Code Geass: The Demon and the Dragon
Phase 2: White Knight Vs. Black Dragon
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The two twins stood there, amongst the corpses, and the growing pools of blood. Then....
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lelouch asked, facing the doors of the building.
"Yes." Learme replied simply, at a right angle to his brother. The next instant, two Sutherland Knightmares smashed through the ceiling, pieces of bent sheet metal and roof supports flying everywhere. The lead mecha's Factsphere opened, the eye-like pseudo-camera quickly scanning the scene for details missed by the more conventional cameras.
"Wha- The Royal Guard's dead!" The pilot gasped, a woman by the sound of her voice. The Factsphere retracted as both Sutherlands raised the assault rifles at the two brothers. "Who are you? What happened here?!"
Before he spoke, Lelouch's eye gleamed, the sigil reappearing as he ordered:
"Give us your Knightmares."
"What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell do you think you are?!" Lelouch started at that response while Learme tensed.
I see. So it needs direct eye contact. "My name is Alan Spacer. This is my brother Bruce. Our father is a Duke. My ID card is in my breast pocket. After you've confirmed it, we'd like to request your protection."
"Stay where you are, don't move! Kewell, cover me." The foremost Knightmare's cockpit opened, the back opening back and down, the seat sliding backwards. The pilot descended on the mounting cable, pistol aimed at them while her comrade kept his rifle on them. She took two steps forward....
Then the twins made their move.
In the other Knightmare, Kewell panicked as both sight and feeling left him, jerking the control sticks and ramming his Knightmare into the wall, knocking him out. At the same time, Lelouch's eye glared as he ordered the pilot before him.
"Give me your Knightmare."
After an instant, she flipped her pistol around, grip-first as she took out he Knightmares activation key and tossing it to him.
"Very well. The code is XG2-ID2-ID4." Grinning, Lelouch nodded to Learme, who moved forward and punched the knight in the gut, forcing her unconscious.
"Get the other one too. We'll need his code." Learme moved swiftly, slapping the side of the the cockpit and hitting the hatch switch. The seat slid out, dumping the orange-haired pilot onto the ground. Taking out some smelling salts, Learme waved them around the knight's head, slowly waking him. (A/N: If you need to know why Learme has smelling salts, recall who his brother is.)
As Kewell's eyes fluttered open, the first sight he saw was Lelouch's glowing eye.
"Tell us your Knightmare code and forget all about us, and sleep for a while."
"z-ZD9-ID3-ID6" Kewell muttered weakly before passing out as ordered. Learme wasted no time in climbing into the Knightmare, strapping himself into the seat as Lelouch climbing into the other Knightmare. Learme expertly manipulated his Knightmare's controls, righting the mecha and leading the way out of the warehouse.
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"Too bad!"
The voice shocked Suzaku out of his sleep, causing the legally Britannian Japanese citizen to jolt upwards, almost smashing into the face of his benefactor. "You were so close to those pearly white gates, Private First Class Kururugi!" Suzaku blinked. Before him was a thin man with light blue eyes and.....periwinkle hair? Behind him was a woman with a dark shade of violet hair and light blue eyes.
"Uh.....where am I?"
"Hm? Ah, you're still in the Shinjuku Ghetto" The man said, as Suzaku noticed his white lab coat and glasses.
"We're close to Prince Clovis, so it's really the safest place to be..." The woman trailed off, before taking a new direction. "This thing saved you." She leaned closer to Suzaku, showing him a pocket watch she held in a handkerchief.
"It barely kept the bullet from killing you." The man said.
"Is it something precious to you?"
"Ah...yes..." Suzaku replied taking the watch.
"I believe you Elevens have a god for every object....I guess this one must have been fond of you-"
"Er, was there anyone around me?" Suzaku interrupted.
"Hmm, no."
"I see....what's the situation?"
"Well, they've gotten control of the poison gas, although a lot of the Elevens have been killed."
"It seems the culprit hasn't been caught though." The woman finished.
"Still?" Suzaku had to wonder.
"Private First Class Kururugi, do you have any experience in piloting Knightmare Frames?"
"Well, there was the simulator courses...."
"Congratulations!" The man cried, twirling two gold activation keys in his hand. "how would you like to test one?"
"Me? Wel-well...."
"Ah, a quick question before we get your new unit: Which would you prefer, a sword or an axe?"
"Well, if I had a choice, I'd go with the sword-"
"Wonderful! The Lancelot it is!" The man cried again, picking out one of the keys before shoving the other down a pocket in his lab coat. "Follow me." Suzaku had to jog to keep up with the engineer's (for what else could he be?) pace, as they moved outside the medical APC to the vehicle next to it. In front of it, there were two vaguely humanoid shapes, about four and a half meters tall, one much bulkier than the other.
