Turn Three: Mettle
"The Type-21 series was truly one of my proudest achievements. To have it selected over that awful Lancelot of the Lake design put forth by the Earl of Pudding during the 2020 X-Frame competition for the Black Knight's new KnightMare was simply wonderful. I mean, the look on Lloyd's face when our team won the contract was something I shall cherish for the rest of my life." —Excerpt from an interview with Chief Frame designer Rakshata Chawla in Jayne's Mecha Monthly, dated July 3rd, 2022 a.t.b.
"Is she alive?" Gino asked Anya.
"Yes, I've linked with her Type-21's internal cockpit Devicer monitor and it shows her life signs are stable," the girl said as her Type-21 flew dangerously low over the vast expanse of the Antarctic plains of ice. Her Samurai carried Kallen's Shogun in its arms as its graviton-impeller compensated for the weight of a second KnightMare Frame.
"Good," he said. "How about you, Tamaki, how's your KnightMare?"
"It's singed, but it’s still flying," Tamaki remarked. "I'm not sure Kallen would want us running away like this; maybe we should have stood our ground and fought Schneizel."
"No way," Gino protested. "Two hundred fifth-generation KnightMares against three 10th-generation is still a slaughter; we'd run out of energy before we'd cut through a quarter of them."
"You're probably right," Tamaki grumbled.
"We should be approaching the coastline any time now," Anya said. "Do you think that Prince Schneizel's forces will pursue us this far?"
"As soon as he realizes we survived he will," Gino answered her.
"Let's hope that's not before we make it to South America," Anya added.
"Why the heck are we going to South America anyway?" Tamaki asked. "Do you guys actually think Cornelia will just let us fly in there and say, 'Hi, can we get a recharge for our KnightMares?'; there's no way Generalissimo Ceasaro will let us go if she captures us. I say this is a bad idea."
"Bad idea or not, we have no other choice, Tamaki," Gino told him. "We only have enough power to make it to the tip of South America, and Anya's Samurai won't make it unless Kallen wakes up soon and flies her machine under its own power."
"So, you're saying we're screwed," Tamaki moaned.
"What a way to lift all our spirits; can't you do anything except complain?" Kallen said over the radio.
"Hey! Captain, you're awake!" Tamaki was elated.
"You okay, Kallen?" Gino asked her.
"I've got a splitting headache, and my Shogun is a little worse for wear, but I'm okay otherwise." She sounded irritated. "What the heck happened?"
"Schneizel is a traitor," Anya said in her methodical monotone. "He destroyed the other four members of our team and attempted to incinerate us as well."
"I see," Kallen said softly. "You can let go of me now, Anya; I can fly this thing on my own."
Lt. Alstreim's KnightMare released the Type-21S.
Kallen's machine flew under its own power up to the front of the group. "We should transform and go to supersonic flight," she suggested.
"No," Gino contradicted her. "If we fly above fifty feet from the surface, then the Thor's electromagnetic sensors will detect the sakuradite signatures of our machines. We're moving fast enough right now that their overhead satellite video will be hard pressed to find us, especially since the sun is going down. We should be able to hide within the glare of the sunset off the ice below us long enough to get out to the ocean."
"Good idea, Gino," Kallen remarked. "But where to from there?"
The apprehension in his voice was clear. "South America."
"So, we're going to throw ourselves on Cornelia's mercy?" Kallen mused.
"I don't think we have any other choice," Gino said.
"You mean because our energy fillers will run out before we make it any farther than that, don't you, Gino?" Captain Kozuki lamented.
"Yah, Australia is too far, as is Africa; South America is our only hope," he told her as the coastline of the sea came into view. The waves were a radiant gold as the ice below them burned a brilliant red-orange in the light of the setting sun.
The group of Type-21s flew towards the sea as fast as their graviton-impellers would take them.
* * *
"We've just received word from the recovery unit," Kannon informed his prince. "There are four units missing."
"Captain Kozuki's unit, I suppose," Schneizel said with a bored look as he rested his head on his arm.
"Shall I send out a search team to try and track them down?" Kannon inquired.
