Code Geass: The Demon and the Dragon
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. If I did, then what you see below would be the show, instead of a fanfiction on the Internet.
Stage 11: Kawaguchi
-The Knight, The Orange, and the Brits-
Three days after the Saitama Slaughter
"This is unacceptable." Cornelia fumed, sitting at the head of the conference table with her personal officers, as well as the local ones, arrayed around her, most pretty much reduced to quivering piles of jelly. "We cannot afford these losses." She hissed, slapped her hand on the casualty reports. "Two hundred fifty infantry squads, fifteen tank platoons, an entire mechanized infantry division, no less than fifty Sutherland teams - almost half our entire force! - and almost a third of the Mabinogion unit lost!" It had taken two days of search and rescue operations to even come close to finding out the exact number of casualties, with the third day being devoted to further SAR ops as well as a census of remaining military personnel.
"Your High-"
"And worse, those bastards just rolled out of there, laughing at us, not even bothering to kill us in their contempt."
"We did manage to destroy most of their forces." Major Picton cut in, visibly exhausted from the psychological effort of 'dealing' with Cornelia.
"What does that matter? These islands are teeming with fresh recruits for them, and they haven't even established an organized force! And even then it doesn't end there. LLOYD! What the hell was that weapon!?" The engineer in question was in much, much, much better psychological condition than the others, although his considerable pride in his work had taken a severe blow.
"Ara-ara, it appeared to be a high-velocity weapon of some kind, either utilizing Gauss coils or magnetic rails. When it hit, it acted like the explosion of a high-explosive squash head shell the size of the G-1 itself, with the kinetic energy from the impact destroying everything nearby."
"How did they have the energy to fire such a thing?"
"I could only guess they have some kind of new energy system, although even then I was surprised to see the enemy machine able to fight, however briefly, with anyone."
"Grrrr.....How did they get the resources for these new Knightmares? How did they develop the technology to build such a weapon?"
"Er...." One of the local officers started, only to stop when the attention of Cornelia, and thus the entire room, switched over to him. "Umm....well your Highness.....there have been.....reports....of a black market network....operating out of Area 11...." The glare given him was so fierce, many were surprised he didn't burst into flames.
"And you forgot to mention this why!?" Cornelia said, with the air of one about to execute someone who she didn't particularly care for.
"There's a black market operating here.....and you didn't see how this would concern me?"
"W-w-w-we didn't think they were using it to smuggle weapons!" The officer squeaked. "All the shipments we found were food! Clothing! Medicine! Nothing to do with weapons or Knightmares!" They all stared at him again, with the majority of those present (even Suzaku) thinking he was an idiot.
"Obviously, those were decoy shipments to lure you away from the real ones!" Cornelia hissed. Then an aide slammed into the room, only to be met by a wall of sheer anger in the form of Cornelia's glare.
"What is it?" She asked curtly.
"Y-y-your Highness....." The aide fell silent as he handed over a note.
Everyone in the room then contemplated death as Cornelia's expression shifted into a dark storm of righteous fury.
-The Demon, The Dragon, and The Witch-
"...and I've reinforced the armor with overlapping plates of 1mm titanium carbide, as you asked." Learme finished. At the same time, Lelouch stole a slice from C.C's Pizza, and ate it before the witch could do much more than stare at him.
"That's my pizza." She said with a withering glare.
"Paid for with my credit card." Lelouch rebutted, wiping his face with a napkin. Before the argument could escalate into dangerous territory (which would prove dangerous for Lelouch no matter how one looked at it.) Learme interjected.
"So, I got received a communication from Tony. He should arrive within the week, although he neglected to mention how." At that, Lelouch groaned. Antonio was decidedly not known for subtlety. Effective, yes, but never subtle. "And Mischa has scouted out other potential recruits and managed to somehow bug a few of the rooms in the Viceroy's Palace."
"Good. Now, what of the experimental frames?"
"The Sakanade's motive and sensory systems are checking out nicely, although I'm starting to rethink its design. According to some of my sources in the JLF, they've managed to acquire some Knightmares based off of our Burai that perform quite nicely compared to the Sutherland, and should prove formidable against Gloucesters in the hands of some decent pilots."
"Hmmm.....what do you propose?"
