Chapter 8: First Contact: Part 2
11 August 2017 a.t.b., 1302 hours
En route to Shinjuku, Area 11
The car handled surprisingly well. Or, Lelouch thought it handled well, considering the abuse it (and, by extension, he) was being put through.
C.C. was a brutal driver. She called it "brushing" the other cars.
That was an understatement.
Steel frames screeched and buckled under her breakneck racing. The black trail of rubber on asphalt left a burnt stench lingering in Lelouch's nose, as she swung around one corner after the other. What she did was necessary for both reaching Shinjuku with all due speed and evading Britannian pursuit, but he wasn't focused on that. He was more worried about his head and whiplash.
Whatever he was going to say was swallowed by his gasping throat as they tempted death once again.
Just because you're Immortal-
"Oh, let me have a bit of fun, Lelouch."
"What?" Lelouch was pinned against his seat, but he managed to turn his head. He didn't know what scared him more, the virtually expressionless girl at the wheel, or what the vehicle was actually doing. "Some fun this is! I didn't even say goodbye to Nunnally. I am going to die here because of a silly green-haired psychic who is too hyped up on adrenalin-"
"Just because you're built like a stick doesn't mean you have to be melodramatic, Lelouch."
Lelouch's words were caught in his throat. I am not built like a stick, and I am not being melodramatic!
"Well, I'll admit your dashing good looks make up for it. Who knows? If I'm suitably impressed by your bravery, you might find a certain reward when we get home." She took her attention off of the road, looking coyly at Lelouch.
I- What- That's preposterous- Look at the damn road!
"We're here. No need to get your panties in a bunch."
She skidded the car sideways, stopping neatly adjacent to a wrecked building. C.C. completely ignored the destruction she left, splintered barricades and shocked civilians and soldiers alike. With her practiced banter taken from the minds of some fairly effective Britannian squads she had trained against, Lelouch had totally ignored them as well.
"So, what's the plan?"
"We have to find Shirou. And that girl, Saber." Lelouch staggered out of the car, steadying himself before walking into the building.
C.C. followed. "And how are we to do that?"
"I was going to call him, but he always leaves his phone at home."
"But you're not just here for him."
Lelouch started faintly. "You're right. I was going to ask you-"
"Of course I'll help you. That's what friends are for, right?" C.C. smirked. "What do you have in mind?"
"On the news, I saw a G-1 Base with the Imperial Crest. The Britannians only use those when they're carrying high-value personnel, namely royalty. I aim to capture it."
He looked around. The building was completely empty, but outside on the other side, he could see Britannian troops running towards the areas in conflict.
"C.C., I need a Britannian uniform." Lelouch looked down, stroking his chin.
She cocked her head coyly, stroking her chin as if she was deep in thought, just like Lelouch. "I may be mistaken, but aren't you wearing one?"
Lelouch's expression didn't change. "We'll need to ambush a soldier."
"Fine, fine." C.C. touched an exposed metal rod of the building's foundation. She focused on one of her less painful deaths. It took less out of her to concentrate on a death that wasn't as traumatic.
A bullet to her head, "mercifully" shot in the first Great War. The wrecking of her skull, the mashing of her brain. That would at least put the two soldiers stationed outside unconscious.
The memory, one of her souls lost and recycled through Akasha, snarled and sparked through the rods towards the soldiers. The single metal cylinder separated by an inch of concrete would still be enough to carry the transmission of the death. The electric current, information embedded in its pulses, jumped to the two soldiers.
Two low thumps followed.
Silently, C.C. grabbed Lelouch's hand and dragged him over to the wall between them and the Britannian forces. Her head peered outside. Aside from the two collapsed soldiers, the area was clear.
"Take one. I'll take the other."
Lelouch nodded. The soldiers looked like they were sleeping. It would be easy to move them.
It wasn't.
A soldier weighs, on average, a hundred and seventy pounds. Add on twenty to thirty pounds of gear, and an unconscious soldier becomes roughly two hundred pounds of dead weight.
C.C. shook her head. Lelouch heaved and pulled. He moved the soldier an inch. He wants to fight in a war? Not with that physique.
She pushed Lelouch aside and hauled. She only needed a second to drag the body inside.
"We change?"
Lelouch blanched. "We'll just take their armor-"
"Aww. And to think I would have been able to feast my eyes on that body those Ashford girls fantasize about. Trust me, their thoughts aren't exactly the purest about you." C.C. was having the time of her life, spitting sarcasm nonstop. "Though with your abysmal performance with that guy's body, who knows how you'd do in bed?"
I thought she would be a powerful ally. Now, she's making herself more and more of a headache. I will not be rattled. "Was that necessary? We have to-"
"I am a powerful ally. And I am not a headache. You could do this alone, you know."
Lelouch sighed. C.C. was right. And he needed all the help he could get.
"Just put the armor on."
They finished their disguise in a minute. Lelouch began scanning frequencies, using a soldier's communications set. It was going to be difficult finding the resistance's channel, but not impossible. He was fairly sure that the Britannians were listening in on the Eleven's channel even now.
A chess set, streaked with blood, caught his eye. He picked it up, just as C.C. lifted a rifle from a corpse.
All I have to do now is find what pieces I have to play with, and the pieces my opponent is playing with.
"C.C.."
"Hm?"
"Can you detect enemy soldiers? And can you distinguish between Britannians and Elevens?"
She smirked. "That's easy. I can read their thoughts too, but I don't think you'd want to know their life stories. And I can't read them like I can read you. Whether it's the contract or your absolute transparency, I have no idea."
It would have to do. The next best thing would be a combat HUD, but I'll only be able to find that in a knightmare.
"There's a train coming up with reinforcements. Guess what they have inside?"
"Knightmares?"
"However did you know? They'll be stopping at a station in five minutes."
"I am impressed. You can read them at this distance?"
"No, Lelouch." C.C. simply pointed to the line approaching in the distance. "It's called rangefinding. You use the laser designator on the rifle." She pointed at the small cylinder under the barrel. "That gives you an estimate of how far away the target is. I'm good, but I know when to use technology instead of my 'gifts.'"
