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 32: Tragic Revelations
- The Knight -
Suzaku had barely managed to keep back a shout of outrage when he'd seen the monstrous Knightmare, kidnapping Shirley! His opinion of the Black Knights, already low, had pretty much it rock-bottom with this outrage. The attack had been swift, sudden, and brief, Suzaku slamming the draconian Frame with enough force to dislodge Shirley before rolling around, sheathing an MVS and deftly catching her in the Lancelot's hand, lowering the arm with her fall to prevent any injury.
And then he rolled the Knightmare away, turning slightly to fire a Harken at the pursuing Ryūō. He didn't really expect to hit the thing, even if it was slower and less agile than the Lancelot. And, true to form, the Black Knightmare swerved around the flying blade, raising one of those gun-sword things to fire a few shots at the Lancelot. The bullets were easily blocked by a raised arm and Blaze Luminous shield, as Suzaku rolled the Lancelot around the corner of a warehouse.
- The Dragon -
Learme kept up the chase for a few more seconds, shouting some of the more profane curses he'd learned over the years at the Lancelot's retreating backside before relenting.
"Well, that ties things up rather nicely." Learme commented, a bit amused, before climbing the Ryūō up the nearest container. The Yama-13 was an involved escape plan, necessitating quite a bit of effort to disengage each element of the Black Knights from their respective battles and ensure no pursuit. So, of course, it involved two of Learme's favorite things: deception, and explosions.
Lots of explosions, which were cued first by the explosion of ten square meters of docking, carving a rough ramp into the ocean for the escape boat to run into. The series of explosions following were less destructive and more disruptive, most sending clouds of smoke and chaff everywhere. And then followed by a series of whistling screeches preceding the impact of mortar ordnance on the main gathering points of Britannian forces, concentrated mainly on Cornelia's forward base.
Ah, glorious explosions.
Sadly, the deception was almost entirely passive in nature, done by further detonations of chaff-smoke charges and the inflation of decoy Burais to screw with the Britannian's sensors.
But oh, it was glorious. On his way roof-hopping to the rendezvous at the docks, Learme actually came across two separate parties of Sutherlands firing on each other through the chaff-smoke! All because they had simultaneously run across the area when it was filled with a set of decoy Burais and simultaneously fired upon each other! That made him smile.
Learme moved quickly, the Ryūō hopping across the warehouse rooftops with ease. Below, chaos had firmly taken root in the ranks of the Britannians, the chaff-smoke charges planted by the Reikoku scattering so much in the air that it was distorting both their sensors and communications, which in turn prevented them from properly indentifying the shapes of the Knightmares they were shooting at.
It really didn't help that the Burais and the Glasgows they were descended from very nearly shared a silhouette with the Sutherlands.
Learme helped things along a bit with an occasional burst of fire from the Gatling guns mounting the Ryūō's shoulders, tearing into a Sutherland and causing whatever comrades he/she had around to fire in the direction where they thought the enemy fire came from.
The more combative of the Lamperouge twins really wished he could take credit for this part of the plan, but considering he'd keyed Lelouch into an alternative method of assassinating Katase, he wasn't too disappointed.
- The Demon -
A slight scowl decorated the former prince's face as the Akuma and its Burai escort rumbled through the maze. He really did not like losing, even in part.
Still, at least he had accomplished one of his primary objectives.
"Tanaka, where are you?" Lelouch barked, checking his display for the Sakanade duo.
A blur of purple and flash of fabric had Lelouch drawing the Akuma's battle rifle on the next intersection, a Gloucester emerging from around the corner….in part.
Specifically, the torso, with mangled chest armor and shredded cape, the cockpit gaping with blood spattered and dripping from it. The partially disassembled Knightmare dropped to the ground, a heavy armored foot crunching its arm with its tread as the two heavy Frames stepped into view.
"Hey, no need to be jumpy." Hetare's snarky, mocking voice sounded from the radio. "Just us around here."
Lelouch resisted the uncharacteristic urge to roll his eyes. He figured the Sakanade were going to draw the more eccentric of the Japanese, but being confronted with proof wasn't necessarily pleasant.
