24 「Underground Fiasco」

「Area 11: Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport Ruins, Underground. 2200 September 3, 2017 」

One of the closest airports to Mount Fuji was the Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport, it was destroyed seven years ago during the initial invasion by the Britannians. It stopped evacuations, but helped ensure the collaborators had no escape. Trade didn't stagnate, instead it was done directly through Britannia, though it was still controlled by the Six Kyoto Houses.

The question was, why wasn't the airport rebuilt? Wouldn't it be a good idea to do so? The Kyoto Houses planted a memorial at the airport, commemorating the lives of those who failed to escape and died in their desperate plead for freedom as well as the Military Forces which died there.

Walking through the ruins, a young man, adorned in samurai armor with metallic armor on either shoulder, a helmet with an egg shaped visor. He had a single scabbard on one hip, and a pistol on the other. His boots trudged through the scrap which lined the ground around him.

He seemed to be glancing side to side, as if taking in everything. It was night time, there was barely any light which barely gave any significant detail to those scanning the surface.

Seven years ago, after everything had been decided, he a lone child barely even twelve, approached the collaborators. They already had plans put in motion to support resistance to Britannian Rule. They had control of vast resources and capacity to manufacture war machines and weapons of death.

Early on he had gained their support despite his young age. He was considered a young revolutionary, mainly because of his technological skill and mechanical knowledge. They saw him as a genius, one in which they couldn't let go.

They were the ones who planted the idea in his head, to be Emperor, of Japan. To make a world of peace, where they could prosper. Of course, being so young, he still knew what they were really after. Once one is rich, they want and will get richer.

He could recall the words which had been given to him. The praise and promises. So far they had given him exactly what he needed, wanted and somewhat desired. There were lines that they wouldn't cross, but they also knew there was some he wouldn't either.

He needed them if he wanted to get anywhere with his attempt at being Emperor of Japan. The Neo Japanese Empire was something of a dream which he was gifted, a dream he wanted to come true.

As he continued to move through the debris and scrap material, he came to a stop in front of a hatch which was hardly visible, even with the lights on. It was hidden beneath textured material that blended in easily with the dirt. It even had dirt overtop of it. Kneeling down, he placed a hand on it, a few seconds later, it lit up and opened.

Now that he had powers, he could have just poofed down there, however he wasn't quite ready to give his primary supporters a heart attack. They were mostly venerable for the time being. Though it was likely most of them were asleep.

Entering the underground, the surface entrance quickly closed. There was no trace of the exit, there was only the forward path in which he could take.

He transversed at least two staircases and a handful of corridors before entering a catwalk which was held over a massive open area beneath the ground. It was a massive construction facility which had been constructed seven years ago to date.

This however was just a massive flat underground area built for building something of similar proportion. Looking off the side of the catwalk, he stared down at the massive rectangular trapezoid of an airship. It had massive Stark Hadron Cannon emplacements on the top of it, as well as a flat area for smaller aircraft such as VTOLs, Giga Fortresses and variable Knightmare frames to land or take off from. It was essentially an aircraft carrier. However it emphasized anti-capital ship, anti-frame and anti-fighter combat with all of the weapons avaliable.

The hub of his helmet picked up sounds coming from above. It wasn't coming from the surface, it was much closer than that. He looked to the ceiling for a brief moment, with his eyes, without lifting his head.

He didn't want to give away that he heard anything. There was definitely someone following him. They were in the shaft above him. Though it was likely that they were here to investigate this place, sadly he knew he would let them walk away, not alive anyway or with their intelligence in hand.

Suddenly the being who without their presence until now, broke in through the vent and landed crouched on the ground. A typical hero pose as you will, as he pulled a gun and aimed at the armored menace known as Graham.

"What's that pea shooter for?" Graham reacted almost immediately as the person before him was none other than Lord Kimmel, better known as Rolo Haliburton.

