A/N: Special thanks to Jameyofthemegacosmos, Icysnowsage, Darklord331, silkdreamweaver (chief beta reader and editor) and our Gundam consult and designer Redrat8. Greatkingrat88, and Seerking have also contributed to the development of this story I had begun in-between projects since early last year.
I regret this is another talking chapter, partially, but some important character moments take place, and with the other members of Lelouch's squad being revealed.
This chapter has been edited a LOT, partly because I had to change the ages of the characters introduced, which some was me just taking a guess and praying to god I was right lol, but I did use other characters to narrow down their likely ages and what ranks they had when they appear, etc. And I admit there were some things I was questionable on including at the suggestion of some of my betas, but I decided to go along for this to maybe play up the troll trope for a certain someone. As this something she would no doubt do if she were capable of it outside of what makes the Muv Luv world unique, something that will be touched up on in this chapter, to employ the use of her powers as shown in Sunrider Liberation Day, which can be found on Steam and its prelude game can be downloaded for free last I checked if anyone is curious about the game.
Now to take care of the reviews I couldn't PM a response to.
Guest one: Yeah that is true on Claude, despite enjoying driving Lelouch up a wall most of the time, because she does seek amusement which in the Sunrider games cause her to do, let's just say, some questionable actions for both her own amusement and to keep herself from cleaning up a reality-destroying mess. Blackmailing C.C., that could be a possibility, even if Claude might allow Lelouch to gain his Geass (or she might tell Lelouch in advance on what he might get, and see if he chooses to accept it still or not, curious to see how he might react), even if by that point he has done quite well without it.
Samuari Seven1: Actually no, Gundams from like say Gundam V and Crossbone Gundam were where inspiration from drawn from with RedRat8 being the one who revised all of my previous designs for the Gundams for Yui, Lelouch and others. Actually didn't just see the future events of Code Geass, Claude is in fact aware of all possible outcomes, but she just doesn't know which outcome will take effect until it happens, so she easily knows about Code Geass and how the series ended among others. I mean she could easily reveal the truth about future events and more to Lelouch, if she is feeling like it beyond what she has already told him back in earlier chapters.
Samurai seven2: While I haven't decided on Villetta's fate yet, I will say Lelouch might drop V.V. off in the middle of BETA occupied territory and have the BETA use him as an endless chew toy XD, as a tempting idea. But he'll likely take out V.V. at the right time, likely before the Black Rebellion, especially if Lelouch is told V.V. kidnaps Nunnally during it. But either way Lelouch will...prepared for any attempts on Nunnally well before then, for those following me on Spacebattles, should know what I got in mind.
Samurai seven3: Yeah, although Marimo won't make Lelouch into a super fighter like Suzaku outside of a machine, his physical ability and endurance will at least be a MUCH better than he was in canon and by the time he faces Suzaku he'll be more experienced as a pilot. Of course Yui is likely to be his better as she'll be basically a anti-Suzaku by that point in the story in terms of skill. Making Suzaku submit loyalty to Lelouch won't be easy given his views, but he won't be much of a threat as he was in the series. BUT, I would be worried about depending on which women end up romantically involved with Lelouch, they might just decide to remove Suzaku as a threat XD.
Ok that's it, on with the chapter, which I'll be posting on Archive of Our Own, Questionable Questing with Jameyofthemegacosmos posting on SpaceBattles shortly.
Chapter 7
New Friends
The following morning, Lelouch awoke, but before training could begin for the second day Michiru brought Lelouch to a doctor who administered Claude's special supplement. Lelouch preferred it over having it shot into him like yesterday and was more comfortable with an actual professional doing it.
"You know I could've done that," Claude pouted with both hands on her hips.
"Not when you're wearing that!" Lelouch said, pointing to Claude's professional attire.
Claude's attire as a doctor was a revealing, form fitting white nurse outfit decorated with pink hearts, buttons and lining. It left little to the imagination on how much it revealed Claude's voluptuous figure.
"No respectable medical professional would dress like that," Michiru said, agreeing with Lelouch. "Are you really a doctor?"
"Why, yes I am!"
Michiru was of the same mind as Lelouch and Yui, that of highly doubtful. Even if she has the necessary knowledge and skills, her wardrobe, personality and idea of shooting an injection into someone using a dart gun was not part of any proper conduct befitting a doctor.
"Anyway he's finished," Michiru said, who like Lelouch, didn't want to deal with Claude more than necessary, finding the woman irritating.
"Well just be thankful I'll be nice and continue providing supplements every morning from now on," Claude said, offended, but brushed it aside.
Lelouch was just thankful that it was over with, but most importantly, he was happy it wasn't shot into his back this time.
I can't believe I am looking forward to physical exercise, just to get away from Claude, Lelouch thought with a grimace not realizing that Claude was smirking as he left as though she knew exactly what he was thinking.
Later that morning Yui was sitting across from her uncle, Eiji Iwaya. The pair were inside his office, seated at the table, having breakfast. Despite Yui's initial warm greeting, Eiji could tell that Yui was clearly troubled.
"What's on your mind Yui?" Eiji asked, catching her off guard.
"It's… nothing," Yui said, after a moment to regain her composure.
Eiji sighed. "You are just like your father, but you don't need to tell me what is going on. You've been avoiding your friends since Kyoto haven't you?
"I…" Yui wanted to offer a counter argument, but the calm and knowing look in her honorary uncle's eyes made her realize no excuse she could offer would convince him otherwise. "I was arrogant."
Eiji seemed surprised, but said nothing.
"I felt proud on the day I would be joining the fight against the BETA, I wanted to help you and our country. I don't regret my decision, but," Yui hesitated, trying to find the right words. "I understand why you seemed less enthusiastic about me when I sought to fight on the frontline. You told me not to be hasty, and yet you and others were praying young girls like me and my friends would never see the frontline."
Eiji sighed, looking at Yui with understanding eyes.
"I was a lot like you before I went into battle against the BETA, but then…I was the sole survivor of my squad. All of them were my friends from the academy and through training," Eiji explained, shocking Yui. "Tragically it's common for fresh and inexperienced TSF pilots to be the sole survivor of their squadrons during their first battle or be wiped out with the rest. There are some skilled and lucky squads that avoid this, but more often than not only one or two out of a squad composed of freshly trained pilots would survive their first battle."
Yui was silent, processing his words as she now understood the truth.
"The problem with surviving is that you end up with the ghosts of everyone you'd ever left behind riding on your shoulders," Eiji stated, before adding with a thin smile. "A quote from Paolo Bacigalupi."
"That feels very true," Yui said sadly.
"Yes, but you had a chance to undo their deaths, something even I wish I could've done. You should be proud of having been successful," Eiji said hopeful, but when he studied the expression on Yui's face, "But the memories of their deaths will never leave you I suppose."
"No, it's not something I'll be able to easily forget," Yui said regretfully as each death was terrible in how it occurred.
"From what I heard about how they met their ends I cannot blame you, but I regret I can't do anything to help you. I can only offer you kind words, if nothing else," Eiji said, his face full of regret that his niece had to endure such horror.
"Thank you uncle," Yui said, accepting her uncle's kind words with a small, yet genuine smile. He knew as well as she did that there was no way she could banish the trauma she suffered from that day.
All she could do was endure and find a way to move beyond it.
Following the competition of morning exercise and training, Lelouch was eating lunch in the cafeteria. He was exhausted from morning exercises, but unlike yesterday and thanks largely to Claude's supplements injected into him, Lelouch was barely able to finish, narrowly staying ahead of Marimo and her cattle prod.
As much as Claude got on his nerves, to put it kindly, he couldn't deny how effective her supplements were.
Lelouch was expecting to eat alone, but his actions from yesterday and the fact he held his own against the BETA in Kyoto all night had drawn a few people to his table. Yuzuka was among them, and a few more as Lelouch spoke to them.
