number two is down." Jean watched as Sawasaki went down on the floor, having been shot on the right temple. "Looks like that's all for now."
"Okay..." Ken reslinged his VSS again. "We better get out of here before our element of surprise is lost..."
"Agree with you there partner." Jean decided to go and collect the discarded 9 x 39 shells nearby.
"What are you doing?" Ken asked, wondering what the Britannian was doing.
"Saving your ass..." Jean gave his answer, disposing them at an open dumpster down on the street level below. "Eventually..."
Britannian Memorial Park, Manila Settlement, Area 9, Britannian Empire
"Plans?" Canaan tried to ask Marc. "What...plans are you talking about here?"
Marc stared at Canaan's eyes.
"I don't have to answer that question." Marc smirked after his reply.
"I see."
The two were seemingly unaware that some men, numbering around six Caucasians with different kinds of hair, were approaching Canaan and Marc from their backs while people were walking around in the park, passing the incoming persons as part of the crowd enjoying themselves in the park.
Research Center, Eden Vital Base, Kaminejima, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"Master!"
V.V.'s attention was called on by one of Eden Vital's cloaked men, his face hidden in his black hood.
"What is it?" V.V. asked the man.
"We haven't seen Jeremiah Gottwald since yesterday." The man told V.V. "We all thought that he was trying to get some things taken care of..."
"No need to worry about it." V.V. reassured the man. "He's just probably scouting parts of the Tokyo Settlement."
"However..." V.V. gave the man a warning. "If anything happens concerning him, let me know."
The cloaked man nodded. "Of course, master."
"Ah, there you are, uncle."
V.V. saw Rolo, Anya and Yoong standing at the entrance of the Research Center.
"Greetings." V.V. grinned at Rolo. "What can I do for you today?"
"I've received words from our agents in Area 9 that two familiar people have been spotted."
V.V. was curious to hear about Rolo's news. "And who are they?"
"The agents confirmed one of them to be Marc Yu after sending us photographs from their mobile phones." Yoong told V.V.
"Good." But V.V. frowned. "But who's the other one?"
"If I'm not mistaken, she's number 24." Rolo told V.V. "Number 24 of COSMOS. She defected from the unit a year or two prior to the invasion of Japan, exhibiting the same symptoms that one of the COSMOS squads had before they slaughtered some of the Britannian soldiers."
"Ahh yes..." V.V. nodded, remembering the girl. "Her name was Canaan. And if I'm also correct, I've persuaded Colonel Madd to deploy a squad led by Number 33 to hunt her down somewhere in the Middle East before he was recalled to participate in the invasion."
"Are we going to eliminate them, master?" The cloaked man questioned V.V. "Those two are in public. We might get into trouble."
"No need to worry about that." V.V. reassured the man. "I've got some cover stories in place." He then faced Rolo. "I'll leave that one to you, Rolo."
"Of course." Rolo bowed to V.V. "If you would excuse me, I need to take an urgent trip to be somewhere." He then departed, being accompanied by Anya.
"Master." The cloaked man bowed to V.V. also. "I need to get back to work."
"Hmph? Oh right, off you go."
"A minute of your time, if you don't mind."
Yoong approached V.V., the latter wondering what the COSMOS soldier had in mind.
"What about it?" V.V. asked.
"I was wondering," Yoong sighed, scratching his left cheek. "if you're having problems lately."
V.V. stared at him, not knowing what he was talking about.
"I heard some gossip about, well, the current Emperor having some part of Eden Vital. Don't you think that'll get you into some kinda trouble."
V.V. snickered at Yoong's comments before he said,
"Let's get outside. It's not a good idea to say here any longer."
Corridor, Eden Vital Base, Kaminejima, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"So let me get this straight," V.V. and Yoong were now outside the Research Center, safe from anyone trying to eavesdrop on them. "you're saying that the current Emperor, Charles zi Britannia, may try to take advantage of the fact that he has some links with me in order to do something against me?"
"Well yeah." Yoong replied. "Sort of."
"What do you mean, sort of?"
"Well I don't know!" Yoong yelled a bit.
"Rest assured," V.V. sighed. "I'll take your words into consideration, Staff Sergeant."
"I surely hope so."
Britannian Memorial Park, Manila Settlement, Area 9, Britannian Empire
"We have contact. I repeat, we have contact." One of the approaching men, a Caucasian in his late 30s with short blonde hair, reported back to his controllers after discreetly pressing a PTT button hidden in his jeans. Like the 6-man team, they all had their earbuds on their right ear. "Targets are in sight and we're approaching them, over."
"Understood." came the reply. "Master V.V. wants them disposed of as soon as possible, but don't try to attract too much attention to the team, over."
"Understood, control." The blonde-haired man told the others to spread out, but carefully and reminded them to act naturally in order not to attract attention that the public could think of them as public security personnel when they were on a mission to assassinate Marc and Canaan under orders from V.V.
Here goes nothing. Taking a few steps forwards towards the bench, the man drew out a Sig Sauer P228 from a waistband holster concealed in the left side of his jeans.
"For Eden Vita-!" The armed man had announced after pointing the P228 from behind Marc's head when something else had surprised the Eden Vital agent.
