The sounds of battle raged around the trio of guardians as they cut through the Vex, weaving in and out of cover as the machines tried to cut them down under a hail of energy attacks. It was a futile effort for the cyborgs, though - against three paracausal warriors who could return from death, the radiolarians all fell resonably quickly. Soon, the area was empty, aside from the trio.

"So," asked the hunter among the group, Conchobar, "we almost at the heart of this place?"

"Correct," confirmed the Warlock among them, Madeline-3, known alternatively as Maddy and the Young Wolf. "It should be just ahead of us."

"Then let us make haste and destroy it, so that we may eliminate another threat to the city," finished the third member of the group, the Titan Samantha.

"Do you really have to sound so formal saying that?" ask Conchobar.

Samantha sighed. "Force of habit."

"Let's just get this over with," interjected Madeline. "The sooner we deal with this, the sooner we can get back to handling things with Caiatl and her Cabal."

"Amen to that - no way in hell I'm submitting to a Cabal. Though their guns make the offer tempting."

"Conchobar, we already know about your lust for weapons, you need not mention it now."

"Fuck you, Sam!"

Carefully, the Guardians advanced through the Vex structure, searching for any stragglers they had missed. They had already defeated the mind in charge of this research facility, but they weren't taking any chances. And sure enough, they did find the occasional Vex straggler, which was swiftly cut down under a hail of bullets and Light.

As the progresses deeper into the facility, Madeline turned her attention toward her ghost. "Polaris, any idea what this does?"

"Something relating to alternate universes. I can't say for certain beyond that, but a lot of ghosts have vanished here, so taking these ruins offline is a priority. And yes, I know they don't really count as ruins since the Vex are still using them. Just bare with me."

Conchobar could only snort in amusement. "It's all fine, Little Light."

Polaris groaned in annoyance, while a second Ghost emerged and glanced at the Awoken Hunter. "That was mean."

"Eh, sorry, Ogma."

The Ghost in questioned narrowed his one eye. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"...sigh, Fine. I'm sorry Polaris."

"Must you always argue like this?" Asked a third Ghost.

That seemed to offend Conchobar. "We don't always argue - most of it is just some ribbing!"

"Be that as it may, you always seem to do that when the three of you are together."

"As annoying as it can be," interjected Samantha, "I find it an enjoyable, and it doesn't seem to be harmful.

The Third Ghost stared at her guardian for a moment, then sighed (somehow). "Very well, I trust your judgement. Forgive me, Samantha."

"There is nothing to forgive, Esther."

Suddenly, Madeline came to a stop. "Guys, I think we're almost at the heart of facility."

Instantly, her companions were on the alert - Conchobar had drawn the Persuader while Sam was loading the Werewolf. As for Madeline herself, she had her hands on the Colony. Their Ghosts, meanwhile, faded away, knowing better than to stay out now.

The group was ready for anything that may come their way. But ultimately, their readiness proved unnecessary - when they finally reached the center of the room, they found it unoccupied - there were no active Vex consoles, or any active Vex frames. All that lay within were dead Vex.

Many dead Vex.

To say that the room was a Vex graveyard was an understatement - the floor was absolutely littered with the husks of Vex frames. Most were Goblins, Hobgoblins, and harpies, but there were also several dead Minotaurs and Hydras, and even three destroyed wyverns. What was more surprising was that there were human corpses hear as well, wearing strange armor unlike any used by the city. A quick ghost scan showed that it was pretty low-tech too, which made it odd that so many people had used it - couldn't they have scavenged something more useful?

Most peculiar of all, though, was the five large wrecks laying around the room. They looked like humanoid Mecha, obviously, but as opposed to the sleek designs used by the vex, these ones were far larger and bulkier, and as one showed, appeared to possess cockpits. Evidently, yet surprisingly, they appeared to be man made.

"...Did these guys build those?" wondered Conchobar.

"Looks like it," affirmed Polaris. "Scans show that it is running on some kind of unknown fuel source, and that despite the legs, it apparently travels on wheels attached to said legs."

Sam wasn't impressed by what she saw. "Bet fifty glimmer a Drake would crush one of them in a straight fight."

Con glanced at his titan companion. "You know I'm a gambler, but now ain't the time for bets."

"Sorry. So, where did the come from?"

Moments later, Polaris, Ogma, and Esther had emerged, and were flying over to scan a few of the nearby Vex consoles - it turned out that some were still online, which made answering their question a whole lot easier.

Esther was the first to speak. "According to these research logs, the Vex tunneled into another universe using this installation. It appears that these soldiers and their...walkers are from that location and...oh dear."

Sam did not like the town in her Ghost's voice. "What is it?"

"Apparently, these soldiers launched a road of their own, and managed to acquire multiple items the Vex had in storage before the raiding parting was repelled. And among those items were...several Ghosts."

"...Oh."

"That seems appropriate. So, rescue mission when?"

Sam glanced at Madeline, who tended to be their fireteam's leader. "How about now?"

"No objections."

"I've got none."

