//------------------------------//
// Dividing factor 
// Story: Resistance of steel 
// by Valsion 
//------------------------------//


Resistance of steel

Chapter 13 Dividing factor




It has been a while now, since Zero and his Black Knights officially joined GGG. The Black Knights moved into the hangars of GGG and everyone seems to be getting used to the two ponies, also being new allies of this organization. Curiosity was the natural reaction, so many of the rebels approached Twilight and Rarity, asking many questions about them and their home world. Only Zero himself, along with his assistant kept to themselves. She was a mysterious woman with long, green hair. They did not know her real name, just like they didn't know Zero's, she just calls herself C. C.

Still, the ponies did not learn all that much about Zero and the Black Knights themselves. Wanting to know more about their allies, they decided to ask some questions themselves and searched for someone who could provide them with answers. "I just don't know, they all seemed pleasant enough. But somehow I still get a strange feeling about this." Said Rarity, as they walked the halls.

It was true, the Black Knights were relatively friendly after introductions. Some of the members even wanted to pet them, scratch their ears or give them sweets. And while it was a little embarrassing to be treated like that, it was still a nice gesture. "Don't worry Rarity, once we'll find out more about them, everything will be clearer."

Then they saw her, the pilot of the red Knightmare, Kallen. They did not have much time to talk to the red-head before, although a first impression made her very similar to Rainbow Dash in their opinion. This similarity made the two of them feel more comfortable as they approached her. "Uh, hello Kallen. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?" Twilight asked, as they got closer.

Kallen was in deep thought. She trusted Zero's judgment, he has not lead them astray ever since he took over after all, but this situation seemed to be growing over their heads. Getting the support of GGG was an understandable goal but these people were just so... goofy. She kinda doubted they took the situation entirely serious. And then there was the matter with these ponies and that monster from space. The mere thought of yesterday's events gave her a headache. And said ponies were now standing in front of her, wanting to talk. "Alright, what do you want to know?" She asked, not wanting to be rude. The two of them struck Kallen as naive and still green in matters of combat but they were friendly enough so she didn't want to antagonize them.

"We were wondering if you could tell us more about Zero." Twilight asked. Hopefully Kallen would not be mistrustful, as she asked for information about their leader. 

Kallen already wondered when this question would be asked. "To be honest, we don't know that much about him. He pretty much appeared practically out of thin air and contacted out group before we became the Black Knights. Said to meet us on a train where he somehow managed to get an entire compartment to himself." Kallen crossed her arms and thought about those days, where their little rebellion suddenly got this huge boost. Before meeting Zero, getting one Knightmare Frame was their biggest victory yet and now they were practically an army.

"But... in Shinjuku we were cornered by the Britannians when he suddenly started giving us directions. To be honest, if we hadn't been desperate at the moment we would have ignored him." She said. It was foolish to just listen to everything an unknown voice told you. For all they knew it could have also been a Britannian, luring them into a trap. In retrospect she was glad to put that trust in him. They have really come a long way by now.

"Other than that I can tell you that he has got to be the most theatrical person I've ever met. He loves grand speeches and gesturing, almost as if he sees the rebellion as a stage play." Kallen then looked around to see if there was anyone else in the hallway, before kneeling down to the ponies and whispering. "Just between us, some of the Black Knights believe that this is true. That he does this for attention. He certainly does love plans that would have him save us in the last moment." She said, before standing up again.

Both mares took in this info, now trying to get a better picture of this man in their heads. Was it really true that he was just playing the hero for the sake of looking good? "You know, while I can't really fault anyone for thinking like that, I don't feel that he's just trying to earn glory." Twilight mused, not completely sure herself. "If that was the case, he would not seek allies so willingly because then it would mean he has to share the spotlight." Twilight remembered that stage magician, Trixie, who came into Ponyville one time. She only let other ponies on stage in order to humiliate them, not to assist her. Wherever that mare was now, Twilight hoped she learned her lesson and cleaned up her act. Trixie was not a bad magician, not at all, she just needed to treat her audience better.

