"I don't want to meet them!"
7 year old Angelise Ikaruga Mitsuki had her arms crossed, frown on her face. Her mother, Sophia
Ikaruga Mitsuki tried to reason with her.
"Dear, please. We've only recently made peace with-"
"No we didn't! The Britannian Empire threatened to attack us! Father didn't have a choice in the matter; he had to agree to an alliance!"
She hated the fact that the country she loved was being subjected to such injustice. Either work with the Britannian Empire, or be conquered. And now one of the Emperor's consorts had the gall to request teatime with her mother, despite what her Empire had done! To add insult to injury, the Britannians did not have any sort of Mana, relying on technology. They were practically Norma, but without destroying Mana.
"She said she would be bringing her children along." Sophia said. "And Sylvia already agreed-"
"Sylvia is 4 years old, Mother!" Angelise pointed out. "She probably doesn't know better! And why is Julio exempt from this?!"
"He's already in a meeting of his own with some of Emperor Charles' other children. He's getting along with them quite well, even." Sophia said. "Perhaps you should follow in his footsteps. You're wise for your age, Angelise, so you understand why keeping our relations with Britannia positive is good for the Empire of Misurugi, right?"
"...yes, Mother."
"Good girl." Sophia patted Angelise on the head. "Let's not keep them waiting any longer, shall we?"
Sylvia was waiting for them out in the hall, smiling when she saw them. They all walked towards the outdoor garden, where their guests were waiting for them at the gazebo. Standing by the table was a smiling woman with long black hair. At her side were the two children Sophia mentioned. One was a girl with similar hair to her, except her hair was light brown. The other was a boy a bit older, with short, light black hair.
"Good afternoon, Empress Sophia." The woman slightly bowed. "I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to meet me like this."
"It was no issue at all, Empress Marianne." Sophia said in return. "I believe that it is only natural for us to establish a friendship between us."
Friendship?! Angelise thought. They forced our hands!
"Ah, these must be your daughters?" Marianne leaned down to look at the two.
"I-I'm Sylvia." Sylvia said first.
"...I'm Angelise." Angelise introduced herself, trying to be as polite as possible.
"You both do resemble your mother quite a bit." Marianne said with a smile. "Now, for my children."
Her daughter did a polite curtsey. "My name is Nunnally vi Britannia."
Her son looked a bit awkward, considering the fact he was the only boy there, but he cleared his throat and composed himself. "I am Lelouch vi Britannia."
Angelise slightly glared at the boy, as he raised a brow.
"Do you want to play?" Sylvia asked Nunnally, as she pointed to the grass nearby.
"Okay!"
The two ran off, and Angelise quickly went to the gazebo railing to watch Sylvia, to make sure she was doing alright. Sophia and Marianne both sat down at the table and began to chat, while watching their children.
Angelise watched as Sylvia and Nunnally ran around with one another, simply being kids, pretending they weren't royals.
"So you have a little sister too."
Lelouch walked up next to her, watching them. Angelise didn't bother to turn to face him.
"I guess that's something we have in common. I'm gonna guess you would also do anything to keep her safe." He said.
She didn't answer him, but he was right on the money.
"...I'm sorry."
Now that got Angelise's attention, as she turned to look at him.
"I don't really agree with my father." Lelouch told her. "I can't imagine how it would feel, having the threat of losing everything over your head like that. But I can't do anything, since I'm just a kid."
"...well, apologizing is a good start." Angelise commented.
"Then how about we move onto normal conversation?" Lelouch suggested. "So, what exactly is it like here, in Misurugi?"
Angelise had lost track of the time she and Lelouch had conversed, but one thing stuck with her.
Lelouch vi Britannia was a boy she could trust, a true friend.
That memory again… She opened her eyes, staring at the gray ceiling above her, lying down on her subpar cot.
Angelise-, no, merely Ange now, reflected on everything that had happened since that day. Lelouch had introduced her to some of his other family members, and to Ange's surprise, they all managed to get along swimmingly. To her surprise, she found herself no longer looking down upon Norma thanks to the influence of Lelouch and his siblings. Things were looking up, until tragedy struck with Marianne getting assassinated, and Nunnally was crippled and blinded from the attack. Lelouch had confronted his father, only to get disowned and sent to Japan with Nunnally as political hostages. Ange tried to intervene and asked her father if they could take Lelouch and Nunnally in, but it was a matter out of their hands.
