Chapter 23
The Oblation of Utility
As part of her duty of protecting Kaguya, Kallen also slept in the same hotel room as the younger girl. Not in the same bed of course, but being one of the luxury suites, the two separate beds were each more than large enough to sprawl out on if the girls wished. If there was any complaint to be had, it was that the beds were too soft. Britannians for whatever reason tended to prefer soft mattresses that they could sink into. Kallen and Kaguya both preferred stiffer mattresses that fully supported their weight even as they absorbed it. As such when Kallen arose, her spent a bit stretching to try to iron out the slight aching in her body. By the time she was done and had freshened up, Kaguya too woke.
"Good morning," Kallen greeted.
A less than totally awake Kaguya glanced in her direction and mumbled a response before dragging herself over to the bathroom. Kallen allowed herself a chuckle as she finished dressing, slotting the sidearm into an inconspicuous slot in her jacket. Nothing had happened so far, but Kallen had spotted a few too many overly inquisitive individuals amongst the serving staff to be entirely happy. Granted she knew the JLF had been allowed to slip in some of their personnel, but the entire affair seemed far too likely to get a lot of innocent people killed, even if it succeeded in wiping out the renegades. Kallen sighed. There was no point in mulling over decisions already made, she just needed to make sure to do her best to minimize any personal regrets for the future.
A few bumps sounded from outside their room, and then a knock was heard on the door. "Room service."
Kallen frowned. That should not have been possible, considering the guards from Kaguya's household that were supposed to be stationed outside. From the way Kaguya's head popped out of the bathroom and then turned to look at Kallen with a frown, the younger girl also found the call strange. Kallen jerked her head, signaling for Kaguya to get back, and she drew her pistol. She also took out a pair of glasses and put them on. A moment later, Kallen grimaced.
While a great deal of risk was being run by allowing the JLF attack to occur, it was not as if Lelouch had not made extensive preparations of his own. One of them was the installation of very discrete cameras at various strategic points, one of which was Kaguya's suite. What the projection on Kallen's glasses was showing her now was the feed from said camera, which revealed a trio of Japanese men disguised as servers, and the two guards that were supposed to be standing watch bleeding out on the floor. These people might have looked like hotel staff, but they were clearly something else entirely. And they were starting to lose patience at the lack of response, from the looks of it.
Kallen did not bother wasting any more time herself. She leveled her pistol and opened fire. From the camera feed, she could see two of the would-be assailants go down. The third managed to avoid getting hit in the initial volley, but with Kallen able to see just where he was trying to dodge to, she simply adjusted her aim and fired again. A total of six shots were fired, and all three targets were down.
"Marching order," Kallen said into her radio pickup.
"Acknowledged," came the prompt response. "Escort Ms. Sumeragi to the shelter immediately."
"Time to go," Kallen said, walking to the closet.
"What's going on!?" the other girl exclaimed.
"The two guards outside are dead," Kallen said bluntly, tossing a jacket over to Kaguya to wear over her nightgown. "The three men I just killed were armed and clearly after you."
Kaguya paled as she watched Kallen holster her weapon and pull out a large black case. Popping it open, Kallen took out the short barreled M4 that had been given to her for emergencies. Seeing as the JLF were clearly making their move, if there ever was a time, it was now.
"We need to get you to the shelter," Kallen said. "Ready?"
Kaguya gave a choppy nod, pulling her shoes on once her jacket was buttoned up at least somewhat. She still looked wildly unsuited for a jaunt outside, but there really was not time to get her properly changed. And the jacket Kallen had given her was at least somewhat bullet resistant, assuming the JLF were using hollow points. Better not to test that though, the best way to guarantee Kaguya's safety was simply to make sure she did not get shot at. The two headed out.
"Status," Lelouch said as he entered the command center.
Another one of his preparations was the installation of a makeshift command and control room in the hotel premises, in an easily defensible position that was also tied into the rest of the building's network. Over a dozen monitors were mounted, showing video streams from the countless cameras, both those already present before the conference was announced and many more newly added on the cardinal's order. Sancia stood at the center of the room, taking in all the information provided by the camera feeds, mentally collating them to produce a more complete tactical picture.
"JLF forces are moving to secure strategic objectives in the main convention center as well as the hotel," she answered. "An attempt was made to capture Ms. Sumeragi but has been thwarted by Kallen. Both are now en route to a designated shelter strongpoint."
A larger display mounted flat was now being updated with the locations of known JLF positions, as well as points of contact between the intruders and Eden Vital's soldiers. Thus far the enemy seemed only to be armed with pistols, but that would change quickly enough once their reinforcements were able to make it into the convention site.
