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 24: Of Excessive Cruelty
- The Demon -
At the moment, Lelouch was rather grateful for Learme's work on the Akuma. The Armored Adhesive Landspinners gave him better traction over the rough terrain than the Lancelot's normal ones did, and the shield was remarkably well suited in deflecting the Seventh-Gen's Slash Harkens. Revving the Akuma higher into reverse, Lelouch fired off five rounds from the Akuma's battle rifle, the Sakuradite-launched bullets ripping through the air the Lancelot once was.
Damn he's fast!
The Lancelot's pilot had preternaturally fast reflexes. Even faster than Suzaku, and he'd actually managed to keep up with Learme's deceptive dueling style. Still, the pilot, whoever he was, didn't have a particularly flexible grasp of combat tactics.
A single shot, angled down towards a Landspinner sends the Lancelot twirling over here...and a Slash Harken aimed at the face makes him duck like this...
Lelouch quickly had a basic profile of the pilot's reactions and probable thought processes memorized and filed away in his expansive memory, all the while keeping the Akuma on a retreat towards where Alex and his team waited.
Hopefully, the four of them would be able to at least stall the Lancelot long enough for Learme to deal with the Bors and catch up. Even then, they should be able to temporarily incapacitate it and retreat further.
Both Knightmares progressed up the mountain with amazing speed for such rough terrain. Granted, both had Landspinners coated in electro-active nanoadhesives, but the corrugated armor plating on the Akuma's gave it better natural traction combined with the adhesive. Counteracting this was the faster rotation of the Lancelot's Landspinners, due mainly to the high amounts of energy imparted to the motor through the Sakuradite scattered in the frame of the Knightmare. Overall, the Lancelot was closing in on the Akuma, as the latter Knightmare was heavier.
Not something Lelouch was pleased about.
Note to self: Get Learme to look more into that 'Flying Knightmare Frame' idea.
Another Slash Harken from the Lancelot darted out and smashed into the shield, deflecting uselessly off of a defensive measure meant for supersonic armor-piercing projectiles, not subsonic anchor blades. In retaliation, a series of ten shots from the Akuma's rifle fired into the terrain around the Lancelot, causing the Knightmare to flinch, moving to the side. Just in time to receive a burst of 15mm bullets to the face. Not particularly effective, since the pilot reacted quickly enough to shield the cameras from any further onslaught and the rounds that managed to hit only mangled the lower face, but satisfying to Lelouch on a primal level.
Then piercing screeches cut the air, bringing a particularly vindictive grin to Lelouch's face.
- The Tempest -
Alex rammed his Reikoku right into the Lancelot's back, briefly off-balancing the Knightmare, before slicing at its arm with his katana. Unfortunately, the Lancelot parried the blow by reversing the grip of its MVS, and in parrying, sliced the upper two-thirds of the katana off.
Swiftly, Alex aimed his Reikoku's SMG at the Lancelot's center-mass and fired off the rest of its half-empty clip. The Lancelot was already prepared, having its energy shield up and deflecting the bullets.
This, however, left it open to Peter's charge from behind, the bulkier-built Reikoku body-slamming the smaller Frame into a tree.
Left alone, Alex sorrowfully regarded his katana. The orange glow the MVS left behind on the remnants of the blade was quickly fading into a dull red as heat bled off.
I'm gonna ask Draco for a katana like those sabers on his Knightmare.
- The Red Viking -
Peter barely withheld a curse when the axe he'd appropriated hacked the tree in two rather than the Lancelot, which ducked and scampered out from under the Reikoku's bulk. Roaring, The Red Viking went after the white-and-gold Knightmare like...well, like a viking after something to kill.
As he rampaged after the Knightmare, Wettengren let loose a torrent of Swedish, punctuated with fire from secondary weapons integrated into parts of his Reikoku.
Roughly translated, it went like this:
"For Odin!" Rockets flared out from the Knightmare's torso sides and blasted into the earth of the mountain, missing the Lancelot by mere centimeters as the White-Head continued its streak of nigh-impossible avoidance maneuvers, cratering the ground until it resembled the terrain of a Great War battle.
"For Thor!" Cylindrical magazines on the Reikoku's hips extend out like Chaos Grenades and pepper the terrain in front of it with dozens, if not hundreds of magnesium-tipped tungsten carbide darts, most of which bounce off of the infuriating shields of the Lancelot.