"Congratulations!" The engineer cried again. "A totally unique Knightmare Frame awaits you. If you get in, you and your life will be changed!"
"Whether you want it to or not." The woman added warningly.
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Back in the main area of the ghetto, Britannian soldiers ran around, killing all the Elevens they saw. Then, a tank was suddenly thrown into the air as a red Glasgow burst from under the ground beneath it. The Knightmare's slash harken lashed out at a nearby APC, slicing the vehicle in half before retracting back to its place on the Knightmares chest.
"Damn Brits!" Kallen swore, taking in the sight of broken corpses and wrecked vehicles.
"Kallen! Is your Glasgow operational?" Her radio crackled.
"It's fine! I'll run interference while you and the others get all these people out!"
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"Well Lelouch, now what?" Learme asked, smoothly guiding his pilfered Sutherland across the shattered landscape.
"All we have are two Sutherlands Learme. And while I don't doubt you could easily fight another team in yours, the entire Army is here." Lelouch replied.
"What about the rebels? You still have that radio you got from the terrorist's jacket, right?" Originally, Lelouch was going to trade the radio in to the army for protection. That hadn't exactly worked out.
"Heh, times like this I'm reminded how alike we are Learme." Lelouch chuckled. "Before we do anything substantial, let's get some outside information...." Flipping out his cell phone, he speed-dialed a number.
"Shirley? Are you near a television? I'm sorry, but it's important. Please check the new. Is anything happening in Shinjuku.....I see. Thank you." Hanging up, Lelouch activated the Sutherland's sensor screen after deactivating its Identify Friend-Foe signal. "Learme, disable your IFF. It seems things are simpler than I thought. Clovis has shut down all access to the ghetto area. He has apparently classified this operation." An explosion overhead drew his attention as a slash harken darted from the billowing remains of an ornithopter to the same red Glasgow he and Learme had seen earlier.
"So he can't call any reinforcements without drawing attention." Learme surmised, watching as two Sutherlands appeared to attack the lesser Knightmare.
"Exactly. As I noted earlier, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get out of this situation ourselves." The Sutherlands fired on the Glasgow, the red mecha dodging the shots and weaving in and out of ruined skyscrapers.
"Well, then we recruit the terrorists." Lelouch grinned at his brother's response, switching on the radio as the fight they were watching moved near some train tracks.
"Learme, if you could be so kind as to follow them. I need to find a black square....." Learme grinned savagely at the code, stealthily moving his Sutherland after the two chasing the Glasgow.
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"Damn it!" Kallen hissed as the Sutherlands behind her barely missed with their rifles. Another burst nicked the side of her Glasgow's head, carving a streak along the side.
"Head west! Use the last of your energy to head west, on the tracks."
"What the- who are you? How did you get this frequency?"
"That doesn't matter. If you want to win this, trust us!"
"Win?" Without further ado, Kallen obeyed, leaping her frame onto the tracks and heading west, the Brit Sutherlands following. She swore profusely as a third Sutherland leapt up behind them. "What now? There's three of them!" Before her, a train ran in her direction at a great speed.
"...In return for believing in me, we'll help you win." This time, Kallen caught it. We? "Jump onto the train." With barely a nanosecond of hesitation, Kallen leapt above the caboose, kicking off of the car behind it and proceeding further along. The lead Sutherland caught the caboose, slowing it and the rest of the train down.
In his Knightmare, Jeremiah growled. "You two, go after the-" He was interrupted when the newcomer bashed his follower's Sutherland with one of his tonfas, knocking it off-balance before firing a burst into the cockpit. "What the- terrorist!?" A burst of fire from the side shattered one of his Sutherland's landspinners drawing Jeremiah's gaze to another one perched in a ruined building. The decreased acceleration allowing the train to move further. Grimacing, Jeremiah pulled the eject levers, rockets firing his cockpit out of the Sutherland's chest as the red Glasgow charged towards him. The parachutes popped out when the rocket's fuel ran out, lowering him safely to the ground.
"Thanks" Kallen said, briefly closing her eyes in relief. "But how did you get a hold of two Sutherlands...." She trailed off as she opened her eyes to see her saviors had disappeared. From along the train track, she saw the rest of her group running towards her.
"Hey, Kallen! We got em out!"
