16 Chapter Sixteen: Mechanical Gods

Marianne had known the man from what information she had been able to gather. He was extremely dangerous and she dared not risk Nunnally or the lives of her other 'little doves' and chose to go with him.

Bismark and Xingke, as well as several Chinese soldiers came into the room, weapons drawn.

"Bismark, stand down," said Marianne, as Bludbierd tied her hands. "Do not aggravate this man. For the sake of my daughter and the girls if not for me."

Bismark growled and lowered his sword.

"Order your men to stand down Xingke," said Bismark, recognizing this man as well. "This man is extremely dangerous and to battle him now would surely put your Empress in danger."

Xingke looked at Bismark's expression and reluctantly lowered his own sword and ordered his men to stand down.

"How descent of you all," said Bludbierd, walking away with Marianne in tow led by rope.

"Mother no," cried Nunnally.

"Nunnally stay with your sisters," said Marianne, sharply and forcefully.

Euphemia held Nunnally as she tried to go after her mother.

"Please, Xingke take them away from here," said Marianne. "They've unleashed an Ancient. It is not safe for them."

Bludbierd and Marianne then left, the frightened girls watching helplessly. Tianzi, as she clutched onto Euphemia looked at Marianne as she was being taken away and then up at the chaotic skies that the Dagon ruled.

The air raid sirens could be heard even in Maria's mansion. Rivalz looked up from a nearby window and saw a giant dragon-like machine approaching the city.

"What is that horror?" asked Maria, approaching the window as well.

"Mother, it's Shin," said Alice, sitting before the television.

Rivalz and Maria walked over to the television where indeed Shin Hyuga Shaing sat upon a golden throne, the flag of the Eden Elite held up behind him, and the Imperial Scepter on his lap.

"My friends, subjects, sheep," said Shin. "The great Emperor Vincent in his infinite wisdom has bestowed his power unto me. And with so a command which I shall fulfill. In the skies of Euro Britannia, the Dagon sores to fulfill the command of our Emperor, who has found your worship lacking. You have grown complacent in his mercy and have forgotten who is your true lord and master. Let this be the reminder of whom you are to give your everlasting worship to. For those lucky enough to survive."

Rivalz looked out of the window and saw a beam coming from the mouth of the Dagon and carve deep into the city. The explosions rang out loud enough to shake the windows of the mansion and the smoke began to rise.

"Dear god," cried Maria, her hands covering her mouth, tears falling from her eyes. "Shin...my son...why?"

The woman fell to her knees but Rivalz had caught her and gently set her down. Alice ran over and tearfully embraced her mother. Rivalz looked out at the smoke rising from the city and saw that the machine was dropping what might have been bombs.

He then looked down at Maria and Alice and his teeth clenched. Shin had betrayed not only his country but the woman who had raised him. This was unforgivable in Rivalz's eyes.

Rivalz's attention was then taken by the sounds of new weapons being fired. He looked back at the sky and saw the Elysium, now revealed firing its weapons at the Dagon. The dragon-like machine dodged the beam weapons the ship fired.

"Cornelia," he said.

As if on cue Rivalz's communicator rang and he brought up Cornelia's face on a holographic display.

"I take it I don't need to explain the situation," said Cornelia.

"No, I saw the broadcast too," said Rivalz. "What are the Euro Britannian forces doing?"

"If anything they're going to be attempting to scramble to action," said Cornelia. "We're hoping to give them time to organize."

"Do they know about us?" asked Rivalz. "And what about Lady Marianne?"

"I haven't been able to reach the Chinese Consulate yet," said Cornelia. "As for the Euro Britannian forces knowledge of us I'm calling out to the Ceaser Palace now to let the Duke know about us. I'm also sending you the Valiant. Use it to get to the Ceaser Palace and try to coordinate with Duke Velaines and the rest of the Holy Orders on the ground. Those bombs that thing dropped...they're not bombs. They're something else."

Rivalz nodded and Cornelia cut the feed. He then looked back down at the frightened Maria and Alice. He couldn't leave them here alone. If the Dagon or whatever it was dropping didn't kill them, he feared a lynch mob would come after them because of Shin's betrayal.

His mind flashed back to their smiles from earlier and a familiar fire began to burn in Rivalz's soul.

