Category: Anime/Manga » Code Geass
Author: Angel-wing2
Language: English, Rating: Fiction Rated: T
Genre: Romance/Humor
Disclaimer: Sunrise owns Code Geass.
A/N: Special thanks to Velshard for technical information about Guren. I have never had to understand Nuclear Physics to write a fic.o_O
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Chapter 4
It was a very cold Saturday morning and Kallen stood shivering outside her Knightmare Frame. Did she really have to kill Suzaku today?
She could remember the shock on his face when she showed him the Orphanage where the Geass children were hiding. The reason why she and C.C. were going this far. The Geass children were kidnapped by the Britannian government and had often, cruel experiments conducted on them. It was a big job for two girls so they needed a Knightmare Frame that could wipe out a large number of enemies in an instant. That was Gawain.
Their first run-in with the Britannian army had been successful, but not all of the children had been rescued. The Geass facility was huge.
Kallen sighed again. She had seen how Suzaku had been swayed, even just a little to their side, as understanding dawned on him. She had refrained from actively convincing him to actually help them. Kallen wasn't really expecting him to, and she was right.
"Still, murdering the Britannians who run and protect the facility is wrong." He had said "There must be some other way! How about letting the public know? We also have Lelouch..."
Kallen shook her head. Was he always like this? So naive. It was the government behind all this, and Lelouch was the Crown Prince! "You're in no position to say whether our methods are wrong."
She had started to unload the food and supplies from the van. She and C.C. took turns visiting the Orphanage, and this week it was her turn.
Suzaku took a large crate from her. "I'll help you." He said "...with the food. As promised I won't tell Lelouch."
She let him help her and her gaze (and opinion of him) softened a bit as he volunteered to even cook for them. They ended up preparing the food together in the kitchen like a married couple. The children ate and looked at Suzaku warily.
They were children. The only outwardly strange thing about them were the "Geass" symbols on their foreheads.
On their way back, Suzaku insisted on driving, saying that Kallen was tired, although she suspected he was worried she would drive through red lights again. She let him, and due to utter exhaustion had dozed off. Chivalry was not dead!
It was not until they were in the city again did she wake, and with a blush, note that she had fallen asleep on Suzaku's shoulder.
But today was the day. It was inevitable. Kallen had done her research and knew that Suzaku's Lancelot was a very powerful Knightmare Frame, the perfect match to her Guren. She'd give him one hell of a fight. No, Suzaku'd get no sympathy from her.
"Lelouch, do I really have to do this?" Suzaku asked.
"Look, you don't have to kill her." Lelouch answered. "Just win. Pin her down, disable Guren, whatever. Of course it's easier said than done."
Suzaku didn't look too convinced. From what he knew of Kallen, she would fight to the death. It was just her personality. If her fighting skills were any indication, he was in for a tough time.
They had arrived at the designated spot first. It was still early. Lelouch had brought his temporary new Knightmare Frame, Shinkiro.
In a few minutes, two flecks in the sky appeared, one red, and the other was black. Gawain and Guren landed close to Lancelot and Shinkiro. C.C. alighted.
Kallen remained in her cockpit. She didn't want to see Suzaku today. Not face to face at least. Suzaku nodded grimly and entered Lancelot.
The two Knightmare Frames faced each other. Dawn was breaking, and the rays of the sun flitted through the chilly fog. The atmosphere was tense.
"Look, Kallen. I don't want to do this." Suzaku said over the comm line."but, we'll end this quickly."
The redhead said nothing. In a flash she was behind him. The battle had begun.
"C.C., she's your cousin, right?" Lelouch asked. The pair were standing near a precipice and were watching the battle from a safe distance. "Why'd you allow her to fight Suzaku?"
"Her decisions are her own." She replied simply.
Suzaku! I won't let you win. Kallen thought to herself.
Slash Harkens released in quick succession, Lancelot dodged the attack and retaliated with the VARIS rifle. Blotches of light illuminated the sluggish morning sky. She evaded also. Kallen knew that the two of them were well-matched in terms of speed and strength. He was fast and probably stronger than her.
But if I get close to him, he's dead. Kallen's fist clenched unconsciously and brows knit in concentration. She smiled a little. Got to get a bit closer.
