Disclaimer: I own nothing of Code Geass, nor of Guilty Gear, nor to a lesser extent, BlazBlue and Rewrite. I do own this story, and all the inspirations along with it. And of course, the brain where the ideas came from.
The tall hills seemed too much like small mountains, making standing on the craggy, sharp top a novel, peculiar experience.
"How does it feel, to stand on top of the world?"
His companion remarked so, sitting upon a rock and gazing down miles below upon the Viceroy's Palace, which gleamed under the shields like a precious jewel amidst the sands.
He said nothing.
"When time was young, the high places were said to be the homes of the gods. What does that make you, I wonder?"
"This is no high nor hallowed place. This is demons' land, where nothing lives and only accursed plots and monsters grow. It is the perfect place for one such as I."
)()()()()()()()(
Within a hangar somewhere Area Eleven, or the Eleventh Sacred Preserve of Humanity, on a Britannian base bordering the Viceroy's Palace stood a man who watched a Knightmare being repaired. He was an unhappy man.
Jeremiah Gottwald feared, inside the pits of his knightly soul, for his life, already counting the days to his execution.
That damn brat, foremost in his mind, was the source of his agonizing days. Only once before had the Margrave failed in a task set to him, and that part of his past had hopefully been pushed aside. But now, he was faced with yet another.
He knew he'd failed, somewhat. There was no denying the vibrancy in the boy's voice, when he told them all politely, clearly, on that day he'd been invited to his office, that his body would belong to no one group or ideology, but belonged to all people. That he would be: "the protector of mankind".
"Young man, never let it be said," he'd remarked, an edge in his voice then, "that the Empire has not turned a heart to the people of the world. We are all in this together, as someone under my command said, and you would not be doing any more service to mankind in the Order than here under the Honorary domain of the Holy Throne. Here, you have a chance to rise in the ranks, to become part of the glorious foundation of a grand Empire."
"I thank you for your high consideration of me, sir," the boy had replied, "But what then would I do in a time of war? It is only but months since the conflict over Gibraltar had ended for you with the EU, and I have no wish to offer myself to a cause that involves killing people needlessy."
"Needlessly? It is our purpose as soldiers boy-"
"I thank you again sir, truly from the bottom of my heart, I do," the boy had bowed, ending the conversation for himself. "But again, if I should die, or kill, then it will be under the gaze of justice. I should probably leave it at that."
"Justice?" Gottwald murmured to himself, almost crushing the datapad in his hand between his fingers. "What the hell does justice have anything to do with-"
"My Lord."
He looked right to trade salutes with his adjutants, Viletta and Kewell. They were garbed in the light armored suit of Devicers (and so was he). They seemed to have sensed the turmoil beneath their superior's expression when they asked him, pardon willing, what the problem was.
"It's nothing," he replied crisply, striding towards his Knightmare after seeing the techs give him a thumbs-up, "Come, we are very nearly late to do our rounds." His adjutants followed without saying another word, keeping their respectful thoughts to themselves. They had an inkling of their superior's problems, after the incident with the invitation of that Eleven to the base. The two were content to leave their thoughts as is, mere speculations.
"Have the Knights read the latest flash report I sent them?" inquired Gottwald, priming the ars fields of his Sutherland as he talked. It was rather informal, but the two did not point it out.
"Yes, and as requested, Assault Squads B1 and B7 are on standby." Kewell's eyes narrowed as he replied. "But sir, is this information-?"
"I've no time to speculate on the source nor the means of gaining access to information from said source, Lieutenant. Something's got the Order spooked, and I will not have the 7th Overseas Brigade be caught like a band of filthy outlanders. If the Order recommends we be cautious, then we shall, by the Throne."