"Maybe, I just hope his last-second rescues don't start going wrong." Kallen responded. But there was still something she wanted to know herself. "But now I've got a question for you. What exactly are you doing here? I don't think you are just tourists from another world, considering that you possess a pretty impressive super robot."

Twilight and Rarity thought it was only fair that their new ally learned what their plans were, so they told her about the others and how they needed to find a safe place for Princess Luna. As they mentioned their friends, Kallen was already very curious. If the robots these friends piloted were anything like the Granteed, they could make for an impressive force. Then they told her more about Luna herself, how she and Celestia were responsible for day and night, which Kallen found hard to believe. 

Finally, they told her about the adventure that bonded them together as friends, how they defeated Nightmare Moon and reunited the royal sisters. A warm smile was on both unicorns faces, as they recalled the touching reunion. After a thousand years, Celestia and Luna finally embraced each other again and ruled together. As they looked at Kallen though, their smiles faded into nervousness. The red-heads reaction was quite the opposite of theirs. Instead of a warm smile, a look of pure anger was on her face.

"Let me get this straight, this Princess Luna tries to take over the world in a temper tantrum, because she didn't feel appreciated enough and gets away with it?" This kind of behavior was typical for royals. None of them ever faced the consequences of their actions. If the peasants complained, all they got was mockery, if they rebelled, they were struck down. "Ugh, I'm done here. But your Princess is not better than those Britannians. In a just world, she would at least not have been given back her title after that but what does it matter. Only the lowly peasants may have suffered under tyranny if you hadn't succeeded."

Twilight and Rarity were shocked by the sudden hostility and tried to calm her down. "Darling, that's not right. Princess Celestia cares very much about all ponies, she just believes in redemption and second chances." Rarity tried to explain. She knew a bit about the equestrian justice system. For the rare cases of a crime being committed, it was the usual approach to sentence the criminal to community service instead of jail. And that was not just a method to have the damages repaired. It served primarily to give said criminal a sense of purpose in the world and to help him find something constructive to do for a living.

Kallen only shook her head as she turned away from them. "You are helping a criminal escape from punishment. The execution might be extreme but you are protecting her. If a crime goes unpunished like that, doesn't that tell the criminals that they can do it as often as they want without consequences, as long as they say they are sorry? Think about it." With those words, Kallen walked away, leaving two distraught ponies behind.







Somewhere deeper in the GGG headquarters, Zero sat in his new room. While it would serve him well as a base of operations, he would have to return to the Ashford Academy sometime tomorrow. His sister and the teachers would surely miss him. It was difficult, trying to avoid being identified as mastermind of a rebel army, when you had classes all week. Luckily, he already had a reputation for skipping class and often staying away from campus for a few days, even before founding the Black Knights. It would serve him well now, since he had to oversee the operations. Nobody would find anything new or odd about his behavior.

"I have disabled all cameras Lelouch, you can take your helmet off now." Said a girl with long, green hair. She wore white pants and a jacket, which had longer than necessary sleeves and straps attached to it. It was a strange outfit, almost looking like it was intended as a straight jacket. C.C had been tasked to disable the security cameras for good. Zero already requested them to be shut off for privacy but he preferred if C.C did that, so he could be sure that they don't just switch them on again to see his face.

As he touched the hidden buttons on his helmet, the neck parts folded upwards to allow him to take the mask off. Underneath was a young man with short, black hair and purple eyes. Lelouch had a frown, as GGG did not meet any of his expectations. "When I met with GGG, I was not prepared it to be lead by a bunch of immature goofballs." He groaned. "And then there are these ponies. This just can't be real." They were factors he couldn't possibly prepare for and that is what really annoyed him. Unknown factors made plans fail and everything hinged on plans working exactly as intended for him.

