Sorry the update took so long! This chapter took a while 'case I had to work out how to set everything without making it seem too weird. Anyway, this chapter will feature the debut (though not in combat) of Sukai's new Knightmare and a critical character concerning Lelouch AKA Zero. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Iron Resolve.
"You're sure about this?" Lelouch asked.
"Yes. I intercepted a transmission that spoke of Cornelia and Euphemia heading to Shikine Island. Apparently, they're going there to meet with someone from mainland Brittania. Given the fact that both of them are going, we can assume it's someone of high status." Sukai told him. He had pulled Lelouch aside before school to explain what he'd discovered.
"Interesting. We should at the very least find out what will be happening on that island. It'll be too risky to fight, so we should probably carry out a simple reconnaissance mission to learn what we can. The only question is how?" Lelouch wondered.
"I've got that covered. I just finished that Knightmare I've been working on. It's perfectly suited to this kind of mission." Sukai said. Lelouch nodded, as the two split up to go about their respective classes.
The next day, the Black Knights' submarine, a gift courtesy of the Military District of India, made its way towards Shikine Island, where the meeting was scheduled to take place. Thanks to the Gefjun Disturbers Rakshata had brought along, the Brittanians had yet to discover that their enemy was sneaking up behind them.
"Cornelia and Euphemia are heading to that island to meet someone from Brittania. Thanks to Sukai, who managed to intercept their transmission, we will hopefully gain some useful information from this operation." Zero announced.
"All right! So what's our next move?" Tamaki asked, eager to fight.
"However, this operation will be executed by Sukai alone." Zero continued, causing everyone but Sukai demand why.
"But Zero, isn't that dangerous? He'll be vastly outnumbered." Tohdoh pointed out.
"Normally, you'd be right, Colonel Tohdoh." Sukai said. "However, I've got something that should make this a walk in the park." Sukai announced, before opening the container in the submarine's hold, revealing a Knightmare frame unlike anything they had ever seen. The Knightmare was very humanoid in shape, smooth armour covering its entire structure. In the centre of the chest was a glowing white light. The cockpit was a similar shape to that of the Lancelot. The Knightmare's faceplate, thighs, and some of the cockpit were a gleaming gold in colour, whilst the rest was a metallic red. On the right-hand side of the cockpit, a red and black gun was mounted, the barrel pointing towards the ground, obviously in a resting position. Strangely, the Knightmare appeared to have no other visible weapons, aside from the gun. Rakshata, for once, seemed impressed.
"My my, that's an impressive piece of work." She said, while everyone else was speechless.
"I had a feeling you'd be impressed. This is the Knightmare Mark III, or as I like to call it, the Mk III Iron Man. I designed it to be able to perform just about any mission type imaginable." Sukai explained. "The armour is made from a different type of fibre steel than I used on the Banzai Dasher. This fibre steel is twice as strong, but crucially, it weighs roughly 25% less than before. The power comes from something I invented, called the Arc Reactor. It collects and redistributes any ambient energy, at around 99.99% efficiency. In terms of weapons, the Mk III is equipped with Repulsor emitters on each palm and on the chest. These can fire a beam of Repulsor rays, which are capable of punching through any existing armour. The palm-mounted Repulsors are limited to a range of around 100m; however the chest Repulsor can hit targets up to 1km away, and is five times as powerful as the palm Repulsors, but requires a charging time of about three seconds. In addition, the Mk III has a Repulsor thruster on the base of each foot, which enable it to fly, although I don't know how fast right now. In flight, the palm Repulsors are used as flight stabilisers, but can be fired in flight if necessary. Apart from the Repulsors, I installed a Chaos Emitter in each thigh. They're basically Chaos Mines, except they can recharge and fire multiple times. Also in the thighs are the Slash Harkens. The unit also has a single-shot missile launcher in each forearm. Mounted in each shoulder is a five-shot missile launcher, with fifty rounds for each one. The final and most devastating weapon is the Coilgun, which is mounted on the cockpit. It uses electromagnetism to fire projectiles up to ten times the speed of sound. The maximum range is approximately 150km, but I'm not certain just yet. The projectiles weigh around 5kg, meaning that on impact, they have roughly 29 mega joules of kinetic energy, meaning that they not only arrive at the target in seconds, but can destroy anything they hit."
"Unbelievable." Was all Kallen could say. Rakshata looked slightly sceptical.
"But how will you get in without being noticed?" she asked.
"I knew you'd ask." Sukai replied. "Thanks to the energy generated by the Arc Reactor, I was able to fit the Mk III with what I call the Digital-Optical Stealth system. This system renders the Knightmare invisible to both the naked eye and radar, so I should be able to sneak in undetected. The drawback is that the system has to be disengaged for the weapons to fire, as it requires so much power to use."
"I see. Clever." Rakshata said, nodding.
"All right, the mission will commence in fifteen minutes. Sukai, prepare to move out. Everyone else, we'll observe from the briefing room." Zero announced. Everyone nodded, then followed Zero out, except for Kallen, who walked over to Sukai.
"Be careful, ok?" she asked, touching his cheek with her hand.
"Of course." Sukai replied, kissing her briefly, before climbing into the Iron Man.
A short while later, the Iron Man soared over the island, concealed by its DOS system.
"Iron Man, see anything?" Zero asked over the radio.