"There's no need, Kannon," Schneizel smiled. "The only place they could be headed is South America," Schneizel said, but his eyes were distant as he formulated a plan. "Kannon, would you be so kind as to open a channel to General Tohdoh?"
"Of course, Prince Schneizel," Kannon said before giving the order to contact the UFN commander-in-chief.
Within minutes, the visage of General Tohdoh appeared on the main viewscreen of the Thor.
"What is it, Schneizel?" Tohdoh was apparently not happy to be bothered by him in the early morning hours of Japan.
Schneizel stood up. "Please forgive this intrusion, General, but I have pressing news."
"Continue," Tohdoh nodded slightly giving his approval.
Schneizel put on a sad expression. "It would appear my dear sister Cornelia has finally begun to make her move. We have confirmed that it was indeed her forces which attacked us earlier today, and even now, she may be planning her next attempt to take control of the massive sakuradite deposit we found here in Antarctica." The prince lifted his chin slightly. "If we don't do something quickly, we may find ourselves at a disadvantage against her should she obtain the sakuradite deposits here and thus be able to construct a massive army of new KnightMares and aerial warships. Britannia could handle this on its own, but in the interests of international cooperation, I thought it best to contact the UFN c-in-c and request his permission."
Tohdoh had a stone expression. "I can't give you that authority at this moment. However, I can call an emergency meeting of the UFN general assembly via satellite link and call for a vote on military action. It may take a few days for them to iron out their concerns over this, but I can assure you they will act faster if you give me some proof of what you claim."
"I will have all of the available data compiled and transmitted to you as soon as possible, General," Schneizel smiled. "I do hope the UFN acts quickly. If we can stop Cornelia before she can rout us from our position here, then we may avert unnecessary conflict."
"I'll contact you as soon as I've gotten word from the general assembly; Tohdoh out." The general's face vanished from the screen.
"How are we going to provide him with that kind of data?" Kannon asked.
"I doubt we'll have to," Schneizel snickered. "Tohdoh is cautious, a man driven to a certain extent by a sense of honor and duty that is rivaled only by his personal ambition. He'll tell the UFN general assembly everything I told him, even without concrete proof, and when he does, the avarice of the representatives of the various member countries of the UFN will be enflamed at the mere thought of Cornelia taking control of a massive sakuradite deposit. They'll most likely debate for no more than a few hours before they reach a decision to secure this site."
"But won't they send the Black Knights?" Kannon didn't follow Schneizel's thinking.
"Yes, they will," the prince smirked as he brought up a digital representation of the lower hemisphere of the Earth. Schneizel highlighted cities on the South African and Australian continents. "However, it will take them no less than four days to gather enough of their forces together from the closest Black Knight bases: the Australian base at Sydney and the base at Cape Town, South Africa."
"And by that time, my people will be ready," Sthenno said as she walked onto the bridge with a man dressed in the same style of clothing she wore.
"A companion of yours, milady?" Schneizel asked as he bowed.
"This immortal god's name is Hephaestus," Sthenno said with a haughty look. "He is what I believe you would call a scientist or engineer. I have given him your language through the use of Tongues and thus he can understand and speak with you."
"Now there are two of them," Kannon whispered to Schneizel.
"Far more than that, boy," Hephaestus said to him as he hobbled onto the bridge. "I have managed to revive Euryale, Heracles, Jason and a legion of Spartans as well as their Automatos as per Sthenno's request."
"Automatos?” Schneizel inquired with a befuddled look.
"You call them KnightMares," Sthenno tittered. "Ours are no less terrifying or any less powerful."
"But they do consume a great deal of the Golden Apple," Hephaestus told them.
"Golden Apple?" Kannon asked.
"Sakuradite," Sthenno laughed. "Your people apparently cut this precious stone into cubes, whereas we have a more efficient process by which we cut the refined and purified element into a roughly apple-like shape. It provides our Automatos with more unique abilities and a higher performance output than your comparatively simplistic KnightMare machines, but more of the element is needed to make a totally virgin Golden Apple."
“Your Frames sound impressive,” Schneizel smiled. “However, we shall need to capture the airship Bangkok before she leaves Sydney if we are to have transport for your…Automatos.”