Viletta was quick to turn her superior's attention to the business of command, "We have also prepped the Ravager Teams to be ready to rotate. The Junior mages are also on standby." The Ravager-armed Sutherlands, more a suppression Frame than one suited for a kill squad, required a sustained amount of time syncing at a specified rate to function, and that was the reason for rotating the Knights to use it, when the need arose. The mages were there to support the syncing with seal arrays, for not many had the prodigious skill to keep a perfect sync performance.
"Very good. Though I suspect the Assault Squads will be enough. Worst case scenario?" Jeremiah gazed at his Knightmare, all but a head taller than him, its indigo and maroon colors gleaming dully, like polished steel.
"The Viceroy's Royal Guards have been informed, Captain. They will be ready when that time comes."
His desire to tell them about his thoughts on that boy was quickly pushed aside when alarm klaxons blared, focusing trained muscles and instincts to instantly bring all of their mouths to their comms, screaming out orders. "ALERT! ALERT!" The alarm was unmistakable.
"Gear? Here?" Gottwald wondered, but for a moment, and after five seconds, he was safe and synced inside his Knightmare, reading the information feed from within the internal display. The ambient sounds akin to being underwater surrounded his body. It had been a long time since a Gear had materialized close to the Palace, it being the most protected and highly surveilled part of the Area. Well, he had no time to think on that. There was a duty to do, and as his Knightmare rumbled to the center of the hangar, flanked by his adjutants on their respective own. His Knightmare stood brandishing the concussion gun in its hand, and Gottwald's voice proclaimed in the metallic, muffled voice from within his holy armor: "Valorous Brigade! Check your weapons, your armor and your loyalties! We are the Emperor's Knights! We march!"
"ALERT! ALERT!"
"Assault Squads to the fore! Show us the enemy's face!" commanded Viletta, and several Knightmares, armed with round shields the size of its body and short, pulsating swords immediately dashed on their double Landspinners out of the hangar. "Yes, my lord!"
"ALERT! ALERT!"
"Whether Gear, monster, or men, we shall not fail as the Emperor's finest," Kewell, the more hot-blooded of the trio said in his turn. His Knightmare was next out, sprinting ahead of his superior. "Hunter Squads, to me!"
"C-Captain!" came the voice of one of the Assault Squads over the comm. "I-It's- Please take a look, sir!"
"Hm? Is it a high-level?" Gottwald responded, accepting the data into his Frame. His, and his Brigade's mouths instantly hung open in shock when they saw what the surveillance feeds sent to them showed. "Im- Impossible..." Viletta breathed, staring at the many red blips on the map.
Gottwald gritted his teeth, his Knightmare signalling the charge. "This changes nothing! Hunter Squads, switch to the Arrowhead Shots! All weapons free! We march now! For the Emperor! For Britannia!"
"All hail Britannia!"
)()()()()()()()(
They didn't allow their special transport through, even when they Lloyd made an effort of showing the Second Prince's sigil initially, and threatening bloody murder towards the end.
"Terribly sorry sir, but the rules of the Preserve must be followed. If you'll head right after the intersection over there, you can still make it to your destination; it's a special street that no other car can use, but with the sigil, no patrolman shall question you. I'll even comm them sir, don't worry."
And so, after the Earl threatening to call the guards' mothers, which Cecile took a slight offense to, bonking him on the head with a datapad, the transport truck which took up two lanes of the road turned from their intended path through the skyways and into the downtown streets.
"How is this, I ask, any better than than gunning it through the highway? I'm afraid that fool's just been talking out his underpaid mouth." Lloyd commented, gesturing to the narrow streets which was barely able to accomodate their truck, let alone the crowds which were forced to part angrily before them. Even then, Cecile kept up a slow pace, even stopping to wait for pedestrians to cross. "And I wasn't kidding when I said I'd call their moms. Tell them about what kind of children they've been raising..."
"Sir, would you pick up my datapad over there? The green one? The one that's yet to be dented?" asked Cecile in a delicate, smiling voice.