"I apologize again for causing you such an inconvenience," Yuzuka said regretfully, sitting to Lelouch's right.
"Please Yuzuka, it was my choice to help you. There is no need to apologize again," Lelouch replied. Although he didn't mind her humility he felt she was feeling much more guilt than she really should.
"You guys should be thankful Sergeant Jinguuji didn't decide to punish you both," A young woman warned. She was five years older than Lelouch with long maroon hair tied in a ponytail with two small side-tails and matching eyes. She was dressed in similar attire as Yuzuka and sat across from Lelouch. "If you thought that was brutal, she was a lot worse with me and my friends."
Her name was Tsukiko Fujisawa and from what Lelouch had gathered she was a former TSF pilot who had left the military sometime following the completion of basic training. Lelouch didn't know why, but given how she was older than the other cadets and she was more than familiar with Marimo's training methods, it did confirm she had been under Marimo's tutelage in the past.
"Really," Yuzuka asked, nervously as Tsukiko swiftly finished eating her rice and fruit salad.
"Yup," Tsukiko replied after swallowing. "I was in the same training group as Michiru was."
"And now you are back under her again?"
Tsukiko was silent looking down at her plate. Clearly Yuzuka had unknowingly touched a bad memory and it would explain why she left the military.
"Say Lelouch, was it," a new voice interjected. "How did you end up piloting such a powerful machine and gaining non-heredity status with the Royal Guard?"
The girl was around Lelouch's age, with long dark pink hair, some tied into a pair of small thin braids around her face, and green eyes. She was sitting to Lelouch's left trying to eat a fruit salad.
"It's an unbelievable story. Haruka is your name right?" Lelouch asked, while he gave a nod of recognition for a much-needed change of subject.
"Yes, my name is Haruka Suzumiya." Haruka said, providing a proper introduction.
"There are still some questions I have behind my selection, but I know the one behind it was Claude Trello."
"Claude Trello?" Haruka inquired, curious and surprised. "I've heard that name before. The doctors who restored my legs mentioned her as the one who gave Japan the technology. They are hoping if I successfully make it through training again, they can use it on those who had to leave active service as a TSF pilot to try and get more experienced pilots back out onto the field."
So Claude gave Japan advanced medical technology to regrow missing limbs, Lelouch thought, making both a note of that and wondering what else Claude gave them to ensure they would work with her?
"Training again, so you completed basic training before?" Yuzuka said, realizing she was like Tsukiko, only that Haruka didn't leave the military like Tsukiko did.
"So with the technology that could restore missing limbs, would it allow others who couldn't finish their training to actually finish it? Meaning more pilots for them to recruit," Tsukiko asked. She was surprised to learn she wasn't the only returning cadet.
"Yes, I had to endure physical therapy before they decided I should go through basic training again. To ensure my new legs are strong enough to pilot a TSF, given how physically demanding piloting one can be. I am part of a test group in which they want to be sure the technology will work before allowing it to be used more readily," Haruka explained.
"Basically you aren't going to have much trouble with the training regime having gone through all of it before. You're just hoping that your new legs can handle the physical side of it, otherwise you have no chance with a TSF," Yuzuka stated, which Haruka confirmed with a nod.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your legs previously?" Lelouch asked.
"I'll answer that question if you'll answer mine about the machine you had gotten," Haruka said with a playful smile.
"Fair enough," Lelouch said. "Claude was also the same one who provided the technology for the machine I used. I can't say I fully understand the technical details behind it, but I know much of the technology is far above that used for a TSF, but I dare say that she has a personality I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy due to her antics."
Lelouch rubs the spot where he was shot the previous day. The pain is there and it is a tender spot too. Though it does allow him a moment to think.
Where would I even begin to explain how Yui's and mine machines are basically powered by a miniature black holes held in electromagnetic stasis fields that if they fail would instantly subject the black holes to real time space and gravity with the effect of going off like an Antimatter Bomb? Lelouch thought, deciding maybe it was best to avoid mention of that and regretting asking Nina and Old Man Reuben about the topic himself.
Naturally Lelouch had played it off as a hypothetical ideal when he asked them about it.
"What are the weapons like?" Haruka asked swiftly, changing the topic for which Lelouch was grateful for.
"They are energy based, which seem to be much more effective against the BETA," Lelouch answered. "One of the weapons used is called a Beam Magnum. One shot is a bolt of energy carrying enormous destructive potential and each shot is rated at one thousand degrees."
"Holy crap, that's hot. You're likely to vaporize the BETA with a shot like that," Yuzuka exclaimed, trying to envision how destructive such a weapon can be.
"It wiped out a lot of Destroyer-class, Fort-class, Grappler-class and Tank-class BETA quite effectively," Lelouch stated from experience, the smaller Tanks were definitely vaporized with others dying from Flash, extreme burns, or exploding as their bodies hyperheated through flashboiling before they exploded. "Even the armored bodies of the larger class of BETA cannot withstand such a weapon."
"And Japan just got their hands on this tech?" Haruka inquired.
"Yes, but I am not sure when. I don't know how long before they can reproduce and field similar weapons, but one risk is that you have to be careful with it. The size of the passage field of each shot and the intense heat and energy release can easily damage or destroy a TSF caught in the line of fire, even a glancing shot or near miss can be fatal," Lelouch cautioned.
"If it's that powerful then you must've killed more BETA than I thought," Haruka commented as she tried to envision how many enemies Lelouch must have killed with such a weapon.
"I can't imagine it would take them long to produce such a weapon in large numbers to get them out as soon as possible," Tsukiko said.
"They might have to modify existing TSFs to use them, or create specialized models for them though," Yuzuka commented. "Judging by what Lelouch described, the recoil on that weapon has to be crazy. Existing TSFs may not be able to handle such a powerful weapon without modification."
"Really, how can you be sure?" Haruka said, curious.
"My father is the owner of a TSF production company," Yuzuka answered before explaining. "He would usually talk about the new models they would make and their parts during dinner. Usually it was about conducting weapon testing, which I recall he said the recoil and the effect it has on the machine has to be kept low otherwise they risk higher rates of mechanical malfunctions and stressing the frame which could be costly for the pilot."
"That is true. If your arms were to fail during battle that could get you killed, especially if it happens at a bad time," Lelouch agreed.
"So is Claude an American or solely part of the UN?" Yuzuka inquired. "The technology she is offering is certainly above anything I've heard about, but which country or organization does she belong to?"
"That is a good question. I think she has ties to the UN, America, and Japan, that much I am certain. How far her support and the resources she commands is unknown to me, but it is clear she isn't American either or they would have that technology already in service, but I saw them using some of it and they were using it quite differently," Lelouch answered and then went on to explain what he had seen the Americans and even the UN using during the many small battles that made up the larger Battle of Kyoto.
"So they were using plasma suspended inside of solid munitions?" Haruka frowns as she couldn't quite understand the why.
"Basically a plasma-based HESH round," Yuzuka had caught on quick enough. "Clever too as it saves them a load of trouble trying to troubleshoot any new technology and they can seamlessly add it in without much hassle or retraining except for some new allowances and restrictions here and there as well as new handling procedures, though, that is pretty benign and normal for any new weapon and infinitely better than learning a whole new weapon system outright to handle."
"If she had access to technology like that, why not share it? Where did it all come from?" Haruka asked.
"A good question, but regrettably I don't have the answer and I wish I did frankly," Lelouch said before finishing his meal.
"That sounds concerning, but I imagine the government who has been dealing with her would know more," Haruka commented.
I imagine they do, but now that I think about it. If Claude is giving me this much assistance, then just what kind of weapons and resources do my competitors have? Lelouch wondered deeply concerned over the threat and that for a moment, Claude had actually been serious with him and that actually scared him.
"They probably do, I can't imagine they would deal with someone like that if they didn't," Yuzuka said, which was spot on with what Lelouch suspected.
