I awoke within the confines of my comfortable bed after a hazy dream featuring golden clouds and a massive pillar. I tried to get up and get the day started but my body would not obey me, so I let myself fall back on the bed and stared up into the poorly maintained, thin roof above my head. After my meeting and deal with Zero some kind of weight had lifted from my shoulders, the previous almost maniacal need to fight had vanished even the slithering feeling from before was gone. Now there was only a sense of rising anticipation.
With a burst of strength I threw my blankets off and rose so fast I almost lost my balance and fell flat on the annoyingly dusty floor. With sleepy steps I stumbled towards my bathroom to begin my morning rituals. Standing in front of the sink I splashed my face over and over until I was totally awake. A sigh betraying my grogginess escaped my mouth as I brushed my hair.
"Are you satisfied now? Or do you want to wail on more riff-raff before you get yourself back together?" When I heard her voice I nearly dropped my brush. My eyes now wide open I frantically checked behind me for the blond hair and characteristic smirk I associated with that voice.
"Not there! Nuh-uh. Try again. Okay stop I'm getting worried you're gonna break your neck now! Look in the mirror." I followed her instructions and turned towards my bathroom mirror. I saw a distinctly cheerful Lisa garbed in her classic lavender outfit with the vague stylised 'Tt' on it standing right behind me.
"Oh… you're not real. Am I this far gone already? I thought I was handling it better." I couldn't stop the disappointment and grief in my voice from escaping. Lisa's shadow seemed about to laugh at me but caught herself.
"I'm certainly real enough to you. Why don't you give me a listen? I'll rant about your health to you and you can listen to me, feel bad about it but never do anything about it. It'll be just like old times!" It was disturbing just how perfectly my mind could recreate the tones Lisa used to use when she was irritated, more so that it was using said ability to torment me.
"And you aren't even listening. You never did listen when it was about you instead of someone else, it was always about 'doing good no matter the cost' and other self sacrificial fancies like that." The ghost spoke like she was telling a child off for not listening to class. I naturally got irritated and turned to leave.
"I don't have enough loose boards up there to talk to figments of my imagination." I called without turning to look at her. With that dismissal I would've stepped out of the cramped bathroom had it not been for the terrifying words the shadow uttered behind me.
"Oh, 'little' queny didn't mess around too much in there. You don't have enough loose boards, what you do have is a Passenger with a very real interest in keeping you alive." I turned my head back towards the mirror and stared at the suddenly much more menacing spirit. Is she some kind of sick attempt by my Passenger to communicate with me? But why Lisa? It could have taken any form it wanted so why Lisa?
"Let me clear something up for you, since you're thinking of the worst possible scenario right now. Uhh, okay just think of Glaistig Uaine, I'm sure you remember her. You know how she has 'ghosts' following her around? Those are naturally not ghosts, just clumps of memories in the shape of 'ghosts'."
She even had the same body language as Lisa. I can't be sure but I'd say that the tones and social techniques she used might be the same as well.
"I'm like them, just… a bit more refined. You know, I can talk, even think -Which opens a lot of philosophical questions I'm going to leave alone for now.- More importantly I'm essentially a 'human consciousness' made entirely out of the data gathered from Lisa and a new source of data about humanity. In a nutshell I'm a brain scan of Lisa or an AI copy."
She's a straight up copy of Lisa… with all her memories. Stuck inside a mirror or maybe she exists as some sort of memetic effect. In any case my thoughts went to my miraculous survival from two headshot wounds and the possible reason for it.
"How the fuck is that supposed to make me calmer? You're saying the Passengers just straight up have copies of us onboard? How the fuck am I supposed to know I'm not a copy? That doesn't make me calmer at fucking all!" I shouted at the geist.
"Let me finish! Then you can shout all you want!" I did stop shouting at her oddly enough. I calmed a bit and tried to not punch the mirror into a million pieces. She raised her hands up as if trying to calm me and began speaking again.
"Look, I get you're scared right now but think about it like this: Why would Queen Administrator go through all the trouble to make me if it could just recreate you? I don't exactly know why but it wants you intact and moderately sane. It might be because it's become attached to you or maybe because it wants a stable tether to this universe.
I'm still limited by human intelligence so I can't exactly tell what a planet sized supercomputer thinks. For now all that matters is that I exist right now and I'm going to make damned sure you don't get killed because you're less than stable after the sudden cut of your connection and the very janky reconnection because of Queen Administrator's hurry."
Does she think I'm some kind of angsty teenager who's going to go out blind at night and try to fight someone I can't take on without a back up plan?!