"...I'll shut up. But!" He raised a finger, turning to face his chief assistant. "But, I know someone in the homeland who has a terribly bothersome fan around these parts who's not gonna be happy his pet project doesn't have data..."
"I'm sure the Prince will understand, he's always been very favorable to us."
"Ya think?" Lloyd asked rhetorically, crossing his arms and leaning back on his seat. "There's only so much patience a man can have before snapping. Boom! And out goes the budget, and my baby's future." The Earl shivered, drawing his body close.
"Well, it's not for long, sir. I'm sure the Order will honor an agreement if we make it. After all, it's him you're after right?"
"That Eleven..." Lloyd said in a small voice, watching as they finally exited the crowded areas and onto streets where Cecile was free to step on the pedal. "I do wonder if Ki's a major factor...I may have to recalculate the error feed in the sims, the data seemed strangely skewed in his favor..."
"I don't think there's any need to do that, I'm sure Sir, uh, Kururugi will be the right 'part' for you. And it's a good thing he's going to be a neutral – less paperwork for you," she said congenially, the smile never leaving her face.
"...I want to know where you get that boundless enthusiasm, Cecile. It could become a potent antidepressant."
)()()()()()()()(
"Oh crap," said Shirley, her words echoing in the silent room. All eyes turned to her, surprised to hear the girl say something like that. She was reading a long sheet of paper worriedly.
"Did someone make a mistake in adding up the numbers for the budget?" the girl asked her fellow members, pushing the sheet of paper on hand towards Rivalz, whose eyes fell on it dubiously. "Because I double-checked, and there's something...off."
"Oh crap!" Rivalz echoed, ruffling his hair in sudden worry. He passed the offending paper like a hot potato to the person next in line.
"Yeah...was it your responsibility, Rivalz?" she asked in a casual tone, edging close to the exit of the club room.
"No way, not this time, I swear!" Rivalz answered, standing up to emphasize. On either side of him, some of the members had risen from their seats, humming to themselves and walking casually towards the exit.
"Well it can't be Kallen's, because she's been absent for some time now... and Nina?" Shirley looked around, astounded to find that the girl she called wasn't there. "Well, probably, but we could say it was Lulu or Suzaku-"
"Hey, those two haven't come back since they excused themselves five minutes ago!" Rivalz exclaimed, pointing accusingly at nothing in particular.
"Don't look at me, I thought it was perfectly natural!" Shirley said, waving her hands in front of her, her feet side-stepping further. A few of the other members had obtusely exited through the door already. "Of course, if it had been one or both of them..." Almost there, she saw.
"The Prez is gonna explode," moaned Rivalz, sinking back into his seat.
"Well then, Rivalz, I'll leave it up to you!" squeaked Shirley, finally finding it in her to dash straight out of the door, her mad exit followed by the scrambling of chairs and the escape of the rest of the council members.
"Good luck, sir!" "We owe Mr. Cardemonde a bite!" "Hang in there, Rivalz!"
"Y-y-you guys," Rivalz said as he sat and trembled, holding the offending piece of paper in his hand. Just then, Milly Ashford entered the room with her Gear maid, looking questioningly at the retreating backs of the members down the other hall. "I'm back. What's going on with those-"
"TRAITORS!"
Rivalz' outraged scream seemed to echo into the Ashford grounds, causing Lelouch to pause and adjust his glasses. "I fancy hearing Rivalz' voice somehow. A strange hallucination."
"Now that you mention it," Suzaku said, cocking his head. "I do too. I wonder what's happening back there."
"If you'd stayed for a bit longer, you'd have found out," said Lelouch, continuing his walk. Beside him, his friend adjusted the bag on his shoulder and did the same.
"I could say the same to you. Anywhere in particular you're having me go to this time?" Suzaku asked. Since he had begun training as a probationary initiate (though the term seemed to offend Lelouch somehow), he had received a pass that basically gave him free transport over much of the city, having him bypass the hectic train crowds and use the more expensive, slower, yet more comfortable highway transports. His friend, having found out, was making him use the pass whenever he could. Suzaku only continued to use the train if Lelouch wasn't there.