“That will not be necessary,” Hephaestus told him. “Your people have almost completely thawed out the Argo and her crew. The Argo is a far more capable vessel than any of your aerial warships.”
“Even so, we’ll still need at least another airship to launch our three-pronged assault,” Kannon interjected.
Sthenno studied the map on the overhead viewscreen. “The prince’s manservant is correct.” She turned to her fellow god. “Hephaestus, I want you to awaken Medusa and Scylla, and prepare the Gorgon, Charybdis, and the underwater warship Kraken for battle.”
“What?” Hephaestus blurted out. “I’ve already begun unearthing two of the Colossi class Automatos, the Helios and the Talos; what need do you have for two Titan class Automatos and the mightiest submersible we have?”
“We need them to crush this United Federation of Nations and secure the deposits of the Golden…” Sthenno put on a crooked smile as she changed her thought mid-sentence. “…the sakuradite that is within the lower hemisphere of Terra.”
“But if Athena knew you were using them without her…” Hephaestus started to say.
“She won’t,” Sthenno snapped at him. “Not until after we’ve conquered the lower regions of the world and she is then awakened from her long sleep.”
Hephaestus asked her with a stern look, “Are you therefore taking full responsibility for these actions, Sthenno?”
“I am,” she replied with venom.
* * *
The KnightMare Lancelot flew over the top of the Emerald Queen in the light of the setting sun. Suzaku piloted his machine towards the stern of the ship where the helipad jutted from the craft toward the rear.
“Who’s that?” he said aloud to himself as he caught a glimpse of a pink-haired female figure in a flowing white dress standing at the edge of the landing platform.
He radioed the bridge of the ship. “Emerald Queen control, we have an unidentified person on the flight deck, over.”
There was only static in reply.
“Control, come in,” Suzaku said over the channel as he flew the Lancelot down towards the figure on the landing pad. Her silhouette disturbed him.
Suzaku had a feeling of dread as he landed his KnightMare on the deck. He opened his hatch and slid down the rope ladder of his machine. The last embers of light of the sunset bathed his white Devicer suit in a bloodred hue as he ran towards the figure with an urgency that bothered him.
“Who are you?” he asked as he came before the person who stood at the edge of the ship.
The twilight’s rays were now behind her, exposing the bloodstains that drenched her dress and the machinegun that she held in her hand. Her long, flowing, pink hair waved slightly in the ocean breeze.
Suzaku stood staring in shock and awe at the angelic face of the woman he loved, a woman he thought was dead.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said as she smiled at him.
He wanted to speak but his throat betrayed him, and while his mouth opened no sound escaped. Suddenly his left arm rose up of its own accord, clothed in the garments of Zero with pistol in hand, and fired at her. The bullet penetrated through her heart.
“Suzaku, why?” she asked as she fell backwards off the edge of the warship.
“EUPHIE!!!” Suzaku screamed as he sat up straight in the sweat drenched sheets of his bed.
The door to his room closed.
"Who's there?" Suzaku demanded as he bolted out of bed and rushed to grab the mask of Zero. He donned the helmet as quickly as he could manage as he threw his cape over his naked body and rushed out of the room.
Suzaku saw a shadow turn a corner down the darkened hall of the corridor.
He gave chase, his cape flowing behind him as he absentmindedly streaked through the halls of the ship after the unknown spy who had been inside the threshold of his room.
They saw me and heard my voice, but how could they have gotten access to my room? It was locked. Was it Nunnally? He rounded the corner and saw the silhouette walk into one of the guest room suites.
It's Kaguya, it has to be, he thought with anger as he bolted into the room and flipped on the light. The automatic door closed swiftly behind him and caught hold of the hem of this cloak, ripping it from his body.
Lying in bed, Jiang Lihua sat up and rubbed her eyes as she turned to see whomever it was that had entered her room. Her lids opened wide with horror upon seeing Zero, naked from his mask downwards, standing in the entrance to her room.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the Tianzi screamed.
Suzaku stumbled as he tripped over his cloak and went face first into the door as he tried to vacate her room as quickly as possible.
Lihua wailed, "GUARDS! COME QUICKLY! THERE'S A NAKED MAN IN MY ROOM!"