"Really? Toshida's group too?" Kallen asked excitedly, temporarily forgetting about the Sutherlands
"Yeah, they'll all be here soon to-"
"Are you the leader?" The voice sputtered out of the ill-maintained radio. Ohgi held up the radio, wondering. "We give you everything in that train as a present. A tool, to help us win. If you want to use them and win, listen to my commands!" Kallen noticed the Sutherland that had snuck up on the two Britannian ones standing next to the train, pulling apart the cargo cars doors. The group as a whole gasped.
In each car was at least ten Sutherlands, pristine in their newness.
"What the hell!"
"How the fuck did they get these!"
Those and other statements rang out as the terrorists boarded the trains, inspecting the Sutherlands and their equipment. For a few seconds, as the Renegade Sutherland began unloading the cars of the new Sutherlands and their equipment, Kallen just watched, shocked.
"You in the Glasgow, how's your energy?" Kallen started, as the voice started again from her radio.
"Umm...I have about fifteen minutes worth."
"Change your Energy Filler. Then, proceed northwest. There should be an enemy patrol there soon." Kallen looked up to see the Renegade holding out a Energy Filler, seeming almost impatient in its manner. Slowly, cautiously, she had her Glasgow reach out and take the Filler, before ejecting the near-depleted one her Knightmare had and replacing it with the new one.
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Setting down the radio for a moment, Lelouch sighed. "This is unexpectedly tiring."
"Wanna switch? I could use some practice commanding." Learme joked, as he equipped his Sutherland with a new assault carbine and attaching a sniper rifle to the side of his cockpit.
"Absolutely not!" Lelouch cried in mock horror. "You'd lead me right into the encirclement and I'd probably blast some of the terrorists trying to snipe like you do!"
"I never did understand why you couldn't hit them. I always thought it was rather easy." Learme commented, recalling one of his more precious memories of snipe hunting. Which Lelouch had failed at.
"Snipes are evil, vicious little birds." Lelouch muttered, unconsciously cradling his left hand. Picking up the radio, he contacted the terrorists. "Are you ready? Q-1 is on her way, and the enemy patrol should be there in less than twenty-five seconds."
Ignoring the comments from some of the less disciplined members of the group, Lelouch entered what must have once been a multi-story parking lot, driving his Sutherland up to the highest level he could get. Once there, he smashed the Knightmare's fists through a section of wall and pulled it in, giving him a good vantage point to observe the combat.
Back at the train, the terrorists squawked in surprise when Learme leaped his Sutherland over the train, onto the ground, and accelerated to a preset sniping point, one of many set all around the ghetto by he and Lelouch in the ten minutes it had taken the terrorists to set up.
Lelouch watched through his Sutherland's Factsphere as the Glasgow stopped in the open and was instantly spotted by VTOL scouts, and almost chortled when the IFF sensor display showed two Knightmares heading for the terrorist frame.
Ah technology, what a double-edged sword....
The signals disappeared on schedule as the terrorists fired at the exact moment he ordered, a horizontal hail of assault rifle rounds tearing the Britannian Knightmares apart.
"Very nice Lelouch. It seems you've finally found a group almost as obedient as I." Learme chuckled from his Sutherland, already set up with the sniper rifle's bipod resting on top of a wall as his frame knelt.
"Almost, but not quite. By the way, there's four Knightmares heading your way."
"I see them." Learme activated his Factsphere display, adding the data via telemetry to the sniper rifle's reticule. After watching the group for all of three seconds, he fired once, followed by another shot half an instant later. The first shot blasted a cockpit before deflecting at an angle to strike the lead Sutherland's landspinner, and the second took the Knightmare behind them in the waist, separating the torso from the legs and causing the inevitable eject to smash the cockpit through a wrecked building.
The last Sutherland panicked, dashing for cover before Learme's final shot collapsed a skyscraper on it.
During this, Lelouch ordered the terrorists about, devastating the roaming Britannian forces as they helplessly tried to deal with a force that must have been like a God of Death, appearing to kill before disappearing in preparation for its next attack.
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As Suzaku read the manual, the engineer, who had introduced himself as Lloyd, called the G1 where Prince Clovis was.
"Hello there!" Lloyd said, grinning slightly as the military commanders and Prince Clovis appeared on the screen.
"What do you want?! We're in the middle of an operation!" Shouted a rather portly man, who Suzaku recalled to be General Bartley.
"Well, our new weapon is nearly ready!" Lloyd explained, grinning wider. Suzaku couldn't help but winch at that. After he'd agreed to pilot the Lancelot, the engineer seemed to view him as little more than a part......
"Now is not the time!" Suzaku's eyes nearly bugged out at that voice. That's the prince!
