"It's been a long time! If not for the media showing you off at every opportunity these last few years, I might have had trouble recognizing you."
Clovis whirled to face the unexpected voice, eyes wide as he took in the sight of an intruder.
"You survived?! But - that's...!"
The slender, lanky frame… the purple eyes smoldering with rage… the way his mouth curled up in a diabolical smirk. Even after almost eight years in exile and presumed dead, no one who bore the blood of Charles zi Britannia would ever fail to identify Lelouch vi Britannia at a glance.
Even if they might have been lies... my hope had been that Kururugi would tell me stories about my lost siblings, who perished so long ago.
"Impossible?" Lelouch asked rhetorically. "Inconceivable, perhaps?"
As he stepped closer, Lelouch pulled back the slide on his stolen service pistol, savoring the sound as the next round took its place in the chamber.
"Language like that is the mark of a dull imagination, you know."
And yet here my brother stands, alive and well - with reminiscence clearly the furthest thing from his mind.
"This, this is…" Clovis stuttered, for perhaps the first time in his life at an utter loss for words as he tried to process the scene in which he now found himself. "This is wonderful! We can inform the homeland at once-"
"So my sister and I can have our freedom stripped from us yet again as you drag us back into court politics? You seem to forget why we were banished in the first place."
Clovis hadn't forgotten, but his other numerous brothers and sisters who still grieved for the vi Britannia line had been much closer to the front of his mind.
Clearly, he realized with wide eyes, we have a difference in priorities.
The vengeful teen's faint smile never faltered, nor did his advance towards Clovis slow down. "Why do you look so worried? Come now, there's no need to fret…"
Clovis felt a lump of dread settle in his gut, as Lelouch's left eye took on a sinister glow -
"You can still be of use to me."
- and then his mind went blank.
"Thermal readings-"
"I see it!"
Racing down the cracked and battered streets of Shinjuku, the Lancelot twirled to the left and then backflipped into the air. Mere instants later, a hail of bullets tore through the road from below and collapsed it, exposing the rebel Sutherlands below.
Is Lelouch still commanding them? Suzaku quietly wondered. Or could it be that they're just continuing to mimic his tactics?
"There's no reason to keep fighting here!" he called out instead.
The Lancelot twisted into a more ideal firing position, and disabled all four enemies with perfectly aimed shots from its slash harkens. "Go home while you still can!"
If Kira freakin' Yamato can't get people to put down their weapons with words, what makes you think you have a chance?
Suzaku winced as the insurgents activated their eject mechanisms or otherwise bailed out. So he's still upset...
"Suzaku," Cecile said over the radio, "another unit found and investigated a stolen carrier train during their withdrawal. Based on the data we've gathered so far, we can estimate that enemy forces should be reduced to the last three or four units."
So the battle is almost over… "I understand, Miss Cecile. Thank you very much."
As Suzaku opened up the Lancelot's factspheres, he mulled over the situation. I know that One meant well... and I'm sure he thinks I'm ungrateful for taking back over our body without his input even after he might have saved both our lives. Once we're out of this, I should give him a peace offering of some kind.
"Miss Cecile, I realize I'm still getting the hang of reading this," Suzaku slowly began. "But I don't think seismograph or thermal are picking up any leads."
"One moment while I look over the data, please."
"Of course."
As he transmitted the most recent factsphere data, Suzaku's gaze briefly flickered to the beautiful bluenette in the comms window. I know that One was mooning over Miss Cecile pretty hard earlier, and when Miss Ma - er, when Elle started talking with him and gave him positive attention, he was enjoying that too… even though he was flustered and panicking on the inside. I'm pretty sure I could play matchmaker, but where does that leave me when I'm still stuck in the same body? I mean, it's not like I hate either of them, but... what happens if I kickstart a relationship with either of them for One's behalf, and then I fall for yet a different woman? No matter what course I take, I need to be as cautious and vigilant as possible to ensure it won't turn into a mess that hurts everyone involved...
