”It’s Zero! Zero has appeared! In what has to be a foolish action on his part! Mere moments after the mysterious Gundam appeared to disrupt the execution of the Black Knight terrorists, Zero himself has appeared!”
On T.V.’s throughout Japan the newscaster’s words sent duel sensations throughout the land. To the Britannian, people fear and revulsion, as the dreaded terrorist leader had risen from the dead to ruin their way of life. To the Japanese people, hope long missed in their hearts was rekindled as their hero and savior had returned. As for reactions to the mysterious Gundam views were just as divided in similar veins of thought.
Pushing aside (but not entirely) his concern for the Gundam Guilford allows a smile to come to his face. He flips on his Knightmare’s speakers and announces. “Snuck up from behind as usual Zero; however I’m glad you came so that I may settle things! Now I can execute you along with your terrorist rabble!
”Those are not terrorist you’re executing Guilford! They’re the Black Knights, warriors of justice and soldiers of the army of the United States of Japan!” Zero bellows commandingly, letting his presence be felt as he corrects Guilford.
”You expect me to treat them as prisoners of war under international law?” Guildford asks in a tone indicating such a thing was rubbish. The Black Knights were terrorists who’d be treated and executed as such!
From his chained position atop the main prison truck Ohgi allows a smile on his face. “He really came back for us!”
“If it is really him,” Asahina muses, still skeptical.
“Now we can see if this Zero can pull off his miracles.” Todoh says as he watches the figure claiming to be their Zero. “If he can’t then our fate is in the hands of this Gundam.”
“My bet’s on the Gundam.”
“Hey c’mon! Zero came so he didn’t abandon us! He’ll save us!” Tamaki remarks to Nagisa’s sour comment. “He can do it ZERO-OOOOOOO!!”
In his Vincent among Guilford’s forces Rolo emotionlessly watches from his monitor. “So you came as expected, but if you break your promise I will kill you Zero- or rather Lelouch Lamperouge.”
As Zero’s Burai continued to move towards the police line barricade the T.V. announcer continued to commentary. ”He is alone, Zero is alone! As we can see he is riding atop a Knightmare Frame, but it’s clear he is not here to surrender. If he intends to fight alone he is asking for a death wish… assuming he is not tied to the Gundam machine which not more than minutes earlier attacked the forces guarding the terrorists. If Zero and Gundam are linked together, will it spell disaster for us all? Tense air already thick around the execution site seems to be only increasing with the presence of both Zero and the Gundam!”
Once his Burai was close enough, the Police Frames open the barricade allowing Zero entrance to the site. ”It’s been quite awhile Lord Guilford. Why don’t you come out so we can talk about the good old days?”
Allowing himself a personal chuckle at Zero’s obvious humor Guilford responds in kind. ”Tempting as that invitation is, I‘ll stay right where I am. Why don’t settle our past grudges from the insides of our Knightmares?”
“Tche, if Guilford won’t come out, Zero can’t use his Geass,” Kallen mutters in annoyance from the inside of her Guren Mk. II, which meant Zero couldn’t use that venue of action to settle this mess.
Inside Exia Setsuna watched the proceedings, quietly analyzing the situation. “So that man is the infamous Zero that Britannia considers its top threat. What sort of plan does he have? He’s piloting an outdated Knightmare Frame, and is unarmed.”
”Pilot of the Gundam!!”
“He’s addressing me?” Setsuna murmurs as he zooms in with his main camera on Zero’s Knightmare.
”I will be accepting Lord Guilford’s challenge of a duel, and I ask that you do not interfere! I will however ask that no matter what happens you will protect and save my comrades as you clearly intend to do!”
”And what sort of assurances does that leave me with Zero?”
Zero sits in his pilot chair and begins to retract it into the cockpit. ”Come, come now Lord Guilford; surely Zero’s capture and death will be worth more to you than my Black Knights combined!”
”I will feel more assured when you’re all put away and executed!”
”Very well then Zero, I will not interfere and continue to protect your comrades.” Came the reply through Exia’s speakers; inside Setsuna murmurs to himself. “Why does he not simply take advantage of my presence? Not that I’d wish to be but he could have easily let me finish my intervention. Just what is his game?”
Switching on his Burai’s speakers Zero says to Guilford. ”There you have it, our duel is assured of no interference and now we can set the ground rules.”
“Very well Zero, and the terms of our duel?”
