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code_geass
verity-isle.livejournal.com in code_geassYou know what I hate most in translation? Aside from words with no direct counterparts in English, it's those sentence structures you understand, yet cannot phrase in English without being utterly clunky or losing a lot in the translational process. Although Technical Japanese would take a close second. (gg translator-san, I admire you for ploughing through this stuff by your ears. Ugh.)
Thus, I bring you the History of the Knightmare Frame, as provided on the official Code Geass site. Aside from being interesting, it also partially answers that million dollar question of why Lelouch could pilot a Knightmare Frame like it was plug and play, if you didn't already know. There are currently 4 parts, I'll translate whatever comes after (if there's anything after) in 3-parts portions or until the end, whichever comes first. There might be grammatical incorrectnesses in this, I've just recovered from a week-long period of braindead, do point out to me and I'll fix if you wish.
It might be useful to remember that the Code Geass world does not have internal combustion while you're reading this.
The History of the Knightmare Frame
Part 1 – The First Age : Infancy
Like many history-changing inventions, the development of the Knightmare Frame has an exceedingly humble beginning. As everyone knows, the Knightmare Frame originated from the concept of 'Emergency Survival Cockpit'. The research was for a rocket motor-equipped cockpit block meant for tanks and the like. As its name suggests, this invention is made to quickly jettison important crew members out in an emergency. In searching for ways to increase survival ability, the researchers came up with the concept of attaching a pair of legs to the cockpit.
The 'walking cockpit' was thus researched, developed, and manufactured, and became what would lead into the future 'Knightmare Frames'. At that point, however, the energy filler loading capacity was limited, and it could not be used except in extreme emergencies. The 'cockpits with legs' of this time were later called classified as 'First Age Knightmare Frames'.
But why two legs? This was a problem of internal space. Fitting a cockpit block into conventional tanks required additional storage room for the legs, and this became a limitation. Because of this, the idea of more stable cockpits with four or more legs could not be implemented. One could say that from this two-leg limitation, the road towards the humanoid-shaped weapon called 'Knightmare Frame' was opened.
Part 2 – The Second Age : Turning Point
What brought the primitive First Age Frames closer to current models is the Second Age. At the time, clearance was given to 'develop a new kind of weapon that has never been seen before', and research went ahead. There were three definite developments :
1) Loading all-purpose manipulators for various work
2) Equipping Landspinners for large scale cavalrylike movement
3) Upgradinging sensor capabilities by introducing Factspheres.
However, the Second Age experiments also came to a halt in the trial phase.
For example, the Second Age landspinners were incapable of rapid starts and stops, often tumbling over in such tests. The manipulators also were incapable of delicate work, so much that they were better called 'magic hands'. It would not be until the Third and Fourth Ages that the technologies associated with the ascent of the Knightmare Frames were made practical.
Furthermore, the technologies that would later become the basis of Knightmare Frames were divided in two approaches. The Second Age's great strides could be attributed to a blend of both. One is based on the application of concepts normally found in military-based robotics studies. This approach has since been connected to the present Special Division within the Britannian army---the 'Special Dispatch Guidance System Division'.
The other approach is based on social welfare. Backed by the Ashford Foundation, which proactively supported technologies related to training/education and welfare, the research progressed. The bipedal weapon developed then was thus far named 'Knightmare' by the military, and the civilian welfare-minded equipment was called 'Frame'. By uniting the two terms, the name 'Knightmare Frame' was born.
Part 3 – The Third Age : Archetype
From the fruits of the Second Age's research to concrete combat-capable experiments, is the Third Age Knightmare Frame. It is with this Age that research began to prioritize technologies that allow enough mobility to realistically follow battle plans and practical retention of ordnance.
The model that best represents Third Age Knightmare Frames is widely known as the Ganymede, developed under the leadership of the Ashford Foundation. Its pilot was granted knighthood, and later became a Queen of the Britannian Emperor. (Note : The Japanese clearly states that she was 'one of his queens', to settle that debate once and for all) However, shortly after the death of said pilot, the Ashford Foundation's proposal began to fall into decline, causing the line of the inventor close to said foundation to be retired. Many have purported this incident to be a secret political feud regarding the new surge of interest in Knightmare Frames, to hold the expansion of the Ashford Foundation's power in check. The truth is regardless unknown.
