(A/N)
Hey, it's my first second chapter ever, hurray!
Welcome back to My Next Life as a Demon, the fanfic I write when I feel bad about not writing Kallen of the Atonement! Wait, that doesn't sound so good. Anyway, here it is! It's been a while, but I do hope the chapter being over thrice the length of the previous one is adequate compensation (it's probably not. Then again, I don't really care).
A new thing in this chapter is the inclusion of multiple POVs. I've struggled with how to differentiate between POV changes and scene changes and finally decided that a double separator with -0- in between = POV switch, a single separator = scene transition. Let me know how it works out.
That's it for now, although there are things I want to address in the end notes, so remember to read those too.
Now, without further ado, let's get started with My Next Life as a Demon: Chapter 2!
Chapter 2: Team Deathmatch
Blue spots swarm all over the tactical screen of Villetta's Sutherland, reflecting the troop movements of the Britannian Army within the ghetto. They face no resistance; bullets fired from an RPI-13 Sutherland Assault Rifle reduce unprotected human beings to a bloody paste. As intended, in fact, for the knightmare frames were originally created to be used against conventional forces as terror weapons. The first model designed specifically with anti-knightmare capabilities in mind is the RPI-209 Gloucester. The Britannian forces sent to exterminate Shinjuku don't have any of those, but against a bunch of terrified civilians, they're hardly needed. The rebels in the ghetto - led, as I very well know, by the one and only Kaname Ohgi - number only a handful and with a single, barely functional RPI-11 Glasgow at their disposal, they stand no chance against the superior Sutherlands. The fact that they lasted as long as they have is a testament to Kallen's immense skill and talent, but even she can't hold for much longer. Well, let's bolster her a little.
I pull out the communicator I grabbed from the truck. It's a clunky, old-school device with a dial for switching radio frequencies. Different channels are clearly labeled as 'General', 'Ohgi', 'Yoshida', 'Takada' and 'Glasgow', allowing any random Britannian citizen who happens to stumble upon it to discover the cell leaders' names and report them to the authorities as any responsible, law-abiding Britannian should. Kallen, Kallen, Kallen, I'm so disappointed in you.
I switch to the general frequency first. This is Kallen's personal communicator, which means that without it, she shouldn't be able to hear it from inside her knightmare unless she's currently on the open channel. Then again, it's her own fault for leaving the thing behind.
"To all surviving resistance members, head towards the western railroad," I speak into the communicator. Soon enough, a familiar voice from the other side responds.
"Who are you? Why should we listen to you?"
"Not now, Kallen's in danger. Do as I say, and she'll be saved." With that, I close the connection and begin moving westward myself, not bothering to wait for the reply. Ohgi will listen, and if he doesn't, then well, he doesn't. I'm not making that decision for him.
As I make my way through the ruins, I watch my tactical screen, where a pair of blue triangles chase a single red triangle. I know Kallen must be running low on energy by now. Time to intervene.
After quickly confirming what I know to be the best tactical option, I switch the communicator to the Glasgow's internal frequency. "The west entrance," I say. "Use the tracks to move to the west entrance."
"Who are you!? How do you know this code!?" There's an ever-so-slight undertone of panic in her voice. She knows she's being cornered, and only now she's beginning to realize that she doesn't want to die yet.
"There's no time. I can help you win, but you have to trust me."
"Win?" I hear her murmur, and with that, I know I've got her. A moment later, the red triangle on the screen changes direction, confirming my victory. Soon, I can see her from my hiding spot overlooking the tracks, pursued by Jeremiah and one of his Pureblood cohorts. Just in time for the approaching train.
"What now?"
"Jump onto the train. Oh, and switch your comms to the general channel." I'm not going to repeat myself just for her.
She does as I say without hesitation. Jeremiah holds the train with his Sutherland's metal hand, grinding it to a stop. His underling prepares to jump over him onto the carriage. We can't have that. I aim my slash harkens carefully. Let's see if I'm a better shot in this life than in the last one.
A pair of rocket-propelled anchors slams into the enemy knightmare in midair, tearing off its arms, prompting an emergency ejection. I release a breath I didn't even notice I was holding. I managed to avoid damaging the cockpit. It may be irrational, but I'd rather not kill unless there's no other choice. I guess I understand Suzaku a little better now.
It only takes a moment for Jeremiah to notice me. The fact that I'm using Villetta's Sutherland will keep him confused for a moment, but it won't take him long to figure out that I'm not one of his men and move to eliminate me. I need to act before that happens. If I had his personal communication codes, maybe I could convince him to side with me, or at least stand down for long enough to let Kallen escape, using my identity. Or maybe not. Even with the codes, it would be a risky proposition. Without them, that option is closed to me regardless, leaving only the violent approach.