"I'm sure you know the place," Lelouch replied, nodding significantly.
"Ah, visiting Nunnally again? Give my regards."
"I don't know why I keep telling her about you, Suzaku. She says she's interested to meet her brother's best friend, the one 'he always complains about' again."
"I could do that," Suzaku said, quirking an eyebrow. They passed through the shimmering field that was the Ashford Front Gates. "But you keep saying she's still too busy at the Institute to be doing anything. It's been a really long time since I've been to see her."
"Yeah..." Lelouch muttered, looking away for once. "There've been minor snags in development...I asked Milly and it seems the Emperor's been limiting sakuradite imports. Hmph, as if they need to 'import' something that can be acquired right here!"
Inside the transport car, Suzaku retrieved a few grimoires from his bag, the smoother ride allowing him to leaf through the contents for a brief spell. Lelouch asked a few questions, glancing through the grimoires the Order had lent the youth as part of the preparation for his initiation once he graduated.
"Mhm. An interesting array." Lelouch tapped a thumb thoughtfully on one particular symbol. "Does the Order really authorize these types of glyphs? They seem almost made to kill..."
"You've got to teach me sometime about these, Lelouch. I can't make heads or tails of most of these!" Suzaku flipped desperately through the pages, the symbols becoming a literal blur to the knight-to-be.
"Well, it's your fault for focusing on physical education than basic runology, Suzaku," Lelouch smirked, adjusting his glasses haughtily. "As it is-"
"Excuse me, young masters," interrupted their driver, "But there seems to be an important announcement from the Preserve!" The two friends looked curiously towards the local transmission, as it began to broadcast an alarm.
"A Gear alert?" The friends looked at each other in silent alarm. Lelouch was first to speak, tapping on the driver's window impatiently, "Hurry! The Institute, now!" Just then, Suzaku's cell rang, and he quickly answered the incoming call.
"Alerting all Order members," said the clear, rigid voice from the phone. "There is a Level 7 Gear alert, I repeat, there is a Level 7 Gear alert, all members are hereby ordered to rearm and resupply at the base, and to defend essential areas thereafter. Knightmare users are urged to-"
"At such a time... Lelouch!" Suzaku turned to his friend, whose face was clearly showing the tension and fear for Nunnally. "Listen, I've been ordered to the base."
"The Order base," muttered Lelouch, mind instantly reaching an answer, "But that's just a few blocks from here..."
"Yeah, so can you go on ahead to Nunnally's for me? I promise I'll head over there as soon as possible after receiving some more orders!"
Lelouch narrowed his eyes, apparently thinking to urge his friend to protect his own dearest first, but eventually relented, breathing out a sigh and putting his hand over his face. "Still a probationary and already you're a 'hero'. Heh. It's fine, Suzaku. I'll try and figure something out in the worst case scenario. But how are you going to reach the base from here? We're already in the skyway, and the nearest exit is-"
Suzaku's answer was to push the emergency button on the hatch, and after it opened immediately, getting out, dodging the other transports speeding by with a deftness and agility unparalleled before vaulting over the skyway's edge. "That idiot!" Lelouch ejaculated. "How high does he think this place is?" He too ran out, though at a slower pace, causing more frustrated transports to pound their horns at him. He looked over the edge upon reaching it, looking here and there below for his friend.
He found Suzaku exiting out of an alleyway into a street, bag slung over back and then using food stalls and parked transports as jumping boards to clear over the crowds. "That damn Ki again...such an impossible guy." Lelouch grinned softly, then the expression morphed into a sly smirk. "And you're acting just the way I thought you'd be. First backup condition, clear." He dug a hand into his breast pocket, retrieving the recording device and testing the playback. Lelouch nodded, satisfied as he listened to his recorded voice, "Suzaku, I'm- trapped, there's a- Gear in here and- Nunnally! Protect her! You have to go to her now! I-"
"Sorry, Suzaku. Although no Gear may ever be there, that I do promise you, and Nunnally. But backup conditions must always be made." And with that, he left the place.
