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Chapter 11: Chink in One’s Armour
🕑 Added 2024-12-05 21:33:29 +0000 UTCChapter 11: Chink in One’s Armour
As a storm continued to grow in intensity outside, its force crashing into both sides' forces, whether in the sea or on land, the Damocles remained unaffected by the consequences of its main weapon, as it was designed to be. Thanks to its redundant float units and propulsion systems, it remained stable even when the floating ships around it struggled to remain in position.
Despite not feeling so much as the ground vibrate, Nunnally could tell that what was happening outside was chaos, utter madness, mayhem, and mindless murder. She sat alone in the garden of the Damocles, as she had since before the battle started, which only made the pain from her brother's biting words hurt all the more. Here she was, surrounded by peace and tranquillity as others fought, bled, and died in droves.
Not for the first time, she wondered if they could have solved things peacefully and if she could have done a better job convincing Lelouch and Suzaku that they were in the wrong. Maybe if they had revealed themselves sooner, all this could have been avoided. But they didn't. She had failed to get through to her brother, who seemed deadest on such evil, and Schneizel hadn't been ready to make a move before.
"Big brother," She muttered, saddened about how everything had fallen apart. Why did it have to be like this? Why did Lelouch do it all? He was always kind and caring with her and a great friend to the student council. Even though Shirley always complained about his gambling habit, she knew they cared for one another. How could that same person have killed Big Brother Clovis and brag about it? Why did he take on Zero's mask? Why did he kill big sister Euphie?
Why did he leave her? Was his ambitions for evil greater than his love for her? Did he ever love her? She didn’t know anymore. Then Schneizel saved her during the battle of Tokyo, and she learned all of it. Zero, the Black Knights, and now this? None of it made sense; it was all evil and cruel, so very cruel. She wished that Cornelia or Schneizel were here, but both were too busy with the planning and now battle that she had been left by herself.
“And yet, why is it so easy." Nunnally thought she allowed, terrified by how the simple thing in her hand could cause such destruction with little more than a squeeze and a press, two actions she had already done more than once.
“Nunnally, we’re ready to fire the next one.” Schneizel’s voice came through the speakers.
“Right.” Despite her misgivings, Nunnally went along with all of it and pressed the button. If it meant that she could bring an end to all this and see to it that her rage-fueled brother was stopped, then she would continue to spill blood. Down below, another of the dreaded FLEIJA was launched, and again, it was meant by the suicidal bravery of what was left of the Brudenells and additional units that had joined them.
Though with how fast the missiles were flying, Lelouch still glared at the combat screen as dozens of his knightmares were wiped out, the storm continuing to only grow in fury as if Thor himself had taken offense to the fact Schneizel would dare name a monstrosity of a weapon for his fellow Æsir member. Even now, an increasing amount of the Avalon's power had to be routed to its shields and propulsion, and even then, he could feel the vessel shaking under him.
“Such an ugly thing; it renders tactics useless," Lelouch said, as such a weapon was as blunt as a hammer in the hands of a child, or worse, the argument of a child where logic, reasoning, or previous statements meant nothing to them-all they desired was whatever it was they desired, reality be damned.
"But with the Black Knights pulling back, we can tighten it into a close range and keep them from using it; otherwise, they'll also be caught in it." Jeremiah's forces tore through the remainder of Schneizel's loyalists before making a beeline for Damocles.
"Which gives us a chance to take them down!" Ashley and his unit turned their weapons toward the biggest and most important target. Jeremiah's units opened fire onto it, pouring bullets, grenades, missiles, rockets, and hadron blasts towards the flying fortress. Still, to their shock, not everyone got through as they all crashed into an unbreaking green barrier. “What the hell? A blaze luminous?”
"But it's so massive," Sayoko uttered, Lelouch, sparing the maid/kunoichi a glance as she sat in a seat to the side. She would have stood as any faithful servant would have. Still, her condition from surviving the debut FELIJA strike and then living on the run for over a month had prevented such. It would prevent her from doing much for months to come. Still, she had insisted that she be present for this final dance, this final clash between the last children of Charles zi Britannia.
"The Damocles was specially designed to achieve absolute air superiority. Even its earlier drafts had it planned to have at least three layers of shields at its weakest point." Cecile explained as she and Lloyd had already gone through what little they knew about the project. Even then, the proposals had been what could have been called fantastical and ambitious until recently.
