Sorry for the wait guys, major writers block and schooling is a major pain in the neck. So without further ado.... Chapter 8: Sorrow and Insanity


UFN Headquarters

"We must respond quickly, Josh's forces are poised to burst from Indonesia and into the Indian Ocean and Africa . I believe we should attack his armies and him," said the newly elected President of Madagascar. The response was an uproar of shouting and screaming. Finally Kaguya brought the court to order. Her voice, amplified by the microphone in front of her, echoed through the room.

"Representatives, President Tllyay is unfortunately right. We must defeat Australia before it expands any farther. The Australians have stayed out of the global war and instead have been supplying arms to both sides while building up their armies. Josh and Australia are a huge threat, their army even dwarf's Brittania at this point and no single nation could stop them. That is why together we must stop him. Only through risking war will we be able to make peace. I propose a motion to send an army immediately to stop the Australian advance before they expand any farther."

With Kaguya's word the path to war was final. At the end of the day a force of 200 ships and over 2500 knightmares would be organized for an attack on the Australian offensive army. These units would mostly come from China however a large draft in Japan would increase the amount of knightmares. Even Kallen found herself at a drafting booth as the junior and senior classes in schools across Japan were closed to increase those who could join. It was only because of Ohgi and the news of the Australian's crushing island after island in Indonesia that riots didn't break out across Japan.

120 km south of Japan

The Marking was a huge Australian air battleship that easily dwarfed the Ikaruga and the Avalon. However its advantage in combat was not size but weaponry and shielding. It used Blaze Luminous shielding the same as the Damocles. Its weapons included 6 large Hadron cannons, 2 on the front and 2 on each side. It also had hundreds of mounted machine guns and missile launchers. Although it had plenty of weapons its real purpose was carrying hundreds of knightmare frames to battle and that was what it was doing. In almost a week all of Indonesia and most of the Phillipines had been run through on the Australian spearhead. Josh knew that any invasion on the Chinese Federations southern and western sides would be a dead end as he would lose major forces trying to take the coast. He would have to go in through the Korean Peninsula. That meant he would pass through Japan which was fine with him since that meant he would capture another large source of sakuradite as well as rip out an important cog of the UFN.

His main spearhead would stay in the Phillipines and in Indonesia to watch out for any enemy attacks there while a force of about 120 ships and 2000 knightmares would be diverted to take over Japan. Hopefully the Chinese would believe that the Australian attack on Japan was a weak diversion to hide the invasion from Indonesia and they would only send a few units to protect Korea. He would use Japan as a springboard and move the main spearhead from Indonesia to Japan and then into China while using his reservists and captured military units to launch what the Chinese would believe was the 'real' invasion from Indonesia into China. Luckily for him the UFN had no clue what the real Australian military strength was. He had kept records rather murky and if anything the only real data they could find would be the fact that he had ordered special parts from the UFN to build 1000 Akatsuki and 50 ships during the war.

Emperor Josh smiled in his Ashland knightmare as Famine, War, Pestilence, and Death were by his side. There was General Doyle, Pestilence, in his white Ashland. He preferred long range combat and was stubborn as a mule. Next to Pestilence was War, General Tanya, in her red Ashland. She preferred close combat and getting into the mix with Josh. Tanya was only 17 and was the youngest of the 4 horseman. She was also Josh's closest friend and they were like brothers and sisters. Famine was General Doshen in his Black knightmare. He was a thinker and a tactician. Always weighing his options and deciding what and what not to do. Finally, there was Death on his pale green knightmare. His real name was General Lyta and he was the only person other than Elizebeta to know of Josh's geass. He was the silent type and because of his age, he was a holdover from Josh's father, often sat in the back and guarded the rear of the group. He was a skilled pilot but he had turned more into a philosopher and spiritualist than pilot and soldier.

"FORWARD ONTO VICTORY!!!!!!!!" Screamed Josh through the intercom as several hundred knightmares flew off The Marking. They headed towards the UFN fleet only 80km north from their position. The 4 horsemen of the apocalypse would puncture the lines of the enemy and then allow the Australians to pour threw like a hole in a ship.

Josh held out his hand and opened his palm. Flicking his wrist against the throttle his red, black, and gold knightmare as it took off at an amazing speed. Behind him his loyal horsemen followed riding into battle. Each one spoke to Josh giving him the information he needed. Tanya came right up to his knightmare and with a chuckle she offered a race with him. Josh had to laugh because they were already racing each other at a ridiculous speed. It was only a minute before the 5 soldiers had arrived at the enemy lines. General Doyle slowed down as he began to fire his "Hadron Bow" at the enemies from far. Doyle picked up a group of enemy Akatsuki and let loose a few shots.

Ikaruga, UFN Fleet 40 km south from Japan

Tamaki had to grin as he looked at how many ships and knightmares they had. No matter what kind of forces Josh had they wouldn't be able to beat the UFN. They had received intelligence that an extremely large Australian force was being sent to take Japan. The UFN had surmised that he was probably trying to capture Japan's sakuradite resources since his war machine needed the metal to give it the energy to run. The UFN fleet was heavily armed and filled with the best pilots the world had to offer. Pilots such as Kallen, Tohdoh, and Chiba walked the decks of the ship.