Oh…
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking. Now then, I can't be around all the time but I'm always watching. Just like Santa." With that the mirage walked away from the mirrored sink and exited the bathroom.
I wracked my brain trying to make sense of anything, but eventually routine took over and I mindlessly walked towards the neat but still kind of dusty kitchen and prepared a modest breakfast with far too many thoughts haunting me.
Around midday I headed to where I had met Zero the night before and I was quickly herded in by some revolutionaries of the unmasked sort. Once inside they pointed me towards what worked as the infantryman's armory and I headed towards there to properly receive what I was promised, the .40 and the 9mm I had on hand wouldn't be enough against britannian body armor.
I hadn't been able to see the camp properly last night. The eyes of my bugs were just blurs of colors and movement and even if I can map a place out in its entirety by touch alone I still wanted to see it with my own eyes. So I took a look around, trying to see how exactly this place looked before an operation.
What I saw now was at least eighty men and women preparing for the upcoming raid by loading ammunition into massive magazines, painting and performing some kind of maintenance on their Burai's and even fixing up some old trucks meant to carry our spoils. It was chaotic yet there was some kind of order to it. None of the winches around the place remained idle for long, tools were carried back and forth, technicians yelled at soldiers meddling with their work and there wasn't a single second when orders didn't fill the air, this place had truly come alive.
I looked around trying to find Zero but he wasn't here yet. Maybe he has a 9 to 5 job or some shit and that's why all his stunts take place late at night. Or maybe he's secretly a bullied 15 year old still going to school despite having basically a paramilitary organization to manage.
"No, I'm fairly sure that was just you." The Shadow's voice snarked back at me from her place on one of the trucks' mirrors. I wanted to retort somehow but looking like a lunatic talking to mirrors and expecting my employers to trust me with their explosives would be a bit stupid.
I ignored the specter's taunting and kept walking towards the fairly large canvas room. After a quick glance by the guards in front ,I was let through. Inside a squat and very muscular supply sergeant -or whatever the Japanese equivalent of it was- around thirty something years old with classic short cut black hair was waiting for me behind a thin plastic desk.
"Good, you're here. Pleased to meet you, I'm Matsuno Toshiyuki and all that. I don't care about that stuff, you most likely don't with that mask of yours so let's dive straight into the fun stuff. " He spoke hastily and waved his hands about as if he was dismissing the classic greeting. The man thankfully spoke English so I didn't have to use my heavily accented Japanese.
I replied quickly trying to keep up with the sergeant who was now opening a black case he had taken out from somewhere behind him. "Has Zero informed you of my role?"
"Yes, yes. You're going to provide cover with your bugs, point out locations of knightmares, loot and enemies on top of that you're going to take out targets that Zero assigns to you during the mission. You certainly do want to earn your keep don't you? More importantly I heard you prefer pistols and knives, so I prepared some things for you." He finally unclasped the case and revealed a thick pistol larger than even some of the .45's I had seen before. He held it up to me almost reverently.
"This is a Springfield SEHV 10mm, the Sev, it's somewhat rare here in Japan but Zero wanted you to have something better than those pea shooters." He pointed at my smaller caliber pistols. I picked the gun up and cycled it once just to see how hard the spring was.
"Looks good, feels nice too. Has it been checked?" I agreed with him, this thing looks good enough to carry me through this mission.
"The sakuradite enhanced barrel, the sights and the firing mechanism were adjusted just this morning. I have six magazines of 22 rounds ready for you, after we're done here you might want to give it a test at the small range we have here." That made sense, I doubted my accuracy would matter much at close ranges but getting my wrists ready for this thing can only do me good.
"I'll give it a try after we're done here, still have lots of time until the raid." I handed the gun back to him and he packed it back together with its cleaning supplies in the gun case and handed the case to me.
"Allright come along. The rest of your stuff has been locked down. " He began heading towards the back of the canvas 'building'. We entered a room filled to the brim with weapons lockers, crates, some landmines and even rocket launchers laid on racks like they were spears.
After fumbling with his keys a bit he unlocked a drawer and pulled three black knives contained inside a see through case. As he handed the knives to me he made a face as if the knives offended him personally.
"Zero somehow got you some real kunais. Don't know how but he does have contacts with some arms dealers so maybe he got them commissioned for you." His disgusted voice left no doubt as to what he thought of the knives.