Knightmare Frame research in the Third Age also decided the future strategic value of Sakuradite, as the Sakuradite-rich Coalminus has proved indispensible in bringing out maximum performance in the Frames. A stable source of Sakuradite and the new era of armies composed of Knightmare Frames became a subject not dissimiliar from the problem of the chicken and the egg. It was a closely watched integral element in every Britannian foreign and political policy after this point onwards.
The Third Age Knightmare Frames were no longer merely a technological discovery, but a political force. This would later become the origin of Knightmare Frames in a later age.
Part 4 – Fourth Age : Implementation
Knightmare Frame development in the Fourth Age owes heavily to the aforementioned Ganymede. As stated before, the Third Age defined the raison d'etre of Knightmare Frames as weapons of the new age. The Fourth simply grows into an implementation of that.
From the experiment data on the Ganymede and many trials and errors came the RPI-11 Glasgow. Proving its superiority in the Japan Occupation War, it heralded 'the Age of the Knightmare Frame' to the rest of the world. Even afterwards, the Glasgow remained a staple in various Britannian military engagements, and received many modifications and upgrades. All Knightmare Frames developed afterwards still continued to use the Glasgow as the base for development and divergence. The Knightpolice used in law enforcement and the Boatman for aquatic work, as well as the Japanese remodelings Burai, Burai-kai and Raikou are all part of this Fourth Age.
The strength of the Knightmare Frame is due in no small part to its two legs, which gives it all-terrain mobility. Thanks to the bipedal design, it is possible to conduct a sequence of military movements rapidly, such as beach disembarkation followed by taking over an urban district. This is made clear with the Knightmare Frame's dominance in the Japanese War, which was composed of highly complicated terrain.
---
BONUS
3rd Period Hour
Ughhh~, ah, my stomach is rumbling... It's not even about that 'weak constitution' act. If I just gorge down my lunch carelessly now, everyone would be so, so shocked...
Mnnn? Is that the sweet smell of pizza in the air? Aaah, my feet, they're moving on their own~
"These footsteps...Kallen-san?"
Ah, Nunnally. You knew with just footsteps. Are you alone?
"Yes, Sayoko-san just went out to buy grocery for dinner. I'm just relaxing in this sun."
Eh, but, you're so thin yet you eat pizza and still can eat dinner afterwards!?
"Eh?"
Um, no, see, I smelled something nice, like roasted cheese, so I thought oh wooow can it be? Just like that.
"Eek! That's not me. That's...ah, uh, um"
Hm?
"Um, it's something Oniisama picked up..."
Something Lelouch picked up? A cat, or something else?
"Y, yes. A cat, something like that..."
Cats eat pizza? What a weird kitty...
"Yes, well...Oniisama just seems so busy lately, and he doesn't come home very much, and when he's back he's always in his room, with the cat. All night long..."
I see...
"Yes…"
Well, me, too, I guess...
"You, too?"
Ah, can you just forget about this story when I've left? There's someone I hold in great esteem, see. He's a really incredible person, has the same goals as I do, and he even puts his trust in someone like me, and I think I'd do my best to respond to that trust...
"Yes"
And somehow, from somewhere, just like he picked her up, and just goes along with him...
"Does he have a lover?"
I still don't know for sure what's up with that, though. She's a really white girl. And then he said stuff like she's my comrade, and then he looks at her and said, l think white snow is beautiful, or something like that, something with deeper meanings...
"He's horrible, that person. To hurt Kallen-san like that."
No, it's not really 'hurting', not that bad. I was just wondering is all.
"No, I really feel he must be a bad person somehow."
Well, I suppose his image isn't exactly like a paragon of virtue...Lelouch is pretty bad himself, too, leaving you all lonely like this.
"No. Oniisama is not a bad person at all." (matter-of-factly)
...Ah, ah I see.
4th Period Hour
Mu..... As I suspected, balancing a double life between "The Order of Black Knights" and school is a severe prospect. It's a bit relieving to think I'll meet Nunnally when I get back home...
...wait, I can smell scorched cheese. Again. C.C.!
"Melmome mome, Mumuuhu (munch munch)"
You ordered pizza again, didn't you... And using my card, even.