"Geez!" Marc sighed and grabbed the man's left arm. "Can't you leave me alone?" He then brought the man's arm down on the bench, forcing him to let go of the pistol. "I'm very, very, tired of this..." Marc followed the attack by striking the agent's face with a backfist, which was followed by throwing him over his left shoulder with his two hands.
"Canaan! Go!" The two dashed away from the park, going their separate ways to force the team to divide their manpower in order to get them.
Prime Minister's Office, 10 Saint Darwin Street, Pendragon, Phoenix, Arizona, United States, Britannian Empire
Kanon had entered the Prime Minister's office after knocking on the door twice, bringing with him several documents with him for Schneizel for read up on for the evening.
"Excuse me..." Kanon confronted the rear of the Prime Minister's swiveling chair, which was unusual to the young man.
"So I guess that you haven't gotten the news yet." A voice came from the direction of the chair.
"About what?" Kanon said, confused by his statement.
"Oh... many things." Suddenly, two cloaked men were now behind Kanon after running to the office. Anya came behind them shortly. "For instance, Schneizel el Britannia has been detained with approval from his majesty himself."
"What's the meaning of this?!" Kanon shouted. "Whoever you are, you're committing treason..."
"Ah, ah, ah." The swiveling chair turned around to face Kanon. Seated on it was Rolo, who grinned at Kanon. "His majesty himself has given his consent."
The cloaked men soon raised their Heckler and Koch MP7 submachine guns, pointing their barrels at the rear of Kanon's head.
"So for this case," Rolo leaned forward, chin pillowed by his clenched right hand. "your mere presence is a sign of treason since you're hindering his majesty plans to create this nation." He then directed his gaze to the armed men. "Detain him at once."
"Understood!" One of the cloaked men took out a taser, using it to incapacitate Kanon before he had a chance to react.
Private Ward, Tokyo Settlement Hospital, Area 11, Britannian Empire
"I'm...still alive." Darlton came around, seeing that he was in a bed in the Tokyo Settlement Hospital. The officer touched his chest, seeing if his wound was still right.
"You were lucky." Darlton was startled to hear a feminine voice in the ward. "I was told by the doctors that you made it. You were lucky that it didn't penetrate the right lung."
"So it was just in the middle of nowhere near my lung huh?"
"For the bigger picture," Ambrosia was seated next to Darlton's bed, though Darlton wasn't able to see her clearly after he woke up. "I was upset after I hear you went rogue for a short time Darlton. So I want an explanation."
"An...explanation?" Darlton tried to sit up on his bed. "Ugh..."
"Here." Guilford was also in the ward, helping Darlton sit up. "Let me help."
"Thanks."
"I apologize, your highness." Darlton apologized to Ambrosia. "I let my temper and my past get the better of me."
"So it's true then." Ambrosia stared at Darlton. "I heard rumors that one of my subordinates used to be with the secretive special forces units, COSMOS."
Darlton stayed silent.
"I also heard that COSMOS had some things that they've done to make some of our conquests successful, some that are even questionable."
"Your highness." Guilford spoke to Ambrosia. "Why are you asking Darlton such things at a time like this?"
Ambrosia pondered on Guilford's question.
I wish I can clear some of the rumors that I've heard after I took my post here in Area 11 as commander of this colony's military forces.
Alley, somewhere in Manila Settlement, Area 9, Britannian Empire
Marc ran in one of the many alleys in the urban areas of the Manila Settlement, being pursued by three agents dispatched by Eden Vital to silence him and Canaan. They were all brown-haired men, wearing black bomber jackets.
Looks like little pipsqueak wanted to get rid of me and Canaan for good while I'm doing R&R. Then I'm gonna have to give him a reply.
"Okay gentlemen!" Marc shouted, turning around after spending at least and hour running from his pursuers. "If you want to get me, you'll have to earn it."
Being confident, the three agents had collapsible batons in their hands instead of having sidearms.
"Who's first?" The first brown-haired men charged forward, swinging his baton to strike Marc at the ready.
"First strike." Marc said, dodging by moving back. "Second strike." Marc did the same thing once more. "And the third strike...!" Seeing an opportunity, Marc told a hold of the man's right arm that held the baton.
"You're out!" The man was then thrown again over his shoulder before Marc kicked the man on his chest after the agent landed on the ground.
"Next?" Marc said again, taunting the two remaining agents.
"Take this!" The second agent went for the offensive, twirling the baton on his left hand before striking Marc on the head.
"Nice try..." Marc sighed calmly, executing a high kick on the agent's head before he did a roundhouse kick that sent him down for the count. Good thing there's enough space in the alley for me to do the kick.
The third agent went to grab the Sig Sauer P226 on the shoulder holster concealed underneath his bomber jacket, seeing that he's the only one left standing.
"That's not nice, man." Dashing towards the last agent, Marc grinned when he dashed to the man's right side.
"Not very nice!" Marc moved to the left to avoid a baton strike meant for his face. He struck the agent on his right temple with a backfist from his right hand, followed by a knee on his chest, two kicks on his chest and an uppercut straight on his chin.