The knives had some differences in coloring on them, a sign of long times of sun exposure. They must have been used before and fairly often by the looks of the frayed wrappins around the handles. Oh well, they'll do as both throwing and combat knives so I can't really complain. I picked them up but I couldn't stop myself from commenting on his reaction to the knives.
"Not much of a knife guy are you?" I remarked.
"No, I hate them. They feel too… personal to me, they make the younger troops hesitate. Besides, a proper weapon should have bang and buck, searing pain shouldn't be the last thing a person feels." He remained silent for a minute as if he was recalling something. Poor sod, guess a passion for weapons isn't the only reason he's a supply sergeant. A moment later he shook his head and continued speaking.
"Sorry about that… Anyways, speaking of bangs, let me just unlock your last pieces of gear and show you the real interesting things." His episode quickly forgotten he eagerly closed the drawer and with almost childish glee fast-walked towards a much thicker and larger locker covered in actual chains. After opening padlock after padlock and unbinding the chains he flung open the wings of the locker and withdrew two bundles of long black cylinders and metal orbs with indents and pins on them.
"Brit flashbangs, fragmentation grenades…" He threw the unarmed but still potentially dangerous bundles at me without a care in the world. I was frozen because of my shock at just how reckless he was being, my mind was stuck inside a constant loop wondering whether he was insane or just sure of these grenades' quality. My hands still mindlessly darted out to catch the grenades.
Once the grenades were firmly in my grasp I flung my eyes up at Toshiyuki ready to tell him off for being insane. I opened my mouth to talk but I was stopped by the sight of the large man cradling what looked like a metal bracer with a short barrel sticking out the front of it like a baby. He slowly turned towards me with tears in his eyes.
"Isn't she beautiful? Her name is Hama yumi, she's an old one, developed by the old JSDF for some group called the Shinozaki Clan. But! But this was top of the line back then." Before I could stop him he began speaking of the odd looking launcher.
He stepped uncomfortably close to me and began showing me how its action worked as he rambled on. I couldn't even but in to get him to step back, he was just that passionate about the sleek looking weapon.
"A bracer-mounted launcher chambered for 30mm 'bolts'. Its range is kinda low but it'll put even a knightmare on its ass if you can land the shot. It's also laser guided!" He pointed at a small rectangle with a lens in front of it placed just next to the barrel.
"That's good and all but…" I picked up one of the seven inch bolts he had laid on the table next to him and raised it up. "I requested something that I could reliably mission kill machines with. These things might blow off a limb but by the time I can knock it out it will have killed me." I didn't bother to hide the displeasure I felt, I was justified. I requested something like mines and maybe remote detonated explosives to blow apart knightmares but they got me something that looks like it belongs to a bond movie.
"Heh… well, we're really running low on the things you want and these are just as useful. It's just that they require a bit of finesse." That kind of answer doesn't reassure me one single bit. I could clearly see the piles of bolts inside the locker behind him, so why don't they use these things?
"Well why don't you all use these things then?" I'm not using something that just might blow up on my face. No way, the nano thorn knife and my jump pack were enough dubiously-stable tech for a lifetime.
"Ano… Ehh, they are fairly reliable, they don't jam or anything. It's just that they have really low effective range… The bolt is launched by standard magnetic acceleration and then after a bit ignites its thruster to extend the range. The problem here is that there simply isn't enough space for fuel, the shaped charge is almost the entirety of the bolt in order to penetrate knightmare armor."
"Stop skirting around it and get to the point. Just how short is the effective range?" My voice was angry but rightfully so. His dodging of the issue was really pissing me off.
He looked away from me and ran his hand over his nape. Then finally whispered something I barely heard. "Fifty, fifty meters and then the fuel runs out. You could make a shot at 60 or 70 meters but it'll be close to impossible to hit anything beyond that." That's practically point blank!
It's lightweight and I can fire it one handed but I'll also need to be practically right next to a 14 foot murder machine to hit it! But it's also extremely lightweight and looks reliable enough, and I really do need something to destroy knightmares with, also I won't need any preparation time to use this thing. It would allow me to shorten my exposure to enemies. I could get close with my swarm, in fact if anyone is going to use these it'll have to be me. The Black Knights anti-knightmare weapons are already few in numbers so no weapon can be wasted. Even if they can get me remote explosives and mines I'm also going to get a lot fewer of them than these bolts.
Haa… I'm going to need to accept it aren't I? I could make a scene, I could demand something else but anything else I get is just going to be worse than this.
I audibly sighed and turned towards the bolts lying inside the locker.