"But how much do they know is the real question," Tsukiko added, a question Lelouch silently wondered as well too.
"Excuse me?" A woman, one around Lelouch's age with blue hair in a pageboy style haircut, and green eyes dressed in the same attire as everyone else. "Is this table taken?"
"No it isn't, and you are?" Lelouch asked politely.
"Oh I am cadet Haruko Kashiwagi, I just wanted to meet the guy who barely had any training and who took on the BETA in Kyoto. Not to mention that was pretty bold, giving that poor girl a piggyback ride after the sergeant knocked her down pretty good," Haruko said, giving Yuzuka apologetic glance.
Yuzuka on the other hand didn't know how to react, her cheeks were red, a mix of anger and embarrassment.
"Someone is getting popular," Tsukiko said grinning, as Haruko found a place to sit, as close as Haruko could get to Lelouch.
"Come this isn't high school, she is just curious about the machine I pilot and such," Lelouch said, seemingly dismissive of anyone having any romantic interest in him.
But whether it is true or not is another question.
"Speaking of curiosity, weren't you going to tell Lelouch how you lost your legs?" Yuzuka said, glancing at Haruka who realized she had forgotten.
"Oh right, I guess I need to uphold my end of my deal," Haruka said with a sigh.
"If it's not something you are comfortable with, you don't have to tell," Lelouch offered after swallowing some food.
"No this actually might be useful to you to hear," Haruka said before explaining with a more serious expression. "It was during our Comprehensive Skills Evaluation, a landmine was set off causing an old wrecked car to knock towards me while me and my friends were taking cover behind it. They managed to get away, but me…my legs were crushed under the car. They had to amputate them. I was given some advanced prosthetic legs, but they didn't fit well enough for me to pilot a TSF."
"But you're about as old as us," Yuzuka pointed out. "Were you in a military academy since I don't think they allowed pilots to join the military even if they recently lowered the recruitment age to sixteen when the BETA invaded."
"Yes that is true, I was attending a military academy meant to train pilots near Mt. Fuji. Upon graduating we would've been made pilots, which by that point I would've been the right age," Haruka explained, which Lelouch silently noted was likely similar to the academy Yui and her friends were attending, likely more for civilians than those of the Royal Guard. .
"I see, you are sharing this because we'll likely have to take the Comprehensive Skills Evaluation as well," Lelouch said, realizing the reason behind Haruka's willingness to share the story of how she lost her legs.
"Yes, and even with our accelerated training, I have no doubt they will put us through it," Haruka said, seemingly certain of it.
"I see, then perhaps at a later time I would like to hear more then," Lelouch said, which Haruka acknowledged with a nod.
After lunch Izumi was back in the simulator cockpit, learning how to pilot the Tsuna Gundam. Even if its weapons were radically different from those she had been trained to use. She found herself relishing the Tsuna Gundam's firepower and combat capabilities, though, as they were well exceeding the Type-82A Zuikaku she had piloted.
Though an experienced officer overlooking her training, with experience on the F-15J/Type-89 Kagerou, knew just about anything to be better than the Type-82 in general. The F-4 Phantom derived TSF was simply too old to soldier on effectively. Like many others with actual experience, the officer believed the Type-82 should have been retired long ago in favor of newer models.
The cost savings from the maintenance of aging F-4J/Type-77 Gekishin and Type-82s, which was actually a sad thing as that meant they were not seeing combat at all until it was too late, would have allowed for the Type-94 Shiranui to be accelerated into service and fight with the Type-89 as an equal rather than one machine bail out the others, to the detriment of all machines.
Which is why the officer hoped that Izumi and the other cadets would succeed at their training and master their entirely new machines. Machines far superior to anything else they already have. So, finally, the Imperial Military can update their entire inventory.
Still, the officer's job of overseeing the training included arranging for, as the Americans put it, curve balls to surprise the inexperienced cadets and help them learn before they developed bad habits prior to entering their machines for real, let alone going back into actual battle with them.
She had just evaded a charging Destroyer-class before retaliating with its scythe. The rocket engine on the weapon ignited allowing Izumi to deliver a powerful swing that combined with the crimson energy blade nearly beheaded the alien creature as it passed. A warning sounded in the cockpit alerting Izumi to the incoming swarm of hundreds of Tank-class BETA with more than a dozen Grappler-class BETA behind them.
"Fly my fangs!" Izumi shouted the vocal command as the ten-blade-like bits were deployed from the skirt armor of the Tsuna.
Acting on her mental commands thanks to the cockpit's quantum communication interface, the bits swarmed the Tank-class BETA, shooting them, ramming through them, or decapitating them in passing. As the Fangs dealt with the Tank-class BETA, Izumi put away the scythe to draw the GN-buster sword, the second primary melee weapon of the Tsuna.
Her Gundam held the large blade with one hand before it drew its Beam Magnum, as the GN fangs retreated to recharge. The BETA that survived Izumi's GN fang onslaught, were vaporized from the shots fired from the Beam Magnum, wiping out most of the Grappler-class BETA in the process.
Even if killing BETA in a simulator didn't bring the same satisfaction, she was filled with eager anticipation for the time she would take the Tsuna into battle against them. The amount of BETA she was killing in the simulator alone just fueled that anticipation.
I must really thank Lelouch for this opportunity and for his words, Izumi thought.
Izumi had to acknowledge, while killing BETA was satisfying, she knew killing a lot of them wouldn't be meaningful. Humanity had been fighting the BETA for decades, always on the defensive as they would inevitably be pushed back as their defenses wore down.
"Survive and you'll have many more chances for revenge, but if you die here you'll achieve nothing. Besides, given how much you clearly loved him, would he want you to die? If you live I am sure he'll be happy, and you'll get more opportunities to get vengeance as long as you live, otherwise if you die then you'll have achieved nothing. Live to get revenge then be there when the BETA are beaten so you can stand as the victor with your vengeance complete."
As enjoyable as killing the BETA was, killing them, especially these simulated ones simply didn't bring her much satisfaction. Lelouch's words resonated within her, even more so now that Izumi had a machine on par with those Yui and Lelouch had during Kyoto.
"Victory over the BETA, huh?" Izumi mused as she glanced at the kill counter, she had killed more BETA than in Kyoto.
This woman Claude, who knew about the BETA invasion beforehand and provided all of this technology; maybe she knows more about the BETA, even something I could work toward to get real revenge upon them, Izumi thought as an idea came to mind, but suddenly an alarm on her watch went off.
"Oh it's that time already," Izumi said before shutting down the simulator. "I guess we still need answers from Lelouch and I am curious about a few other matters too."
It was late in the evening as Yuzuka and Haruka followed Lelouch after dinner. Training was over for the day and the young man's exhaustion was apparent.
"Forgive me for saying this, but I think it's impressive at how well you've been handling the training."
"I am a little surprised myself to be fair," Lelouch said, most times he could barely even run a half-a-lap before collapsing.
Claude's supplements are clearly potent. It could've taken me months to be able to endure such training, Lelouch acknowledged internally.
"Yes, but outside of the physical part you've been excelling. You are the top cadet in tactics class, and I didn't think anyone could assemble a gun or a rifle so fast as you did, it was like second nature,"
That actually surprised me, and I think I can thank the Coupling System and Yui for that.
In the afternoon Lelouch had once again taken part in the class about learning how to inspect, clean, and assemble/disassemble/reassemble a pistol and an assault rifle. Lelouch had practiced with a pistol before so he knew how to shoot, but the processes for assembling and cleaning a weapon was very different. But to his surprise he knew what to do and how to do it, demonstrating the knowledge and skill to do it, even for the assault rifle which he had never touched before. Even today not only was his skill in this regard better when he first demonstrated it to Michiru, but he seemed faster than previously like his body was going off of muscle memory.
It was all second nature to him.
"I am certain that it came from the Coupling System our machines use."