"I see. We'll obtain those knightmares, and provide the resistance with materials to fight their war." Lelouch was juggling several strategies in his mind, blending them into an overarching plan as he began to follow C.C., who led the way in a brisk walk. Most likely, Shirou would be trying to help his friends. The best way to both fight Britannia and help Shirou would be to assist the resistance. With the Britannian forces occupied, I'll be able to search for Shirou with little obstruction. Shirou might be caught in the crossfire, but that's still safer than being shot by a trigger-happy Britannian.
"Sounds like you care a lot about this Shirou."
"He reminds me of-" Am I actually getting used to this? Well, I don't really have a choice if C.C. reads my thoughts or not occasionally. And if she's in this with me, then she deserves to know why I'm fighting."Shirou reminds me of a friend."
"A Suzaku Kururugi?"
Lelouch stopped. A wistful smile tugged at his lips. C.C. couldn't see it under the helmet he wore, but she could feel it. Lelouch nodded. "I guess I am quite transparent, or your powers are that effective."
"You're sincere with your feelings. That was all."
A thoughtful silence reigned for a moment, before C.C. reached out and grabbed Lelouch's hand. "Don't dawdle. We have to catch a train."
Catch a train, indeed. One laden with destruction.
"You are being melodramatic."
"I am-"
The fallen soldiers were strewn about the train. One was still gibbering. The rest were dead.
Lelouch tried not to think about it. He had found the comm frequency the Japanese (or Eleven, he juggled the two terms easily. Preferring one would eventually lead to an unfortunate slip in the company of some who thought the other term fit more). He had waited for a few minutes while C.C. cleaned out the train, listening in on the resistance's communications. He had to take off his helmet. An unwise decision in the middle of the battlefield, but the damn thing wasn't facilitative to picking out words in a stream of static.
Thankfully, C.C.'s methods didn't leave the cliché, yet still horrific, stench of death. He enjoyed the few breaths of fresh air before putting his helmet back on.
C.C.'s head, helmet on and mask off, appeared over his seated position beside a train car. "Nobody's left. I checked."
"Good."
"You know, you could have used your Geass on the soldiers."
"I'm trying to recruit the resistance. How would it have looked if I approached them with entranced Britannians in tow? Besides, you're better at incapacitating them than I am."
Lelouch rose, dusting off his recently acquired leg plates from the gravel near the tracks. "I'll be taking one of the knightmares. Now-"
He drew in a sharp breath. These knightmares were not what he was expecting. Tall and sleek, they were violet war machines of a different pedigree from the clunky Glasgows, or the boxy Sutherlands. This wasn't simply a tank on legs and rollerblades. This was man made into machine, a true knight's armor. Indeed, they were kneeling, like knights awaiting orders. Lelouch raised his gaze still further. Returning it was the helm of a knight, guarding the Fact Sphere with a noble façade.
"Lelouch."
He turned his head to the Shoulder of the first knightmare, meeting the hidden gaze of C.C.. "Yes?"
"You didn't forget, did you?" Her voice was surprisingly sincere.
Lelouch was visibly taken aback. This was the first time that he heard C.C. say anything without the taint of sarcasm. "Forget what?"
"Our deal. The contract you made to me. In return for your power, you promised to fulfill my one wish."
"Of course." Lelouch replied immediately. In any other situation, I would have thought about it. But if there is to be a world for Nunnally to live in, it should be founded on a just sacrifice. This is worth paying.
Though if I were to regret it, then-
"You won't." C.C.'s voice was a little melancholy. "At least, you're making the promise for the sake of someone else. Too many have made it for themselves."
"What is it that you want, C.C.? Why did you choose me?"
"You'll find out when you're ready." With that crypic reply, C.C.'s vulnerability sealed up. "Don't die. You still have your part of the deal to fulfill."
"I don't plan on dying anytime soon." Lelouch chuckled darkly and got up. "Which is why I captured those knightmares. Can you pilot one?"
"Yes. I should be asking the same for you, but you probably know already, don't you?"
Lelouch didn't reply. He was preparing himself, as he did when he was practicing on the Ganymede. He entered the train's control center, searching for the command panel that monitored the knightmares. If the knightmares were just being deployed, there would be an override available on the train in case of an attack. The override would disable the security codes and devicer keys needed to operate the knightmares.
"How did you know that, Lelouch?"
"My sister has always preferred rapid deployment. It's what she would do. She trusts her troops with the knightmare's security." He worked the controls and pressed the override, the hatches of the Sutherlands opening and their seats gliding out.
"Your sister?" C.C. raised an eyebrow.
"I recognized the emblem on the train. These aren't Cornelia's personal guard frames, just her regular knights. The news mentioned last night her victory in the Middle East, but her regulars are here. It's likely that she came here with a premade team to Area Eleven." It was quite simple, really. "She probably had to leave her personal guard back, with their required preparations for redeployment. However, the reason was urgent enough that she did leave her guard."
Lelouch turned around, surveying the battlefield. "That's why there are so many knightmares in Shinjuku. Only Cornelia would use so many." So many being the ten appearing intermittently between the alleys of the buildings, and the five on the train. Knightmares were rarely used for anything except heavy anti-vehicle duties. Throughout Area Eleven, there were at most fifty on active duty. With Cornelia here, there was an unprecedented presence of frames in a single battlefield.
"Impressive analysis, but you should cut down on the talking to yourself." C.C. made one last sarcastic remark before entering the hatch of the closest modified Sutherland.
I guess that's the closest I'll ever get to a compliment from her. He sighed. She has been quite helpful. I don't know how I would have done this alone. Grabbing the cord's handle, he was lifted up by the pulley of another Gloucester, the gentle whirring vibrating the cord in his hand.
As soon as he entered the cockpit and sealed the hatch, C.C.'s face appeared on the screen, her helmet off. "I'm touched, but you still haven't impressed me enough to get in my pants."
I take it back. She's still infuriating. "Is this all some sort of soldier act? Don't distract me with your teasing."
C.C. quieted, and she looked away.
Lelouch paused, puzzled for a moment. And then the realization hit him.
It was an act.
"Lelouch. That's enough."
She was covering up something. From what he had seen the day before and today, she wanted him to succeed, so what she was hiding did not place him in danger. It must be something that involved her personally. What's worth hiding from me at this stage?