The news of the conflicts in Euro Britannia and the E.U reached Leila and Lelouch's respective parties. The Black Knights had come into Castle Weisswolf, and both commanders looked upon the news feeds from both sides. Lelouch's expression was of fury, Leila's of shock, but it was C.C's expression that had all on edge.

When she saw the images of the Dagon and the Cthulhu she gave out a loud scream.

"Ancients, he has given new life to the Ancients," said C.C.

"What is she talking about?" asked Sophie Randall, chief scientist to W-0.

"Long story," said Ohgi. "But I'm guessing that she means those must be some of the Ancient machines of the old Geass Civilization."

"The same ones that Lady M said nearly destroyed the world right?" asked Tamaki, fearfully.

"Afraid so," said Inoue.

"Enough," said Lelouch, his voice commanding. "None of this matters now. All that matters is that the Cthulhu needs to be destroyed. And Shin Hyuga Shaing must die."

Akito cut a glare at Lelouch, who responded with sharp eyes of his own.

"I offer the resources of the Black Knights to the W-0," said Lelouch.

"And we are to do the same?" asked Leila. "Including Apollo's Chariot?"

"Yes, although given the circumstance I believe you aren't in a position to be choosy about your allies," said Lelouch.

"The enemy of my enemy," said Akito.

"Yes," said Lelouch.

There was a silence as the two young men stared down at each other with enough strength behind their eyes to strangle the voices of all gathered. Were it not for an alarm the silence would have gone on.

"What is it?" asked Leila.

"Proximity alarm," said a heavyset man named Joe Wise.

Camera feed revealed a squadron of red Knightmares, battle damaged, with a man in a red and gold knight uniform standing atop the lead Frame, holding a white flag.

"The Order of Michael?" said Leila.

"Not all of them it would seem," said Lelouch.

"They look like shit," said Tamaki.

"It could be a trap," said Ohgi.

Lelouch observed the beaten looks of the Knightmares and saw the injured looks on some of the pilots leaving their Frames. Those injuries were real, but Ohgi still had a point.

"Send a squad of our own Black Knights to corral them and offer medical assistance," said Lelouch.

"Just kill them, they are the enemy after all," said Yukiya.

"You're not one for human decency aren't you?" asked Kallen, glaring at Yukiya.

"That implies that human's have decency to begin with," Yukiya retorted.

Marianne had been raised by the Order, trained as both concubine and warrior, and as such had been conditioned against certain social norms. She was never ashamed to reveal her flesh as others might. As such she had no qualms when Bludbierd had removed her robes and forced her to bare her flesh before dressing her in rags.

As an immortal she knew no pain he could then inflict would last. Her wounds would always heal, and he knew that as well.

He had taken her to a ruined castle some distance away from the conflicts in St. Petersburg. And while the city was under siege, Marianne was held on a rack in the old castle's dungeon, silently praying her daughter and other little doves were being spirited away to safety.

"I can't help but wonder why I'm not en route to my dear brother-in-law," said Marianne, looking down at Bludbierd, standing at the wheel that would pull her limbs. "From what I've heard of you you're his right hand man."

"I do tend to gain some favor with V.V," said Bludbierd, turning the wheel and causing the chains to pull Marianne's legs and arms. "But really I'm more of a freelance agent. In truth I am older than he is. I do not exactly share his goals. I'm motivated more by...well I guess you could say it is my purpose to antagonize humanity. To test them so to say."

"Excuse me?" asked Marianne, groaning at the pain.

"I've always had peculiar desires," said Bludbierd, turning the wheel even more. "I tend to enjoy causing pain to people. Not just physical, but emotional, spiritual, to see men shrink in misery as everything they've ever loved and held dear ripped away from them. All their efforts made useless, their ideals proven wrong, to see dignity leave them as they fall into eternal despair. I've done it for centuries. I didn't understand it for so long. It made me scared, not knowing why I wanted to do these things. Then I heard the ideals of what was then a new faith. I heard a story written in what is now an old book. Of a man whose life was made miserable by the antagonism of a being called Satan, all so he could test the man's faith in God. I realized what I was then. I am meant to test humanity, not for their faith in God, but in their ability to rise above the misery I cast them into. So if anything V.V. was one I naturally gravitated towards."

