Disclaimer: Code Geass is written and owned by Ichirō Ōkouchi and Gorō Taniguchi, and produced by Bandai Namco's Sunrise studio. I own no characters, locations, or elements from the Original Series, Manga (Yes, there IS a manga), or Movie Trilogy/Resurrection Timeline. I own only my OCs and their respective Knightmares.
With that said, Please Enjoy The Show!
Normal Speech: "Hello"
Radio/Comms: "Hello"
Thoughts: Hello
Geass: "{Hello}"
Knightmare/Loudspeakers: "Hello"
Chapter 6: Surface Tension
Unspecified Location, Tokyo Settlement
It was well after dark in Tokyo when exhausted, violet eyes opened to greet a flashing screen. They rested in a chamber secluded to the outside; if anyone learned of their effort, all would be in vain. Would it kill you to have answered at a reasonable time? The Informant grumbled as he sat up, mind-fast awake. And here I was, thinking my efforts would be in vain.
Things had been silent since the Resistance had taken the job, and while communications regarding the Port had been heavily monitored (evidence enough the Japanese were successful), he still preferred hearing it from the Resistance Cell himself.
Whatever Clovis had hidden at the Port spooked him enough to begin revamping at least some parts of the military force he commanded. News and online chatter made it seem like this was nothing, but the Informant knew otherwise. He both did and didn't mind the outcome; on one hand, it showed that Clovis was not as single-minded as he thought and that not all of his inner circle was explicitly the elite class.
On the other, this meant working with the Rebels could get harder, especially if groups like the Purist Faction or Britannian Internal Affairs became involved.
Not exactly a smooth victory, but this'll pave the way for me when the time is right. That's what it all geared towards. Time. So long as he remained ahead, time would hopefully be his next ally once Clovis was exposed enough to strike. And by the looks of it, he may have another supporter in the less-than-mutual Japanese Resistance. "Question now is if you'll last that long…" He paused, reading the attached file.
"Next time you wanna send me and my people out, make sure you know EXACTLY what we're taking. Found your Knightmare. 1 tagging along for the foreseeable future."
A Companion? What, another rebel to add to the cause? He glared in confusion, skimming through several images sent with the file. When his eyes finally caught up to the latest, the chamber let out a small echo from the chair tossed back.
"Wait." Dark violet eyes widened as he glanced upward, looking between the image and the giant looming in his hold. "That's not possible...!"
Naoto Resistance Base, Shinjuku Ghetto
"Well, this is certainly a change." After hours of delving through books and whatever info they could pull from the support truck, the Naoto Cell finally got into the tedious task of repairing the MERLIN. "And here I was thinking we'd watch it rust away here instead," Naoto remarked, a cup of fresh coffee in hand as Ohgi stood beside him.
As a whole, the maintenance crews and whoever else they had on hand were given a monumental effort, slowed even further by the limited information they had on the machine itself. He'd be lying if he said chances to restore MERLIN were incredibly slim, but Naoto had faith in his team to at least turn into a semi-less rusty-looking unit. For the time being Tamaki took charge of the whole ordeal, running only the more prominent things by Naoto or Nagata, who he almost fell to his knees just to get him onboard.
Right now, their first goal is to strip that old, rustic armor plating down and repair the smaller areas before working their way through. It was tedious and they had to be careful with handling it; some parts completely broke down at applied force or unscrewing and, hopeful as he was, Naoto refused to run the risk of anyone getting Tetanus or a life-threatening infection from this project.
"Credit where it's due - Tamaki doesn't slack when it comes to this stuff." His friend said and he wholeheartedly agreed. Hot-headed as he was, Shinichirō was quick to pull people in and out as the afternoon came. And as much as he complained about it (and he complained a LOT about the whole thing) they could see how he took it almost like a challenge.
I just know he'll try holding this over us, though, Naoto thought with a huff.
"...So, you and the Britannian."
Naoto groaned, turning to Ohgi in exasperation. "Oh god, not you too."
"So you've finally been approached on the matter, huh?" Ohgi asked.
"Just by Kallen and Nagata for now, but I'm certain it won't be long before others start demanding answers." He set his cup aside, crossing his arms. "There's also Miyahara, for obvious reasons, and Tamaki but-"
"I'M NOT PLAYING THESE GAMES ZOMBIE!" They heard him shout. "DON'T YOU GO TRYING TO GET NEAR MY CREW! I KNOW YOU TRYING TO GET US, YA UNDEAD BASTARD! IT AIN'T HAPPENING!"