Suzaku heard muffled voices and footsteps on the deck above as he frantically got the door open, and with his cloak hastily thrown over his shoulder, he bolted out of the suite.
He barely made it to the corner of the hallway when the guards reached Lihua who had come to the threshold of her cabin.
"You there, STOP!" the lead man called out as Suzaku sprinted for his own room.
He could hear one of the other night watchmen asking Lihua what the intruder looked like. "I dunno..." she said barely awake from sleep, "he was just...there...and NAKED!" Suzaku heard her say through tears.
Oh man, I hope she was too asleep to recognize this mask! he thought as he made his way to his stateroom and shut the door; he locked it quickly.
"This way, men," Suzaku heard one of the guards say as they rushed down the hall. "He may try to jump overboard," another said as they passed by his chamber; checking the locks of the doors as they did so.
Suzaku took off the mask of Zero, leaned back against the soothing cold of the metal door behind him, and shut his eyes. "Great...just great, what else could go wrong?"
* * *
"Attention, people of the world!" Milly Ashford yelled in her jovial tone into her headphone mic as she smiled at the lens of the TV camera that the cameraman in front of her held upon his shoulder. "I'm Mrs. Milly Ashford, CEO and special reporter for the Tokyo Broadcasting Channel's coverage of the 4th annual International KnightMare Frame Competition, coming to you live from the bridge of the newly recommissioned aerial battleship Ikaruga high over the Coral Sea, and less than twenty-four hours from the start of the Greatest Competition on Earth."
The camera view paned back showing the whole of the bridge of the aerial warship.
"Standing here with me now is the new commander of the Ikaruga, Captain Nagisa Chiba. So, Captain, tell me, is it true that you and General Kyoshiro Tohdoh are in love?"
"Um...pardon me?" Nagisa was stunned as Milly leaned in towards her.
"Oh, c’mon, people tell me the two of you have been secretly in love since the end of the war. Is that true?" Milly cooed.
"Same old Milly," Nunnally smiled as she turned the volume of the TV down. The monitor that bore Milly's jubilant image happily interrogating a shocked Nagisa Chiba was at the far end of the VIP lounge where Kaguya Sumeragi, Jiang Lihua, and Nunnally vi. Britannia sat at a large oval table in the center of the room eating breakfast and drinking orange juice.
"Are your eggs and sausage to your liking, Lihua?" Nunnally asked with concern over her friend's comfort.
"They’re okay," Lihua replied as she looked down at the long tube of meat on her plate as if it were some kind of monstrous beast.
Kaguya grinned. "I'd say after last night she's had enough of eggs and sausage to last her a lifetime."
Lihua pouted, "Kaguya!"
"Ms. Sumeragi!" Nunnally held back a smile as she tried to scold her friend.
"Speaking of eggs and sausage," Kaguya snickered as Zero entered the room.
Lihua eyed him viciously.
Nunnally cleared the giggle that rose up in her throat with a mock cough. "Good morning, Zero."
"Good morning, Empress Nunnally, Lady Kaguya, Empress Jiang Lihua," Suzaku said with a bow.
Sumeragi's face was flushed red as she controlled herself. "Did you hear we had a...disturbance on board last night?"
"No, I hadn't heard." He told her the truth; no one had spoken to him of the events from the night before.
Nunnally maintained her composure as a smirk formed on Kaguya's face. "It would seem a man entered Jiang's room just after one am this morning."
Suzaku started to worry whether or not Lihua had recognized him. "Did they catch this intruder?"
Nunnally tried to glare at Zero to no avail. "Only on the surveillance video."
"We couldn't see his face, but everything else was pretty clear!" Kaguya said through her hands as she tried to hide the smile that crossed her face from ear to ear. She closed her eyes as she giggled uncontrollably.
Nunnally lost it and burst out laughing. "Zero, what on Earth were you doing?"
Suzaku was too embarrassed to speak.
Sumeragi's eyes were closed as she hid her mouth with her hands and her shoulders shook from laughter. She spoke between spasms of giggling, "I feel so much safer now that I know that the halls of this ship are patrolled by Zero, Exhibitionist for Justice." She snorted involuntarily. "No enemy would dare show his face to us on this voyage for fear of what he might be exposed to." She emphasized the word exposed.