"Shut up." Tanaka grunted. "Lord Zero, the way is clear."
"Good. Move out." The Sakanade joined the formation, grinding away at the concrete beneath their feet with their departure. More assured of his security now, Lelouch contacted Zero Squadron.
"Zero Elements, report in."
"Team One successfully extracted."
"Team Two might be delayed a bit Zero, since we're dragging two disabled with us."
"Very well. Kallen, Draco, news?"
"I'm back at base, and there's no sign of any Brits."
"Slightly behind schedule due to the…unforeseen complication…but that problem's been solved, so I should be back shortly."
"I understand. Good work everyone; I shall see you when I return."
- The Crush -
Six Minutes Ago
Shirley was still stunned by the impact, but she possessed enough sense to recognize the Knightmare now carrying her away from her would be rescuer and/or kidnapper: The Lancelot.
Milly was never going to believe this.
Looking around, Shirley saw a line of warehouses instead of the container maze where the Lancelot had rescued her from that horrid dragon-thing. She didn't recognize quite where they were, but it must have been practically halfway across the harbor.
"Shirley, are you alright?" The Knightmare now drew her full attention, the girl's jaw dropping as she recognized the voice.
"Suzaku!"
- The Knight -
He winced when he realized just how much he screwed up.
Princess Cornelia was not going to be happy with this. He'd been most emphatically ordered to keep his job a secret from any civilians.
Well, it's not like it could get any worse.
An explosion on the Lancelot's right blew the Seventh-Generation prototype to the side, bodily slamming it into a warehouse. The viewscreens stuttered into fields of white static before resetting to normal mode, showing the Lancelot's severed arm a few meters in front and to the right, a dent in the container next to it.
Empty.
- The Crush -
Shirley groaned, sitting up among shattered cement shards and other bits of broken terrain. Her head ached something fierce, and it took her a few tries before she managed to stand upright, and she was still wobbly. Staggering a bit, she took a few steps forward before she nearly fell to the ground, grabbing at the container's corner and holding herself up.
In front of her was the same line of warehouses she'd seen just before….the….explosion….it kind of hurt to remember but there had been something that had startled her….
Her memory difficulties were shunted out of sight when she glimpsed a flash of familiar steel-blue hair and light brown skin.
- The Wanna-Be -
"Damn it!" Villetta swore, glancing around the corner of the container stack to make sure she wasn't going to get run over by a Knightmare or something.
Damn that girl! All she had to do was follow those Lamperouge brats so I could arrest them! But instead she gets kidnapped by Draco! Needless to say, Villetta was very upset. Here she was, in the middle of an active combat zone, with nothing but her sidearm, after losing what could be her only lead to some Black Knights supporters. At the rate her life was going now, she'd be lucky to keep her rank, much less become a Baroness!
By now, the girl was long gone, and the Black Knights with her. She'd probably show up on some hostage broadcast or some other such terrorist shit. Peeking around another corner, Villetta saw a row of warehouses.
And in front of them was a group of the Black Knight's Burai, hoisting large mortars on their shoulders. Loud whumps followed the launch of the shells, before explosions blossomed on the side of the harbor where the fiercest fighting was going on. To the side of the mortar Burai, two more crouched on the edge of the dock, one's Factsphere open and scanning, the other aiming what looked like a small tank cannon outfitted with a scope. Villetta ducked back around the corner, tip-toeing through the narrower 'alleys' in between the containers to get around to the back doors of the warehouses.
This has to be their forward base…. Ever so cautiously, Villetta moved to the warehouse, trying the door. It opened without a squeak of protest, apparently quite well maintained….and unlocked. She darted into the warehouse and closed the door quietly. Looking around, she saw what looked like a small company of Black Knights, including aides and combat infantry, most of the former at what looked like military-grade portable command consoles while the latter…were right in front of her, aiming well-maintained assault rifles. Leading them was the hooded figure of Draco himself, his ridiculously large pistol aimed directly at her face.
"Damn." Villetta swore.