"Coupling System?" Haruka inquired. Yuzuka leaned in, just as curious.
"During my training to learn how to pilot the Izanami, my machine and the one piloted by Yui, the Izanagi, had a system called the Coupling System. When activated it enhances the machine's performance, but also links the minds of the pilots, to enhance the mind's ability to process information and respond to situations much faster in turn," Lelouch explained before Haruka picked up on something.
"That includes the other person's skills, right?"
"Yes, I'm told it would help me catch up to Yui's level of skill and experience in piloting. I still needed physical training to be strong enough and to master that experience, but it seems I got more than just her piloting skills and experience," Lelouch answered.
"Was Yui a cadet like us or…" Yuzuka began to ask, but allowed her words to trail off.
"No, she and her friends were enrolled at the Eishi Imperial Academy in Kyoto." Lelouch answered. "Is their training similar to the one we have been receiving?"
"Yes, but theirs is more spread out over a period of a few years teaching them other skills, history and more," Haruka replied.
"Are you saying you got all of Yui's training and experience from the Imperial Academy?" Yuzuka asked, surprised.
"I think so, " Lelouch said, before wondering what did Yui get from him?
"If they got a system like that then you could train new pilots a lot faster and get them more experienced," Yuzuka commented, impressed by how much Lelouch had gained from Yui.
"They were discussing such plans, but I wonder if it's really that easy." Lelouch said, wondering or rather suspecting there was some kind of drawback or limitation.
"No brain is the same I imagine, what if it's a matter of compatibility?" Haruka suggested with one hand on her chin as she contemplated this information.
"That is a possibility. I know trust between the users is very important," Lelouch replied, believing that compatibility was a likely requirement.
Maybe our minds were compatible with each other, which could be why Yui was chosen out of many others perhaps, Lelouch thought.
"Hey Lelouch, I think you got company," Yuzuka said as they turned a corner and noticed a group waiting outside his room.
"There he is," Kazusa said, folding her arms across her chest.
She was waiting with Izumi, Aki and Shimako.
Lelouch could only sigh, knowing what they were likely here for.
"Lelouch, have you seen Yui lately?" Shimako inquired politely.
"No, not since we returned from Kyoto anyways."
"In that case maybe you could answer a few questions," Kazusa began with a serious expression. "How did you and Yui know about what would happen to us on the way to Kyoto?"
Haruka and Yuzuka were confused, but Lelouch was quiet, furrowing an eyebrow and coolly gazing at the four girls before him, something that surprised the four as they had seen such looks on higher ranked nobles' faces before. Seeing them only be taken aback, Lelouch sighed before asking, "When did you figure it out?"
"There were plenty of clues, one was how Yui reacted upon seeing us after you and her met with Lieutenant Kisaragi. Then there's how you knew those Laser-class BETA would change their firing angle and fire upon us as we escaped. Next Yui knew where the BETA were hiding in Kyoto, which seems to be more than just your machines sensing them, she acted as if she knew where they were," Kazusa answered confidently, before asking, "Should I go on?"
"No, I actually suspected you four would come to see me. I am disappointed Yui wasn't able to tell you all herself, but I can't blame her for her, quite understandable, hesitation."
"Hesitation?" Shimako inquired.
"As impossible as this might sound, did Yui go through the events of that night before? She seemed aware of what was going to happen," Kazusa inquired before reluctantly asking, "Something happened to all of us, didn't it?"
The girls saw Lelouch's reluctance in his eyes as he nodded. Then he gestured to his room and opened the door. He brought all of the girls inside and checked behind him before closing and locking the door. It would stop whoever might want to just storm in.
Turning around, he faced the girls before him as each took a spot in his room. Their rooms would have been no different, he assumed. Lelouch was tidy by nature, more so than Milly ever has been. Wild girl her.
"Best to talk in here," Lelouch began as he took a seat on his bed. "Less chance of being overheard. This information is somewhat if not completely known to some very specific higher ups."
The girls knew just who he meant. They nodded as they understood they had to keep their mouths closed about anything he shared.
The rest might be up to Yui and those who knew her. She likely told her uncle and possibly her sister figure as well, but no one else.
"Yes," Lelouch finally said after a few moments to gather his thoughts, "It is impossible, but Claude somehow reversed time to give Yui another chance to save you and perhaps the rest of the squad or, as I suspect is the more likely case, she fused a Yui from the future who trained me and experienced those events with a Yui of the past to prevent any kind of destructive paradoxes, which comes with its own headaches I don't even want to hazard a guess at for a number of reasons, my sanity being chief among them."
The girls all shared a look with one another in absolute disbelief before Lelouch continued on.
"I don't know how she did it, or anything else she did quite frankly, but-" Lelouch began, but was interrupted.
"That's impossible," Aki stated.
"Oh I agree," Claude said, causing a look of horror to appear on Lelouch's face.
Everyone turned to see Claude standing behind them with a smirk, much to Lelouch's dread.
With a snap of her fingers, everyone in the room including Yuzuka and Haruka were transported into Claude's pocket dimension, that familiar white space. Then it suddenly changed as a large movie theater-screen appeared behind her and everyone found themselves in movie theater seats complete with popcorn, soda, candy. Yuzuka found her shoe stuck on some chewing gum. The girls stared at their surroundings in disbelief.
"This is impossible," Haruka commented.
"Impossible is what I can do," Claude declared, proudly. She pushed out her chest and set her hands on her hips in a pose of smug superiority.
"Claude, don't do this," Lelouch demanded. "This is Yui's story to tell. We both know Yui will do everything in her power to kill you for it, right?!"
Yui's willingness to kill Claude aside, what concerned Lelouch the most was how Claude might reveal the truth about the fates of Kazusa, Aki, Shimako and Izumi. How could you even begin to explain how they died, but convincing them it happened would be much harder.
How would they even react to that, which was no doubt another reason Yui had been avoiding her friends.
"Oh she can try," Claude said dismissively, waving her hand. "Besides we both know how well her last attempt to strangle me went. Also, do you really think even if you explain it that they would really believe it? Which you can't even blame them for, so let's leave little room for doubt shall we?"
Lelouch only huffed in response. Knowing full well that she was right. Despite everything that they had experienced already, it was too in the realm of impossibility for them to take him at his word. Kazusa seemed to be the only one willing to believe.
"So you're Claude?" Kazusa asked, remembering her name from the meeting after they arrived at the base.
"Guilty as charged," Claude replied with a playful wink. "First let's take care of the obvious question, I borrowed this theater from an actual world and so, the seat stains and chewing gum are not me. I think I nabbed it from a 1960s California in a timeline where there is not only no BETA, but no mecha as TSFs generally fall under the heading of for others. Hmm… Maybe I grabbed this from a Texas theater given the decor? No matter, onto the nuts and bolts of why we're here!"
"I no longer doubt your comment on protecting your sanity," Aki stated to Lelouch, before both she and Lelouch were suddenly long eared and dressed in a green tunic with gray tights for Lelouch and a pink and white dress for Aki.
"WHAT IS THIS?!" both roared at Claude.
"Both a demonstration of my power, Link and Zelda." Both growled at the fact they were being targeted by one of her games, "And second, I said we're talking about the nuts and bolts, right? Pay attention and no talking."
"Just change them back," Yuzuha felt a migraine coming on as both were returned to normal.
"Good to hear!" Claude chirped before moving on, "But yes, during Yui's first run during that night the supply base was attacked," she paused, less for effect and more because she needed to take a few steps away, "All of you died. Except for you two who weren't present, but Haruka, a lot of times, you do die in later encounters with the BETA, just FYI."
Haruka shifted nervously, uncertain how to take that.
"One by one, until only Yui was the sole survivor," Claude went on without missing a beat, "Which tragically is a normal occurrence among first time squads who go into battle, which eighty percent of the time they either get wiped out or a sole survivor or two usually make it. Of course, there are some lucky ones who don't suffer any losses, but those are becoming increasingly rare."