"You took my Geass!" He'd yell at the man, as if he had taken away his purpose and meaning. Even though this was somewhat true, it was also something that he found hilarious.

"Ah... Lord Kimmel, At least your heart won't be stopping any TIME soon. Pun intended..." Graham snickered as the boy kept the gun aimed at him. If he didn't know what the teen was capable of, he wouldn't completely underestimated him. Despite his mortal thoughts, he seemed to have confidence in his survival due to his newly gained immortality.

"You know who I am?" Rolo was partially shocked, not many outside or even inside of the Britannian Office of Secret Intelligence and Military knew about him. He seemed to grimace, wondering if he had fallen into a trap.

"Oh, don't worry," Graham assured him as he seemed to read his facial expressions. "You haven't fallen into a trap. Though you made one for yourself," he tilted his head to the side slightly. "You can't kill me with a gun. I won't even die if I am completely atomized into dust." He snickered quietly to himself as he crossed his arms.

Rolo glared at him, at a time like this, he would have used his Geass to freeze the sensation of time. Yet he was unable to do so.

"I'll ask you a question... A personal one. Have you ever had a family? Sister, brother, mother, father?" He knew the answer to the question, yet he asked it anyways. He knew Rolo never knew family, barely even friends.

Rolo's finger seemed to itch at the trigger, he was ready to shoot the man, no if ands or buts.

"Right, right. Okay Rolo..." His visor retracted into the rest of the helmet, revealing the majority of his face, his identity. Both of his eyes had the Geass Symbol. "What is your deepest desire? What is it you want?"

Rolo blinked several times seeing his Geass active. He found himself being lifted emotionally, his irritation fading. Was this the power he had? The effect the mind in such a way? His eyes narrowed as he pulled the trigger.

The bullet ripped through Graham's forehead, his head lulled back, he stumbled, and then stopped as he remained standing. Straightening out his neck, and lifting his head to look at Rolo once again, the bullet would be pushed out of his skull and the damage would heal relatively quickly.

"I-I-Im...Impossible," Rolo was clearly confused, but then he thought about how V.V. from when he was with the Directorate, he was immortal. He paused, stared at him, "You killed V.V.?"

"Hence, cancelling all his contracts, yes." Graham responded as he rolled his neck, cracking and popping it like so. "Now, tell me what you want?" He took a few steps forward, looking down on the boy as he'd lower his gun and his guard.

"I want... I want somewhere to belong, to be wanted, needed." Despite how Rolo had been, this was his desires, deep beneath his unstable exterior. He wanted to be wanted. He wanted to be praised, gifted and cherished.

"In the case... I will give you what you want, as long as you promise to no longer kill, maim or harm civilians. You are no longer an assassin, a test subject for the Geass Directorate, nor a special agent. You are now Rolo Kimmel, student at Ashford Academy..." He placed a hand on Rolo's shoulder with a small smirk across his lips.

Rolo dropped the gun, letting it clatter onto the ground. "Rolo... Kimmel..." He repeated his name over again, though it was just a combination of aliases he already had. He seemed to show a faint smile across his lips.

However this scene didn't get to last long. His happiness was the last thing he ever got to think about as a bullet ripped through his back and exited his chest. It ricocheted right off of Graham's armor and hit the ceiling.

Rolo stood there gasping in surprise, he had been shot, fatally. He glanced down and put a hand over the hole hidden within his jacket's cloth exterior. "Eh?" He looked up at Graham who was frowning sympathetically, gently placing a hand on the boy's cheek.

The two took a pause and stared at one another. All of Graham's ideas going out the window. All of Rolo's thoughts and dreams coming crashing down around him. Blood began to leave down the side of his mouth, a weak wheeze escaping his throat, his hands pressing against Graham's chest. "Pr-promised me..."

"I was looking forward to being around you too, kid. Sorry, may your next life treat you better..." Before he could wish him better on the other side, Rolo had already died in Graham's arms as he lowered him to the ground and rested him diagonally on the catwalk.