"And no doubt that number would have been increased while improvements were made to the shield generators themselves." Lelouch guessed, and the scientist nodded, as it would only make sense that Schneizel would push for the best for his magnum opus.
She then noticed something that made her pale. "It's still climbing. At this rate, it will ascend higher than we can in 10 minutes!"
Lelouch ticked her teeth, as float units might not need oxygen like traditional prop or jet engines, but they still had a limit at which point they couldn't rise further. Or at least, he had believed that if Schneizel seemed to either believe he had found a means to correct that problem or already had. “Suzaku, Kallen! Can you break through those defenses?”
“We’re trying, but these damned shields can take everything we can give them!” Kallen yelled back as she fired a whole missile barrage, spread out her wings, and let fly bolts from her energy wings and then leveled her Radiant wave surger at a spot in the shields, but even with its improved output, all she managed was overwhelming one layer of its defenses. However, she still smacked into the 2nd, and God knew how many more were beneath that.
“We have one advantage: we keep up the attack, and they have to keep their shields up, so there are no more FLEIJAs.” The Lancelot, a more round unit, could fire fourth bolts from its energy wings but also duel weird its super VARIS rifles into another spot, but just like the Guren and other units, they weren't making progress.
“And yet we can't land even a glancing blow, and if Cecile is right, then Schneizel doesn't even need to waste any more FLEIJAs on us; he'll just ascend to his place in the stars and annihilate us like a God," C.C. stated as she took the field, the winds and rain buffeting against her custom Lancelot model.
“Is this it? Does all the world have left is to cower before the crushing might of the FLEIJA?” Sayoko asked.
“Well, that offers a sort of peace, too, and you know what they say about living and how that's a victory?" Lloyd offered some comforting words as she strolled onto the bridge, hands in his pockets and seemingly as carefree as ever.
"Suzaku, Kallen, return to the Avalon at once with two-thirds of your remaining forces. Jeremiah, Ashley, keep the pressure on the Damocles; I don't wait for those shields to go down. Akito and the rest, you handle the stranglers; there shall be no prisoners. Cecile, once our forces return, we'll mount a direct assault on the Damocles." Lelouch ignored that for the moment, restructuring their faltering battle lines to better handle the threat.
Kallen appeared on the screen, her face saying it all. “That's insane, Lelouch! We're probably fighting the biggest storm of the decade, and your unit would never make it!” As if to prove her point, lighting crashed into the side of the Avalon, zapping through most of the shield’s strength but still causing the lights and screens to flicker.
Lelouch didn’t show how much he appreciated her caring for his well-being. "It's not as sturdy as your Guren, Kallen, but Rakshata didn't hold back with its design or features. It'll last for what needs to be done."
“You sure about that? You’re not the best devicer, your Majesty.” Lloyd reminded him, which got a spark of annoyance from Lelouch. Like most things that involved physical capabilities, his piloting skills were solely lacking when compared to veterans or aces, but he was still well above average, and his personal unit was built to play to his strengths and limit his weaknesses.
“The fact that you’re here means that the counter has been completed.” Lelouch turned to him.
"True, we did all we could on our end. The rest is up to you fighters to actually deliver our little present." Lloyd's demeanor then shifted, the carefree attitude fading away as he looked as severe as the situation demanded. "Though remember this, your Majesty. We only had time to make one. If you fail…"
“And in these conditions, it would be even harder to succeed, almost superhuman.” Lelouch hummed, as they only had one delivery method, best used in clear skies and better weather, not the maelstrom that churned and raged around them.
However, just like how Leila was used to fighting suicide missions and returning without a single loss, Lelouch was used to facing off against insurmountable odds and still claiming victory. “I suppose it could only be done…if we create a miracle.”
Line Break
“Hey, Rivalz.” Rivalz looked at the screen before him as he sat in his room. One of the best the Britannian military base at Pearl Harbour could afford was a friend to the emperor. all his needs and wants were just a phone call away, but he couldn't enjoy any of that or the sunny weather.
“What’s up, prez? Sorry about not calling sooner. Things have been pretty crazy over here." Rivalz replied as Milly seemed to be back at the news studio, standing to the side of a live broadcast. He could hear a word or phrase here and there but little else.