An assault rifle volley cripples the Sutherland's legs, forcing Jeremiah to eject. Sorry, my orange friend, but I can't allow you to proceed. I retreat deeper into the building as soon as it is done. No point in having the rebels mistake me for an enemy. Speaking of which, my factsphere detects them approaching. Now, the fun part begins.
-0-
"Hello, Kaname." I freeze when the person on the radio addresses me by name. I'm starting to get seriously creeped out. Who is this? He knows our names, or at least mine and Kallen's. He has access to our communication codes. I feel the questioning gazes of the others on me. They're probably wondering if I know this voice. I don't. I'd never heard it before today. Could it be some acquaintance of Kallen's? Someone from her school maybe? But how could that be? Kallen doesn't have any friends at school, and even if she did, she would never share our secrets with anyone. Or would she?
"Inside this train is my gift to you," the voice proclaims. At the same time, Kallen uses her Glasgow to open the carriage doors. I take a look inside and gasp. Sutherlands. A whole lot of Sutherlands, more than we have people to pilot them. All ours.
"You can use it to fight back, but it won't be enough," the voice continues. "You are currently outnumbered" - a momentary pause - "seventeen to one. I can help you win, but you have to do exactly as I say."
Help us win? Is that even possible? The enemy has every possible kind of advantage. Whoever this person is, he must be either incredibly good or incredibly stupid.
The others start whispering among themselves. Tamaki walks up to me and yanks the communicator out of my hand.
"Who are you even!? Why should we trust you!? This might be a trap!" Damn it, Tamaki, learn to keep your voice down. This place is crawling with Britannians, you could give away our position.
"Tamaki-" Kallen starts saying. The voice interrupts her.
"My name is irrelevant, Shinichiro, but if you have to, you may call me Zero. As for how you're supposed to know if I'm trustworthy, you don't. As I've mentioned earlier, you are outnumbered seventeen to one. You have no chance of surviving but the one I'm offering you. You can take it or not. The choice is yours." He's not wrong. This might be our only chance of getting out of Shinjuku alive. However…
"Tamaki's got a point," I say, reclaiming my communicator. "You show up out of nowhere, know our names, our communication codes and who knows what else about us, and you ask for unconditional trust even though you won't even give us your real name? That's no foundation to build trust upon."
"You may not have anything to lose, Kaname, but I do," Zero replies, his tone cold and harsh. Seems like I've offended him. "I have friends and family who will become targets if Britannia ever discovers my involvement with you. You speak of trust, but what reason do I have to trust you with their safety? The less you know, the less you can tell if you get captured, so yes, Zero is all you're getting. Whether that changes in the future will be decided at a later date." Is that it? I admit that protecting loved ones is something I haven't had to worry about in a while, but I can understand the sentiment. I think back to the kids I used to teach. I don't know if I could do what I do if it put them in danger. But even then, this seems excessively paranoid. I can help but think there's more to it than Zero says.
I notice Inoue approaching me with a similar doubt in her eyes.
"May I?"
I hand her my communicator.
"If it is as you say, why bother helping us at all? Why risk everything to save a bunch of resistance members in a run-down ghetto? There's no way you care about us that much. What's your goal here, Zero?" Silence falls after Inoue's accusation. She's right; there's a greater game at play here. There must be; this is all too suspicious. But what could it be? It doesn't make any sense.
"How cynical," Zero's voice breaks the silence, disrupting my thoughts. "Do the lives of your people mean so little to you, Naomi? After having so recklessly endangered them by bringing Clovis' pet project into their home, you would leave them to be slaughtered?" My eyes widen in shock. Is he accusing us of not caring about the Japanese? There's only a handful of us left, what are we supposed to do!? "I am disappointed. If you would rather throw your lives away in a futile show of defiance than defend the innocent, perhaps I have misjudged you after all."
"You bastard! How dare you speak to Inoue like that!"
"Shut up, Tamaki." I motion for Inoue to give my communicator back. "Zero, are you saying you can save them?"
"Not all of them, but yes, it is within my power. I cannot do it alone, however; if you don't work with me, I'll be forced to leave them at the mercy of Britannia. The choice is yours, Kaname, but be quick. The longer you dawdle, the fewer people we can save. The clock's ticking. Tick. Tock."
I feel the eyes of my comrades on me, awaiting my decision. Damn it, damn it, damn it. I'm really not cut out for this. I wish Naoto was here. He would know what to do. He always did. Stop! Focus, Kaname! Naoto's not here, you are. Everyone's counting on you. You're the leader. Lead.
