Geass: Alpha & Omega

Stage Eight

Conundrum

"Everything was going as planned, until an unexpected turn of events caused me to rethink the whole of the situation up to that point." —Excerpt from the diary of Lelouch vi Britannia to Ambassador Nunnally vi Britannia dated June 21st, 2035 a.t.b.

March 14th 2035 a.t.b.

"How the hell do I get myself into these situations?" Enoch mumbled to himself as he crept along the darkened and badly damaged anti-mecha gun-battery section of the interior of the Hammurabi. The dim blue-white emergency lights of the Babylonian warship made the amber eyes of the cyborg a deep red while he searched for an undamaged interior access door.

The corpses of Babylonian crewmen were strewn around in the ruined area. Enoch found a dead Babylonian technician about his size and build and stripped off the man's intact uniform. "Sorry buddy, but you don't need these clothes anymore." He looked down at his shredded KMF flight suit and chortled as he removed the rags and donned the dead man's suit, "besides, I can't go walking around this ship with my dork hanging out."

"Guess I slammed my Zebulun into this section a little too hard," he said aloud. Enoch mused over his situation, giving the entire corridor of sparking electrical wire, crushed metal beams, and twisted conduit a good once over with his enhanced cybernetic ocular sensors before he formulated a plan.

His eyes came to rest on an undamaged ventilation duct cover. He snickered to himself, "It's cliché, but it's big enough for me to slip into the ship through."

Apsu took hold of the right side of the metallic grate with his left hand and folded the grill back, with no effort, into left side of the wall like an accordion.

The corridor beyond the grille was well lit with small blue-white rectangular LEDs all along its sides. "At least I can see where I'm going," he joked to himself knowing the light was not needed for him to see in total darkness. He had delayed going in search for his friends for as long as Lelouch had planned for him to—perhaps a little too long—and now it was imperative that he find CC and Lelouch as fast as he could.

Apsu lunged down into the five-foot by five-foot tunnel and raced along on all fours like a cheetah, at speeds that no human could match, until he came upon a grate to his left.

Enoch scanned the large, well-lit hallway outside the lattice metal cover and hesitated to break through it, "I hate to wreck such fine metal-work, but—"

He slipped his fingers through the holes nearest the edges of the grille and carefully tore through the metal like the perforated paper edge of a spiral notepad. After freeing three sides of the grille he gently folded it outward and moved into the hall. Apsu bent the metallic cover back into place the best he was able, and started down the corridor.

I hope the ship's security cameras didn't see me," he thought to himself while at a brisk pace. He spied the walls of the desolate hallway for computer terminals, passing several closed doors as he did so.

Enoch stopped at a "T" in the passageway where a small computer terminal rested directly in front of him. "This'll do," he put his naked hand over the keypad and watched for anyone that might come into the hall. Instantly the computer terminal came to life as he accessed the ship's internal network.

He smiled, "found them, but first I need to make a pit-stop." Enoch searched for a supply room and armory through the vessel's digital schemata. Apsu heard a door open behind him down the hall. He just barely finished his task before having to leave the terminal due to a pair of crewmen coming out of one of the rooms nearby.

Enoch started in the direction of the supply room, "sit tight Lelouch, I'm on my way."

"Do you think the Sargon will be safe here?" Enkidu asked in the fading darkness of the alien moon. The two men opened the hatch of the Babylonian machine allowing the darkened cockpit to be flooded by the reflected light of the ringed gas-giant that filled the night sky as it rose over the horizon. The radiance from the massive world illuminated the lagoon which lay some distance below them. Many of the gaseous planet's moons could be seen in the bright light of the astral body while it ascended.

Gilgamesh popped his head out the cockpit hatch and looked out over the cliff face towards the lagoon below, "the Sargon will be fine for now. I doubt any of them suspects we're here." Gilgamesh motioned to a small compartment at the back of the cockpit. "Hand me the three Thermite charges from the survival pack would you."

"I suppose you're right," Enkidu nodded while handing the three grenades to his superior. He was apprehensive at the thought of them trying to infiltrate the enemy encampment since the two of them were badly outnumbered. "How do you intend on getting in there?" He asked.

