AN: I do not own Code Geass.
Ryuto: I probably won't write an actual scene of 'that' and I have no plans on doing so in the future, though, it might be implied through dialogue in the future. And I mean FAR future.
DarkDremora: While I'm still trying to keep some events from the original canon (the more important ones at least), things will be very different considering how early the battle of Shinjuku is happening, especially since Cornelia's still busy in the middle east.
Chapter 25: The Skirmish of Shinjuku Ghetto
"Send me up," Naoto commanded Naomi as he loaded up the blue Glasgow, and a large metal box covered by a black tarp onto a lift.
"Wait! We haven't even tested it!" the girl pleaded as the resistance leader stepped onto a small winch.
"We don't have time to worry about that. Right now, Ohgi and Tamaki need my help," he responded, "Now, press the button."
Naomi's breath hitched, "What if you die?"
"If that's my fate, then so be it. As long as I can guarantee everyone's safety, then I'll be able to die happy."
"You really are an idiot…"
"What?"
The indigo-haired girl shook her head, "Nothing," she pressed a red button that started raising the lift, "At least try not to die."
The resistance leader smiled, "Don't worry, after this, we'll all go for a beer, Ohgi, Tamaki, Kento, Minami, Nagata, you, and me, everyone'll be there." finally the lift passed the point of no return, completely cutting him off from Naomi. Suddenly, the massive door above began to open, slowly allowing for light to seep into the shaft, "I say that… and yet I don't even believe it…" he rode the winch all the way up to his cockpit, where he entered the Glasgow, powering it on as rubble fell onto the lift.
Once the lift came to a stop, two Apaches flew over head, firing several missiles into a destroyed building, causing it to collapse, "Damn it… they don't care about collateral damage at all!" Naoto grabbed the metal box and started moving through Shinjuku, kicking over an APC he came across, crushing the crew under its weight. "Ohgi, where are you?" he called over the radio.
"I see you!" Tamaki responded while standing up behind some cover.
"Idiot! Keep your head down!" Kaname cut in, pulling the Japanese man back down, narrowly dodging a bullet aimed for his head, "We're being pinned down by two Sutherland's, you think you can take care of them?"
"Who do you think I am?" the resistance leader replied with a smile. As he passed his friends, he dropped off the metal box, before approaching an elevated position, where three tanks, and two Sutherland's were firing upon the rebels below.
"What the hell!? They have a second Glasgow-" the first Sutherland tried to attack Naoto, but was quickly destroyed by a slash harken from the rebel.
"You bastard!" the second Sutherland first three quick bursts from his rifle at the Glasgow, and to his credit, one of the bursts managed to damage its right arm. However, this didn't stop the resistance leader, as he grabbed the rifle with his other hand, before sending a kick to his opponent's abdomen, knocking them back slightly, then he used his slash harkens to bisect the machine, forcing the pilot to eject.
After seeing this, the three tanks began backing away while firing their shells at Naoto, but it was to no effect, as he soon dealt with them by firing a single shell from his gun. Destroying each tank effortlessly.
However, the resistance leader didn't have time to rest. As two more Sutherland's crested the hill, firing several bursts at him, "There! Those bastards had two Glasgow's all along!" Kewell's voice bellowed over the intercom of one Sutherland, "Hunt them down!"
Naoto zoomed around a corner, closely followed by Kewell and his partner, constantly firing their rifles in hopes of disabling his Knightmare. Fortunately, the only managed to hit his right arm, causing it to explode, kicking up a smoke screen that allowed the Kozuki to hide behind a building. "Damn… this is just too much," he muttered while hiding in a sewage tunnel, "I knew battle would be intense, luckily Kallen's not here, otherwise, she'd've folded by now…"
"Rah!" Kallen sent a punch through a Sutherland cockpit, killing the pilot, causing it to explode.
"Who is this guy!?" a foot soldier shouted, "They're tearing through our lines so easily!"
Using the remainder of her ammo, the red head destroyed 5 tanks that were trying to round a corner, then she hid behind a wall as three Sutherland's arrived to their ally's aid, "Keep 'em pinned there!" one of the pilots ordered as his teammates fired on Kallen's last known position.