"Report from Lucretia," Sancia suddenly announced. "Elements of the Princess Cornelia's royal guard have been sighted in sector B3."
Lelouch gave an exasperated sigh. "She just couldn't leave it well enough alone. Avoid contact, focus on finding and neutralizing the Raiko artillery piece."
"Understood."
The flow of battle continued, with Eden Vital soldiers continued responding to the attack. Several possibilities had been mooted as to when and where the JLF would launch their attack, with contingencies prepared for every one that Lelouch and his staff could think of. Or more broadly, certain scenarios were plotted out with appropriate responses. Depending on when the attack occurred, the conference guests might be spread across several different places. A morning attack before the conference opened up again meant most would still be holed up in their rooms, or down in the restaurant getting breakfast. That concentration changed the flow of evacuation, namely getting those in the restaurant out and telling everyone else to stay put until Eden Vital could get to them. Having people trying to escape by themselves would only result in them running straight into the crossfire. Of course, telling people to do something and getting them to do it were two very different things, and some panic was inevitable.
"Several members of the Chinese delegation appear to be trying to reach the exits through the main hotel lobby," Sancia announced.
"Put it on main display 2," Lelouch ordered.
Another large display, one of three mounted vertically, shifted over to the area in question. By this time a larger number of more heavily armed JLF soldiers were showing up, having driven through the barricades and gunning down anyone that got in their way. Only a token perimeter had been set up to begin with, the soldiers having orders to pull back if too heavily challenged. The real hammer would come down once the JLF fully committed and functionally trapped all of their soldiers within the convention center.
As Lelouch watched, several members of the Chinese delegation seemed to be conversing with the JLF soldiers. After a brief exchange, the Chinese diplomates were let through.
"Interesting," Lelouch remarked. "Are any of the official cameras in the lobby still working?"
"No, Your Eminence," Sancia confirmed, cycling through various static feeds to emphasize the point. "They have all been destroyed."
"Sloppy, if they actually think the area still isn't being monitored somehow," Lelouch said. "Still, the recording will only be useful when this is over and we need justifications for our diplomatic response."
Sancia said nothing in response, focusing on her continuing monitoring of the situation. The JLF were pushing harder now, making use of heavier weapons like rifles and grenades to try and push through the defensive strongpoints. From time to time Sancia would get onto the radio, warning various Eden Vital detachments about enemies attempting to flank or ambush them. While the cameras did not provide her nearly as detailed a view of the battlefield as Lucretia's geass, it was still incomparably superior to the view the JLF might have, shifting the tactical advantage heavily in favor of Eden Vital. For the most part, at least.
Lelouch leaned in, frowning as he watched the JLF advance. Despite there being no way for the enemy to have tapped into the camera network, in a few places at least their movements suggested an awareness of where Eden Vital soldiers were positioned. It was consistent enough that mere luck could not explain it away. Someone out there was coordinating the JLF soldiers much like how Sancia was coordinating Eden Vital's forces. Perhaps not with as much information or general skill, but they were providing a localized advantage from time to time.
"Sancia, can you trace where the JLF soldiers are seemingly able to identify the location of our forces?" Lelouch asked.
"Processing," Sancia said before falling silent for a few moments.
A map of the convention center appeared, along with a line showing the path of progression of the most successful JLF elements. Lelouch narrowed his eyes, then hissed.
"Sirius," he spoke into his radio pickup. "There appears to be a JLF element headed directly for you. Hold tight until reinforcements can rendezvous with you."
"Acknowledged," Kallen responded. "I'll try to find someplace-"
Gunshots suddenly sounded over the radio.
"Sirius!?"
"The fucking guests are shooting at us!" was the girl's hurried response before she went offline entirely.
"Sancia!?"
"More members of the Chinese delegation," Sancia reported. "They attempted to ambush Kallen, but she's managed to pull back with Kaguya."
Lelouch growled. "This is going well beyond brazen." He spun about. "I will rendezvous with Kallen myself."
"Detaching a squad to accompany you," Sancia said, not even bothering to try and stop Lelouch.
As Lelouch stepped out of the command room, Dalque immediately positioned herself in front to take point. Then five more soldiers in the colors of the Black Knights moved onto the flanks. Lelouch checked his pistol, and drew his sword. It was time to go hunting.
"Kyaaaaa!"
While Kallen could not blame Kaguya for screaming, she really could have wished the younger girl could have at least kept quieter. As it was, Kallen had to worry about whether Kaguya was actually hurt or if the girl was just scared out of her wits. A quick glance back showed Kaguya to be huddling against a wall without any obvious sign of injury, so Kallen returned her focus back to fighting off the enemy. And unfortunately, there seemed to be a fuck ton of them.