"Case in point." Naoto sighed before his gaze wandered to the far side. "And on the topic of 'the Britannian', how is he?"
"Quiet; certainly not a talker," Ohgi said, looking at the heavily wrapped figure across the garage, currently sitting in a wheelchair in another 'debate' with Tamaki. Might've been tuning it out, if he was being honest. "He was awake before anyone else; terrified the mechanics when he rolled in. Just been staring at their work. He doesn't seem to notice much outside of it."
"I'm glad to know the floor manager approves our work then." He joked dryly. "And the wheelchair?"
"I… have no idea. He just came in with it. I like to think that was Miyahara's doing and not a Britannian just wandering through our base alone but…"
That would be a problem. Naoto nodded. While he was certain the guy wouldn't go rummaging their base, he also knew the others wouldn't take kindly to it. Hell, he didn't think Lowriel could do anything other than stay in bed and talk. And their talk was…
Well, he made it clear there was no love for Britannia, even as a product of the Empire himself. But it didn't take away the obvious elephant in the room:
He was a Britannian.
And unlike their previous night, now people were starting to take notice. Of the uniform, and his voice as ragged as it was, pointed to his nationality easily. He saw the wary eyes of some members on his way here, and the few glares people were now shooting behind or directly at Lowriel. Hell, Kallen openly admitted she was against Naoto's idea of keeping him on base, especially because of that alone.
It wasn't an excuse by any means. But there's only so much bias profiling you can ignore in the face of years of racial prejudice, discrimination, and so much more done to their country. "What do you make of him?" He eventually asked. Might as well get started in some insight, He added.
Ohgi looked between Naoto and the wounded pilot before answering. "Well… he hasn't killed anyone yet. I don't think he could with how wrapped he is if his head's any indication. But it's nerve-wracking, seeing a Britannian uniform in a place full of Anti-Britannians."
"Certainly jarring, that I agree…"
"Look I'm all for getting more support, we're fighting an uphill battle altogether. But we can't just pretend like this isn't gonna be an issue-!"
"I know." The redhead cut him off, his shoulders dropping with an exhale. "But we're not fixing this Knightmare for him. We're fixing it to help us. And for the time being, all we can do is treat him as a neutral. We owe him that much, Ohgi." He looked back to the MERLIN, resigned yet hard look in his eyes. "I owe him."
Ohgi didn't look convinced. "And if push comes to shove? What then?"
"That's his call if he turns on us. I'd like to think we made a good enough impression, but if not…" Naoto paused, taking a breath and hardening his gaze. "Then I'll be the one to deal with it."
That's all there is to it, right? Logic over emotion again. Even if he saved our hindsides, my people come first.
A silence came over them over the buzzing drills and small shouts of warning, until finally Ohgi seemed to yield. "Well, you've made your decision." He said, almost seeming to deflate like he didn't want this talk. "Just make sure it doesn't bite us in the ass, okay?"
"And please! Run it by everyone else before you leave it be." He quickly added.
Naoto returned a smile. "Please, since when have I ever let us down? I know what I'm doing!"
"Uh-huh? Like that time you passed out and woke up in Kabukicho-?" Ohgi started, only to be immediately kicked in the leg.
"Shhh! I told you not to bring that up again!" Naoto exclaimed, fuming at his friend's laughter. "That was ONE TIME! And we agreed to never speak of that again!"
"Whatever you say, Nao. Whatever you say."
Some Time Later
As expected, the outcome of their talk did give rise to the powder keg.
When repair technicians new to the project were brought in and learned of the Britannians and his Knightmare living on base, they openly expressed their displeasure and anger. When they learned it was Naoto who gave the orders to repair the machine they escalated. And Naoto was certain Lowriel was aware of the situation.
He hadn't spoken a word on it, he was still mostly. But the gleam in his eyes had said enough. "I don't… need you… to def..end me…" He choked out, and while the response didn't sit well, it did help put Naoto at ease in some regard. "I'm aware… how bad… it looks…"
And so, the repairs continued.
Until they didn't.
As they transitioned to the weekend, progress slowed to a complete halt. MERLIN had been mostly stripped down of its rotting armor; the feet, shoulders, and part of the main torso were left untouched, along with the head due to how integrated the armor was there.
Far from the killing machine when it awakened, and more like a half-decent scarecrow. The rest was scraped and the skeleton was cleaned as best as possible before the teams started working on repairs. And parts not salvageable would have to be replaced courtesy of the Kyōto Houses, whom they obtained funding from along with many other rebel groups across Japan.
