CODE GEASS
DIRGE OF DAEDALUS
Turn Eighteen: Revelations (Part 1)
"I couldn't help but look up at the cobalt-blue sky over the Britannian settlement of Japan that day as Euphemia li Britannia prepared to address the masses of elevens that now sat within the stadium of the Japan-Special-Administrative-Zone.
It was 2017 a.t.b. and Lelouch had his Rebellion in full swing up to this point.
My gut told me that he'd do something stupid...his type so often does.
I'd met him at Ashford, though we'd never actually talked outside of a few passing words in class, I was fully aware that he used his Geass like a kid with a shinny new BB gun, but there was nothing I could do about it at that time.
I was keeping a low profile back then and was simply shadowing him; watching his every move; both as Lelouch Lamperouge and Zero.
That cloak-suit that the Major had lent me sure came in handy. I'll have to thank her the next time we meet; if we do.
"Are you almost ready Princess?" Darlton had asked Euphemia as he double checked with his security forces around the arena via a comm. link he held in his hand.
She simply nodded as she drank down her cup of tea.
Neither one of them knew I was there so Euphemia didn't see the packet of medical-nanomachines I dropped into her cup of Earl-Grey before she drank it down; just in case her brother got any funny ideas in that fool skull of his.
Euphemia was too valuable to risk loosing.
Besides I'd hate for that voluptuous-Viceroy sister of hers to go on a mad rampage if worst came to worst and Euphemia took a dirt-nap.
Anyway, I slipped Euphie a Mickey to ensure that nothing happened...although in retrospect it didn't work out exactly as I had planned."-Excerpt from Enoch's World-of-Geass report to Metatron dated October 25th 5.00312 GS (Galactic Standard)
"Wow, I'm impressed by how orderly your Spartans charge to their doom," Enoch taunted Jason as he cut down the first pair of Automatos with the twin Blade-Luminous Katana of his Type-21J Samurai as they flew towards him.
"You won't stop us Enoch!" Jason spat at him as he flew the Talos around and thrust the great Adamantine-Sword at the Samurai.
"If you only knew how many times I've heard that." Enoch said sarcastically as he moved the Type-21J slightly to the side allowing the blade of the Talos to slip past the chest of the Samurai. Enoch fired the left forearm MVS-Harken of his Type-21J at the faceplate of the Talos; the blade impacted the mirrored surface and shattered it revealing the large circular sensor-lens beneath.
"And this shall be the last time you hear it!" Jason spun the Talos to cut the Samurai in half at the waist but the Type-21S flipped upwards at the last moment in a summersault over the top of Talos.
"Yah, yah, and then the world will be yours," Enoch laughed. "Tin plated dictators and their misguided legions of warriors are a dime-a-dozen...I should know, I used to be one." The Type-21S came out of the ball it was in and slashed the wings off of a Spartan that tried to come to Jason's aid; sending the machine spiraling out of control to the Island below them as two more Spartans lunged at Enoch.
"You dare to mock me?" Jason fired the Chaos beam of the Talos at the Samurai.
Enoch's Type-21S kicked one of the Spartans it was dueling with into the path of the beam and used it as a shield while the Type-21S dodged out of the way. "Nice shot old man!" Enoch guffawed.
"BASTARD!" The Talos flew at the Samurai at high speed to cut the Type-21S with its wing-blades but the KnightMare Frame transformed into jet-mode and boosted out of the way at the last moment.
"Oh don't get mad Jason," Enoch riddled two more Spartans with a combination of Gehjun missiles and Hadron cannon blasts as he dove down at the Talos and its two remaining Hoplites; blasting through their Aegis shields with the missiles and then cutting the Hoplite-Automatos to ribbons with the Hadron beams.
"We all make mistakes," Enoch weaved through the hail of Hades-cannon fire that the last two Spartans sent at him and transformed his KnightMare right next to the two machines; unsheathing the Samurai's pair of Blade-Luminous Katana almost simultaneously and cutting both Spartans in half in one fluid motion.
"Like biting off more than we can chew," Enoch said as only his Samurai and the Talos remained hovering over the Avalon.
"You're a Daemon from Hades." Jason cursed.
"Not quite..." Enoch laughed. "I was too evil for heaven," He moved the Type-21S into a combat stance with one blade held in reverse by the left hand, pointing to the rear, and the other blade up in a salute in the right hand, "and hell was worried I'd take over."