"Why do I find that loss rate unsustainable?" Lelouch murmured.
"Technically you're right, so I suspect something else is going on in the background," Claude shrugs because there are just those kinds of surprises in life, even for her.
"We died, but that can't be right. We trained hard," Aki denied, which Lelouch thought was understandable.
Such reactions were to be expected after all.
"Uh huh," Claude said before pulling a remote out of nowhere. "To be fair you did last past the eight minutes of death, BUT!"
Upon pressing the button, a video footage played of Aki in the cockpit fighting fiercely against the BETA before the screen was shrunk to allow an exterior shot of Aki in battle against a Grappler-class BETA using an assault cannon until it ran out of ammo. It wasn't focused on her initially, but after failing to land a fatal blow the BETA turned around to focus its attention. Aki managed to dodge its first strike, barely, but she couldn't escape its follow-up sucker punch that sent Aki's TSF flying.
Her machine hit the ground so hard Aki was slammed against the seat with enough force that she bit off part of her own tongue with a blow to her head causing blood to run down her face as her TSF landed on the ground in a damaged heap.
"Just after nine minutes a Grappler-class sucker punched you, sent you flying before you died of severe external and internal bleeding minutes later, including the loss of your own tongue coupled with severe trauma across your body including such things like a broken skull, back, and pelvis, among other injuries," Claude said, as Aki was left silent and horrified at her own death, dropping to her knees.
"The lesson here is close quarters combat with a Grappler-class is a bad idea unless you can kill it before it can retaliate." Claude scolded a shell-shocked Aki.
"Then…that Laser-class that fired at me, is what killed me wasn't it?" Shimako asked hesitantly as she realized when her death would've happened.
"Yup, but compared to what happened to everyone else your death was clean and painless," Claude said ominously. "Your mistake was panicking and going too high into the air to evade the Destroyer-class BETA, making you the first to be killed."
Unlike Shimako, given how close she was to death, without Lelouch's intervention she realized she should've died then.
"How many made it to Kyoto?" Izumi asked reluctantly.
"Just you, Kazusa and Yui initially," Claude answered. "Very impressive given how you were fighting quite recklessly. Everyone else got shot down or killed during the retreat to Kyoto, even your commanding officer, once it became clear the supply base had fallen to a separate force of BETA and HQ had been withholding the true state of the battle from their forces out of fear for morale, which only caused more unnecessary deaths in the end. I don't need to tell you how that was a very bad idea to put it mildly and bluntly."
No one was going to argue that. Especially those in the know of the… recent 'retirements' in the government among other shuffling being done.
"What…what happened to us?" Kazusa asked.
"You guys did fine in Kyoto, after Yui was almost killed by an ambushing Destroyer-class hiding in a building. She was saved by your old instructor who gave you directions to the nearest rally point," Claude explained, but both Izumi and Kazusa could sense a but in her words. "Sadly as you were heading to Kyoto Station a Fort-class got the jump on all three of you, causing you all to crash. Yui was lucky and crash landed in an empty parking lot while you and Kazusa crashed into a nearby building. When Yui regained consciousness she began searching for you two." The next images showed Izumi being eaten by BETA, "Tragically she found you dead having been eaten alive by a bunch of Soldier-class BETA."
Izumi was struck numb when Claude pointed at her. Her reaction wasn't as bad as Aki's, because deep down from reflections afterwards, she realized she should've died many times during the battle were it not for Lelouch and Yui. Not only that, she couldn't even begin to imagine how Yui might've reacted upon finding her corpse, furthering her feelings of horror.
Thankfully Claude chose not to share any more images of Izumi's death, but Lelouch was worried about Kazusa's demise if she would show anything then. Lelouch noticed the change in Claude's tone during the conversation,. She wasn't being playful or teasing, but more serious than normal and yet sympathetic in her words. Given how she acted, it was usually difficult for Lelouch to tell if she was being sincere or not, but somehow Lelouch felt that this time she was.
"Kazusa was still alive, but both of her arms were broken in the crash, so she couldn't escape. Or fight off the Tank-class BETA swarming her machine. Yui had no chance of saving her, armed with only a pistol with some limited shots, not enough to kill a Tank-class, much less the multiple ones swarming Kazusa's fallen TSF," Claude said as Kazusa paled, realizing the choice now before Yui.
Noticing her expression and realization Claude spoke.
"I guess you realize what that means. Knowing you had no chance of escape. you asked Yui to kill you. The cockpit was open so Yui had a clear shot."
Horror dawned on Kazusa realizing what likely happened, "How could she? She lost everyone. How did she still have the strength to do it?"
Izumi, Aki, Shimako, and even Yuzuka and Haruka who had been caught up in all of this were left in stunned, horrified silence.
Claude gave Kazusa a sad smile as her voice softened. "She didn't," she explained to the girl's shock and mounting horror. "As much as she tried, Yui missed every shot she had."
Kazusa felt sick and covered her mouth as the implication hit her. "That's…" She couldn't put into words the nightmarish horror she felt.
"Indeed. While Yui managed to keep her cool during everything happening around her, the mounting deaths and losses of you all took their toll. Not to mention she almost died herself, but Yui was saved at the last moment by her cousin Kyoko who had been searching the city for other survivors," Claude added before using her remote to show an image of Yui in a hospital room wearing a white button shirt with bandages wrapped around her forehead, and over her left eye.
She sat up in bed crying, mourning the loss of her friends.
"You all would've stayed dead if not for me."
The next image showed Claude approaching a grieving Yui.
"Which I suppose leads to me and Yui meeting that first time," Lelouch noted.
"That's right," Claude confirmed.
"I have a question, why her, exactly? I am sure there were others you could've used, but did it have something to do with compatibility for the Coupling System?" Lelouch inquired.
"Oh someone has been thinking, but yes that is part of it." Claude nodded as she spoke. "Yui has a high compatibility rate for the Coupling System. As you've suspected there was another reason I chose her over others you could've worked with.. As a fun fact I'll reveal that what made Yui an inciting candidate was also the fact that you are compatible with some of her friends with the Coupling System. In fact, among you Izumi has the highest compatibility with Kazusa's compatibility similar to Yui's compatibility followed by Aki. An unexpected, but not an unwelcome bonus," Claude admitted with a smile that shocked the girls in question as they each looked at one another in surprise and at Lelouch who pointedly ignored them, though he twitched slightly.
"Then I take it finding compatible pilots who can use the Coupling Machine is hit or miss?" Lelouch inquired, seeking further answers.
"Yes, since no two brains are the same or function on the same wavelengths." Claude knew as she had been doing this for quite a while., which, despite the headaches, made this little venture all the more enjoyable, "It boils down to having a similar wavelength, which can be determined with what is known as an Emphatier Test. The higher their results are, the more likely a successful coupling will happen, but trust between the two pilots is still critical," Claude answered. "Japan hopes to use this on a large scale, but sadly finding two people who are compatible won't be easy, especially if they want to pair new rookie pilots with experienced veterans."
With a snap of her fingers, they soon saw the screen change to show various machines using the same technology in different worlds with various levels of success and failures as well as a general review of the complexity that follows.
The one with a tech learning how to throw screwdrivers like they were knives was kind of interesting as a byproduct, though, the possible loss of knowledge and the near stroke like paralysis was not so comfortable to see. More so in one example where five complete misfits were able to operate their machines in coordination on a level that was just insane, but the loss of personal space in their own minds was definitely an issue.
"Are they still installing them in the new machines?" Lelouch asked, with one hand on his chin, processing what he was learning.
"Yes and I combined it with Psychoframe Technology because it's a far more efficient method of thought sharing than the standard Coupling System on its own and helps increase its chances of success. Since Psychoframe technology has cockpits lined with thought reading receptors it also increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the Coupling System, which as a bonus helps the machine become an extension of the pilot. It becomes possible to pilot the Gundams with thoughts, bypassing the need for complex controls, making it similar to handling a Tactical Surface Fighter," Claude replied with a wink, quite proud of herself.