"Fine… I'll take it, just pack as many bolts as you can." I raised the gun case carrying my new pistol and waved at the staff sergeant. "I'll be at the range and before we leave for the mission I'll come and pick that thing up." I said dismissively.
He said something to me but I wasn't listening, I was overly eager to shoot this new gun. Odd, I don't remember being excited about shooting a gun before, maybe it's what this 10mm pistol represents? The chance to strike back against the cruel regime against whom my inability to fight had tormented me for over ten years was overwhelming. I made sure not to push this emotion off to my swarm, I wanted to enjoy it, bask in it. I feel younger, the many aches I have accumulated over my many fights and years I've lived through seemed a bit more bearable.
I had eagerly strode towards the shooting range. The spring in my step along with the gun case in my hand scared away all the soldiers practicing their aims.
I almost laughed at their panicked escape, this'll be a good day.
A few hours later I was in the back of one of the trucks sitting on a stack of empty weapons crates along with some Black Knights infantry listening to their japanese chatter as we sped through the subway tunnels. Zero assigned these five men to accompany me in case I needed extra muscle. I appreciate the help, really I do. Back when I was still Skitter or with the Wards five men with assault rifles would've really simplified things, the Issue here is that my supposed extra muscle don't seem to be too fond of me.
I could understand them fairly well, or at least the general idea of what they were speaking about and the topic they always seem to come back to was me. Now this wouldn't be a major problem if they were just annoyed at my mask or me being in command of them, but these men seem to think that I don't know japanese.
They kept throwing around words like 'Bitch', 'Creep' and 'Psycho' and expected me to not realize what they were talking about. Eventually I gave up on them moving on from that topic and acted. I deliberately didn't even look at them,and kept checking the slide on my 10mm as I started to slowly, carefully talk.
"I can… understand japanese… you know? I don't talk… because of respect. I don't want to say… something wrong and… insult you. But you are testing my patience." My voice was gentle, much gentler than english yet the cold anger within leaked through my crude and clearly accented speech..
Under their visors their faces paled and some started trying to edge away from me, as if any amount of distance within the confines of the truck's empty cargo hold would matter against me.
But I wouldn't do that, it would hurt my reputation with the Black knights and more importantly it was meaningless. I don't enjoy conflict, I enjoy making the world better. If I have to take lives to do it so be it, nothing I do now can compare to what I did during my fight with Scion anyways. But that was all for a purpose, at the end I could've done better. The many crimes I committed just weren't worth it at the end.
I could've saved more and sacrificed less, now I finally have the chance. So long as I know when to be ruthless and when to be merciful I can avoid making the mistakes I made. Making sure not to overly isolate myself could also help.
My thoughts went to the student council. I wonder if any of them also have secret identities like me? Other than Lelouch being a prince of course. Heh, what a stupid thought, I doubt any of them would want to fight. Good people they might be,they are still bound by societal indoctrination, especially Nina.
I glanced back at my squad only to see them tensely fiddling with their weapons and sending fearful glances towards me. I barely suppressed my laughter. With barely hidden sarcasm I called out to them in Japanese once more. "Be calm… We're all friends here, right?" I gestured towards all of them just to make my point clear.
The sarcasm might not have been the best choice seeing as they all became even more defensive after that. Though they did stop fiddling with their weapons, so I guess that was a partial success. I sighed theatrically and leaned on the cargo sections wall.
The truck slowed down. We must be at the exit point. A shout came from the front cab. "Hang on, a Burai is going to carry us up through the exit point with its slash harkens!"
"Got it! You heard the man, sit down and hold on." I ordered the men. After watching them brace themselves as well as they could inside the near empty space I knocked twice on the cabin and shouted that we were ready.
The truck shifted as the Burai first grabbed us from underneath and then fired its slash harkens. The knightmare pulled us up through the tunnel to a secret exit just outside the city. It doesn't take long at most a few minutes, a few very uncertain minutes but minutes nonetheless.
We're on the final stretch now. Our truck driver pulled to a stop about half a mile from the targeted military base within the outskirts of the city inside another ruined remnant of the former Japanese megacity. The main assault force was also grouping together here, my squad and rest of the more discrete infantry squads would move up first for scouting and take positions until the Burai's were all ready for the assault.
"Okay, I'll only come after the signal for pickup is sent. You guys got all your gear?" Our driver -I think his name was Shoda- confirmed and after a cursory check left along with the other trucks. After a scan of the neighborhoods around us I signaled my squad to follow me. I switched back to english, to make sure I didn't fuck an order up and get someone killed.