"Now we're done here..." The Chinese-Britannian began to search the agents, checking the bomber jackets for any clues. I wonder if they have...
What struck Marc was a familiar insignia used as a lapel on one of the agents Marc had knocked out cold. "That trident..." Marc murmured. "The same thing from Eden Vital when I saw it back in COSMOS..."
"Die..." The agent Marc had fought with a few minutes ago groggily tried to stand up, drawing out his P226 silently and aiming it at the back of Marc's head. "For the glory of Eden Vital..."
Two gunshots rang out before the agent could fire his sidearm.
"What..." Marc quickly turned around, drawing out a Sig Sauer P250 Full Size Type pistol from a holster hidden on the left side of his pants. Already loaded with a 9mm 17-round magazine plus one in the chamber, it was more than enough to gun down anyone who happens to be foolish enough to come near him.
"Relax, it's me." Canaan was the one responsible for gunning down the third agent, using her Beretta Px4 Type G pistol held in a Weaver stance.
"Canaan..." Marc whispered, lowering his P250.
"It seems I made it just in time." Canaan said after the agent went down on the ground, face first. "I took care of the other three in my end."
"Well, I guess I have to thank you." Marc replied, thanking the girl. "But if that guy was ready to shoot me, I'd take care of him on my own."
"Your welcome." Canaan sarcastically told the Lost Soldiers leader, her pistol lowered too.
"I'm just kidding." Marc smirked at Canaan, twirling the P250 before he holstered it. "Can't take a joke for once you know."
"What did you find?" Canaan kept her pistol on her bag.
"Eden Vital. My current enemy." Marc ran his hand on his head. "We can't stay here for long. Met Police's gonna look around for clues on us."
"I know." Canaan nodded, looking around to see if the area is clear. "By the way, are you attending to something."
"Yeah. I've got some things to take care of with Eden Vital when I get back to Area 11."
"I see."
"One more thing before we leave." Marc asked Canaan, running away from the alley where the three agents lay to locate the alley entrance to the main street. "I was wondering..."
"If I know your name..." Canaan smirked. "You think?"
"Uhh..."
"Just take care of yourself, Marc Yu."
Marc was startled when Canaan mentioned his name. "Yeah, Canaan. I've got things to take care of. But how did you..."
"That's a secret."
"Fine then. I'll leave it at that if you're not gonna tell me..."
Better get ready since Eden Vital's involved. It's time to get this little war of ours over as soon as possible. After I get back, I'll need to link up with the JLF and maybe the Black Knights for some support in raiding Shikinejima since it's a bit far from the Japanese mainland.
Chapter 17 END
PS - Well, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Let me know how it went/I made a mistake somewhere/You want to make a suggestion on helping me ending the story since it's almost ending soon with your reviews. (HINT: The last line of this chapter. ;) I'm sure you got that.)
I did add some comedy in here. But the rest of the fic is filled with seriousness here. In fact, I based Cornelia/Nunnally's knowledge of Zero = Lelouch from his encounter with Suzaku in the Governor-General's palace and Lelouch's willingness to tell him who he really is back in NoN.
Yeah, I based a certain encounter totally from NoN (The Charles - Schneizel confrontation), but I want to go for some originality at least. The last part of Charle's conversation with Schneizel was based on Wakamoto, who I find to be so cool when he talks!!! For the use of Marc having two geass abilities, I like the possibility of someone having an offensive and defensive geass. 'Nuff said, just need to explain in case someone wants to ask about this...
To tell you the truth, I actually had a hard time figuring out how I can do Cornelia's scenes with Lelouch with emphasis on her and Nunnally (since she's with him) knowing of Lelouch's geass. I decided to go and limit on this slowly. Rushing it in isn't going to help anyway. Right now, I'm trying my best to ensure this doesn't go ugly.
Since I'm back in university now, I could make a mistake or something since I want to finish this up as much as I can in order to make this a less of an interruption to my work (Although the writing bug may came me back to do so soon). On the other hand, I want to leave a good impression to my readers so I'm being careful in making sure the rest of the story is not horrible. Feel free to nag me at this point if I miss something/update after a few weeks or so. Getting back to fixing my GPA's going to be a challenge, so wrapping up the stories I got will take a while. In addition, I may be a bit late in posting chapters like this. So feel free to let me know if I'm lagging a bit behind or something. Least I'm almost done...
One more thing, someone asked why the JGSDF exists in this fic. I guess I didn't explain this too aside from the presence of some stuff mixed in with the real-life ex-British Empire of the old days. I had the fic created with some elements of the real world too, which is the main reason I wanted to experiment with. Especially with some of the real weapons such as the G36 rifles and the various Russian small arms. Same thing with some parts of the chapter that could be slightly confusing; most of them will be eventually elaborated on (If there are).
I may be late in updating again due to university work (Two essays to take care of by the end of this month), so the next update for this story could be anytime in November. For the meantime, enjoy my other fics out there. Especially the other fic that I had unfinished yet too for Ga-rei (I wonder if it's a good idea to do two at the same time...).
If you liked this chapter (and the entire story as a whole), please feel free to read and review my other stories that I have published in. Thanks and have a good day/night ahead of you.