A few minutes later, Cecile's voice shook Suzaku from his musings. "It's not a perfect solution, but with no allied forces to create sensor noise, I'm sending you a software patch that will recalibrate the seismograph. With this update, it should pick up any KMF movements within the ghetto and feed the data into your radar. It won't give you any exact enemy locations-"
"But it'll give me some sense of direction and distance," Suzaku realized with wide eyes, "which can be combined with thermal imaging as I come into range." Should I say something nice on One's behalf? "That's perfect," he said with a smile. "Thank you!"
And with that, Suzaku turned back to his console to apply the software patch as his onboard systems received it, completely missing the way Cecile's cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink as her gaze shifted to one side.
A few moments later, as the factsphere sensors recalibrated, he got a result. "Okay, it looks like the strongest signal is heading for... the old financial district!"
Suiting actions to words, he revved up the Lancelot's landspinners and began pursuit. Within moments, he came upon a retreating Sutherland. "Stand down!"
If they were ever going to accept taking orders from Britannia, came a bitter comment from the other side of his heart, they'd be running with you instead of from you.
Suzaku grit his teeth and weathered the sting, even as he chased the retreating insurgent. You're probably right, Suzaku admitted. And to be honest, I don't really expect it to work either.
If you already know it's pointless, then why do you even bother?!
Speeding in front of a crumbling luxury hotel and bringing his finger to the harken trigger, Suzaku closed his eyes for a second.
Because, well... what if it's not pointless?
And then several things happened at once.
"Suzaku," Cecile called out, "we've cracked their communications - I'm patching them in!"
He then heard a new, male voice speaking in Japanese. "Trip the charges, now!"
And then a series of explosions rocked the base and side of the hotel, causing it to fall over towards the Lancelot.
WHAT THE FU-
Suzaku started to dart away in the Lancelot, before the factspheres registered a tiny thermal bloom near the top of the falling tower. "A civilian?!"
For a moment, as it was almost as if time had slowed to a crawl. The crumbling building, the civilian falling within the dust and rubble, the escaping Sutherland that must've led them into this trap, all of it seemed to move in slow motion.
Terror and despair took a fierce hold on Suzaku's heart... and with a desperate cry from within his own mind, he realized those feelings weren't his own.
...gotta save 'em!
Suzaku death-gripped the controls, narrowing his eyes at the collapsing building while his perception of events returned to its normal speed.
"I WON'T LET THEM DIE!"
Saburo Konoe watched from inside his stolen Sutherland with bloodthirsty satisfaction as the old Hundred Stay Tokyo's top twelve floors started raining down on the Britannian prototype Knightmare, its pilot clearly startled.
"Oh hell yeah, that white bastard is going down!"
Confident in their victory, Konoe closed his eyes to bask in the sound of the falling rubble, imagining with a smile what the Britannian pilot's wail of terror must sound like… until he heard Sugiyama's startled cry.
"What the - is that lunatic gonna jump onto it?!"
Yoshida couldn't believe it either. "Not even Tamaki's that stupid- holy shit, he is!"
Konoe reopened his eyes, watching in shock as his display monitor revealed the enemy prototype unit bounding up from the ground to the bottom floor of the crumbling building. "We went to the trouble of setting a trap," he muttered with a laugh, "and this idiot with a death wish walked right into it!"
For a second or two, the Britannian prototype Knightmare scrambled and grabbed for purchase on the side of the falling building… before its landspinners quickly found traction and the machine raced up the sheer vertical surface towards the top!
"Minami, are you seeing this shit?!"
"Death wish or no, why on Earth would-"
As the Knightmare's own weight and the impact of its initial collision began spreading through the building and causing it to further degrade, the prototype shot out a slash harken from its wrist to destroy a piece of falling rubble, before grabbing onto its own cable and swinging that harken like a whip or a chain to pulverize yet more crumbling debris that came toward it.
The White Knightmare's off hand reached into the ever-growing cloud of debris... before it kicked off of the shattered ruin and leapt to safety on a nearby rooftop, evading the jaws of certain death with seemingly no effort!
Konoe snarled at the sight. "Fucking showoff!"
"Typical Britannian-"
"But why though-"
"...wait, is that a civilian in its hand?!"
The four Sutherlands all opened their factspheres and focused their cameras on the prototype… and all of them viewing the same image: a wide-eyed, trembling Japanese woman clutching desperately at a young child presumably her own, both of them held protectively in the Knightmare's hand.