"May we die and reach Valhalla!" Two 30mm autocannons fold out from their storage racks on the cockpit and attach to the Reikoku's shoulders before locking onto the Lancelot and firing their deadly high-velocity armor-piercing rounds in alternating bursts of fifty bullets. And the Lancelot just danced around them, jumping all over the place like a drunken cricket. As the autocannons ran out of ammo, the Lancelot's last dodge left it unbalanced, standing on top of a rather large boulder.
"Gah! Taste my axes!" Peter barreled his Reikoku up the slope at the Lancelot, the monomolecular-edged axes hacking down towards the Knightmare. What happened next, the Red Viking would swear the Lancelot's pilot had done on purpose. The Lancelot quite spectacularly lost its balance, in a manner that caused its right -hand MVS sword to flail out and slice the blade of Peter's right-hand axe in half, while its left Landspinner kicked Peter's Reikoku in the face.
- The Orange -
Jeremiah gazed in horror at the destruction Draco had wrought with his Knightmare's weapon. From twenty meters in front of the Dragon Knightmare, stretching off into the distance of the ravine to where he couldn't see the end, was a series of long, shallow ditches carved from the earth by the ball bearings that the rifle had fired, and a mere sixty meters away from him, Jeremiah could see parts of three of the five Gloucesters that had rushed to his aid.
All that was left were portions of the extremities, shards of leg armor, a finger, and portions of their Landspinners, which were undoubtedly the most intact parts of the Gloucesters. Jeremiah winced as he remembered the destruction of the G-1 at Saitama. The hyper-accelerated round from whatever rifle Draco had used there had broken the majority of the G-1's body into fragments and sand-like particles, which had done tremendous damage to the interior of the massive vehicle, and even ripped out the back half.
He imagined something much the same had happened here, only with Gloucester torsos and cockpits.
The remaining two Gloucesters stared at the wreckage of their comrades, something that Jeremiah found foolish, and yet couldn't fault them for it. It wasn't every day your comrades just...vaporized.
The Dragon Knightmare finished reloading what looked like a miniature Energy Filler into the stock of its rifle, specifically into a small port built into the upper portion, just above where the stock would rest against the shoulder. Then, for no particular reason, the rifle was folded back into it carbine configuration and reholstered on the side of the Knightmare's cockpit.
And then it crouched, Landspinners folding behind its calves, and leaped forward. Literally leaped, making its jump earlier back with Cornelia seem like a puny hop. The Dragon seemed to fly through the air, enhanced by waves of red sparks like wings of flame emitting from vents built into its shoulders. The Gloucester on the right side of the ravine was taken completely by surprise when the Dragon landed next to it, the tremor actually rocking the Knightmare to one side. And that was before the Dragon struck at the Frame, it's right hand molded into a shovel that dug into the Gloucester's shoulder, before the fingers separated and grabbed the structural frame under the armor and tore the limb from the Knightmare.
And then proceeded to beat the cockpit of the Gloucester in with said limb. When the Gloucester tried to retreat, the Dragon's shoulder Slash Harkens sliced out and cut it off at the knees, while still beating on the Gloucester. By the time the other Gloucester reacted, the cockpit was a bloodied hunk of metal compacted by the blows.
As the survivor raised its rifle, the Dragon tossed the dismembered arm at the Knightmare and knocked the rifle aside. The Gloucester brought its lance up, and foolishly. A lazy swiped of the hand knocked the tip aside, and the side of the lance merely skimmed the shoulder armor while the Dragon embedded its hand into the center of the Gloucester's torso. Reaching into the torso, the Knightmare tore its hand back out of the Gloucester, holding the small cube of crystalline Sakuradite that was the center of the Gloucester's Yggdrasil Drive. The Gloucester quickly ran out of power and slumped down as its actuators deactivated. Instead of leaving it be, the Dragon tipped the Frame over on its face and stomped on its cockpit block.
- The Dragon -
Learme absentmindedly wiped the Ryūō's foot on the ground as he contemplated what to do with 'Orange-kun'. On the one hand, he could simply finish Jeremiah off. However, Jeremiah had already proven especially skillful a soldier. And besides, he was already nibbling on the bait that the Lamperouge twins had laid out during the infamous 'Orange Incident'. Just a little more...and the trap would snap shut around him.
"So...Orange-kun-"
"Don't call me that!" Jeremiah snapped. "It seems filthy coming from your maw. And how did you learn of that name anyhow?" Learme chuckled a little, the sound rasping out the speakers.
"Oh come now, Jeremiah, me and Zero already gave you a little clue, back when we first met." Learme chortled, a grin ghosting its way onto his face as Jeremiah's silence deepened.
"...So you do have them?"