“We each will have one weapon, loser takes all.”
“I’d have it no less!” The Gloucester throws its machine gun away and ejects his swords from the back unit, keeping only his joust lance. ”I choose this as my weapon!”
“And for my weapon, I will borrow that shield.” Zero states as his Burai points to a riot shield being held by one of the Police Frames.
”What?! But, that’s…”
“It will serve me well enough.”
Inside his Vincent Rolo can’t but find himself puzzled by Zero’s terms and choice of weapon. “Going into battle with just a riot shield? Is he planning to martyr himself and commit suicide in battle?”
From the top viewing balcony of the Chinese Federation Consulate Li Xingke lowers his binoculars, his own face expressing puzzlement over this situation. “You disappoint me Zero.”
“What shall we do?” One of his aides asks.
“I owe him a debt for giving me an excuse to deal that parasite of a High Eunuch. However this is not an endearing pledge of Harmony that puts me at ease. If Zero turns out to be incompetent, then we’ll just use the Black Knights as our diplomatic tools.”
Down on the site as the two Frames prepare to square off Zero proposes aloud. ”I have a question for your Lord Guilford. What do you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat by just means? Do you stain your hands with evil so as to be able to destroy evil? Or do you remain steadfast in your justice even though it means you must bow down and surrender to that evil?”
From her watching perch C.C. comments to herself. “In either case evil remainds.”
Li Xingke from his balcony smiles as he says, “A contradiction paradox… is it a word play?”
Guilford seemed less intent on spending time to ponder this query as he spins his joust and activates his rollers to accelerate towards Zero’s Burai. ”Justice is whatever my princess says it is! So in the name of Cornelia I choose justice and will destroy you as her just Knight!”
With his helmet now off and smiling Lelouch replies. ”So I see, in my case I commit evil to destroy the greater evil!”
Down below in a block control room, a Geass’d security guard types at a computer as three dead bodies lay on the floor. As if in sync with Zero’s speech he utters as he presses the purge button. “Yes your highness!”
As expected pandemonium was unleashed, such a thing was expected of course as no less came of a plan born from the mind of Lelouch Lamperouge-no of Zero the hero of justice!
The section block’s emergency separation bolts exploded simultaneously, immediately causing the section to shift and heave upwards in a diagonal manner towards the Chinese Consulate building.
”Wh-what in?!” Guilford exclaims as his monitor showed the background behind Zero vanish as the block lifts up, causing his Knightmare to tip backwards.
“An earthquake?”
“No Asahina, this strategy it’s the same as from the Black Rebellion! Zero’s done it to them again!” Todoh hollers over the noise of pandemonium going on all around them.
Setsuna adjusts Exia’s inertia stabilizes to keep the Gundam steady. Realizing the trucks may tip over and crush the prisoners, he fully turns Exia around, kneeling to grab the trucks between Exia’s arms as best he can. “I have to protect them, as I said I would… so this is Zero’s plan? Such a tactic is on par with Sumeragi-san’s tactical forecasting!”
As the block tips more and more as it slides down from its mountings, Knightmares, tanks, everything not bolted down began to fall down the block, crashing down to the grounds of the claimed territory of the U.S.J.
Lelouch opens a communications channel with the Guren Mk II. Now it was time to move the plan to the next phase. “Kallen! Charge in and take command!”
The order given Kallen moves the control stick for the Guren forward. “Right! Autonomous Armored Knights follow me! Move in and help recover Ohgi and the rest, they have top priority!”
“RIGHT!” The Knights cry as they follow the red Knightmare towards where Exia had landed with the trucks.
“Looks like their allies are coming to free them, I should provide backup so they can do so unimpeded.” Setsuna says as he turns Exia around to face the incoming Britannian’s still flying down. “Exia: preparing to eliminate enemy targets.”
Using his slash Harkons to anchor his Knightmare Guilford angles his camera up to see Zero’s Burai using the riot shield like a surfboard, “You dishonorable-NGH!” He never finishes as the Burai uses the Harkon cables to grind on and bounces off his Gloucester’s head like a skateboarder off a wall.
Several of the Knightmares try to fire upon Zero but his use of the shield became all too clear as their bullets were absorbed by the shield preventing them from causing harm. Once Zero’s Burai lands and skates on he opens a com channel once again.
”Black Knights! Our enemy has fallen into our territory! Wipe out the remaining Britannian forces and save your comrades!”