)()()()()()()()(
As the residents of the Preserve were to find out much later, the process by which the three representatives of the Great Powers reacted to the immediate Gear threat was impressive, their trained soldiers, Devicers, and mages following orders and putting on arms and armor without complaint, delay and hesitation.
The EU's base was the first to react of the three, surpassing Jeremiah's own surveillance mages with their own. While the first salvos of magefire rained on the shields of their base, their troops were already bringing out the cache of Mobile Units for instant deployment under the protective ars of many of the mages who had responded quickly, some even having enough energy and casting skill to begin retaliating to small effect with their own powerful ars. The Units were small, spherical shaped machines which reached up to an average man's waist, and when exerted upon with the proper access codes, instantly covered their hosts with thin, but operative battle armor complete with Hadron hand-cannons and a ration of ars-stimulating packs. Thusly armed, the defenders were quick to take up defensive positions, with the officers organized by the commanders to form kill-teams to terminate the Gears.
The Federation was the slowest, and in the aftermath suffered the most structural damage to their base, with much of their stock obliterated in the first few salvos before the Flow shields went up. While the rank-and-file quickly drew up the mobile armors to begin the defense, their mages were hastily setting up to power the Flow system in their base, a mystical control interface that would direct the legions of midget battle mechs to attack the enemy. The process had taken long, resulting in some casualties among the soldiers and mages who took the brunt of the Gear offense.
The Britannians stood proud, their Emperor's name and pride ever on their lips as they set to battle, with niggling success.
"Deploy your harkens!" Jeremiah roared the order as he sensed a wave of destructive wind approach. The Knightmares instantly let loose with the utility weapon, hooking their Slash harkens to the ground and onto walls as the seithr-fueled wind battered their Knightmares' forms. "Ravagers, transfer the suppression onto coordinates B-23 and B-45! We must allow Kewell to breach a line in their defense!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Damnit!" Lieutenant Kewell Soresi hissed as he took a direct hit from a fireball, retaliating with a burst of Arrowhead fire which spanged on the ground uselessly as the Gear disengaged backward. "Where the hell's the Order when you need them?"
For though each of the countries' proud soldiers held their own for the moment, they each knew, from a logical standpoint to a gut feeling, from the lowliest grunt to the troubled commander, that there was no way in hell they could withstand not just one, but many Gears for a long period. Each of the bases had yet to score a decisive, disabling strike on a Gear.
"How could this have gotten past our intel?" demanded Clovis la Britannia, after his Royal Guard had apprised him of the situation. "A multiple, concerted, simultaneous Gear attack in broad daylight! I will have the head of whoever's responsible for this!"
)()()()()()()()(
The panic that settled in slow, persistent waves over the rest of the Preserve did not reach the Order's main base. In emergency situations such as these, each Order brother and sister would have been drilled to prioritize the defense of the base before policing the Preserve.
The base stood near the center of the great Preserve, almost at a point of intersection between the three apportioned districts of the representative factions. The pyramid-shaped main building of the base overlooked the three districts of vastly differing designs, styles and buildings that it was almost like one was at the center of the world itself.
In addition, the small sliver of land left over to the remnant Japanese who were adamant on having their own area could be seen, a small forested area with "villages" dotted here and there, a throwback to the ancient, forgotten culture of the devastated people. And this was where Tohdoh and his Four Elites were planning to spend a meditative afternoon before the Gear alert.