"For one, as the Sakanade is likely to see action as more of a ECM and heavy support frame, I recommend using Chobham armor instead of the titanium composite. I've already generated some new schematics, as well as those for some of the new weapon designs."
"And our trump cards?"
"The initial five Reikokus are almost done, with about 67% of the optional custom parts fully designed. As for the Onigami.....well, we'll see after Tony gets back with Rakshata's data." Learme finished. Having recited the facts without any recourse to data sheets or print-outs of any sort, he resumed his practice of dismantling, cleaning, and reassembling every firearm in his very large arsenal. Lelouch checked his watch.
"It's time. Load up the armor and weapons crates and get the vehicle running. We're set to meet in half an hour, so hurry up."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"Don't do that."
-The Queen-
As time went on, Kallen only grew more nervous. They were at the designated meeting place that Zero and Draco had mentioned in their last meeting, under the highway, and had brought not only most of the group, but a few of the higher-ups of other interested groups.
The freeing of Suzaku Kururugi and the solid defeat of Cornelia at Saitama......it was these that convinced everyone to come. And if those two didn't show up.....
"Hoy! We got a big truck coming in!" Tamaki shouted from his post outside the arch. Everyone scrambled to make room for the presumably large vehicle. When they actually saw it, they scrambled to make even more, for the 'truck' was huge, two stories tall and at least five meters across, if not more. It was painted mainly a deep purple with golden highlights and had a windshield made of the same glass used by Draco's delivery vehicle.
When it came to a stop, they all gathered around, staring. Then a part of it opened up, folding out to beocme a short stairway, at the top of which stood Zero in his armor.
"It's nice too see you again." He began, nodding that strange helmet at Kallen, Ohgi and the rest of the group. Then three people they didn't recognize were led up by a fourth, and Zero nodded towards them too.
"Mischa, I see you managed to find our friends from Saitama."
"Of course Lord Zero." Mischa said in perfect Japanese, bowing slightly. Behind him, Kiryu, Qirin, and Ouka stood awkwardly behind him. Which was only to be expected, considering that their only encounter with Draco and Zero had been in Saitama, where the rest of their group had been summarily slaughtered by a single Knightmare.
"Well then, come in." Zero said, beckoning them forth with one gaunleted hand while withdrawing back into the vehicle himself. The rest of them followed, somewhat hesitantly in the case of the less familiar people, but they followed nontheless. What they saw made their eyes widen.
There was what seemed to be the living room of a moderate-sized home in the first level of the vehicle, complete with two couches facing across from each other and a large plasma television set at the end across from the entrance. Sitting on one couch was Zero, while Draco stood in his military stance of attention next to the other couch.
"Please, sit." Zero said, motioning with his hand towards Ohgi, Kallen, and the Yamato remnants. They sat in the couch as indicated while their subordinates and acquaintances moved to explore the large vehicle.
"So....this is going to be our headquarters?" Ohgi asked tentatively.
"Yes." Draco replied with a curt tone. "In this first level, there are weapons and ammunition cashes concealed beneath the couches and the floor, as well as in the walls. The exterior has been reinforced with armor, and I've installed a few turrets with corresponding control consoles. The second floor contains Zero's office and mine, quarters for some of you, a Command and Control station, and a storage room. The nature of this vehicle will serve to disguise it, as this is actually a remodeled Britannian noble's RV."
"How the hell did you get something like this?" Tamaki shouted down from the stairs. Draco just leveled his gaze on him and said:
"The black market of course."
"Oh."
"Anyway, this should serve until we can get something more appropriate." Zero said, rising from the couch and switching on the television. Most of them were more occupied by the intricacies of their new mobile headquarters. At least, until the JLF was mentioned.
"....a member of the Japanese Liberation Front, naming himself Colonel Kusakabe, has occupied the Lake Kawaguchi hotel during the Sakuradite Convention. It is thought that the terrorists have timed this just to coincide with......"
For the next two minutes, Zero and Draco just looked at each other, to the point that everyone suspected they were communicating somehow, until they went to the second floor. Kallen's attention was rooted on the TV when the news started playing a tape the terrorists sent to them.
"Hey.....isn't that...." She muttered as the camera panned over a certain group of three teenage girls, one blond, one red-headed, and one black-haired with glasses.