"Jeremiah, you need to get the Empress out of there now," Zero told the Knight of Orange over the viewscreen of the main observation deck of the Avalon; the battle between Enoch and Jason could be seen raging outside the windows.
"I realize that Zero, but she's..." Jeremiah was cut short by Nunnally.
"SHE is not going to abandon the battle like a scared little girl just because Zero says so!" Nunnally glared at him.
"Have you gone mad?" Zero barked at her. "The Avalon has been boarded by the enemy. It's only a matter of time before they make it to your position."
"Well if you're so worried about me Zero, then get over here and help repel them yourself." Nunnally was intentionally trying to stall Zero. She had her own plan in this and the Empress would not be deterred. Nunnally could feel the intensions of the Greeks as they got closer to her upon the Avalon. They were not malevolent, of that she was certain.
"DAMMN IT NUNNALLY!" Zero lost his patience as Villetta frantically told Ougi that Evita's forces had wiped out their perimeter KnightMare units. "There isn't any more time for argument!"
"Well then you'd better get a move on...huh?" Nunnally sneered as she thought to herself. You are wrong Zero, Schneizel is not the force behind this attack. I know it...there is someone else and I intend to find out who.
"This isn't a stupid game!!" Zero lost control of his voice, causing Ougi and Villetta to glance over at him with a puzzled look. His sister had a way of disrupting his ability to maintain self-control and right now she was doing a fine job of bending it all out of shape.
"Really?" Nunnally raised an eyebrow, "I believe you once said all struggles were comparable to Chess did you not?"
"What?" Zero was taken off guard. He thought to himself, Dammn it Nunnally what are you doing? "Fine, I'm coming over there to get you."
"You'd better hurry up," Nunnally gave him a wicked smile as she cut the transmission.
Zero spun and faced Captain Nu, "Ougi, get me a Type-21 immediately."
"Zero you can't," Ougi said defiantly to him. "I won't allow it."
Zero balked at Ougi's exercise of authority, "Ougi, surely you understand that if Schneizel captures Nunnally then he will have the upper hand."
Ougi frowned at him, "I do Zero, but you should realize that if you leave this ship then Duchess Evita Ernst will no longer need to stay her hand against the Ikaruga. I cannot jeopardize this vessel on account of your feelings for the Empress or your overall strategy."
"You don't understand the overall strategy," Zero barked at him.
"Perhaps not, but I don't have too." Ougi retorted. "My responsibility is to this ship and its crew, not to obey your every whim."
"This is not the time for a discussion, give me a KMF now!" Zero demanded.
Ougi walked over and grabbed Zero by the lapel; pulling his mask up to his face. "I followed you once with the hope that you'd liberate the world and you fled the battlefield like a coward chasing after that sister of yours..." Ougi glared at him as he spoke so only Zero could hear him over the din of the bridge, "...Lelouch. I don't know how it is that you're still alive, but there is no mistaking your voice, I know it's you, and I'm telling you now that I will not allow you to abandon us again. Geass or not, I will not follow a coward."
Lelouch cursed himself for being so stupid. He had let Nunnally get to him and in doing so revealed his identity to a man who knew him far too well. Lelouch thought about using his Geass on Ougi but remembered what Enoch had told him only a few hours ago; Remember Lelouch, your true-friends are your greatest assets. A hero never betrays them. Lelouch knew he had betrayed Ougi that day over Tokyo when he had fled the battlefield to rescue Nunnally, and Ougi had in turn betrayed him to Schneizel because of it; it was time to correct that injustice.
"You're right Ougi," Lelouch gambled on the man's integrity. "I was wrong to abandon you and the Black Knights during the Black Rebellion. Please forgive me. I will not abandon my responsibility to my friends now"
Ougi was shocked by his admission. Captain Nu let go of Zero's lapel and put his hand on Zero's shoulder, "We're both guilty of betrayal my friend. Let us put the past behind us and do what we must...together."
"Agreed." Zero nodded.
Ougi smiled at him, "What are your orders Zero?"
The Uriel flew as fast as its energy wings would take it towards the point where the Gabriel had impacted the shoreline of Hawaii.
"Suzaku...Suzaku!" The Red Dragon's electronic voice called over the radio. She looked frantically at the coastline until she saw the place where the Gabriel had crashed. The Hakodeshim was half in and half out of the water.
