Turn Eleven: Schneizel's Plan
“The scale and magnitude of Charles Zi Britannia’s plans were rivaled only by those of his son Schneizel. Before the reign of Emperor Lelouch, Schneizel had his father’s utmost confidence and trust and thus had at his disposal the resources of all of Britannia and much of the world. Schneizel had always plotted to unseat his father, of that I am sure. Many were the nights that I overheard Lady Marianne bickering with Charles over how lax he was with Schneizel and how Schneizel’s lust for power would someday be the 98th Emperor’s undoing. Little did Lady Marianne realize how right she was or how far and wide Schneizel’s ultimate plan extended. Schneizel was a master strategist, and like his brother Lelouch, knew that the world could not be won in a single battle, conflict, or war, but rather a series of such events were required to claim a total global victory.”-Excerpt from an interview with Jeremiah Gottwald by JBS [Japan Broadcasting Station] senior special-news correspondent Milley Ashford during their flight to Japan on the Ikaruga dated July 30th 2024 a.t.b.
"Tahiti is quite a place," Kallen said to Gino as she lay upon a foldable beach-chair on the sands of the Island dressed in a white two-piece bikini. It had been two days since the Avalon arrived at the small island and their ship was now replenished with food and supplies.
"Don't get too comfortable," Gino smiled as he handed her a piña colada dripping with condensation in the tropical heat of the island.
Kallen took the glass from him and drew a long draught from the straw of her cocktail, "Mmm...That is good." She smacked her lips and smiled at him. "What nothing for you?" Kallen eyed Gino's glass of coconut juice.
"Nah, I'm not big on alcoholic drinks," Gino laughed as he pulled up a chair next to hers. "Besides, how can I woo you if I'm drunk off my tush?"
"Oh is that how it is?" Kallen snickered as she eyed his tanned muscular body that was covered only at his waist and groin by his skimpy swim-shorts. "Trying to get me to drink so you can have your way with me huh?" Kouzuki rolled her eyes. "Typical male...what do you think Anya?" Kallen called out to where Lt. Alstreim was standing at the edge of the beach with her hands shading her eyes as she looked out towards the horizon.
Anya turned to Kallen, "I think we're about to be attacked."
No sooner had the girl said the words did the alarm claxons from the aerial frigate above them sound off.
"Oh just great!" Kallen said jumping up out of her chair and discarding her drink.
Gino grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him as he raced towards where Tamaki sat fishing off of the wing of the aerial shuttle they had come there in.
"Tamaki start the engines!" Gino yelled as Anya caught up to him and Kallen.
"What?" Tamaki asked as his fishing line started to pull.
"START THE FRIGGIN PLANE YOU JACKASS!!" Kallen yelled at him. "Can't you hear the sirens?"
Tamaki gave them a befuddled look and pulled the headphones off of his head. "Oh crap!" He exclaimed. Tamaki dropped his fishing rod and ran into the craft as he heard the wail of the alarm from the Avalon.
Kallen and the others piled into the little ship right behind Tamaki.
The four of them were inside the aircraft in moments just as the sun's light began to glare off of a silhouette of a large aerial warship coming over the horizon.
"The Avalon is in sight Prince Schneizel." A female lieutenant said on the bridge of the Thor. "Shall we fire on her sir?"
"No," he said standing up. "Fire near her like you're trying to hit her, but don't damage the ship."
Schneizel smiled as he watched the Avalon on the overhead monitor. His Lieutenant gave the order to fire and the cannons of the aerial-battleship spewed forth a hail of artillery shells towards the vicinity of the Avalon. The volley showered the coastal town below the air-frigate it with barrage after barrage of deadly exploding rounds; leveling much of the ocean-village in the process and killing many of the inhabitants.
"How could they?" Cecile was mortified. "These people have done nothing wrong."
"Yes, but that's really never stopped Schneizel before," Lloyd adjusted his glasses. "I suppose if we want to stop him from killing these poor islanders we had better get out to sea."
"But we'll be sitting ducks out there," Kannon warned.
"No," Nina contradicted him as she analyzed the placement of the bombardment from the Thor. "They haven't used their Hadron cannons and their artillery rounds are falling short of hitting us."
"Which means?" Kannon asked her.
Cecile glared out at the large battleship, "They don't want to hit us."
"Correct," Nina nodded. "We're being driven out away from the Island."