Kallen had already gone through two magazines for her M4, and while she was carrying plenty more, there seemed to be no end to the JLF soldiers. They also seemed to be remarkably well supplied with flash bangs and were using them with abandon to try to get closer. The only saving grace seemed to be that they were determined to take Kaguya alive, so they were watching their shots. Otherwise Kallen was pretty sure they would have started chucking grenades instead of just flashbangs, and despite her geass Kallen was not quite certain she could have survived that.
The other problem Kallen was facing was the enemy seemed to be fiendishly lucky in flanking and otherwise outmaneuvering them. They were being boxed in, and it would not be long before enemy soldiers would simply overrun them.
"Just need to keep my eye on her," Kallen muttered. "Don't need to actually engage the JLF. Well too bad they seem so determined to fucking engage me!"
In truth Kallen was not actually annoyed with Kaguya or Lelouch, she just needed to vent in some way at the absurdity of her situation. She was one person, and augmented as she was, it was still asking a lot for her to fight through what felt like an entire platoon of enemies while trying to protect an otherwise utterly helpless civilian. One-on-one, she would have torn through her opponent. Even two-on-one or three-on-one, she might have still held the edge. Right now, all she could do was sit tight and try to hold out long enough for reinforcements.
"Kallen!" Kaguya cried out in warning.
Looking back, Kallen saw a door open and another JLF soldier emerge. As quick as she was, Kallen was still turning about to level her rifle at the man when suddenly he was sent crashing into the opposite wall. A girl about Kallen's age had slammed into him with enough force to snap bones. A quick follow-up punch cracked his skull, neutralizing him permanently.
Kallen spent only a moment gaping at the sight before recovering.
"Who are you!?"
"Don't worry, we're friends!"
It was a male voice that called out, and an uncharacteristically jovial looking face popped out from the room where the JLF soldier had burst out from.
"Brother Sandro, of the Social Welfare Agency," the man introduced himself, then gestured to the younger woman picking up the discarded rifle. "And this is Sister Petra."
Kallen's eyes narrowed. As part of her induction into Eden Vital, she had been given a brief rundown of the Order's worldwide competitors and counterparts. The operatives of the Catholic Church's Social Welfare Agency were considered to be the closest to matching Eden Vital's contractors in terms of individual capability, thanks to their independent development of a less advanced version of the cybernetic augmentation that the Order itself possessed. Closest, but still some ways off. And as the Catholic Church did not have a code bearer of their own, having monumentally pissed off the only one they might have recruited a few centuries back by trying to burn her at the stake, the disparity in capability only grew. But the fratello remained dangerous in their own right, and at times like this could be either an immense boon, or a grave danger.
Seeing the wary look Kallen was casting their way, Sandro held out his hands.
"Look, I really mean it," he said. "We're part of the Holy See's delegation, and we just came out of some very fruitful negotiations with Cardinal Lamperouge yesterday. No way are we going to risk that. So, let us help you, alright?"
After a moment Kallen sighed. "Alright."
A whizz sounded, marking another shot sent their way.
"Not like I have much of a choice!" Kallen said before she returned fire.
"Right you are," Sandro said with another rather out of place laugh. "Petra, let's take these bastards down!"
"Right!"
Were all fratello this laid back even under fire? That was the question at the back of Kallen's head as she was joined by these strange new comrades in arms.
Some distance off, but closer than Kallen and her new compatriots would have been happy with had they realized, Mao grimaced in irritation. Capturing Kaguya had been a late addition to Kusakabe's objectives, one the JLF lieutenant-colonel had insisted upon with such vehemence that they could not dissuade him without potentially shattering his mind. In the end Mao and Mao had agreed to it, with Mao himself taking the lead to find and extract the Japanese girl by using his geass to find and guide the JLF soldiers towards her. What he had not expected was the apparent degree of importance the Cardinal Lamperouge apparently attached to Kaguya, seeing as she was being escorted by an outright geass contractor. Then there was the sudden intervention by the Catholic Church's operatives, and it was starting to look like the JLF might actually fail in their aim.
While Mao himself was not especially invested in this particular objective, he was more than a bit piqued about how Eden Vital was so doggedly stymieing him. With his ability to hear the thoughts of others, it should have been trivial to detect the various enemy units and direct the JLF soldiers to encircle and wipe them out. Instead Eden Vital's forces were putting up a dogged fight, responding to the flanking maneuvers as if they could see it coming. That suggested a geass contractor on the other side that could also detect the movement of the JLF forces, but which Mao himself had yet to detect. But then providence revealed to him another contractor, one that he could vent his frustration on, having been cornered by his troops. Granted a momentary reprieve had been bought by the intrusion of the Catholic operatives, but they still were not aware of Mao himself, and the advantage of surprise was still with him.