To be honest with myself, it's not really much of a choice at all. Our situation is as hopeless as Zero said it is. We don't have the numbers to fight the military or punch through the encirclement. Whatever plan he has, I don't see how it could be worse than what we have right now. It's not like he's demanding a lifetime allegiance, it's just a temporary alliance. And he did save Kallen as he promised. I suppose he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
"Fine. We'll do it." I take a look at the others. They don't seem convinced. Tamaki scowls, but before he can say anything, we hear Zero's voice over the comms, sounding insufferably smug.
"Excellent. I knew I could count on you, Kaname. Now, here's the plan. I can make Clovis withdraw his forces from the ghetto, but I need you to open a path for me. The viceroy is many things, but a competent tactician is not one of them. Destroy enough of his forces, and he'll panic."
"You want us to fight them? Didn't you say we have no chance?"
"You didn't. But now you have me. I will coordinate. Follow my orders to the letter, and we'll crush the Britannians in no time." What? That sounds preposterous. How arrogant is this man? I'm starting to have second thoughts about this. "Now, get into your knightmares. They should have their IFF beacons disabled. If not, make it so that they do. Kallen."
"Yes, Zero?"
"Recharge your energy filler. You'll be running decoy. And send me your map of the area while you're at it."
"Uh, I have a map, but it doesn't have any current landmarks."
"It'll do. Now, get used to the controls. They should handle much like the Glasgow. The operation starts in ten minutes. Be ready."
"Got it."
"Excellent. Oh, and one more thing. The enemy has a secret weapon - a prototype 7th generation knightmare frame equipped with experimental technology and piloted by a devicer of extreme skill." 7th generation? I thought they were still perfecting the 5th! What kind of monstrosity have the Britannians been working on? "It has been brought to Area 11 for field testing. I expect Clovis to bring it out as a last resort. Should you come into contact with it, do not engage. It is far beyond your ability to defeat. Try to pull it into a chase if you can, but if it catches up to you, eject immediately."
Suddenly something occurs to me. If this 7th generation frame really exists, then it hasn't been officially revealed. That means it must be a military secret. A very closely guarded military secret.
"Wait, how do you know all of that?"
I can practically hear his grin on the other side of the radio.
"Because I'm Zero."
-0-
Contrary to popular opinion, I don't actually believe that chess, or any game for that matter, can be used to simulate a real battle with any degree of accuracy. The reasons for that are many and varied, but most of them boil down to the fact that games are typically designed with the underlying principle of fairness in mind. All of the participants are supposed to have roughly equal odds of victory, and the rules ensure that no outside advantage interferes with the strictly regulated, hermetic world of the game. The competition is decided purely by skill. May the best player win.
A real battle is nothing like that. There is no fairness on the battlefield, no constraining framework of rules. There is no one to make sure the sides are evenly matched and the playing field level. No one to complain to when your opponent starts fighting dirty. No one to stop you from using every advantage you can think of to get ahead. Victory goes to the one who cheats the hardest and stacks the odds in their favor.
"P-3, P8, three enemy Sutherlands behind the corner on your right. Estimated contact, thirteen seconds."
And yet, despite knowing all of that, I can't deny that this battle, moving my troops around with pinpoint precision, anticipating my opponent's movements and countering them, all of that reminds me strongly of a chess match. A ridiculously high-stakes chess match where even the smallest mistake on either side may result in someone potentially losing their life. Yeah, no pressure whatsoever.
"R-1, move to point 3B. Two hostiles approaching from the southeast, prepare to intercept."
Despite what I told Ohgi, I'm not really all that certain I can pull this off. Clovis is a moron, sure, but it's not like I have any actual experience in this kind of thing. Just because I win at chess sometimes doesn't make me a military genius. But if there is one thing I know for certain, it's that overthinking never helps. This is the best plan I have. If it fails, well, I'll be worrying about it then. So far, it hasn't.
"Q-1, lead your pursuers to point 7D. B-1, B-2, prepare an ambush."
Too many. There's still too many. We've managed to bring the enemy numbers down to fourteen times our own, but we're still at a crippling disadvantage. We have yet to sustain any losses, but it's only a matter of time. We cannot elude them forever. Sooner or later, I will make a mistake, and it will be costly. Faster. We must beat them faster, or prolonged attrition will be our end.
"P-6, advance a hundred meters southward. P-1, reinforce N-2 at point 4G. P-5, fire at your left in seven seconds."
Ignoring Tamaki's grumbling, I take a moment to take a few deep breaths and reassess the situation. So commanding soldiers is exhausting, who would have thought. I wonder how Clovis is feeling right now. Probably really scared.