"Lelouch, stop."
Pain. Weakness.
"Lelouch!"
He gagged. Nausea tore into his stomach and mind. From nowhere came the stench of death that was absent moments before. Lelouch tried to take a breath, and saw C.C. holding her head, writhing in the seat. Images, too quick for his mind to process and register, swept across his psyche. A clock. Smoky skulls. A girl, with long hair, looking away from him.
It all vanished. He remained still, his breathing haggard and weary.
"We are connected, you and I. We are accomplices. Pressing me, even unintentionally, will bring up-"
What- what did they do to you? "Who's capable of such evil?"
"Lelouch, don't. If you want your revenge on Britannia, you can't be distracted by me. And if you are to fulfill your end of the deal, I can't let you be distracted."
Lelouch was able to take a deep breath, calming himself and overcoming C.C.'s psychometric overload.
Note to self. Don't talk to C.C. about her past or experiences in the middle of combat. "I understand. Proceeding with the plan."
Shinchiro Tamaki, for all his bluster and bragging, was actually somewhat competent in combat. He certainly played enough first person shooters to understand the value of aiming down the sights and taking cover, which a few hapless resistance members tended to forget. If they made it out alive, Tamaki would make sure the lesson was remembered.
However, Tamaki was no strategist. Dead, bleeding resistance members didn't make good students for his lessons.
"Come on, you bastards! Come and get it!" Every single time he fought against Britannians, his guys died the most out of all the resistance groups. Ohgi and Naoto were better at leading. But those Britannian fuckers killed them. I'm the only one who can lead these guys.
"This is for Ohgi!"
He leaped from cover, just as he heard the heavy machine guns cease their firing. He drew the attention of hot streaks of air and metal from the infantry, but his body too charged up with adrenalin and rage to care. All he could see were the black helmets of the Britannians. When he landed, Tamaki scrambled to get off the ground, smelling the powdered concrete briefly before snapping his rifle up to fire.
Tamaki grinned. Payback time. The light recoil did little to jar his aim. Several bodies danced, twisting with the bite of the high-velocity, low-caliber bullets. His finger pulled and relaxed, pulled and relaxed. Each burst tore through Britannian body armor, red fluid spouting from the holes.
"Move your asses! We got them on the run!"
He turned around, raising his gun with a triumphant "Yeah!"
There was no reply. The resistance members who were with him and were hiding under their friends' bodies, fighting against the four gun teams, two tanks, and a knightmare, were silent.
They had joined their friends on top of them, the rest of Tamaki's group in the grave.
"Shit! C'mon, someone has to help me here!" Tamaki cringed, debris creating little cuts into his skin. The Britannian fire teams finished their reload, chewing into the concrete. "Why isn't anyone responding?"
He held his gun over the remains of the concrete wall, spraying bullets haphazardly into the Britannian position. This was quickly met with the focused fire of the heavy machine guns and the tanks' coaxials.
I'm going to be dead before those idiots get up and try to help me! Damnit! He opened his radio, tuning in to the "secret" frequency.
"Kallen! I'm pinned down! Get your ass over here!" He screamed into the comm set, barely ducking the tracered path of a bullet. Static crackled, then screeched.
"Tamaki, it's no good! The damn Britannians shot off my arm! This Glasgow is going to fall apart any moment now!"
Tamaki spat into the ground, a defiant gesture even as his cover diminished with every bullet from the gun teams. "My squad's a bunch of pussies! They won't come out and shoot!"
"I'll try to get over there as fast as I can! Hang on, Tamaki!"
The connection cut, leaving Tamaki to his own devices. He pulled the pin on a grenade, the pin clinking on the ground. Let's see how much you like this, Britannian bastards.
He turned from the pillar he was hiding behind and flung it. It flew in a gentle arc.
And landed in a crevice of rubble, in the middle of the Britannian position.
"Yeah, you bastards! Take that!" His defiance was followed by an unseemly yelp. The hypersonic bullets devoured the last bit of the pillar, filling the air with concrete dust. He dove to the ground. By some stroke of good fortune, the pillar fell away from him, shaking the ground but doing little else to him.
Fuckers are gonna get it now. C'mon, you 'nade. Do your stuff. A grin was plastered on his face. That's right, Britannians. Remember Tamaki. Remember the day a Japanese killed you!
A low thump marked that part of the day as a small moment that Britannians would never remember.
"What the hell?"
The grenade had landed through a small hole and rolled underneath a concrete slab. The detonation shifted the slab slightly.
"Fuck!" Tamaki's bravado was wearing off. He looked again at his men. Next time, I'm getting guys who aren't wimps!
He crouched and raised his rifle, the decreased weight indicating a lack of bullets. He loaded the last clip from his bandolier. If he was going to die, he would go out fighting.
He readied himself, as much as a jokester like him could ready himself to face death. He was going to see Inoue and Sugiyama and Yoshida and Ohgi soon. It wouldn't be too bad.
A pulsation of the ground preceded a wave of mildly acrid smoke and chalky debris. Panicked shouts came from the Britannians, followed by an explosion and a tearing, metallic ringing. Tamaki paused for a moment. Then, he yelled into his radio. "Kallen! Is that you?"
"Tamaki, I took out the two tanks with the Sutherland! How many of your guys are left? I'll cover your retreat!"
He looked over the fragmented wall he had hidden behind prone. A one armed red Glasgow, scarred and sparking, stood over the fallen body of a purple Sutherland. The mechanical corpse lay across the two tanks, one spewing smoke, the other merely crushed. Small arms fire rebounded off of the Glasgow's armor, which Kallen met with a heavy swing of her arm. Low crunches of bone could be heard.
"All right, Kallen! Show them!" Tamaki turned to the remnants of his squad. "You lazy punks got lucky today! Let's go!"
There was no reply.
"Seriously, we gotta go!" Damn lazy bums. "Whatever, guys. You can go rot under those corpses."
He raised his radio back to his mouth. "Kallen, my guys aren't replying. They're all damn wimps. I'm heading to the-"
"Tamaki! There's more knight-"
Tamaki spun around. Kallen's Glasgow jerked and lurched under the combined fire of three Sutherlands that had just appeared. Somehow, it was able to still move, and ducked away behind a building, pinned down under the knightmare rifle fire. The remaining arm hung limply, useless after the damage sustained.