-The Demon and the Dragon-
"This. Is a problem." Lelouch said, sitting at his desk and watching the news on a smaller television in his office while Learme reclined on the bed.
"I suppose it is, but this is also an opportunity." Learme said. The two were using the private channel linked directly between their respective helmet radios.
"That's rather cold." Lelouch noted, as the news crew started interviewing relatives of the hostages. On right now was Shirley's father, Mr. Fenette. "Although I concede that in the ideal of our overall plan, this is a very good chance to show our morality."
"And if anything I've got on Kusakabe's JLF unit is true, it should be a walk in the park for our group." Learme mused. "Just so long as they wear the armor I got for them...."
"I wonder why Cornelia hasn't charged in already....." Lelouch mused. After a few moments of contemplation, the two realized why. Then someone knocked on the door.
"Zero? Are you in there?"
"Come in." Lelouch called, both twins switching back to speakers. The door opened and Kallen walked in. She was surprised for a moment by Learme, but regained her composure quickly.
"It's bad isn't it?" She ventured, looking at the TV.
"Indeed." Was all Lelouch replied.
"They're no better than the Britannians." was Learme's comment, drawing and inspecting his katana for emphasis before sheathing it again. "We'll be moving out soon."
"Wha? But, we don't have any Knightmare Frames...."
"Kallen..." Learme sighed. "Not all things can be accomplished by Knightmare Frames. I suspect that our friends the Lancelot and the Bors are at the scene. However, I fully expect that they are unable to do anything whatsoever. The Bors abilities lie in military support, while the Lancelots is rapid assault and blitzkrieg tactics. For a mission like this, soldiers are needed." At that moment, Ohgi lugged an apparently heavy crate into the room with Tamaki's help.
"Hey, should we start distributing these? We're just a resistance group, but-"
"No!" Lelouch interrupted, swerving around in his desk chair. "We are no mere resistance nor simple soldiers....What we are, what we must be, are Knights of Justice!"
-The Brits-
"Damn it!" Cornelia growled, slamming her hand back on the table. "Handheld surface-to-air missiles on the roof to prevent aerial insertions and light machine gun emplacements on the lower structure preventing aquatic infiltration. Darlton, how is the subterranean conduit doing?"
"They're just beginning the operation your highness." Her immediate subordinate replied.
A good part of the Britannian military in Japan was arrayed on the shores of Lake Kawaguchi, surrounding the hotel with anti-aircraft vehicles, Knightmare teams, special forces squads, and sniper teams swarming all over the place. Right across from the hotel, two Sutherlands were being lowered into a Knightmare-sized manhole that was the entrance to an underground supply conduit to the hotel.
"Commencing infiltration operation." The leader reported, accelerating his Sutherland directly down the tunnel. His partner followed and matched his speed. They were halfway across when their Factspheres detected something.
"Huh. That's weird." The leader muttered, over an open comm-link.
"What?"
"It looks like those four....what do they call them....Burai? Yeah, four Burai are fused into some kind of weapon. It looks like an enormous gun barrel attached to two of the Frames on either side in place of arms."
"Just dodge it." Darlton ordered. "Doesn't seem like it can track very well, and you should be able to avoid any projectiles at that distance."
"Yes my lord."
-The JLF-
"Raikou reports two enemy Knightmares moving down the conduit." One of Kusakabe's subordinates reported. The majority of this JLF cell's command staff was ensconced in one penthouse suite, with remote camera televisions set up around them. One of these was tuned to a wireless feed from the Raikou commander's Factsphere.
"Fire." Kusakabe ordered, watching the screen in anticipation.
Back in the conduit, the Raikou pilots started up the coil gun. Gauss coils in the barrel activated, generating powerful positively-charged electromagnetic fields that pulled the shell in the chamber to supersonic velocities, firing it straight down the tunnel.
Just as it was halfway to the Sutherlands, the shell came apart, releasing several ball bearings slightly smaller than a human fist, still traveling at the same high velocity. The ball bearings spread out, and a large number of them hit the walls, but the majority hit the Sutherlands, ripping into and through them and shredding the machines into scrap.
In the Raikou and in the penthouse, there were cries of exultation.
-The Fanatic-
"What do you mean Van 3 is missing?" Diethard shouted at one of his subordinates.