Meanwhile, they tried to hug a destroyed building wall in an attempt to sneak up on their prey. However, the Glasgow wasn't going to stay still, as its menacing figure crashed through the building's wall. Kallen ripped the Sutherland's head off as it was buried underneath a pile of falling rubble, killing the pilot through suffocation. After witnessing this, the other two tried to train their weapons on the Glasgow, but that's when she flung the head at both of them, which, upon impact, detonated, greeting a smoke screen that obscured their vision.
"You go left, I'll go right." one Sutherland commanded while banking right, trying to get eyes on their opponent again. However, when the smoke cleared, Kallen's Glasgow now stood with an assault rifle in hand, while the Sutherland that went left was ripped in half at her feet.
Before he could even ready his rifle, the red head fired two bursts at him, destroying his Knightmare, forcing him to eject. Of course, that wasn't the end of his troubles, as when he was ejecting, his cockpit flew directly into a protruding steel beam, unfortunately crushing the cabin upon impact, turning the pilot into paste.
"Ah! Lelouch doesn't have a radio, so how's he going to come in contact with me?" the red head began to panic as blood seeped out of the enemy's cockpit. Though, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Kallen's phone began to ring, with the caller ID reading, 'Lelouch'. She immediately answered the phone, "Where are you?"
"I'm in some sort of warehouse… you're still in that Glasgow, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Then contact him. I'll be giving you instructions shortly, while I'm doing that, relay them to Naoto. Make sure he follows them perfectly."
"What're you going to do?" the red head asked while tuning her Glasgow's radio.
"You'll see. Because now, I'm confident we can win this"
"Win?" that word echoed through her mind several times, before a smile formed on her face,"Alright, then let's do this!"
Lelouch hung up the phone as a Sutherland stopped at the entrance, "My lord! Where are you?" Jeremiah's voice called out.
"I'm here, Mr. Gottwald," the Prince ran out of the warehouse and climbed onto the Sutherland, "I need to access your IFF network, then I'll need a Sutherland."
"Please, if you need a Sutherland, then take mine!"
"No way, I need your help in making sure I can access the correct information at all times. After I get my Sutherland, then we'll separate." after studying the map for a few seconds, the boy noticed an interesting file at the top right, "Jeremiah, is this information accurate?"
"As far as I know, it is."
"Good, then we really do have a chance of winning this…"
Naoto narrowly avoided falling rubble as Kewell fired a barrage of bullets onto the building above, but these kinds of maneuvers were taxing on his energy filler, which was down to 15 minutes, "Damn it! I knew I should've charged this thing beforehand!" he cursed while swerving between alleyways and side-streets.
"Turn right!" Kallen's voice chimed through his radio.
This was the worst case scenario, "Kallen!? What are you doing here!?" the older Kozuki exclaimed, "You shouldn't be here right now! It's too-"
"Turn right!" she repeated, "If you want to win, follow my orders."
"Win?" Naoto couldn't believe his ears, nevertheless, he followed her instructions, after all, what'd he have to lose?
"Jump onto the train tracks!"
Without hesitation, he followed her orders, placing his land spinners on the tracks to travel faster.
"What's this idiot doing!?" Kewell shouted, "If you're just going to make the hunt this easy, then I'll gladly satiate your wish for death!" he pointed his rifle at Naoto with a smile.
"Jump onto the train!" Kallen shouted as a freight train hurtled toward the older Kozuki.
Naoto followed those orders and sped away, meanwhile, Kewell was forced to toss his rifle off to the side, and stop the train, "Damn it! Go get him!" he commanded his partner. However, when his teammate jumped, two slash harkens came out of nowhere, simultaneously tearing its head off and bisecting it.
"What the hell!? Who did that?" Kewell followed the wires back to a Sutherland that was hiding in a destroyed building, "You! What unit do you belong to!?" Before he could get a response, from behind, the red Glasgow appeared, ripping off his arms, then Naoto's Glasgow delivered a kick to his head knocking it clean off, "Fuck this!" the Britannian Pure-blood cursed as he pulled his ejection levers, allowing him to escape the situation.
