Ok, first chapter of Arc 2. Hope you enjoy it. The real story has just begun and some of Arthur's past will be revealed!
It was a dark beak night. Darker than usual. He was glad that they had many lit torches tonight. He glanced at a group of soldiers clad in red and mail silently eating their meal around a fire. He glanced at another group, this one dressed in plate with their shields lying beside their seats. The golden dragon on the aegis glowed in the flame light.
"My lord prince," A voice called behind. A soldier dressed in more ornate armour than the others with a crimson tabard with a gold dragon stood straight in attention and saluted.
"What is it, captain?" The Prince asked.
"We've found the Cultists' hideout. They're in the Scafell mountains. Lord Gawain has our Light Cavalry Divisions surrounding them as you ordered. They've blocked all exits."
"Good job. Tell Gawain to hold position and wait for my orders only. Then assemble my royal guard."
"Yes, your highness." The officer saluted and walked off barking orders. The flame of the torches nearby flickered, illuminating the prince's own armour. It was shinning silver plate that matched the black and red tunic bearing the golden dragon of the Pendragon line. His sword, gold hinted stood hanging gallantly on his left hip, his shield, jet black bore the golden dragon as well hung on his back hidden by the blood-red royal cloak he wore.
A knight in gold trimmed shining white armour appeared beside the young royal. He took off his cobalt-plumed gold crested helm, revealing a young man with vivid green eyes and short brown hair.
"We've finally got them, sire." The knight spoke. "This whole nightmare can finally end."
The prince nodded. "Indeed, old friend. They must pay for the chaos and destruction they unleash upon humanity. Assemble the knights. I will lead them."
Lancelot looked surprised. "Sire, are you sure that is a wise decision?"
The prince stared at his old friend sternly."If the King does not move, how does he expect his subordinates to follow? Besides," The prince fidgeted with his sword hint. "I want to be the one to put this sword in the bastard's heart..."
"I swear that in the name of my mother Igraine..." promised Arthur Pendragon, Crown Prince and Knight of Britannia.
Meanwhile outside New Pendragon
"Damn!" Anduin Landers gritted his teeth as one of the Viper's drill slash harkens scratched his Float System. He turned his machine guns on the smaller Knightmare but it was fast and avoided the sabot rounds with ease. The Viper then brought out his sword down to cut him in half. But former Special Forces knight brought his right arm and slammed it into the Viper's chest then quickly activated his right Hadron cannon and blasted the Viper at point blank range.
Then a white and green Vincent flew in firing two slash harkens at a trio of Vipers, taking two down then used his MVS to sever the final Viper in half. The Vincent then flew alongside Anduin's Gareth.
"They're falling back!" Harry called out. "Should we push on?"
"Negative. Pull all forces back. Do not follow."
"But, milord, it would take time to track them again."
"Agree. But we must secure the Scion of Pendragon and the Empress first. That has always been our objective. We did not survive the Fall of Camelot to act rashly on this."
"Yes, milord. I understand. I will have Landers to recover the King."
"What did Lord Bernard say?" Anduin asked as he inspected the damages on his Knightmare.
"He's ordering us to hold position. Anduin, you better go in the Palace. I seriously doubt that Arthur's identity is still in cover. You're a better negotiator than I am. You'll do better in explaining why the Ghost of the Demon Emperor is here."
"Roger that." The Gareth turned away and headed back to the Palace itself.
Harry Dunford stared into the sky. "I really hope this is worth it."
Kallen did not know what to make of the unconscious figure lying on the bed. He had sustained heavy injuries both internal and external, receiving a blow on his head along with some broken ribs and numerous cuts and bruises. His silver-white hair had blood covering them and his skin was practically almost white, making him look like one of the dead but Kallen knew that was not the case.
His bare chest moved up and down. His built Kallen noticed was lean but muscled, somewhat like that of Suzaku. It was well toned though, built similar to that of an athlete. She found herself staring at it before she realise what she was doing and turned away blushing. Instead she turned to focus on his face.
What made her so anxious was his face. The half-Japanese knight took out the photo of Lelouch she had always kept and glanced at it then glanced at the white haired figure.
Kallen pulled away a strand of white hair covering his face. It was Lelouch's face alright.
"It can't be..." It was the same face. Completely identical. Despite the hair colour, his face was completely the same. And with what she knew about him, his tactics, his cryptic talk...it might really be him...
"Lelouch..." Kallen murmured absently.
"KALLEN! Hang on! I promise! I WILL rescue you! Just hang on! Stay strong!"
"Kallen...when this is all over, will you come back to Ashford with me? I..."