He looked at a mirror and his eyes, his Geass. He may have been manipulative but the thought of completely overriding another person's will still made him uncomfortable. He thought back on the first command he gave. Sometimes he wondered why he even did that, he didn't know what those powers did exactly, so why did he order those soldiers that cornered him to kill themselves? He also wondered if he should have waited longer. This power sped up his plans but maybe it would have been better to prepare a little longer, in order to find out more about his enemies and potential allies. It did not matter though, his rebellion began and he could not back out of it now. Even if he erased all traces, people would be less likely to trust him if he returned after abandoning him. Unless he faked his death, then he may be revered as a messiah figure. People loved miracles.

"It is not their company you want, is it?" C.C rebutted, as she sat down on the bed, her cheese-kun plushie cradled in her arms. "As long as they have strong mechs, their personality doesn't matter, does it?" The mysterious woman had the feeling that Zero missed something important. It may be true that the members of GGG were very naive and immature but they were all one hundred percent serious about their goals.

"Their naivety will be a problem in future plans. War is like chess in one aspect in particular, sometimes a sacrifice is necessary." He explained. "If they shut down all strategies that do not conform to their rosy worldview, they might cost us victory." He knew Princess Cornelia, she would use such notions against them the second she has the opportunity. He already expected a lot of hostage situations.

"And what do you plan to do against that?" Asked C.C. It was interesting to watch Lelouch, his grand plans and intrigues, she wondered how he would weasel his way out of this problem too.

"They need to see that I am a more capable leader. Force them into a situation where Taiga could no longer give any orders and then take control." He answered bluntly. Before C.C could respond however, they heard a knock on the door. Lelouch quickly put on his helmet again. "Come in."

Behind the door was the small child, Mamoru, holding a picture. To Zero he was also a point of interest, since he learned that this child could not only predict Zonder attacks but also turn their cores back into people. "Uh, Mr. Zero, I was wondering if I could get an autograph." He held the picture towards Zero and pulled a pen out of his pocket. Lelouch took the picture, which showed him as he first appeared before the public.

Lelouch was not one to pass up chances like this. Mamoru was vital to GGG's operations, so getting the kid to trust him could be a great advantage. "Of course, Mamoru was it?" He asked, as he took the pen from the child, who nodded in confirmation. Lelouch quickly signed the photo: To Mamoru, from Zero. He took care not to use his usual handwriting. It was one part of his preparations. To make sure nobody could use signatures he may have to write in order to learn his identity, he learned two different writing styles. "Here you go, is there anything else you would like?" He asked, while handing back the photo to the grinning kid. 

As Mamoru thought of a question to ask though, his smile faded. He didn't know how Zero would react to it but he still wanted to know. "Just one question. Why did you destroy the entire city down at Shatter Mountain?" For many Japanese, Zero was almost like a messiah figure but he was also extremely destructive.

"You see, sometimes even good people have to do bad things. Otherwise the bad people win and that outcome would bring only more and more suffering." Lelouch clearly remembered the funeral. One of the victims of Shatter Mountain was the father of his classmate Shirley. "Do not believe I don't regret all the deaths, I do. But especially now I can't stop anymore, or else their deaths will have been in vain. I owe it to all those, who became victims of this war to see it through to the end."
On the bed, C.C allowed herself a small smile. She knew better, Lelouch went into this wholly unprepared for these kind of consequences. He pushed everyone aside, so he would not have to deal with personal losses and was angry that his plan failed.

Mamoru however was swept up in his grand speech. "You know, some people believe you are a bad person but I think you just want to help everyone." Wrong again, while freeing the people from Britannian oppression was one of his goals, Zero primarily wanted revenge against the emperor. "Just try to be less destructive, the others will see it too then."

That was something Zero could not promise. He would always choose the most effective way, no matter what. But before he could answer, something strange happened with Mamoru. For a moment it seemed as if he was glowing green. "What was that? Is everything alright?" He asked.