"It's strange," observed Tohdoh, hands steepled in front of him as their transport arrived at the base. Their ceremonial knight armor had been left at the Branch Office, seeing no need for it during a day off. His pinched eyes surveyed the wide space of the base's open area, and while frowning, he continued, "The alert should've been up for some time now. Where are the rest of our brothers and sisters?" He saw many of them, true, but with the sheer number of Order members in the Preserve, he was expecting a more ordered chaos of deployment. Especially in a level 7 alert like this.
"I'll head to the communications centre, sir," saluted one of the Elite, who immediately conjured a transport ars for himself and headed for the mentioned place.
"We need to sortie, immediately," he told the remaining three. They nodded as they followed their superior as he jogged towards the Knightmare armory.
His own Frame, customized by Order artificers, kneeled on its spot along the side of the bay. The engineers and mages who were there saluted him, the gravity of the current status showing on their tense faces. He stood before the black Gekka, which differed greatly in design from the Sutherlands with a wider Devicer compartment which joined the head and the base of the body and a trail of red appendages sprouting from the back of the head. The Nox Nyctores sword Susanooh was perched on a stand to the side of the Frame, and Tohdoh glared thoughtfully at it before turning back to his subordinates.
"We shall wait for confirmation of the status of our brethren from the centre. They are Order Knights, they should not be shirking a duty like this. I have a strange, unsettling feeling." His Elite narrowed their eyes, the seriousness of his statement having a pronounced effect.
"Sensei!" cried a voice from one of the doors in the hangar, and Tohdoh swiftly turned his head to see his newest protege, Kururugi, run breathlessly to him. "Kururugi, you have not been sworn into the rank of initiate. What are you doing inside the Order's base?" he reprimanded, earning a defiant look from the boy.
"I wanted to know if I could be of help sir. I-"
"This is a severe combat situation, Kururugi!" Tohdoh shouted, his countenance unchanged but wrathful. The rest of the brethren inside the hangar did not miss the decorated hero's outburst. "You are still a student of Ashford Academy. Please return to the safe areas, as we have instructed the people of the Preserve."
"But I can fight, sensei!" Suzaku protested, standing his ground in a manner which reminded Tohdoh of his father. Tohdoh whirled on him like a pouncing wolf.
"Even if you were already initiated, we would not needlessly send you to do battle, only sanctioned Knights have the skill and authority to do so in the name of the Order! And even if you did have the skill and willingness equal to a Knight, you are still not a proper member, and would be doing a grave injustice on our sacred vow. No, Kururugi, the best you could do in your state would be to return to your school, so you may not stand in the way of those responsible for dispensing their duties."
"Circumstances change, sir, and I've already proven how I can take down low-"
"Do not fall back on your experiences with past Gears, Kururugi! They are inconsequential to the situation at hand. The fact remains that you are but a probationary trainee, and the alert has called for the assistance of Order knights."
It seemed for an instant that Suzaku would hold his ground, biting his lip as he wrestled with himself, before he breathed deeply and then bowed to Tohdoh at the waist. "I understand, sensei. I'm sorry for my misconduct."
"It is good that you understand." He looked around. "Will a Brother or Sister please escort Kururugi Suzaku to a safe area outside the base?" Just then, a beeping from the Legion-Master's waist alerted Tohdoh to his one Elite, followed by the beeping of a cellphone that came from the vicinity of Suzaku. The four turned away to hear the report through a communication ars, leaving the boy to answer the call on his phone. "Hello- Lelouch? What's wrong?"
"It's seriously screwed up, sir," came the other Elite's voice from the screen. "First: there is more than one Gear reported to be attacking each of the primary bases in the Preserve." Tohdoh allowed himself a sharp intake of breath even as his other Elites gasped. "As to our brethren: the alert was broadcast at around the same time as the Gear attack, and all of our Branch offices were quick to acknowledge. But we have received reports, sir, that just then a seithr bomb was ignited within the area, sealing off major teleportation exits."
"A seithr bomb? Could this be an incident orchestrated by Gaia?" Tohdoh wondered aloud, before shaking his head. "What of our brethren then? Have any of them communicated their current status and ability to respond to the situation?"
