The Demon Returns

by Emperor Lelouch Vi Brittanna

Lelouch vi Brittania, The Demon Emperor, a man who had united the world through force. When he died no one cried. No one cared. But when it all falls apart he's needed. But isn't he dead? Rated T. R&R! spoilers for R2.

14. Battle of Mt Asahidake Part 2

Hello all, happy (late) Mardi Gras! I most apologize for how long this has taken. I just have not had the time to write. :\ Just seems like I am always busy now. I will try to update more often but please forgive me if it is another long period of time until the next update. To all of my faithful readers, thank you for still reading this. As always, Read and Review.

Now for the continuation of Code Geass R3, The Demon Returns (haha if only)

Battle of Mt. Asahidake Part 2

"Suzaku!" She shouted as she blasted towards the Lancelot. She came at the Knightmare frame with all the power of a Tsunami, holding nothing back, knowing that if this was Suzaku she would need every ounce of her skill to defeat him. He had already defeated Gino, who was no push over, and had now challenged her, the Ace of the Black Knights. It must be Suzaku...

As she charged, the Lancelot didn't move. It seemed to be inviting her to attack.... This made Kallen suspicious, yet she had to take her chance. Then she was on top of the Lancelot and there was no time to think anymore, she had committed to the attack. She reached back and activated her Radiation Wave, shouting, "Take this!" and reached out for the head of the Lancelot. Suddenly the Lancelot shot straight down, out of harms way, slash harkens flying and swords drawn. The Harkens gripped the arms and legs of the Guren, while the swords slashed at the midsection and legs. Kallen tried to manuever around them but she had no where to go. She was a sitting duck! It had all been a trap to bring her close and destroy her in one fell swoop! In the seconds between her charge and the impact of those blades, she could feel her adrenaline leave, to be replaced by the gnawing fear of approaching death. She watched in slow motion as the blades came forward to slice through her Guren. There was nothing she could do...

Then Kallen moved past the moment of fear, and came to the acceptance of her death. She regretted that it would come this way, that there was so much she had yet to do that would never be accomplished. She thought about Milly and Rivals who had stayed her friend following the downfall of Lelouch, at a time where she was seen as larger than life and few would even attempt talking to her. She thought about Ohgi and Tohdoh, a brother and fatherly figure to her. Finally she thought about Lelouch, how he had come back into her life, how she felt about him, and how she wished she had been able to spend more time with him....All this happened in a matter of seconds, her entire life, both past, present, and what could be her future, flashed before her eyes. Yet when her the flashes of her life were done she still had to accept reality.

Finally the blades hit, in what both pilots knew would be the final stroke. The right arm connected with the Guren's midsection while the left went for her legs. Yet when they hit something weird happened... The blades were stopped by what appeared to be a Blaze Luminous shield! Both pilots were stunned by this realization, Kallen staring dumbly at her machine, while the Lancelot pilot allowed the Lancelot's arms to fall slightly before righting them and preparing for another attack.

Suddenly, Kallen's communicator clicked on and she heard Tohdoh on the other end, "Kallen! Move! We fitted the Guren with some extra features this time around, but that Luminous shield wont hold up against many more hits!"

Kallen snapped out of her confusion and tried to move her Guren out of harms way, but the slash Harkens still held her, and she said, "I cant get out Tohdoh! He's got me all wrapped up!"

"Press the Energy Dispersion button, to the right of your control panel, it will put out waves of energy all around the Guren's body and should take care of those Slash Harkens. Now hurry, he's coming for another attack!"

Kallen did exactly that, and she watched as Radiation Waves began to disperse out of the Guren. The Slash Harkens acted as conduits, leading the Radiation Waves straight to the Lancelot. The waves even stopped his second attack from landing, knocking the swords back. The Lancelot was trapped, the Radiation flowing through the Harkens, prevented them from retracting, and as long as they were connected Radiation seeped across, damaging the Lancelot. Now the Lancelot was the sitting duck!

As the radiation wave continued infecting the Lancelot, the pilot, a young man in a white pilot suit gripped the controls. Beads of sweat rolled down his brown hair into his shadowed face. The temperature of the cockpit was increasing to a point of causing severe damage to both machine and pilot. His own slash harkens would lead to his undoing... 'No!' he thought vehemently, 'It will not end this way!'

Kallen meanwhile watched multiple things. Her cockpit temperature had risen by five degrees due to the radiation seeping out of the frame from all points, as it first had to draw the energy from the sakuradite and bring it to all points of the frame to give off this energy dispersion. Though minimal, Kallen worried about the temperature should she have to keep this up for a prolonged period of time. She also watched her power output, as she would be in trouble should she run out of power at 10,000ft. The final thing she watched was the Lancelot. If the radiation had been concentrated then the Lancelot would have been destroyed or at least severely damaged by now, yet the radiation was more spread out in this mode and was interring at four separate points, thus spreading the damage, so the Lancelot was slowly melting, instead of exploding all at once. Yet, the radiation should be enough to prevent the controls from responding. Even so, she wanted to be sure that the Lancelot was done. If the pilot truly was Suzaku then he would come up with something. He was not one to roll over and die...