"Minami? Where's Nagata?" Naoto questioned
"About that…" surprisingly, Kallen's voice was the one to respond, "They didn't make it…"
"What!?" Tamaki exclaimed as he, Ohgi, Kento, and other resistance members joined the group, "Nagata and Minami are dead!?" his eyes dropped to the ground, "Shit… it's all my fault… if I had just stuck to the plan…"
"Enough!" the resistance leader's voice commanded, "Kallen, why're you here?"
"She and I were brought into this mess by Nagata and Minami," the Sutherland from earlier chimed in.
"Lelouch…" Naoto exited his cockpit, "So, what're we going to do now?"
Lelouch's Sutherland retreated, instead, his voice rang over the radio, "We'll use those Knightmare's to begin our counter-attack"
As he said this, Ohgi opened the train car doors, revealing multiple shipments of Sutherland's just waiting to be used, "How did you find these?"
"I got the data off a reliable source. Gear up, if your energy fillers are low, switch them out. I'll contact you in 10."
Lelouch turned off his radio and sighed, "Man… this is a lot of work…"
His phone began to ring, this time, it was a caller ID that read 'Mario'. Upon answering, he heard the frantic voice of the half-breed, "I'm at the rebel's underground base!" Naomi was busy patching up Maya, whose head was bleeding profusely, next to her, Hina was tightly holding onto her hand, "Maya… she… she pushed Hina out of the way of falling rubble, but she ended up getting crushed by a stone…" he wiped a couple tears out of his eyes, "Naomi's taking care of her… but…"
"What do you need me to do?" Lelouch heard another helicopter pass by overhead.
"I don't know…"
"Can you fight?"
"F-fight?"
"Yes. I'll have Kallen get a Knightmare over to your area, until then, make sure you're ready." the Prince hung up the phone, "How annoying… although… he should be able to channel that anger into his fighting…" he turned on his radio and contacted Kallen, "Can you get someone to drive a Sutherland back to the hideout? Mario's going to be waiting there for you."
"Mario's here!?"
"Apparently, Maya saved someone named Hina from getting crushed by rubble, but in exchange, she was the one who took the hit. So now, I'm going to have him fight."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? He's probably really unstable right now…"
"It's better than having him sit around."
"Stop." Kallen commanded, "Lelouch, are you listening to yourself now? You sound so cold. Mario just saw his sister get injured, and instead of letting him stay by her side, you want to send him straight into battle?"
The Prince fell silent, "I suppose my plan can go on without him… though, it'd be nice to have more boots on the ground." he opened his Knightmare's hatch and used some binoculars to look at Naoto, who was ordering around his resistance cell, "Then again… if I want to make a good impression, I suppose I should allow Mario to sit this one out…" he re-entered the Knightmare, "Okay, I'll let Mario sit this one out."
"Thank you."
Mario entered the medical bay of the Kozuki resistance base, where Naomi was taking care of Maya, "He told me I'm not needed for the mission."
"Well, isn't that good?" the indigo-haired girl responded, "For a second there, I thought he would've sent you into battle regardless of your mental state. It's good to know our ally actually cares about us."
Suddenly, Maya shifted, "The…"
"Big sis!" Hina cried, "You're okay!"
"The…"
"She's trying to say something," Naomi pointed out as everyone leaned in closer.
"The… S-RES…"
"S-RES?"
Mario facepalmed, "You don't need to worry about that now…" he said while holding his sister hands, "You just need to rest."
However, the black-haired girl was stubborn, "No… I want to see it…" she turned to Naomi, "I saw you working on that when Mario brought me in… did you get it working?"
"Oh, well… we didn't really get the chance to test it… though, I sent Naoto out with one."
"You didn't test it… how stupid can you be?" Maya sat up, "Take me to them… I want to see them for myself…"
"Please, you need to rest!" Mario commanded
"No. This is super important to me," his sister retorted while holding her temple, "I need to see it… I need to see my creation in action…"
"It's not even yours though…"
Maya placed her hand on her brother's shoulder, "Are you really going to deny your sister her final request before she meets her maker?"