"We've lost Lazlo's group!" From the sound of things, the operation didn't seem to be going well.
"Send all units to the center of the enemy formation!" Clovis ordered causing a slight disquiet.
"But your highness, that would cause our formation to crumble!"
"Send everyone to this central location!" Clovis reiterated. "We know they're there!"
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Back at his vantage point, Lelouch cocked an eyebrow as he saw the encircling groups move in towards where the Glasgow had last been spotted.
"My, they've made the most foolish move possible."
"It is Clovis who's commanding this operation." Learme reminded him, watching the movements from the third sniping position, on top of a skyscraper. Lelouch nodded as he switched the terrorist radio back on.
"Q-1, your map is accurate, correct?"
"Yes, but its of the old city."
"That will do. Now, are you ready?"
"....Hai."
Learme grinned as Lelouch relayed his plan. Leaving the sniper rifle, he jumped his Sutherland down the dessicated building's many lopsided floors, smashing through the third floor wall as he moved according to his twin's orders.
"And that's check." They said. On the IFF display, the Britannian units arrived at the dot where they had thought Q-1 to be, only to find that she wasn't there.
Underground, the red Glasgow paused in following it's Sutherland comrades to turn and fire its slash harken at a specific spot. The concrete cracked, and the ground above crumbled as the weakened bedrock fell victim to the combined weight of so many Knightmares, tanks, and APCs.
Watching, both brothers let out a short, cruel laugh.
"This is it! Learme, we can do it! We can crush Britannia!" Lelouch cried, laughing still.
In his Sutherland, Learme grinned. "First though Lelouch, we're going to need a bigger army."
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"Lloyd!" The Prince's sudden cry jolted Suzaku, almost causing him to fall over his chair. "Can your toy win this for us?" Lloyd shifted a little before replying.
"Your Highness, please call it the Lancelot." Before Lloyd could turn and tell Suzaku, the Honorary Britannian was already moving for the cockpit. As he started up the systems, the woman Cecile's voice, or rather, an automated version, rang out over the intercom.
"Activating the new weapon, Z-01 Lancelot. Activating the Lancelot." The trailer opened, lowering the shrouded Knightmare to the ground. "Hatch open. Z-01 Lancelot, standing by for activation. Releasing final locks."
"You read the manual?" Cecile asked Suzaku.
"Most."
"Very good. Although you've only been in simulations, you were at the top of your class."
"Well...."
The shroud flew off, revealing the prototype Knightmare Frame. It was smaller than the Sutherland, and more humanoid in shape. It had a human-shaped head with small tusks on its face, and green almond-shaped cameras. Two long sword-like objects were attached to its waist.
"Start activation from Phase 20" Cecile ordered.
"Inserting Energy Filler. Twenty seconds to full activation." A robotic arm inserted the high-yield battery into the slot, and the restraints holding the Lancelot's feet spread, sending the prototype Knightmare Frame into a stance like a runner.
"M.E. boost!" Suzaku muttered. The landspinners slammed down onto the ground, and the restraints released as they revolved, sending the Lancelot forward at full speed. The gales generated by the speed swept over the trailer, blowing Cecile's uniform around and knocking the laughing Lloyd to the ground.
"Look at that! Full speed right out of the gate!"
Heading directly for the postulated position of the enemy, Suzaku swerved the Lancelot around broken Sutherlands, collapsed hovels, wrecked tanks and many, many broken corpses. He had to force the gorge rising in his throat down before he vomited on the screens.
That wouldn't have pleased Lloyd.
Raising the Factsphere built into the Lancelot's chest, Suzaku quickly scanned the entire area in front of him.
There! Knightmare-sized heat source. Acting quickly, the Lancelot's hip-mounted harkens sliced out, taking the Sutherland at the waist and shoulder, dissecting it. To Suzaku's relief, the ejection system activated, sending the cockpit far off. That's good. I don't want to kill anyone. Then he shoved the idealistic thought back, moving on to find more targets.
"Hoy, Suzaku, why don't you use the MVS?" Lloyd called out from the radio.
"The what?"
"The MVS, those two swords."
"Oh...Okay." As he closed in on the next heat sources, Suzaku drew the Lancelots Maser Vibration Swords. In the manual, it had said something about it using microwaves to heat the blade while using motors of some kind to vibrate it. Supposedly, this was supposed to make it easier to cut with. Suzaku believed it when his first slice with the right-hand blade passed clean through the first Sutherland's chests to hack off the second's head. The survivors fired at him, assault rifle rounds, grenade launcher shells, everything.