"Set the charges," he ordered.
Using a chair they pulled out from one of the suites, a JLF soldier began placing a small demolitions charge on the ceiling approximately where the enemy contractor was standing on the above floor. Mao's geass was not so accurate to be able to absolutely pinpoint where others were, but it would be close enough to catch her in the blast and neutralize her, if not outright kill her.
"Ready," he said a moment later. "Moment I flip the switch, it'll-"
Bullets suddenly punched through the ceiling, cutting off the soldier and causing him to topple over. Mao, having sensed what was about to happen, had already dove for cover and so was entirely unscathed. He stared incredulously as the other JLF soldiers began shooting up at the ceiling. The timing was incredulous, the only way the enemy contractor could have known to shoot downwards was if his squad was being closely watched. As far as Mao could tell, they had destroyed every camera they came upon, but clearly Eden Vital must have discretely installed more. Scrambling forward, he took hold of the discarded detonator and pushed the button.
To his immense satisfaction, Mao sensed the sudden consternation of the enemy contractor as the explosion erupted from below. She had moved far away enough to not get caught in the blast itself but was still close enough to be thrown back a little. Even better, the collapsing floor pulled her down with it, separating her from her allies and her charge. Taking advantage of the chaos, Mao charged in with blade drawn. He wanted to get in nice and close to finish this personal-
Again the youth's geass saved him as another burst of rifle fire cut through the air where he was only moments ago. Somehow, the enemy contractor had landed on her feet and ready to fight. Even for an augmented human, that was quite the feat, and not one Mao was certain he himself could pull off. Discarding any thought of trying to close in on the enemy, Mao threw a knife to try and distract the woman while he beat a hasty retreat.
"Stop her! Kill her and Lady Sumeragi will be ours!" he cried out.
With a spirited cry, fueled more by fervor than sense, the JLF soldiers rushed forward. That was arguably their first mistake, for entering hand-to-hand range of an augmented geass contractor was a terrible, terrible idea, as Kallen now demonstrated. The first man upon her had his head blown off with one final burst of her rifle. The second sought to skewer her with his bayoneted rifle, but Kallen sidestepped his lunge with casual ease. Her fist struck his chest, caving in his ribs and crushing the organs below. A gush of blood erupted from his back, the only mercy being the shock killing him quickly enough that his pain was only fleeting. Spinning about, Kallen landed a solid back kick against the jaw of another JLF soldier. More bone shattered, and the head was almost taken clean off by the motion.
Her knife now drawn, Kallen leapt forward and executed a flying roundhouse, snapping the neck of a third enemy. Upon landing, her knife went straight through the rifle that was raised to try to block her slash, sinking into and rending flesh. Yanking the slick blade out, she ducked an attempt to whack her with the butt of a rifle, using the upward motion of her rise to slash her attacker. With the immediate vicinity around her piled with dead bodies, Kallen drew her sidearm and fired, to keep those soldiers further away from opening up on her now that all their comrades were down.
Apparently realizing they would not be able to kill Kallen in melee, no more JLF soldiers charged forward to meet their end. To their credit, not all of their training had atrophied over all these years. Further to their credit, they actually settled upon probably the only feasible solution to their current mess. The JLF had only really brought the man-portable anti-material munitions with the expectation of using them to blow through any defensive strongpoints, not to take down a single individual enemy. But needs must, and the soldier hanging back mounted the recoilless rifle on his shoulder and readied to fire.
"Back blast clear!"
The warning might have been for the benefit of his compatriots, but it also served to alert Kallen to what was incoming. Still, there was really not much she could do to evade the high explosive round coming her way. With little choice, Kallen expelled all of the kinetic energy she had stored thus far. That was enough to cause the round to detonate prematurely, far away enough to keep from being lethal. It was still more than enough to blow through the corridor's floor and ceiling, dropping Kallen even further down, along with a massive pile of rubble falling atop her.
As the JLF soldiers picked themselves up from the shockwave, they peered out at the completely destroyed corridor. Surely that had to have killed the demonic warrior, she was certainly still merely mortal despite her deadly prowess. Before they fully recovered from their daze however, gunfire erupted, from above, and another svelte figure descended. Petra might not have possessed all of Kallen's superhuman advantages, but as a second generation fratello from the SWA, she was still leaps beyond the JLF soldiers. Their numbers already depleted by Kallen's rampage, the remaining JLF soldiers could only cry out in terror and frustration as each was felled in the deadly dance they now partook in Petra's company, whether they wanted to or not.