"You don't even believe in god!" Mario shouted, that's when he suddenly realized she was standing just fine.
She wiped away a fake tear, "Well… when someone's on the brink of death… they start to believe in the supernatural, and I'm no exception."
That's when her brother finally picked up on what was going on, "Wait… you're okay…"
Maya laughed heartily, "Of course I am! My back hurts a lot, but I should be able to help with the S-RES-" she was cut off by her brother and Hina giving her a hug, "Ow… I appreciate the affection and all… but my back still hurts…"
"You idiot!" Mario shouted, "Do you know how worried you had me? And then you pull this kind of stunt off…"
Slowly, Maya began to caress his head, "Aw… I'm sorry I had you so worried, but I couldn't just let little Hina die," she then turned to the little girl, who wiped her tears into 'big sisters' shirt, "How're you feeling?"
"I- I'm sorry… if it wasn't for me… you wouldn't've-"
"Don't worry about it," Maya cut off the little girl, "I was the one who chose to save you, so don't feel bad." she then turned to Naomi, "Now, take me to the S-RES, please."
The indigo-haired girl didn't know how to feel, she didn't want to let her go in that condition, but at the same time, she seemed fine, right? And there was nothing more she could do to help her without going to the hospital. "As long as you don't push yourself," Mario chimed in, "I'll allow it."
"Don't worry, I'll have you do all the heavy lifting. Now, my leg really hurts, so can you help me over to the machine?"
Naomi sighed, "Fine, as long as Mario does all the actual work, then I suppose you can help."
"Good, now take me to the warehouse floor, my brave steed!" Maya commanded Mario while leaning on him for support.
Once they reached the hanger, Maya sat on a stool, instructing Mario and Naomi what to do, while Hina watched from a distance, "Okay, now you need to put this bolt under the mechanism, this'll stop the rope from going slack once fired." she explained while handing the bolt over to her brother.
"Oh… I didn't do that with the last one…" Naomi muttered
"How am I supposed to get under there? It's going to take at least both Naomi and I to lift this thing," Mario asked while studying the machine, "And I don't want you going under there with those injuries…"
Maya kicked her feet like a little child, scanning the hanger for some kind of lift, "No… the forklift won't work… we don't have anyone who knows how to drive it…" her eyes moved to Hina, who was staring back at her with innocent eyes. "Oh Hiiina~" she motioned for the girl to come over, "Do you think you can put this bolt under the machine?"
"No way!" Mario protested, "She doesn't even know how to use a power tool, and that's not even mentioning how dangerous this is!"
"But…" the little girl stepped forward, "I want to help… please… let me help."
Maya smiled, before grabbing a power tool off the table next to her, placing it in the little girl's hand, "Aw… look at how big it looks in her tiny hands!"
Her brother sighed, "Can you please stay focused…" he turned to Hina, "Are you sure you can do this?" Hina nodded in response, and reluctantly, Mario agreed, "Fine. Let's just get this over with."
After Naomi and Mario lifted the S-RES, Hina crawled underneath it, "Okay, so what you're looking for is a small groove where the bolt should perfectly fit. Can you find it?"
"How descriptive"
"Shut it, Mario."
"I-I think I've found it!" Hina responded
"Good job! Now, quickly put it in, I think I'm starting to see big bro sweat a little~"
"Shut it, Maya!"
After a few seconds, Hina rolled out from beneath the machine. Mario and Naomi let go of it abruptly, causing it to land with a loud bang, "My arms hurt!" Naomi complained while shaking them off.
"Please don't tell me we have to do anymore…" the black-haired boy pleaded.
Maya chuckled, "Don't worry, we only have to do two more, then we'll be good… I think."
"Q1, take a right at the next intersection. P5, prepare the S-RES, once Q1 passes your position, fire it!" Lelouch commanded
Kento Sugiyama, alongside four other members looked over the large machine, "Damn… is this thing really going to work?" one questioned
"I know Naoto said it'd take down a Knightmare, but… it doesn't look like anything special…"
"Shut it!" Kento ordered from the foot of his Sutherland, "They'll be here at any moment." After that, the red Glasgow passed their destroyed building, "Alright, press the button!"