Gilgamesh put the three spherical devices into pouches designed specifically for them in his utility-belt and started towards the top of the cliff. "Follow me, and I'll show you."

The two men moved quickly through the fern-like foliage along an animal path that led them into an open field. Enkidu saw Gilgamesh stop a few times while they traveled through the brush towards the dim glow of orange-yellow light on the side of a large mountain in the distance.

"We must move swiftly, yet quietly," Gilgamesh told his friend with the sigils of Geass burning in his eyes.

"Understood," Enkidu nodded. He knew his friend had used his power to analyze the situation and formulate a plan of action.

A pair of Type-21B "Bushido" KMFs flanked a Type-21J "Samurai" at the well-lit mouth of the cave. The three units guarded the entrance with several armed crewman at their feet.

"We'll go in through that side outcropping of rocks," Gilgamesh pointed in the direction of a small cluster of boulders on one side of the cave just behind the large, yellow flood lamps. The power of Geass left his eyes.

"Won't the sensors of their Automatos detect us?" Enkidu inquired with apprehension in his voice.

"In a moment, it won't matter if they can." Gilgamesh smiled.

Three large explosions detonated in the direction of the path they had taken.

Immediately the three KMFs zoomed into action towards the detonations. Their sensor heads panning the darkness of the now burning inferno of ferns, and dried underbrush.

"Now," Gilgamesh whispered to Enkidu in the commotion of the guards moving towards the fire in an orderly, but cautious manner.

The two Babylonians slipped past the guards during the confusion without incident and made their way into the interior of the cavern.

They rushed through the dimly lit corridor of stone towards the brightly illuminated chamber some distance ahead.

"It's a city," Enkidu whispered in awe as they reached the other end of the cave entrance.

"I see that," Gilgamesh said to his companion in a low tone. There beyond them, under the great stone ceiling of the artificial mountain, was an ancient city of megalithic rock ablaze with light and the flurry of the Kaminejima's crew.

"It must be a sacred citadel of the Old Ones," Enkidu said to his companion.

"I agree," Gilgamesh replied. He looked over the large metropolis. "It would seem our quarry is making camp on the other side of the city."

Enkidu pointed at the long line of Knightmare Frames to the left of the encampment, "looks like they still have about a dozen Automatos."

"Indeed," Gilgamesh looked at the towering figures whose upper halves cast long shadows on the stone wall behind them. "Pity that their machines aren't similar to our own. I wouldn't mind taking home a trophy."

"Meh," Enkidu scoffed, "our Sargon are far superior to their mecha."

Gilgamesh laughed, "Prejudice are you?"

Enkidu snickered, "I suppose I am." His attention turned to a well lit staircase several yards from where they crouched within a nook of the cave wall. "How do you plan on getting down into the city with the only apparent way showered in light and no doubt being watched?"

Gilgamesh's gaze followed along the rim of the depression that the metropolis rested in. His eyes just barely caught the flat top of a roof only a few yards above the lip some distance away. He nodded towards the rooftop, "well jump down onto that building there, and make our way to its ground level, and then we'll move into the interior of the city."

Enkidu sighed, "I thought you might say something like that."

"We have finished our sweep of the damaged section milady," Adad raised his chin in the air, "there is no sign of Enoch Apsu."

Ishtar scowled at him, "then it is possible he is on this ship."

Adad smiled at her sarcastically, "I highly doubt it milady. His mecha was totally destroyed when it impacted the hull. If he did survive the impact, he was almost certainly thrown into space."

Her glare was cold and hard while she replied, "I hope so Adad, for your sake. We cannot allow that interloper to meddle in this plan. This operation is the culmination of centuries of inquiry and research by our lord Marduk. We must take every precaution to ensure the success of this mission. Therefore, I want those two Hakodeshim loaded onto a fold-shuttle and prepared for immediate departure just in case."

A befuddled expression crossed Adad's face, "Of course milady. Forgive me for asking, but has our lord Marduk really been conducting centuries of research for this mission?"