Before he even looked up to see who had pulled the trigger of the weapon that killed Rolo, his visor returned to cover his face. He stood up and looked to the female figure at the entrance to the catwalk.

They had light pink hair, red eyes and stood five foot four inches. The first thing he noticed was that it wasn't Anya standing there, it was Marianne. It was clear by the bright red surrounding her irises.

"Anya's what... Fourteen now?" Graham let out a sigh as he looked at the girl as she was walking closer to him, weapon still pointed at him.

"Why are you getting in our way? There would be no more lies! Humanity would be together for eternity and..."

"And the cycle would start all over again with the next intellectual beings to inhabit the earth," Graham interfered with her little speech about wanting to know why. "You can't kill me, and you wasted a good puppet for my play," he responded as he went to reach for the gun at his hip, then paused. He could just use his Geass to erase Marianne from Anya's head, this idea making him grin.

The Geass symbol would appear on the visor of his helmet, glowing a deep red.

Marianne paused for a moment, feeling a bit strange. She steadied her aim and used both hands on the pistol. "Don't try anything funny, I'll shoot!"

"You saw how much good that did, didn't you? Rolo shot me in the head, Miss Marianne vi Britannia," He pointed out who she was and that immediately made Anya freeze. How did he know who she was? Was it something to do with his Geass? No, that wasn't right. Or was it? He seemed like he knew Rolo, at least about Rolo.

She cursed under her breath.

"If only your husband still had his Geass, he'd be able to change everything. I now... Wonder, if I delete your data from inside of Anya's head, will you become apart of the collective consciousness, or die permanently... Becoming nothingness?"

"Deleted my... Da-da-da-data?!" Marianne took a step back, she looked like she was about to run. Then paused, turned her head and looked at him. How was he going to do that with his helmet on? Wouldn't he need eye contact? What if this wasn't the type that needed eye contact, but mental prowess. She clenched her jaw, if it didn't need sight, then she clearly couldn't even run away.

"Why are you hesitating, go ahead, run away."

Marianne just stood there, not trusting his words, and she was right to. He didn't need eye contact.

"Oh, you don't want to perish. You don't want to die, permanently. You want to preserve your consciousness..." He looked own at the dead child at his feet and let out a huff of air. "Sadly, you made me mad. Bad choice love, bad choice. Shouldn't have killed the sociopathic puppet."

He drew his pistol from his hip and flicked a switch. Unlike the last time he used it, there was a soft hum emanating from it and the barrel had a blue glow to it. He took aim, "I'll make this painless."

Growling under her breath, she would charge towards him. He was planning on killing her! She wasn't going to let this stand! He didn't pull the trigger, even though he had the shot the entire time. She could see it. He effortlessly followed her, even as she zig zagged side to side in the restrictive space of the catwalk.

Jumping to kick him, he grabbed her by the ankle and swung her over the side of the catwalk, slamming her head into one of the rails in the process.

She yelped, dropping her own weapon and watching as it fell down to the carrier below. She looked up at him as she hung from the side of the catwalk, too far away to pull herself up unless she wanted to grab his arm.

"Go ahead, do it! Shoot me! Drop me!" She could smell the burning of the ozone bleeding from the barrel.

"As you wish."

Shaking his head slightly, he tilted his head to the side and pulled the trigger. A bolt of blue energy came catapulting out of the barrel and into her chest. On impact the energy dispersed across her torso, shocking her unconscious.

He then dropped her back onto the catwalk and knelt down in front of her, looking down at her sleeping face. A slight grown reverberated under her lips as he placed a hand on her forehead. Using his geass, he began to delete Marianne from Anya's head. Her back arching and her mouth gasping in the process. Her arms convulsed involuntarily for a few seconds before she laid flat on the ground. Sleeping as if burnt out, exhausted and out of energy.

However instead of a stoic expression, she wore a small smile across her lips.