"Nothing so fa-wait! There's a large group of radar signatures on the northern point of the island. I'm heading there now." Sukai replied, banking towards the location. About a mile short, Sukai landed so as not to alert the Brittanians with the noise. He slowly approached the site on foot, taking care to make as little sound as possible. After exiting the forest, he found himself looking at what appeared to be a large aircraft, with a few dozen Sutherlands guarding it.
"Zero, looks like I hit the jackpot. Whoever Cornelia's meeting must be here, given the security they've got. There's also some kind of large aircraft here. I'm moving in closer." He reported.
"Roger. Good work so far." Zero replied. Sukai edged his way past the Sutherlands and into the cave that they were in front of. He could see a group of soldiers, a general or some high-ranking officer, a scientist, Cornelia, and another figure standing in front of what appeared to be some sort of ancient mural. Next to the mural stood an unusual Knightmare frame; it was black and yellow, standing a few feet taller than most Knightmares. It appeared to be connected to a bank of computers off to one side.
"Zero, Cornelia's in here, but I don't see Euphemia." Sukai said.
"She's probably outside, in that aircraft you mentioned. See if you can figure out who's with Cornelia. Zero replied. Sukai zoomed in on the people with Cornelia. As soon as he realised who it was, Sukai gasped.
"Ah...Zero? You're not going to believe who it is." Sukai said.
"Who is it?" Zero asked.
"Well...have a look for yourself." Sukai replied, sending a feed of what he was seeing to the submarine. Lelouch's blood boiled as he recognised THAT face.
"Schneizel!" he shouted, causing some of the Black Knights, especially Diethard, to look at him in confusion.
"Interesting. Zero seems to have quite the bone to pick with Prince Schneizel." Diethard thought, fascinated.
"What now, Zero?" Sukai asked.
"As much as I'd like to, we'll have to leave Schneizel and Cornelia for now. Sukai, leave the area and head for the main base. We can at least do some damage while we're here. Besides, I'm eager to see what this Knightmare of yours can really do.
"Roger that." Sukai replied. After exiting the cave, he made his way back through the forest, until he found a clearing a few miles away from the base. Sukai made the Mk III go down on one knee, and then shifted the Coilgun into its firing position.
"Coilgun voltage confirmed. Firing sequence ready. Locking onto target." Sukai said, as the computer adjusted the gun's angle. Then, a beep signalled that the gun was ready.
"Targeted and firing!" Sukai shouted, as the DOS disengaged. The gun fired with a deafening blast, the Mk III's servos absorbing the recoil. Less than a second later, the shell slammed into the command building at the base, reducing it to a pile of rubble, leaving a massive crater. The Coilgun returned to its rest position, steaming from the heat generated by the shot. Sukai then took off, heading for the base. Once overhead, he pitched forward into a screaming dive. About a thousand feet up, the Mk III put its arms forward, firing the flight stabilisers, which slowed the Knightmare down dramatically. Sukai flipped it upright before landing the Knightmare on the ground in a crouch, the ground beneath cracking from the force of the landing. He slowly stood up, taking note of the Sutherlands now training their guns on him. Suddenly, all of them opened fire. As the rounds glanced off the Iron Man's armour, Sukai dashed forward, catching the Sutherland in front of him with a powerful punch, tearing the cockpit off. He swiftly turned around, firing the right-hand Repulsor, sending another Sutherland through the wall behind it. Five more fell in a similar fashion, before a group of them charged from behind. Sukai spun around, firing the Chaos Emitters. The Brittanian Knightmare's were cut down by the wall of shrapnel in front of them before the pilots could eject.
Sukai then spotted the Knightmare's that had been guarding Schneizel's aircraft on his radar, heading for the base, most likely as reinforcements. Smirking, Sukai took off again, hovering above the wreckage of the base. The armour on the Mk III's shoulders opened up, allowing the missile launchers within to emerge. Sukai also activated the missile launchers in the arms as well. All twelve missiles launched, streaking towards the Sutherlands as if in formation. Soon after, the radar confirmed all of the Knightmares had been destroyed. Sukai then headed back out to sea, as the DOS concealed the Mk III once again, leaving the base as a smouldering ruin.
"Unbelievable." Suzaku said.
"Annihilated in less than two minutes..." was all Tohdoh could say.
"Amazing. Looks like that armour really is something." Rakshata observed. While the others marvelled at the sight they had just witnessed, Lelouch was busy planning his next move.
"Excellent. Now the two people who know what happened to my mother are where I want them I suspect Schneizel knows the most, seeing as he has strong ambitions for the throne. Cornelia's always been more interested in military exploits, so she's expendable. All I need to do is draw her out somehow." Lelouch thought, grinning behind his mask.
"Zero?" Shirley asked, as she approached him.
"Hm? What is it, Shirley?" Lelouch asked.
"Is he one of the people who know about your mother?" Shirley whispered.
"Yes, but the only way I'll be able to find out what he knows is to ask him myself. That won't be easy." Lelouch replied quietly. Shirley looped her arm through Lelouch's, looking at him with concern.
"Do you think you can do it?" she asked.
"I will do it, because I must." Lelouch replied. Shirley smiled warmly, as they waited for Sukai's return.
Well, what do you think? The next chapter is where the story really begins to pick up the pace. What happens, I'm not telling! You'll have to keep reading to find out!