"Heh. Correct. Come now, did you really believe a mere war would be enough to kill Lelouch and Learme vi Britannia?" Learme uttered, switching the Ryūō's vocal systems over to a private channel from speakers.
- The Orange -
Jeremiah thought his heart would burst from the sudden resurgence of hope, and joy. They live!
"And what of her Highness Nunnally? Is she-"
"Yes, yes, she lives as well." Draco's voice droned, the bored tone coming through even the multiple layers of modulation. "But for the purposes of our conversation, only the elder siblings concern us. Tell me, Orange-kun," The terrorist's voice obtained a sickly sweet, venomous tone here, "what was it you said to them, on that sorrowful night seven years ago?"
Almost unbidden, the memory came over Jeremiah.
Britannia, Pendragon, Pendragon Central Hospital
Jeremiah stood in the doorway, watching over his charges. It was only minutes ago that Cornelia, her sister Euphemia in tow, had left, leaving behind Jeremiah and an entire company of guards to ensure their siblings' safety.
Behind Jeremiah was a hallway, of which the majority of connected rooms had been emptied of their occupants, no matter their condition, either end guarded by a fireteam of elite guardsmen decked out in full combat gear.
Before him...were the twins, at the side of their sister's bed. Her Highness Nunnally was laid upon the bed, not even a hospital gown to preserve her modesty, the numerous machines connected to her to observe her state requiring direct contact. All over her legs were scars, from the surgical procedures to remove the bullets that hadn't directly penetrated, as well as the measures required to heal the more direct wounds resulting from...
It was all Jeremiah could do to not leave and start up a search for the terrorists that had committed the act.
"Jeremiah." One of the twins said, Learme, judging by the distinctly loose and martial cut of his clothes. He stepped into the room, leaning down to hear his charge. "We will search for the culprits." The guard froze stock-still at that sentence. "We will require aid."
"First," Lelouch commented, "We will need official support."
"After that however," Learme picked up the thought, "We will need men. And of all of those surrounding us Jeremiah...you're the one I trust the most. So tell me Orange, when the day comes, will you serve us?"
Jeremiah choked, surprise freezing his body solid. After a second, without hesitation, he said:
"Of course my lord." and dropped to one knee, bowing his head. "When you ask, I will serve, without pause, without thought, and without regret." After a moment, he felt a slight hand on his shoulder, and looked up.
Learme faced him, grinning draconically.
- The Dragon -
Learme slumped back slightly as the Geass sigil faded from his right eye. It had been exhausting. Even on one target, it had been difficult to manipulate four of Jeremiah's senses, especially shifting among them as required.
"I know what they asked of me, and I know what I said." Jeremiah murmured.
"Good." Learme hissed. "Then go to Ashford Academy and ask for the Student Council president Milly Ashford for the Lamperouge family. And don't try anything. We'll be watching." Cutting the channel, Learme lowered the Ryūō's Landspinners and raced past the broken Bors, heading for Lelouch's position.
- The Knight -
Suzaku muttered under his breath as the bulky axe-equipped Knightmare flailed around on its back like a demented, viking turtle. It was utterly ridiculous, and belied the deadly berserking Knightmare it had been moments earlier.
He'd kind of hoped that he could pursue Zero unhindered after dealing with this nutcase, but lo and behold, another one showed up.
This one was more in line with the Samurai ideals of some of the more sophisticated resistance cells of the JLF, and was green with the Rising Sun of Japan's flag square on its chest. Two katana, the same as the one wielded by that black and gold Frame earlier, were brandished before slicing in to try and cut apart the Lancelot. Suzaku moved his MVS to parry, but the slices were drawn back quickly, and instead two Slash Harkens, strangely shaped like kunai, darted out to try and pierce through. In response, Suzaku eased the Lancelot to either side, dodging each Harken and slicing its line as it passed.
Then it charged forth again, right-hand katana slicing up while the left-hand slid forwards to stab. Suzaku easily moved the Lancelot around the stab, and hacked a MVS down to cleave the other katana in two-
-only for the green Knightmare to drop the blade, instead swiftly reaching for and drawing another sword, sheathed on its cockpit. In a single motion, the Knghtmare drew the new blade and sliced down. Suzaku leaned his Knightmare back again, thinking it to be another katana, when the blade's tip sliced into the Lancelot's upper torso and started carving through the armor and Slash Harken mechanisms. Startled, the experimental devicer moved his left MVS to deal with it when the weapon deflected off of the Slash Harken's blade and sliced out the side of the Lancelot, scraping its tip on the white Knightmare's arm. Then Suzaku recognized the blade.