"Naturally," said Marianne, the pain of the recent pull fading. "So exactly what are you hoping to do here? You know torture won't leave any lasting damage to me."

"I know," said Bludbierd. "But once again I enjoy causing pain and if anything I just wanted to talk. This kills two birds with one stone. By the way I may stone you later."

"Thanks for the warning," said Marianne, with no small amount of dry sarcasm.

"You're welcome," said Bludbierd, twisting the wheel and causing Marianne even more pain.

In Paris, as the news broke out about both the Dagon and the Cthulhu, Suzaku and his forces had attempted to get in contact with either the Black Knights or the Sapphire Crusaders. The latter was unreachable but they had managed to reach the Black Knights.

"We're about to interrogate a supposed group of defected knights from the Order of Michael," said Lelouch over a video call. "Once that's finished I plan to coordinate with Leila Malacal about how to deal with both Shaing and the Cthulhu."

"Can W-0 tangle with that thing?" asked Suzaku. "Assuming you're thinking they use Apollo's Chariot as a means of getting close to the Cthulhu."

"I was given how they have more experience with it," said Lelouch. "As for whether or not they can deal with what C.C calls an 'Ancient', I'm not too sure. If these are relics of the Geass Civilization then we have to be careful. If what my mother said is true, then these machines were powerful enough to be considered gods by ancient people."

"Have you tried getting in touch with your mother?" asked Suzaku. "She could be coordinating efforts in Euro Britannia? We haven't had luck getting in contact with Rivalz and his crew so we're a little in the dark about what's going on there."

"I've had out people try but so far no luck," said Lelouch. "It could be because of the machines or they're simply too buys with the Dagon."

"We can be en route in no time and..."

"No, keep watch over Smilas," said Lelouch.

"Why should he matter when those things are slaughtering people as we speak?" said Chiba. "Not to mention if that truly is Lovecrest, then we're facing against a veritable zombie apocalypse."

"The chaos will be unimaginable," said Urabe.

"Which provides Smilas with ideal opportunity to seize power in the E.U," said Lelouch.

Suzaku then thought about Lelouch's words and nodded to his friend in their silent language before cutting communication.

"We need to see if we can get in contact with OZ," said Suzaku. "I want to know what Smilas is up to."

"You're actually going to go along with this?" asked Ashahida.

"How can you be so callus?" asked Senba.

"How does this profit Smilas?" Suzaku countered.

The Four swords were silent while Tohdoh's eyes narrowed.

"This is the ideal time for Smilas to take control of the E.U," said Suzaku. "The chaos caused by the Cthulhu's attack is throwing their government into disarray. It'll show the incompetence of the current government of the E.U and in that chaos a hero will rise to seize command. And that hero will be Smilas."

"Then we should be helping him," said Chiba. "Isn't that your ambition, to remove incompetent and corrupt rulers for the sake of the people's liberty?"

"Yes," said Suzaku, "but once again, this all profits Smilas. What if it's no mere coincidence?"

"Are you suggesting that Smilas would be willing to actually allow V.V's monstrosities to destroy his own homeland just to gain power over the E.U?" asked Tohdoh.

"Until I am proven wrong, I am," said Suzaku.

Another communication came, this time with the designation of the man called OZ.

Smilas had contacted Leila, who hid Zero's presence in castle Weisswolf, and enacted on the urging of the general, to take up the name of her late father. To speak out to the frightened populace of Europe.

'Clever bastard,' thought Lelouch, watching as Leila finished her addressed. 'You created an instant martyr. All you need is for her to die don't you Smilas.'

He left to go to the medical wing where the wounded members of the Order of Michael, a specific group called the Ashra Force, were being tended to under armed guard. Kallen was at his side and from her face Lelouch could tell she had something on her mind.

"Is something wrong Kallen?" he asked as they reached the elevator.

"It's nothing," said Kallen.

The two got in the elevator and Lelouch hit the appropriate buttons before turning back to Kallen. He placed his fingers at her chin and brought her eyes to meet his.

"Kallen, please," he said.

"Lelouch...this...this really isn't the time for...this," said Kallen.

"We can have a few minutes now," said Lelouch. "Would really be so bad to use them to talk about...us?"

"Lelouch, I know what I agreed to do to your mother in exchange for my power," said Kallen. "But...but I need to know if you really want me...as a wife."