"Have Kallen and the others returned yet?" Lloyd asked changing the subject.
"Yes, but what makes you ask Lloyd?" Cecile wondered what good four Devicers could do against the Thor.
"We've completed repairs on their Type-21s and those machines are fully charged." Lloyd shrugged his shoulders, "Perhaps we should have them act as cover for us while we escape."
"LLOYD!" Cecile gritted her teeth. "Are you suggesting we sacrifice them?"
"No, no," he said putting up his arms defensively. "Those fighters are supersonic; they can outrun the Thor quite easily. I was only suggesting that we have Kallen and her team attack the Thor while we build up speed to escape and then they can rendezvous with us later."
Cecile smiled at him, "That's not a bad idea Professor Asplundh."
"Really?" Lloyd said putting his arms down.
Cecile turned to Nina and Kannon, "The deck crew of Avalon has never dealt with the Type-21 before. Nina, do you think the two of you can help prep those fighters for immediate launch?"
"No problem," Kannon said with a smile. "I've read the manual for the Type-21S a few times over."
"You have?" Nina looked at him with surprise. "Where?"
Kannon gave her a devilish grin, "While lying in Kallen Kouzuki's bed on the Thor."
Nina gave him a jealous scowl, "What were you doing in Captain Kouzuki's bed?"
Kannon only smiled.
“Oh Nina,” Lloyd said pulling out a small box from his lab-coat.
“Yes Professor Asplundh?” She asked, curious as to what else he wanted.
He smiled at her, “Don’t forget your contact-lenses.”
She took the small box from him, “Thank you Lloyd.”
Kallen jumped into the cockpit of her Type-21S Shogun, still wearing her bikini, and pressed the touchscreen console in front of her. Instantly the machine came to life and the cockpit-canopy lowered down. The smell of ionized air filled the hangar deck as the whine of the graviton impellors came up to a roar.
"Alright Yamato no Orochi, you all know what to do." Kallen said as her KnightMare Frame was raised onto the launch catapult. "It's payback time!" Kouzuki pushed the throttle forward and her fighter screamed away from the Avalon.
In seconds all four Type-21s were flying in formation together.
"How do you want to do this Kallen?" Gino asked.
"Diamond formation from above," Kouzuki said as she monitored the Thor. "They've already raised their shields so we'll have to dive-bomb them with a hail of Gejhun missiles."
"You actually think we've got enough firepower to knock their shields down for long?" Tamaki scoffed.
"No," Kallen conceded. "But they'll be down long enough for us to do some damage to their weapons."
"We should concentrate on the long-range heavy dorsal cannons," Anya suggested as the flight of four Type-21s flew high above the Thor.
"Agreed," Kallen said.
"The Avalon is moving out over the ocean Prince Schneizel," one of the female Lieutenants informed him.
Schneizel smiled, "Very good."
"My Lord," a blonde haired tactical officer blurt out. "Four KnightMares have launched from the enemy vessel. I think they're Type-21s."
Schneizel sniggered, "Excellent. Launch a squadron of our Vincent-Wards and then move us into a parallel course with the Avalon."
The female tactical officer hesitated, "But sir, we won't be able to use our Hadron cannons if we fly parallel to them."
Schneizel raised his brow, "What makes you think I plan on using the Hadron cannons on them?"
"If we aren't going to destroy them Prince Schneizel, then why are we bothering with them?" The blonde haired Lieutenant asked.
"Because we're here to pick up a package," he tittered.
"Looks like we're finally leaving the Polynesian Islands," Nina said as she looked out one of the viewports in the dorsal hangar.
"Indeed we are," Kannon said to her as he came up behind her. "We're leaving this ship as well."
"What?" Nina turned to face him.
Kannon stood pointing a pistol at her, "Please Nina, I don't want to hurt you, but you must come with me now."
Nina looked at him and gasped at the red-orange ring in his eyes, "Oh no...Kannon, you don't know what you're doing."
"I'm sorry Nina," He waved the gun in the direction of the shuttle Kallen and the others had used earlier. "Get inside that aerial courier NOW!"
Nina knew that under the power of Geass Kannon would do what ever it is he was ordered to by the person that had control over him. "Try to fight it Kannon...you must!"
Kannon forced her over to the shuttle and opened the door. "Get inside."
"Hey you there, what do you think you're doing?" A flight technician asked coming over to where Nina and Kannon stood.
