Code Geass: Nunnally of the Insurrection
Seven: A White Knight rises.
"So, Sargent Kururugi," Earl Lloyd Asplund sounded amused through the speakers of the Knightmare, "have you read the manual?"
"Yes sir," Suzaku nodded as the man in the white flight suit adjusted the controls of the Lancelot, a seventh generation Knightmare and a vehicle well beyond anything Suzaku had ever commanded. In the simulator runs he had done while healing he had been awed by it's speed and power, and he could not wait to try it out.
"Inserting energy filler," Cecile Croomy said, the black haired assistant scientist operating the controls beside Lloyd an the testing platform containing the Lancelot. She looked at him and dropped her voice, "Is Suzaku really ready for this?"
Lloyd shrugged casually as the nearly purple-white haired young man smiled cheerfully, "We'll never know until we try."
"Lloyd!" Cecile seemed offended by his casual attitude.
"It's all right, ma'am," Suzaku answered as they went through the rest of the start-up procedures. "We won't know if I can stand the strain until I actually try piloting," he said honestly.
"All systems go for launch," Lloyd announced cheerfully, "Suzaku, show me what you got."
The white and gold knightmare, standing several men high, crouched slightly as power cables and monitoring lines popped free, the wheels sliding down from where they were mounted on the ankle. With a burst of power he was off, racing away as the exhaust and wind threw both Lloyd and Cecile backward.
"Yeep!" Cecile yelped as she fell on her ass.
"Full power right out of the gate," Lloyd grinned as the knightmare raced into the practice area, "I like his style."
The practice area was a section of military headquarters equipped with automated traps and obstacles to test a pilot's abilities. Most of the weapons were non-lethal, marking a knightmare with paint to simulate damage to the unit. The systems were calibrated to a normal knightmare frame, and Lloyd was curious to see how the Lancelot would do.
Cecile watched the monitors on their console and glancing up at the battle, stunned at how fast the Lancelot was moving. The view screens were as blur as the knightmare fought it's way through the gauntlet, not even using it's on board weapons.
"How is he doing?" Lloyd asked impatiently.
"Vital signs are good," Cecile reported as she checked another screen, "nearly all the way through and not a mark on him!"
A louder explosion made them look at each other in alarm. "What was that?" Lloyd demanded, leaning over Cecile's shoulder to look at the screens.
Cecile double checked her readings as she reported, "Live weapons fire! Suzaku is being attacked by one or more knightmares!"
"Well," Lloyd looked thoughtful, "that'll make the test more interesting."
Cecile gave him a look, "You didn't set this up yourself...?"
Lloyd waved that off as he said, "I wouldn't do that. It might damage Lancelot!"
"Oh!" Cecile shook her head. "Suzaku," she activated the radio to the cockpit and asked, "are you all right?"
"So far," Suzaku answered as he dodged rifle fire.
The end of the gauntlet of traps and weapons modules was a open area, where two older model knightmare frames had waited for him. They were Sutherlands, equipped with jousting lances and a rifle, which they were using to pepper him with fire. Sadly the Lancelot was faster than their reactions, dodging the bursts easily.
'Probably Purebloods,' Suzaku thought as he braked fast, reversing to dodge a strike from the other Sutherland, 'they can't stand the idea of a knightmare being piloted by a Number.' He activated the exterior speakers, "I don't want to hurt you! Stand down!"
"Arrogant Eleven scum! We'll never surrender to you!" the one knightmare responded, casting aside his useless rifle and charging forward, silver lance extended.
'I didn't ask for surrender,' Suzaku thought regretfully as he sidestepped the charge, grabbing the knightmare by the attacking arm. Before it could react he broke the Sutherland's arm, then with a twist of the Lancelot's body he threw the knightmare at the other, sending them both crashing to the ground.
"Incredible!" a unfamiliar voice murmured over the common radio frequencies.
'Who...?' Suzaku wondered, but cast the question aside as the two Sutherlands fought to rise. Walking forward he swiftly disabled both knightmares, not injuring the pilots but rendering the Sutherlands immobile.
Lloyd was beaming as he said, "Well done, Suzaku! We have the attack recorded, so I doubt there will be any problems."
Cecile rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm as she said, "Just leave them there for now and come back to the launch area, please."
'Cecile sounded nervous,' Suzaku thought as he hurried back through the training area, dodging wrecked equipment easily, 'I wonder why?'
As Suzaku neared the launch platform he was surprised to see two unfamiliar figures standing by Lloyd and Cecile. He brought the zoom function on the scanners up and focused on the two women, nearly stumbling when they became clear.
'The Viceroy and Sub-viceroy?!' Suzaku blinked as he recognized the two most powerful women in Area Eleven. Cornelia looked rather cross as the tall, purple haired woman studied readouts pointed out to her by Lloyd, while the shorter, lighter haired Euphemia looked rather excited by the whole situation.
Lloyd watched as Suzaku expertly parked the Lancelot into his bay, not even hinting that this was one of his first times doing it. As Suzaku emerged from the piloting module Lloyd introduced him, "This is Sargent Suzaku Kururugi, our devicer for the Lancelot."
"Sargent Kururugi," Cornelia nodded slightly, then with some reluctance continued, "That was very well done, your fighting with the Sutherlands. Despite your tactical advantages you disarmed them most efficiently."
Suzaku bowed formally, "Thank you, m'lady."
Cornelia tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, "Why didn't you kill them, Kururugi? They were clearly trying to do the same to you and had attacked you without orders."
Suzaku debated how to answer a moment then decided to be honest, "They may be misguided, but we're all solders in the Britannian army. My killing them would be a waste."
"True," Cornelia conceded as she studied him thoughtfully.
Euphemia smiled up at him as she said, "I've never seen such piloting before. I'm sure that even the Knights of the Round would be impressed!"
"Oh, I'm not that good," Suzaku smiled as he disagreed shyly, "and I was piloting a very remarkable machine too."
As Euphy and Suzaku talked, Cornelia studied him thoughtfully. 'It may be a remarkable machine, but few pilots could bring out it's full potential,' she admitted reluctantly. She wondered how she would do piloting it, but squashed that instinct firmly.
"What do you think, ma'am?" Cecile asked respectfully.
"The Lancelot is as good as promised," Cornelia admitted. She looked at Lloyd, "Camelot is under Prince Schneizel's command, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am," Lloyd nodded respectfully, "but while in Area Eleven we will happily cooperate with you, Viceroy."
"Fair enough," Cornelia nodded as she looked over at the gleaming Lancelot, "I may have some work for you in the future."
To be continued....