One of the resistance members pressed the button, but nothing happened. The first Sutherland drove by, and nothing still happened, then the second passed by a few seconds later… "Damn hunk of junk!" Kento shouted in rage while slamming the side of it with his fist, causing it to suddenly fire just as the third and final Sutherland sped by. The grappling hook pieced through both of its legs, causing the Knightmare to topple into a destroyed building.
"It worked… IT ACTUALLY WORKED!" the resistance members cheered while giving each other high-fives.
However, their celebrations were cut short, as the rope went slack, and the two Sutherland's from before returned with their weapons pointed at the group. Luckily, just as they were about to fire, Kallen slammed her Knightmare's shoulder into one of them, causing it to crash into the other, "Get your head in the game, P5!" she shouted as Naoto dropped in from above, crushing the Sutherland's cockpit.
As the second one tried to get up, the Kozuki siblings delivered a joint punch to its chest, bisecting the Sutherland, activating its auto eject. "Q1, what happened? You weren't supposed to attack yet." Lelouch called over the intercom.
"Bad news, that fancy machine of yours is a bust," she reported, "We'll have to fight on without it."
"Damn, all that time wasted…" he muttered.
That's when a second voice cut in, "Good news! We've got three more for you!" it was Maya, "Tell three of those Sutherland's to come here and get 'em!"
Instead of questioning her condition, Lelouch smiled, "Good, I trust they're built correctly this time?"
"Who do you think I am?"
"P1, P2, K1, go get those S-RES, then we'll begin our counter-attack."
Meanwhile, in a Britannian medical truck, Suzaku awoke to the voice of Lloyd Asplund, who said, "Back from the dead I see. It's a shame, looks like you missed a one way ticket to heaven, Private Kururugi."
"What? Where am-" as he tried to sit up, Suzaku felt a sharp pain in his side, that's when Cecile stepped forward with a broken stop watch.
"You're still in the Shinjuku Ghetto, though, we're in the very back lines, next to Clovis' G1." she said before extending the stop watch.
"You're lucky that this was under your uniform, as that's what stopped the bullet." Lloyd added.
"Is it a keep sake?" Cecile asked
"Yeah. How's Le- I mean, what's the situation?" Suzaku replied
"Not good. It seems despite Bartley's years of experience, he's getting the backhand when it comes to dealing with these terrorists," Lloyd nonchalantly explained, "Speaking of which… do you know how to pilot a Knightmare frame?"
"Oh, well… there's no way they'd make an Eleven a Knight."
"What if you could?" a smile appeared on the mad scientist's face as he motioned the boy to step outside, where a shimmering white Knightmare stood in the vehicle bay of the truck, "A one of a kind Knightmare awaits you! Once you take the controls of that beauty, everything will change, you and the world."
"Wiped out!?" Bartley exclaimed as an entire Knightmare squad went missing on the G1's massive screen, "How can this be?"
"We have reports of the terrorists commandeering our own Sutherland's." a soldier reported.
"How's that possible…"
Finally, Clovis stood up, "If they're using our own weapons, then we can't be playing around, not anymore!" he pointed at the screen, "I, Clovis La Britannia, will be taking control of this operation."
Meanwhile, Lelouch continued to give orders out to his troops, "Q1, lead them back to P2's group."
Kallen sped down a street with two Sutherland's in close pursuit, then she passed Tamaki's Sutherland, which was holding an S-RES in hand. Then he fired the machine, creating a trap that knocked over both of her pursuers. Once they were on the ground, two resistance Sutherland's peeked out from a corner, and executed the enemy by firing a few quick bursts into their bodies.
"K1, lead them into that alley; B2, fire into the wall as he passes."
"Is this guy crazy!?" a resistance member complained to Ohgi, "We're not doing that, right?"
"He hasn't been wrong yet," Ohgi replied, "Ready your weapons."
Reluctantly, the members readied their Sutherland's, and once Naoto passed, they rained a wall of lead onto the enemy. Destroying four of them at once.