"I see, but what was Psychoframe technology designed for?"
"To work with Newtypes, humans possessing high spatial awareness who are usually those best adapted for living in space, or so it says." Claude answered, surprising some among the group. "In general, they possess a heightened mental awareness and incredible focus. For example they become capable of sensing one another. Most importantly they are sensitive to the hostile intentions directed at them by others. So say if someone wanted to harm one of them, they would sense and be able to uncannily react to that person's hostile actions before they attempted it. There were some Newtypes with abilities so well developed they were capable of telepathic-like abilities or in some rare cases display psychokinesis," Claude explained.
"I assume the Psychoframe Technology was made for military purposes, to capitalize on their abilities?" Lelouch inquired as he deduced the likely origins of the technology.
"Ding-ding," Claude said before applauding. "You get a gold star, but yes that is correct. There were military factions who wanted to take advantage of such people and so began developing weapons that could be operated by such individuals. The Psychoframe Technology was the result of their efforts. Used at first to control remote weapons with their thoughts, it evolved over time until the system allowed machines like the Gundams to act as an extension of a Newtype pilot and much more."
"But Yui and Lelouch aren't Newtypes are they?" Kazusa inquired.
"No, sadly, otherwise the Gundams would be capable of much more than they are now. But who knows; if the theory holds true and if Yui and Lelouch spend enough time in space, perhaps. Even so, the Coupling System and their ability to couple does compensate for this along with the Gundams high performance," Claude said reassuringly.
Lelouch considered asking Claude further, but Izumi stepped forward with a question of her own.
"I heard you know much about the BETA. Just what are they and how can we win against them?"
"Good question," Claude said with a smile. "To put it simply they are self-sufficient biological mining machines, created by silicon-based lifeforms who once existed thousands of years ago, until they were wiped out in their native galaxy."
"Wiped out, by who?"
"The Holy Ryuvian Empire, or at least the humans possessing the technology that wiped them out would call themselves after they finished purging their home galaxy of non-human sentient lifeforms," Claude explained. "The creators of the BETA were convinced that only silicon-based lifeforms could exist and not carbon-based ones, something the founders of the Holy Britannian Empire would take issue with when their world was invaded by the BETA. Unlike Earth however, they were a peaceful yet highly advanced civilization so while they suffered huge losses following the initial invasion, they focused all technological development into military and related innovations, wiping out the BETA in due time. In turn, the BETA's creators unknowingly created the Holy Ryuvian Empire who declared a holy war against threats to humanity and began a systematic purge of the BETA from their galaxy while conquering it bit by bit."
"Until they came upon the creators of the BETA," Kazusa said.
"Yeah they were pretty shocked to find carbon lifeforms were a thing, and more so their creations had been wiped out in their home galaxy. I can't say what happened, but probably the efforts to clean out the BETA from the galaxy left a lot of pissed off people on the Ryuvian side who had lost friends and loved ones to them and weren't feeling too merciful. Obviously, as I've mentioned, they got wiped out and now you know what led to it," Claude said.
Lelouch wondered if the genocide of the BETA's creators was justified, but without further details it was a difficult question to answer. On one hand it was hard not to blame the Ryuvians for their fury against a race who carelessly let their creations go about the galaxy fulfilling their purposes without even considering the possibility that other forms of life existed. Lelouch didn't know if that could be called arrogance, negligence, or both. If the creators of the BETA were wiped out, Lelouch deduced the BETA weren't in regular contact with their creators as they continued trying to fulfill their intended purpose. Which reinforced Lelouch's suspicions that their creators had been neglectful and arrogant.
"I can't image purging the galaxy and defeating the BETA's creators was done in a short time," Shimako added, which Claude confirmed by shaking her head.
"Of course not, it took them thousands of years to clean the galaxy of the BETA, before they finally confronted and cornered their creators. Much of what the Holy Ryuvian Empire would become, would be unknowingly shaped by the BETA, so there was no discussion. They just unleashed their fury upon the BETA's creators for their carelessness and would lead to them being hunted down and exterminated," Claude confirmed, while showing no pity for the creators of the BETA.
"Not all of the BETA were destroyed were they?" Haruka asked, joining the conversation.
"No, per their programing, once they've fully taken a planet they would launch the seed for a new hive to begin on another world. Some of these seeds left their own home galaxy and spread to others over the next thousands of years to follow, even after their creators were destroyed by the vengeful Ryuvians. Eventually they made their way to this planet," Claude replied. "They first landed on Mars, then the Moon and now Earth."
"How do I destroy them?" Izumi insisted on knowing.
"Destroying what is called the Superordinate would be a good step to stopping the BETA. It is basically the supreme commander of the BETA, issuing orders to the rest via the Hive Reactors within each hive, which in a way act as field commanders for the BETA," Claude answered.
"Superordinate?" Aki muttered.
"It's the brain behind the BETA invasion, kill it and the BETA's ability to coordinate large-scale attacks and maintain communication and control over the hives would be broken. Making it possible to destroy the other hives one by one since none of them can take the place of the Superordinate and would lose the ability to communicate with the other hives," Claude answered with a wink.
"But that is easier said than done isn't it? I would assume this superordinate, based on your words, must be in the first hive to be created on Earth, isn't it?" Lelouch deduced.
"Bingo, as you said the Superordinate is located within the Kashgar Hive, which invading that place will be a tall order even with the Gundam as the hive itself is heavily defended. However, should humanity succeed in killing it, they will remove the BETA's ability for high-end strategy giving humanity a chance of fighting back" Claude made it clear that killing the Superordinate was humanity's best chance at victory.
"Yeah, but that's pretty deep in BETA controlled territory," Aki commented, cautiously optimistic.
"At least I know what to live for, so I can be there to kill it," Izumi said as her fists tightened, now having a target for her vengeance.
I'll have to ask Yui to keep an eye on Izumi should the day come where we invade that hive, Lelouch thought, deciding to make a mental note of that. He suspected the Gundams would be needed among others to launch such an assault.
"Now is that it for questions?" Claude asked, clapping her hands together.
"Just one, you didn't say why you chose Yui over everyone else? You said part of it was the fact some of us were compatible with Lelouch via the Coupling System, but mentioned it was a bonus. So what was the real reason?" Kazusa inquired.
"Because she was critical in events going forward beyond what happened in Kyoto for your world. Granted there were others, but among them she had the skills and thus I was able to fuse her with her past self, including others from alternative timelines where things ended badly for humanity," Claude said, but the mention of fusing alarmed people.
"Fused?"
"Yes, but I should first talk about one phenomenon that has affected your world causing it to be a nexus point for so many alternate timelines. At the core of this is a boy who unwillingly became a Causality Conductor," Claude said with a serious expression.
"A Causality Conductor?" Haruka inquired, curious.
"A being caused by an impossible quantum phenomenon, as impossible as someone making tea using ice cubes. A series of events and triggers that came together, causing this phenomenon centered upon one boy because of a powerful wish by one girl, made at the same time as her alternative self across dimensions. This combined with other factors triggering the phenomenon," Claude explained, before elaborating, "She didn't know it, but her wish was answered, only not in the way she expected. That boy would be merged with two of his alternative selves and brought to your world, and whenever he died the world would reset to that day creating a timeline and a new branching alternate world."
"That's how you were able to reserve time allowing me and Yui to change events at Kyoto?" Lelouch deduced. "It's how you prepared everything for us too. You didn't let Yui experience what she saw coming through the eyes of another Yui or even changed time itself to unite her two parts from before and after the Battle of Kyoto. You merely merged a number of different Yui Takamuras to create the Yui Takamura who now exists while also altering history with certain, for lack of a better term, gentle nudges to create the current timeline."