“Pretty sure it's been crazy all around the place. We're getting reports of a storm over the Pacific, where almost all our student council members are fighting for the world's fate." Milly sighed, as she had never thought something like this would happen. Maybe Suzaku would fight pitched battles from the jump as he was in the army, but Kallen? Lelouch? That just seemed like crazy talk; one was seemingly sickly and frail, the other physically underperforming, lazy, and more concerned with taking care of his little brother.
Rivalz bit his lip as he could imagine what she was thinking of. Thanks to Jeremiah, he knew that Rolo wasn't who he thought he was. But how would he explain that to Milly? He could barely believe it himself, and his mind had been cleared of the brainwashing. However, something else had been eating at him since he was told he would be leaving for 'safety' but that Nina would remain.
"And I'm the only one that isn't there, yeah, I know, Milly, and I hate it." Rivalz sighed. What sort of reality was this? All his friends were either dead or fighting, and he couldn't even lend aid? It hurt worse because he knew he couldn't have helped even if he was there. He wasn't a military leader, strategist, or fighter. Maybe he could help with mechanical work, but he had never worked with knightmares before, just bikes, so he would have probably been more of a hindrance to any crew he was placed with.
Milly didn't see it like that; she never did. “I didn't mean it like that, Rivalz. You know that. They're all fighters…even Lelouch; this was just inevitable, in a way. And Nina said she's helping develop something to counter FLEIJA, so she needed to be as close to the action as possible.”
"But why was I just on a plane and flown out here?" Rivalz asked before Milly gave him a smile, that same beautiful smile that said everything would be all right and that things could get better. That made him fall in love with her so long ago.
“Because they all care about you, Rivalz, we care about you, and your role isn't a fighter or a scientist. You're helping us by just being you.”
Line Break
"Xingke, 68% of our forces have successfully pulled out of the battle," Xianglin reported from the bridge of one of their smaller ships. With the loss of the Ikaruga, they had needed to find another command ship, though when the order came to retreat, she couldn't find it in herself to question it. Not when one would need to be a fool to look around at the crew and see just how demoralized they were. At the loss of their flagship, the turncoat Kallen, and the massive losses they survived- at all of it.
“And the rest?” Xingke, who remained in his Shen Hu as he oversaw things from his end, though the man was displeased with how few of their starting forces he counted flying with him, maybe damaged.
"Destroyed, sir. Either caught in the blasts of the FLEIJAs or fired on by Emperor Lelouch's forces." Xianglin replied, as even then, the actual fighting strength they had if one excluded units that were too damaged to be sent out was only 46%. Xingke grunted at that, the woman noting that he had blood dripping down his lip and chin, but he didn't wipe it away like he typically does.
“Should we respond to that?” she asked, but the man sighed and shook his head.
“No, we were fools to get involved in this Britannian civil war. Continue to withdraw, and we'll make our way to Zhoushan.” Xingke replied, gripping at the controls of his unit tight. They might have left behind the battle, but the storm around them had only grown weaker, not vanished, and it wouldn't be clear skies for another ten minutes.
“Understood, sir.” She replied but didn't cut the call. A glance around reminded her that the crew were all Chinese. More than that, she recognized one as a former member of the empress restoration fraction. This was a safe place to speak freely.
“My Lord…” She started, switching to Mandarin as quickly as she could blink.
“We were deceived, Xianglin. By Schneizel, no doubt, but the biggest culprit was ourselves.” Xingke cut her off, also speaking their native tongue. The man looked defeated, as despite his resignation, he remained the most capable commander on the field, which meant that the weight of it all was heaviest on his shoulders. “And all we have to show for it is empty coffins and platitudes that taste like ash, none of which will go down well with the UFN, who no doubt will want accountability for this.”
That was an understatement, and they both knew it. The empress might fight for them, but against the entire supreme council, some of which were former 'client states' under China, and she would have few allies. “My Lord, if the worse comes to worse, you know that I shall remain at your side.”
Xingke gave her a smile, a tired one, but a smile all the same. “Thank you, Zhou. I appreciate that more than you know, but please, your efforts would better serve our people and the UFN. If I must be made an example, don't follow me into oblivion.” She blushed a little when he used her first name, as they were always professional with one another, even if they could be considered friends.
“I…I’ll try…Li.” She gave him the same courtesy.
Line Break
At the epicenter of the storm, things had only continued to grow in intensity. As the Guren and Lancelot made their way back to the Avalon, a massive bolt of lightning streaked out of the clouds above and crashed into the Avalon's flank, its shields overwhelming as it shattered through it to hit the ship.