Guren and Lancelot were mere blurs in the sky. It was aerial ballet at it's finest. None of them had taken any serious hits yet. Both of them were thinking the exact same thing about each other.
She's good.
He's not bad.
The battle had been raging for an hour, but none of them were letting up.
"Want to call a stalemate?" Lelouch asked. If C.C. agreed, he'd call it a truce.
C.C. looked at him briefly, "Sure." and inclined her head. "If you can get them to come down here."
Kallen had an idea. It wasn't the most original thing but it just might work. She got Guren knocked toward a rocky wall on purpose. And just lay there. What a dirty trick.
"Kallen?" Suzaku's panicked voice came over the line. He was calling her name over and over but she didn't respond.
He couldn't fly over fast enough. But that wasn't a particularly strong hit! His mind protested, unable to believe it. He couldn't have hurt her with just that, could he? Lancelot hovered a few feet from Kallen's Knightmare Frame.
Suddenly, Guren pulled Lancelot into a tight hug.
"Suzaku!" Lelouch shouted.
Guren's Nuclear Pulse Claw clutched at Lancelot's neck, the ejected particles filled with death released. Suzaku braced himself. Was this the end?
C.C. tsk-tsked and pressed a few buttons on her keyboard rapidly. Kallen often did things on impulse, she thought, and let out a heavy sigh.
The two Knightmare Frames crashed loudly on the ground unharmed.
The Lamperouge estate was simply transformed that evening. The lights from the chandeliers blazed brightly as women in beautiful gowns and men in expensive suits lounged around. The food was excellent and hothouse flowers and ice sculptures adorned the corners.
Kallen and C.C. arrived. After their names had been announced they entered the main ballroom. C.C. wore a strapless gold satin gown, matching gloves and had her hair down and curled at the ends slightly. She looked calm as ever.
Kallen, on the other hand wore a blood-red off-shoulder gown cut low with a fluttery hemline. Her hair was up with wisps falling to the sides of her face. She looked a little annoyed that she had to be attending this. She wasn't a fiancee candidate anyway. More importantly she would likely meet Suzaku here. And she didn't want to see him, at least not for another ten years.
Predictably, Lelouch swooped in and took C.C. away. He had sneaked out of doing his 'Greet everyone-coming-in duty' to be with the green-haired girl. Even Kallen wasn't that dense. She could see that the Prince liked C.C. very much, despite his denying that fact to death.
So there she stood, trying to blend in with the wallpaper, drink in hand.
Kallen breathed a sigh of relief. At least eight young, and not-so-young men had asked her to dance but she was able to turn them down easily. None were particularly troublesome and persistent. Until…
Speak of the devil…
-tbc-
A/N: See below. I'm unfortunately not a technical person. Velshard-san was kind enough to provide an awesomely geeky explanation. And here I thought it was really a microwave arm! o_O And I quote:
…Guren's arm it has quite a few names, Fukushahadou I believe is the original Japanese name, Radiant Wave Surger in the english dubbed anime, and the Nuclear Pulse Claw in the mangas (my personal favorite). As for how the arm actually works; since we see the arm occasionally ejecting little gold cartridges my guess is that those cartridges are filled with super compressed radioactive isotopes in a gas state. This radioactive gas is probably released into a spherical ignition chamber somewhere in the arm where it is bombarded by high intensity microwave radiation from all sides to create a very small scale fission reaction. All the energy from this micro nuclear detonation is then released through the emitter in the Nuclear Pulse Claw's palm. Also if the Guren's NPC really functioned by simply releasing microwave radiation it would be impossible for it to do as much damage as it does in so short a period of time.
(from wikipedia) Gefjun Disturber (ゲフィオンディスターバー, Gefion Disutābā?), named after the Norse goddess of chastity Gefjun; it is a force field generator that disables all sakuradite-powered technology within its area of effect.
…well, put these two together. C.C. caught them in the nick of time. Thanks for the awesome reviews! This chapter was heavy on my weakness: technical stuff. Hahaha! So if there are any errors, feel free to point them out. Except the part about Guren, Lancelot, Shinkiro and Gawain being together! This is an AU after all. ^_^;