"Run!" Nina yelled at the man but it was too late. Kannon turned and shot the man in the chest four times; killing him.
Nina grabbed for the gun in Kannon's hand but Maldini was too fast for her. He allowed her to lunge forward in front of him then he hit her on the back of the head with the pistol; knocking her out instantly and breaking her glasses as they hit the metal floor.
Kannon loaded Nina onto the shuttle and started the machine's engines. The next moment the aircraft burst out of the hangar bay of the Avalon towards the Thor.
"Hey Kallen a shuttle just launched from the Avalon," Tamaki said as they dove in for their attack run.
"Nothing we can do about it now," She replied as a flight of twenty Vincent-Wards flew out from the bottom of the ship.
"We've got company!" Gino blurt out.
"Ignore them," Kouzuki told her team. "We need to disarm the Thor if we're to have any chance of making a clean get away."
"There are too many to just ignore them Kallen," Anya said as she fired a salvo of energy discs from the nose mounted gunpod of her fighter. The radiant-heat projectiles tore through two of the Vincent-Wards; destroying them.
"Fine," Kouzuki said in irritation. "But just take down the ones you have to for a clear shot with your missiles and make darn sure you use your Gejhun warheads on only the Thor."
"Understood," Her teammates replied in unison.
"Who is on that shuttle?" Cecile asked the hangar deck-officer via the monitor in front of her.
"We believe Kannon Maldini has taken Professor Einstein by force," The man replied over the viewscreen. "Yeoman Maldini killed a member of my team during his escape."
"Well now we know what Schneizel was after," Lloyd said matter-of-factly.
"We can't just let him have her Lloyd!" Cecile barked at him.
"What do you expect us to do?" He mused. "It's not like this ship can take on the Thor. It's simply a matter of firepower."
"No it isn't," Cecile said with a gleam in her eye. "He doesn't have that shuttle just yet." Cecile opened up a radio channel to Kallen.
"You want us to what?" Kallen said as she felled another Vincent-Ward with the forward firing Hadron Cannons of her fighter.
"We need you to capture that shuttlecraft as quickly as you can," Cecile's voice emphasized the urgency of the situation. "Nina's on that thing with Kannon."
"Well why the hell did they leave the ship?" Kallen asked as she dodged a hail of cannon fire from another Vincent-Ward.
"We don't know," Cecile told her over the communicator. "But I have a hunch that Geass is behind this somehow."
"I wouldn't doubt it," Kouzuki responded with a scowl. Kallen changed frequencies, "alright guys listen up, we've got to intercept that courier plane and bring it back in one piece."
Tamaki balked, "How the hell are we supposed to do that with all these KnightMares firing on us, not too mention the Thor?"
"I've got an idea," Gino said.
"Let's hear it," Kallen invited any suggestions at this point.
"We should knock out the shields of the Thor and finish our run as planned, then break off as quickly as possible towards the shuttle." Gino knocked out another Vincent-Ward with his gunpod then continued. "After that we can disable the courier and fly it back to the Avalon."
"Sounds like it could work," Anya said in her dry monotone while she finished off another of the Vincent-Wards.
"I'm in," Tamaki chimed.
"Okay, let's do it," Kallen said as she let loose with a full salvo of Gejhun missiles at the top of the Thor. The hail of torpedoes impacted the multifaceted green shielding of the warship and dissolved a large portion of it.
The other Black Knights rained down a volley of the anti-shield projectiles upon the battleship; knocking down the rest of the ship's energy protection.
Kallen transformed her fighter into KnightMare mode and flew down next to the port-side dorsal main cannon. She pressed the top button of the left control stick with her thumb which caused the front half of the gunpod of her fighter to close shut and extend out like a police-baton. Kallen drove the tip of her gunpod onto the side of the turret and pulled the gunpod trigger on her control stick. The tip of the gunpod unit radiated a heat wave into the large cannon just like the clawed hand of the Guren MKII would have done causing the turret to rupture and explode under the pulse of intense energy.
Gino did likewise to the starboard turret while Anya and Tamaki felled the aft mounted long range dual barrel artillery piece.
“Let’s get that shuttle!” Kallen commanded as her Shogun flew off the top of the Thor and transformed back into fighter mode; her three companions were right behind her.
Schneizel gripped the side of his command chair to steady himself and keep from falling down.