“Oh, who would have thought an act of nature would deal such a blow.” Schneizel mused as he had predicted extreme weather thanks to the reports of how the local weather changed during testing, but this was pushing even that.
Diethard saw it more as a boon to the story he wished to tell. “The history books will remember that as a sign of your coming reign, as the heavens themselves have sided with you, Prince Schneizel.”
"Damn, storm." Lelouch cursed as it was just his luck that such a thing would happen, with the effects of the immediate as the shaking from before only grew more intense.
"Primary Float unit damaged, damage level is 37%. We need to conduct emergency repairs, but that means shutting the effect systems." One of the crewmen reported, with Lelouch doing the math in his head, the vessel's weight, the forces it was facing, and the floating power of their remaining units.
“Which means that the Avalon can’t ascend any further.” He concluded, with the crewman nodding before Lelouch ordered them to preserve their remaining engines by descending; even if that meant facing more of the storm's wrath at a lower altitude, they couldn't escape him via ascension either.
"Your Majesty, the Lancelot, and Guren have returned," Cecile reported, which got a grunt from him as he stood. Things had progressed as far as they could, but it was time for him to do his part to see this battle end and for his forces to claim victory.
“Then this is as far as you all go. Once I depart, the Avalon will fall under Lloyd’s command.” Lelouch commanded.
“Master Lelouch.” He turned to Sayoko, who seemed worried for him, more so than usual, as this wasn't him skipping out of class for gambling; this wasn't even him needing him to cover for him while he carried out his duties as the masked Zero. The game had changed, and it became all the deadlier for it.
But Lelouch didn't see that surface-level worry in her, but something more profound, more familiar. Turning to the bridge crew, he gave them what could end up being his final words to them. "You have served me well, even when I have asked many things. And for that, I am grateful. A king I might be, but I would be just a fool with a crown without people like you serving me.”
He acknowledged them, something he hadn't done with the Black Knights, and perhaps that was part of why they felt disconnected enough to rebel. He had always praised them for completing their roles but little else. That needed to change, as he needed those under him to understand that he appreciated not just their efforts but the fact they could and chose to stand by him.
But there was one among them that deserved more than being given the respect they were owed as soldiers. "Sayoko, thank you…for all of it. You were the mother I never knew I had, and I should have made that clearer to you a long time ago." He surprised the Japanese woman when he gave her a hug, one which she found herself returning as he broke off. "When this is over, I'll see that you can retire; you have more than earned it.”
Sayoko was silent for a moment as she watched him grow from the angry, paranoid, and scarred 14-year-old that Ashford had lumped onto her into a fine young man. She had always known she was more of a caregiver to Nunnally, but it seemed she was wrong as she gave him a smile befitting a proud mother. "If it's all the same to you, Lelouch, I think I'll continue to serve as your maid."
Lelouch laughed at her response. Sayoko seemed to enjoy being a maid, which certainly explained why she wore the bonnet practically everywhere. "We'll have to discuss this in greater detail later, but of all people, people should know how stubborn I can be."
"And in turn, I'm not some weak-pilled person; I couldn't be if I could aide and serve you as long as I have." She retorted as Lelouch turned and walked off the bridge towards what could be his death, a deep laugh coming off him as he vanished down the halls, the door closing behind him.
Halfway to the hanger, he met Nina, who explained that the countermeasure had already been installed on the Shinkiro before she gave him the rundown of what it would need to be effective.
"I see; that is a demanding requirement but not impossible," Lelouch replied after listening to everything their solution would need to even have a chance to work. Nina wasn't sure that would be a sure-fire hit as they only had a couple of computer simulations to work with, nothing compared to the many field tests she conducted with the FLEIJA itself before it ever saw a unit deployed to Area 11.
“We did all we could, but for the device to be effective, the environmental data needs to be input into the final program, you should let me go with you.” Nina turned to him, glaring at him and daring him to deny her that.
Lelouch met her gaze head-on, a smile forming on his lips. "Look at you, you've changed, Nina. Become the confident woman we all knew you would be. But you've done enough; you've done more than enough. Let me do my part to see this through.”
They stopped at an intersection; the hanger was down one way, but the lab was down the other. “Your feelings on this were clear, and despite how wrong it must feel to hear her murderer say this, Princess Euphemia would have been proud of you for this, for doing good even if it meant working with me. It will be a long road for the both of us, many more years would be needed to atone for the sins we’ve committed.”