Suzaku felt as small as any person could at that moment. Not only had he been caught streaking through the halls of the Emerald Queen in the wee hours of the morning, but he had accidentally flashed Jiang Lihua in the process of trying to catch whomever it was that had entered his room and heard whatever it was he may have said in his sleep. Now was not the time to try and explain himself; he knew that, but he also had to face up to his mistake and apologize to the Tianzi.
He turned to Lihua. "Empress Jiang Lihua, I have no excuse for my actions. I beg your forgiveness."
The Tianzi threw the sausage from her plate at Zero.
The piece of meat hit the center of his mask where the honey based sauce it had been smothered in caused it to stick to the helmet.
Kaguya threw her head back and laughed hysterically.
“Oh, my…” Nunnally said as she put her left hand over the smirk on her face and chuckled involuntarily.
"How do you like having one of those shoved in your face?" Jiang asked him as a grin formed on her mouth. "I don't know exactly what you were doing, Zero, but I believe you entered my room by mistake, therefore I forgive you. However, the next time you try to sneak into your lover's room at night, be sure it's their room before you enter and bare all." The Tianzi made up her mind as to why Zero had burst into her chambers; to her, it was to surprise a secret lover of his. Such was the fantasy of a nineteen-year-old girl who'd led a sheltered childhood away from the world, but it was a dream that she hoped would someday be fulfilled by a certain person she loved and admired, a certain man named Li Xingke.
Suzaku plucked the sausage from the front of his mask and placed the piece of meat on the table in front of him as he turned to Nunnally. "Will you need me for anything further, milady?"
The tremors of laughter subsided in Nunnally as she composed herself and wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes. "No, Zero, I do not require anything of you right now. You’ve already made our morning quite enjoyable, and for that I thank you. However, I wish to speak to you in private at your earliest convenience later this afternoon to discuss what it is you were doing last night. The captain of this vessel deserves an explanation over what he called your new Order of the Bare Nights.” Kaguya doubled over, holding her stomach from laughing so hard as Nunnally continued, “Which I promised earlier this morning that I'd give him as soon as I learned what had happened from you."
"As you wish, milady." Zero bowed, and with that, Suzaku turned on his heel and left the lounge as fast as his feet would take him.
* * *
The afternoon rays of the sun shone through the windows of the executive suite at the top of the UFN Japan Headquarters as General Kyoshiro Tohdoh stood staring down at the people on the streets below while he waited for a communiqué from his counterpart, Li Xingke.
He didn’t have to wait long before the beeper on the viewscreen, which nearly covered one whole wall of his office, started beeping.
Tohdoh picked up the remote control of the device from his desk and pressed one of its buttons. Xingke’s image appeared on the screen instantly.
“Greetings, General Tohdoh,” Li said with indifference.
Kyoshiro got right down to business. “I called you this morning to discuss the Antarctica situation.”
“I’ve received a briefing on the apparent terrorist activity in that region,” Xingke raised an eyebrow, “but I do not believe Schneizel. He can’t be trusted.”
“I agree,” Tohdoh told him.
“Then why are you pressing ahead with a call for our forces to attack Generalissimo Caesaro and her forces in South America?” Li wasn’t sure what the UFN would gain by helping the Britannian prince.
Tohdoh’s face was a mask of stoicism as he responded, “Because I also intend to remove Schneizel as soon as the Black Knights have taken control of the sakuradite deposit on the Antarctic continent.”
“You plan on killing two birds with one political stone, eh?” Xingke snickered.
“Precisely.” Tohdoh allowed a grin to cross his lips.
“And what of Nunnally Britannia?” Li inquired.
“I would never think to move against her; of all of her Britannian kin, she is by far the most trustworthy I’ve met.” Tohdoh frowned. “Nor would I ever think to betray her, not after what we did to her brother. I owe her that much.”
“But her brother, Zero, used his power against us,” Xingke suggested. “How do we know that his sister doesn’t also possess this power and has just not yet decided to use it?”
"It is highly unlikely that Nunnally Britannia possesses such a power," Tohdoh stated with a firm look. "It was my understanding from our dealings with Schneizel that the woman C.C. gave his brother the power of Geass. Besides, both Lady Kaguya and your Empress are quite fond of Empress Nunnally. I doubt the Tianzi would be very pleased with you if she knew you had designs against her newfound friend."