"That's just it! Alex said that everything just went dark all of a sudden, and he woke up, and the truck was nowhere!"
"Mister Ried, Van 3's appeared!"
"Where?"
"It's in the middle of the military formation!"
-The Professional-
Mischa kept a dark glare on the one called Tamaki. Considering that the idiot had nearly managed to blow his head off while fooling around with an assault rifle, something numerous professional assassins of note had failed to do, he felt justified. Mischa was wearing his customary 'business' suit, as well as his balaclava, and his weapons concealed in their customary places.
"Weapons check." He ordered, checking his own customized Czech Model 75 handgun and attached the silencer. Around him, the Oni-masked revolutionaries checked their own new weapons, ranging from assault carbines to sub-machine guns.
"Why do I get stuck with this?" Tamaki complained, waving around a machine pistol. Mischa walked over and snatched the weapon out of his hand.
"If you're not happy with that, use this." Mischa ordered in a deceptively calm voice, handing Tamaki a riot shield. He ignored Tamaki stuttered protests and visually checked everyone else. Once sure that he wasn't going to get accidentally shot in the back, he radioed Zero and Draco.
"Preparations Complete."
-The Demon-
Under his helmet, Lelouch grinned as Mischa radioed him and Learme, looking forward at the Gloucester team that arrayed itself between their stolen vehicle and the bride to the hotel. The Gloucester in the center was Cornelia's customized one. From his position on top of the news van, he was about equal to the Gloucester's Factsphere. Then the cockpit opened up, and Cornelia stood up from her seat, leaning over the top of the cockpit block.
"I don't know why you're here Zero." She started. "But I have to say I'm pleased to see you. Now, I take revenge for my brother Clovis!" She drew a long-barreled pistol reminiscent of old cavalry pistols, and aimed it right at Lelouch's helmet.
"Who would you choose Cornelia? Clovis, who is dead, or Euphemia, who is alive?" As Cornelia's eyes widened in shock, Lelouch grinned. "I have the power to save her, but only if I can proceed to the hotel." Visibly, the Imperial Princess and Viceroy struggled with the decision, before holstering her pistol and motioning the Gloucesters aside. The van moved forward again, and the gates across the bridge opened to allow it through.
Perfect. Lelouch thought. All conditions are cleared.
-The Knight-
"Wait, why are mobilizing now?" Suzaku asked Cecile, even as he hurried into the Lancelot's cockpit.
"Zero's appeared, and he's moving to the hotel." Jeremiah's head whipped around at that to stare, from his seat next to the Bors' cockpit. "Her Higness wants to use him as a distraction to get Knightmares to the hotel. The Lancelot will enter the conduit tunnel and destroy the anti-Knightmare weapon at the end. Target the foundation block to start sinking the hotel, and the teams aboveground will begin evacuating the hostages." Suzaku saluted and closed the cockpit, before rolling the Lancelot around to the Knightmare-hole.
-The Dragon-
Learme was in full work mode as he clawed at the sewer walls. According to the maps, this sewer tunnel had a bare twenty centimeters between it and the conduit tunnel. He was going to infiltrate the hotel from below, before moving up.
He grinned when the Sakanade's claws cracked through the last layer of reinforced cement and used the pile drivers to smash apart the rest of the wall. Sewer water washed in through the gap as the Prototype stepped through and into the tunnel.
Out of nowhere, the Lancelot dropped in right on his head, sending them both crashing to the ground in a tangle.
-The Author-
Now taking bets, straight odds in neutral favor.
Replies:
Velshard (all): I needed something to replace the mask-cat scene, since the Mephisto helmet would more likely break Arthur's back. As for the coloring, the Io is still having some of its armor made, and the Sakanade is actually pretty much colored as the Onigami is instead of the standard colors. I never knew that.
One Liner? Character development FTW.
Tamaki: One-man Weapon of Mass Horror.
Silverscale: Not really, I think we have all those mostly covered. Thanks for the offer though.
Jaksio: Well, I have a habit of finding things funny that most others find plain weird.
Kojiro Kun: Schneizel. And I don't think the Geneva Convention existed in the Geass-verse.
00virtuezero: Spare your pity for......well, i dunno. Shirley.
That would certainly make things harder on Learme, considering my plans on the interaction between his and Rolo's geass.