Nina didn't like that he turned her down, but she didn't object. Instead, she answered his statement about them working together, as unlikely as it was: “You’re right. This was just something that I had to do, to find my own answer for all that’s happened." Nina turned to walk down the hallway towards the lab, stopping when she was a few steps away, her back to him.
“That's all there was to it, so I could stomach working with you because the goal was worth that, but I can't find it in my heart to forgive Zero. I won’t. Not for the rest of my life. But maybe," She turned to him, her frown and anger forgotten for a moment, as in its place, she seemed saddened, worried. The two, if only this moment, weren't the terrorist turned emperor and mother of the FLEIJA. They were just former student council members Lelouch and Nina, two friends worried about how things could end.
"Maybe I can find it someday to forgive Lelouch, but that won't be today, so don't you die. You're not allowed to till you've earned my forgiveness." With that order to the emperor, she turned and walked off, her back straight and pace even and confident. Something that only made Lelouch smile all the more, as it was a hard path, one filled with pain he would reject inflicting on her for the rest of his natural days on earth, but she had come out of it all the better. If only Shirley could see her now.
“You are…truly an amazing person, Nina.” He mused, primarily to himself, as Nina was nearly out of earshot as Lelouch turned and walked towards the hanger, finding waiting for him the Shinkiro prepped and ready, the Guren and Lancelot, both units having just gotten a fresh energy filler and, lastly, his confidante, lover, and witch.
"C.C., I would be surprised to see you, but I got used to you doing whatever you please. Are you all right?" He asked as he approached.
"Now that is a switch. Are you really worried about me?" C.C. teased him.
“Is it that odd that an emperor would be worried for his empress’s well-being, immortal or not?" Lelouch retorted as he made it to the group.
“She better not be the only one, Lelouch.” Kallen gave him a glare that promised pain if she was to be known as his consort or concubine; she didn't care that it was tradition to have just one empress. He had already shown how little he cared for that when he took power and reformed things. What was one more change to allow for his wives to be of equal standing?
C.C. let out a chuckle at that. "We'll have some serious fans when all this is over. I'd been meaning to see if we couldn't revive that biggest pizza project." She mused, as she had already discussed it with Leila whenever their man was busy with emperor stuff. While the French blonde saw it more as a means to celebrate, C.C. was honest in her desire to have a giant pizza.
“You have a problem.” Suzaku raised an eyebrow at her statement, as he would have thought she would have given up on that dream when Ashford tried it twice and failed both times, thanks to flukes and accidents.
“We all have our vices, and looking at it objectively, enjoying a well-made pizza is a far better alternative than other things like drugs, sex, and booze." C.C. shrugged, though she would be lying if she said that she hadn't partaken in all three of those things, the last two in an increased amount in recent weeks. Her response managed to get a chuckle out of them, even as the ship vibrated and shook around them.
But the moment passed, and Suzaku brought them back to the issue. “So you’re really doing this. Lelouch, if we go back out there, we might have no choice but to end Nunnally.” They had no clue where she was, only that she was on Damocles. It would only take a stray shot, a 1-in-a-million strike from any of them, which could kill her as collateral. He had made his choice regarding the princess, but did Lelouch find the resolve to do the same?
It wasn't just him that was interested in an answer, as C.C. and Kallen both turned to the young emperor as they understood how much weight such a question had with him. Nunnally had been his everything for so long; more than his anger, she had been his reason to live and fight. They worried about the situation, as they were sure that Nunnally was being tricked by Schneizel, as the little girl they knew wouldn't have sided with him if she knew. At least, they wished to think she wouldn't have, to believe she was better than any of them.
Lelouch closed his eyes, though, taking a breath that felt like acid on his throat. “Even if standing here, forever safe from the horrors that await us, was an option, I would refuse it." He had stood against his parent's dreams for such a world, as even if it hurt, even if the future could be worse, he believed in reality and the possibility that the scars they carried now wouldn't lead to more in the future. “As for my sister, if she makes herself an obstacle, then I will have no choice but to remove her to build a better world.”
Suzaku seemed satisfied with the answer, though he had his doubts. At the same time, Kallen was more worried for him as what brother could just not be affected by the idea of killing their sister? She couldn't pull the trigger if Naoto were her enemy.