"Your point is well made, Tohdoh," Xingke grumbled. "Very well, I will make arrangements to back up your plans to conquer Cornelia's territory and depose Chancellor Schneizel. When the UFN General Assembly requests my assessment of the situation, I will present the case that Cornelia is a threat to the peace of the world."
"Very good," Kyoshiro said. "And when Schneizel fails to provide me with sufficient proof of the so-called attack on his forces, the deaths of the Yamato no Orochi will be on his head, and I will move to have him arrested as an international war criminal and executed upon his conviction."
“You seem to have thought this through to conclusion,” Li Xingke stated with a smirk.
“Actually, I’ve been formulating a plan to remove Schneizel and take down Cornelia since the Britannians finished building the Thor and Cornelia took control of the South American continent.” Tohdoh gave Li a firm look. “If we don’t stop these two here and now, they may be able to rebuild the Britannian spirit of conquest that Lelouch broke. Their sense of a Divine Right of Rulership has already begun to manifest itself in the lower ranks of their government, many of which are calling for a rebuilding of the Knights of the Round and the feudal class system.”
"Do you really believe that Cornelia wishes to rebuild the Britannian Empire?" Li Xingke was skeptical about Kyoshiro's assessment of the former princess.
"I do," he stated flatly. "Cornelia has a superiority complex much in the same way that Schneizel had in the past and I believe still has. It is for this reason that I've lobbied so hard to get the Ikaruga put back into service. We need aerial-battleships and...we will need FLEIJA."
"What!" Xingke was mortified. "Are you serious, Tohdoh? You'd bring back that horrible weapon?"
"I don't need to bring it back." He looked hard at Li. "The following information needs to stay between you and me. Understood?"
"Of course, General Tohdoh." Xingke was intrigued.
"The original model of Dr. Lloyd Asplund's Lancelot of the Lake 10th-generation KnightMare Frame is housed in the armistice museum in Kyoto as an example of the last of the Lancelot series. Unknown to nearly everyone who passes by that machine daily, the large tubular bazooka's on its back each contain a FLEIJA weapon. You see, the Lancelot of the Lake was contracted to be a Ballistic Assault KnightMare (BAM) for use by the Black Knights as a deterrent to any other country developing a FLEIJA, namely Cornelia's new South American Principality."
"I'm surprised the Britannians allowed Japan to keep such a weapon." Li was surprised.
"It was Nunnally Britannia that demanded we keep the KnightMare armed with its FLEIJA weapons due to her complete disdain for such weapons. She implored us to disarm and destroy both of the warheads, but the UFN council refused; instead, we agreed to allow Zero to keep the key to the Lancelot of the Lake which, in theory, prevents us from using the machine."
"Zero has it? Isn't that dangerous considering we don't know who this new Zero is?" Xingke disliked imposters, and that is precisely how he viewed this new Zero, as a cheap imitation.
Tohdoh smirked, "No, I don't think so. This new Zero is weak and suffers from a guilt complex in my assessment. I highly doubt he'll ever have the courage to use the Lancelot of the Lake.”
"You have some idea of who he is?" Li was shocked.
"I have my suspicions of who he is, and while I see him as very dangerous, I don't think he'll ever use a FLEIJA weapon again," Tohdoh said.
"Again?" Xingke asked.
Kyoshiro changed the direction of the conversation. "The only problem I see for us is that the key for the KnightMare is nowhere to be found outside of Zero's person. Our spies and operatives in Britannia have looked for it everywhere. Either Lloyd took it with him to Brazil, or Zero has it on his person at all times. However, we may soon be able to use the FLEIJA weapons without the KnightMare Frame. Our scientists here in Kyoto believe they've unraveled Nina Einstein's mathematical formula. We may be able to fabricate a firing mechanism soon should we need one against Cornelia and Schneizel. Then we can remove the warheads from the Lancelot of the Lake and use them in a launcher that does not require that machine to arm and fire them."
Xingke was not finished with the subject of Zero. "I assume that you intend to deal with Zero at some point?"