"Damn it!" Clovis clenched his fist, "We need to get rid of their cover…" he then looked at the single unknown dot at the center, "Have three squads converge on that position. Make sure to crush any resistance on the way."
"He's moving in this early?" Lelouch leaned back in his chair, twirling a chess piece, specifically, the King. "Q1, use the underground passages."
"Keep pushing, don't let them breath!" the blond Prince commanded as his forces smashed through buildings, killing innocent civilians with their recklessness. "Make sure we have two other squads cleaning up those sectors!"
"K1, make sure nobodies above ground when Q1 takes out the beams."
"Bartley! Make sure the Apaches are circling the area, if they spot any irregular movement, report it to me immediately!"
"They're almost here…" Lelouch said calmly with a smile.
"They're right there!" Clovis shouted while clenching the armrest of his chair.
However, upon arriving at the position, his soldiers found nothing, that's when Lelouch finally gave the order to Kallen, "With this, I call check." he stated while placing down the King. As he said that, the red head fired her slash harkens into a support beam in the subway station she, Ohgi, and Naoto were travelling in, causing the ground above to collapse, wiping out dozens of Sutherland's, tanks, and foot soldiers.
"W-what the hell is this!?" the blond Prince stared at the screen in disbelief, "Who am I up against!? Is it possible that this person is even better than Todoh!?"
The raven-haired Prince, on the other hand, was cackling like a mad man, "I can do it! I can really do it! I can defeat Britannia!"
"Hey, hey!" Lloyd's face appeared in the corner of the map, "It looks like you need some help."
"Not now! Can't you see we're in the middle of an important battle!?" Bartley barked
"More like in the middle of losing an important battle…"
"The impudence!"
Cecile suddenly smacked the back of Lloyd's head, "Sorry about that, he can get a bit annoying at times."
The mad scientist rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry about that, I don't know what overcame me…" he was not sorry, but he needed to be in order to get what he wanted, "But! I do have a suggestion. A new, special toy that was developed by Camelot, this can help you win, just give us the word, and I'll send it AND our special devicer out on a rampage!"
"Shut up! We don't need the special corps involvement in this battle!" Clovis commanded, "the last thing I need is to be in debt to Schneizel once again…" he then closed out the call, "S-send in Laszlo squad!"
"But if we do that, then we'll break the formation!"
"Just do it!"
Lelouch watched the IFF's of the encirclement move in, "What's this? That's even a stupider move than I expected."
Kallen and Naoto emerged from a subway entrance, coming across four Sutherland's in the process, "They're over here!" the soldiers shouted while firing upon the rebels.
The siblings took cover behind a destroyed building, "Okay, you take the two on the right, and I'll take the two on the right." the older one suggested
"No way. I've got this." Kallen responded while dashing out of the cover as the Sutherland's began reloading.
"I'll take care of them!" one shouted as he moved forward, sending its fist forward. However, the red head expertly dodged the strike while grabbing onto the machine's arm, ripping it off as she passed him, then, she used the limb to slam it into another Sutherland's gun, before bringing her weapon back up, knocking her opponent into a building.
"Damn you!" another soldier shouted as he aimed his gun at Kallen, but the girl was barely close enough, and used her left arm to push the gun up, causing him to unload the magazine into the air.
That's when the remaining Sutherland tried to shoot her with his rifle. Luckily, Kallen managed to hide behind the third Sutherland just as a hail of bullets assaulted her position, causing the third Sutherland to explode. The red head then bursts through the smoke, grabbing the fourth Sutherland by the chest, slamming him into the ground, crushing the cockpit in the process.
All that remained was the first Sutherland, which futilely tried to attack Kallen from behind, but was promptly deal with by Naoto, who bisected it with his slash harkens.
"What the hell was that!?" he exclaimed.
"What?"
"Don't 'what?' me! How did you do that?" Naoto reaffirmed his question.
"I don't know… I just, was in the zone, I guess," Kallen replied, trying to get away from the subject as quick as possible, realizing what this was leading to.
"I don't want you doing that ever again!" her brother shouted, "What if you died there?"