"Bingo again!" Claude really found herself enjoying Lelouch's knack for combining the details, no matter how small, to grasp a larger picture. "Yes, I took advantage of the resulting time loops. The feedback did have some bleed over into other dimensions that needed fixing too, so that made things simpler and forced it to go further back by years for me to lay the groundwork for you two. Thus everything was ready when you arrived at the supply base with Yui," Claude answered, very pleased that Lelouch was figuring out most of it on his own. "However, having two Yuis running around would've been a problem as it's an invitation to cause a reality destroying paradox. So to resolve that problem I spoke to the past Yui. Although it took some convincing she agreed and was soon fused with the one Lelouch has been training with, but I managed to fuse her with other future versions of Yui from the Bad Endings for humanity creating a Counter-Casualty Conductor."
"A Counter-Casualty Conductor," Shimako parroted in confusion.
"Yes, because as the name implies, and the poor boy doesn't intend it, he is an unknowing harbinger of despair whose existence causes those close to him to lose memory of him and they tend to suffer tragic ends. His very presence threatens humanity's future unless the cycle of time loops is broken," Claude explained, saddened by the boy's unintended fate. "But with Yui I made the exact opposite to balance his existence and try to negate this harbinger of despair, at least to some degree. She does gain the same benefits he had though."
"What kind of benefits?" Kazusa asked, now very curious.
"You see whenever the time loop resets the boy retains some fragmented memory of the other loops, unless he experiences the same event over and over again enough to embed it into his mind. The rest of his memory is imperfect at best with some knowledge of future events. For Yui, though, since it was a controlled occurrence I made it to ensure she would have a complete memory of events following Kyoto and training with Lelouch. The shared benefit between them is that she gained the collective muscle memory of all versions of Yui I included in the mix, much like what happened to the Casualty Conductor who retained the increased muscle mass and muscle memory of each loop he experienced. Thus Yui will be extremely physically fit for her age, and whatever experiences and training she had would be retained."
"That sounds like quite the edge. Is she like superhuman now then?" Aki asked, causing Claude to laugh.
"Oh no, nothing like that," Claude stated after enjoying the laugh for a few moments. "She is just in far superior physical shape than for others in her age group would've been. She would beat all of you in physical fitness alone, possessing greater strength, endurance and agility."
"That still sounds quite impressive," Yuzuka commented, sounding a little envious.
"I see," Lelouch said, but he wondered if that was the only reason.
"Well I think that will do for questions for now. I think you four should have a talk with Yui, so you can all talk amongst yourselves for a bit while I go fetch her," Claude said before disappearing before anyone could protest it.
"Now what?" Yuzuka asked.
"Time doesn't exist in this space, so we have time to talk things over before Claude actually returns with Yui. I am sure all of you have questions about me now that Claude has revealed the key parts of what happened," Lelouch stated as he could feel all eyes upon him.
"Uh, understatement of the century Lelouch," Aki pointed out, folding both arms around her chest.
"Right, I should begin bringing you all up to speed," Lelouch admitted. He thought of the important things he would have to share and realized they would have to remain seated a bit longer as he explained things. He would have liked to get up and stretch his legs, but that would have to wait a little longer. "I hope you all can get comfortable because this might take awhile." He couldn't avoid a little frustration seeping into his voice.
Haruka was at least able to pat the boy on his shoulder. He had been right. This was too much for one's sanity at best, but it was also, sadly, their reality and they had to learn to live with it.
Meanwhile Yui was in the gym performing her normal workout routine. She tried to stay in peak shape. Even before her time through the events of Kyoto, she had needed to do so given how physically demanding piloting a Tactical Surface Fighter was. She had been going late to avoid her friends, which while painful to do, she wasn't ready to tell them the truth yet. She tried to prepare herself and mustered up the courage to do so many times, but she always got cold feet at the last minute and just couldn't bring herself to tell them.
Of course, explaining something that complex was not easy. It was difficult to address how they died when the memories still felt fresh for her. While they had avoided their fates this timeline, that didn't change that she had still experienced it in another. She still had the occasional there was the issue of timelines and Claude herself. Despite Claude explaining things to her multiple times, she still struggled to wrap her mind around it all. It all made her question her sanity which in turn made her afraid that she could end up weighing down Lelouch and the others if she didn't get a hold of herself.
How do I approach them on it?
At the moment Yui was on the treadmill, running at speed for a while without any signs of exhaustion or exertion. She was dressed in the basic workout wear of a sports top and splats. Her usual training clothes were still somewhere in Kyoto. Although her mind was occupied she still kept aware of how long she had been running. Yui was quite surprised to see herself surpassing her previous times as well as the distance which was greater than anything she had run before.
Yui brushed it off, unknowingly partly correct, as due to all of the training she and Lelouch had done.
"My word you are doing quite well," Claude complemented, appearing on the treadmill next to her without warning.
Yui practically jumped out of her skin, nearly stumbling and falling off the treadmill. She narrowly managed to regain both her balance and footing in time.
"Sorry for surprising you," Claude said with a mischievous smile.
"Can't you greet me like a normal person?" Yui said, her face red from a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
"Oh now where would the fun be in that?" she teased.
Yui's scowl against the woman only deepened, but it was then she noticed Claude was wearing gym wear akin to her own with pink sweatpants and a form-fitting white sleeveless top that empathized her buxom figure, showing off considerable cleavage and her midriff. Claude was practically flaunting the fact her breasts were bigger than Yui's. Judging by her grin, Yui's suspicions were correct, only annoying the Japanese teen even more.
Does this woman have any shame?!
"What do you want, Claude?" Yui asked, knowing Claude wasn't just here to show off.
"Oh no, small talk," Claude teased. She managed to keep pace with little effort on her treadmill, clearly disappointed with Yui. "You are way too serious. I thought you would want to know that your friends were suspicious that you were hiding something from them and sought out Lelouch."
The blood drained from Yui's face as a feeling of dread washed over her.
"Come on, you knew this was something you couldn't hold off forever, and your friends Kazusa and Shimako especially were very persistent. You should've known it was just a matter of time before they would've sought out Lelouch instead when you kept hiding from them. Even Lelouch knew that would happen, so you left it for him to deal with that," Claude lightly scolded Yui while waving her left index finger in front of her.
While dreading the very idea of what she would have to break to her friends, and suspecting Claude probably just went ahead and revealed what happened, Yui knew Claude was right.
"Damn you for telling them, but…"
"At least you were spared from telling them, because somehow I doubt you could've done so. At least not any time soon."
Yui had no response to that, because Claude was right much to her chagrin. Explaining it to her friends would've been difficult, as any words she could use were lost to her.
"Well, ready to face the music as they say?"
Yui turned off the treadmill before nodding her head.
"Let's go then," Claude said before instantly transporting Yui and herself into her white space where Lelouch, Haruka, Yuzuka, Kazusa, Izumi, Aki and Shimako were waiting. They were all either grim faced or carried concerned and worried looks.
"Izumi, Aki, Shimako and Kazusa, I am sorry I couldn't-" Yui tried to explain as soon as she saw them, but the words died in her throat as she became overwhelmed with emotion. The grief and despair of what had happened previously to them, plus her own self loathing at being a coward to face came rushing out. Tears started streaming from her eyes, as she tried to regain her previous composure, but failed.
Luckily for Yui, no more words were needed as Kazusa, Izumi, Aki and Shimako's eyes showed tears forming before they surrounded Yui and tenderly embraced her.
"Maybe we should give them some time alone," Yuzuka quietly suggested to both Haruka and Lelouch.
Haruka and Lelouch nodded in agreement before proceeding to leave when a voice called out.
"Come here Lelouch," Aki said as some tears ran down her face. "You're a friend of Yui, and therefore one of us, so come on."
"Thank you, but I really should step aside. This is for you and you alone," Lelouch said, feeling it was best he wasn't drawn in.