"Q-1, retreat to point 3D. P-1, N-2, hostiles at your position in 7 seconds."
Five more down. Clovis is starting to run out of reserve troops. His main priority is maintaining the encirclement. He can't let C.C. escape the ghetto; his political career is on the line. He will sacrifice his own safety rather than risk his secret project coming out - a foolish error, but understandable from his perspective. He's a prince of Britannia after all; surely no lowly Eleven would ever dare lay a hand on him, right?
"P-6, advance another hundred meters. P-3, P-8, regroup with R-2 at point 6E."
Aaaaaand here it is - the mistake that's going to give us the victory. In its arrogance, the dragon has exposed its soft underbelly. But there are still many foes in the way. Far too many. We need to bait out the Lancelot.
"R-1, relocate to point 4B. B-1, B-2, reinforce P-5 at point 5A. A group of seven approaching from the northeast, estimated contact in twenty-two seconds."
Too slow. We must do better. Clovis' hand is probably halfway to the panic button now. If he lets the Lancelot out while the majority of the Britannian forces are still in the field, we're screwed. We can't fight Suzaku, not even Kallen can. The best we can do is work around him, and for that, we need a clear path to Clovis. We must achieve that before the Lancelot hits the field.
…Wait.
Oh shit.
"P-6, enemy contact in two- R-1, B-1, reinforce P-6 immediately!" They won't make it in time, they're too far away. Fuck! "P-6, retreat!" No response. "P-6, do you hear me? Report!" Still nothing. "P-6! Yoshitaka!"
I notice that the group that attacked Yoshitaka Minami consists of one less blue spot than before. At least he went down fighting. There's no way they had known he was there; they got him by sheer dumb luck. No, luck had nothing to do with it. I fucked up, plain and simple. I was focused on other things and overlooked a bunch of Sutherlands heading toward Minami's position. I knew this strategy to be very cognitive-load-intensive, but I thought I could handle it. I bet my canon self wouldn't make such a mistake.
I cannot afford to doubt myself now, I know that. The battle is still far from won, and everything rests on my shoulders. A moment of hesitation with orders can make a difference between a miracle and a disaster. Bold and decisive, that's what Zero must be. That's what works. I force myself to ignore the sliver of apprehension gnawing at the back of my mind. I mustn't give in to my weakness. There's too much at stake.
Have I mentioned that this battle reminds me of a chess match? Because it suddenly feels a lot more like an RTS game. And I've never been good at those.
"R-1, B-1, retreat to your previous position. P-6 is down."
"What do you mean, down?"
"I mean what I said, N-2. Three hostiles approaching from the east, at your position in thirteen seconds, don't get distracted."
"Uh, sure," Yoshida replies, sounding anything but.
"P-3, P-8, R-2, five Sutherlands from the northwest, estimated contact in fifteen seconds. After you eliminate them, withdraw to point 5E." Silence. "P-3, confirm your orders, please."
After two seconds of hesitation, I hear Sugiyama's nervous confirmation. This is bad. The entire plan relies on orders being carried out exactly and without delay. If morale breaks now, it's all over.
"Everyone, calm down. We can still win this as long as you continue to follow my instructions."
"Easy for you to say!" shouts Tamaki, because of course it is him. Who else would jump at the chance to undermine my authority when I really need it unundermined? "You have us do all the dirty work while sitting around hell knows where!"
Technically, he's not wrong. I am sitting around hell knows where - truth be told, even I don't really know where exactly I am, having moved several times to prevent the Britannians from getting suspicious - and have them do all the dirty work. It's not exactly by choice, though; active participation in combat would adversely impact my ability to coordinate, which is vastly more valuable as a contribution than what little extra firepower I would be able to provide. Not that I expect Tamaki to understand such sophisticated concepts.
"Do you suggest surrender, then?" I reply instead. There's no time to get into a drawn-out debate. Every wasted second increases the probability of another loss exponentially. I need to shut him up as soon as possible. "Have you perhaps forgotten how dire your situation is? If you're so eager to die, go ahead, but please, refrain from dragging the rest of us down with you." Shinichiro Tamaki, I swear, if you ruin this operation, I'll kill you. Possibly literally. "Now, take B-1 and B-2 and move to point 5B. We've wasted enough time as it is."
"You bastard-"
"With respect, Zero," Yoshida speaks up, cutting Tamaki off, "we're out here fighting for our lives, we don't know what's going on, and one of us might be dead. You keep saying you can win this, but we don't even know if we've made any progress. You can't blame us for having doubts in this situation."