"Shit. Kallen! Eject!" Tamaki began running, bringing his rifle up to fire.
"It's jammed!" Kallen's voice was full of panic and fear.
She's only a kid! Naoto, why did you- His gun fired, interrupting his thoughts. The bullets did little, but managed to draw the attention of the lead Sutherland's head.
It turned to him.
The contrast was striking. Britannia's giant engine of war, towering over a single man, intended to replace the common soldier. Man's machine against man, an artificial Goliath against David. Undoubtedly, the machine would win.
Tamaki wasn't smart, but he wasn't stupid either. These sentiments crossed his mind, and for the first time in a long while, common sense and mankind's most intimate instinct kicked in.
He jumped to cover.
He expected, once again, for death to come quickly. He had already paid his dues, did what he could. It was easy enough to prepare himself for his end's arrival.
But it didn't.
The machine faltered.
The Sutherland lurched backwards, the torso shredding into spiraled strips of metal from the rounds unloaded into it. For a moment, the Sakuradite was exposed. Without its protective core shields, the Yggdrasil Drive began to revolve faster and faster, until the blur ate away at the enclosed sphere that held it. That was when it overloaded, reaching the critical point.
In a gleam of pink, the Sutherland burst in a magnificent display of light, then flames and metal. It devoured the other two in a cruelly fortunate coincidence.
Tamaki stared at his saviors.
They, too, were Sutherlands, but of a different make. Their bulbous heads held their gaze towards him. Both of their rifle barrels were still sparking, arcing bolts still discharging from the recent firing.
His radio crackled and buzzed. An unfamiliar voice declared the impossible.
"Follow me if you want to win."
"To win?"
Kallen's jaw dropped. The idea was ridiculous! She and Tamaki were the only resistance members left. Even with two more knightmares- And how did they get their hands on those Sutherlands?
Lelouch smirked at the incredulous reply. The female pilot in the Glasgow was good, but with that sort of attitude, it's no wonder that the Japanese resistance were only a thorn in the Britannian side. Victory would only present itself when you were committed to it.
"I can provide you with the tools to win. All you have to do is trust me."
"Oh, come on! So maybe you saved our asses. That doesn't mean we should trust you! How do we know that you aren't some Britannian spy or something?" An arrogant, irate male voice came on.
"What would I gain from helping you if I was from Britannia? They have far superior forces, in terms of both firepower and men. What do you have to lose?" Lelouch thought it was a simple argument. Simple being necessary, since the time was dwindling between his and C.C.'s timely arrival and the arrival of Britannian reinforcements.
"That's bull! Those Britannians will think up-"
"We'll take any help we can get."
Tamaki looked up incredulously at Kallen's Glasgow. "Kallen, we can't trust them!"
"They're the only choice we have! What are the odds that the two of us can get out of here alone?"
Lelouch sighed. "We are running out of time. Now, or never."
Before Tamaki could open his mouth, Kallen replied. "We're with you. What should we do?"
"Just follow us." Lelouch lowered his Gloucester's hand to Tamaki's position. "Climb on."
Tamaki hesitated.
"Tamaki! Get on there!" Kallen looked urgently at him. He was hotheaded, but he wasn't stup- Oh, wait.
Precious moments passed, before Tamaki got on. She sighed in relief. Maybe he's not so stupid at all.
"Because you trusted me, you're going to win." Relieved, Lelouch spun his knightmare around, and sped to the train as C.C. and the red Glasgow followed. Might as well build some trust while I'm at it. "We're going to the train I captured."
The female's voice from the Glasgow spoke again. "How'd you get a-" She paused in shock.
"Well, I'll be damned. You magnificent bastard." Tamaki stood up, a gleam in his eyes. "And you're gonna give those Sutherlands to us?"
"Yes. I will also need your cooperation in fighting the Britannians." Lelouch felt satisfied. Everything was falling into place.
"Gotta say, you were straight with us. We're with you." Tamaki felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Hope. "Hey, Kallen! Some of the other guys got over here too!"
Kallen gaped. So some did survive. Who is this guy?
All the pieces are present. Now, to set them up. "Woman in the Glasgow, switch out into the modified Sutherland. All resistance members, please place your best pilots into the three remaining Sutherlands. It won't be long before the enemy commander deploys forces to investigate its missing frames." Lelouch analyzed the resistance members. There weren't many of them, only twenty in number. However, almost all of them had rocket launchers and suitable anti-armor weaponry.
"We will engage the enemy in a defensive position, and then launch an attack. I have turned your IFFs off to prevent the enemy from tracing our movements." Lelouch allowed himself to relax for a moment, and then steeled himself. Time for some motivation. "I am going to ask you to trust me with your lives. If I give a command, I need you to follow it to the best of your ability. I can give you the victory you want. If you will follow me, then stay. If not, leave."
To their credit, not a single resistance member left. Perhaps it helped that their leader, Tamaki, was standing on the talking frame's hand. For the most part, though, they were inspired by this faceless leader who had given them an even fighting ground to wage war against their oppressors.
"Thank you."
The preparations were completed in a minute. It wasn't all that complex.
Well, on the board, it wasn't. Lelouch knew that reality would kick in, and no battle plan survived contact with reality, at least in the movies. He hoped that he would be able to adapt.
He had set up two pawns, a knight, a bishop, a rook, a queen, and a king. The resistance not in knightmares were P1 and P2, his support units. He didn't have many pieces, so he would protect his pawns. N1 was the girl in the Glasgow, now in one of the modified Sutherlands. They had found a lance on the train, and Lelouch thought it appropriate to equip her with it. She certainly seemed competent with a frame.
One thought nibbled at his memory. She looked familiar when she got out of the Glasgow, but he couldn't place her. That was a matter for another time, but it still bothered him.
B1 and R1 were his other two Sutherlands that were piloted by the leader of the resistance, Tamaki, and a surprisingly large man, who would only provide "Volts" as his name. Tamaki seems to be charismatic, but not all too competent. Volts, on the other hand … Despite his short cut, greyed hair, he looked young and powerful. Certainly not a leader, he looked far too brutal for the role. Ex-Japanese Defense Force, perhaps?