"A few casualties," He clenched a fist. "And some injuries reported from the mass detonations, sir, but so far the other Legion-Masters and Knights are ready to begin the offense once the seithr debris and the rubble at the entrance has been cleared. As to that, the mages are working hard, they said."
"If it was a Gaia bomb, then they must have developed a new means of camouflage if our sensors weren't able to alert the Offices. There is another scenario, but...we have no time to think on this now. We don't know how long it will take before the Gears start to move into the residential and trade districts. Elites, to me! Brethren, we must honor our vows!"
They and the rest of the brethren currently at the hangar immediately entered their Knightmares, if they had one, at Tohdoh's battle-cry, cheering as the black Gekka rose from its position to full life once more. The war hero looked about and was satisfied to see his protege had gone, then looked at his long, katana-like magisword beside him, the cursed, mysterious Nox Nyctores Susanooh.
"For another battle, share your pain," Tohdoh drew the sword smoothly, giving it a few practice swings in the air before sheathing it on the Gekka's back. The other armed Knights who could not use Knightmares marched on ahead in ordered files, wielding smaller magiswords and battle-staves. His last Elite finally boarded his Knightmare, and Tohdoh took up the vanguard as the five charged out of the hangar, information flashing before them on the display, streamed right from the communications centre. "Guardians of Man," he announced, raising a fist to the air, "what is our pledge?"
"To be the aegis of mankind, the first and the last defenders!"
)()()()()()()()(
Suzaku ran, heeding his sensei's vigorous broadcast from behind as he searched wildly around for a transport of some sort to use. Lelouch had been unable to broadcast his whereabouts, and though he worried foremost for his friend, he knew he must honor his request and ensure that Nunnally was safe.
There! He thought, rushing to a fairly large transport truck parked out of the way of the open area, right next to the commoner's concourse which was the main entrance of the base for non-Order members.
"Pardon me, sir," he asked a bespectacled man in a lab coat, who squinted at him after being addressed. "But could you let me borrow the transport for a while? I promise to return it and pay for the sakuradite, it's an emergency, you see, and- here's my Knight card, and there's someplace I have to be in quickly-"
"Ohoh~ This is quite fortuitous for the gods to bestow on little ol' me! If I'd known I would be lucky, I would've bet on that damn lottery! So you're Kururugi," the man said cheerfully, brandishing Suzaku's card back at him. "Before you go on and commit grand theft on my assistant's truck, might I trouble you to test yourself on a little project of mine?"
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm in a hurry-"
"Aren't we all?" the man proclaimed, his eyes positively aglow. "But worry not, good Knight, this will only take a brief second. Cecile! Prep the Lancelot, its Devicer's here!"
"But I thought you said they were still looking for his records-" said a woman's voice from behind the truck. The man gestured excitedly for Suzaku to head to the back of the truck, which opened with a groan of sliding steel and escaping air. Inside was an acron-shaped white pod, which sat surrounded by crisscrossing wires and tubes.
"This, my dear boy, is my greatest creation. I only need you to interface with it for a second, try moving it for a bit, before you-"
"Sir! They've announced a major Gear alert!" a woman appeared at the man's side, breathless. She caught Suzaku's eyes and bowed, greeting, "Ah, you must be Suzaku Kururugi, I'm sorry if Lloyd was being too pushy-"
"Who cares about the Gear? Or two? Go on, Suzaku, try it! Aren't you in a hurry?" The one named Lloyd said.
Already regretting the mistake of hailing this peculiar scientist, Suzaku went up to the pod, trusting to the man's words and apparent credibility (he'd observed the Britannian officer sigils on the inside of the driver's area in front) and put his hands towards the "Knightmare". Instantly, many things happened.