It was C.C. who seemed the most distressed by it as she looked away in shame. "Lelouch, don't you hate me for cheating you out of her life by giving you geass? I changed your fate so irreversible that it led to this."
"Where is this coming from? It's not like you, my immortal C.C.," Lelouch stated, turning to C.C. and returning to him with a rare but genuine sense of longing, concern, and remorse in her eyes. That look shifted into a yelp when Lelouch approached her, grasping her by her narrow waist and pulling her close for a kiss. It wasn't the first they had shared, or even the most sensual, as not even Suzaku deserved to see that, but it was still one of their sweeter ones.
When they broke away, he ignored how the ship shook under their feet as he said his piece. "C.C., regardless of what it has led to, I feel the same way now as I did that say before I left for Saitama, and I'll continue to feel that way till the day I finally lose that game of poker with Death. My geass and your presence in my life have been a real blessing. One of the few I have in my life."
Lelouch spoke with an unshakable iron in his words, as he firmly believed. Even on that fateful day, it had been his choice to go down and investigate the truck. His choice was to help her when they had been nearly killed. His choice to even get involved in that fight. Maybe she could have done more; perhaps she could have revealed that she knew what-but what ifs wasn't something he was interested in.
“But,” He brought a hand to her cheek, stroking it with his thumb as he offered her the devil's smile.
"Do I regret my failures and the tragedies that I have caused? Yes, but he'll never reject you, because those were born from my choices. The good and the bad are mine to hold proud or shoulder in penance. After all, you led me to meet with Kururugi again, to meet Kallen." He stated.
“For a witch, you sure do have some emotions in you,” Kallen sighed, rubbing at the back of her head to which C.C. turned a heated glare at the redhead, who enjoyed being the one teasing for once. "But don't get it twisted. My life was complicated before I ever met you two. Still, I don't regret it for a second because, thanks to you, I could finally do something of worth. That I was able to grow and learn about myself and the world."
Silently, they turned to the last person there who hadn’t said anything, with Suzaku sighing. His brow creased as he caved. “Lelouch…once I was happy to see you alive, but while I don’t feel any of that towards either of you,” Lelouch and C.C. rolled their eyes, as that was a given with how little they cared for one another. Even now, the animosity between the traitorous knight and the C.C. and her Warlock was palpable but was diluted by a break in the tension.
"I also can't deny that things would still be the same without you. I would just be another number in the army if I was lucky enough to not be killed as cannon fodder. I met Euphie, Cecile, and Lloyd because of you two, and even though I resent that she's gone, those are memories I'll cherish forever."
"Brats, brats, the lot of you." Hearing all that made C.C. shake her head, or at least try to, but Lelouch's hold on her cheek didn't let up, letting him see a tear of gratitude in her eye, one he quickly wiped away so that only he would have that honor.
"Maybe I am, but I intend to live many more years to become a man worthy of both your love." He turned his gaze towards Kallen, who got a little giddy as this was what she wanted, to know where she stood and to able to call him hers…even if she had to share the royal bastard, but they had all compromised before, but if he tried to have half as many consorts as his father, he'd find himself a eunuch.
"You can't do that by standing around; get ready; we need to get going now," Suzaku stated as he turned and rushed back to the Lancelot, Kallen sparing them a meaningful concern as she did the same. Lelouch let go of his witch, whispering for her to make it before he marched up to his unit, leaving her bemused by the mortal with barely a year's experience in combat. He wished her good luck.
‘What a silly boy he is, but I’ve never met another quite like him.’ She thought to herself as she rushed for the Lancelot special.
Line Break
Out of the hanger of the Avalon, all four units came flying out like bats out of hell, and immediately, the extreme weather buffeted them. Still, Lelouch kept his machine steady as he took the lead, with C.C. making up the rear while the Lancelot and Guren made up their center, though they flew side by side and acted more like their flanks. Other units quickly joined this inverse arrow formation, turning it into a 17-man attack force, which the Damocles picked up.
"Enemy knightmares approaching. The Shinkuro is leading them.” The controller reported, with Schneizel's face turning disappointed as he saw the incoming attack force. His brother would have no means to defeat their defenses, not even if he used the crystal as his unit's primary weapon. They had tested it rigorously against such, and he would assume his brother would take that into account.