In fact, Tohdoh was in charge of the fleet and with his leadership the UFN would surely triumph over the enemy Australian force. Tohdoh had received a report from Li Xingke that the Australian probes into China, which had been making plenty of ground, had stopped completely. He had told Tohdoh that he believed that the force being sent to Japan was probably the majority of the actual invasion force. The problem was that Tohdoh, Li Xingeke, Charles vi Brittania, and even Lelouch had never had a clue as to what the true strength of Australia was. That was why the UFN had been foolish enough to believe that this force comprised of the majority of the Australians. It was also why the Ashlands had gotten the drop on the fleet.

Tohdoh gave the order for a group of Akatsuki to attack but as they responded an explosion rocked the ship and the units disappeared into the blue abyss below. Tohdoh ordered a few more Akatsuki to engage but they were dispatched just as quickly. Evidently the Australian pilots were skilled. Tohdoh grinned, that meant he could get into his knightmare and fight. He turned to Tamaki and told him to get chiba and kallen and head to their knightmares.

Kallen sat in her newly assigned quarters, they had been the same one used by Zer- no Lelouch. At first she felt like she had come to terms and had simply ignored the fact that it was his room however by night it hit her like a bombshell. She had laid in her -no his- bed when she broke out into tears. She could stop crying and tried to bury her head in the pillows but even they smelled like Lelouch and only served to aggravate her crying. Kallen had rolled up into fetal position the first night but by the third she had grown use to the empty room. She still imagined, every time the door opened, that it would be Lelouch walking through. Instead it was Tamaki who told her to get ready for battle. She responded only with a nod and a polite smile. Tamaki smiled back and left to go alert Chiba.

Kallen was still grieving for Lelouch on the inside even though on the outside she kept up a happy façade. Moving slowly she got up and changed clothe to the familiar pilot jumpsuit. So many memories came rushing back to her that she almost had to cry again. This trip on the Ikaruga was more like a nightmarish history. Someone would pay for the pain she felt and she had a feeling it would be the kiddy king of Australia. Cracking her knuckles she diverted anguish to anger as she held the Guren necklace and headed to the hangar.

It was like a dream, walking the corridors and getting into the Guren, she had only woken up when she was flying with Chiba, Tamaki, and Tohdoh. The four of them were heading straight towards the Australian forces and it was only mere seconds before they were in visual distance. Kallen immediately spotted Emperor Josh's knightmare and began to laugh. She pushed on the Guren's throttle and put her hand on the radiant wave surge. The boy had just put himself on the frontlines and if they captured him the war was as good as over and if they killed him then Australia would surely fall into a civil war and the war would still be as good as over. Even Tohdoh saw the opportunity and while he was busy engaging the enemy Ashland's he had order some of the Akatsuki to help apprehend the Emperor.

She got into striking distance before a huge explosion rocked the battlefield. The Ikaruga had gone up in flames. Well in this case it was going down in flames and with it the flagship of the UFN was down. Rakshata had put so much time into rebuilding it and giving it the best shielding that it took Kallen a moment to realize just how impossible it could be for that ship to go down so easily. She heard a single word over the radio and it came with an Australian accent, "Conquer." Doyle smiled as his Emperor gave him a sweet praise, downing the Ikaruga was almost to easy but he still liked to hear the Emperor tell him what a great job he did.

Infuriated Kallen rushed forward to her target arm stretched so she could grab the metal and mangle him before ending him. She wanted to hear the boy who ended the peace Lelouch had created scream. She was angry, so very angry, that she used her slash harkens and grabbed the Australian Emperor from the back. She rushed forward closing in for the kill.

Josh took out his shield and as her hand grabbed into the metal of it, Kallen smiled. Nothing, not even some stupid shield, could stop her. She pressed down on the trigger for the radiant surge and waited to see the metal explode and a scream or shout to be emitted over the radio but neither came as she was battered down by him.

Her hate now was focused on this one man. He, people like him, were the reason Lelouch was dead. The warmongers, thieves of peace, and lovers of violence it sickened her so much. No longer was it the fault of Suzaku or the black knights for Lelouch's death but it was Josh's. She went in for another strike and this time she dealt a blow against the boy as she grabbed the shield and threw him back. Back into the UFN fleet and into a crashing Ikaruga but back nonetheless. The boy recovered but his speakers and his light weapons were no longer responding. Josh let loose a curse since that meant he could no longer use his failsafe plan. Still he was playing with one of Lelouch's closest compatriots and that meant he could taunt her. Switching onto an open frequency he began to talk to her and to everyone.

"You really think you can stop us. I am the Emperor of a nation untouched by war yet. Your pitiful alliance was weak just like its creator. Yes Zero may have been strong enough to stab through the heart of the Demon Emperor but he killed someone who had only been a school boy until a few months. I say that zero is just some masked number who gets his jollies fighting weaklings and calling himself justice. You don't even know who is behind the mask yet you follow him blindly. As for you, guren pilot, you sicken me. You are a backstabbing scoundrel who betrays those close to her. I read the classified reports. I am no idiot," Josh began to laugh as he heard Kallen let loose a string of curses before rushing at him only to be shot with a slash harken and swung into an Akatsuki.