I can't believe it. Is this really how it ends? Am I truly so pathetic an imitation, that I cannot do what my canon self did effortlessly? One misstep. That's how much it took to obliterate my carefully planned strategy. And I should have seen it coming, too. There is no real trust between Zero and the rebels. They would only follow me for as long as I continue to produce results. And I've failed. I've made a mistake, given them reasons to question me, and because of that, we're going to lose. We're going to lose, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.
"Guys, stop it," Ohgi says, cutting me off before I can find words to respond. "Minami knew the risks, we all did. That doesn't change a thing. Panicking won't help us get out of here. Hell, it's because of panicking that we ended up here in the first place!" Huh, really? I did always wonder about that… "Like it or not, Zero is our only way out. It's too late to get cold feet now, so let's just get this over with."
My canon self's decision to make this man his second-in-command suddenly makes so much more sense. Despite his naivety and poor decision-making skills, Kaname Ohgi somehow possesses this sort of awkward charisma that makes people want to trust him. Straightforward, level-headed, and easily likable, he's the lynchpin holding what would become the Order of the Black Knights together. While Zero has the grand vision and the ability to captivate the masses that other potential leaders lack, he is, at the same time, detached and inhuman; an ideal instead of a person. Ohgi offsets that by being the human face the rebellion desperately needs. While Kallen was the most dedicated of my canon self's followers, Ohgi was always the first to support him when the others' faith faltered, keeping the Black Knights unified against the odds. And consequently, when he turned against Zero, the others were quick to follow.
My musings are quickly interrupted by their subject. "Orders, Zero?" Right, there's still a battle to win.
I know what has to be done. I think I knew all along. Other options are too risky, our position too precarious.
"All forces, find secure positions away from point 4E and hide." The comms channel explodes with confused yelling and questions. I'm having none of that. "Do it!"
"You heard the man, move!" Damn, Ohgi, if you keep being this helpful, I'm going to have to reconsider my APOO (Always Pick On Ohgi) policy.
"Q-1, how quickly can you disable your IFF?"
"Uh, about fifteen seconds, I think?"
"Do it. B-group, R-group, cover her."
I wait until the red spot on my tactical screen disappears.
"Q-1, there should be a tunnel entrance about 400 meters east of your position. Go there. B-group, R-group, you're now Q-group. Your orders are to assist Q-1 in this task."
I know this is going to work. I've seen it work.
"Okay, what now?"
"Descend into the tunnels and seek out the old underground parking lot in the vicinity of point 4E. Once you get there, turn your IFF back on." I have no idea what logic the tunnels beneath the Shinjuku ghetto follow, but they're there, and I'm about to capitalize on it.
After nearly a minute of waiting, a red spot reappears on my screen.
I can already see the Britannians mobilizing. Clovis must be desperate by now. He's sending all his units in the hopes of crushing us. He's in for a nasty surprise. "Q-group, the enemy forces are converging on your position. On my mark, collapse the pillars and run like hell."
Swarms of blue spots are closing in on the single red spot from every direction. There are so many of them, more than I thought there would be. There's no way we could ever defeat them in a fair fight. But there is no fairness on the battlefield; victory goes to the one who cheats the hardest.
"Mark."
Like a wave sweeping over the surface of water after throwing a stone, blue spots begin to disappear, replaced by little icons reading 'LOST' as the ground gives out under their knightmares' metal feet. The destruction is greater than I imagined; it spreads out entire streets away from the epicenter, bringing down several ruined buildings. Only a handful of units manage to escape the trap. The Shinjuku extermination force is no more.
"It worked, Zero! It really worked!"
While my soldiers cheer and revel in this incredible victory, I force down a wave of nausea as an image of mangled bodies amidst the debris creeps into my mind. Dead bodies. Dead people. People that I killed. Their blood is on my hands.
There is no going back now.
I regain my self-control just in time to see a new blue spot entering the battlefield at an improbable speed from the direction Clovis' mobile command center is stationed. It looks exactly like a normal Sutherland, but I'm not fooled. No Sutherland could ever move with such swiftness. This can only be the ASEEC's experimental weapon, the Z-01 Lancelot. Suzaku, my frenemy, you have finally joined the fray.
"All forces, here are your final orders. The enemy has deployed a 7th generation knightmare frame. You have no chance of beating it. Try to delay it as much as possible, but prioritize survival. Once you eject, find shelter and wait for the fighting to end. Zero out."
"Wait!" Ohgi cries out. "You can't leave now! You said you would help us win, and now you're just going to abandon us when we're about to lose!?"
"On the contrary, Kaname," I reply, grinning to myself. "We have already won."