C.C. was Q1. He couldn't think up of any other designation that fit her. She was his most valuable and powerful piece on the field. She would be with me no matter what, a failsafe-
"Well, K1, I'm flattered."
"I couldn't neglect my most ardent and supportive follower, Q1."
Somehow, he became comfortable with this verbal repartee, where sarcasm was their foils. But now, she understood that he had to arrange his thoughts alone.
If Cornelia's here, she would respond with heavy-handed action, sending in a majority of the knightmares under her command to investigate. However, the forces under her command aren't the aces she's used to using.
Lelouch placed eight white pieces, four pawns, two bishops, and two knights, in the middle of the board. I counted about ten knightmares, but I should prepare for more.
An IFF is a double-edged sword. With both the terrain and the element of surprise on our side, we should be able to destroy the main strength of Cornelia's force in one battle. We'll be on the defensive, so I'll have the Glasgow run decoy.
His black pieces were all huddled together on the bottom of the board, ranks D and E and files 1 and 2. It wasn't proper chess setup, but this wasn't proper chess. A single black pawn was placed in front of the white force, mimicking where the girl left her knightmare in favor of the modified Sutherland. That's the Glasgow. It's easy enough to have it "move" with a few well-placed shots.
After that, his moves would depend on Cornelia's response.
Now, for the enemy to respond.
He watched the IFF. Sure enough, a large number of knightmares and-
Tanks?
That was unexpected, but not catastrophic. He would just have to use a different set of tools. They would have to navigate the narrow streets of the ghetto to approach the train, since the train tracks led away from the station from both directions. P2, positioned in front of his forces, would do.
"P2, prepare your RPGs and aim them at the supports of the buildings in front of you. Do not engage until I tell you to do so."
"We have knightmares and tanks right in front of us! They're easy pickings!"
"If you take them, you'll die. If you let me destroy them, you'll live."
"Well, alright. Don't screw this up."
The enemy forces were approaching the Glasgow. Now, it's time to put on a show.
"N1, shoot your Glasgow. Make it dance." Fitting and effective. The girl would be skilled enough to do at least that.
"Yeah!"
The Glasgow shook and stumbled under the shots. Alerted by the gunshots and panicked at the "charging" knightmare, the enemy Sutherlands stopped and opened fire at close range, only able to see the Glasgow just now because of the tight corner they had to turn.
"Q1, B1, take your shots. P1, destroy their legs. R1, use HE ordnance on the tanks. N1, go in close." Lelouch paused to take a breath. "P2, destroy the supports on my mark."
The radio was filled with chatter and cries.
"Roger that!"
"Let's kill these fuckers!"
From his vantage point above it all, he had a clear view of the battle. Q1 and B1's frames held steady against their recoil, launching hypersonic bullets and soft-spinning grenades into the enemy's formation. One grenade actually embedded itself into the still-standing, barely intact Glasgow, which propelled the Glasgow into the enemy forces. The Glasgow slammed into one Sutherland, and then detonated. For a moment, the energy imparted to both Sakuradite cores destabilized their rotations, whirring and shining pink. Luminous, rose beams shone through the cracks of the armor casing, illuminating the shadowy alleyway even in the light of noon. Their shielding, however, sealed up the cores with absorbent rad foam, silencing the potential of an explosion.
The damage was done, though. The first Britannian casualty of the engagement was sustained, and there were more to come.
P1's rockets slammed into two other Sutherlands, accurate due to the narrow width of the alleyway. They were followed by N1's lance charge, which skewered another Sutherland in a shudder of crumpled metal. The pilot's body became a mess of fluids and bone, leaking out of the compromised cockpit. Another pilot, knightmare damaged by the explosions, tried to eject. He was flattened against the chest of the frame behind him. That ignited all of the ejection fuel of the frame's pod. That explosion filled the ranks of the Britannians, knocking over knightmares and rattling tanks.
Lelouch's knightmare rifle joined R1's shots on the ground, crippling and gouging tanks. With the lead Sutherland in tatters and the rear tanks disabled or destroyed, the surviving enemies began to retreat, trying to give themselves room to engage. It was time for P2 to unleash the check.
"P2, fire now. Evacuate once you're done."
The streaking of RPGs filled the air between the four knightmares and three tanks remaining. The building across tipped precariously with the rumbles of RPG blasts, then began its accelerating descent. Several tons of concrete rubble and steel beams crushed the mechanized force. One knightmare's cockpit was impaled by a beam, remaining upright until an entire floor fell on top of it. Lelouch watched it in satisfaction as the steel bar held while the Sutherland shrunk under the weight, its arms and head wrinkling and bursting before it vanished. The dust and powdered debris swept up the street, clouding the HUD cameras of the modified Sutherlands and making the resistance members cough and wheeze.
Still, they were alive, and it was easy enough to get over the dust. It was preferable to being dead and flat.
"All resistance members, sound off. Casualties? P1 and P2, you guys were the most vulnerable. Is anyone hurt?"
Silence.
"P1, P2. Are you alright?" Lelouch felt a pit growing in his stomach. He knew that knocking down the building would expose the infantry to hazards.
I'll need more than determination to win this. I need the lives of these men, and I will not spend them needlessly.
"P1 here. One idiot got hit by the backblast of an RPG. He's alive, but we need to get him to a doctor. Besides some dust, we're alright."
"-Kaaakkk- P2 here." A wheezy voice sounded across the channel. "-Huff- -Whooof- We're all okay. Next time, warn us about the dust. We'll be coughing this up until next week. Whatever, man. You are one badass mother."
Laughs resounded through the radio. Lelouch obliged them with a bow from his Gloucester.
"Yeah! Let's show those fellas full well what our badass mother can do!"
Silence again reigned through the radio channel.
"Well, N1, I'm glad to see you so enthusiastic. Do save it for the Britannians."
Lelouch had to pull the radio away from the static crackles of the uproarious laughter. A guffawing voice cut across all of them.
"Well, Kallen, Kallen, Kallen! Somebody has a crush here, hmm?"