"Yes," Tohdoh said with a frown. "And once he is swept aside, nothing will stop the Asian Pacific Alliance from becoming a reality."
* * *
"Whoa, is that the Guren Mark II?" Lena asked Akira as the four top pilots of the Japan Jaguars walked along the museum side of the hangar of the Ikaruga.
"Actually, that's an Akatsuki rebuilt to look and operate like the original Guren," Gregor informed her.
"So, the armaments are the same?" Mika inquired.
"Yep," Akira told her as they all stared at the red KnightMare.
Mika laughed, "So, then there's only one Devicer that could ever pilot it."
"I'd give it a shot," Gregor said.
"And kill yourself in the process," Lena jibbed him.
Normally Mika and Akira would be at each others throats about something after spending a few minutes together, but right now they were in the presence of the KnightMares of the original Black Knights and thus they were too enthralled to think about much else at the moment.
"What about this one? Which one is this?" Lena stood before a large black KnightMare Frame flanked on both sides by two Type-3Fs.
"That one is the reconstructed Zangetsu...that was General Tohdoh's KnightMare Frame." Gregor looked at it longingly. "It nearly defeated the Britannian KnightMare Lancelot during the last major battle of the Rebellion."
"Yah, but it was Captain Kozuki in the Guren Seiten that kicked that Britannian bastard's butt in the end," Mika chuckled.
"The other four were the KnightMares of the Four Holy Swords," Akira said.
"This one looks really interesting." Mika tugged at Akira's sleeve towards the large black and yellow machine. She had not been her usual snobbish self since Akira nearly beat Villetta the day before; she had become nice all of a sudden. Gregor told Akira it was probably because Mika was nervous about the competition, but Lena warned him that maybe she was coming on to him.
"I've never seen this one in any of the technical manuals or historical documentation of the KnightMares of the Black Knights," Gregor said perplexed as he walked in front of the large mecha.
"And you won't," a stern-voiced woman said from behind them.
"Captain Chiba!" Lena blurted out as the four of them came to attention. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
"At ease, all of you," Nagisa said with a smile.
"What brings you down here, Captain?" Lena inquired.
"Please, call me Nagisa," she laughed. "And it's Milly Ashford that's driven me down here. That woman is relentless...she's like a walking Enquirer."
"Yah, I saw some of her interview with you," Lena said. "It was kinda...well...odd."
"Nosey is how I'd put it," Mika said with her nose in the air.
"Captain...I mean, Ms. Nagisa, what is with this black KnightMare Frame? There's no placard in front of it, and it's not any kind I've ever seen before." Gregor hoped she'd share what she knew of the machine.
"That's a very special KnightMare, for a very special pilot." Chiba had a distant look as her eyes moved over the form of the black KnightMare Frame.
"Was that one of Captain Kozuki's KnightMares?" Lena inquired.
Nagisa chortled, "No, that KnightMare is a replica of a machine that was destroyed during the last battle of the war. General Tohdoh himself ordered Rakshata Chawla to rebuild a new one to honor the Devicer who piloted it as a way to repay our debt to him by keeping his memory in this simple but anonymous way."
"Who was its pilot?" Akira's curiosity was peaked. He knew the names of nearly every Devicer of the Rebellion and their machines, but he knew nothing of this one.
Chiba regarded the four of them with a warm smile. "My young friends, the Devicer of this particular KnightMare had to be both an exceptional pilot and tactician. This machine required more than just the raw talent of a gifted driver or even the experience of a seasoned veteran; it required a talent that few people possess. I doubt you'd believe me if I told you who the Devicer of this machine was."
"Was it you, Ms. Chiba?" Lena asked.
Nagisa laughed, "No, it was not me." She turned and looked up at the head of the mecha. "This KnightMare was Zero's."
The four Jaguars stared at her in awe for a moment.
"This was Zero's machine?" Akira looked at the KnightMare with reverence.
"Wow," Lena remarked as she looked up at the large KnightMare.
"What was its name?" Gregor asked, anxious to know the title of the KnightMare piloted by the legendary Zero of the Rebellion against Britannia."
"This KnightMare's name is Shinkirou," Nagisa said with a sad smile.