"Naoto, please. I can handle myself." she had to get her brother to have faith in her abilities. She knew there was no way to stop him from worrying, but if things kept up like this, then there was no way she'd be trusted with the Guren. After all, Lelouch could only do so much with negotiating against him.
"Yeah, I can see that!" Naoto clenched the controls to his Glasgow, "I just… don't want you getting hurt… you're all I have left, y'know!"
"What about mom?"
"I can't see her!" just as he said this, three more Sutherland's rounded the corner to investigate their missing comrades, forcing Kallen and Naoto to take cover behind a building, "Besides… I doubt she'd want to see me anyway…"
The red head listened to her brother's words intently, "Of course… Naoto was always alone when it came to fighting against Britannia. Sure, he had Ohgi, Tamaki, and Nagata, but they didn't hold the same place in his heart as mom, or I did. Then, when I tried to join him, he pushed me away despite how happy he was, because he knew I had my whole life ahead of me. School, friends, romantic partners, he wanted me to experience life, and not burden myself with his battles. But in the end, I ignored his request." she flanked the enemy from the left, bursting through the building walls, grabbing the first Sutherland's assault rifle, using it to kill the second, while she used her left slash harken to destroy the third. Finally, she sent a punch into the first Sutherland's head, causing the pilot to eject. "Even now… he probably feels embarrassed, ashamed, or disappointed that I chose to fight in this battle. If I died, he could never look mom in the eyes again."
"Kallen!" Naoto shouted as he tackled a Sutherland that rounded the corner next to her, "Pay attention to your surroundings!" he shouted as the enemy pilot ejected prematurely.
"Naoto… after all this is over… let's visit mom…"
The older Kozuki's eyes widened, "W-what do you mean?"
"Despite what you think, she still loves you. She wants to see both of her kids happy, not just one." she then extended her Glasgow's hand, "If you're scared of being spotted, then you can wear a disguise. If you don't want to meet Mrs. Stadtfeld, then we can meet at Ashford. Just please… it'll break moms heart if she never sees you again."
Naoto was shocked, genuinely, wholeheartedly, shocked, "Wow… and to think I'm the older sibling here…"
"I have my moments." Kallen said with a confident smile, "At least this way… if he meets mom, he might be more inclined to allow me to fight."
"Fine, after this, I'll meet mom
Clovis stared at the large screen in the G1 with horror, "H-how can this be!?"
That's when Lloyd's face appeared once again, "It looks like you could use some help."
"Your toy, can it win?"
"Oh please, my lord, call it the Lancelot."
Suzaku clenched the controls of the Lancelot, desperately trying to calm his nerves, "Suzaku, have you read the manual?" Cecile asked over the radio.
"I've got the gist of it."
"That's great. From what I see here, you scored at the top of you class in the Knightmare simulators."
"Hey, about the thing I asked you earlier…"
Cecile immediately knew what he was trying to say, "Well, it could be, but the possibility is near zero, considering the heavy concentration of rebels in the area."
"But that means I still have a chance, right?"
"Regardless, you're not to do anything reckless. We've barely completed a condition check on the Lancelot, and we don't even have an ejection seat programmed yet. That's not even mentioning the fact that the Blaze Luminous hasn't even been properly tested…"
"Blah, blah, blah, are you ready for the initial start up, Suzaku?" Lloyd's voice cut in.
"Yes." Suzaku responded while clearing his mind as Cecile went over the initial start up data, completely zoning her out, "I have to be careful, if I don't, then I won't be able to save Lelouch and that girl…"
"Z-01 Lancelot ready to launch."
Those words brought Suzaku back to reality, "Lancelot, activate the ME-boost"
The white Knightmare straddled its legs, while keeping its hand on the ground, "Lancelot… launch!"
With that, the new white Knight jumped the gun, immediately going full throttle, causing a shockwave that knocked Cecile and Lloyd over, "Hahahah! Running full throttle right out the gate!"
As Suzaku began to slow down, he admired the smoothness of the Lancelot, "Whoa, this is even cooler than the manual. With this, I'll be able to stop the fighting!"
AN: I want to dedicate more time to the Lancelot fight, so that'll be happening in the next chapter.
