L2 and Suzaku warily watch their former comrade. He has some type of gun aimed at them that neither of them recognized.
"Tamaki." L2 says calmly.
"Lelouch." He sneers back. "I finally caught you."
Suzaku slowly raises his hand with the pistol, but the odd gun of Tamaki's reorients and points at Suzaku.
"Drop your weapons if you don't want to find out what this does." He smirks.
Suzaku gently drops both the pistol and the sword. "You don't have to do this, Tamaki."
"Of course I don't! I never had to do anything. But now I have power, I can make you do things for me, no matter how absurd! Just like you did to me!" The gun points right back to L2.
L2 sighs and crosses his arms. "That gun isn't going to work. I don't understand why your whole organization wasn't told, but I'm immortal. It's starting to make me wonder if there was absolutely no communication within your organization."
Tamaki brandishes the gun. "I don't care if you think you're immortal. This will still let me have victory."
L2 and Suzaku glance at each other. "What does it do, then?" Suzaku asks.
"Like I would tell you." Tamaki sneers. "I'm leaving it at the fact that it will work on both of you easily."
L2 takes a step forward. Tamaki's finger tightens on the trigger.
"Are you really so embittered that you'll kill your old commander?" L2 says calmly.
"You treated me like a fool. I refuse to let you think of me like a weakling, someone to shove off to the side where he can't do any harm."
Suzaku springs for his weapons. Tamaki whips the gun around and pulls the trigger.
Suzaku is too late to dodge as the gun glows blue and releases a pulse of energy in his direction. Suzaku blinks as the energy wave passes right through him.
He looks up at the smiling Tamaki. "Was that supposed to do something?"
"It did." Tamaki points the gun at L2 again.
Suzaku looks down at himself. He didn't feel any different. He picks up the gun and points it at Tamaki. "If it did, I didn't notice."
Tamaki suddenly blurs and disappears in a cloud of dust. Suzaku whips his head around, following a cloud of dust that was circling around. Was that Tamaki? He was augmented... but that kind of speed could only be achieved through Geass.
Suzaku looks at L2. "I'm going to take him out. You hail the sub."
L2 nods. "On my mark."
Suzaku turns around to face the circling cloud. He braces his right hand with his left raises the pistol, and activates his Geass-
Wait. Confusedly, he attempts to activate his Geass again. How did he do that again?
"L2, there's something wrong with my Geass."
Tamaki swoops in while Suzaku is distracted and slams into his gut. L2 watches as the high speed tackle takes the pair right past him. Tamaki and Suzaku come to a stop with Tamaki on top a regular gun pointed at Suzaku's head. "See? I told you my gun works."
L2 slowly starts approaching them. "So, that weapon does what exactly? All I saw happen was you use a Geass."
Tamaki almost lazily redirects it's aim towards L2. "You know what? I will tell you. 'Cause I like you. It's a very special weapon designed in the same vein as your pet's degeasser. Mine is special though. Instead of remove Geass effects from people, it erases the Geass itself. Not all at once, no, but a stage at a time."
L2 waits, standing rigidly. For the first time in twelve years, he was starting to worry about his health. "That means you could remove my immortality with a pull of a trigger."
"Yes! And then you'll be back to Geassing anyone you make eye contact with."
Suzaku opens one eye. "So, I don't have Geass anymore?"
Tamaki gets a weary look on his face. "Oh, you do, but it's suppressed. It's going to be a week before you can use it again. In the meantime, I'd like you two to come with me." He waggles the two weapons. "Unless you want to die."
o-o-o-o
Inside the submarine, things started quietly. Everyone that had been informed of the operation had reached their posts, and waited for the signal to go.
Nunnally had sat down in a newly assembled Knightmare and prepared to launch on a moments notice. Strapped to its back is a round cylinder with lots of warnings on it.
Nunnally had been trying to figure out if she could plug her music player into the Knightmare's radio when she noticed something odd. Rahkshata, that Indian woman was good with Knightmares, was doing something at her control panel.
Nunnally pops open her hatch. "Rahkshata, why aren't you at your post?"
Her only response was to raise a pistol.
Nunnally ducks the bullet and closes the cockpit. She hits her transmit button-
Oh right, the radio is currently a lot of little pieces. Of all of the times...
She boots up the Knightmare, the launch bay of the sub coming into view as the screens load. It's cramped and her Knightmare is unable to stand up without breaking the sub's hull, but she shouldn't have a problem with that pistol. Knightmare armor is too thick to be affected by small arms fire.
Then why was Rahkshata advancing on her like she had a chance?
Nunnally scrambles around in the mess of her cockpit looking for her own firearm. L2 had very, very reluctantly allowed her to carry one in case she ever got downed in enemy territory.
This wasn't exactly enemy territory, but Rahkshata wasn't acting like she cared.