“You damned terrorists you won’t get away with this!” One of the Glaston Knights, Alfred screams as he jams his joust lance through a Burai. However he realizes a shadow looms over him and he sees Exia aiming its GN rifle. “G-Gundam! NO-!” One shot later he and his Knightmare were no more.
“Alfred! You Eleven bastards!” Another Knight Bart rolls in to avenge his brother.
”Britannia! You’re on notice! This is Japanese territory so piss off!” Kallen notifies as her Guren Mk II. Rolls up before him.
”There is no Japan!” Bart heatedly retorts as he activates his shoulder mounted missile pods at the Guren Mk II.
”Oh really? This is exactly why I hate Britannia!” She remarks as her Guren weaves in and out of the missiles, using the Knightmare Frame styled Tanto blade in its left hand to block his Joust.
Grinning as she was too close to dodge Bart triggers his missiles again. ”Goodbye Eleven Ace!”
However the Guren’s right arm equipped Radiant Wave Surger activates creating a shield-like effect that blocks the missiles and causing them to detonate harmlessly. She then grabs the head of his Knightmare. ”This is my Radiant Wave Surger! Once you got this close it was all over for you Britannian!” With a press of the trigger, the surger radiates the Knightmare until it’s armor bulges and begins to distort, she then releases it and skates away before it slumps over and explodes.
“Alfred, Bart no!” Another of the Glaston Knights exclaims in dismay, he aims his machine gun only to have it pushed aside by a comrade. “What are you-?”
”Stop shooting! This’s Chinese Territory, and broadcast cameras are everywhere!”
“Tch!”
”Hey the Vincent’s gone inside after Zero!”
Lelouch felt a chill up his spine as he checks his radar, seeing the Vincent closing in at speeds that shouldn’t be. “So you’ve come Rolo, you’ve finally come.”
‘So you are running after all. So much for your promise to hand over C.C. to me… Lelouch you lied to me from the beginning, and now you will die.’ Rolo thought to himself as he holds his cell phone with its locket dangling as he pilots closer and closer towards his target.
Grunting as his Burai shakes from the Vincent’s harkon slashing off his left arm Lelouch grits his teeth. “Not yet, I can’t be caught just yet!”
’All that talk about giving me a future…!’
“I can’t die here!”
‘As long as I can complete my mission, I’ll open the way for my future!’
Suddenly the Vincent’s warning detectors go off, causing Rolo to snap out of his thoughts and focus on the threat at hand. A sniper shot, fired from a building, most likely aimed at Zero but with his speed while his Geass was active he was going too fast! It’d hit him instead! “Oh crap… I can’t stop a physical object; it’ll be a direct hit! I can’t dodge it!”
The world truly seemed to move in slow-motion for Rolo, the projectile seeming to inch painfully closer to him when it was in reality moving at speeds the naked eye could not see.
“I’m…going to die!
However mere feet before the bullet would hit, Zero’s Burai slides in the way taking the shout in the right arm; destroying said arm and sending the Burai to the ground.
Zolo halts the Vincent staring in genuine shock at the Burai. “Wh-why?! Why did you save me?” He demands as he opens a channel to the Burai.
Lelouch’s reply came softly. ”Because… you’re my little brother.”
“Hu-huh?”
”The memories may have been implanted within me Rolo, but everything we did was real!”
Rolo’s body shakes as this sinks in, his mind recalling all they’d done together over the past year. “Y-you mean that all of that was real? They weren’t lies?”
”Yes because you’re my little brother.”
“Brother… Me?” Rolo stares at his cell phone as he utters the question both to himself and aloud as if he wanted to be sure he wasn’t mishearing things. He almost cries as he speaks on. “That day… After never having a birthday ever, for the first time I…!” He shakes his head as his memories recall that day, the day he got his locket, his precious locket. “What about before, when you told me your life was more important to you, and then you risked your life for this, for me?”
”I made a promise to you. I promised you a new future, and that new future is with me.”
Rolo felt choked up, emotions he’d never truly experienced before threatening to consume him. He-he was… happy, for the first time ever he felt happy.
”ZERO!! We’ll settle things now, with one blow from me!” Guilford shouts from his anchored Gloucester as he hefts his joust. ”With this iron hammer of mine!”
Lelouch recoils as he watches the joust fly towards him, bracing for the death blow.
One that he betted, and calculated would never come, and his bet paid off as the Vincent moves in front of him; catching the joust lance with its hands.