Once she confirmed all of her targets were down, Petra jumped down and landed amidst the rubble below. Before she could start trying to dig Kallen out, a hand punched through the debris as the Japanese girl worked to free herself. Grabbing hold of the extended hand, Petra helped her the rest of the way out.
"Are you alright?" Petra asked.
Kallen gave a winded cough, taking a moment to recover her breath. "I'll live. What about Kaguya?"
"Ms. Sumeragi and His Eminence should be well on their way towards the shelter."
"We need to meet up with them," Kallen said. "There was a heretic accompanying those JLF soldiers, and I saw him making a break for it."
After confirming she really was alright, Kallen followed Petra in jumping back up to the floor the fight started out on. Sandro was there to greet them, himself more or less unharmed, a credit to the unaugmented man's own competency.
"-rius! Si-!"
Tapping her earpiece, Kallen tried to work out what was being said over the radio.
"Say again? Abacus? What's going on?"
"-rius! Cardinal Lorenzo is down! The heretic has grabbed Kaguya!"
"Fuck!" Kallen cried out, breaking into a flat-out sprint.
"What's going on!?" Sandro called as he gave chase.
"The heretic got to Lorenzo and Kaguya!"
That was all the other two needed to hear as they raced wordlessly after the Japanese girl. It took them little time at all to reach the Catholic cardinal, who lay leaning against the wall clutching his side.
"I'm sorry," he said, wincing in pain at the very effort to speak.
"Hold still," Kallen said, examining the wound.
A knife was plunged into Pieri's side, not enough to kill him outright, but certainly immobilizing him. They would need to move him with utmost care if they wanted to avoid finishing the job themselves. The problem was whether they could linger any longer.
"Sirius, Legate is about to reach you," Sancia said.
"Friendlies inbound," Kallen relayed the news, to make sure the other two would not just open up on.
Footsteps could be heard moments later, and then around the corner came Dalque, with Lelouch right behind and accompanied by several more Eden Vital soldiers.
"Kallen," Lelouch gave a curt greeting.
"Your Eminence," Kallen said with a grimace. "I'm sorry."
"Sancia has informed me of what happened," Lelouch said, firmly but not brusquely. "It was my miscalculation that I did not predict the JLF going after Kaguya directly. You may not have been able to prevent her capture, but I also failed to equip you properly for the task." The man's eyes hardened. "We will both need to do better, after we rescue her."
"Understood, Your Eminence," Kallen nodded.
Lelouch then regarded his wounded counterpart. "Corporal, give Kallen your rifle and help stabilize and evacuate His Eminence."
"Sir."
One of the soldiers accompanying Lelouch clicked his heels together and held his weapon out to Kallen, and once she took it promptly got to work on the wounded man.
"Your Eminence," Lelouch said to Pieri directly. "You extended a helping hand at this time of need. I will remember this."
As Lelouch made to move, Sandro stepped forward.
"Wait. We can still help," the man insisted.
"See to your charge, Brother Alessandro," Lelouch said. "The convention center still swarms with JLF, and I cannot spare anyone else to escort the cardinal back."
After a moment, Sandro grimaced and nodded. "Understood. Godspeed, Your Eminence."
Lelouch gave a nod and step off.
"Abacus, what is Kaguya's current location?" the cardinal asked over the radio.
"She's being taken up into the hotel area again. I'm following the movement of the heretic on the cameras, but he has yet to reach his destination."
"Guide us after him."
"Wilco, Legate."
Lelouch and the others broke out into a brisk trot, heading through the halls and up the stairs at Sancia's direction. Eventually the latter reported Kaguya's arrival at a conference room on one of the upper floors. Unfortunately no cameras, at least not any intact ones, were available to show what was happening. As Lelouch and the others reached the target floor however, Sancia gave word of a most disturbing new development. All present broke out into an all-out sprint.
Kaguya's mind was in a dizzy haze. The initial leg of her and Kallen's escape had been loudly and rather violently interrupted when the JLF soldiers opened fire upon them. Granted they were actually aiming for Kallen, but considering the two girls' proximity there was hardly any difference from Kaguya's perspective. Then after running into members of the Catholic delegation, Kallen had told her to escape with the foreign cardinal. Reluctantly Kaguya obeyed, her fears not helped at all by the sudden sound of explosions behind them.
Then, out of nowhere, a young man had stepped out and struck Pieri across the jaw. The blow sent the cardinal staggering, and Kaguya herself screaming, before that hand reached out and muffled her mouth.
"You're too loud," a snide, oily voice said.
"Stop!" Kaguya heard Pieri cry out.