The Red Dragon piloted Uriel down onto the sand just next to the Gabriel and opened her Archangel's front cockpit hatch as quickly as she could. The woman jumped down from her machine and ran over to the Gabriel.
Suzaku's mecha was lying on its side with the cockpit hatch open revealing the pilot. Kururugi was lying limp in the seat of the Hakodeshim with his head hanging forward.
The Red Dragon rushed over and pulled him from the machine onto the sand.
She checked his wrist for a pulse and then put her hand above his mouth to check his vitals.
"He's not breathing!" She said frantically. "I don't have any choice." She lamented out loud to herself.
The Red Dragon unfastened the back of her mask and pulled the helmet off her head; a mass of pink hair, dyed red half way down where it came out of the helmet, spilled out over her shoulders.
She opened Suzaku's mouth, pinched his nose shut, and filled her cheeks with air. The Red Dragon put her lips to his and blew into his lungs. She waited for his chest to swell then pushed down on it to facilitate resuscitation.
The Red Dragon put her lips to Kururugi's to refill Suzaku's lungs again when she felt his chest move on its own.
She blew air into his mouth.
He coughed and then began to breathe on his own.
Suzaku put his hands on her shoulders and moved her back off of him slowly. His eye lids lifted slightly then shot wide upon seeing the angelic face of the woman who smiled down at him.
"Hi," She said softly as her eyes softened.
"Am I dead?" Suzaku asked in disbelief.
She shook her head as tears welled in her eyes. "No," she said softly.
"But how?" Suzaku said as her tears fell on his face.
"It's a long story." The Red Dragon answered him with a meek smile as emotion overwhelmed her and she threw her arms around him, "Oh how I've missed you Suzaku!"
Kururugi hugged her tight, "My life lost its meaning when I lost you...Euphie"
"Anytime you feel like actually fighting you let me know Jason," Enoch bellowed as he blocked the Adamantine Blade of Talos with one of his Katana and then cut the left leg of the Kolossos off with the other of his Blade-Luminous Katana.
"You may kill me Enoch, but we'll still achieve our objective!" Jason sneered as he blocked another thrust by the Type-21J.
"Kill you?" Enoch snickered. "When did I day anything about killing you? You're too much fun for me to do something rude like that." He laughed as he easily dodged another blast from the Chaos beam of Talos.
"Stop patronizing me!" Jason attempted another spin-blade attack with the wings of Talos.
"I've done no such thing," Enoch said calmly as he used the twin Katana of his Samurai to chop through one of the wing-tip-blades of Talos. "I've simply bought my young apprentice the time he needs to ensure his success."
"Apprentice? As if I'd know what you mean. How obscure of you," Jason said as he saw an opening in Enoch's defense and thrust for one of the graviton-impellers of the Type-21J.
"Just like my fighting style," Enoch retorted as he shifted the Samurai down ever so slightly so that the Adamantine-Blade slipped past the Graviton-Impeller, scratching the paint off the top of the nacelle, and allowed the Type-21J to bring both Blade-Luminous Katana up in a scissor formation under the last arm of Talos. "I keep my moves short and sweet in order to throw my opponents off-balance."
The pair of Katana cut through the elbow joint of Talos' sword-arm; leaving the Kolossos without arms entirely.
"Now to finish this and deal with your comrades," Enoch spun his Samurai out of the way of another Chaos beam attack by the Talos and cut the left wing off of the Kolossos with its Katana.
"Dammn YOU!" Jason cursed as he lost control of the Talos.
Enoch's Type-21J did a spin kick into the back of the Kolossos that sent the Talos flying so that it crashed into the top deck of the Avalon.
Enoch Apsu saw smoke coming from the joints of the Greek machine. "Jason, get out of there. This fight is over..." Enoch waited a moment. "Jason....Jason!"
"Oh, Son of a...." Enoch drove his KnightMare onto the deck of the Avalon and popped open its cockpit hatch. He leapt to the ground and ran over to the fallen Automatos.
The amber-eyed man scaled the large burning machine and made his way over to the Devicer-hatch; he turned the emergency lever but nothing happened.
"Confounded Greek junk," Enoch complained as he punched his fist through the metal of the cockpit-hatch at its seam and ripped back the door with brute strength revealing the interior of the cockpit.