Lelouch stood silent, not entirely knowing what to say. The previous night had been...somewhat confusing for him. It was as if they both needed to just get wild passions out of their way, the frustrations of the days up to that point breaking any restraint between the two of them.

But this was a serious question Kallen asked, one Lelouch, with all his brilliance was searching his mind to answer.

Before he could speak the elevator doors opened to the medical level and Ohgi called to them.

"I promise Kallen, I will give you your answer soon," he said.

The Black King and the Red Queen walked up to Ohgi who stood next to the bed where Ashley Ashra sat with one arm cuffed to the railing while Shirley bandaged his bleeding head.

"So you're Prince Lelouch eh? I'd salute but as you can see my arms are a little fucked," said Ashley coyly. "I guess my luck finally ran out."

Lelouch activated his Geass and focused his will into Ashley's mind with the thought, 'answer all my questions truthfully'.

"How did you know to find this location?" asked Lelouch as the red rings formed along Ashley's irises.

"Those Eden Elite bastards had information on a 'rogue Geass' in the E.U," said Ashley.

Shirley gasped as she saw the red rings in the man's eyes, this being the first time she truly saw Lelouch's rumored power in action.

"Where did they get this information from?" asked Lelouch.

"Someone in the E.U called 'the General'," said Ashley.

"Smilas," said Ohgi.

"Why did you come here?" asked Lelouch.

"Desperation," said Ashley. "Better the devil you know than two guys you just met. I didn't like the look of that Lovecrest guy and whatever runs that Dagon thing. Especially when that bastard Shin revealed that the plan was to attack Euro Britannia as well. Then the bastard actually wants us to help in attacking our own damn country."

"And you disagreed with Shin on this didn't you?" asked Lelouch.

"What the fuck do you think you royal prick?" yelled Ashley, attempting to gesture to his injuries. "Me and my Ashra Force. But Shin's got the rest of the Order of Michael and Eden Elite soldiers backing him up. We barely made it away in time. Managed to steal a transport to get us here, beaten to shit as we were."

"So Shin's forces aren't far behind," said Lelouch.

"They were already planning an attack," said Ashley. "If you want to kill me but at least allow my men the treatment of prisoners of war."

Lelouch was somewhat surprised by Ashley's words, how he seemed to truly care about his men.

"You and your men will be kept under protective custody for now," said Lelouch. "If what you say is true than you've given us an effective early warning to incursion. That will reflect on what happens to you in the future. Now, what about the Cthulhu?"

"I don't know much about that thing other than despite its size it only has one operator," said Ashley. "This freak Lovecrest, looks like half a decaying corpse with cybernetic implants all throughout his body. Especially his face which is covered with these tentacle like cables. The guy made me sick just by looking at him. And that...power he had when he was presented with the bodies of our fallen soldiers as a demonstration. He actually made them move even though they were all dead. That's part of the plan as well. The Cthulhu kills people with its gas weapons and then Lovecrest himself, connected to the machine, raises the victims to meet E.U soldiers in the field."

"E.U soldiers forced to shoot down the reanimated remains of E.U citizens," said Ohgi. "If that were to be witnessed and manipulated in a certain way it could be used to sew discord in the E.U."

"What do you mean?" asked Shirley, tending to Ashley's sore body, strained by his movements

"If it were to be taken out of context it could make it look like the gas is merely driving people mad," said Ohgi. "In that case those citizens not yet attacked by the Cthulhu would see E.U soldiers slaughtering E.U citizens. This in turn causes an even greater degree of chaos within the E.U."

"If Euro Britannia weren't being attacked then this would be the ideal time to advance," said Kallen, picking up the pieces. "But why does V.V want to destroy part of his own empire?"

"That's a mystery for later," said Lelouch, releasing his old on Ashley.

Ashley blinked in confusion before his eyes settled on Lelouch and a smirk covered his face.

"I guess you've got a few tricks of your own eh," said Ashley.

Suzaku, dressed in his full gear as Kira, the White Reaper, stood along with Tohdoh waiting for an appearance from the mysterious OZ in a lone parking garage not far from where Smilas was stationed.

Neither Suzaku nor Tohdoh knew what OZ looked like so they had no true idea of what to expect. They waited for several minutes until finally a lone E.U officer walked up to their level. From hidden positions in the lot the various Holy Swords crouched at the ready in case of trouble.