So that means, "Lover the blaze around the FLEIJA launch tube, we're going to re-aim for the Shinkiro." Schneizel instructed, disappointed that, in the end, his brother's pride wouldn't even let him accept defeat in grace; instead, he would take some archaic honorable death in battle.
“Re-alignment, complete.” Schneizel nodded at that before turning his eye to the side.
“Nunnally, this ends now. Can you do it?” Nunnally heard his voice over the speakers, glad that after having to press the button 5 times now, this would be the last, as she could only imagine how many had died already.
“Yes, big brother.” She replied, squeezing it to reveal the button. She waited to hear that the blaze was done, and once Schneizel gave the go-ahead, she triggered what she hoped would be the last FLEIJA that needed to be used that day.
Once the FLEIJA left the safety of the Damocles, all sensors on the battlefield detected it and rang out. "It's coming," Suzaku stated, itching to just fire on the damn thing, but that wouldn’t stop it, it would only lead to an early detonation that would still catch most of them in the blast radius, if not throw them about in the rushing air that would come from the vacuum effect once it had detonated.
“I’m already entering the data.” Lelouch's fingers zipped across his keyboard, and several program screens opened as he read through the date as the Shinkiro received it via its sensory suite. He did the calculations in his head faster than ever before. He then quickly input the results into the appropriate program.
'The FLEIJA changes composition from moment to moment. In theory, if you collide it with a reaction corresponding to that composition, then it won't be able to reach criticality.' Having returned to the lab, Nina sat at the chair, worried about what would come.
'However, for such a thing to happen, you'll need to input the local environment date just before launching it, or else it won't be able to create the wanted reaction. And as if that wasn't hard enough, all must be done within 19 seconds.' Lloyd watched the knightmares, led by his new boss, race off the bridge.
The sociopath feels little in the way of fear or worry for them. For himself, of course, but really, what could he have done to protect himself? If they failed, then he and everyone else on the ship would be dead, not even ash left of them. So if this could be his final moments, he would like to watch it.
‘Even if Lelouch can manage to input the required data into the program, they’ll only have 0.04 seconds to execute it FLEIJA’s composition changes, rendering the previous data unusable.’ Cecile was much more worried about it, sweaty from the frayed nerves. Still, she refused to look away despite her discomfort. If this failed, she at least wished to see Suzaku's final moments and offer a prayer before she, too, joined him.
'It would take too long to reinput the data, but the storm is too strong; they'll need the means to clear it to make the shot, or else risk getting close enough to the FLEIJA to manually attach the countermeasure.’ That was Nina's biggest worry, as she hadn't thought Schneizel would have used so many FLEIJA as the countermeasure wasn't a missile that could power through the storm and stay on target; it was a spear that had to be thrown and could easily be blown off caused by a strong wind.
These were all concerns that Lelouch had already filled in his two most critical pieces to the plan on their roles to combat them and make such conditions meaningless. He completed his part of the plan with less than 2.5 seconds to spare. “It’s done, Kallen, Suzaku!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Both knights called out as one, and any disagreement or hate between them was forgotten as they all worked like the gears in a well-made watch. Kallen moved in front, and having set her radiant wave surgery to the right power setting, shifted it into a white burst and let loose. There were no enemy units caught in it, and neither was the FLEIJA, but what this did was create an artificial pressure zone where the wind, rain, and other factors didn't matter.
That wouldn't last long, as she cut the blast just half a second. But it was enough time for Suzaku, who, having equipped the spear, felt the geass he had been given flow through his veins, forcing him to his absolute peak as he aimed for the FLEIJA, but took into account not the many variables from before, but the one variable which was the effect on the area that the Guren’s radiant wave surger had, a weapon he was intricately familiar with.
Not wasting even a 10th of a second, Suzaku roared like an Olympian of old and threw the spear, which flew through the fading field of null variables made by the Guren and made contact with the FLEIJA right as it was about to enter it. When the two made contact, the FLEIJA's primary explosion remained. Still, the ball didn't expand nearly as fast as the others, which didn't go unnoticed by Schneizel.
“What?” he asked, wondering what Lelouch and his ilk had just done. That confusion turned to outright shock when, before their very eyes, the FLEIJA's ball of pink death expanded a little more, only to pop like a balloon.
“A FLEIJA?” Kanon asked, unable to understand what just happened.
“I-it disappeared?” Diethard was just as shocked by it as Lelouch, and the rest breathed a sigh of relief.