Ishtar was not entirely comfortable with discussing the details of their operation on the bridge in front of the common crewmen, but she reasoned that anyone hearing it would keep silent knowing full well that if they didn't they would be dealt with severely. "Yes, our king has been searching for a way to reactivate Nibiru for some time now. Ever since he sensed the activation of The Altar of Nibiru (Sword of Akasha/Ragnarok) he has focused his will to gaining control of the power of the Old Ones. Even now he has ordered us to head for the planet Ba'al (Jupiter) and activate the ancient relic-world."

Adad was aghast, "but what of the Grecian base here, and what of the Galactic Council? Surely our king realizes that a full scale invasion of the Helios star system (Sol) will bring down their wrath."

Ishtar eyed him with venom, "he knows Adad, but he also knows that the council if filled with withered old fools who will fail to act soon enough to stop us. Already they've called for a hearing on this matter."

"I see," Adad was uncomfortable with bringing down the whole of civilized space down on their heads, "so we must move swiftly then."

"Indeed," Ishtar replied upon seeing his understanding of the situation, "which is why we had to acquire these." She held out the gatherer that contained the codes of C.C. and Lelouch.

"Shall I order the fleet to prepare to leave for the Helios system?" Adad asked in a respectful tone.

"Yes commander." Ishtar smiled, "prepare the fleet for fold operations at once and set course for Nibiru."

"What do you make of it Charles?" Marianne inquired from where she and the others stood on the back porch of Brunswick Castle. The whole of the Britannian capitol stood out around them identical to what it had been in the world of the living before the FLEIJA blast from Damocles had transported it to C's World.

Nonette Enneagram brought over a silver serving tray of tea and cookies, "it certainly is rather odd." She said while putting the tray down on a nearby table.

Charles looked over to his older brother V.V., "it's the Tempest of Tammuz."

"The what?" Marianne asked.

"The destruction of C's World," Charles answered her gravely without taking his eyes off his brother. "It is an all consuming abyss that will swallow everything within this dimension."

Clovis was shocked, "Does this mean we'll all…die…here in C's World?"

Marianne and Nonette were too stunned to speak.

V.V. contemplated what his brother put forward and answered before Charles, "No, not exactly. It was known to us within the upper echelon of the Geass Order that C's World was a falsification. A sub-dimensional realm generated by the Dyson sphere that orbits Jupiter. It uses the gas-giant as a sort of hard drive that stores information it gathers within the electromagnetically charged gases of Jupiter through an interdimensional medium. The information is stored within the gases of Jupiter on a sub-quantum level and is thus both inside the real world and inside C's world at the same time. The sheer magnitude of the planet allows near unlimited storage of information, which the Dyson sphere uses to keep an almost exact record of everything within its sphere of influence."

"Almost?" Clovis queried.

V.V. tittered, "yes, even a machine as advanced as this one makes the occasional mistake. However, the primary information is kept intact. Our personalities for example, and who we were in real life is stored here in an almost exact copy of what it really was."

Nonette looked out across the distance to where the storm approached, "but how does this machine know the difference between what is real and what is here in C's World."

Charles answered her, "it doesn't so far as we of the Geass Order could tell. For example, when it absorbed Marianne and me into it, the mechanism simply transferred our data into storage here in this false world instead of erasing us completely."

"Assuming it can erase us," V.V. added. "We of the Geass Order surmised that this world is false because we came from what we assume to be a natural, and thus real, world. What manner of energy transfers actually take place after death, where our informational data goes, and what natural mechanisms are responsible were never known to us."

"If this Tempest of Tammuz won't kill us, what will it do?" Clovis desperately wanted to know.

Charles addressed him calmly, "think of it as a computer program designed to compress our data back into the Dyson sphere. As it absorbs all of the information it has stored over its long history within Jupiter, the machine will sort through what it considers necessary and omit what it considers redundancies."

V.V. gave Clovis a sad look, "though I doubt we will realize where we are once we've been absorbed back into the sphere. In all likelihood we'll be stored in the quantum-computer banks of the Dyson sphere. I imagine the sensation will resemble being asleep."