"Fiffa fiit..."
Swallow before talking, if you would.
"Pizza is most excellent, you know. To have invented it is truly mankind's greatness."
While I suppose it's okay since I don't have problems paying, how about displaying some restraint? This is quite shameless.
"What are you talking about? 'Three pizza per day', isn't that our contract?"
I distinctly do not recall ever making a contract on such bizarre terms!
"Hn. That, Lelouch, is your weakness. You think too much about every little thing, and make everything difficult."
This is not difficult. This is most definitely not difficult. At all.
"Well, if I need enough pizza and get stamps, I can exchange it for goods. It can't be helped, can it?"
Whoa, a threat. Stop being lured by the promise of goods, you're not a child... let alone that, you've lived more than a decade looking like that, didn't you.
"...Ah!"
Wh, what's wrong?
"I filled all the stamp slots...why, I can get a Cheese-chan cushion along with a Cheese-kun pillow with this!"
...congratulations.*
"With things this way, I can't not get the Cheese Puppy Backpack, too..."
With what things this way? Idiot.
"Ah... But, it seems I really have eaten too much. I am so full I'm dying."
You didn't die from a bullet to the head, as I recall.
"This pain, this torment, can be cured by eating more pizza, I feel."
Maybe dying just once would be good for you. The shock might cure you of idiocy, who knows.
"(suddenly serious) "Lelouch. Eating pizza is one of the reasons for my existence in this world. It's foreordained to be this way."
...Huh?
"Yes...the name C.C. is actually short for "Cheese & Crust", after all."
Eh, really!?
"Of course I lied."
.........
"Hn. You bought it for a second, it seems. Use your head more, idiot."
T, this woman... Somehow I have a feeling the first thing I have to rebel against is her...
---
*This direct translates as 'good/good for you', but that's too clipped for the context and kinda OOC. It's sort of a mock "I'm happy for you, I guess", but I cannot see that coming out of LL's mouth, so I stuck with 'congratulations' which is nicely neutral. It was not a Lloyd reference in the original. ^^;
EDIT : By the way, the 2nd Character Poll is now up on the official site, in case you haven't been going there. It's in bright Orange letters and very noticeable. Go vote, even if you have! The Order approves of cheating at polls! ^^
Thus, I bring you the History of the Knightmare Frame, as provided on the official Code Geass site. Aside from being interesting, it also partially answers that million dollar question of why Lelouch could pilot a Knightmare Frame like it was plug and play, if you didn't already know. There are currently 4 parts, I'll translate whatever comes after (if there's anything after) in 3-parts portions or until the end, whichever comes first. There might be grammatical incorrectnesses in this, I've just recovered from a week-long period of braindead, do point out to me and I'll fix if you wish.
It might be useful to remember that the Code Geass world does not have internal combustion while you're reading this.
The History of the Knightmare Frame
Part 1 – The First Age : Infancy
Like many history-changing inventions, the development of the Knightmare Frame has an exceedingly humble beginning. As everyone knows, the Knightmare Frame originated from the concept of 'Emergency Survival Cockpit'. The research was for a rocket motor-equipped cockpit block meant for tanks and the like. As its name suggests, this invention is made to quickly jettison important crew members out in an emergency. In searching for ways to increase survival ability, the researchers came up with the concept of attaching a pair of legs to the cockpit.
The 'walking cockpit' was thus researched, developed, and manufactured, and became what would lead into the future 'Knightmare Frames'. At that point, however, the energy filler loading capacity was limited, and it could not be used except in extreme emergencies. The 'cockpits with legs' of this time were later called classified as 'First Age Knightmare Frames'.
But why two legs? This was a problem of internal space. Fitting a cockpit block into conventional tanks required additional storage room for the legs, and this became a limitation. Because of this, the idea of more stable cockpits with four or more legs could not be implemented. One could say that from this two-leg limitation, the road towards the humanoid-shaped weapon called 'Knightmare Frame' was opened.
Part 2 – The Second Age : Turning Point
What brought the primitive First Age Frames closer to current models is the Second Age. At the time, clearance was given to 'develop a new kind of weapon that has never been seen before', and research went ahead. There were three definite developments :
1) Loading all-purpose manipulators for various work
2) Equipping Landspinners for large scale cavalrylike movement
3) Upgradinging sensor capabilities by introducing Factspheres.