There was a flash of blinding white light, and Suzaku felt something yank him from the back, pulling him irresistibly forward. He felt himself floating in space, before the light cleared and he was in the familiar insides of a Knightmare cockpit. "What the-"
"Congratulations! You made it inside," said a voice from the Factsphere sensor, and Suzaku strained to concentrate the vision from the view of the roof towards the duo he had just met. "Now try moving for a bit, and- why isn't the data recording? This is-"
Suzaku shifted impatiently, something within the Knighmare was urging him to move. Whatever the reason, he followed the instinct, instantly leaping over the heads of the two surprised engineers and rolling into a perfect recovery.
"Oh bravo, bravo!" clapped Lloyd. "We don't know the exact sync rate yet, but those smooth movements-"
"Sorry, sir. If you could stay here for a bit, I promise I'll return your Knightmare to you. I'll pay for any outstanding charges. Please understand." He urged the Frame towards the exit.
"Huh? Hey wait, I didn't say you could take the Lancelot! I only promised Cecile's truck- Ow!"
"You promised what?"
Eyes racing over the summary of features this Knightmare had, Suzaku bent his knees and deployed the Landspinners, already escaping the base with a speed faster than any of the Ashford test Knightmares. "This performance...it's unreal! So you're the Lancelot? Nice to meet you, please help me for a while before I return you to your owner. Let's go, Lancelot!"
The boy's rapid exit left a trail of dust, which engulfed the Earl Asplund as he tried in vain to reclaim his view.
"Damage a hand -cough- on my baby and you're -cough- going to the gallows boy! -cough- Sheesh, and he didn't even take any of the Variable Packs with him."
"Would that be bad?" asked Cecile, who ran up to her superior's side.
"Unless he's facing a Gear, no. 'Cause the only thing the bare Lancelot has got for it is ars-casting and doing the karate," answered Lloyd, whose shoulders slumped as he watched his golden-white baby disappear into the distance. "Well at least the data observing ars had already been put on it. We can at least expect some useful data to come in. Just hope he doesn't get into a fight with some Gear or something."
"Actually, there was that Gear alert..." A moment later, Lloyd was screaming profanities and threats against the boy and the boy's mother, the latter of which earned him a "playful" kick to his royal jewels.
)()()()()()()()(
The panic had spread out from the Eleventh Sacred Preserve, with news of the Gear attacks reaching the other Order strongholds, and through clandestine channels, reaching the general public and each nation's intelligence with lightning speed.
"Is this what the auguries predicted?" the Holy Woman of Japan wondered. Nestled deep in a secret stronghold, she was safe from possible assault, but the news made her tingle all the same.
Award-winning journalist Diethard Reid cursed his ill-luck, following a dull lead into the cordial mutant-human relations near the Ninetheenth Sacred Preserve. Maybe next time, he thought, watching a brute bow and speak as if he were a refined man.
The Ashford Family waited inside their personal emergency shelter, their sole Gear-maid ordered to wait outside the premises of the Academy. Milly's heart went out to her friends who were shunted off into other shelters, while watching the updates on the local Britannian news report.
"Hm? A bad signal?" said her grandfather, who switched the channel feed and found the same odd static lines over the giant screen. Milly sighed and stood to fetch more tea. The other family members grumbled at the interruption, some standing like Milly to head to their small rooms.
"Ah, there it is, must be a cough-up with- eh? What the-" Milly looked back curiously, her hand poised on a tray of leaves when she let her jaw drop, having enough self-control to prevent herself from letting the porcelain go.
Something was on the screen. It was a bizarre something, a black, horned, elongated spherical shape on the center of which was an indigo circle with the sheen of dusty glass. More black shapes moved incessantly like tentacles at the bottom of the screen. There was the hint of dust and debris flying through the screen, as if it were being recorded during a light sandstorm. Before long, the thing spoke, in a cold, deep voice that made the hair on her skin stand on end.
"I am Zero."
AN: Thanks for reading!
Merlin Out.