"Shut up, Tamaki!"
A strange buzzing noise filled the air. The chatter ceased, and Lelouch quickly took control of the situation. He looked up.
A helicopter? Well, if they deactivated the disturbers, it makes sense that Cornelia would try to scout us out. He spoke into the channel.
"Everyone, get to cover. P1, P2, I need you to stay here with B1. You guys need to be the decoy while N1 and R1 support Q1 and I."
R1, "Volts" called in. "Why are we splitting up? We need as much strength as possible to escape."
"We are not retreating."
Confused voices sounded across the radio. Lelouch sighed. He really didn't want to explain himself.
"We are going to attack the enemy headquarters. To do so, we need to lure the enemy forces, which are severely depleted, to a place where we can hold them off. P1 and P2, since you are without knightmares, cannot travel quickly enough to engage the enemy. You will be able to entrench yourselves in this area, and give the impression that there is a greater resistance present than there is. B1, you're remaining here to support P1 and P2, and to maintain the illusion that all of the modified Sutherlands are here too. The rest of the Sutherlands will travel to the headquarters while the enemy is undermanned and still concentrated on attacking P1, P2, and R1. There, we will force the enemy's surrender after taking out the guards."
To Lelouch, it was simple enough. To Tamaki, all that the explanation merited was a big "Huh?"
Somehow, I'm beginning to think that this man is the reason why the Japanese haven't put up as large a resistance as they could. They were too busy babysitting this guy. A sigh escaped from Lelouch's mouth for the umpteenth time today. Fortunately, someone was explaining the plan.
It was the girl- Kallen.
"-and Hiroshi's groups with your knightmare are going to distract the enemy while we go to the bastard who's in charge of this and force him to surrender." It was an effective summary, and the leader- Tamaki, I have to remember that- seemed to understand.
"Well-" And then Tamaki remembered what was bugging him. "Hey, we never got your name-"
That took them some time.
"That's not important right now. Victory comes first. N1, R1, Q1, you're with me." With those words, Lelouch spun his knightmare, throwing up an impressive screen of dust before departing. Q1 followed, and after a moment' hesitation, so did Kallen and "Volts" Narukami Gensai.
"Dammit!"
Cornelia hammered her fist into the Tactical Display Interface, feeling the crystals barely give way. "Damn your men's incompetence, Bartley! They were not supposed to engage!"
"Milady, I apologize, but I did not-"
"Bartley-"
"Clovis, stay out of this!"
"Milord, General Cornelia is-"
Bartley was cut off by the report of a rail-driven bullet in his leg.
Clovis became livid, grabbing the gun away from Cornelia. "Sister, I will not have you shooting my subordinates!"
"And Clovis, I will not allow you to surround yourself with incompetent idiots!" Cornelia found her temper running short. She wasn't with her men, she was running on an hour of sleep, and she just lost her predeployed forces to a gang of Eleven ruffians. And now, her dear brother's advisor had just lost the chance to retrieve her Gloucesters.
Those responsible will pay with-
Guilford put his hand on Cornelia's gun. He shook his head.
She gritted her teeth, but lowered her weapon.
"Clovis, what would you have me do? We just lost half of our mechanized forces. I specifically ordered your advisor to surround the area and not to engage. He was overconfident and he underestimated the strength of the enemy's forces. So tell me," she said, glaring at the whimpering mass of a man on the floor, "what should we do with incompetence-"
"Sister, shooting our own men won't help."
"Do not presume to tell me what to do on my field of operations, dear brother!"
Clovis was slightly bewildered. "But you just told me to tell you-"
"That was a rhetorical question, Clovis! I was sent here to fix your incompetence! If it wasn't for you and your indecent indulgences-"
"Let's not go there. And what of you? Your knight of honor isn't just used for military affairs, dear sister." Clovis was surprising cool, but his hands were shaking.
"Why you-" Cornelia raised her hand, in full preparation to give her younger, impetuous, incompetent brother some discipline. Guilford drew his pistol in response to Margrave Jeremiah's own. This situation was at full charge, and in a moment it would be brought to a release-
"Are we having a really bad day?" A head filled the command HUD, the bespectacled face sporting a goofy grin and positioned smartly under a cut of wavy grey-blue hair.
"What is it? Lloyd! We are running an operation here!" Bartley drew the glances of the occupants of the room. Even on the floor, his voice still conveyed the urgency that the operation carried.
"I'd say it's about time to deploy the ASEEC's special weapon!"
"This isn't some exercise, Lloyd! This is a live battlefield!" Bartley was going to continue berating Lloyd, but both Cornelia and Clovis looked at him severely.
"Can it stop the resistance?" Clovis nodded in approval at the simple question from Cornelia.
"Why, Cornelia, please. Do be so kind to call it the Lancelot."
"Z-01 Lancelot now activating."
"Lancelot activating. Releasing hatch."
"Z-01 Lancelot standby for activation. Power extension initiating."
Suzaku entered the cockpit of the Lancelot, studying the controls. They weren't so different from the controls in the simulator. The joysticks seemed to be enough to control Lancelot, using only one button to control its functions, while the movement of the joysticks enabled "devicer-frame directional interface." The cockpit was blank and spartan, with just a HUD and the controls.
"Suzaku, this is going to be just like the simulation. You did extremely well, and we normally would have taken you to the training facilities, but then this came up."
"I understand, Miss Cecile." He closed his eyes, remembering the awe he felt when the sheet fell off the Lancelot. It was a sleek, powerful design. Gold outlined the flanges that emphasized its shoulders, arms, and knees, white rendering the entire knightmare as some sort of knight, hailing back from times of honor and nobility. He would use this to promote peace. He would end this unnecessary fighting.
"Lancelot, the world's first seventh generation knightmare frame. Lloyd told me to tell you to keep it intact, but your life comes first. There's no ejection system, so don't fight if they're going to-"
"Oh, I'm sure Suzaku will perform above and beyond our expectations, Cecile. Well, if you're ready, Suzaku, shall we proceed with the initial startup?"
Suzaku just nodded, driving out any distractions that would come through the preliminary procedures.
It's just like my sessions with Tohdoh-sensei. The preparation, the calm, the action.