The youth holding her rolled his eyes as he released Kaguya, his body spinning about and striking the cardinal again. This time, Kaguya caught sight of something glinting in the youth's hand before a sickening thud sounded. Pieri groaned in pain, sinking against the wall.
"Run!" he cried out.
The shout jolted Kaguya out of her shock and she scrambled to her feet. Before she could get any distance however, an arm wrapped around her neck and seized hold of her.
"And just where do you think you're going?"
Screaming, Kaguya flailed about, trying to break loose.
"Why do you women always have to make this so hard?"
An impact struck her on the head, and the sent her limp. Her perspective shifted as Kaguya felt herself unceremoniously hefted over the youth's shoulder. Her awareness drifted as she struggled to retain consciousness. The unsteady swaying did not help, nor did the slick, wet feeling on her forehead. After what felt like an eternity of being hauled through halls and up stairs, Kaguya was finally returned upright and put down on a soft feeling seat. Angry shouts echoed in her ears, but she was just barely able to make out the words. The pounding headache she suffered made it even harder to follow the conversation.
"-unharmed! Look at-!"
"-fault that she was so uncoop-lucky she didn't catch a bullet."
"You said-help us! And now we're-!"
"-my problem that your men are proving so inadeq-"
The youth that carried her here was clearly arguing with someone, but who Kallen's hazy vision could not quite make out. Her hearing was however recovering quickly and she could make out more of the rather heated conversation.
"My men are being cut to pieces out there!"
"Had you not required me to make this extra diversion, I could have been out there helping coordinate them against Eden Vital's forces."
Kaguya recognized that oily sounding voice as belonging to the youth that brought her here.
"For all the good your help with that was! I lost close to thirty men in that one engagement!"
The other voice shouting she did not recognize however.
"I told you, Eden Vital deployed one of their special operatives. And we ended up blundering into the guards that accompanied the Holy See's delegation. You're lucky I was able to make it back with Lady Sumeragi at all."
Did that mean Kallen was still alive? And those two Catholic soldiers?
"At this rate the cardinal is going to escape before we can get to him!"
That meant Lelouch was still at large and alive. For some reason Kaguya felt an immense sense of relief at hearing that.
"I doubt the cardinal is going to cut and run," the youth said. "Knowing him, he'll definitely hang around long enough to make sure the job is done, so you might yet still have a shot at him, especially with your trump card."
Worry suffused Kaguya once more. What was this trump card they were talking about?
"They'll need time," the older man growled. "Get out there and make sure we get it."
Despite her fuzzy vision, Kaguya could still see the haphazard bow the youth made.
"Your wish is my command."
The sound of footsteps more than anything else told her the youth was departing. When Kaguya tried to shake her head to clear her vision, she immediately regretted it as her throbbing headache only became worse.
"Sumeragi-sama?"
Blinking a few more times, Kaguya's vision finally focused and she found herself staring into the eyes of a large, brusque looking man. Kaguya instinctively jerked back.
"Sumeragi-sama, do not worry, you are safe," the man said, sounding not at all reassuring.
"Where am I?" Kaguya asked. "Who are you?"
"I am Lieutenant-Colonel Kusakabe Josui, of the Japanese Liberation Front," the man introduced himself. "I apologize profusely for the way your rescue was handled, Sumeragi-sama."
"Rescue?" Kaguya said somewhat incredulously.
"We could not leave you at risk of coming to harm in the battle that even now rages," Kusakabe explained, "so I ordered my men to find and ferry you to safety. Alas that the Britannian scum seemed so determined to keep you their prisoner, resulting in the inexcusable harm that befell you."
That reminded her, Kaguya raised a hand to touch the uncomfortable stickiness on her head.
"Sumeragi-sama, don't," Kusakabe said, gripping Kaguya's arm to stop her.
"I will decide what I should and should not do," Kaguya snapped, pulling free.
A slight pain was elicited when her fingers touched her skin. Looking at her hand, Kaguya gasped at the red color staining her fingertips.
"My sincerest apologies, Sumeragi-sami," Kusakabe said again. "To allow you to come to harm at the hands of the Britannian dogs is a great stain upon the honor of the JLF."
"Lieutenant-Colonel," Kaguya said, her voice sounding oddly calm even to herself. "The Britannians were not the ones that struck me in such a manner to see me bleed."
Kusakabe's face twisted into a glower, but he quickly reverted back to a more stoic expression.
"Then it was the Chinese operative that claims to be cooperating with us. Rest assured, Sumeragi-sama, I will ensure he never draws near to you again."
In other words, Kusakabe was determined to not accept any blame whatsoever for the part he himself played in Kaguya getting hurt. Kaguya could only stare incredulously at the man's denial.