"I'm unarmed," said the officer, raising his hands.

"Are you OZ?" asked Kira.

"Not yet," said the officer.

Suddenly the E.U officer's appearance shifted to a young man in dress of a Britannian noble and a silver face mask and orange hair. The young man removed the mask to reveal the symbol of Geass in his left eye, much like Lelouch.

"I take it you're Kira," said OZ, even his voice different. "The updates from the Order have been fairly consistent."

"I am," said Kira. "So your Geass makes you appear as other people."

"Something like that," said OZ. "I've been undercover in Smilas' inner circle for some time now. He plans to announce Leila Breisgau's death very soon."

"Even though she's very much alive," said Tohdoh, having observed Leila's message to the people of the E.U.

"A martyr for him to avenge and rally people to his side," said Kira.

"Effectively yes," said OZ. "Smilas seeks to become Emperor of Europe out of his disgust for the current government of the E.U's Republic. And even more with his perfect martyr, he intends to show he has the strength to overthrow E.U, once the people see how their government has betrayed them."

"How?" asked Kira.

OZ reached into his pocket and pulled out a thumb drive-like device and handed it to Kira. There was a small button which the White Reaper pressed, bringing up a holographic display.

From beneath his mask Suzaku's eyes widened. The display revealed the schematics of a massive Knightmare Frame, as well as detailed information network drones to be deployed in areas in which the E.U military would be in conjecture to the Cthulhu's gas bombs. And given Lovecrest's abilities to raise the dead, the plan became clear in Suzaku's mind.

All but one question.

"How did Smilas know where the Cthulhu would strike?" asked Kira.

The train to China had been delayed thanks to the Dagon's attack. Even if it had not been so, the party Tianzi had been a part of would not have left, if only because of another surprise.

"I will not leave," said Tianzi, all the strength her tiny voice could muster.

"Empress please, the situation is far to dangerous..."

"Li Xingke, I swore to an alliance with Lady Marianne and to propose the alliance to the Grand Duke," said Tianzi. "I cannot simply leave when the work is not finished."

"I agree with Empress Tianzi," said Kaguya. "Even if Lady Marianne is not here we must continue her objectives. We cannot hope to secure our alliance if we leave. Especially if the Sapphire Crusaders are already engaged in battle with the Dagon. We need to ensure our intentions are well known to the government of Euro Britannia."

Xingke was about to object but once again his Empress interjected. This time grabbing Xingke's hand and glaring at him with eyes showing a strength he had never seen in her eyes before. For so long she had been timid and shy but ever since seeing Marianne's grace and strength, she had wanted to do all she could to become a stronger person herself.

Seeing Marianne's capture was painful for her, especially as Marianne herself had ordered everyone to allow her to be captured, and she had been silent while evacuation attempts had been made. Until now, she had said nothing, until now.

"For the good of our own nation," Tianzi continued. "We must ensure that the alliance Lady Marianne propositioned if we ourselves are to hope to challenge the Eden Elite. For us to do so we must be willing to take dangerous risks. I must be willing to take dangerous risks."

"Empress," said Xingke.

"Please," said Tianzi.

Xingke looked up to the other girls, from Anya to Euphemia, and he saw they all had the same kind of determination in their eyes as his young Empress did. They were willing to face the dangers and challenges of this war, without fear and with all the courage they could muster. Finally Xingke looked down back at his Empress and smiled.

"As you wish your majesty," said Xingke.

When a group of Crusaders brought the Valiant, Rivalz made sure to bring Maria and Alice, and he was glad that the cockpit of the Valiant was so spacious. As the three of them ran to the palace, Rivalz kept an eye on the Dagon as it continued to avoid the weapons of the Elysium and continued to drop objects from its body.

'Those aren't bombs, at least not according to the reports I'm tapping into,' thought Rivalz.

As he continued to urge the Knightmare onward, the Dagon flew overhead and one of its falling objects came down in the path of the Valiant.

Rivalz managed to stop his machine before it hit the object.

"What the hell?" asked Rivalz.