However, the Second Age experiments also came to a halt in the trial phase.
For example, the Second Age landspinners were incapable of rapid starts and stops, often tumbling over in such tests. The manipulators also were incapable of delicate work, so much that they were better called 'magic hands'. It would not be until the Third and Fourth Ages that the technologies associated with the ascent of the Knightmare Frames were made practical.
Furthermore, the technologies that would later become the basis of Knightmare Frames were divided in two approaches. The Second Age's great strides could be attributed to a blend of both. One is based on the application of concepts normally found in military-based robotics studies. This approach has since been connected to the present Special Division within the Britannian army---the 'Special Dispatch Guidance System Division'.
The other approach is based on social welfare. Backed by the Ashford Foundation, which proactively supported technologies related to training/education and welfare, the research progressed. The bipedal weapon developed then was thus far named 'Knightmare' by the military, and the civilian welfare-minded equipment was called 'Frame'. By uniting the two terms, the name 'Knightmare Frame' was born.
Part 3 – The Third Age : Archetype
From the fruits of the Second Age's research to concrete combat-capable experiments, is the Third Age Knightmare Frame. It is with this Age that research began to prioritize technologies that allow enough mobility to realistically follow battle plans and practical retention of ordnance.
The model that best represents Third Age Knightmare Frames is widely known as the Ganymede, developed under the leadership of the Ashford Foundation. Its pilot was granted knighthood, and later became a Queen of the Britannian Emperor. (Note : The Japanese clearly states that she was 'one of his queens', to settle that debate once and for all) However, shortly after the death of said pilot, the Ashford Foundation's proposal began to fall into decline, causing the line of the inventor close to said foundation to be retired. Many have purported this incident to be a secret political feud regarding the new surge of interest in Knightmare Frames, to hold the expansion of the Ashford Foundation's power in check. The truth is regardless unknown.
Knightmare Frame research in the Third Age also decided the future strategic value of Sakuradite, as the Sakuradite-rich Coalminus has proved indispensible in bringing out maximum performance in the Frames. A stable source of Sakuradite and the new era of armies composed of Knightmare Frames became a subject not dissimiliar from the problem of the chicken and the egg. It was a closely watched integral element in every Britannian foreign and political policy after this point onwards.
The Third Age Knightmare Frames were no longer merely a technological discovery, but a political force. This would later become the origin of Knightmare Frames in a later age.
Part 4 – Fourth Age : Implementation
Knightmare Frame development in the Fourth Age owes heavily to the aforementioned Ganymede. As stated before, the Third Age defined the raison d'etre of Knightmare Frames as weapons of the new age. The Fourth simply grows into an implementation of that.
From the experiment data on the Ganymede and many trials and errors came the RPI-11 Glasgow. Proving its superiority in the Japan Occupation War, it heralded 'the Age of the Knightmare Frame' to the rest of the world. Even afterwards, the Glasgow remained a staple in various Britannian military engagements, and received many modifications and upgrades. All Knightmare Frames developed afterwards still continued to use the Glasgow as the base for development and divergence. The Knightpolice used in law enforcement and the Boatman for aquatic work, as well as the Japanese remodelings Burai, Burai-kai and Raikou are all part of this Fourth Age.
The strength of the Knightmare Frame is due in no small part to its two legs, which gives it all-terrain mobility. Thanks to the bipedal design, it is possible to conduct a sequence of military movements rapidly, such as beach disembarkation followed by taking over an urban district. This is made clear with the Knightmare Frame's dominance in the Japanese War, which was composed of highly complicated terrain.
---
BONUS
3rd Period Hour
Ughhh~, ah, my stomach is rumbling... It's not even about that 'weak constitution' act. If I just gorge down my lunch carelessly now, everyone would be so, so shocked...
Mnnn? Is that the sweet smell of pizza in the air? Aaah, my feet, they're moving on their own~
"These footsteps...Kallen-san?"
Ah, Nunnally. You knew with just footsteps. Are you alone?
"Yes, Sayoko-san just went out to buy grocery for dinner. I'm just relaxing in this sun."