As the days went by, Ange never stopped thinking about the two, hoping they were safe. But once Britannia had begun its invasion, she had lost all hope in thinking her friends were alive.
And the devastation would not end for her, as on her 15th birthday, her brother Julio had spitefully outed her to the public, and herself, that she was a Norma. She was quickly stripped of practically everything, even her old name. Her mother had died trying to protect her that day, leaving behind only her song and ring. She was sent to become a Norma soldier in the Britannia-Misurugi military, where nothing was like her old life. She was thankful that some of the Norma were surprisingly welcoming to her, in spite of the fact they knew who she was.
"Are you awake now?"
Ange looked over to see her roommate, the pink-haired girl named Naomi. She was a Norma that was about a year younger than her. For the longest time, Ange had believed that Norma were savages, but Naomi's kindness had proved her wrong. She even reminded her a bit of her former maid Momoka.
Naomi had been a Norma soldier for longer, but had a history of getting bad injuries and damaging her equipment. Due to this, she had accrued quite a bit of debt and gained the nickname "Debt King," so she spent a lot of time doing side jobs to make up for it.
"What time is it?" Ange asked.
"7:30 in the morning." Naomi said. "You should hurry up, or you'll miss breakfast."
Ange groaned as she dragged herself out of bed, getting herself changed. This was always the worst part of the day for her. She yawned as she and Naomi walked down the hall, joined by their other squad members.
"Did you sleep well, Ange?" Coco, the youngest of the team at the age of twelve, asked her.
"Could've been better." Ange shrugged.
"A good night's sleep can change everything in battle." Miranda, Coco's partner, pointed out.
"I'll manage." Ange said. "Let's just get some food."
Waiting for them in the mess hall was a young man with brown hair, dressed in the standard Britannian soldier getup.
"Wow, on time today." He said, surprised.
"You're always here too early, Suzaku." Ange greeted.
Suzaku Kururugi was the only Britannian soldier that took the time out of his day to meet with the Norma soldiers. As a result, he was the one that delivered the orders from the higher-ups. Ange didn't really pay much attention to him at first, but when a couple of the other Norma refused to be "hands-off" with her, Suzaku had used his authority to force them back, lest they be executed for their actions.
Ange remembered when Zola, a particularly nasty Norma soldier, had tried to force herself on her. Suzaku had shot Zola in the foot, and threatened that he would aim higher next time. Zola hasn't tried anything since.
…well, she couldn't try anything because she was killed in action a while back. No one really mourned her.
"Are you here to give us a mission, Sir Kururugi?" Miranda asked.
"You don't have to be formal around me. We discussed this." Suzaku chuckled. "But I am. After breakfast today, you four will be sent on a dragonslaying mission."
"Did the DRAGONs show up again?" Coco asked.
"Mm." Suzaku nodded. "You four will be going to eliminate them. It's just a small group, so it shouldn't be too much trouble."
DRAGONs, an acronym for Dimensional Rift Attuned Gargantuan Organic Neototype. They've been plaguing the world long since Ange had been born, perhaps before even any empire stood. All humanity knows is that they come from what they could only assume another dimension, and their main behaviors revolve around causing destruction. The Para-mails were built as experimental Knightmare Frame upgrades revolving around slaying them and keeping people safe. Norma are usually the only ones sent to fight them due to their expendable nature, though rarely the Britannians would get involved. It was the same in reverse, as the Britannians were the only ones dealing with the terrorists, while Norma stayed behind.
"We've dealt with DRAGONs before." Naomi said. "We can handle it."
"I would hope so." Suzaku smiled. "Because your squadron's performance has been quite significant, you'll be receiving a reward once you're done with this mission."
"A reward?" Miranda said, eyes wide before smiling. "Then we have to finish this one quickly!"
"Yeah." Ange had a rather devilish smirk on her face. "Let's kick some DRAGON tail."
The Para-mails had taken off towards the sighting. Suzaku's info had told them that it was near a cliff face on the edge of Area 11 soil.
Area 11… Ange frowned as she flew. The part of Japan that Britannia had conquered was renamed as such, and the Japanese that were caught in the crossfire were christened as Elevens. Ange used to not care about them in the slightest back when she was a princess. But now that she had lost her former identity, she understood their struggle. Many Elevens had just given up on hope, but the ones that didn't kept trying to escape to the South, where the remaining third of Japan still stood.