Clovis and the others hung their heads despondently, resolved to their fate, and then sat down at the small table for tea as the storm clouds began to loom overhead.

"They're gone!" Nunnally sat up in her bed naked, and drenched in sweat from the intensity of the dream that roused her. "I can't hear them anymore!"

Her outburst brought Jason rushing to her room from his own next door, "what is it Lady Nunnally." He flipped on the light switch as he burst in. The soft yellow overhead lamps illuminated the room and Nunnally's exposed breasts.

"Jason!" Nunnally pulled her covers over her bare bosom.

He turned beet red with embarrassment as he averted his gaze from her fine form, "a thousand pardons milady. I'm sorry…I just thought."

Seeing this hardened warrior blush made her laugh, "thank you for your swift response Jason." She giggled while her cheeks burned red, "and your sense of modesty...though next time you may want to put some pants on first."

"Eh?" Jason looked down to see he was only wearing his undergarments. He put his hand on the back of his head, "oh, ha…uh, I'll go fetch some right away, and be back in a moment."

"I'll be waiting," she said softly.

It took Nunnally only moments to don her nightgown and robe. She opened up the small refrigeration unit in her room that held orange juice and other refreshments. Nunnally had barely finished pouring herself a glass of OJ when Jason knocked on her door.

"Come in Jason," Nunnally told him while filling a second glass of orange juice.

He walked into the room slowly and made his way over to where she sat by a tall observation window. Jason took the drink she handed him as he sat down in a chair adjacent to her own.

"I'm sorry about bursting in…" he started.

"Don't be," she put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm honored that you would come to my aid so quickly."

"May I ask what nightmare cause you to shout with such fear?" Jason asked.

Nunnally looked out into the swirling colors of hyperspace, "the voices are gone."

"Voices?"

"Yes," she replied with a grin, "I know it may sound insane, but ever since the Tartarus left Earth both I and C2 have heard the voices of those that have died. Nearly every night I've been able to hear their conversations, or at least feel them. But now…" Her eyes grew wide, "they're gone Jason."

Jason of Argos knew better than to question the visions of an Oracle, but his curiosity and concern for Nunnally forced out his query, "where have they gone?"

Nunnally was silent in thought for many moments before she answered, "Into Nibiru…they've gone into Nibiru."

The stench of sweat offended Lelouch's olfactory senses while he hung from the manacles within his cell. He was still in the same tattered rags of his destroyed flight suit that he'd been wearing for days since both he and C.C. had been captured by the Babylonians.

Lelouch's stomach ached with hunger while he waited for the next phase of his plan to begin. "You'd better get here soon Old Man," Lelouch grumbled aloud. He turned his attention over to where C.C. hung naked from her own chains.

"Hey, C2, you still with me?" Lelouch inquired of her softly.

She did not respond, but only hung her head down towards the floor.

"C2!" Lelouch said louder, "can you hear me? Are you still alive?" Fear welled up in Lelouch's mind, "ANSWER ME DAMIT!"

C.C.'s head moved up wearily and her eyes opened partially. "Pizza." She whispered.

"Yep," Lelouch grouched, "You're still alive."

The door lock indicator to their cell changed from red to green.

"C2, pretend to be delirious," Lelouch order her even though he reasoned that she truly was already. He hung his head and feigned being unconscious while the door to the chamber slid open.

Lelouch heard only one person enter the room. The footsteps of the individual got closer to him. Close enough for him to use his Geass.

Instantly, Lelouch flipped his head up with both sigils of Geass burning in his eyes, "I Lelouch vi Britannia command—"

"Nice to see you're still okay there Big-Z," Enoch tittered upon seeing Lelouch scowl.

"You could have said it was you," Lelouch scolded him.

Enoch gave him a wide grin, "Well…I'm trying to keep a low profile considering I've put the prison block's security cameras into a loop. I didn't think it would be wise to announce my presence." Enoch grabbed hold of Lelouch's manacles and tore them apart gently like tissue-paper. "The deception won't last forever, but long enough for us to make our escape, provided we hurry."