Fortunately, the Lancelot had two energy shields on both arms, causing the rather large amount of ordnance to rebound away. When the terrorist mecha exhausted their ammunition, Suzaku moved in for.....the......disable?
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"What the hell is this thing!" Tamaki yelled, swerving his Sutherland back away from the white Knightmare.
The thing's slash harkens shot out, tearing his frame's head off and cutting the left leg away at the knee, just as Tamaki pulled the eject levers. However, the loss of its leg caused the Sutherland to tilt, sending the cockpit into a nearby building instead of the air.
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Lelouch was rather concerned at this point. According to the scattered reports from the terrorists, there was some kind of super-Knightmare streaking through the ghetto, disabling - disabling, of all things! - every Knightmare it came across. When Lelouch had tried to set up an ambush, it detected the Sutherlands almost as though prescient, proceeding to take them out.
It didn't take long for Lelouch to figure it out. This was one of the two prototype seventh-generation Knightmare Frames he and Learme had heard about, and judging by the information on its speed and the fact that it had conventional slash harkens, he'd bet that it was the one called the Lancelot.
A bet that he'd win, when a slash harken crossed his Factsphere's view, hooking into the side of the parking lot and pulling up the Lancelot.
Most people at this point would've tried to back away, to run. Lelouch just grinned.
And cackled when Learme's Sutherland rolled around the building's corner, tonfas smashing into the Lancelot's head.
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Learme couldn't help but grin as the prototype crashed down to the ground, the weight of the Lancelot combined with the sheer force of the Sutherland's strike proved too much. It wasn't the nice, pleasant grin he had in everyday life. If was a mad rictus, covered in blood from his bitten tongue. Acting quicker than most would think possible in a Sutherland, Learme fired off his second slash harken before reeling in the first and lowering himself to the ground. By then, the white Knightmare had righted itself, blood-red swords at the ready.
Then the Lancelot charged, firing two harkens as it came on. Learme simply leaned his frame to the side, avoiding one harken, and struck the other on its flat with a tonfa, deflecting it. By then the prototype was in slicing distance, attacking with both blades. The Lamperouge twin ducked and spun the Sutherland at the same time, avoiding the left-hand blade's head-level slice and the right-hand one's stab, before rising back up and kicking the white frame in the head with a landspinner.
Then the Glasgow reappeared.
Sideswiping the prototype, it hit the Lancelot's right leg with its remaining arm, tripping it up. As it fell though, the Lancelot's pilot managed to attack with the sword, slicing cleanly through the Glagow's head, shoulder, and torso before exiting just above the hip.
Learme took the opportunity, smashing the frame's arm and sending the blade flying, until it fell tip first in the ground.
"Learme! Retreat now!" Obeying without question, Learme swerved his Sutherland around the white Knightmare, grabbing the sword and tugging it out of the ground as he moved for the rendezvous point. It wasn't until the prototype's slash harkens smashed into his Sutherland's left arm that he knew it was pursuing him. Learme pushed the Knightmare, accelerating around seven-year old piles of wreckage and more recent acts of destruction.
From the side, a burst of rifle fire chattered a line along the buildings framing Learme's route, sending chunks of concrete flying down in the prototype's path. Among those was a woman with a child.
Just as Learme was going to turn back, the Lancelot shot up, catching the two before landing smoothly. By then though, Learme had already dashed into a side-street and into a tunnel entrance, disappearing.
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About fifteen minutes later.....
"Encircle it! Get every soldier there and wipe the Elevens out!" Bartley roared into the radio system, almost certainly harming the eardrums of whatever unfortunate captain was on the other line. Clovis was sitting back on his throne, cursing the terrorists. Then, an annoying buzz filled the air.....
"Hello...." The voice was that of a breathy, almost certainly voluptuous woman, causing almost everyone to turn and look.
Straight at Lelouch's glowing red eye.
000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Author - 000000000000000000000000000000
Before anyone says anything about the MVS, remember that this is an Alternate Universe.
Personally, I think it was a bit much to take, Suzaku instantly being able to move the Lancelot like that. I mean, piloting a Sutherland well in simulations is one thing, but that? There's no way he could have pulled that off.
Kojiro Kun: Yeah, Learme's quite the inventor. I do have some plans for Knightmares the he makes, but nothing for the Brits (such an easy nickname.) That's Lloyd and Cecile's area.
exia00: most of that I really can't talk about, cause I actually haven't thought that far. For a visual reference on his Knightmare, think a black Guren. that's the closest I can get without giving too much away. His geass is actually almost nothing like Rolo's. As for the G00 S2, I'm not sure.