But unwilling to hear his protests, Lelouch's arms were seized by Aki and Shimako who drew him into their embrace of Yui with the arms of Aki and Shimako over Lelouch's shoulders ensuring he couldn't escape the group hug.
"Well…" Lelouch began, but soon just settled in. He wondered, just how different this was from comforting Nunnally or Shirley or Milly or even Sayako when words managed to sink deep enough to affect them.
Lelouch always said his door was open to his classmates as he technically was the Middle School's Vice President. More often than not, he found himself helping others out. It was one of the reasons he tolerated the role and here he was, once more helping matter how uncomfortable it was to be held by five teenage girls on the cusp of womanhood.
Fortunately, Yui was there to distract that as she cried heavily into the crook of his neck and that allowed him to gently rub her back to soothe her. He would occasionally wipe a tear from one of the other's eyes or give a gentle squeeze on the shoulder to let them know that he was there if they needed someone to lean on.
No man was an island and the same was true for women.
Meanwhile, off to the side, there were three spectators to the whole thing. Two of whom felt awkward and out of place. The third only smirked in a way that would unnerve someone.
Though, that wasn't the only thing.
"This has to feel quite awkward for him," Haruka commented quietly.
"A guy caught in a group hug by girls, yeah I am sure," Yuzuka said sarcastically.
"Ah, not feeling jealous are we," Claude said with a devious smile, but Yuzuka and Haruka had learned enough about the pink-haired woman from Lelouch, which wasn't much, that the best way to deal with her was just to be quiet.
The less of an opening you gave Claude, the less she has to work with.
Most importantly they didn't want to ruin the moment that had unfolded before them, but one thing was certain, their conversations with Lelouch from now on would be much more interesting.
A/N: Well that ended on a touching note despite Claude trolling them, I will admit I did question the theater bit, but I decided to go with it at Jameyofthemegacosmos's suggestion, since I supposed it helped "convince" anyone skeptical of Claude's abilities.
And Lelouch is slowly beginning to realize he is the only guy among a military composed mostly of women, mostly because a lot of the men keep dying and a LOT died early on in the BETA war making women enlisting to replace their losses a necessity, but it isn't doing their populations any favors through. Which is partially why I do feel some characters in Muv Luv Alternative would likely be more open to a polygamous relationship, just how open would vary from character to character.
Speaking of which I do want to dispel any notion of the polygamy polls being done out of a lack of confidence or seeking permission of sorts, but rather they are just simply to shrink the number of candidates, which was mostly my fault since I was too generous in letting my Betas pitch in their suggestions for a good candidate. Which I allowed because I was in a good mood, because for all of the stories I've made I have never gotten this level of help in any of them, catching any potential issues early on and having more than one beta looking over the chapters ensure they are well-polished and more enjoyable to read.
But the other reason that it didn't feel right to have Lelouch's polygamy relationships consist of ONLY Muv Luv characters (and I got a default line up to fall back on if needed in mind already) when I have other candidates from other series I should give a fair shot at Lelouch, which I could do easily, so I am trying to work out who could be real contenders for some.
So on my profile page I decided to give the Muv Luv candidate poll a shot, which as a reminder is only meant to reduce the number of candidates to a smaller pool, characters winning it will just win a fair shot at Lelouch, it doesn't ensure their placement.
Ok enough on the polygamy talk, and I shall speak no more of it for awhile, I've said my piece and if worse come to worse I'll just go to my default line up.
But in the next chapter Lelouch will engage in his new mock battle against his fellow cadets, with his new friends he made. I know the Comprehensive Skill Evaluation should come before TSF mock battles, at least from what I've seen, but they are on an accelerated training track with the evaluation left for last as a final test for Lelouch due its...heightened difficulty because of some politics and keep in mind this kind of test caused Haruka to loose her legs, so consider that for a moment on what the increased difficulty might be like.
Thanks to all who've read it, and if the chapter seemed boring don't worry I promise the next one will be more action packed.
And to end the chapter, here are the specs for Aki's new Gundam, thanks again to Redrat8 for the redesign.
Model number: TMP-06X
Code name: Kintoki
Unit type: Prototype Psycho-Frame Heavy Assault Ranged Mobile Suit
Pilot: Aki Iwami
Manufacturer: Unknown
Operator: Order of the Black Knights, Empire of Japan ("sponsors" of the Black Knights)
First deployment: September 29th 2016 A.T.B
Accommodation: pilot only, in panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 19.3 meters
Weight: 58.1 metric tons
Armor: Trans-Phase Shift Armor
Powerplant: Ultracompact Fusion Reactor (Sunrider series model)
Sensor Range: 23,700 meters
Equipment and Design Features:
Coupling System
Intention Automatic System
Multi Lock-On System: As implied by its name, this unique system allows Kintoki to target multiple enemies and attack them at once. To use this system effectively, the pilot must have high spatial awareness capability, which is rare even among Coordinators.
High Mobility Aerial Tactics (HiMAT) Mode: The atmospheric flight configuration of the Kintoki, in which its wings are unfolded for higher maneuverability. The Kinotoki is capable of flight even in its normal mode, but this form is better suited for aerial dogfighting. HiMAT mode can also be used in space whereby it enhances the Kintoki's AMBAC capabilities.
Full Burst Mode: The name of the attack mode in which Kintoki uses its arsenal of ranged weapons all at once. This mode is often used together with the Multi Lock-On System to destroy large numbers of enemy units at once. However, despite its power, Full Burst Mode can only fire in a forward direction.
I-Field Barrier
Fixed Armaments:
2 X 60mm Vulcan Guns, fire-linked, mounted on the head
2 X M100 "Balaena" Plasma Beam Cannons: A pair of powerful plasma beam cannons located in the wings, they are positioned over the shoulders when in use. Amongst the suit's ranged weaponry, the plasma beam cannon has the highest firepower and longest attack range.
2 X MMI-M15 "Xiphias" Railgun: A pair of railguns that are mounted on the waist, they have an excellent rate of fire and high ammunition capacity. Folded into three parts when not in use, they can be used to deal with situations where beam weapons are ineffective and are the suit's most powerful solid-based weaponry.
4 X B3 Beam Vulcan: Four beam vulcans built into the chest below the intakes. Used for direct assault in close quarters, or restricting enemy movement and intimidating enemies at medium range.
2 X Wired Hands: Kintoki specially designed quasi-psycommu controlled wire-guided forearms that can be launched and maneuvered via built in verniers. These remote arms can be employed to grab and hold enemy mobile suits, as a mid-range melee weapon, and possess an electrical shock ability that allow electricity to flow through the cable and arm into a connected enemy machine. This electrical attack is severely painful to the pilot of the captured mobile suit but is not immediately lethal. Each arm also has a built-in beam gun inside in its palm.
2 X Combat Shields: The Kintoki mounts a Shields on each arm and houses both a Beam Saber and Mega Particle Cannon
4 X INCOMs: A remote weapon designed for use with the quasi-psycommu system. These disc-shaped devices are armed with internal beam guns and controlled via wire cables. Every time an INCOM changes its flight direction, it deploys a tiny relay INCOM to hold the wire in place and maintain its connection to its parent mobile suit. When the pilot recalls the INCOM, it retraces its course as the wire is retracted. A skilled Pilot can use the wires to drastically change directions and gain great agility with these INCOMs. stored in the backpack.
Optional Hand Armaments:
Multi-purpose Assault Weapon "Kujaku": The only handheld Weapon of the Kintoki, it is a Multi-purpose Weapon that combines the features of two different weapons in the form of the Muramasa Blaster and the Peacock Smasher into a single weapon. It can switch between the Buster Mode for close combat through a nine beam blade emitter large sword and the Smasher Mode through a nine beam emitter-converted beam gun crossbow that can aim in any direction for ranged combat. Stored on the back, in its retracted folded mode unless ready to be deployed.