"… energy filler … prana conversion units in place …"
"Starting from phase twenty."
But in the end, I'm just a tool for now. I have to function to achieve a goal.
"… full output … critical voltage in thirty seconds."
" … armor-embedded Sakuradite ready to receive prana."
"Private Kururugi. Are you ready?"
If I'm as good as the simulators say, then I can end this fighting without hurting anyone.
"Private Kururugi!"
"Miss Rin?" Suzaku opened his eyes. He was surprised to hear the voice of the civilian advisor.
"Don't wreck my knightmare. Not- not like I'm worried about you or anything, but-"
"I'll do my best, Rin."
"You'd better. And you'll call me Tohsaka, idiot." She abruptly cut her comm feed, the feedback her last retort. Suzaku winced, then closed his eyes again.
"Blaze luminous shifting phase … devicer setup initiated. Confirm devicer identification."
He put the key in, feeding in all of his necessary information encoded within to the machine.
"Man-machine interface engaged. Identity confirmed. Devicer prana feed initiated."
"Prana resonance confirmed. Stress levels minimal. Rejection response minimal. All readings nominal."
Suzaku entered his passcode, clearing the last barrier to operational performance.
"Secondary clearance from devicer entered. Clear for launch."
The mechanical deviations were different from the several hours he had spent in the simulator obtaining the test clearance to operate a knightmare. Lancelot hummed with the whirring and pumping of pneumatics in the core, shook with the drop of the Landspinners, and tilted with the widening of its stance.
The cables were fired off.
He tensed , then relaxed. He was ready.
"Lancelot. Activate ME Boost."
Upon voice activation, the energy fillers in the back of the Lancelot discharged their stores, shunting the energy from the ionic bonds of the nickel-metal hydride to a series of coils. The change in magnetic flux started the spherical revolutions of the magnets within the core, suspended in a fluid environment. The pink Sakuradite core was charged, and spun with the magnet's movements.
The prana conversion units drew energy from the fillers and fired.
Suddenly, the Sakuradite core flashed, internal energy drastically increased. Prana began to be engrained into the core. Circuits lit up on the cube, ignited by the converters. Now, the Sakuradite cube was free-spinning, revolving self-sufficiently.
The fillers cut their flow to the core, shifting their provision to the prana converters. The spinning Sakuradite core didn't need any more energy. It was generating all the energy it needed on its own, and then some.
Electricity generated by the core flowed to the motors, servos, and pneumatics, revving the Landspinners. Prana, converted from both the energy fillers and the core, leapt to the Sakuradite embedded in the armor, guiding the commands directed by the devicer's prana into fluid movement.
Wind lashed about the Lancelot. Landspinners made full contact with the ground. It blasted away, skating gracefully on the battlefield.
"Aha, Tohsaka! He's taking it full throttle,isn't he?" Lloyd was on the ground, laughing at the success before his eyes.
Rin Tohsaka didn't reply. Twin tails whipping in the wind, she turned to her black-garbed companion. "Archer, I'll be working on the data. Watch my back."
"Yes, Master." He drew his Walther WA2000 rifle and switched on the Specter IR thermal scope. His white hair was cut short and swept back, perfect for sighting in this environment.
He smirked. This was going to be entertaining. All the world's evil had nothing on what was to come.
C.C. was puzzled. Someone was coming up soon, up the wide street they were taking. She'd have let Lelouch know about it, but there was too much psychometric disturbance from the source to even determine the tango's gender. The only way her "acquired Geass" could be blocked that effectively was if the target was an Immortal, or the target was a higher being from Akasha.Some power that was. Thanks a lot, Akasha. Experiencing Angra Mainyu wasn't worth it.
She still pulled Lelouch up on a private channel. "Incoming, Lelouch."
"How many, C.C.?"
"Just one. But I can't read it."
"What do you mean?" For once, Lelouch actually does sound concerned. But it's just for his plan. He's just the same as Charles-
Then again, he saved me.
"My powers don't work on it."
"Damn. N1, B1, there's an enemy unit coming up. You'll have to rely on your HUD to see it, it's not on the IFF. Take point to intercept."
"Gotcha!"
The two resistance members sped up their Landspinners, travelling quickly on the road. Kallen and Tamaki were separated from Lelouch and C.C. by a good ten meters, covering each other's angles as they approached the Britannian HQ.
"I think I see it! It's only-"
Tamaki's feed was interrupted by several bangs.
"Tamaki! What the hell was that?" Kallen managed to glance behind her frame. A pair of cables lined her sight, embedded in Tamaki's arm.
Slash Harkens? At that range? Kallen gritted her teeth. Almost all knightmares could only fire their Slash Harkens at a third of that range, to prevent the cable's whiplash from slicing their arm off. Anything further was asking for death. The pilot was a daredevil, then, as he retracted the Harkens, ripping the arm off completely.
"N1, you have to fight that frame at close range."
"Yeah, I know." Deploying her lance, Kallen accelerated her frame, to attack-
He's fast! How did he get in front of me? She twisted the controls, turning the Gloucester on a dime to dodge the white frame.
Her thrust lance only struck the afterimage of the white knightmare, and the enemy quickly struck back at her with a pair of the Slash Harkens on its wrists.
The HUD's targeting reticules spun onto the incoming projectiles.
Gotcha. She fired her Slash Harkens, knocking aside the others with a loud, metallic report. They rebounded away, rapidly drawn back to "armed" position.
"N1, disengage. We're going to fire."
She didn't bother replying, surprising the white frame with a rapid turn, and juked left, then right, to throw off the Harkens. The concrete cloud thrown up by her maneuvers succeeded in diverting the white knightmare's targeting, allowing her to escape.
As soon as she was clear, the voice spoke. "Fire."
B1 was positioned behind a building, covering N1's retreat. Q1 and the voice's knightmares were behind the white frame, pounding into the adjacent buildings. Their target danced away.
"That knightmare's too fast." Q1's voice, unfamiliar and superficially emotionless, offered a detailed analysis of the situation. "We're wasting time here."
"Agreed. Split up. When he follows, the rest will converge on him."
"Sweet, we got this!" Though Tamaki's enthusiasm wasn't shared by the rest, they fled to four different alleys.