"Follow me, we're going to need to be fast." With that brief order our brisk march towards the objective began. The streets were oddly clear of any sentries, not a single soul patrolled the creepy, unlit and desolate streets of what must have once been a peaceful neighborhood. From what I understand this supply depot is more of a back up instead of the main supplier, and a lot of troops have been withdrawn for an unknown reason, so I guess it makes sense that it's empty. I shivered and instinctually began gathering a proper swarm.
Other than my swarm or the odd critter this place was totally dead. 'Out of the graveyard emerges an order of ghosts seeking the lives of the living'. I wondered if that would be what the Black Knights would be seen as: an order made of the remains of a long dead nation.
We walked without any incident for a few minutes longer, but eventually I felt a tall reinforced wall enter my range. The barrier was at least 7 yards tall and unexpectedly thick, the silhouettes of stational guns and the occasional patrols stood unaware of what was to come. "We're almost there, just a bit more and I'll be in scouting range." I informed my escorts as I mapped out the surrounding area for a good hiding place. Eventually my stretched out swarm passed over a relatively stable looking, abandoned supermarket. Compared to the crumbling three story apartments and exposed park that also dotted the area it seemed like the best choice for stable and more importantly discrete cover.
My squad followed me as we took positions inside the supermarket, while positioning I was mapping out the base as it came inside my range. The entire compound had a star-like shape with clear killzones purposefully designed. The depot was built tightly inside the walls with most of the base being dedicated knightmare bays and supplies for the machines, a barracks and some facilities for the garrison. A wide road passing through the middle of the base most, whose purpose was most likely for the loading of supplies. What really attracted my attention was the wide gate that opened inwards, a critical design flaw. A Burai could break through that gate easily.
Our little group huddled up inside the staff room and the infantrymen started preparing their weapons. I pulled out an encrypted communicator and started broadcasting on the channel Zero had told me.
"This is B-2 reporting." My squad cut whatever chatter they had and began listening in. A few suspenseful seconds passed with us wondering if we had been discovered, but Zero's commanding voice did emerge from the not-radio.
"Faster than expected, well done B-2. Report." Upon hearing confirmation I began recounting the important details
"The intel is accurate, the garrison is undermanned. I count 67 armed personnel and 54 potential combatants, 24 sutherlands are inside the bays, six of them currently unarmed. I have discovered a secondary potential entrypoint, the northward gate is structurally weak and hinges inwards, a Burai should be able to break through it."
"Good. And the supplies?" Another question came, one that I couldn't answer exactly. A frown appeared on my face.
"I can not get an exact reading, I feel boxes and lots of them but the boxes are air tight. My bugs can't get through just yet, I'll need more time if you want confirmation." My response didn't seem to displease Zero, he replied a second later.
"No need B-2, commencing assault in five prepare yourself." So sure of yourself that you would pull up the schedule would you?
"Understood, switching to the assault channel." I fiddled with the communicator once more and attached the device to a harness on my chest. I motioned for my boys to follow me and moved towards the front of the sword with weapons at hand. Minutes passed and right on 23:00 exactly 26 rockets were launched from tripods concealed on various apartments.
Red trails streaked through the clear night sky like falling stars fuelled by malicious intent and hidden discontent. The beautiful scene lasted barely a second as my own eyes tracked the rockets to the wall. The autonomous turrets tried to track and shoot the projectiles down but they were too late. The red lights reached the wall with six of their number hitting turrets and the rest hitting the columns of the wall. The turrets were totally demolished and fell silent, and the columns crumbled but the walls held. A second volley was prepared and the shrill scream of launchers echoed through the air once again. The trails emerged once again and this time the wall couldn't bear the punishment, it crumbled with screams of its defenders announcing its fall over the earth shaking rumbling.
"Now! All Burai's charge! The fools won't even realize we were here until it's too late!" Zero's japanese voice smoothly said through the communicator.
Many four and a half meter tall robots on what were essentially roller blades blazed through the street. Moments after they passed with their immense speed a gale that shook doors and blew loose ruble around passed in their wake. Seconds later the loud tatata's of the standard knightmare rifle set the background music for the night.
"B-2 go and clear the barracks, the rest of the infantry squads follow the Burai's and capture ground." Zero's orders crackled from the communicator.
"You heard the man, let's go kill some monarchists." I tried rousing my squad but I think it had another kind of effect, they looked like they had just discovered some kind of insight into my character with their faces now stretched in shock.