That said, the powder keg finally exploded when someone heard discussions about the information from the MERLIN's support truck. Mainly the part about Lowriel piloting.
People were already upset about the fact a Britannian was being offered sanctuary and supplied. Now that there was no battle fatigue, everyone was making clear they would not stand for it.
"I'm sorry there's no way I'm going any further with this." One man confronted him in the hall, quick to not let Naoto argue otherwise. "You told us when we started this group we were against Britannia! Now you have us working on a Knightmare FOR ONE?! No thanks! Let me know when you wanna get me working on Japanese gear instead!"
It only got worse leading up to the following days, with people quickly distancing themselves from the project entirely.
"It's bad enough you brought one of those blood-suckers into our base," One of the repair technicians growled, tossing his gear down. "But to have us fixing his damn machine too? No way! We are NOT doing any work for any Brit!"
"Nobody is working for anybody, alright? We're trying to make sure that what we have doesn't fall apart on us when we need it. That's it!" He tried reasoning.
"And then what? Huh? What are we supposed to do when he decides to turn it on us?! He's one of them, and he probably still thinks like them too!" Another member growled, leaving. "I ain't working on it! No way!"
And Naoto couldn't say anything as he stormed out, followed by others who had similar thoughts and anger.
"What were you expecting? Everyone would just brush off the uniform he's rolling around him, maybe trust him to dinner?" Nagata asked when he and some of the others finally confronted Naoto about the problem. "I get your in-debt to him or whatever, but right now our guys don't see that."
"I know Nagata-!"
"No, you don't!" The man snapped angrily. "Right now, the Naoto Resistance sees a Britannian resting in our base and being offered supplies! Our supplies! We don't have the luxury of taking chances on a Britannia who MAY or may not stick around!"
"Nobody is saying taking the Knightmare was a bad move," Yosida spoke up, trying to quell the festering argument. "If anything it helps bolster getting more supplies and material from Kyoto. We still have plenty of information Inoue and I are shifting through with our team. But right now, everyone is worried you are not thinking straight."
"They think you're showing signs of sympathy." Minami finished, and it only furthered Nagata's point.
Naoto fell silent, grimacing. He didn't imagine it had gotten this bad if people were thinking this of him.
"You can't blame anyone, Naoto. This is new and sudden to all of us." Ohgi tried reassuring, his tone calm. "But we're all thinking the same thing here: a Britannian being fixed and housed by an Anti-Britannia Resistance group? How long is that gonna hold?"
They left the conversation like that, leaving Naoto to mull over their words through the night. And suffice to say, he did get it. He wasn't blind, their fears were legitimate and reasonable. Hell, his sister and he had plenty of hate for Britannia. There were a lot of unknown factors when it came to Lowriel and his machine, even more to the man himself. His anger, his hate towards Britannia…
It was real.
Very really.
And maybe that was why he was gravitating to him, at least in some way.
But this was still a slap to the face of his group, to his friends, to their work. He knew many of them had their lives and families torn apart by Britannia. It was what drove him to create this Resistance cell, what gave him the drive and the passion to fight back. To take the pain they felt and direct it. I have gotten too emotionally tied in this, He admitted, running his hands through his hair. Kami help me. I gotta get nip this before it gets any worse…
"Has the cargo been delivered?"
"Arrived last night at Tokyo Harbor, My Lord. It's being delivered to as we speak."
"Keep information on the cargo to an absolute minimum. Get me Lord Jeremiah, immediately."
"Yes, My Lord!"
Naoto Resistance Base, Shinjuku Ghetto
It was early Sunday morning when Naoto gathered the majority of the repair and maintenance teams. A few were missing, and his close friends were among the crowd, but thankfully nobody had abandoned the Cell or dropped their headbands.
Kallen was also there by luck, mainly cause Naoto didn't want her out of the loop with how embedded she was with most of the members. She wasn't sure what to make of Lowriel when he asked earlier on: To her, it was impressive seeing someone so utterly hurt and nearly dead able to pilot the matching wreck of a Knightmare.
On the other hand, he was a Britannian. Even if she and Naoto had some leisure of safety in being half-Britannian, there was no way around the underlying feeling of hesitation and caution Kallen had towards him.
"I'll trust you on this, only because he saved your ass." She'd told him after talking. "But don't expect me to jump in or defend him - this is your mess, I'm leaving it to you till somebody tries ripping you apart!"