Sometime after the Japanese prime minister had committed suicide (who's name escaped Ange as she never bothered to learn it), Britannia thought that this would make Japan much easier to conquer, but his death had sent waves of resolve throughout Japan. A genius man known only by his last name Saotome had created machines that far surpassed both Knightmare Frame and Para-Mails; the Getter Robos. Mechanical robots powered by a new and purified form of Sakuradite dubbed "Getter Rays", the mass-produced Getter Robo D2s led by the Getter Robo had fended off the Britannian threat, to the point they had forced a stalemate. Britannia and Misurugi had kept trying to surpass their foes, but the last remaining third of Japan remained strong, unable to be conquered. In spite of their superior numbers and wider control of the land, Japan managed to keep both empires on the backfoot. It was something Ange had to admit she admired, even if she was technically against them.
"Ange?" Naomi asked.
"Yeah? What's up?" Ange asked.
"I was gonna ask the same thing." Naomi said. "You're pretty quiet, while Coco and Miranda can't shut up about the reward."
"Well, we've never gotten something like this before." Coco said. "It's exciting!"
"We can buy pretty much anything from Maggie, and the Britannian Special Honorary Foreign Legion gives us gifts every now and then." Miranda pointed out. "So it must be something really special."
"Suzaku did look pretty happy for us, so it's definitely something big." Naomi guessed. "What do you think, Ange?"
"I'll just take it if it helps me survive. Simple as that." Ange said.
"A one-track mind, huh?" Naomi sighed.
Ange looked a bit offended at that, as they approached a cliff face.
"We're here." Miranda said. "This is where Suzaku told us the sighting was."
Looking closer, they saw that there were several caves in the walls; where the DRAGONs had seemingly made their homes. There were claw marks, but seemingly no DRAGON in sight.
"I don't see any DRAGONs." Coco noted.
"They're probably hiding inside the caves." Miranda guessed. "And we can't go in, because our Para-Mails aren't meant for enclosed spaces."
"Then let's blast them out." Ange said, as her Para-Mail shifted into Destroyer Mode. She pulled out the rifle and aimed at the cave entrance. "Come out, bastards!"
She fired several rounds into the cave, and loud roars could be heard, as well as the flapping of wings.
"Of course you'd do that." Naomi sighed. "Ah well, let's get to work!"
Several red smaller DRAGONs had swarmed out, the basic Schooner-Class. The Para-Mails all shifted into Destroyer Mode and started shooting away at them, shredding the wings with bullets and sending them careening down. Ange took the more direct and brutal approach, using her Glaive's blade to slash off the wings and decapitate the DRAGONs. Because of their surprise from earlier, the DRAGONs were in too much disarray to really attack them.
"I feel a bit bad for this." Ange admitted. "But it's you or me, and I don't plan on dying anytime soon!"
She slashed through the last of the DRAGONs, grounding all of them. She and the rest of her squadron then fired upon them with a hail of bullets, killing all of them.
"Alright, they're all down!" Ange said.
"That's a lot of them, though." Coco noted, looking at the bodies. "We might need to make multiple trips to haul them back."
"I'll contact the base." Miranda said, tapping the comms. "Then they can send over a cleanup squadron."
"What if we just used a net?" Naomi suggested. "The four of us can hold the four corners."
"That would be a good idea if we had a net to use, Naomi." Ange pointed out. "Though maybe you should actually propose the idea to Suzaku when we get back, to make that standard stuff for the Para-Mail squadrons-"
The four of them heard more roars in the distance.
"Wait, there's more?" Ange said, looking around.
"Some more of them must have been outside of their nest." Naomi guessed.
"Then we'll just take care of them too, right?" Miranda said.
"Right." Coco agreed, flying up. "We'll wrap this up and-"
CRUNCH
The others froze in horror, as Coco's Para-mail had been crushed by two DRAGONs slamming into it from two sides. They flew back, letting the crushed Para-mail crash into the dirt below, blood leaking from the cracks.
"C-Coco…?" Naomi was shaking.
"Coco!" Ange screamed.
"You… you monsters!" Miranda screamed, drawing her Para-mail's sword and rushing at the two DRAGONs that had attacked.
"Wait, Miranda! Pull back!" Ange shouted.