-0-
The Lancelot handles marvelously, moving at my command with no delay like a second body as I zoom through the ruined streets of Shinjuku faster than I ever thought possible. I feel powerful like never before; like I could take on all the armies in the world and win. I know that's not possible, of course, no matter how I wish it was. But perhaps this power that I have will be enough to stop the violence tearing this ghetto apart.
The objective is simple. Eliminate every terrorist. They must be made to pay for their actions here. Once captured, they will probably be executed - regrettable, but it's not my place to decide their punishment. I'm a soldier of Britannia, and I have a mission. I must fulfill it to the best of my ability. Questioning my superiors isn't going to help. If the terrorists have to die for their transgressions, so be it. Maybe at least others will learn how opposing the Empire always ends.
I stop to deploy my factsphere, searching for movement in the area. The reports mention the terrorists using stolen Sutherlands with their IFF beacons disabled. That means I won't be able to see them on my tactical screen. I'm going to have to find them the hard way, and the fastest way is periodically scanning for movements. Any knightmare detected that doesn't appear on my screen is an enemy. But there's also something, or rather, someone else I'm hoping to find.
Lelouch and the girl from the capsule haven't been found. They haven't reported to any of the soldiers forming the blockade; that in itself is unsurprising - if Lelouch hasn't been found by his family for seven years, it obviously means he doesn't want to be. After everything he told me about what the royal family is like, I can't really blame him. I wouldn't want to live there either. But if he hasn't reported, that means he's still in Shinjuku. Maybe, just maybe, I can still find him alive.
Suddenly, the sensors detect movement behind me, and, unsurprisingly, it's a terrorist. Three of them in fact. I turn around quickly and rush at them at full speed. They open fire with their assault rifles, but I quickly deploy my Blaze Luminous shields. The Lancelot's armor is formidable, but not bulletproof.
Their movements are pathetically slow compared to mine. I catch up to them in a second and disable the one on the right with a kick to the midsection, causing the devicer to eject. The middle one launches their slash harkens at me, but I evade them effortlessly and move to punch the terrorist in the face. They hit the eject button a split-second before my fist connects, crushing the Sutherland's head module. The remaining opponent tries to escape, but I'm faster, breaking the frame's legs with a sweeping kick and forcing another ejection. Three down, however many to go.
As I continue moving across the streets, taking down terrorists along the way, I come upon a giant crater filled with rubble and metal. Someone collapsed the tunnels underneath a whole battalion of knightmares. I can see a few open cockpits, suggesting that at least some of the soldiers managed to escape with their lives. But the majority are buried under the rubble from the streets and collapsed buildings. Mercifully, I can't see any civilians, but that doesn't mean there aren't any, crushed to paste by the falling concrete.
So many people, killed so effortlessly. Someone did this on purpose. A terrorist. A murderer. That's what they always are, murderers and cowards. They never care about who they hurt, they just cause pain for the sake of it. This place is the best proof of that. If they haven't brought that capsule in here, all of this bloodshed could have been avoided. And now they're going to kill more people, just to get away. But they won't get away. I will stop them, no matter what.
Suddenly, I catch a glimpse of a red triangle passing through the edge of my tactical screen. I immediately start pursuit. It's one of the terrorists, no doubt. I've heard they had one knightmare of their own at their disposal - a dilapidated Glasgow if I'm not mistaken. Goes to show how poorly thought out their so-called 'resistance' actually is. And yet, they've managed to destroy over a hundred knightmares today. What changed?
The Glasgow is in my line of sight now, badly battered and missing an arm. The pilot has noticed me and is fleeing from me. I launch a slash harken, but they avoid it. No problem, I catch up to them in moments, ready to take the enemy machine down with a jumping kick… Which hits the air. What? They dodged? How!? A Glasgow, especially this damaged, should be too slow to react! How good is the devicer of this frame!?
"Hey, Britannian!" a voice comes from the Glasgow's loudspeakers, unmistakably female. "Eat this!" The terrorist attempts to stab me with a stun tonfa, but I catch it and twist, breaking the knightmare's other arm. However good she is, a Glasgow's no match for the Lancelot.
"Stop this pointless violence at once!"
"Pointless violence!? You're the ones killing everybody!" Even without arms, she still attempts to hit me in the face with her remaining slash harken. I dodge easily and strike her in the chest, pushing her back several meters.
"Zero was right. You are powerful." With these words, the terrorist hits the eject button before I can follow up on my strike. I briefly consider following her cockpit block, but I have more important things on my mind.
Zero. Is that the name of the terrorist leader? Was it he, or she, who caused that collapse? Do they know where Lelouch and that girl are? It seems that whoever that Zero person is, I must find them in order for this to end.