They didn't expect the white knightmare to launch into the air with his left Slash Harken, air and powdered ground swirling beneath.
"Shoot it down! It can't dodge now!" The voice was calm but urgent.
Assault rifle rounds and soft-launched grenades all flew towards the target. They impacted in a flash of green.
The Blaze Luminous was activated, shielding the Lancelot from incoming fire.
"It's reflecting them? How is one-" The voice stopped in shock. A Slash Harken rocketed straight at him.
It buried itself into the torso of Lelouch's frame. His body jerked, the frame helpless as the cable was rewound, the white knightmare diving in for the kill.
"That thing is a monster!" In the few seconds that remained, Lelouch squeezed off a round, and prepped the ejection system.
He pulled the level, just as the white frame filled his screen and promptly decapitated the Gloucester with a retracted Slash Harken. The squeal of the cut feeds were shut off by the ejection. The HUD went dark.
The image of the gold-trimmed head, with its white face and green eyes, became fixed in Lelouch's last sight in the knightmare. The face was anonymous, but he would remember.
Lelouch flew. He didn't know where he was going, but he was alive, at least. He had to get out as quickly as he could-
His pod shifted, then stopped. I'm still moving, though. My thrusters are off. I should have hit the ground.
"Buckle up, we're going for a ride."
C.C.?
"Who else?" the voice came from outside the pod, altered by speakers.
Lelouch opened his hatch. Immediately, his senses were assaulted by the rushing wind. Looking up, he saw the face of the knight Sutherland that C.C. drove. He sighed in relief.
"We're not safe yet."
How so?
"After you went down, he went after 'N1.' Both of your pieces are fleeing. So much for converging."
Lelouch noticed the smoke rising from various buildings. He shook his head. "One pilot. Just one pilot ruined my plans."
"Well, we're still heading for that base. You still have a chance. You're welcome."
The most important element on the battlefield is the human one. I shouldn't forget that. I barely managed to escape with my life. I only was able to survive because I had an ally. "Thank you."
"Save it for when we kill your sister."
"Miss Cecile, are you sure about letting them get away?"
"It appears that the Eleven resistance has regrouped dangerously near headquarters. They're using some sort of disrupter that can block projectiles."
"To be precise, Cecile, it's a Disrupter. One I've never seen before. I must say, I'm fascinated by it. Suzaku, capture it if you can. I want it."
Lloyd pushed Cecile, so that he could fit into the screen with her. Suzaku smiled.
"Did I do well?"
"Absolutely, Suzaku. You-" Cecile winced. Lloyd was sitting on her.
"Are astounding! Your numbers are off the charts! My good man, you are most certainly a valuable piece of equipment!"
"I'm glad I could help." And he was. Suzaku didn't feel bad about enjoying it.
But now, he had to save a soldier's life.
"Archer."
"Yes, Rin?"
"What do you think of Suza- Kururugi?"
He's a bastard.
"I think his heart is in the right place."
AN: Ugh. Ugh. Work ate up my time. But I offer no excuses, I took way too long with this chapter.
I think this may be one of the more lacking chapters here. Aside from chapter 5, which I need to edit. Badly.
Edits to this chapter will come soon. My characterization of Lelouch isn't all that great. Personally, I think it's crap. I think I made him a bit too caring. At the same time, he's a Byronic hero, and that character type has always been difficult for me to visualize. I'm better with Shirou and Saber. C.C. was also tough for me, but fortunately, the Lelouch-C.C. dynamic kept me on track for the most part. Reviews about this would be greatly appreciated, and any advice about writing either Lelouch or C.C. would be invaluable to me. This chapter was mostly a plot chapter, so not much characterization. I know, I'm disappointed too. I enjoyed writing Lelouch vs. Saber. There will be more of character interactions after the introduction arc.
A massive cookie for KizaruBoss1. Thank you so much for the OC. He'll be featured more, over time.
I will not presume to declare an update date. I screwed up, big time, with this one. I'm sure there are a ton of questions, but I'll try to answer them as best I can in the upcoming chapters.
Primary questions that need to be addressed:
C.C. being a telepathic Immortal commando. The whole telepathy thing is based off of a certain someone's Geass, but with a spin on the contract. I don't want to spoil too much, but I'll just say that Angra Mainyu had a hand in it. The Grail and the World are closely knit, so it's basically one of my integrations of canon Code Geass Akasha with Nasuverse Akasha.
Archer. Oh, Archer. Literally, Chekov's Gunman. The Walther WA2000 is extremely important and GAR. It's also canon in the Nasuverse, but for a different character.
Saber's Invisible Air. It's not Saber's sword, but rather the invisibility about the sword. It's not only a barrier, but a movement of air charged with prana. Prana, in short, is energy. Excess energy has a disruptive effect on electronics. Note that while Invisible Air is not active, HUDs can see Saber. When Invisible Air is active (in itself a cloaking tool, bending light around the blade), electronics are disrupted to varying degrees, in order of how close their function is to the purpose of Invisible Air. Optics are affected the most, followed by radar and other "sight" functions.
YES, I KNOW A LOT OF THIS IS SCHIZO TECH. As a mechanical engineer, I am appalled at what I have written. However, if Sakuradite is a high-temperature superconductor, it does have all sorts of properties that defy common sense.
Physicists, please don't kill me.
I'll reply to reviews after the next chapter. Due to the imminent approach of college, internship searches, and dorming, updates will not come as often (ugh, "often") as they do. Expect new chapters, ranging from ~5000 to ~10000 words, once or twice a month. I will not write on finals week.
I also got Fate Stay Night. It'll improve the story, but will delay some updates. Again, I apologize deeply for the disappointing update rate.
Lancelot vs. Saber. It will come out soon.
Read and Review. Thank you.
EDIT: As of 12/29/11, this story has been rewritten. C.C. no longer has the overly broken power of taking Geasses. That was the original plot bunny for this fic, and it was going to solely be a Code Geass fic. Now, it's no longer here. Other changes include a (hopefully) better representation of Rin and a better Lelouch. Chapter 8 Part 3 will be out very soon, and possibly some artistic renditions of the cast. I apologize for any confusion. Thank you.