Whatever. If they follow in after me I don't care. I clouded our path with bugs to conceal us from any remaining sentries I might've missed. The cloud covered the entire street with only a path left open for us. I began running and my squad followed after a few curses shouted so loud they drowned out the droning of my bugs. I sprinted dodging rubble along the way until we crossed the one hundred meters to the wall. Without even waiting for my boys I climbed up and jumped inside the hellhole, I could feel my escorts climbing the rubble behind me.
I located the Barracks and begann rushing towards it, I could hear my men complain. "Huff…Huff…Is she superhuman or something? What kind of stamina is that?" It's called cardio. I dismissed that thought and focused on the groups of soldiers outfitting inside the armory.
30 armed to the teeth and very pissed off men were gearing themselves, they were almost all wearing the classic britannian armor with every inch of their skin covered. That eliminates the use of my bugs, oh well, though I suppose that's why my 'minions' are here.
With a shoulder bash I breached the doors and waited inside for my squad whilst gathering a swarm to fill the building with.
Even if my swarm hadn't let me feel the Black Knights rushing inside their labored breaths would have alerted me. I let them take a breather before giving them orders, also letting the enemies spread out a bit. My escorts leaned on the gray spartan walls of the barracks and gathered their stamina. Moments later I started giving my orders.
"I'll be communicating with you through my bugs, you'll know it when you hear it. For now take positions at the entrance of a hallway two rooms to the left, a squad of five will be coming through. Gun them down and I'll give you your next orders." I spoke quickly to not waste any of our precious time."
The sergeant sighed and answered me. "Roger that, moving out." With a wave to his boys they moved out quickly taking positions and readying their own weapons. I also ran through the long hallways and large rooms trying to outflank and divide the enemy soldiers. I heard gunshots and confirmed that my men had eliminated the first britannian squad.
"Good work, move up and take positions inside the recreation room another squad will pass through there." My bugs slowly chittered. Hearing my orders the five men set up another ambush. 25 left.
I set my bugs on a britannian squad and listened to their screams startle my current target, the lieutenant and his command squad just beyond the door leading to an office. I lined up my pistol to his head on the other side of the door, shot twice and killed him instantly.
I burst through the doors and set on the five poor soldiers caught entirely by surprise. My swarm distracted three of them as I dashed in and clumsily slashed the throat of one soldier with my knife secured inside my prosthetic hand and shot the other one twice in the chest.
I dashed left to dodge the blind fire of one of the blinded soldiers and ran up to another. With a kick I knocked the gun out of his hands and fired my 10mm twice into his head. The one not firing his gun blindly had regained some of his senses and tried to direct his rifle at me. I kicked him in the balls earning a loud hiss and slammed his head into the oak desk behind him. After finishing him off with my knife I shot the trigger happy fool still firing twice.
As all of this was going on my 'goons' had accomplished their task and received their next set of orders to assault the lightly defended armory. 15 left.
I turned the corner into a barracks containing rows of beds towards the squad initially beset by my swarm, whose guns had been clogged by silk. I turned the corner and stared right at them. One of them pointed at me and shouted at his companions.
"Shit! Contact!" They pointed their rifles, pulled their triggers and were awarded with soft ping's. Taking advantage of their shock I raised my own pistol and gunned them down. Letting their bodies litter the barracks they had huddled up inside. 10 left. I ignored the smell and the scenes it brought up.
I didn't look at their corpses, simply located the next squad and ran off.
"I don't remember you ever being this bad. Not even a glance? No remorse? Regret? Have you just grown numb or do you no longer value human life after seeing things from the perspective of a passenger?" Lisa's voice interrupted my focus. I glanced at her reflection on the ceramic tiles but remained silent. After all, I can't answer a question whose answer I don't know.
My men finally reached the armory and ended the defenders inside with only one of them being clipped in the arm. 6 left. The Black Knights had been more effective than I had expected, guess I should set an even better example to motivate them. I picked up the pace to get into position for my next target.
As I ran through the corridors I observed the battle outside and helped by pointing out hiding enemies, warning and obscuring our troops or simply blinding whatever knightmares the Brits had managed to activate. I did all of this almost entirely unconsciously, my odd instincts and multitasking abilities guiding my swarms actions as I focused on the immediate threats instead.
After turning my sixth corner I found a cafeteria linked to a corridor, towards which a six man squad was heading towards. I huddled inside the cafeteria just behind the doors and waited for the squad. The extra number of the squad was carrying a long tube connected to a backpack behind him, almost like a containment foam launcher. Must be a flamethrower, that could end up being dangerous. I'll kill him first.