Konoe stared at his monitor for several seconds, uncomprehending. And then he remembered all the rest of his countrymen whom he had seen slaughtered like animals that day.
He remembered the shame and anguish of his entire nation being trampled underfoot and subjugated in just a month. He remembered the proud name of Japan being reduced to nothing more than a number denoting how many others had been conquered before it, and his blood turned red.
Blood for blood. "...open fire."
"What the - are you crazy?! Those are our own people he's holding!"
"If Death Wish over there really gave a damn about the lives of Japanese, he should've been on our side ever since the invasion! The only important thing now is that we take down the enemy - even better if we can capture it and give it to Kyoto House for reverse-engineering!"
"But the civilians-"
Konoe pushed his Sutherland in pursuit of the enemy, already aiming its assault rifle. "Were taken by the enemy as human shields to discourage us, Sugiyama! We can't let this Britannian dog win!"
Hehehehehe…. AAHAHAHAHHAHAHA MOTHERFUCKER I thought we were gonna die-
"It's going to be okay," Suzaku says in a calming voice to the civilians we just pulled out of a falling building. "I'll help you get through this."
It occurs to me, after a moment, that he's addressing me too.
Well, even if it happened differently from in the anime... we saved the civilian from the building, so I guess that should be mission complete.
...not quite, Suzaku thinks back as our external cameras shift from our new human cargo to a group of three - four Sutherlands, just like Cecile predicted. There's the one we were chasing at street level, and then three others are scattered across the rooftops for a block or so. I probably would've missed the one in cover behind a water tower, if he weren't leaned out far enough to stare at us.
...I mean, sure what we just did is probably close to insane, but shouldn't they have run off and escaped by now?
What are they saying? Didn't Cecile hack their comms?
She did, Suzaku replies with a frown, but factspheres are sensitive pieces of technology, that's why they're usually shielded and armored when not actively in use. And in most Knightmares, the majority of communications equipment are bundled in with them for convenience of design. I had our factspheres open in the debris cloud to keep eyes on the civilians...
Uh oh. So what does that mean for us in practical terms?
Seismograph and backup cameras are the only sensors we have right now, and communications have been scrambled. Unless we're lucky enough to have some of the dust randomly get blown out of the factspheres, we won't be hearing anyone except if they use their external speakers or a megaphone.
So… our sensors are fucked, we've basically got a hand tied behind our back protecting the civs, and there's a handful of enemy units staring at us. I'm getting vibes from that one room in Dino Crisis, y'know? The one where everything's super quiet and nothing happens until you walk far enough into the room AND THEN SUDDENLY THE T-REX HEADBUTTS THROUGH THE WALL AND EATS YOU!
Our hands rapidly start dancing across the Lancelot's controls, and I can feel us break out in a sweat as the enemy Sutherlands continue staring at us in our peripheral vision. I don't know if that game exists in this world, Suzaku admits. But since I'm experiencing your memories of it right now I understand it anyway.
Those guys, you don't think they're gonna-
Yeah, they're gonna!
One of the Sutherlands abruptly darts toward us and jumps across the street, opening fire on us!
What the fuck are they doing?! These guys are future Black Knights, they're supposed to be the good guys!
"What, Britannia is all bad?" Suzaku snarks, "and everyone who fights them either good, or good enough?!"
As Konoe's Sutherland lunged for the Lancelot with guns blazing, the 7th-Generation prototype crossed its arms over its chest and projected an energy shield over its precious human cargo!
At the same time, its landspinners tore up the roof it had landed on as the Lancelot sped into reverse and began its escape. "Only cartoons paint a picture that simple!"
A moment passed, after which Yoshida's Sutherland joined the charge, with Minami and Sugiyama only hesitating for a few seconds as bullets ricocheted off the Lancelot's shield without leaving a mark. "He's immune to gunfire?!"
Konoe broke into a sinister, demented chuckle in his cockpit. "Don't worry about that, and keep up the pressure! Sooner or later we'll bleed out his energy filler, and then we're free to avenge our people!"
As Lancelot descended to ground level and continued its retreat, always keeping its energy shield raised against gunfire, Suzaku cursed as he fiddled with the radio and got only static. "Damn it, we're like a one-eyed man with tinnitus!"