"That was the sign, a Zonder is attacking!" Without fail, sirens started to blare through the halls of the GGG headquarters.







The Granteed was flying behind the Linergao, which in turn held some of the Knightmare Frames of the Black Knights. Kallen in the Guren MKII looked back with concern, as she spotted the Burai of Zero. Behind him in turn was that green haired woman, C.C. Even though Zero repeatedly stated that he prefers to lead instead of just hanging back and give orders, she still thought it was irresponsible. The entire rebellion would fall apart, if something happened to Zero and he continued to put himself into harms way. On the other hand, it was also admirable in a way.

The Zonder lifeform has been confirmed to have taken over several older trains, as it emerged at a station. With the path it took, they would have a hard time intercepting it outside the nearby residential area. From the Granteed, Twilight and Rarity looked with concern at the houses by the railway. If the Zonder met them here, they would have a hard time avoiding damage to the area. "Zero, what should we do? We have to make sure these people don't wind up homeless because of the upcoming fight." Twilight asked.

"Speed will be of the essence. With luck we can intercept it before it reaches the residential area, if not we have to destroy it before the fight escalates too much." He calmly responded. While the destruction of the enemy had the highest priority, letting too many people die or lose their homes would be bad publicity. Some might say that someone with a noble cause needn't worry about PR, it was quite the opposite. People didn't join a rebellion or supported it, if they suspected the rebels of being worse than the tyrant. Saving civilian lives was usually a good method of improving ones image.

Then something appeared in the distance, with an ominous red glow. It seems that luck was not in their favour today, as the Zonder possessed train sped directly towards them. It almost looked like the two trains would crash, as the Zonder shifted form.  Stopping dead it seemed almost like all the metal has turned liquid, forming into a more humanoid shape. Like the junk Zonder before, it now showed it's true colors.



"Take it out quickly, Kallen, C.C, disengage from the Linergao. Taiga, have Guy form GaoGaiGar immediately. We must finish this as quickly as possible." Zero ordered, as he had his Burai jump off of the train, followed by the other two Knightmares. While Kallen landed with grace and C.C managed to keep her Burai standing, Zero had no such luck and fell down. It was a little embarassing but luckily, his teammates had other concerns.

Galeon arrived at the scene immediately, as Guy called it. In the headquarters, the commands for initiating the final fusion were already typed in by Mikoto. The girl has only performed it once before, though there were many drills in case it finally happened. By now she could be blindfolded and would still be able to perform the initiation. "Final Fusion, program drive!" She called out, smashing the button under the glass panel.

Like a swirling storm, the GaiGar spread a green mist around itself. The Knightmare Frames and the Granteed had to gain more distance, so they won't be swept up in it. The Zonder tried to use the transformation to his advantage for an easy kill. Even with its massive size, in the end he was repelled by the green storm. Finally it died down, revealing the combined super robot beneath. Inside his Burai, Zero mused, maybe they could use that to their advantage in the future.

His plans for future maneuvers would have to wait though, now they had a monster to deal with. The green hurricane dissipated and the form of GaoGaiGar came into view. "Everyone, surround the Zonder, we must not let it move too much." Zero ordered, as Granteed moved to the back, while he and Kallen took the sides. 

The Zonder meanwhile got back up and it's bulky arms opened up. From inside, missiles were fired at GaoGaiGar. "Protect Shade!" With this call, Guy made his mech raise a hand in front of him, while an energy field formed. The others marveled at this technology, as none of the missiles managed to do any damage to him. For a moment they felt relaxed, believing that this would be easier than they though, until explosions sounded from the surrounding area.

While GaoGaiGar managed to deflect the missiles from himself, the town around him was not so lucky. Several buildings were already damaged and the people were fleeing. Seeing the damage his defense cause, Guy lowered the protect shade, taking the damage instead of rerouting it to the surroundings. "Guy, what are you doing? Raise your energy shield right now!" Zero ordered him.