"You were my most useful piece. It's like a well played knight."
"Kallen...you have to live..."
"Damn it! Why do you have to do this to me!" She suddenly shouted startling the pair of Royal Guards at the door.
"My lady?" The Guard officer asked with his sword half-drawn while his counter-part had his pistol out.
Kallen composed herself and shook her head. "It's nothing. Leave us."
The Guard officer gave one look at the sleeping figure then nodded. "Very well, madam. We'll be at the halls if you need us." He gestured at his companion and walked off.
Meanwhile in other parts of the Palace
"Lord Guilford!" Claudio walked over to his senior knight.
"Report." Cornelia's knight demanded as he and a team of other Guard officers tried to bring chaos back into the damaged palace.
"The Empress is untouched. Other than the damage in the fighting, everything else seems to be in place except for an item."
"An item?" Guilford was confused. Why would anyone want anything from the Palace?
"Yes, my lord. The chamber to the treasury was damaged. One item was missing: the royal mace."
"Thank heavens it's only an item. Continue your searches."
"Yes, milord."
From the shadows, a cloaked figure grinned. This was too easy.
Arthur did not remember how it all did happened but he found himself in a familiar dark room surrounded by lights glaring down on him. He was wearing his old uniform he had used to serve as a royal guardsman under Emperor Lelouch, a grey and gold tunic with a white cloak. In his right hand was a familiar the ruby hinted longsword while in the other was a black aegis with a golden eye on it.
"Commence." A strong thick voice announced.
At once ten hooded figures dressed in crimson livery with a golden dragon leapt forward converging on the lone figure in the centre. Arthur grinned and went to fighting stance, shield braced and sword ready. The first figure lunged forward armed with a bastard sword and swung down.
As Arthur raised his sword to block, he sidestepped, using the momentum to turn and brought his blade on his attacker's head. The blade collided with a metallic clank and the crimson figure appeared to be a full armoured knight with a helm. As his attacker stumble forward, Arthur brought up his shield to block a second blow. The former guardsman then thrust forward but his opponent was too fast and dodged the blade tip with a back step.
A third figure lunged forward wielding a long pike, thrusting the pole-arm in Arthur's direction. Arthur parried the stroke and responded with a series of slash and thrusts which the warrior blocked with practice ease. His second opponent lung forward again with his sword as Arthur parried another thrust. Sensing the enemy, Arthur stepped in and grabbed the spear shaft and used all of his strength to twist the weapon out of the surprised knight and slammed its end into his companion's stomach.
Arthur then swung his shield and slammed it into the surprised pikeman's mailed chin, knocking the warrior off his feet. Arthur used the chance to finish the stunned swordsman with a calculated swing on the knight's helmed head.
"Three down." Arthur thought, but no sooner he did, he heard a familiar cocking sound and jumped out of the way as a barrage of machine gun fire engulfed him.
He didn't have time to see the gunner, falling forward in a roll, Arthur stood up but before he could do anything, the ground suddenly trembled followed by a horse whinny. Following his instinct, Arthur raised his shield and the hammering blow that contacted it was strong enough to send him flying into the ground.
As he grunted in pain at the collision, his quick hearing picked another unfamiliar sound and Arthur had to jerk up as a smooth bullet sliced through the air almost catching his flesh. Lelouch's soldier quickly ran with all his strength as his steps were hounded by a trail of bullets. His white cloak was already half-filled with bullet holes.
"Medieval Knights with modern rifles..." He muttered as a bullet almost struck his face.
A figure watching the scene from above tensed as the former royal guard fought against the traps in the darkness by the remaining knights dressed in red and gold. It looked argued with another figure beside but before Arthur could do anything else, a second horseman swept past him swinging a war hammer. The rider came on his right side thus if he was unable to block properly with his shield, causing him to stumble forward.
Before he knew it, an armoured figure barrelled into him, sending him crashing on the ground. Another knight, this one armed with a shield and sword thrust down to do the finishing blow but Arthur was quick and managed to roll away.
Then a ping sound echoed through the air and the ground just before him exploded. The explosion caused him to sent flying through the air before crashing to the ground. He felt his body weakening from various wounds and his weapons felt extremely heavy.
But he couldn't be beaten here. Arthur did not remember why but he knew that if he did not pass this, something terrible would happen.
Against all odds, Arthur Peregrine struggled up leaning on his sword for support.
The former royal guardsman considered his chances. He was facing about 7 armoured knights armed with a mixture of modern and medieval weapons who were using them with perfect conjunction together. He had to admit they were extremely skilled warriors.
But now that he knew what they were capable of...Arthur knew that he would win.