"...ku! Suzaku!"
At that moment, a worried voice cut through the static. "Suzaku, can you read me?!"
"Miss Cecile?!"
Her voice is so pretty, One thought.
For a split-second, Suzaku mentally shrugged. If focusing on that keeps him from freaking out, then so be it.
"Suzaku, the Blaze Luminous is proven technology against live fire in controlled conditions - but it was never designed for the kind of continuous use you're putting it under! At the current rate of power drain, your energy fillers will drop to critical levels in eight minutes!"
Suzaku grit his teeth as he glanced at his instrument readouts, eyes widening as he saw the rate at which Lancelot's fuel reserves were dropping.
"Thanks for the warning, you made it just in time!"
"I've also sent you a software patch via satellite that should unscramble your communications enough to start intercepting the enemy's radio again. It's not a perfect fix, but-"
One's next thought was so powerful that Suzaku let it take control of his mouth even while he ran the software update and re-balanced the Lancelot's comms suite. "Did you just write that up in the time I've been handicapped? How incredible are you?!"
"Suzaku," a flustered and startled Cecile stammered. "That's- well, I-"
At that moment, another male voice cut through the radio in Japanese. "Guys, just get out of there! Fall back - and if you have to abandon the Sutherlands then so be it, they're not worth your lives!"
Even with radio distortion, One knew that voice without fail. That's Kaname Ohgi! If Lelouch isn't giving orders, then he's their top guy right now!
Three of the resistance Sutherlands faltered.
But the one leading the assault on the Lancelot only sped up. "The hell with that, you gutless coward! We finally have a chance at turning this conflict in our favor, and you want us to run?! Victory goes to the bold, and to those who seize opportunities when they come along!"
"R-2," Ohgi scolded, "that's a direct order! Stand down and retreat!"
"And if the opportunities before us aren't enough," Konoe continued in defiance of that order as his Sutherland's factspheres opened up, "then we'll create our own!"
Suzaku's eyes were wide as saucers as he and One pieced together what that likely meant.
No… he wouldn't?! Nobody's that fucked up, right?!
As Yoshida and Minami continued firing on the Lancelot's center of mass and hitting the Blaze Luminous, Konoe turned his gun and sprayed the buildings on either side of the street with gunfire.
Suzaku's roar through the Lancelot's external speakers echoed across Shinjuku as chunks of concrete and steel rained down on the street. "MONSTER!"
Even as the white Knightmare shifted the civilians it was carrying into its Blaze Luminous hand to try and catch the five civilians that Suzaku had seen falling, Konoe turned his aim back to the Lancelot and resumed fire. "A mere dog of Britannia dares to call me that, when you oppress and slaughter our people for sport?! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"
"Damn it," Suzaku muttered to himself, "without the factspheres I have to do this with only the cameras…!"
With the Lancelot's range of vision limited to what's in front of it and with a hail of bullets flying at it from one side of the street, Suzaku had no practical choice but to start from the furthest end of the street and make an advance back towards the enemy.
Darting forward, the Lancelot caught one civilian with its free hand. And on top of that, Suzaku growled to himself, I have to limit my acceleration, too, or else I risk crushing the civilians!
Securing its new cargo behind Blaze Luminous, the Lancelot spun around to minimize inertia's effects on the civilians as it changed direction to a family on the other side of the street, and took several shots to its armored cockpit block in the process. "Make it, Lancelot!"
Its white armored hand snatched a middle-aged man out of the air…
"One…!"
Protectively closed around a teen daughter or sister...
"Two…!"
And spun in its wrist socket to deflect a bullet with the back of its hand before gently catching a small child. "THREE!"
Lancelot turned to the last civilian that Suzaku had seen, and his spirits sank even as he pushed the machine forwards. "No! Too far-"
Harken trampoline!
Suzaku didn't even try to parse or process One's suggestion, he just acted on it and fired a slash harken into the building a few floors below the civilian! The would-have-been victim, an able-bodied young man, landed on the slack harken cable and desperately scrambled not to fall off of it, losing momentum as he slid down and the Lancelot raced forward and caught him.
"And that's the last!"
Holy shit, we did it! Hell yeah, Suzaku!