“They’ve destroyed our long range cannons!” The blonde haired tactical officer shouted. The woman looked perplexed as she studied the screen in front of her. “Prince Schneizel the Type-21s have broken off their attack and are speeding away from us.”
Schneizel held a blank expression, “Launch all of our Gareth KnightMares after them and tell our Devicers not to attack anything in the area but the Type-21s.” He knew where the four fighters were headed.
“All of our Gareths sir?” The girl inquired unnerved by the intensity of his order.
“That is what I said my dear.” He told the Lieutenant in an icy tone.
“Aye sir,” She replied obediently.
The Yamato no Orochi flew towards the courier shuttle at great speed and transformed in unison as they came to within a hundred yards of the plane.
“Kannon stop!” Gino ordered him over the radio as they matched the speed of the shuttle and came up along side it.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Maldini replied as he swerved the shuttle towards the waves of the ocean below in an effort to avoid capture.
“Why are you doing this Kannon?” Anya asked him.
“Because it is the will of my Prince,” Kannon responded in a mechanical tone.
“Is that why you came here Kannon; to kidnap your friend for Schneizel?” Kallen tried to reason with him hoping he would hesitate long enough for her to grab hold of the shuttlecraft with her Shogun.
“No…I…” The orange glow in Kannon’s eyes flickered causing him to let go of the ship’s controls as he struggled with his deep feelings for Nina and the command Schneizel had given him. “I…I must obey Schneizel.”
“I’ve got them Kallen,” Tamaki said as he flew towards the shuttle with a burst of speed. His KnightMare came up and grabbed the top of the ship just as a Hadron bolt slammed into the side of his Type-21.
“Yahhhhhhhh!” Tamaki yelled as his fighter fell from the sky.
“Tamaki!” Kallen’s Shogun raced to grab hold of her old friend’s machine.
“Don’t you guys have something better to do?” Gino shouted at the mass of Gareth KMFs that were rapidly closing in on them. Gino blasted two of the swarm of sixty mecha out of the sky with a salvo from his gunpod.
“We need to give Captain Kouzuki some cover,” Anya said as she cut down three Gareths and dodged a hail of Hadron bolts.
Captain Kouzuki’s Shogun caught Tamaki’s Bushido right before it hit the ocean surface.
“You alive in there?” she asked as her KnightMare skimmed over the ocean waves causing a spray to kick up behind them.
“It’ll take more than that to take me out,” he joked.
“Good thing your shields were up. I don’t think your Bushido suffered any damage,” Kallen said as they dodged out of the way of a swarm of missiles. She fired a barrage of Hadron bolts from the shoulder mounted cannons of her Shogun at the offending Gareths. “We’d better get back after Kannon.”
“Thanks Kallen,” He replied sheepishly.
“Don’t mention it,” She said as they boosted up towards the battle above them.
Gino blasted another Gareth out of the air, “There’s too many of them!” He just barely rolled out of the way of a barrage of Hadron cannon fire only to have a swarm of missiles impact the omni-directional absolute defense shields of his Samurai.
Anya swerved her KnightMare out of the way of a salvo of missiles and shot them down with her Samurai’s forearm Hadron cannons. “Our shields can’t take this punishment forever and the shuttle is getting away from us.”
“I can see that,” Kallen said as she tried to penetrate the screen of KnightMare units, but the Gareth pilots were getting better at avoiding their attacks while still keeping them at bay.
“Prince Schneizel, a small aerial shuttlecraft is approaching and hailing us,” His brunette communications officer said without emotion.
Schneizel smiled, “Very good Ensign, put him through.”
Kannon’s face appeared on the main viewscreen, “I have what you ordered me to acquire Prince Schneizel.”
“Excellent work my friend,” Schneizel stated warmly. “Kannon, you are to proceed to the main hangar immediately. I’ll inform the deck-officer to open the primary ventral hatch and allow your courier to land.”
“Thank you Prince Schneizel,” Kannon spoke mechanically. “I look forward to seeing you in person again soon.”
“And I you,” He said with a grin.
"Kannon out," the Yeoman's visage disappeared off of the screen.
Schneizel turned his attention to his tactical officer, "You may now bring the ship about and fire the Hadron cannons at the Avalon."
"Kallen the Thor is changing course and pointing in our direction," Tamaki bellowed as he riddled a Gareth with energy discs from the gunpod of his Type-21B.