The red cylindrical object opened up revealed a serpentine machine with what appeared to be a cannon in its 'mouth', aiming said cannon at the Valiant. Rivalz brought up the Valiant's shield just in time to deflect the blast. Amidst the screams of the two women Rivalz couldn't help but think that the other objects must be just like this one and the way they were being continuously spread throughout the city by the Dagon made Cornelia's efforts minimal at best.

Even if the main machine was being kept at bay these smaller devices would still be more than effective at destroying the city.

Rivalz used his Geass to delve deep into the other machine, feeling out that it was indeed a drone. However his hacking attempts were being blocked by whatever sophisticated technology was in it.

'This is not going to be fun,' thought Rivalz.

Throughout the rest of Europe, as the Cthulhu rained down gas bomb after gas bomb, indeed in that plume of toxic smog the victims of the poison gas rose again. In their lifeless eyes red rings formed around their irises. With in the smoke, drones armed with special cameras had flown from out of the greater beast. They captured the images of the lifeless corpses lumbering across the cities in which they had once played and worked with the innocence of common folk. Now they were dead, and their remains were nothing more than the mindless puppets of the master of the Cthulhu.

"Life, so finite, so fragile," said Lovecrest, to his lifeless guards who stood before him as he sat at the controls of the massive machine. "Death, eternal, inevitable, beautiful. Should I ever meet 11-RC again I must thank him, and his friends. Thanks to them I have found greater truths than I could have ever imagined."

Lovecrest sat with all his limbs connected to cables, making himself a part of the machine. And what a machine it was. Massive not only in size but in power. He could feel the ancient hum of the circuitry, laid out in designs so foreign to modern science that indeed they would have been confused for the workings of extraterrestrials.

But no, this wondrous creation was the child of a civilization of advanced humans. Allowed a greater understanding than their descendants could ever hope to achieve. All through the acceptance and practice of Geass. In many ways the tales of the old Geass Civilization were of a world in which science and religion were one and the same. The work of their scientists honoring the Geass and that which made their power so great.

Creating gods of their own for the unenlightened to look upon and gawk at.

And Lovecrest felt like a god. It only made sense as he had finally shed all of his humanity the day he used his Geass to spare his brain when Cornelia shot him. Undamaged enough to work, but no longer a living organ, he was no longer truly human. A combination of this power and his own brilliance had allowed him to surpass even his finest works, 11-RC and 11-QB.

He hoped that he would get a chance to meet up with the former again. As for the latter, it was unfortunate that it had been destroyed. But, possibilities were still limitless, for one who felt like a god.

Watching all the events from his throne room, V.V. smiled.

"A dragon in the East, a kraken in the West, and you are to contend with a madman in the middle," said V.V. "I wonder just how you will resolve this all my nephew. And even should you achieve victory, will it taste sweet to you, after whatever price you've been forced to pay?"

"Exactly what satisfaction does this grant you?" asked Marianne, sighing as the injuries of the latest torture, the whip, healed.

"Primal urges mostly," said Bludbierd.

Marianne now was strung up with her arms held by a chain at a rail on the ceiling, her feet chained to the floor, and her rag outfit now tattered shreds on the floor leaving her bruised and naked.

"If you're done now then release me," said Marianne. "My children are expecting me, my son in need of my guidance, and my daughter must be terrified thanks to you."

"I'm sure she is," said Bludbierd. "And your son, I fear he shall face quite the challenge with two Ancients brought back to life. I fear for all the cleverness the boy shows, he shall fail. I shall ensure he does. His ambitions work in counter to mine after all. I must make efforts then to destroy him as he attempts to hold up society. Thus why in truth I took efforts to abduct you."

"Lelouch will not forsake his goals for my sake," said Marianne. "He survived the loss of my beloved Charles. He can survive my loss as well."

"What makes you think I intend to separate mother from son?" asked Bludbierd.

Bludbierd's eyes then glowed with the shine of Geass and Marianne gasped.

"It can't be," she said. "Code Geass."

"Yes, the ever rare combination," said Bludbierd.

He then walked up to Marianne, placing his fingers at her chin as she continued to gasp in terror.

"I had come to Euro Britannia in observation of a subject of considerable interest," said Bludbierd. "I had so many ideas for her. But I believe you should do far better."

Marianne, this time filled with true terror as blood poured from Bludbierd's nostrils, screamed loudly as Bludbierd forced a bloody kiss into her mouth, his powerful Geass piercing her mind.