"Impossible! This isn't over-"
"Yes," Suzaku growled over an open frequency that all units present could hear. "It is."
Konoe blinked at the unexpected and direct response, realizing that he'd left his comms on open transmission.
The next instant, he heard panicked shouts from Yoshida and Minami as their Sutherlands all but exploded, and looked up to see their cockpit blocks ejecting. "What the-?"
Dumbly, his eyes followed the heavy cables extending out from the wrecked machines, and traced them back along the ground and up beneath the Lancelot's Blaze Luminous to a pair of hip-mounted motors.
At that moment, the harkens mounted on Lancelot's forearms shot out from their defensive right-angle position...
"What is he-"
...and then the attached jet boosters and guidance systems activated, immediately redirecting the harkens toward him!
The first one tore through the Sutherland's waist, ripping the machine in two.
The second, almost immediately after, slammed into a power circuit that robbed the terrorist of all remaining controls.
"Son of a bitch could have wiped us out any time he wanted to…"
With that realization, Konoe blacked out from head injuries sustained on the realization that with this capability, the enemy unit could have slaughtered his entire group in the first instant had its pilot chosen to.
"Not bad for a one-eyed man with tinnitus, huh?"
More like a one-eyed superma- wait, where'd the last one go?
"Seismograph doesn't show anything else," Suzaku muttered as the Lancelot kneeled down and finally released the civilians it had rescued. "I guess the last one must have escaped while he still had the chance..."
Cecile's first sign that their new test pilot had returned from the combat zone was the soft rumbling of landspinners passing through the ground, strong enough to even be felt inside Camelot's heavy trailer.
"Oh goody!" Lloyd said with a smile, clapping his hands. "Our new devicer's back! Now we can get a closer look at all our new data..."
The second was their assigned guard and current man in charge of the defense perimeter, Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, calling out across Britannia's standard-use comm channel. "What's with that wreckage, did you actually bother taking a prisoner?"
Indeed, Cecile realized as she stepped out of the truck, Lancelot was dragging a Sutherland cockpit behind it by its harken cable. "My lord," Suzaku replied, "I realize this may be presumptuous of me to ask. But if at all possible, I'd like this one to be prosecuted and tried in a court of law. For insurrection, obviously, among other crimes. The recorder data on our respective machines should clarify what I mean."
For a moment, there was no response. And when Jeremiah did speak up, his tone was noticeably a bit more serious. "...I see. In that case," he said as the Sutherland rolled forward, "I'll take over custody of the scum from you."
Then, making a show of turning its head towards the Camelot crew, he added, "Expect someone to review his combat footage in the next 48 hours - they'll determine how useful it will be in court."
Cecile saluted, knowing that Lloyd wouldn't care enough to and that Elle hadn't been able to escape from her analysis yet.
With that, the Lancelot picked up the terrorist's cockpit and handed it to Jeremiah's Sutherland, which accepted it and slung it over one shoulder with just enough care not to seriously injure the rebel inside before turning to leave. A few dozen meters later, however, it stopped. "...one last thing, rookie."
"What's that, my lord?"
"I understand this was your first taste of real combat as a pilot. How was it?"
Suzaku took a few moments to consider that as he backed the Lancelot into its docking port for maintenance, allowing the restraining clamps to activate and hold it in place. "...feels like it took me over a year to get through the last hour, sir."
Jeremiah laughed, loud and boisterous, enough that his grip on the controls made his entire KMF shake a little. "Welcome to His Majesty's Knightmare Corps! Maybe next time I'll have a front-row seat to seeing what you're made of."
With that, Jeremiah finally took his leave, while the Lancelot's cockpit block opened up and Suzaku wobbled his way out.
He's covered in sweat, Cecile noted in concern. And from the way he's grimacing, the painkillers we gave him must be starting to wear off.
Standing up properly, she saw Suzaku glance down at her. Even from ground level, she could tell he was smiling. He does look pleased to see me, but.
Cecile's lips turned down ever so slightly. He's also trying to keep his pain to himself.
"I know I took some shots to the back," he called down, while stepping up onto the catwalk. "I hope the Lancelot isn't beaten up too badly!"