This proves easier said than done, however, as I spend the next minutes futilely searching the ghetto for any signs of life. Whatever people survived, they are hiding now, and so are the terrorists. There are no signs of life as I prowl the now-dead city of Shinjuku like a starving predator desperately looking for prey. What a disgusting comparison. Have I really fallen so low as to traverse a bloody battlefield looking for a brawl? Oh well, orders are orders.
Eventually, a friendly, immobile IFF signal registers on my screen. I look around and notice a lone Sutherland standing on the third story of a ruined building. I try hailing the devicer, to no avail. Like it's been abandoned. But why?
The cockpit is empty when I reach it. Someone just up and left their knightmare mid-battle without ejecting. There are no signs of struggle of any kind, and the IFF is active and broadcasting. Even the key is still in the socket, as if left there on purpose. And then it hits me.
Zero. He or she captured one of our Sutherlands and used our own IFF signature to track our movements and relay them to the terrorists. With their beacons disabled, they were invisible to our tracking, but not the other way around. Extremely clever. It's clear that we're dealing with a very dangerous individual. But that's not what worries me.
Zero knew I was coming. That terrorist girl with the Glasgow said as much. They knew I was coming and got away ahead of time. And they left this Sutherland here to taunt me.
Well, that might still come back to bite them. A knightmare activation key can be used to identify its owner. Then we can use it to determine how Zero came into possession of this frame. The person responsible for this carnage will not get away.
I'm just about to leave my cockpit when my comms blare to life. "Attention all forces! Cease fire at once!" Cease fire? Now? "I, Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia and Royal Viceroy of Area 11, hereby command you, all forces are ordered to cease fire at once! You also cease destruction of any buildings or property. All casualties, whether Britannian or Eleven, shall be treated equally and without prejudice. In the name of Clovis la Britannia, you are hereby ordered, cease fire at once! I shall allow no further fighting!"
-0-
"Are you satisfied?"
"Not bad, but it could use some more panache," I retort drily. "A bit more of that dramatic flair, you know. Some sweeping gestures, perhaps." The tone of my voice belies the fact that I'm currently standing in the command room of Clovis' G-1, pointing a gun - which I've swiped off some soldier along with the uniform, because of course I forgot to take Villetta's - straight at the center of the viceroy's forehead, scared out of my mind, violating just about every gun safety rule I've ever heard of. Only Lelouch's superhuman self-control prevents me from completely losing my shit and accidentally blowing the Third Prince's head off. Note to self: use an empty gun next time.
"So, what shall we do now? Sing a few lively ballads, or perhaps a nice game of chess?" Gotta hand it to Clovis, despite being the one with a gun pointed at his face, he doesn't seem nearly as terrified as I am. I can't tell if it's actual courage or if he just doesn't believe that someone would really go through with shooting him.
"I think I'll pass." This is the moment my canon self revealed himself to Clovis, who subsequently passed the information to Charles post-mortem. I can't in good conscience call it a mistake, to be honest, because he had no way of knowing that speaking with the dead through the Sword of Akasha is possible. But now that I do know that, well… I don't know if Charles will be able to obtain that information through other means, either legitimate or plot convenience bullshit. He probably will, but on the off-chance he won't, I'm not going to give it up freely.
Clovis does bring up a good point, though. What now? Technically, I've achieved what I aimed for. I didn't come here to deliver vigilante justice. I wanted to save people, and people have been saved. I could just turn around and walk away. But that's too risky, isn't it? He could just restart the slaughter the moment the immediate threat to his life is gone. And besides, this massacre is merely a cherry on top of the villainous cake for him.
I know what Suzaku would say to that. The rebels are to blame. If they hadn't stolen the capsule, Britannia wouldn't have a reason to attack Shinjuku. And that's true. But ultimately, the massacre happened because Clovis is a selfish, trigger-happy psycho in charge of other selfish, trigger-happy psychos. No one forced him to give that order, he did it out of convenience. Swimming through an ocean of blood in exchange for keeping his political career intact doesn't even register as a price in his mind. People like him shouldn't, no, mustn't be allowed to wield power, and cowering before them when they reach for it with violence only serves to make them more assured of being above the laws of humans. I can feel the urge to put a bullet in Clovis' degenerate, sociopathic brain welling up within me. But…
Some part of me can't help but pity him just a little bit. I mean, it's not his fault that he was raised to be a monster (well, he might be genetically inclined, but that's not on him either). In a way, he's just another one of Charles' victims, not unlike Just About Every Single Person Ever. If I haven't been exiled, I could easily see myself in his position. Well, maybe not my current self, but my canon self, certainly.