"I can't! If I do that, the buildings around us will be destroyed." Zero scoffed at the answer. It seems that it doesn't occur to Guy, that the town will be wiped out completely if they lose. With this kind of attitude, all the power in the world would not help them. Everyone they fought could easily take the battle to inhabited areas or take hostages and GGG would rather surrender than risking anything.

"Alright, I will shoot in the path of the missiles, maybe I can shoot some of them from the sky before they hit GaoGaiGar. Kallen, go for the Zonders legs, Twilight and Rarity, you attack it from behind." He ordered and took aim. Despite his lack of practical combat experience, he managed to destroy some of the missiles in the air, reducing the damage GaoGaiGar received. Unfortunately, the shrapnel raining down caused even more damage to the area, while Guy pleaded him to stop.

Zero also looked at the area where the Zonder stood. If Kallen was successful, it would fall over on some more buildings and the inevitable explosion when it is destroyed, will leave a large crater. As much as he hated to admit it, there was no way they could fight without causing collateral damage. Then, the voice of Taiga came through the communication channel. "Wait! We have something that might help. Guy, prepare for the dividing driver."

GaoGaiGar took into the air and there the others could see it. Something was flying towards them. Everyone wondered what kind of new weapon that was, as it attached itself onto GaoGaiGars arm. With the new weapon attached, he dove down and rammed it into the ground, revealing the new weapon to be some sort of giant jackhammer. Steam was expelled from it, as it shot something into the ground and a wave of energy ripped through the street.

What happened then was, what truly amazed everyone. The street parted and the Zonder fell down the crevice that formed itself. It looked like space itself was being expanded as buildings were moved away until a large crater remained. Now it dawned upon them what this weapon did. It created a battlefield.

"Wha.. how did you do this? I've studied magic all my life and I never thought something like this was possible." Twilight was completely dumbfounded at what she saw. Rarity remained mute, her jaw almost hitting the floor at the sight around her. Both of them however were relieved, that they won't have to worry about the surroundings anymore. There was nothing down in the crater, that they'd have to worry about breaking.

"No time to explain. The dividing driver is still new and we don't know how long this will hold, finish off the Zonder immediately." Taiga ordered, while the other members of GGG carefully monitored the repression field that made this miracle possible. The Black Knights, that were in the room were every bit as surprised as Zero, Kallen, Twilight and Rarity. One comment neatly summarized everyone's thoughts. "Did they just tell the laws of physics to go fuck themselves?"

Zero managed to regain his composure. "He is right, perform an all out attack now!" He ordered, as he adjusted his aim to the Zonders head. Kallen followed suit. The claw of the Gurren MK-II opened up, as she charged. She managed to get a good grip on one of its legs and let energy surge through it, making the metal bulge and twist under the extreme heat.

From behind, Rarity has already redirected a large amount of orgone energy into Granteeds hands. Fingers first, they buried into the shoulders of the Zonder. With arms, legs and head under attack, it had no chance anymore to defend against the final attack.

"Hell, and heaven!" The hands of GaoGaiGar were glowing again, one bright golden, the other in an almost malicious looking red. He folded the two of them together. The Stealthgaos turbines roared as the pushed him towards the stunned Zonder, where Guy rammed his mechs fist right into the chest, where the core was. Guy remembered how the last time, a person was inside of it and the orders to retrieve the core, so he was as careful as possible.

As he finally pulled it out, Kallen and both ponies distanced themselves again, as the coreless body now slumped to the ground before exploding. Cheers echoed through the comm system, at this next victory. Zero meanwhile has muted himself from the system. He looked around the area and grinned. This technology was amazing, only a few modifications and this dividing driver would be the ultimate weapon. Britannian bases could be destroyed in mere seconds. A cold laugh filled the cockpit, drowning out the cheers of his comrades.