Lelouch nearly fell to his knees from weakness but Enoch caught hold of him. "I haven't eaten." Lelouch told him in a winded tone.

"I can see that," Enoch sat him down on the metallic floor and opened up a brown duffel bag he had brought with him. "Here," Apsu tossed Lelouch a wrapped bar, "its Babylonian emergency food rations and here's a canteen of water." Enoch passed him a large, 2-quart, container made of some kind of plastic.

Lelouch drank first, then opened up the wrapper of the bar and sank his teeth into the soft material that smelt of molasses, nuts, and honey. "Mmmm, not bad," Lelouch took another swig of water and ate more of the food.

C.C.'s head propped up and her eyes fluttered. "Pizza," she mumbled.

Enoch opened up another of the bars he had taken from the bag and blew over it towards C.C.'s face.

Her nostrils twitched for a moment before her eyes shot open, "FOOD!"

"Shhhh!" Enoch put his finger over his mouth. "Be quiet." Apsu snapped her bonds easily and helped her to the floor before giving her the food ration.

She devoured it quickly between gulps of water. C.C. eyed him lovingly, "Enoch darling, may I have another?"

Apsu sighed, "Not now gorgeous. We've got to get you out of here." He pulled two large towels wrapped in clear plastic, and a pair of uniforms out of the large bag, "here use the dry-wash towels to wash up with, then put these clothes on."

"Phase two is complete," Lelouch told them while wiping himself down with the white towel. "Now, if you've gotten what I asked for Old Man, the third task should be easy."

Enoch raised an eyebrow, "you mean these?" He pulled out a pair of Geass inhibitors. One was a headband intended for men while the other was a wide-banded tiara clearly intended for a woman. Enoch also pulled three long tubular devices that reminded Lelouch of old black-powder dueling pistols.

Lelouch finished zipping up his clothes then took the headband and pistol from Enoch, "I'm glad to see you Old Man. You had me worried that you'd gotten killed or lost in space."

Enoch smiled, "you're not getting rid of me that easily." A female voice made an announcement in Babylonian over the ship's internal communications system. Enoch frowned, "Great, the Hammurabi is preparing for a fold, we need to go."

C.C. looked worried, "Where to now Lelouch?"

"The hangar deck," Lelouch told them, "they will no doubt move our Hakodeshim into a shuttle to transport it off this ship. We need to find that shuttle and commandeer it."

"How can you be so sure they'll do that?" C.C. snickered and put on the Geass inhibitor tiara.

Lelouch smiled mischievously at her while fitting his headband, "because that's exactly what I'd do."

The trio briskly headed out of the cell block towards a row of elevators. They passed by crewmen in worker's uniforms and a few guards without incident before getting into one of the turbo-lifts.

"Which level?" Lelouch asked.

"Let me find out," Enoch put his hand over the computer panel on the side of the elevator. "Level 21," Apsu said taking his hand off the panel.

A group of eight guards came running down the hall towards their elevator cabin just as the doors closed.

"What were they yelling?" C.C. asked Enoch.

"Stop," he replied solemnly. "We're out of time. We're going to have to move to the shuttle as fast as we can."

"Can you fly it?" Lelouch asked him.

Enoch gave him a pat on the shoulder and winked, "Of course I can. You didn't bring along just for my good looks."

"Lady Ishtar," the tactical officer on the bridge of the Hammurabi dared to address her directly without going through his superior officer: Adad.

She eyed him coldly, "yes? What is it?"

The officer apprehensively glanced over between her and Adad, "security reports that the prisoners have escaped."

"What?" Ishtar hissed. She spun on her heel to face Adad where he stood, "so…it was impossible for Enoch to be on my ship was it?"

"Milady, we don't know if they escaped with any help," Adad protested.

Ishtar backhanded him across the face, "do not try my patience, Adad." Her strike did not faze him nearly as much as her words, "I either want the prisoners captured alive, or your head. Do I make myself clear?"

