Deception of War

Chapter 1: Meeting

             Currently, everything was going wrong for Ensign Ledo. He had been ripped away from the font, the battle against the Hideauze was still raging in the heavens overhead and he, a soldier, completely trapped, at some unknown destination, unable to make contact with his comrades. The machine that enveloped his being sprang to life and resurrected him from hibernation. This machine was the last relic from his former life, and his only source of information. K6821 Chamber with its program designed specifically to ensure that its pilot excels at his assigned task, explains the situation to Ledo.

                “Pilot: Ensign Ledo”

“All bodily functions continuing normally, assessment of surrounding unknown region completed”

“Nitrogen accounts for 78% of the atmosphere, oxygen 21% and argon 0.9%. Conclusion: stable for human existence. One life form detected, threat level: Minimum. Humanoid.”

Ensign Ledo sharply assessed his surroundings from the cockpit of Chamber. Wrapping his head around what he saw was an entirely different matter. It was densely packed with vegetation, Ledo had seen only this much green in one part of Avalon, he didn’t know what to make of it, they weren’t on Avalon, so this should not be feasible. Twinkling stars met his eyes as he glanced up, yet they were all unfamiliar, they were in the wrong places, not at all like the great gas giants that he was used to. It was dark and the only light that was emulating, was a moon shining silver high up above his head.

“Pilot: Ensign Ledo has been hibernating for 92,457 minutes, once assessing of the terrain had been completed, awaken process began”

Ledo exclaimed “I have been out of battle for 2 months?! I must return to the front at once! Chamber! Send out a distress beacon to the fleet.”

“Unable to comply, location of closest commander unknown. Current location unknown. More information required. Conclusion: Ensign must explore surrounding terrain.”

Unharnessing himself from the cockpit chair, he ordered Chamber to open. The hatch, bulbous and black drew back in one solid motion, in the same instant, Ledo withdrew his clear, yellow helmet allowing the slight breeze glance across his face. Slowly rising from the horizontal machine, he stared around in wonder. New sounds met his ears, the rustle of leaves and the note of chill set in night’s air excited Ledo like nothing had before. He, completely forgetting about the minimal risk lifeform approaching from the left, threw back his head in newfound serenity.

Crunch.

Ledo snapped back into military mode. Withdrawing his black pistol, he pointed it straight at a target. Shrouded in black, the night seemed unwilling to part with a single inch of the unknown humanoid. Ledo announced in a stern unwavering voice “Identify yourself! Do you fall in line with the command of the Galactic Alliance or are you rouge?”

All fell on deaf ears, yet the advancement of the figure suspended. Luminescence of the moon fell slightly over its face, revealing a boy comparably the same age of Ledo, with black hair and piercing deep purple eyes. His facial expression was that of disbelief, glancing left and right over the whole of Chamber, only snapping to Ledo’s frame when a gun had been pointed.

                “wodf gojir leift areo youf? Fsiogri coghrfjgikr gsdk driros idf ia!?”

The boy spoke only gibberish according to Ledo, yet chamber assessed the language and supplied a complete translation for Ensign Ledo.

                “Who are you? How did you get a Knightmare Frame!?”

Ledo repeated “Identify yourself! Do you fall in line with the command of the Galactic Alliance or are you rouge?” ignoring the words of the unknown. Chamber provided the translation.

After a slight pause, the figure answered (translated for Ledo), “I am Lelouch Lamperouge. I have no idea what the ‘galactic alliance’ is and can you please lower your gun. Its making me feel uneasy. You are in the park of a school I attend, and am quite curious why YOU are here.”

After some deliberation, Ledo decided to lower his weapon and gather information from this minimal-risk human. He leaped down from the head of Chamber, landing on solid earth. Still not believing he was on an actual habitable planet, he stared down and around in wonder, yet keeping tabs on this “Lelouch”.

They stood a few feet away from one another, eyeing each other with a sense of cold hostility, unaware of the tremendous comradery they will experience in the years to come. The wind had picked up slightly, dramatically rushing past the opposing characters. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Lelouch thrust his hand directly forward, with an open palm. Ledo reacted by lightly stepping back and snapping his gun from the holster, again pointing it at Lelouch.

Chamber began analyzing the actions of Lelouch by drawing on an extensive historical database.

“Action analysis complete, Conclusion: sign of friendship given. Best course of action to gather information, mimic the gesture and create an up-down motion with both parties. This is called at ‘handshake’.”

Again holstering his weapon, Ledo attempted the action. His hand gripped Lelouch and began the motion. The other party readily complied and the gesture was completed. While lowering his hand, Lelouch smirked (Translated for Ledo) “It seems as if you haven’t gotten a clue of where you are. I’ll help you attain information of my home if you and your Knightmare help me with my goals.” Ledo, finding no fault with the agreement, nodded.

(Translated for Ledo) “Here, come stay with me for the time being, I’ll take you gambling with me tomorrow, you’ll be sure to learn a thing or two.”

Ledo had no trust for the character ‘Lelouch’ yet so was unwilling to comply with being separated from Chamber. “I will stay by the side of Chamber. If you must, leave and return when appropriate to commence ‘gambling’.”

Lelouch nodded and slunk back into the darkness that had been eager to envelop him, while Ledo perhaps slightly unwillingly climbed back in to Chamber’s cockpit. He administered a cloaking device over chamber’s frame to repel any unwanted attention when Ledo waits for Lelouch return for information.