Glad to know you're at my defense Kal, He thought dryly as he looked over the crowd. Way better compared to Nagata and his glaring mug, anyway.
"Alright, everyone! Listen up!" He yelled, gathering their attention. "I'm gonna keep this brief so listen well:
"I also know a lot of you have your doubts about this project, and more importantly you have great concern for the… guest we're harboring." He continued, noting the change in people's faces. "That's on me for not seeing it sooner."
Naoto looked around the garage, seeing a mix of expressions. "That ends now. After going over it with our friends knee-deep in studying the research and notes, I've decided we'll be only completing basic maintenance on the new Knightmare. Nothing more than the essentials. We won't be going forward on full repairs for the foreseeable future."
"And the Britannian?" Nagata spoke up, standing with Ohgi and the others. "What happens to him?"
"Excellent question! For the time being, he'll remain isolated in the medical center with Miyahara and under constant surveillance. As I said, he's still recovering with very little headway to full-scale, so it's not like he can leave." He reassured me, firmly. "I want us to focus on finishing what we've started. If we can at least ensure the Knightmare is operable, we'll be a step closer to piloting it ourselves. Hell, Inoue, and Yoshida had found bits and pieces of information, so we're slowly piecing together a manual."
"We still need the information from the truck," The tech pointed out, "But it's not out of the question."
"You can't be serious!" A woman from the back yelled. "Let's just send in on his way, or hell, shoot him out back!"
"Tech, that'd be a mercy in and of itself." Someone nearby snickered.
"Look, I get you all upset with this outcome," Naoto bit back a sigh as he spoke. "I'm not fond of having a Britannian here myself. But we don't have any other choice. We need the MERLIN, and we don't have the supplies to build a new machine like that."
"What about when he recovers? He can just sneak around the base!" Another rebel asked.
"Are you seriously considering listening to this crap?! This is a Britannian we're talking about, the enemy!" Someone shouted.
Others started looking at each other, murmuring and whispering amongst themselves.
"And Naoto is still our leader. We have to have trust in him too-" Ohgi interjected, giving a warning glance to the group.
"Leaders can be wrong too!" Someone snapped harshly.
"Enough!" Finally, Naoto raised his voice, quickly silencing the protests and growing talk. "The man is half-dead as is, and right now he's the only person here who knows how to pilot that KMF. Until we can find another way, this is the best option." He let the garage fill with silence before continuing. "I know many of you do not like this outcome. And I cannot guarantee you any certainty of our future successes. However, I believe this may be the chance to show Britannia that we are more than 'Numbers,' and far better than them too."
"I'm not asking you like him. I'm not even asking you to care about him. But, for the time being, I'm asking you to tolerate him."
Finally, it looked like the group was starting to agree with him. All except a few, and one who openly came forward.
"Forgive me, Naoto-San. But I refuse." He said, a bit older than Naoto and tired-looking too. "It's one thing if you're asking me to help you or anyone else here. But I won't participate in a project on the off chance a Britannian is part of it. I'm sorry."
And Naoto remained steadfast, accepting it firmly. "Very well then." Without another word, he left in silence, and Naoto remained steadfast, looking around the rest. "If anyone else feels similar distrust to this project or me, you are free to go. I will not stop you." He reassured, and eventually, three others left after the first.
The silence remained until finally, one mechanic spoke up.
"Well, if nothing else, this will make the Kyōto Houses happy. They didn't exactly agree to the whole repair process." He said with a slight chuckle.
"Meh, I mean... he's stuck in a wheelchair, right? What's the worst he can do, run over our feet?" Another replied. A few people laughed and the tension began to lessen, and soon others were voicing their own opinions.
"I still think he's a zombie!" Tamaki yelled out, but it only seemed to help lighten the mood further.
"Oh, shut it, Tamaki. He's not a zombie, you just want to scare the newbies!" Someone else called back, laughing.
"I'M TELLING YOU! IF HE BITES ANY OF YOU GUYS, DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YA!"
Naoto gulped deeply, feeling the immense weight of leadership lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you for trusting me. All of you." He said, looking between all of them with a determined yet relieved smile. "We have work to do while Kyoto sorts our shipping order out, so let's get to it!"
They dispersed after that, and as the garage buzzed with movement, Ohgi, Nagata, and Yoshida approached Naoto. "Well, I think that's the end of it." Yoshida sighed, looking over the groups. "At least for now
"You're a damn miracle worker as always, Naoto," Ohgi said, clapping him on the back.