He closed his eyes and started counting.
"One, two...THREE!" And Arthur suddenly turned left running and just as he did a volley of bullets crackled the floor.
"Four, five, six...Seven!" He twirled around; kneeling as he went avoiding a long blade that had went inches pass his head. Arthur rolled over. The horse was too fast for him to strike thus he leapt back on his feet and continued running before the sniper catches him in his sights again.
"Eight, Nine, TEN!" Just as he said it, a sword jabbed out from the darkness. Arthur parried the thrust with his shield and struck the knight's head with his sword hint. The blow fell with steel pang, stunning the knight.
Then the ground trembled again and Arthur grinned. One of the horsemen had arrived again and raising his sword high for a strike. Arthur then smashed his shield into the dazed armoured figure's chest who as he fell forward. The knight collided with the charging horseman with the horse crushing the dazed warrior while the rider was knocked off his saddle flying. The dismounted knight quickly got to his feet but was too slow as Arthur's sword crashed into the knight's unprotected neck.
Arthur then ran off again, running in zig-zag patterns as volleys of bullets rain down on him. Shield raised, Arthur grinned maliciously.
"Yes, it works." He muttered. "I CAN do it!" One would have considered it to be insane for one to understand how he could have predicted the movements of the knights and their timing so well. It would take even the most calculated fighters more than a first engagement to understand an enemy just like that. However he had a mind like no other...
As he ran, Arthur spotted a careless movement by one of the riflemen who had fired him continuously without moving. Grinning, the former royal guard dashed towards the figure. The knight realising his mistake, tried to retreat into the darkness but Arthur was already upon him and tackled the armoured figure. The cloaked crimson form swung his rifle butt at him but Arthur was fast and knocked the firearm aside with his shield then thrust into the knight's breastplate so hard that it sent the knight stumbling back. Arthur then swung a hard blow on his helm to finish the warrior off.
Then he suddenly leapt off again, followed by a trail of sparks. Occasionally, Arthur would raise his shield to block his head from the sniper shots which were getting far too accurate for his taste. From the amount of gunfire he was getting, Arthur knew that there were actually more than just ten opponents since the beginning of the battle but he did not waver. This was an excellent time to put his new abilities to a test. To save him energy and cover, Arthur would occasionally engage melee with several swordsmen and other fighters using them for cover.
One knight tried to smash Arthur's skull with a mace time and time again only to fall victim to one of his own comrade's machine gun fire.
He then ran around again letting the gunfire follow him repeating the same tactics. Soon they were joined by several barrages of grenades which Arthur had to indeed be careful of as he more than once almost ran right straight into one explosion. And the cavalry patrols did not help either who somehow manage to avoid the explosions and gunfire.
The knight commander then saw the pattern of the royal guard's movements. He ordered his riflemen to paint the entire ground with machine gun barrage while his melee fighters to defend the riflemen.
Then suddenly Arthur leapt towards one corner using his shield to block the barrages before slamming into one rifleman. The other knight with a two-handed sword tried to chop Arthur in two but he managed to avoid the blow and used his shield to turn the rifle into their own men. The knights danced in the unexpected gunfire despite their armour and fell. Arthur then cut down the rifleman, taking the weapon for his own and turned the grenade launcher into the group of survivors. The explosion sent all the knights flying.
Letting the rifle down, Arthur found himself standing alone in the middle of a smoking ground surrounded by lying figures in red. Several standing figures appeared and surrounded him. The knights, some with swords and rifles approached him. Then suddenly, the knights lowered their weapons and knelt before him.
A clap sounded in the darkness. Then a tall figure in blue entered the light.
"Well, done. Well, done. You have indeed proved yourself." Lord Bernard announced.
Arthur looked at himself and chuckled. "I didn't expect this either. If I had I might have paid more attention to my lessons."
"Then you will have a final test." Bernard snapped a finger and caped figure entered.
"Lord Jeremiah?" Arthur asked, recognising the figure.
"My lord, I will be your final test. Please...forgive me if I harm..."
Arthur laughed. "Haha, come Lord Jeremiah. If I do not get the best experience, how am I to learn? As they say, 'No pain, No gain.' Well come on."
Arthur went to fighting stance.
Jeremiah finally relented. "Very well." He went into a stunning posture and raised his arms high and two golden blades shot out from his fists. He swung them around, in a great display that symbolising his expertise in the weapons before bringing them down in a fighting stance.
"En garde...your highness..." Arthur froze. It wasn't the horrifying charging figure that so startled him nor his incredible speed nor the fact that he was fighting a cyborg. It was his words...