"Sumeragi-sama," Kusakabe continued, as if utterly unaware of the contempt that was slowly building up with Kaguya for him. "I know you are not in the best of shape, but there is a dire matter that we need your help in."
"And what would that be?" Kaguya asked frostily.
"My forces and I, we sought to strike down the Cardinal Lamperouge, the embodiment of Britannia's sacrilegious occupation of our land. In doing so, we hoped we would inspire our people to rise up, to see through the lies spouted by the cardinal and his Britannian masters. To retake our home from the foreign barbarians!"
A fevered light shone in Kusakabe's eyes as he spoke. A creeping sensation arose within Kaguya as she recognized the insanity she was staring at.
"It seems however the cardinal's followers are more tenacious than we thought, and the rot deeper than we ever feared," Kusakabe said with a sneer. "The Britannians clearly were well prepared for our attack. Perhaps they detected our movements, but I find I can no longer ignore the truth. We were sold out, by those so craven as to believe the cardinal's empty promises of equality," the word might as well be a curse the way he spat it out, "of peace. Of dignity! Forgetting that we, Japanese, under the rule of a divine emperor, have no need for anyone else to grant us leave to possess dignity!"
Kusakabe took a deep breath to compose himself.
"But all hope is not yet lost. There is yet a chance that we might reignite within the hearts of our countrymen the longing for freedom and vengeance that I know smolders within. Or rather, you, Lady Sumeragi Kaguya, of imperial descent and a child of Amaterasu yourself, might reignite."
Desperation and insanity were making Kusakabe more than just deluded, he had crossed into outright fantasy. While the Japanese founding myth was well known to a significant portion of the Japanese populace, at least before the Britannian invasion, very few took its texts to be literal. Indeed even the imperial family had been slowly distancing itself from the notion of divine lineage, whatever the more fanatical imperial loyalists might espouse. Kaguya herself certainly did not consider herself descended from some mythical sun goddess, she barely possessed any awareness of her supposed imperial lineage. But Kusakabe, having been backed into a corner, was grasping at anything that would allow the man to self-justify his irrational actions. And he would do anything, hurt anyone, to do so. Kaguya herself was no exception, whatever Kusakabe's professed reverence for that lineage he claimed she descended from. Especially if Kaguya herself refused to indulge Kusakabe's fantasies.
Kaguya pursed her lips. Even assuming she cooperated, or feigned to, the chances of her making it through this alive were slim. Kusakabe was unhinged enough that he might decide some glorious suicide might be more befitting of someone of imperial lineage than being taken alive again by the Britannians. But she still had a choice here, even if both ended with her death this day. Her only regret was that she was not likely to see what came after.
"What do you need me to do?"
Kusakabe's face lit up, as if Kaguya had promised him salvation itself. And in the man's deluded mind, she likely had.
"We need you to make a statement, Sumeragi-sama," Kusakabe began explaining. "We've managed to get enough access to the hotel's network that we can send a message to the internet. Once it's out there, nothing the Britannians can do will stop it from spreading. Like a wildfire, it will ignite all of Japan and see our people set our Britannian oppressors ablaze."
Kaguya wondered if Kusakabe had any awareness of what that imagery entailed for the Japanese people themselves.
"Do you have a statement prepared, Lieutenant-Colonel?" Kaguya asked. "Or will I need to make one up?"
Kusakabe reached into his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Here, Sumeragi-sama."
Kaguya read the handwritten text. It started out straightforward enough, even if it read more like a diatribe of Kusakabe's personal grievances than any sort of coherent political statement. It also got increasingly deranged the further down Kaguya got, to the point the handwriting was nigh unreadable by the time she got to the end. The man really, really was that far gone.
"I will need to paraphrase some of this," Kaguya said. "For maximum effect."
"Whatever you think is best," Kusakabe said.
He then rose and started barking orders to prepare for the broadcast. As the soldiers shuffled about, moving some lights about and setting up what looked to be a webcam, none bothered to suggest Kaguya's headwound might be bandaged or her face washed of the dried blood. Perhaps they thought such a look might elicit greater sympathy from the audience. Or perhaps they were simply unaware of anything except their own fatal fanaticism.
"Are you ready, Sumeragi-sama?" Kusakabe asked after a minute or so.
Kaguya gave a nod. The man said nothing further, and then a red light on the camera indicated they were life. The young girl took a deep breath. She would only get one shot at this, the moment the JLF renegades realized what she was doing, they would cut her off, and likely cut her down. As an almost idle, passing thought, Kaguya recalled the question Kallen asked of her. Why not focus on more practical manners in which to help the cardinal? Kaguya took a deep breath.