The men neared and got ready to check the cafeteria but before they could do anything down the hallway they were walking through a dense swarm rushed for them. Forgetting about the cafeteria the flame trooper and also the riflemen shot down the corridor trying to stop the onslaught of ravenous insects. They were fairly successful, easily halting the swarm. But not for long. I aimed at the flame troopers head and fired two times, after a singular heartbeat I descended on the five riflemen.
My first victim, who stood right in the middle of their formation, hadn't even understood that his comrade had died before I shoulder checked him through the door and my metal fist smashed into his lightly protected neck and crushed his windpipe. I disregarded his dying gurgles and targeted the one at the far back with a practiced hook kick sending him sprawling. My gun's sights found another of the soldiers and two pieces of hot lead found his lungs.
My bugs finally reached a soldier trying to line me up in his sights and smashed into him, the sudden shift threw off his aim and his shots went wide. My hand flew towards him and shot him as well. The last member of the squad tried to make some distance from me but he had nowhere to run between me and my swarm. I pounced on him and after a brief struggle ended his life with the kunai placed inside my metal hand.
Finally dealt with, I rose back up and took a deep breath or at least tried to. A sudden gunshot and immense force on my shoulder sent me straggling. The bullet must've glanced off my armor since the pain was a throb more than anything.
I slowly turned around, I had forgotten about the soldier I had kicked, who had somehow pulled a gun despite lying on his back and being stunned so badly. With a grunt and a 'tch' I threw my kunai at him, missing his neck but clipping his gun arm and flinging the 9mm away from him. I slowly stomped towards him and gripped my pistol tightly.
He began begging to be spared, he cried for his mother in fear but my legs kept moving. I steadied my breath as the crying man begged one last time. My finger gently pulled the trigger… Two shots echoed through the hallway and the last remaining soldier inside the barracks breathed his last.
I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding and stared at his cooling corpse, I cautiously reached down and picked my kunai back up. It wasn't remorse I felt, taking lives didn't hurt me as much as it used to. No, it was something else, as if someone was screaming at me to stop. The irony smell of blood mixed with piss and refuse threatened to make me sick. I tried to run from this wretched place but my legs were frozen still.
Flashes of charred corpses and melted streets flashed across my eyes, capes being immolated from the inside, corpses bloated by water or sliced apart floating on flooded streets, parasites crawling out of a corpse with hundreds more following in their wake, telekinetically launched rubble crushing those just beside me, a terrifying screech filling my brain pushing me closer towards the edge, a brilliant golden beam erasing Brockton Bay from existence and millions of men being ripped apart by esoteric powers while being puppeted by unseen strings, entire worlds being scorched clean by the golden beams. Then as suddenly as they had come they vanished again and I was left standing over the filthy corpses.
Bile rose up to my mouth, I doubled over and retched over and over again. No vomit came but I retched until I started coughing. A taste of ash and dust filled my mouth, threatening another retching fit. I took another deep breath and subsequently began retching again.
"Taylor! Look at me, look away from there and look at me!"
Lisa's voice called for me and I turned hurriedly back towards the cafeteria doors. The shadow was reflected on the glass panes of the double doors trying to soothe me. She was waving her hands around as if that could attract my attention.
"You're not on Earth Bet anymore Taylor, we're not at Brockton Bay. Just listen to me and take deep breaths in." She talked slowly trying to calm me down and being oddly successful at it. I calmed down breath by breath and stopped my retching. After a few seconds of calm Lisa started speaking again.
"Okay, just listen to me and I'll guide you away from there. Bit by bit follow along and you'll be away from here." She guided me away from the corpses without me turning to look at them, I let her lead me towards the members of my squad and tried to force those images out of my mind as I listened to her soothing voice.
Now calm enough to keep my voice steady I pulled out my communicator once more and reported back to Zero. "Zero, the Barracks are clear, one wounded but otherwise we're fine."
Seconds passed but Zero did eventually answer. "Excellently done B-2. My men are securing our earnings, It looks like quite the big haul. You were even more efficient than expected,My congratulations." The sophisticated and elegant voice of Zero said from the communicator with a distinctly satisfied tone of voice.
Despite the circumstances a hint of a smile stretched across my face. I thought about it. They had already given me this gear just as this mission's payment, I could get even more, maybe even a knightmare if I continued. I could also really hurt the britannian government like this, I could make a difference. With enough backing and sufficient firepower even the liberation of Japan could be on the table. I wouldn't be a corpse any longer!
My decision made and my episode shoved back into the depths of my mind I spoke into the communicator. "Your men performed better than expected. I'm sure we could keep our current arrangement up."