"Come to finish me off with your bare hands have you?" Jason spat blood at him from the wound on the inside of his cheek. The Greek's uniform was torn at his right shoulder and his arm looked broken.
"No you twit, I'm here to save you from this scrapheap before it explodes." Enoch grabbed Jason and carried him in his arms away from the burning mecha.
The machine exploded on the top-deck of the Avalon sending metal shards flying in every direction.
Enoch used his body to shield Jason as large pieces of Adamantine tore through Apsu's uniform; bouncing off of his skin with a distinct metallic ping, leaving the surface of his body unharmed by the shrapnel.
"You alive?" Enoch asked Jason.
Jason looked up at him, "I hate you."
Enoch smiled, "I'll take that as a yes."
"Hold them back!" Jeremiah yelled as the party of Greek invaders shot at the last of the group of airman that comprised the Avalon's security force. The Greek warriors carried with them a short, spear-like weapon that had a hole at the end where a spear-tip should be. From that hole spewed forth Hades-cannon energy that burned through flesh with ease and made for an effective assault weapon.
The Avalon crew fired salvo after salvo of auto-rifle rounds at the boarders but their bullets were deflected by a personal Aegis shield that each of the Greek Phalanx carried with them.
Within moments the Greeks had finished off the Avalon defenders and left Nunnally, Jeremiah, Reika, and Kaguya cornered within the observation room of the ship.
"I won't let you harm the Empress!" The Knight of Orange yelled as he unsheathed his swords and prepared to attack.
Nunnally put her hand on his arm, "No Jeremiah, they don't mean me any harm."
"How do you know that Empress?" Jeremiah asked her as he watched the Greek line part to allow a tall, brawny, olive-skinned, bearded man dressed in a Greek-Devicer jumpsuit walk forward.
"That's a good question," the bearded man said. "How do you know our intent? Perhaps we're here to kill you."
Jeremiah scowled at him but said nothing.
Nunnally gave him a reserved smile, "You're lying. You're not here to harm me. I know because I can feel it."
"Feel it?" The man gasped as a second, somewhat shorter, Greek Devicer came up behind him.
The two exchanged wide-eyed looks.
"Tell me Empress, do you know my name?" The tall bearded man asked.
Nunnally closed her eyes and thought hard for a moment before answering, "You are Heracles and the one beside you is Orpheus."
To Jeremiah's surprise the Greeks knelt down before her, "Forgive us for this crude manner in which we first meet Empress Nunnally. We had no idea you were an Oracle."
Nunnally was relieved inside. Zero had told her the names of the Greek commanders during a mission-briefing they had together prior to their departure from Japan, but she had not known what any of them looked like; her feelings had been right about these two.
"You have come here to take me to your leader," Nunnally said to Heracles.
"Yes Empress," Heracles told her truthfully. "And you will be unharmed."
"Very well," Nunnally told him. "I will go with you if you promise to halt this attack and withdraw."
Heracles bowed to her, "I can only promise that our forces will withdraw, but I cannot speak for those of Schneizel."
"The UFN can deal with Evita," Reika told Nunnally with a smirk. "Xingke's fleet should be here any moment."
"How do you know that?" Kaguya asked the Tianzi in surprise.
Jiang shrugged with a sheepish grin, "We've been planning on seeing each other when he gets here. I spoke to him only a few hours ago."
An explosion rocked the ship; shattering the large windows of the observation deck that were above them and showering the room with small bits of glass.
"Empress!" Jeremiah shielded Nunnally, Reika and Kaguya from the rain of tiny glass-particles with his body.
"It appears Evita is attacking the Avalon directly," Sumeragi said to Nunnally.
Nunnally shook her head and spoke in a distant voice, "No...that was the KnightMare of the one called Jason."
"Jason?" Heracles asked as he heard his Captain's name leave her lips. "What has become of him?"
"He is injured," Nunnally told him with a far-off look in her eyes.
"Where?" Orpheus asked.
"The top deck, near the dorsal KnightMare launch bay," Nunnally told them.
"Orpheus, you take the Empress and her party to our Automatos and get them safely to the Argos. I'll go and find Jason." Heracles didn't wait for a reply before sprinting out of the room.
Orpheus turned to Nunnally and her companions, "Shall we go?"
End Part 1