"It looks like they're preparing to fire their Hadrons!" Gino said.
"There's no way the Avalon can survive a hit from a full barrage of the Thor's main batteries," Anya added.
"I know, but what the hell can we do about it," Kouzuki gritted her teeth in frustration. She knew they'd never get through the swarm of Gareths fast enough to stop Schneizel from obliterating the Avalon. Kallen thought as fast as she could but nothing came to mind. "Dammn it!" She cursed out loud while she maneuvered her fighter through the battlespace in order to dodge another barrage of Hadron bolts from a flight of Gareths. "We can't lose here...we just can't-"
A flash of green caught her eye diving through the clouds from above them. "What the?" Kallen blurt out in surprise as two of the Gareth KnightMare Frames that pursued her were reduced to molten slag by a pair of recoilless cannon rounds.
"Is that you down there Captain Kouzuki?" a man's voice asked over the radio.
"Rivaltz?" Kallen asked forcing down a lump of relief in her throat.
"Hey, that's Major Ashford to you Ma'am," he laughed as his squadron of twenty Type-21Os ripped through the Gareth KnightMares.
"Major Ashford you need to stop the Thor!" Anya yelled over the radio.
"Don't sweat it Anya," Rivaltz said nonchalantly. "General Xingke has that situation in hand."
A stream of artillery scale Hadron energy rushed past them towards the Thor.
"We've been hit!" The blonde tactical officer screamed as the Thor shook under the onslaught of Hadron energy.
Li Xingke’s image appeared on the overhead viewer, “Surrender Schneizel or we’ll blow you out of the sky.”
"Cornelia," Schneizel tittered softly to himself, "Not bad my sister." He looked up at Xingke, “I’m afraid you’re not in a position to demand my surrender.” Schneizel made a cutting motion with his hand to his communications officer and Xingke disappeared from the screen as the transmission was shut off.
"Sir there is a fleet of thirty airships coming over the Island of Tahiti, they appear to be in attack formation and are targeting our location with their weapons." The tactical officer stated in a worried tone.
Schneizel smirked, "Don't worry about them. Please tell me how badly are we damaged?"
"We've sustained moderate damage to our portside hull armor, but that is all right now sir." The girl said.
Schneizel humpfed at the thought of Cornelia outwitting him by luring Xingke’s UFN fleet to this area, "Order our Gareths to withdraw at once."
"What about the Avalon sir?" The woman inquired.
Schneizel spoke smoothly, "Aim just to the starboard of her and fire all Hadrons at Mont Orohena."
"But the volcano will explode!" The woman gasped.
"Precisely," Schneizel smiled.
The UFN armada cruised at five-thousand feet above the Island of Tahiti. The main batteries of the various types of airships began moving into position as their gunnery crews fine-tuned their barrels to fire the long-range bombardment against the Thor.
“Kallen,” Rivaltz radioed her. “We need to withdraw at once. The UFN fleet is about to fire on the Thor with everything they’ve got and we’re in the crossfire position.”
“Roger that Major Ashford,” Captain Kouzuki said as she and her three teammates transformed into jet mode. The Yamato no Orochi flew up into formation with Rivaltz’s squadron of Outbackers.
“The Thor just fired her main Hadron Cannons!” Gino yelled over the radio.
Kallen turned around and looked out the canopy of her fighter just in time to see the triple-blast of Hadron energy slam into the base of Mont Orohena. In the next moment the active volcano erupted into a massive plume of smoke and ash; sending chunks of molten lava hundreds of feet into the air and causing a dense screen of debris that made it nearly impossible to see.
“That son of a bitch!” Tamaki swore out loud.
“Kallen, Schneizel is getting away, we should pursue him immediately.” Anya said in a frantic tone.
“There’s no way the fleet can find them in this volcanic plume,” Rivaltz said. “We’ll just have to wait until we can clear this cloud.”
“No, we’ve got to capture the Thor now!” Kallen said frantically as the realization of Schneizel’s victory sank into her psyche.
“What’s the rush?” Rivaltz was taken a back by Kallen’s outburst. “We’ll get him eventually.”
Kallen’s frustration caused her voice to crack, “We can’t wait Rivaltz…Schneizel has got Nina!”