"Highness?"
Arthur woke up realising his mission was. He was sweating beads. His body was stiff, his muscles were aching. What happened? What's going on? What was he doing here? Where was here? He looked around and saw it was an infirmary. When did he arrive here?
Arthur touched his forehead and flinched from the cut he had touched. He started to flexed himself and found that he was wearing a number of bandages. In some part of his body, he could feel the pain and knew that he had broken a bone or two. Luckily his arms and legs seemed to be alright. He started pulling off some of the wires and was about to get up when someone entered the room.
"Damn, mate. You look like Lelouch's ghost." He saw Anduin dressed in the Arfon uniform of a black and red tunic with blue riding trousers and long black boots. It was based on the pattern of the Ashford Foundation's Household Guard and expanded out of it. The Foundation itself has been keen supporters of the Order for a long time.
"How long have I been out?" Arthur asked as he tried to get out of his bed. Anduin helped him to his feet.
"About six hours or so." The younger knight grinned. "You made quite an impression. Both the Knight of Two and the Empress herself was looking after you. She's barely left your side."
"Oh really?" Arthur muttered, not at all interested.
"You're not surprised? Damn, I've always had a hard time trying to get an impression out of females and you just attract them like bees to honey." The blond knight laughed.
Arthur smirked but allowed a small smile at his younger companion. Despite everything, Anduin was a good man, loyal, brave if a bit a little idealistic.
"You have my uniform?" Arthur asked. Anduin nodded and took out a folded set of uniform including his Knight's Cloak.
"Here it is." He said giving the clothes. "Do you want anything?"
"A cup of water. And an apology to Lloyd for destroying the prototype."
Anduin laughed. "Haha, yeah, well I think he'll love the performances you put up." With that the other knight rose and left to get water.
Left alone, Arthur started changing into his uniform putting on his longsword on his belt. Once finished, he checked himself in the mirror and saw that some of his dyed hair had blood on it. Using a wet towel in his room, he tried to wipe them out. Arthur once again looked at himself in the mirror and frowned as he suddenly saw himself with his hair and uniform become black.
The knight turned around to see a young woman with crimson hair dressed in the white and gold uniform of the infamous Knights of the Round. This one wore a crimson cloak that matched her fiery hair.
She looked surprised seeing him awake but gathered herself with the speed of a practiced soldier. The young woman started for him but stopped half-way as if uncertain to go any further. He raised his eyebrow in puzzlement which only made her all the more uncertain. Up closer, Arthur saw that the knight incredibly attractive. Her features were a mixture of Asian and Britannian. Her face was attractive. Her features were too strong for it. Her body was well toned and despite her small size, Arthur knew that she was a fearsome fighter and he saw it in her blue eyes which held a fiery taste to it and saw that it held great compassion as well. Somehow, she looked oddly familiar. Arthur felt...as if he met her before.
A voice called out. "Kallen? Are you here?"
"Kallen?" Arthur wondered. Somehow that name seems extremely familiar to him. As if he knew her...
A second Knight of the Round, a middle age woman with a grey cloak entered the room.
"Whoa!" She gasped. "Lelouch?" She blurted.
Arthur frowned. "I am Arthur Peregrine."
"Oh, forgive me. I'm Nonette Enneagram, the Knight of Four." She bowed. Arthur noted that she was a tall powerfully built woman and from the way she walks, he saw that she was a veteran of many battles. Arthur nodded to the royal knights. However, the red one, Kallen stood petrified at him.
Amused, Arthur smirked. "Heh, are you going to just stand there?" He asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Kallen, then suddenly trembled at his voice her eyes suddenly watered and ran off without a word.
"Huh? Kallen? Wait Kallen!" The woman went after the Knight of Two, leaving a confused Arthur alone in the room.
Then Anduin re-entered the room holding a glass of water looking behind. He stared at Arthur in surprise.
"Damn, you must tell me how you do that!"
"Who was that?" Arthur asked, taking the glass. "That girl...Kallen."
Anduin grinned. "Made a decision already, eh? Well...let's see. Kallen...Kallen Kozuki...the Knight of Two. A personal friend to Her Majesty. And one of the Black Knight Commanders in Britannia."
"Black Knight?" Then Arthur remembered. Kallen Kozuki...or otherwise known as Kallen Stadtfeld, daughter of James Stadtfeld, commonly known as the Ace of the Elevens, Captain of the Zero's Elite Guard...and...Arthur's eyes narrowed as he gripped his sword hint until his knuckles had turned white.
The one who betrayed Lelouch...
So that's the end. Sorry if it's just a short chapter. Read & Review!