"The armor can be repaired or replaced," she easily replied while eying the bleeding-edge behemoth. In truth, there were scuffs and dings all over, and she could still remember Elle's momentary shriek of terror when they saw how the cockpit's rear ablative had been shredded. "What about you, Suzaku?"
The new pilot didn't answer for a moment, climbing down a retractable ladder to meet her at ground level. "I'm holding up well enough, I guess. Trying to work through some things, but I'm sure I'll be fine."
Cecile hummed, idly watching the way he suppressed his limp on the descent. When Suzaku finally hit asphalt, he trotted over to her side… before a flurry of emotions raced across his face too quickly for her to register them all, and he awkwardly turned away to look out at Shinjuku instead.
Should I ask what's on his mind? Does it concern the battle, or something else?
As the silence continued and it rapidly turned awkward, Cecile was just about to speak up when she heard a soft, frustrated whisper.
"...just talk to her, stupid!"
Cecile blinked, before a slight smile crept onto her face. Boys will be boys, I suppose. Should I throw him a bone, or let him make the first move?
"So," he began… and then awkwardly trailed off.
"So?" He's so flustered, it's adorable. I almost want to tease him… perhaps another time.
A moment later, Suzaku finally seemed to find his words. "Nice weather we're having today, huh?"
Cecile looked up at the cloudless blue sky, sun hidden behind a battle-weathered office building, and agreed. "You're right. It's a shame to have to get back in the truck."
"...I used to hate clear, sunny days like this."
The surprise must have shown on her face, as Suzaku let out a chuckle. "I bet I come across as the outdoorsy type, right? There is some truth to that, but… I used to prefer overcast days when I was a kid. The sun would be too bright, it was a real nuisance."
I don't think he's used to it, but he's trying to open up. "...you said you used to hate days like this," Cecile noted. "Can I ask what changed, Suzaku?"
Suzaku looked up at the sky with a bitter… no, rather an exhausted smile. "Clouds bring rain, you know. I guess after a while… I finally got poured on enough times to just appreciate the dry weather for what it is."
At that moment, Cecile wanted to wrap Suzaku up in her warmest blanket, set him on the couch in her apartment, and either offer a hot meal or hold him until he slept.
But they'd just met that day, and from what little she knew about Japanese sociology Cecile was concerned that she might unsettle Suzaku or push him away if she were too forward or intrusive. Given his likely past as an Honorary Britannian, it wouldn't surprise me if he's slow to establish trust. Still, I should at least make an offer and leave the door open for him to accept if he likes.
"The Lancelot is going to be tied up in maintenance for a few days," she eventually replied. "Perhaps a week. We'll have plenty of opportunities to talk more, if you'd like. Do you have any plans?"
Suzaku rolled his neck, working out some stress, and turned to face her more properly. "Well," he abruptly began with more confidence than he'd displayed the entire discussion prior, "I remember that piloting benefits include a military grant to cover education costs. I've been pretty much self-taught for the last several years -"
Ever since the invasion, Cecile realized.
"-and I was hoping I could start catching up as a student. At least to the extent that my duties here will allow, of course."
Cecile opened her mouth to respond…
"If that's how it is, then what do you think about Ashford Academy?"
...and turned in unison with Suzaku to face Elle as she stepped out of Camelot's mobile operations center and into the conversation.
"My father's an old friend of the Dean," she continued with a smile and a wave, "so we can probably hook you up with a placement test tomorrow afternoon or the day after."
Suzaku's face lit up as if Christmas had come early. "That works out perfectly, thank you so much!"
"Well in that case," Elle said with just a little smugness that made Cecile's heart sink, "we should be all finished with the battle data by then, so we can celebrate with dinner and a movie while Lloyd gets your transfer finalized."
Suzaku blinked, again seeming to struggle with several conflicting emotions at once, before settling on a mix of acceptance and confusion. "Actually, I like the sound of that."
"Then it's a date!"
...or, Cecile concluded with an internal sigh as a slightly more buoyant, if befuddled Suzaku followed Elle into the trailer, it's also possible that he's socially challenged and will require a far more blunt approach than I first expected.
[-to be continued...]
Please let me know what you think of the story so far, or if there are certain things you're looking forward to or interested in seeing in future chapters.