The man only nodded in response, then strode towards the bridge elevators as fast as his legs would take him.

"The situation doesn't look good," Lelouch told his companions in a low tone so as not to alert the enemy to their position behind a stack of cargo containers. Large groups of soldiers were combing the cavernous hangar bay with sensor wands and lance-shaped energy rifles.

Enoch armed his pistol and showed Lelouch and C.C. how to do the same, "I can't justify endangering you and C.C. in a massive firefight. Therefore, I don't intend on fighting the whole security force on the flight deck," he sighed, "but I realize that now that they're on to us, there isn't any way we can get past them without a fight." Apsu turned to Lelouch, "any chance you can use your Geass on one of those squads to bolster our chances."

Lelouch frowned, "No, not with their visors down. They're clearly taking precautions against the power of Geass."

Enoch considered the situation and put his hand on Lelouch's shoulder, "I might have to create a distraction for you two to get to the ship, and in all likelihood you may have to leave me behind."

They didn't notice C.C. slip away.

"You know I can't do that Old Man," Lelouch shook his head, "I can't fly that shuttle." Lelouch turned to ask C.C., "C2 what do you think—what the? Damn her, where the hell did she go?"

"Great," Enoch griped as he and Lelouch looked around for their dirty-blonde haired friend.

"There!" Lelouch announced as he caught site of her walking up to a group of technicians working on a pair of Sargon-IVs.

Enoch tittered, "those techies aren't wearing Geass inhibitors."

Lelouch smiled, "Cunning witch. We'd better get over there to assist."

They moved towards C.C. in a crouch to avoid the soldiers as quickly as they were able.

C.C. strode up to the group of mecha-technicians who were preparing the Sargon's for immediate take off should the need arise. "Hello gentlemen," she cooed seductively while unzipping the top of her jumpsuit.

Her interruption caused the techs to turn towards her as she exposed the top of her breasts and activated her Geass.

Even though the technicians didn't understand her words, the effect of her Geass was no less potent; in short the men didn't stand a chance. Her power grabbed hold of them instantly.

Two of the men closest to her got down on their knees and made propositions in Babylonian towards her. Another grabbed hold of her hand and kissed it. C.C. smiled at them warmly and caressed the man's face that still held her hand.

A male voice called out sternly in Babylonian from behind C.C. causing her to spin on her heel and face the newcomers with her Geass power.

Panic crossed her face upon her realizing that the man speaking to her was leading a squad of six armed Babylonian soldiers whose Geass inhibitors were down.

The leader of the squad of soldiers apparently noticed her inability to understand him and touched a device on the lapel of his uniform, "hold where you are C2. I am Adad, the current second in command of this vessel. I hereby order you to surrender yourself and tell me where your companion is."

C.C. giggled at him, "I'm not yours to command." She backed up into the group of techies as they surrounded her protectively.

Adad gave commands to the techies in Babylonian, but the men stood firm against his orders. The commander issued orders to his squad of solders and the troopers open fire on the techies, killing many of them. At the same time, a technician at the open cockpit of the Sargon-IV jumped in it and closed the hatch of the mecha. He caused the machine to pick up a Hades-Lance and combat shield nearby.

Another hail of Hades-blasts ripped through the techies towards C.C. who tripped over a power cable as she tried to flee to the safety of the cargo containers.

She instinctively held up her arms to protect herself from the beams streaking towards her when someone jumped in front of her.

The Hades-blasts slammed into the man's chest, burning through his clothing, but did nothing to the gold-tinted skin beneath it.

The Babylonian pilot of the Sargon-IV went into a rage and started firing heavy-Hades cannon blasts from the lance of the mecha into the mass of soldiers. Adad dove towards a nearby mecha gantry—containing a blood-red Sargon-V—and just barely dodged the deadly volley.

"You okay gorgeous?" Enoch asked as Lelouch took hold of C.C.'s arm to help her to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she replied with a smile at Lelouch. "It's been a long time since I've used my Geass. I wasn't sure if my plan would work."

