Code Light Chapter 9: Blue makes a move
It had begun. Lelouch would have cringed if he weren't already used to it. The Brittanians had begun their "purging" of the elevens and he waited on standby. He needed to let the atrocity truly commence before he would be able to take control of the local resistance with their total obedience. He watched the radar in the Sutherland he...acquired from the Brittannian pilot he tricked. The small flashes of gunfire were just visible from the rubble where he remained stationed. It was time to move out. He tuned his radio and broadcasted to the resistance's channels. They yielded to him as soon as he spoke the name Zero, so easily led. Saitama played out as a rerun of Shinjuku. Until Cornelia surprised him.
"All units fall back!" Cornelia broadcasted to all troops. Did she have no stomach for battle or did she have a plan.
"N1, re-engage your IFF. Operate as a Brittanian unit." Perhaps Cornelia would fall for the decoy and believe it held him, either way N1 would be lost. Nevertheless you couldn't win a game of chess without losing a few pieces. Cornelia's guard charged in, as N1 attempted to make a stand but was quickly taken. Time to move his pieces.
"N2, transmit signal and fall back to the hospital ruins; R1, R2, hold your positions, only fire is attacked." But Cornelia wasn't having any of it. She must have expected a trap and had her units surround the area. He quickly commanded R1 and R2 to abort, who narrowly escaped.
"P2, P3 circle behind the enemy." He recieved no response. "P2, P3 can you hear me?"
"There's no way we can beat the royal guard, I'm out!" His pieces were abandoning the field and surrendering. Lelouch heard each group plea for surrender to be shot down. Did they expect any different? If they followed orders they could have lived! A final garbled scream came from B7s knightmare
"Zero! You said you would lead us to victory!" The sound of approaching nightmares followed by explosions.
The gloucesters may have been machines designed for war, but they had been designed by humans who do have an uncanny ability to make things in their image. It also would have helped that the knees had not been reinforced since not many pilots expected to be tackled by another knightmare frame. Aizawa deftly knocked out two of the knightmares at once, smashing the popliteal mechanisms. Would that be accurate, calling them popliteal? It most definitely was analogous to the knee in a human. He wasn't suited to the quick paced nature of battle but he thought he picked it up pretty quickly. He took another bite of delicious cake.
"Minase, if you would be so kind as to rescue that poor man in the knightmare. Matsuda, smash those factshpheres, you're very good at ruining things."
"Hey!" Matsuda shouted back. Naive he may have been, but Matsuda was an excellent shot and after a short period of training excellent at piloting a knightmare. Watching from his own factspheres, he saw the Brittanian forces begin to advance. It would be best to destroy the royal guard now, but he could surprise the Brittanians later with a ruthless streak if he ever got into a tight situation.
"Aizawa, make a fuss. We'll try to find Kira." Springing from building to building, Shuichi unleashed a fanfare of missiles. Perhaps too obvious a ploy, but it would serve as a distraction.
Lelouch breathed heavily as he clambered down the collapsing ruins. At the last minute three khaki nightmares unlike those he'd ever seen before appeared out of nowhere. They were thin and extremely nimble moving faster than any he'd seen before. Were they a new design from another resistance group, or someone else? He'd escaped with his life, but his victory had been usurped by a newcomer. Cornelia hadn't played fair in this battle, but even she did not expect another player.
"I will not lose again..." Lelouch muttered aloud "I will make it so that I am unstoppable! I will raise an army that acts as a people! A nation!" This defeat would not end him, he would only grow stronger. Charles would fall by his hand and by no other!
Lelouch rubbed his temples as he walked back along the streets. The design of those knightmares would be something to puzzle out. And who lead them? They were only involved for a matter of minutes, but the skilled execution of such innovative techniques required quick thinking. A thought passed through his head. Intelligent and quick-thinking. Able to persuade those to join his cause. Taking risky actions after assessing them. Could they have been led by Light? There was nothing to substantiate the idea, but surely with Light's recent disappearance it could be. Was he getting involved in this and for what purpose? Not even his brother Schniezel's plotting threw him into such chaotic confusion. He needed to learn to ground himself better and refuse to spin his own head in circles.
Reinvigorated would be a sore understatement. Striding back into his room he took only passing notice at C.C. who was dressed as Zero.
"So it seems you had someone else to save you this time. I almost did so, but it appeared as if they had it under control." Lelouch did not respond, disappearing into his own mind. There remained a silence for a time
"It seems you were right C.C." He stated "I must make a move now and I have just the piece."
"Aw man! I can't believe he got away!" Matsuda groaned.
"Yes, thank you Matsuda. I did not notice." L rocked on his feet and thought of Zero. He called in L to investigate the Kira case. He'd explained to him that he needed Kira's identity to make contact. The way he acted made it seem as though he wished to prevent Kira from killing any of his troops who were terrorists wanted by the Brittanian government. L thought of it a different way. After watching Zero, it became clear he had a flair for the dramatic. It seemed more likely that Zero wanted the attention of the media and Kira had siphoned off coverage during his debut. As time passed the constant and detached nature of the killings continued, the public had lost interest and so did Zero.
"So what are we going to do Ryuzaki? What if..." Aizawa hit Matsuda in the head.
"Matsuda! He's thinking!" L knew Aizawa didn't wish to jump to his defense. However being rich enough to buy out an entire cafe across the street from Tokyo Tower and engineer his own knightmares, he ended up paying Aizawa a tidy sum. The man had a family after all and the pay at Task Force 11 was never enough to pay a Japanese man's debts. He was their only hope to catch both Kira and Zero.
"Go back home for now. I'll call when I need you." After they'd all left L let out a sigh.
"What is your next move?" Watari asked
"If you would, I would like something to eat. I simply can't work on an empty stomach." Watari returned with a delectable looking dish covered in custard and crowned with a strawberry.
"It is cabinet pudding. I traded recipes with a butler by the name of Sebastien after I beat him in a cooking contest. It is one of my personal favourites."
"You need to make this more." L remarked with his mouth still full "I can feel my head clear already." Polishing off the plate he returned to a more serious tone.
"Well Watari, I do not wish to become one of the factions in the rebellion, but it is the wisest course of action."
"Is it?"
"Zero's interest in Kira was for his own benefit in this war. It is he who I wish to find more about, so I need to get closer to him. If I were to appear as the leader of a smaller rebel group, he will assimilate us getting us very close."
"There are many better pilots than you. Your intelligence will outdo them, but is it enough to take on all of Brittania?"
"You did gain your fortune through invention Watari."
"I will not be around to make you anymore pudding for a while if I do undertake this." L pretended to act undecided
"I suppose you should make me several before you leave then."