"Miss Nu. How nice to see you. I trust Orange-kun is doing well?" The terrorist had a smug stance, and Villetta could just imagine his filthy Eleven face smirking at her. She kept her peace, not trusting anything she said to do anything preservative with her life. "Hmm. Well, no matter. I have eyes on him." Villetta was blinking, trying to figure out just what the hell that was supposed to mean, when the main warehouse loading doors creaked open, admitting a small force of Burai, lead by a devil-faced Knightmare, in turn flanked by two Ogre Frames.
"Zero, look who decided to visit us." The draconian skull-faced commander said, turned slightly to face the devil-Frame and motioning at her with his pistol
How in the hell was I stupid enough to think this was a good idea? Villetta thought to herself despairingly.
- The Demon -
This was unexpected. Last they'd heard of Villetta Nu from Jeremiah, she'd been assigned scut duties for the disgrace they'd gotten her into. Now, here she was, prowling around their mission area.
Now what in the world could have drawn her suspicions here? Lelouch mused, as he dropped from the Akuma's cockpit. Something for him and Learme to ask her later, after she spent some time in a solitary dark room. Learme would handle most of the work, considering the nature of his Geass. Looking back, letting her live was quite obviously a huge mistake, memory loss or no.
"How fortuitous…an extra benefit from our mission." Lelouch said out loud, solely for the Knight's benefit. "Lock her up in the truck, we're leaving in fifteen minutes." That last part sent the Knights scurrying like maddened ants, the techs packing up their consoles for transport and the soldiers helping in some cases, lightening the guard. Those still piloting Frames holstered weapons and helped, speeding up the process magnificently.
"Zero!" Lelouch turned to see a blond-haired Indian woman dressed in red blouse, tight-fitting pants and a lab coat artfully strutting up to him, with what had to be the two most stereotypical dorky scientist-types trailing behind her. Rakshata Chawla rested the elbow of one arm on her hand, the other hand delicately holding a long-stemmed pipe, much like one would expect to have found in old Britannian films.
"Miss Chawla." Lelouch greeted her smoothly, sweeping a bow of respect. A snort from behind indicated that Learme was not going to be joining him in civility today. "A great pleasure to meet you. My apologies for not waiting for you, but the situation became…untenable."
"Well, I suppose it couldn't be helped." Rakshata replied archly, in a manner that reminded Lelouch of some of the more refined nobles he'd met. "But it was risky to proceed without me; considering something may have happened to my child."
That threw Lelouch for a loop.
"Your…child?"
"Yes. My Guren." Rakshata eyed him humorously. Then her attention gravitated towards the walls of the hanger, where the empty Knightmares were lined up. Of course, the Frame drawing her attention was none other than the Ryūō, in all its glory, and quite clearly based off of the Guren.
"An interesting similarity between our children." She stated simply, drawing on her pipe. Learme strode up next to her.
"Indeed. I suppose we have similar design aesthetics." Lelouch's twin slyly said. Rakshata eyed him for a moment before strutting forward to view the Ryūō more closely.
"Titanium?"
"Titanium-based, but yes."
"Mmmm…..what do you use for actuation?"
"A scaled-up version of the system my armor uses." Was all that Learme would say. The two stood there, either trying to pry out the secrets of the other, before they relented as the Knights finished packing up. All around the warehouse, truck engines rumbled as the last of the cargo was packed in the back. The Knightmares would be transported out with the semis Rakshata had brought with her, and the majority of personnel would disseminate themselves into the surrounding ghettos before meeting up at one of the multiple agreed on locations, all this while the Brits were still occupied with the chaff-smoke, decoys, and several other surprises the Knights had left in their wake.
The warehouse doors opened to let the trucks through -
And revealed the Lancelot, standing over the wrecks of the artillery and sniper Burai.
- The Knight -
Suzaku was, quite plainly, furious.
He wasn't certain why or how Draco came to kidnap Shirley, but the end result was that Shirley was quite probably dead, along with dozens of other people who should have lived.
So, when he'd came across the teams of Burai shelling the opposite side of the harbor while in a panic, he'd done what was natural, trashing the modified Glasgows with little more than the single MVS the Lancelot was now capable of wielding and the three remaining Slash Harkens.