"Raaaaaaargh!" Miranda cut off the wings of the two DRAGONs, before filling them with bullets. She was left breathing heavily, as the two DRAGONs fell to the ground.
"Miranda! Behind you!" Naomi shouted.
She didn't get a chance to turn around, as a DRAGON clung to the back of her Para-mail.
"Agh! Get off!"
Miranda kept trying to shake off the DRAGON, but it kept a strong grip. Other DRAGONs flew in, clinging to her as well. Before Ange and Naomi could get in close, the DRAGONs had ripped open the cockpit. All they heard were Miranda's screams, as the DRAGONs tore into her.
"Naomi, we're getting out of here!" Ange told her surviving squad mate.
"B-But-"
"I'm not dying here, and you're not either!" Ange shouted. "We need to go!"
Ange aimed her blaster, and shot down several of the DRAGONs that were chasing after them. Naomi tried to do the same, but her arms were shaking too much and she couldn't aim properly. She completely froze when a DRAGON clawed the blaster out of her Para-mail's hand.
"A-Ah!"
"Naomi!"
Ange sped forward, stabbing her Para-mail's blade into the DRAGON's head, before ripping it out and slashing away several more of the monsters. She grabbed the Para-mail's shoulder to pull it along.
"A-Ange…"
"Naomi you idiot, live!" Ange shouted. "You think Coco and Miranda want you to join them?!"
"Th-They're…!"
"If we stay here, we're gonna end up as DRAGON chow! Snap out of it-!"
A DRAGON had slammed into the back of Ange's Para-mail, sending her crashing into the ground, with Naomi's in tow. Naomi's Para-mail had landed on top of hers, preventing her from getting up.
No… Ange winced, her vision becoming blurry from the nasty crash, as blood poured down her forehead. No no no…!
The DRAGONs began swooping down, observing their prey.
Am I… going to die? No… I don't want to die! I don't want to die!
She tried to use her Para-mail's controls, but she didn't have the strength to do so. She let her arm fall, as she looked out the torn steel to see the DRAGONs outside, crawling towards her and Naomi's helpless Para-mails.
The last thing Ange saw before her vision failed her was a blue and white blur, cutting up the DRAGONs.
Opening her eyes, Ange found herself staring at the sickbay ceiling. She sat up and looked around. The last time she was here was when she crashed her Para-Mail during her first flight, though she was relatively fine then.
But now? She felt bandages wrapped around her head and one of her arms. She reached up and touched it, slightly wincing. She ignored the pain for now, and got out of the bed.
"Ange?" Came a voice from another bed.
Ange pushed aside the curtain to see Naomi, who was similarly bandaged up.
"So you're alright." Ange said, letting out a breath of relief.
"I can say the same to you." Naomi said with a nod.
"You're both up? Thank heavens."
Ange looked behind her to see a blonde girl in a purple and red Knightmare Frame suit, draped with a red cloak over her shoulders.
"Though you should probably get back in bed before Maggy comes back." The girl suggested. "She'll probably throw a fit."
"Alice." Ange said.
"How did you-?" Naomi began.
"It'll be some time before my team will be given its next mission, so I made a quick detour to check on you guys at Suzaku's suggestion." Alice explained. "Looks like I made the right call. I fought off some of the DRAGONs and managed to haul you and Naomi back. I had to leave your Para-Mails behind because they got completely messed up, but we always have spares."
"You saved us… thank you, Alice." Naomi smiled.
Ange's heart-rate slightly went up, knowing that she and Naomi could have died then and there, but her mind went back to thinking about Alice.
She was an Honorary Britannian soldier with no last name or family to speak of. She was more or less a Norma as some of the others had pointed out. Despite the fact she was the same age as Ange, she had a much higher rank in the army as one of its strongest soldiers. Ange had fought against her modified Knightmare Frame, the GX 01 Alpha, many times, but couldn't keep up with her.
While she was friendly with her and the other Norma, Ange couldn't help but be curious about the girl. She was so young, but she had years of experience as a member of the Britannian Special Honorary Foreign Legion, an elite squadron of Honorary Britannians.
Shaking her head, she looked around and noticed that not all the beds in the infirmary were taken. She knew the answer already, but she needed to ask nonetheless.
"...Coco and Miranda." Ange said. "Are they…?"
Alice looked down.