"To the people of Japan," she began speaking in her native tongue. "I am Sumeragi Kaguya, head of the House of Sumeragi, member of the Numbers Administration Council." Her eyes shone with firm will and determination. "And member of Kyoto House, the primary sponsors of the resistance movements that seek to liberate our homeland from Britannian occupation."
A wide grin crossed Kusakabe's face.
"I am presently at the Lake Kawaguchi resort, site of the sakuradite conference wherein nations other than our own determine how the riches of Japan might be divided amongst them. The site has been attacked by a portion of the Japanese Liberation Front, of whom I am currently in the company of."
Kaguya had no way of knowing if Kusakabe was telling the truth about the broadcast actually getting out onto the internet. In fact, the lieutenant-colonel had been, and Kaguya's message was even now racking up views. One could only wonder how the girl herself felt about that.
"The intention of the attack was to assassinate the Cardinal Lamperouge, currently serving as Britannia's viceroy over our conquered home. The attempt is likely to fail, and those JLF soldiers with me almost certainly to perish once this room is found and stormed. Before that happens however, I have been asked to make a statement condemning the viceroy and the Empire, and call upon our people to rise up to free themselves."
Kusakabe's eyes were alight with anticipation as he waited for Kaguya to do just that.
"That I will not do."
The elation was momentary and swiftly transformed into sock.
"The blood you see on me now was not drawn by Britannian actions, but by the JLF renegades that sought my capture, attacking those persons the cardinal directly appointed to see to my safety. The very same cardinal that has held true to every promise he has made to our people, to see to our needs as well as our dignity, who has promised us peace and prosperity not merely as part of Britannia, but as Japanese once more. And I wholeheartedly believe that like all his past promises, he will make good on-kyaa!"
Kusakabe had strode forward, striking Kaguya across the face. This too was broadcast, none of the JLF soldiers seeming to have enough presence of mind to turn the camera off or even cut the upload.
"You ungrateful wench!" Kusakabe screamed. "You traitorous whore! How dare you besmirch the divine blood that flows through you! No! I know how! You are not of imperial lineage at all! You are of tainted blood! Tainted birth! Seize her!"
Two JLF soldiers grabbed hold of Kaguya, keeping her upright and still. Kusakabe drew his katana.
"There is only one use for tainted blood," Kusakabe declared, "and that is for it to be spilled whetting the katana's blade."
Kaguya's eyes widened, her body stiff from fear and shock as she watched that blade draw closer and closer.
End of Chapter 23
Right, so what was that about cliffhangers?
I wonder if now would be a good time to go take a break, considering how fast I've been pumping out these chapters. I think this is the fastest I've ever turned around a chapter. There might have been one time in Calculus that I was able to do something close to this speed, but it's been a while so I don't even remember.
Due to the length of my writing, it's pretty common for major arcs, or battles, to be strung over multiple chapters. In Calculus, the Battle of Tokyo was spread out across 4 chapters. Smaller incidents like Lake Kawaguchi or even the Shinjuku Incident hovered around 2 to 3 chapters of content. Meridian is not going to have the same level of pacing, but those should serve as approximate guides for how much content there is likely to be.
I suppose we did end up seeing Sandro and Petra again pretty quickly. And Pieri will probably have another showing as he's recovering from that stab wound. We'll see whether any of the other fratello are given an opportunity to appear in the future.
As I noted in the previous chapter's notes, I've adjusted the number of thought elevators from the previous 9 to 7. It was originally 9 because I was reusing the locations from Calculus, but as the story further evolved, I was given reason to drop it to 7.
I'm unlikely to go back to previous chapters to make the necessary adjustments however, so one will need to keep an eye on the author notes in general to be notified of such changes. And yes, the Catholic Church (and other treaty signatories) did raise a fuss after the invasion of Japan, but then Britannia slammed all of them with a massive curtailment of sakuradite export, which caused enough economic dislocation that the other nations really didn't have the leeway to push back on other matters unless they wanted to go to war then and there.
Also, I don't necessarily notice private messages on the site very quickly. The site no longer sends notifications of PMs to my email for whatever reason, so I won't see new messages until I actually log in to upload new chapters.
Umm, what investigation? As part of Eden Vital, Lelouch has known for a very long time exactly who instigated his mother's murder. Indeed he's been groomed by C.C., his surrogate mother after he was taken into Eden Vital's custody, to serve as cardinal of the Order Militant for the explicit purpose of avenging Marianne by killing V.V. And of course saving the world in the process, since a renegade, possibly insane code bearer is not the safest thing to leave running around.