And lo and behold, a warehouse had opened up to reveal an entire mess of Black Knights to take his newly-found (and incredibly dire) rage out on, and centered among them were the two main villains: Zero and Draco.
He sheathed the Lancelot's sword and drew the VARIS rifle, firing a single green pulse of densely-packed particles straight at the two.
- The Dragon -
Being an experienced assassin, hitman, and general-purpose combatant rapidly self-trained in a battle wherein many professional soldiers had kicked the bucket, Learme spent most of the time at school brewing up various plots with his twin, among those contingency plans.
The one specific for situations like this - ones involving a highly dangerous weapon being aimed and more than likely fired at the two, with dependants surrounding - had been concocted in the last two months or so since the twins had acquired their Geass powers and the snarking witch along with them.
In this case, Learme turned the full force of his Geass that he could onto the Lancelot's pilot, shifting his perception of his main viewscreen and HUD to about half of a meter left of the twins. This, unfortunately, resulted in the destruction of a truck-load of technical gear, although only one of the people in the truck died, being a mite too slow to duck out of the way. Unfortunately, even a relatively simple perspective shift was mentally draining under the circumstances, seeing as the target was five meters or so away and it was hard to guess his perspective.
So, it was very good that Tanaka had decided to remain in his Sakanade until he was sure everything was safe, and intended to make things so by tackling and distracting the Lancelot.
All-in-all, things were pretty well in hand, until Learme noticed Lelouch's helmet deforming under heat-stress.
"Fuck! Get it off!" Learme screamed, tackling his twin to the ground and scrabbling at the catches in the neckguard.
- The Demon -
Lelouch was just wondering what Learme's problem was - the VARIS pulse had passed a little close for comfort, but it had just disrupted his camera systems momentarily - when his right forehead suddenly erupted in heated pain.
It was only a few seconds before Learme wrenched the Mephisto's helmet off and threw the suit's cape around to conceal his face, but they were perhaps the most physically painful seconds in his life.
Perhaps he was what some called a 'wuss', but having your helmet scald your forehead raw hurt, enough to send the otherwise unharmed former prince fainting to the ground, and as he fell, he hallucinated.
For some reason, Shirley was right in front of him, gazing at the scene through horrified eyes.
- The Author -
Well, phew, finally. After delays and laziness abounding, the arc is finished.
I admit that for a while I was actually a bit stumped as to how I was going to pull off the reveal in this situation. After all, a helmet isn't intended to just fall off of the suit of armor, off the head it's supposed to be protecting, so there was no chance of pulling it off as canon did. I'm pretty glad I hit upon the solution I did, fairly original while still fitting in logically.
Review Replies:
kinglumption: Thank you for the compliment, and my apologies for the sporadic updates, I kind of write them out as I go along, and that can make for some long-lasting Writer's Block.
I'm working on bits of the 00 sequel, and will focus more on it towards the end of this and my Seed fic.
Hmm...sounds like a good idea, but I already have a new Gundam for Lelouch...that said, the concept could make for a good movie-fic Gundam...
Rc1212: Thank you.
So do I.
Alex Yamato: A bit nutty, yes.
Bit of a bait-and-switch there, enjoyably so.
She'll be upping the ante in the future, oh yes.
heh, no fatality...yet.
I make it up as I go along. Depending on my desired ending and story-tone she may fare better than canon...or worse.
I have plans for Tamaki. Stupid plans, but nonetheless, he'll get his share.
'Kay.
I'll have the Beast in by tomorrow.
omegadramon2: Next chapter.
Nightwing of the Azure Shadow: Thank you.
I admit the OC angle kind of went crazy, but the weapons are certainly intended.
sakurahanaalice: Maybe.
Ergh...that's painful...
Kojiro Kun: Or lock him in a padded room.
Ah, Suzaku still has his knightly ambitions, his...'saving-people-thing-while-trying-to-commit-suicide-by-war'.
That'll do.
Hmm...when Tohdoh joins the Knights...yeah.
Darth Writer55: Thank you.
Ragez: Thanks.
FanFictionDevourer: Thank you.
Hmmm...I guess it is...I'll work on that.
Knightmare Gundam of Ni