Kallen held her breath as she tried to focus, she was being thrown about like a rag doll and she needed to stop him fast or else she would fall apart. She pressed down on the radiant surge and sent a wide wave which disabled Josh's knightmare for the time being. She smiled now that she had him all to herself. She switched to a private radio frequency, one that Josh was on.

"I am going to enjoy your screaming. I was thinking of making your death quick and at least not very painful but I am going to draw it out," she said drawing an MVS and slicing away at Josh. She fired a slash harken which easily penetrated the rear and kept him from ejecting.

His head crashed against the side of his cockpit as he began to lose sight. She was taking a toll on him. He had to radio in for help or he was toast. It was with a crunching sound that he realized the back of his cockpit was open and a large red guren was staring at him.

He had lost completely, he waited for the sound of the guren pilot to laugh and he waited for the death blow. It was then that he smiled, how inconsequential things were when faced with the looming figure of death. His life would be a short chapter in Australian history books and an even shorter one in the history of the world. Would it be called a rebellion against the peace whose villainous leader died at the hands of the hero's or would it simply be forgotten as nothing more than a side note in history. It was then that Josh was thrown all over the cockpit as Tanya came to his rescue by ramming into the guren.

Her sword cut through the slash harken allowing Josh to be free. He would have to give her a huge reward when the battle was over. Faced with his destruction Josh would accept it willingly but if he could prolong his life that was better. His systems began to reboot just in time to receive reports that The Marking was in range. It was time to blow this place sky high.

The order was just a single word. 'Fire' was all it took and six cannons wiped out at least 56% of the UFN fleet. Over half of the fleet was gone and many of the UFN knightmares left floating around. The Australians had lost nothing yet, not a single unit. Josh turned around and left the battlefield for his ship.

He might be brave but as he said he was no idiot and a half broken knightmare wouldn't last long even if he was piloting it. What was left of the UFN fleet was now retreating. They knew the battle was over and the best they could do was regroup in Japan and try to form some sort of defense.

Kallen cursed as she beat her hand into the Guren. Tohdoh had ordered her to retreat, she complied still angry at her lost opportunity. She felt as though without the reason of protecting Lelouch she couldn't fight as well as she had done when he was alive.

Lelouch's Secret Base

Lelouch had to keep from killing one of the guards in the base. He had not stopped cursing when he found out that Australia had completely defeated the UFN fleet. Josh had been outnumbered yet he had defeated the enemy. It seemed despite his appearances Josh was no idiot. It was time to mobilize once again. That meant he needed to get in contact with Jeremiah. However with this new war flights would be grounded and flying a knightmare halfway round the world would be suspicious. He would have to use a private plane to get there. That was no problem however because he could easily arrange a flight to brittania even in war time.
The drive into Tokyo was quite fast as people were leaving rather then entering the city. The main problem was military checkpoints which wasn't really a problem as Lelouch simply geassed the guards into letting them pass through. It was the same thing with entering the airport. It wasn't long before they were on the plane heading to Britannia. Japan was granted a few hours of reprieve as Josh had his fleet wait right outside the country while he had his Ashland repaired. Josh wanted to be at the spearhead of the invasion.

That was fine with Lelouch, the longer the boy waited the longer Lelouch could organize and gather forces. He knew he should have killed Josh the moment the boy contacted Lelouch. It was still a mystery to Lelouch as to how he had contacted him. He had only met that boy once before at a private meeting in what was left of Pendragon when Lelouch was the Emperor. However that was neither here nor there and Lelouch was arriving at the same airport he had gone to when he declared himself Emperor. In such little time he had created peace and a new world order only to have it destroyed by another so quickly.

The Markings

Josh sat drinking a cola as one of his bodyguards brought him a phone. The number was Kaguya's. He couldn't help but laugh as he pressed the talk button and a loud scream pierced the room. She was pissed but he kept her on the phone as she ranted and raved about what he did. It seemed like she was blaming him for every problem in the world. That was fine with him victory was his and he intended to take Japan down as quick as possible that way he could launch his attack into the Chinese Federation. Of course if that didn't work he would send his special weapon in to destroy everything. FLEIJA was no more than an infantry man's grenade compared to it. Josh couldn't help but laugh maniacally.


Sorry it seems short. However I will be working on more chapters and hopefully get this to a weekly portion over the summer. Anyway so what do you think?

I think I made Kallen seem too blood thirsty however I really enjoyed the chapter. I'm sorry if the lack of Lelouch chapters is annoying anyone but I'm still stuck trying to think how he would react. Right now the next few chapters are going to be from Japan point of view, then Lelouch, and back to Josh. I've really enjoyed developing Josh. (I wonder if he is anyone's favorite character right now?) Ummm expect some more chapters probably next week after my finals are over. Also I feed on your reviews do not starve me PLZ. I want more reviews please!! I see you guys who are favoriting or story alerting my story and I want you to comment. PLEASE

THAT IS ALL