Rahkshata gets too close to the camera on the outside of the Knightmare and her body fills Nunnally's sensors. "Can you hear me?"
Nunnally is unable to respond to the question, her radio still so much random circuitry.
"I hope that you can. See, you're a sweet girl. I don't want you to die. I would recommend staying in there until I come back to get you in a little bit." She steps back a bit and brandishes her weapon. "If you don't wait, I'm might have to do something we'll both regret."
She hops off the folded Knightmare and heads for the exit. Nunnally watches her go.
"What just happened?" She mutters out loud. Instead of dwelling on it, she starts the shutdown sequence. She had to warn somebody that Rahkshata was acting strangely.
The cockpit door slide open-
Every single light cuts out. Nunnally falls out of the back of he Knightmare as some green lights come on and the sub rocks violently. It begins to rise straight upwards.
The doors all swoosh into an open position to allow for emergency egress. Nunnally grips her sidearm tightly and stand up on the trembling floor of the sub. She peeks out the doorway, but boost is there to be found. She slowly walks downwards into the middle area of the sub, where she was surprised to find nobody there.
Nobody she recognized, at least. Several men she had never seen before, wearing brown coats and red Geass symbols were occupying the floor below her. She watches as they notice someone's- hey, that's Rahkshata!- her approach. Several of the men leer at her as she strides past confidently.
Nunnally looks around. There is still no signs of anyone else she knew.
She sits down and thinks as hard as she can. She needs to figure out what is going on, but she also cant get caught. Getting caught would probably result in bloodshed. She gulps and closes her eyes. She had never been successful before, but if she could do it this time...
She activates her unique Geass and opens her eyes. Her arm now looks slightly larger to her eyes.
Yes! She had successfully called upon an old Geass she had used!
A wave of pain shoots through her, and her eye starts to burn. She blinks twice and looks at her reflection in the the railing. Her left eye, despite the rest of her being identical to one of the guards below, still has the Geass symbol in it.
"That's not good." She mutters. She stands up and starts heading down the stairs, consciously altering her appearance as much as possible to avoid looking like someone from the group she was just about to walk through. As she reaches the bottom of the steps, the door opens again and three people walk out. Rahkshata, someone she had never seen before, and Tamaki. All the other soldiers snap a salute, and Nunnally hastily follows suit in an attempt to blend in. Nobody seems to notice her intrusion, every eye fixed straight ahead. The trio walks past, talking about Rahkshata's admittance into something or another. Nunnally has to suppress a shudder as Tamaki's scarred face stares at her for a little too long before turning back to face forward.
Once the trio had disappeared, everyone relaxes. Several of them sit down and one produces a deck of cards. Nunnally quietly slips away before anyone gets a chance to notice her intrusion.
Why was Tamaki on this sub? Why was Rahkshata working with him? Nunnally follows the faint sounds of their conversation down into the bowels of the sub.
There she finds the crew of the sub. Every single one is tied up and gagged.
Wait, not every one. There's one missing. She couldn't place it, but she knows someone is missing.
She watches as Tamaki grunts at a few of the former Black Knights.
"When are we reaching the surface?" The unknown man asks.
Rahkshata answers. "Less than a minute."
"And where is he?"
Rahkshata shrugs. "He went to find a brat I left in the cockpit of her Knightmare."
The older man turns to face her fully. "He personally went to catch a prisoner?"
Rahkshata shrugs. "I don't know why either. Either way, he should be back soon."
Nunnally glances behind her. No sign of anyone.
When she looks back forward, a evil-smiling Tamaki is standing over her.
"We don't like spies, especially ones with Geass." He says, then points a wield looking gun at her. It clicks and a wave of energy hits her. He eye stops burning and he disguise drops. He hauls her to her feet and lifts her off the ground. "Found her."
Rahkshata nods. "We should head up to the Knightmare deck as well, really. Once we surface, we may not have a lot of time before those three realize what has happened."
Nunnally is dragged all the way back up to the Knightmare bay, Tamaki seemingly oblivious to her weight even as her clothes catch on the sharp edges of the submersible's structure. She is surprised to find that the door is open and sunlight is pouring in.
Tamaki turns to Rahkshata. "Take care of this brat. I need to check up on Hibiki and the others. At least I don't see Knightmares flying around, so they took those down at least."
Nunnally is practically thrown at Rahkshata. She dodges the younger girl's flailing body.
Tamaki readies his weapon and takes an impossibly quick and long leap off the hull of the submarine, and Nunnally watches his arc take him almost to the shore. When he lands on the water, his feet start churning into a blur and he starts running across the water.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Rahkshata comments. "I would like to know who built him so I could learn to make more of him."
Nunnally struggles to sit up. "Why..."
"Because your brother wants to destroy something I want. I won't let him." She responds.
Behind them, the older man gasps and starts stammering. "O-oh! Hello, s-sir!"
Nunnally turns around to find out who...
Gregor?