A flabbergasted cry echoes from Guilford’s machine. ”What?! Sir Kimmel, what’s the meaning of this? N-no don’t tell me you’re one of Zero’s men?!”
Rolo gulps, what had he done? No, he had to keep Lelouch alive or else his mission would fail, or would it? Now he was all confused. The ringing of his cell phone startles him but he manages to answer. “H-hello?”
”Rolo, trouble it’s Coach Villeta I’ll connect us over an open conference. Just follow my lead I promise I won’t let you get in trouble my brother.”.
“O-okay.”
’And now I have you Rolo, you dared to take Nunnally’s place. I’ll play the big brother you yourself so desperately want now. I’ll use you up and cast you aside like trash when I’m done!’ Lelouch thought with a devious smile before he switches the call to conference. “Hey coach can’t we use the bathroom in piece?”
”Attention Britannian forces!! This is your last warning any further action taken on these grounds will be considered an armed intervention! Withdraw at once!” Blared Li Xingke’s voice over the Consulate speaks to the entire area.
Inside his Knightmare Guilford angrily slams a fist against the side of his cockpit in frustration. ‘Damn you Zero! Again you humiliate us! …All forces withdraw immediately!”
Watching the Britannian’s retreat Setsuna opens a channel to the Ptolemaios. “This is Exia, mission complete. Exia will return to Ptolemaios shortly.”
”We saw the whole thing on a hacked line into the news network, good job. Setsuna” Replies Sumeragi as a mini-screen on his HUD pops up.
“Sumeragi-san have you formed an opinion on this Zero character?”
”Hard to say just, but based on the news from a year ago and what we witnessed today, he’s got a sharp tactical mind, one I would not like to cross.”
“I concur with that, once I confirm the Britannian’s have left the area fully I’ll head back using route EZ8 as planned.”
”Have a safe flight!”
Once the screen pops away he cycles his camera on the prisoners celebrating their freedom. Exia’s audio sensors were picking up faint chants of happiness ranging from ’Zero, Zero’ and even some cries of ‘Gundam Banzai!’.
“Exia, for better or worse; we have caused a stir in this world, but was it for the best or has Gundam damned history to repeat itself?”
An Unknown Location.
Stepping briskly through the mostly dark cavern, V.V. ventured into the seldom visited sanctum of one of the longest living members of the Geass Directorate; and also one of the most controversial and out casted. The darkness began to ebb away as he got closer, reaching a corridor going into a side cavern that was illuminated both candles and naturally glowing rocks. Finally he reached the main sanctum of this cave finding someone huddled by a fire dressed in a raggedy robe and hood.
“So, V.V. to what honor do I owe your presence? Did another of my ‘crack pot’ visions come true that everyone claims would never do so?” The figure turns, their face still hidden but their voice revealing someone female and sounding young. “I wonder what it is this time, after all I already predicted the ‘black caped man’ would return.” She giggles as she stands; walking over to a cave mural depicting a figure that looked not unlike Zero.
The boyish immortal states in his usual bland tone, “Your most infamous vision has come to pass.”
Turning the figured smile could be seen even under her hood. “Ohoho? So the metal angel descended from on high to smite at Britannia? That means… you want my aide for the contingency plan? A plan that sadly was not entirely believed in and hardly executed…”
V.V. tries not to satisfy her by rolling his eyes. “Are you finished mocking me?”
“Oh I do not mock you, but the entire Order for calling me a quack and yet every other century something I foretold when I once held the Geass of second sight came to pass, they’d scramble on their knees begging for my help. This vision in particular I fought the hardest to be taken seriously especially when the age of Knightmares came to be.”
“Be happy, we’re taking it seriously now.” V.V. says in a curt manner.
Under her hood the immortal grins more. “Purururuurururu!!”
Finally a reaction V.V.’s left eye twitches horribly. “Elpeo Ple I told you before I hate that laugh, chant or whatever the hell you call that!”
“Which is exactly why I did it!” She pulls back her hood, revealing a girl with orange-like colored hair done in a near bowl-cut with the side bangs grown to past shoulder length. She then walks over to another cave mural and stares up at it. “The world is now going to get interesting again.”
V.V. could only nod as he too stares at the mural, depicting a humanoid form bathed in green sparkles, which suspiciously resembled the Gundam Exia to a T.
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(Posted Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:04)
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