Who the hell uses a tachi anymore?
Fed up, Suzaku darted for the green Knightmare again, leading from the left. When it moved to dodge, he snapped the Lancelot's right hand forward, punching the Knightmare in the chest. Unseen currents of electricity discharged from the knuckledusters built into the Lancelot's hand, zapping the green Knightmare's internal systems with enough voltage to short out its systems.
Completely unhindered now, Suzaku pushed the Lancelot to its maximum safe speed in the surrounding brush, accelerating for the boundary between the forested middle section of the mountain, and the cold, bare upper heights.
- The Demon -
Lelouch cursed as he spotted the Lancelot moving up. The Akuma was low on ammo for its rifle, and while Mischa's group could get to him by moving over the paths above the mudslide, by the time they'd arrived he'd captured, or chopped up like cheap sushi.
By the time this thought had crossed his mind, the Lancelot was already on him, Slash Harkens cutting through the Akuma's knees to send the Knightmare crashing face-first into the snow and dirt.
The only damage that was done to Lelouch was to his ego, and even then only minor. Popping the hatch, he clambered out of the Akuma, the Mephisto's systems making it much easier to do so than otherwise, and face the damnable white Knightmare that was standing a few meters away.
And the tip of the red, glowing longsword blade that was shoved at his face.
- The Author -
Well, that's the end of the Narita arc. A cliffhanger. I'm such a bastard. Heh.
Anyway, I like how this turned out. An entree of plot advancement, with a side of technical development, a seasoning of background, and a generous serving of awesomesauce. Not sure what foreshadowing would be, but eh, I think I've damned myself enough for today.
Anyway, up next is the long awaited Omake, The Beginning of 'The Coffee', which shall include many things. Here's a teaser.
("Lelouch, I'm gonna need a half-liter of Liquid Sakuradite, a sun lamp, two cases of Earl Black coffee, a dozen hallucinogenic mushrooms, a kilo of powdered magnesium, a rubber ducky, thirty grams of fertilizer, a daffodil, and the well-preserved corpse of an Irish polka dancer. Oh, and a meat-lovers pizza.")
Oh, and good news! I finally figured out my scanner, and have indeed uploaded a drawing of the Ryūō to deviantART. Just go to the site and type in Ryuo, Knightmare, and Frame. It should be the black-and-white picture of a horned Knightmare Frame.
WARNING: It's not quite the best picture that could be drawn of the Ryūō. Still, until I get better, that's the best I've got.
Infinite Freedom: I guess...although I don't think those terms would apply to heartless mecha of horrendous destructive capabilities. And I don't think I've ever seen a dragon mate with a lotus...
Omegadramon2: I think we're good until Mao shows up. Unless you get anymore ideas that you want to share.
Kojiro Kun: Well, you can't say they're cowards. Well, not the rank-and-file at least. Most of the higher-ups on the other hand...
Thank you.
Like I wrote, not gonna be mass-produced. At the most, maybe a hundred rounds per month of Tsukiken caliber, and four dozen of Raikou Kai caliber, rather than millions of each.
I think I could have done Jeremiah's lines a bit better that chapter...but for the situation, it was well enough.
They are still a world-spanning empire. The Black Knight's only saving grace in the anime, aside from Lelouch's genius, was that they were much in the position of America during the IRL Revolutionary War. The Brits really don't care as much as they should.
I hoped it.
Jman12394: Really? I thought I drew it a bit out...
I hoped it would be.
Well, I'm kind of unsure about writing for other people's characters in case I get something wrong about them (case in point, Peter Wettengren's physical description) and they're just about as important as...well, Tohdoh's Four Holy Swords. They're there, and they're elite...but they're not quite that important as the guys they're working for, and thus don't get as much spotlight time.
Silverscale: I actually meant how you were typing the characters...
Robby Cartwright: Thank you.
I dunno, I might start equipping some of the higher-up Knights with semiautomatic linear weapons in R2...
Alex Yamato: That it does.
My thoughts exactly.
Paving the way for it.
I posted it in the picture's description/commens, w/e
Should happen in the filler.
A bit nicked perhaps, in Suzaku's case. Jeremiah is suffering some devastating psychological blows though.
Ah, I see.
Cool.
Endrax: They've been kind of busy dealing with all the terrorist threats and whatnot.
Holy Shit, so it does.
Knightmare Frame Razgriz: Thank you.
Yeah...
Thank you again. I'll look into it.
Knightmare Gundam of Ni