Beneath her helmet, Momentum, Sam felt a smile etching itself on her face. "Good. Now let's go raise some havoc."

As soon as their ghosts had managed to fudge the systems enough to get the one Vex gate in the room to work, the Fireteam had charged through, guns ready, prepared to take back the Ghosts. Unfortunately for them, this proved unnecessary once again - all they found on the other side were yet more Vex and human corpses, alongside several wrecked vehicles. They also found explosives in the area, all rigged to blow, presumably meant to seal the Vex within the structure - not like that would've worked. As far as the ghosts could tell, the detonator for explosives was either defective or had never sent out a signal, and it didn't take them long to disarm all of them. Once those were dealt with, it was back to scouring terminals.

Madeline was the one to break the silence. "So, what did you find from the terminals? Do you know where we are?"

"Yes," confirmed Polaris, "and it is...well, you won't like what we found out."

"Not surprised. Tell us. Now."

"If you insist. First off, we're not in Nessus anymore - we're on Earth."

All three guardians froze up for a moment, and the silence only ended when Con decided to speak up. "..The fuck?!"

Despite the tenseness of the situation, Ogma couldn't help laughing, though soon he retired to being serious. "Yeah, this is Earth. Specifically, we appear to be in the Japanese Alps."

"Huh. Japan. Neat," noted Sam. "Since we're dealing with the Vex, can we know what the date is?"

"According to the local dating system, Septemb in er 6, 2017 ATB. So a couple millennia before the Golden Age."

"...What does ATB mean?" Asked Madeline.

"That is what bothers you?"

"Hey, I was in a timeline that ended with me saving Saint from death! Time travel isn't as weird as it used to be for me."

"Oh yeah, you were. Right. Well, since you asked, ATB stands for 'Ascension Britannian Throne', and refers to when the Celtic King Alwin I was chosen to be king of all Celts. He would later go on to repel the Roman Republic and prevent them from conquering the British Isles."

Ogma chose that minute to chip on. "I am not a major historian like the Cryptarchs or Osiris or, well, any actual historian, but I'm pretty sure records from before the Golden Age all say that the British Isles fell under Roman control."

"I am aware, and am marking this as the point of divergence for this universe's timeline. Moving on - it appears that the dead soldiers and the wrecks that we have seen belong to a polity known as the Holy Britannian Empire. They appear to descend from the British, but their location is...well, weird."

Con asked the obvious question. "Define weird."

"Well, it appears that they originate from North America. I'm seeing some mentions of a crushed rebellion that allowed the ancient British Empire to retain its colonies in the New World. If I would have to guess, it might be a difference between this timeline and ours - maybe that rebellion succeeded and led to the foundations for the nations do Old America? At least, the ones that didn't arise from the original inhabitants?"

"Esther, stay on topic."

"Right, sorry Sam. So, apparently, sometime after the rebellion failed, the British Royal Family evacuated to these colonies after a European Warlord named Napoleon initiated a campaign of conquest. They would rebrand themselves as the Holy Britannian Empire and, well, did what empires did - started expanding and conquering everyone they could. As of now, they've taken dominion over all of the Americas, much of the Pacific, and now seem to be setting their eyes on Europe and Africa."

Conchobar couldn't help scoffing. "Guess we found a human version of the Cabal. On, and while I am enjoying the history lesson, could you just tell us where the Ghosts were taken?"

"...Yeah, I really should've said that earlier. Regarding the Ghosts, they appear to be headed to Tokyo of all places."

"Which was is that?"

"Marking directions now. Be advised, we may need to keep a low profile."

Encrypted Military Frequency

"General Bartley?"

"Ah, Prince Clovis. My apologies, I wasn't expecting you-"

"My previous engagement had to be called off - the gala I was attending didn't seem so important in the face of a terror attack. I have a public display of sympathy planned for tomorrow, but I want an update on Code R. How is it progressing, and how are the new subjects doing?"

"Progress is the same - we are still trying to synthesize the girl's abilities. As for her new, er, companions, we haven't had too much time to analyze them. I've moved them to our Tokyo Lab to see if the instruments there will accelerate our progress."

"Excellent. Please continue to keep me informed. And Bartley?"

"Yes, my prince?"

"Your loyalty is appreciated, but if you cannot crack the secrets I desire you to, I will find another who can, and you will be their subordinate. Am I clear."

"Yes, Prince Clovis."

AN: Yeah, me doing another story when I already have a horribly bloated list of stories I am working on. I needed to get this out of my system and I have plans that go beyond a one shot.

I admit that this story owes much of its inspiration to Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron by Naruwitch and Code Prime by Iron117Prime. I've done Code Geass works before, but this one is my tribute to them.

Just so we have the timeline clear, this starts at some point in Season of the Chosen for Destiny and a few hours before R1 of Code Geass. The story will zigzag around canon (meaning I will follow it as much as I deem it useful to the plot of the story) until Shirley at Gunpoint. Then the rails are gonna be twisted and chewed up such that canon will be playing second fiddle. Just try to hang on until then.

Read, review, do what you want! This is Flameal15k, signing off!