"...I'm sorry, Ange. Naomi." Alice said quietly. "I hoped they'd be fine, but… I saw the state of their Para-Mails, and the blood splatters… Coco's body was unrecognizable, and there was nothing left of Miranda…"
Ange slammed her fist against the wall, while Naomi tightened the grip on the bed covers, letting her tears flow.
"Ange? Naomi?"
Suzaku looked grim as he entered the room, no doubt having heard the news from Alice.
"I'm… I'm sorry about what happened." Suzaku said. "I should have asked for them to send in more soldiers. Maybe then…"
"No, Suzaku." Naomi tried reassuring them. "It wasn't your fault. The soldiers would have been wiped out too. It was a miracle that Alice could save us…"
Ange said nothing, her fist still against the wall, not facing the others.
"I'll tell you of the reward you and Naomi will be receiving later." Suzaku turned to leave, but Ange spoke.
"Do we even deserve one?" Ange asked in a low voice. "Coco and Miranda should've been here to get it too…"
"...it's the unfortunate harsh reality when it comes to a life like this, Ange. Not every friend of yours will come out of a battle alive." Suzaku responded. "I know that too well…"
Ange turned to try inquiring more from Suzaku, but he had already left.
"Suzaku…"
"I'll have to go now. You two take care of yourselves." Alice said. "Though we might see each other again soon."
"What do you mean?" Ange asked.
"You'll see. It might help you two after what happened today." Alice said. "See you."
Alice left the room, no doubt already on her way to her next mission.
Naomi hadn't looked up from the bed since Suzaku came in, still crying. Ange looked at her friend, slightly gritting her teeth. Coco… Miranda…
A few days had passed since the disastrous mission, and Saturday had arrived. Ange and Naomi were currently observing the promised reward.
"This is our reward? Really?"
Ange and Naomi were standing outside a private school in Area 11; Ashford Academy. Both of them were dressed in the school's uniform, which had been provided to them earlier.
They did not expect that the gift would be an education. According to Suzaku, Britannia's quite disgusted by how Misurugi treats Norma, so they decided to give Norma working in the military the privilege of education if they were underage. Whether out of self-satisfaction or pity, no one knew.
He then went on to further explain that the school's dorms would be their new homes, and that the military would rarely call upon them, unless it was a huge emergency or they themselves volunteered.
Essentially, they were free.
"Looks like you two made it."
Alice walked up to greet them, also dressed in the school uniform.
"Alice? You go here?" Naomi said, surprised.
"It's mostly a cover thing, but yeah." Alice explained. "Dalque and Lucretia go here too."
"Wait, why are my clothes different from you two?" Ange asked.
Naomi and Alice were wearing school uniforms that mainly consisted of a pink pinafore that stopped right before their knees. Ange on the other hand was dressed in a yellow jacket and green tie, with a black skirt that was around the same length as her normal uniform.
"We have lower-year uniforms." Alice explained. "You're going to be in one of the classes a year ahead of us."
"Fine." Ange said. "Anything else we should know?"
"You'll be receiving dorms here." Alice added. "You'll live and answer military orders here instead of the rooms you had back then."
"Actual rooms, huh?" Ange noted. "I missed that."
"Coco and Miranda would have loved this…" Naomi sadly muttered.
"...come on, I'll introduce you to the student council." Alice said. "They'll help you get settled in."
Alice led the two into the school grounds. A few students watched as they walked towards the main building, but there were nothing more than curious glances. From a window, a student with black hair and violet eyes noticed them coming in.
"Alice is back, huh? …hold on…" He narrowed his eyes at Ange. "Wait… she's…!"
On the border between Japan and Area 11, one young man stood alone, atop the wall that separated the two. He wore a beige trenchcoat over a heavily customized black karate gi, and had a slightly tattered red scarf. He was staring down at the destruction, rubble from the last few days before the ceasefire happened years ago.
He looked up at the sky, watching the clouds.
"Getter… is a new battle about to start?"
His eyes briefly flashed green.
A/N: And here we are, starting another fanfic. Get ready folks, for a triple mecha crossover of action and chaos.
I'm gonna say this right now, I highly recommend actually getting familiar with all three series ahead of time, as I'll be mostly writing this under the assumption the reader is familiar with the shows unlike my other fics that help out with introductions while following the original stories closely. I'll also be incorporating elements from other canons, such as Nightmare of Nunnally, Cross Ange Rondo of Angel and Dragon Tr. and Getter Robo Devolution, to name a few.
Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.