Major Ashford looked down at the large mass of volcanic smoke unable to see the Thor but knowing that the ship was speeding away to parts unknown with a person he considered to be one of his closest friends. “Nina,” Rivaltz whispered to himself.
“We need to move quickly and quietly,” Enoch said to Nunnally and Suzaku.
Painful as it was to crouch on her cybernetic legs, Nunnally did her best to keep up with the two men as they slowly made their way through the dimly lit KnightMare museum. The sun had set hours ago and the museum had closed but the security systems of the place were horribly lax for a facility which held two FLEIJA warheads. The idea had been to conceal the weapons in plain sight with obscurity being the best security against theft.
“There are two guards at the base of the Lancelot of the Lake,” Suzaku said as he looked over at the large machine. It was basically the Lancelot Albion with the wing system removed and replaced by a pair of Cecile Croomy’s version of Rakshata’s Graviton Impellor wings with a Hyper-Velocity Bazooka mounted on each Impellor pod in the same manner as the Type-21O Outbacker.
“It’s impressive,” Suzaku said in exhilaration at the thought of piloting Lancelot again.
“Yes it is,” Enoch said as he looked over to where a reconstructed specimen of the pink Lancelot-Frontier stood. A dim blue LED light flashed twice from behind the left leg of the pink-KnightMare. Enoch pulled out a small LED penlight from his coat pocket and flashed three pulses back at the light source.
“A friend?” Nunnally whispered to Enoch.
“Yes,” He smiled at her.
Nunnally sensed that there was something more to his smile than he told her causing her to cock her head in curiosity. “Who is this person?”
“The Red Dragon,” he told her. “The Lancelot of the Lake only has room for two. Thus you and Suzaku will be going on it while she and I travel in that Lancelot-Frontier.”
Nunnally looked hard at Enoch, “Who is…she?”
“Don’t worry about her,” Enoch said with a smile. “She’s my great-granddaughter whom I nursed back to life and healed during the dark days of the Black Rebellion. You don’t have to be concerned about her loyalty, she would never betray us.”
“Looks like those two guards are practically asleep,” Suzaku said at the front of the line. “We should move now.”
“No Suzaku wait!” Enoch called out to him but it was too late.
Suzaku leapt up at the first guard and did his signature dual spin-kick at the man. The lithe male guard bent over backwards in a martial arts flip and kicked at Suzaku; the guard’s foot landing squarely into Suzaku’s groin.
Suzaku landed hard and held onto his manhood.
The second guard went to hit Suzaku with his police-baton but was surprised by a figure wearing a mirror-visor red colored helmet (very similar to the one worn by Zero) with a plume of fiery-red hair streaming from the top-back of it nearly down to the floor. The figure wore a blood-red colored armored jumpsuit with pink highlights that held tightly to a figure that was clearly that of a woman’s by the shape of her voluptuous body. The woman launched a snap-kick at the guard with the baton which landed on the man’s chin sending him reeling backwards to the floor; knocked out cold.
The first guard came at her with a spin-kick but the woman blocked it with her gauntleted forearm and knocked the man unconscious with a round-house-kick to the head.
“Are you alright?” The modulated electronic voice of the woman asked Suzaku as she extended her hand down to him.
“I’m okay,” he winced taking her delicate hand in his.
“Red Dragon, we need to get out of here,” Enoch told her.
She nodded in reply as she helped Suzaku to his feet.
Suzaku gave her a bewildered look as they made their way to the energy filler storage containers behind the two mecha. “You fight well.”
“Thank you,” the electronic voice replied. “Grandfather taught me for years.”
“May I ask why you wear a mask?” Suzaku couldn’t help but be curious of this female Zero who stood before him.
“She was injured deeply during the Black Rebellion…and…scared horribly.” Enoch said as he manned the automatic loaders and powered up both KnightMares.
Nunnally grinned at Enoch over some private thought not known to Suzaku who could only look on at her with a confused expression.
“They’re ready,” Enoch said as he and the Red Dragon climbed onto the lift that led to the Lancelot-Frontier cockpit hatch.
Suzaku helped Nunnally onto the other lift and steadied her as it rose to the open cockpit of the Lancelot of the Lake.
Both couples entered their respective KnightMare Frames and inserted the keys to the machines.
“You two ready over there?” Suzaku asked as Nunnally found a comfortable spot to sit down behind his Devicer seat.
“As we’ll ever be,” Enoch replied.