"It worked. FLEIJA warhead was neutralized." With Leila, she was just given the good news and let the tension bled out of her. If not for the ship being tossed around them, she would have let her legs become jelly and fall over.
“Oh, thank God," She really needed to find a new job after this, as this was getting too stressful, and she would rather not die from a stroke before she hit 40. But that was for later; right now, she would finish the job she had. "That's a milestone for us, soldiers, don't lose focus. Damocles is soon to be neutralized, but we still have people to pull from the water!"
“Yes, my Lord!”
"It worked; they managed to put in the date in less than 19 seconds and then execute the plan in less than 0.04 seconds. In these weather conditions." Nina looked up, as she wasn't dead yet, but the Avalon should have-but it wasn't, so that meant that…it was successful.
“Good job, Suzaku, I didn’t think you were up for it.” Kallen gave Suzaku a backhanded compliment, the Knight of One grunting back.
“If you didn’t, why did you come?”
“Because someone had to save his royal ass from the fire, as per usual.” Kallen pointed the Guren’s one normal hand towards the Shinkiro, where they were all aware that their emperor was probably not impressed with the two speaking so casually about him over a channel all their forces could hear.
Suzaku, not despite, but because of that, only made it worse for the man. “Tell me about it. He is the most powerful man on the planet and always needs someone to bail him out.”
C.C., as much as she loved to listen and enjoy her contactor and lover's embarrassment, reminded them they had a schedule to keep. “You two can banter later!” Lelouch hadn't forgotten that, as they had noticed earlier, a trade-off for the power of Damocles’s blaze was that it took longer for it to form.
This meant that when flying a FLEIJA, the opening would remain open for a precious few seconds even after it left, which he was able to take advantage of. He moved the Shinkiro into place and put in the correct commands to create a ring from its Absolute Defense Shield, which clashed with the blaze, keeping it from sealing.
“I can't hold it for too long. Fly in!” Lelouch called out to his unit, with the Albion and Guren being the first through, followed by C.C.'s Lancelot and several others, but Lelouch had to move back when the more enormous blaze nearly smashed through his ADF, which resulted in 2 of his slower knightmares flying full speed into it, blowing up in impact.
“They’ve gotten through the Blaze?” Kanon asked as sensors went off, thanks to the intrusion of unfriendly units.
“They have indeed.” Schneizel rested his chin on his first as outside, Lelouch’s units began to extract their tons of flesh for the lives of their comrades that had fallen to the FLEIJA and the storm it had created.
“Let's see how well you stand up to an assault without your fancy shields!” Kallen yelled as she brought up the radiant wave surger, now switched long-ranged, and fired off a steam of deadly radiation that pierced through the side of the Damocles, causing explosions as everything it touched was rapidly superheated till the point it reached its boiling point and burst like fiery bubbles. She didn’t stop there as she dragged the blast across the side of the Damocles, aiming for any point defense she could see.
“Aim for the defenses and secondary float systems! Make sure it can't climb any higher!” Suzaku ordered as he pulled out both super VARIS rifles and, along with his energy wings, laid waste to those two things, the many redundant float units coming under fire.
“Yes, my Lord!” The rest followed suit, pouring all they had left into the task, which was felt across the Damocles, from its lower levels where explosions and fires killed by the dozens, leaving nothing but blasts and screams to be heard, to the very top where Nunnally presided as she dropped the Damocles key from the first shock, and trying to find where it rolled on the floor, she was knocked out of her seat.
The blind, crippled girl didn't let that stop her. She had fallen from her chair before and found ways to get back into it without help. No, what was important was the Damocles key. Those explosions could only mean one thing, Lelouch was coming, and he would want to get it, which she couldn't allow. “Where’s the key? I must find the Damocles’ key.”
Line Beak
Hello and welcome! It took some consideration, but thanks to some changes to the holiday plans this year, as some members of the family can't make it, I would have more time to write, so I decided to use that on my CG stories much like this one. I hope I'll finish this before the end of the year, as this chapter was working with stuff from my OG chapter 7 notes, and this was planned to be just 8.
Line Break
You didn't see it wrong; this chapter was longer than usual by over 1000 words. What a great early Christmas present, right? I didn't have a proper place to end it sooner, so I decided to go all the way. Also, I just looked over the notes I have left, and this might just be the second last chapter of the story. Yeah, I might finish it in time for the end of the year, as the final chapter would be more of an epilogue than anything else.