"I try." The redhead grinned, returning the gesture. "It's a shame I had to give the order, but... what's done is done.
"I still think we should be careful," Nagata said, not sharing the same relief. "There's still a lot about that guy that we don't know. And I'm not too keen on him being on the other side of my gun if things go south."
"You're right," Naoto admitted, returning a hard look. "And it comes down to it, I will do what's necessary. Just trust me, Nagata."
"Yeah yeah," The dark-haired man rolled his eyes, walking back to his station. "So long as you don't get any softer on us."
"Please, when have I ever?" He asked as peace, for now, returned to their norm.
"Sounds as though you may have lost a bit of support today," The voice of the informant snarked.
"Couldn't be helped, but I expected as much," Naoto answered, glancing through the door where Lowriel rested. There was no real choice other than to confront and admit to the tension he was making, and unsurprisingly, Lowriel was receptive and understanding.
It didn't make it any easier, but Naoto appreciated his willingness to understand and listen.
He also finally managed to talk him into removing his tattered pilot uniform, followed somehow by Miyahara who asked (well, demanded more like) to replace his worn-out bandages. He still hadn't seen Lowriel's face or anything like Miyahara had, but he could assume it wasn't pretty given his overall condition. He was given spare clothes too, so he wouldn't look like the undead mummy Tamaki said he was either.
"You said before he distanced himself entirely from Britannia, right?" The informant repeated.
"Yeah, but I think he used to be Air Force at times point. The notes we have list him as a 'test pilot.' What for, I have no idea," Naoto admitted.
The other end was silent, and the redhead could almost hear the gears turning.
"Look, I'll admit this isn't ideal, and that I may have gotten too hasty," He admitted. "But right now, we need him and his machine. And I need to know how badly Clovis or the government will respond after what we did at Yokosuka."
"Did he give you a name?"
"Yeah. Lowriel Lamperouge.
The line was quiet for a few minutes. "...Say that again?"
"Lowriel. Lamperouge." Naoto repeated slowly, rolling his tongue weirdly. Seriously, did Britannians have a thing for odd names? "Ring any bells for you?"
"No. No, not off the top of my head anyways," The Informant replied hastily, sounding distracted or maybe curious now. "I-I'll look into it on my end, along with anything on Clovis. For now, just keep your heads down. And don't do anything stupid."
And he hung up quickly, leaving Naoto curiously staring at his phone. "Huh… That's new."
Undisclosed Location, Tokyo Settlement
He must have thrown his chair back hard when he stood up because it clattered loudly to the ground, the sound echoing off the walls.
"Lelouch?" A younger voice called from outside the room. "Lelouch was that you?"
"Y-Yes, yes! That was me - sorry!" The Informant apologized through mild nausea, clutching his phone tightly. "Just uh, dropped something! I sat up too fast. That's all! No need to worry, Nunnally."
"Oh, alright." Her voice sounded again. "Sorry if I disturbed you!"
"Of course not, Nunnally!" He reassured, putting his phone away. "Never..."
Lowriel... Lamperouge. Low-riel.
It echoed over and over in his head, the name impossible to digest, let alone understand. Because as far as he knew, as rapidly as he wracked his head, there was no such person with that name. His mother certainly never said it either. But that Knightmare, and now this name it...
So naturally, dark violet eyes burned with paranoia at their laptop screen, staring at one of the few photos the Japanese had provided.
"Who the hell are you?"
A/N: I gotta be honest, I was very in and out when it came to this chapter. Not that it's a topic or area of Code Geass I didn't wanna touch, but more I didn't want to make this feel rushed or out of place. And I didn't wanna make it seem like a filler too. So I do apologize for taking so long - but hey! Let's just consider this an early Christmas present from me to my readers!
You know. At 2 in the morning.
Also, finally, we get a Lelouch appearance, you'll be seeing him a bit more in the future so yaaaaay!
On the upside, I finished classes last week and have a plan for the next 2 chapters in the work. The only downside is I'll likely have 8 done after New Year's, so sorry for what I hoped would be my upload schedule last chapter. That said I've got ideas brewing and I got a bit more time to write, so hopefully, everything goes right as we enter 2025!
Please let me know what you think in the Reviews!
With that said, This is the KnightOfZ3R0 wishing you a Merry Christmas! (And a Happy New Year, in case I don't upload in time then!)