I have hated Charles zi Britannia ever since I first heard of him, but I don't think I've ever hated him as deeply as I do right now. The man responsible for corrupting my family, poisoning my country and sending my world hurtling towards destruction, all for bullshit reasons only he and his equally deranged wife can make any sense of, he must be stopped.
What am I to do with you, Clovis? I don't want to kill you, but the innocents you murdered scream for justice. I agree that letting you get away scot-free is a bad idea. I suppose I could make you my slave and use you as a puppet to rule Area 11 from the shadows, but I'm pretty sure that's worse than just killing you, and a much bigger security risk long-term. Or I could, you know, bring you to actual justice. Hmm…
"Before I leave, Your Highness, there's one more favor I need to ask for," I say smoothly. "In two days' time, I'd like you to arrange a press conference, during which you will publicly confess to every atrocity, shady deal, crime and abuse of power you have committed during your time as the Viceroy of Area 11, as well as name every one of your associates who participated in similar activities and reveal the extent of their participation. Can you do that for me?"
"Certainly," Clovis replies, dazed from Geass ravaging his brain. "It won't be an issue at all."
Now, isn't that a diabolical plot? Once the viceroy's confession airs, the Emperor will have no choice but to intervene. Clovis' will be stripped of his power and banished or executed, the credibility of the Britannian rulership will take a serious hit, the next viceroy will likely be forced to purge the corrupt administration just to mitigate the backlash, the unrest among the Japanese will grow, and all of it will happen in perfect accordance with Suzaku's precious system, and none of it will be on my conscience! Oh, hypocrisy, how I love you.
With that done, there's no reason for me to stay here any longer. I turn around and leave, ignoring the Third Prince's puzzled expression. All I want at this point is a shower and a bed. It's been a harrowing day, and I have a feeling it's only the first of many.
(A/N)
…Aaaaaand, cut.
Fun fact: Lelouch's speech patterns in this story are roughly based on my own. I really do speak like that when fancy strikes me, which is fairly often. Now, the three main things I wanted to comment on:
Ohgi and helpfulness: when I started out with this story, I fully intended to adhere to the APOO policy. After all, Lelouch was a CG fan in his previous life, and every CG fan hates Ohgi. Poor Kaname would have to deal with Zero being mean to him for no reason, which would lead to him taking a more antagonistic stance in the future. But then I started actually writing him, and my perspective changed. The nice, reasonable Ohgi from early R1 is just so much harder to hate than the paranoid asshole from late R2, and has so much more potential. I'm now exploring new avenues for the Ohgi/Zero (platonic) relationship to develop.
Lelouch and the collapse: some of you might find it strange that Lelouch would react so poorly to causing the collapse after having been fighting a battle for a while (and having seen a lot of death during the invasion). Well, there are two main reasons for that. Firstly, thanks to the implementation of ejection seats, the survivability of knightmare pilots is quite high. On average, every devicer has more than a 50% chance of coming out of a defeat unharmed, unless more advanced weapons like the MVS are used. With that in mind it's quite easy for Lelouch's brain to delude itself that 'hey, they're probably fine'. That's not the case with the collapse. As Suzaku noticed, there were some survivors, but the fatality rate still exceeded 90%. And that's not even getting into potential civilian casualties. The other thing is that there's a significant cognitive difference between intellectually recognizing the need to kill and actually doing it. Killing doesn't come to most people naturally; that's why gunshot wounds suffered in combat situations usually aren't immediately fatal. Combine that with Lelouch's inherited aversion to violence and, well, there you have it.
Suzaku and, well, everything: Suzaku Kururugi is an immensely frustrating character to follow. That doesn't mean he's a bad character. He's not. The story wouldn't work without him. The constant ideological back-and-forth between him and Lelouch is the soul of Code Geass, and keeps both of them compelling. His arc is very well executed, one of the best in the show. Unfortunately, none of that makes listening to his increasingly hollow platitudes any less annoying. Why am I saying this? Because Lelouch is gonna be coming down on Suzaku HARSH in this fic, because there is a lot of bullshit he needs to be properly called out for that no one else seems to address, and I don't want you to get the wrong impression. I don't hate Suzaku, I actually agree with him on many things, but I'm also frustrated with him, and I'll be channeling that frustration in those scenes. That's why Suzaku's POV is essential for this project, even though it's a pain to write. The poor boy needs his side of the story represented as well. I'll talk more about Suzaku and how Sunrise did him dirty when it becomes relevant (i.e. soon).
That's it for now. Next chapter is titled Important Conversations, I'm sure you can guess what it's about. It should be up sometime between next year and the heat death of the universe. If it's not out by then, I'm probably dead. See you, and remember, FEEDBACK HELPS!
RanVor out.