He gave her a warm grin, "A beautiful witch wooing a bunch of lonely men, how could it not?" A stray Hades-bolt zipped past them as the Sargon-IV felled another group of soldiers, "I suggest we use the chaos you've caused to make a break for the ship."

She nodded at him.

"I'll provide us some cover," Enoch said picking up C.C.'s pistol where it had fallen on the ground and taking his own from its holster.

"Let's go," Lelouch told him while holding C.C.s hand.

The three companions raced through the hangar towards the spade-shaped gun-metal gray shuttle that held their pair of Hakodeshim. The Hades-pistols in Enoch's hands blazed while they approached the spacecraft. Groups of soldiers closed in towards them but were stopped by the rampaging Sargon-IV as the pilot tried to protect C.C. from harm.

The Sargon-IV made it all the way to the shuttle before a blast from another Hades-lance slammed into the side of the machine. A blood-red Sargon-V flew through the hangar deck towards the Sargon-IV, dodging the wild blasts from the inferior mecha.

The trio of escapees made it up the ramp to the shuttle's side airlock. Enoch immediately tossed C.C. her pistol and then placed his naked hand over the lock of the hatch.

"Hurry up Old Man!" Lelouch yelled while using his pistol to fell three soldiers that had made it past the now badly damaged Sargon-IV.

"Got it!" Enoch removed his hand as the hatch slid open. He put his body between his friends and the approaching mass of Babylonian soldiers. Enoch returned fire on the troopers through the barrage of blasts that impacted the sides of the shuttle. He moved backwards through the airlock once C.C. and Lelouch were safely inside.

Lelouch shut the door and locked it as soon as Enoch came through. "Let's get to the bridge."

"Stop them!" Adad demanded of his remaining troopers over the communicator of his Sargon-V upon seeing his prey enter the shuttle and shut the hatch. His blood-red machine dodged another wild assault by the Sargon-IV that stood in his way.

He closed the distance between himself and the shuttle in a mad dash as the ship's Ion engines came online.

"NO! I will not fail!" He lunged his Sargon-V at the spacecraft with its Hadron-Lance in a blind rage.

He was nearly upon the ship when he caught sight of the damaged Sargon-IV out of his peripheral vision. "Damn you, you stupid fool!" Adad tried to twist his machine around to parry with its shield but it was too late. The Hadron-lance of the Sargon-IV pierced deep into the cockpit of Adad's machine and crashed with the blood-red mecha into the main doors of the hangar deck where both of them detonated in a large explosion that caused the whole chamber to decompress.

"That poor man," C.C. said sadly upon seeing the pair of mecha blow up on the main hangar. "He gave his life for me."

"Don't feel bad for him gorgeous," Enoch replied from the helmsman's position of the shuttle's bridge. "He was as good as dead anyway. The Babylonians don't tolerate failure."

"The decompression has bought us some time," Lelouch said from where he sat next to Enoch. Lelouch manned the navigator's control console, "I think I can get a hang of this navigational system."

Enoch gave him a surprised look, "even without being able to read Babylonian?"

"You did load the translation program into your brain before we left the Kaminejima didn't you?" Lelouch gave him a worried look.

Enoch waited a moment, and then let out a chuckle, "of course I did. Though I have to admit I was a little curious why you wanted me to do that before we left." Enoch loaded the English-language translation program into the shuttle's computer.

C.C. leaned on Lelouch's chair, "We make a good team don't we guys?"

"Yes we do," Lelouch chortled and started plotting a course for Earth.

Enoch drove the shuttle out of the hangar at blinding speed. He dodged the continuous hail of Hades beam fire from the Hammurabi, while flying the craft as fast as the shuttle's engines could take it.

In a few moments Lelouch finished the complicated calculations and entered them into the hyperspace navigational computer. He gave Enoch a sly smile, "the last task at hand has been cleared. Ready when you are Enoch."

Apsu smiled, "not bad Big-Z. I might make a Hero out of you yet."

C.C. slapped Enoch gently on the shoulder, "Can we just go home."

"One step ahead of you," Lelouch said confidently.

In a flash the shuttle folded.