"I see, I'm glad they met your standards. I'll keep in touch, keep your communicator." His apparent satisfaction was clearly heard even through the crackling of the communicator. So long as I can beat any bad habits out I'm sure we'll lead a… useful partnership. With that I shut off the communicator and met up with my squad who were no longer keeping their distance with me.
This was a… useful night.
Princess Euphemia li Britannia
Another day another stack of complaint papers from pompous nobles and ultranationalist soldiers. I sat at my desk going over papers just as I have done every night ever since I was convinced by that woman to finally take action.
Though my office was luxurious and comfortable with an ergonomic chair, a high quality desk, a red couch and accompanying coffee table, and a library filled to the brim, the constant onslaught of meaningless ravings of soulless nobles and 'concerned' citizens had made my patience run thin.
I had far more important matters to focus on but my reputation as a puppet princess was hindering me far more than I would've thought. But do they think me so weak that harmful words and mere sabotage would stop me? They dare defy me with reasons such as 'it's national policy' or 'the elevens don't deserve such things'? I know I am softer than most of my siblings, I don't have the sheer ferocity of my sister nor the manipulative intellect of Schneizel. But I too am a royal and I'll let my fury known as soon as it's possible.
I won't let anyone stop me from creating a world where people can live in peace, without discrimination. My improvements to the honorary britannian system have already been implemented and more will follow. I won't let them stop me.
Now if only I had more people that were loyal to me instead of my sister's agents. Cornellia intends good, but I know of her limits and weakness against me. She won't let me gather anyone around me because of her overprotection and only reinforces my reputation as a puppet princess. Suzaku tries but he has his own problems as an 'Eleven', so I can't rely on him for societal matters until he makes a name for himself. And all the sycophants keep annoying me as well! Ugh… I'm so tired.
I dropped my pen and just laid my head on the table. Just as I was nodding off someone knocked twice on the door. With a sigh I called them in. The door opened and Suzaku emerged in his uniform carrying a stack of papers and tea on a tray. Immediately causing me to smile fondly.
"Excuse me Princess Euphemia, I have the reports you asked for and I brought tea and snacks." Suzaku's kind voice announced as he stepped through the door with a soft smile etched on his face. Though…He switched back to formal language already?
"Suzaku, you know what I keep telling you right?"
He paused and I could clearly see the gears turning behind his eyes. His eyes widened and his mouth made an 'o' shape.
"Ah sorry Euphy, it's a hard habit to break." He really looked sorry about it with his eyes downcast and his shoulders hunched. Ahh! I just can't take it! I'll make that Japan where you won't ever look like that again, a country where the Japanese can be proud again. Where we can be together.
"Hmm it's okay so long as you promise to take me out into the settlement again."
His face flushed immediately but he managed to place the tray on my table without dropping anything. I reached for the stack of papers next to the tea first as he tried to stammer together a sentence.
"I-I'll try my best! And hope Cornelia doesn't kill me." Haa, so easy! My white knight is simply far too easy. He shook his head and tried to change the topic.
"So anyways, what are these papers for anyways?" Yes! Right into my trap. I feel sorry for using you like this Suzaku but finding Lelouch and Nunnally is more important. I'm sure you'd forgive me if you knew.
"Oh, just lists of school registaries. You see during the Lake Kawaguchi incident I saw a blind and crippled girl going by the name of Nunnally. I'm not sure you know this but my brother Lelouch vi Britannia and sister Nunnally vi Britannia were sent here as… bargaining chips just before the war. I… need to find them again. I'm sure they aren't dead, they must be hiding somewhere. I'm sure I'll be able to find them if I look hard enough. I… I need to find them again."
Keeping my voice even was tough but I made sure to keep watch over Suzaku all throughout my impromptu speech. And I was rewarded greatly for it. He flinched the moment my siblings' names came up, he must know them. Then I was right, the Ashfords are sheltering the vi Britannia's in their school. Now only to find an opportunity to visit and find out.
Actually I should probably send someone in to check things out first… maybe that Alice girl who was a part of Clovis's old personal unit, I think she also goes? She could do it, she also wouldn't raise much suspicion from Cornelia. Nelly might be benevolent but subtle she was not and this required a finer touch…
An:Hello again, I skipped a weak cause of some exams but I managed to spit out something much longer so I think it's fair. Anyways about Euphy… I just think the scheming manipulative Euphy is much more fun, and it makes sense. Also, yandere Euphy seems fun to write. Well, for now enjoy and do review.