Eh, but, you're so thin yet you eat pizza and still can eat dinner afterwards!?
"Eh?"
Um, no, see, I smelled something nice, like roasted cheese, so I thought oh wooow can it be? Just like that.
"Eek! That's not me. That's...ah, uh, um"
Hm?
"Um, it's something Oniisama picked up..."
Something Lelouch picked up? A cat, or something else?
"Y, yes. A cat, something like that..."
Cats eat pizza? What a weird kitty...
"Yes, well...Oniisama just seems so busy lately, and he doesn't come home very much, and when he's back he's always in his room, with the cat. All night long..."
I see...
"Yes…"
Well, me, too, I guess...
"You, too?"
Ah, can you just forget about this story when I've left? There's someone I hold in great esteem, see. He's a really incredible person, has the same goals as I do, and he even puts his trust in someone like me, and I think I'd do my best to respond to that trust...
"Yes"
And somehow, from somewhere, just like he picked her up, and just goes along with him...
"Does he have a lover?"
I still don't know for sure what's up with that, though. She's a really white girl. And then he said stuff like she's my comrade, and then he looks at her and said, l think white snow is beautiful, or something like that, something with deeper meanings...
"He's horrible, that person. To hurt Kallen-san like that."
No, it's not really 'hurting', not that bad. I was just wondering is all.
"No, I really feel he must be a bad person somehow."
Well, I suppose his image isn't exactly like a paragon of virtue...Lelouch is pretty bad himself, too, leaving you all lonely like this.
"No. Oniisama is not a bad person at all." (matter-of-factly)
...Ah, ah I see.
4th Period Hour
Mu..... As I suspected, balancing a double life between "The Order of Black Knights" and school is a severe prospect. It's a bit relieving to think I'll meet Nunnally when I get back home...
...wait, I can smell scorched cheese. Again. C.C.!
"Melmome mome, Mumuuhu (munch munch)"
You ordered pizza again, didn't you... And using my card, even.
"Fiffa fiit..."
Swallow before talking, if you would.
"Pizza is most excellent, you know. To have invented it is truly mankind's greatness."
While I suppose it's okay since I don't have problems paying, how about displaying some restraint? This is quite shameless.
"What are you talking about? 'Three pizza per day', isn't that our contract?"
I distinctly do not recall ever making a contract on such bizarre terms!
"Hn. That, Lelouch, is your weakness. You think too much about every little thing, and make everything difficult."
This is not difficult. This is most definitely not difficult. At all.
"Well, if I need enough pizza and get stamps, I can exchange it for goods. It can't be helped, can it?"
Whoa, a threat. Stop being lured by the promise of goods, you're not a child... let alone that, you've lived more than a decade looking like that, didn't you.
"...Ah!"
Wh, what's wrong?
"I filled all the stamp slots...why, I can get a Cheese-chan cushion along with a Cheese-kun pillow with this!"
...congratulations.*
"With things this way, I can't not get the Cheese Puppy Backpack, too..."
With what things this way? Idiot.
"Ah... But, it seems I really have eaten too much. I am so full I'm dying."
You didn't die from a bullet to the head, as I recall.
"This pain, this torment, can be cured by eating more pizza, I feel."
Maybe dying just once would be good for you. The shock might cure you of idiocy, who knows.
"(suddenly serious) "Lelouch. Eating pizza is one of the reasons for my existence in this world. It's foreordained to be this way."
...Huh?
"Yes...the name C.C. is actually short for "Cheese & Crust", after all."
Eh, really!?
"Of course I lied."
.........
"Hn. You bought it for a second, it seems. Use your head more, idiot."
T, this woman... Somehow I have a feeling the first thing I have to rebel against is her...
---
*This direct translates as 'good/good for you', but that's too clipped for the context and kinda OOC. It's sort of a mock "I'm happy for you, I guess", but I cannot see that coming out of LL's mouth, so I stuck with 'congratulations' which is nicely neutral. It was not a Lloyd reference in the original. ^^;
EDIT : By the way, the 2nd Character Poll is now up on the official site, in case you haven't been going there. It's in bright Orange letters and very noticeable. Go vote, even if you have! The Order approves of cheating at polls! ^^
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