“Then let’s do this,” Suzaku said with renewed confidence despite the pain between his legs.
“I can’t believe we are almost too Japan,” Lena said excitedly as she held onto Akira’s arm. The two of them were standing on the observation promenade of the Ikaruga looking out over the Island of Okinawa.
“We should be in Tokyo in a few hours,” Tetsuo said as he leaned on the railing near them.
“Can you believe it’s only been a little over a month since we left?” Mika mused.
“Seems like years,” Gregor added as he rested next to Mika on the rail.
“Do you guys think there’ll be a battle here?” Tetsuo asked to his companions.
“I’d say it’s a guarantee Tetsuo,” Villetta said as she walked out onto the deck with them. “The UFN long range scouts we’ve been in contact with say that there’s been a major battle near the Society Islands. There have also been reports of a large air-fleet heading towards Japan from New Zealand.”
“Schneizel,” Akira said bluntly.
“Probably,” Villetta said to him with indifference. “According to Captain Chiba, the UFN is now at war with Britannia and the Principality of Brazil. No doubt this is all a part of some elaborate plan by Schneizel now that he’s allied with this new force of Geass users.”
“Japan is going to be the decisive battle again isn’t it?” Lena lamented.
“It sure looks that way,” Villetta answered her with a sad expression.
“What happened to your pride?” Li Jiang Fong said walking onto the deck. “You all act like we’ve been defeated already. So long as we’re alive we have a chance to beat this enemy, Geass or not, we have to fight them with everything we have and never give up.”
The others looked at him in awe of his change in demeanor.
Fong nodded at Akira who smiled in return. “Together, we’re unstoppable.”
“Where are you taking me?” Nina yelled at Schneizel in defiance as a contingent of four soldiers brought her to the bridge of the Thor.
“Funny you should ask that question,” He smiled upon seeing her enter the room. “I’ve brought you to my personal palace on Pitcairn Island.” He gestured for the guards to release her so she could look out the viewports.
Nina gave him a smug look, “I can’t see anything without my contacts on.”
Schneizel waved his hand dismissively, “By all means Nina, put them on. You’re a guest here now.”
Nina took out the box that Lloyd had given her from her lab-coat and put the contact-lenses on. Nina looked out the viewport. To Nina’s amazement the center of the forty-seven square mile Island was a massive military-citadel comprised of what looked like refineries, power-stations, manufacturing centers, and heavy battlements armed with various types of weaponry.
“Where did all this come from?” Nina knew that there was no way Schneizel could construct such a facility without a large number of workers and over a considerable period of time.
“I had it built when you were only seven years old.” He gave her a wide grin, “Back during my haughty days of dreaming about usurping my father through a grand, and quite covert, plan. I even created my own personal knighthood; The Order of the Silver-Cross; with which I planned on conquering the world. Like all Imperial teenagers, it was a foolish, wasteful, and childish pursuit at the time. However, when I first met Zero face to face in China I began contemplating the possibility of him being my brother Lelouch and thus a powerful rival for the throne of Britannia. Therefore, I immediately set to rebuilding my Order of the Silver-Cross and reactivating this facility.”
“But how could you keep this place a secret?” Nina wasn’t buying his explanation. “Surely the UFN knows of this place.”
Schneizel laughed, “Forgive me Nina but you must understand that this Island is in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. The UFN doesn’t know of or care about this place, nor is it likely they would think it to be anything but a remote, insignificant, isle inhabited by Polynesians or Pirates even if they did know of it.”
“I see,” Nina looked down at the ocean below. “What is it you want of me Prince Schneizel?”
“I need you to build me something,” He said softly while walking up behind her.
She clenched her fists, “I will never build you another FLEIJA!”
Schneizel gently put his hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “I would never ask you to Nina.”
Nina turned towards him; their faces only an inch apart, “Then what am I to build for you?”
He looked into her eyes through his wire-rimmed sunglasses, “The FORGE I’ve heard so much about.”
She eyed him cautiously. “Why do you need me to build a FORGE here? There are obviously power-plants on this Island, why is a FORGE so important?”
He touched noses with her, “Because my dear Nina, your new reactor can generate all the power I require too implement my plan.”
“What is your plan?” Nina was shaking slightly as he leaned in towards her.
He kissed her gently on the lips, “an end to War.”
Next Chapter;
TURN Twelve: Battle for Kyoto
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