Suddenly, the Lancelot's arms moved, straight up into the air. Kallen was taken aback by this, and began trying to increase the radiation shield around the Guren, 'The Radiation wave, along with the Blaze Luminous should be enough to prevent either one from getting through, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.' she thought

The pilot of the Lancelot let out a great shout, yelling, "It will not end like this!" and with that the blades began to descend. Yet the Guren was not the target of the blades, the slash harkens were! As the blades descended Kallen was convinced the blades were coming for her, until the last second. She stared dumbstruck by what she had just saw, the pilot had cut off some of his most lethal weapons, in an attempt to get away. Though Kallen understood his reasoning she thought it was a little extreme, even for someone like Suzaku. As the Guren was cut lose however, she no longer cared, the enemy had made himself weaker and she was free to go at him, and thats exactly what she did.

As soon as the Slash Harkens were cut, the Lancelot shot into the air, gaining distance and height upon the Guren. The pilot of the Lancelot let out an audible sigh, then steeled himself for round two. His Slash Harkens were gone, and many of his systems were damaged, but he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. 'That is,' he thought with a grimace as the controls behaved sluggishly under his hands, 'if the Lancelot can keep it together long enough for me to do so.'

Then there was no time to think for either one, as the Guren closed on the Lancelot. The Radiation Wave arm shot out, going straight at the Lancelot, who swatted it away with its twin swords. As the Radiation arm returned, the Guren engaged the Lancelot, both sides refusing to give in. They disengaged once, then came at each other again, each one trying to gain an advantage over another. They broke away again, and again they came at each other. They repeated this a third time, neither one able to breakthrough the other's defenses. As they disengaged the third time, the Lancelot quickly sheathed its swords, and pulled out its powerful Combined Super Varis Rifle. Before the Guren could move the Lancelot fired and hit the Guren causing a huge explosion. As the smoke cleared however, it became apparent that the Guren was still alright, having saved itself by firing a stream of radiation towards the blast. Once again the two combatants had fought to a stalemate.

The two combatants charged their weapons, preparing to try to over power the other with brute strength. Suddenly Slash Harkens shot around the Lancelot, wrapping around its arms, legs, and midsection, immobilizing the Knightmare Frame in a spread eagle position. The Pilot was taken by surprise and before he knew it he was caught, twenty Akatsuki frames descended from the air around the Lancelot, with five Akatsuki Jikisanshiyō hovering just above. Ten of the Akatsukis had their slash Harkens wrapped around the Lancelot, while the rest had their guns leveled at the Lancelot, ready to fire. The commander, a red Jiksanshiyō, which had many features of the Zangetsu, including the hair piece and shoulder armor, opened communications and said, "This is Colonel Yoshiaki, stand down or be slain Suzaku!"

The air was filled with anticipation, though it appeared that the Lancelot was done for, no one was ready to write off this powerful machine and its ace pilot. Then suddenly, a laugh was heard emanating from the Lancelot. It was an eerie type of laugh, one that not only said that the pilot was confidant, but also perhaps insane! Suddenly the pilot of the Lancelot spoke, saying, "Suzaku... I have not heard that name in a long time. He was an ace pilot, and in that regard you honor me. Yet he had a tragic flaw, he was an ELEVEN! Thus you insult me, me of noble standing and birth! No, I am not Suzaku, I am Benjamin! Lord Benjamin! Oldest son of the house Arnold, Heir to that family of Loyal Vassals to the Family Franklin! Though you may slay me, I will not allow you to harm my lord, thus I must destroy you all now!" With that said, blades swung out from the Lancelot's arms, slicing the ropes that bound its arms. Before anyone could comprehend what had just happened, the Lancelot's arms descended cutting away the final ropes that held it bound. As the ropes fell away, the Lancelot took off, striking at the Knightmares that had so recently ensnared it. It moved so fast, few even had time to move!

The Lancelot shot bursts of its dual Varis rifles at the Japanese Knightmares, blowing many of them away. The Guren shot up, following the Lancelot, hoping to cut him off and stop the destruction. Combining its rifle, the Lancelot turned and let out a powerful blast, destroying three more Akatsuki's and slamming into the Guren, pushing it away. After blasting the Guren away, the Lancelot sheathed its gun and drew its swords. It cut threw another Akatsuki and charged another.

Colonel Yoshiaki shouted, "Take him down! Take him down!" and moved to gain altitude to see the battle. Once spotting the Lancelot again, he opened fire with his dual barrel hand guns and shouted, "Come get me! You Bloody Beast, Come face someone your own size!. This drew the attention of the Lancelot, which shot up towards him. The Colonel shouted, drawing his sword " Yeah, Come face me you coward! Killing soldiers no more than boys! You will pay!" With the Lancelot fast approaching, Yoshiaki drew his sword and prepared to meet this powerful foe.

Their swords clashed, but though the Lancelot had been stopped on one side, the other was wide open. The Lancelot yanked its other arm up, decapitating the Akatuski Jikisanshiyō's arm from its body. As the Akatuski Jikisanshiyō began to fall, the Lancelot prepared to deliver it a final strike, when suddenly it was struck from behind by the Guren's energy hand, which grabbed onto the Lancelot's head. "No more!" Shouted Kallen, "You will kill no more!" With that the Guren activated the Radiation wave.

The Lancelot began to pulse as the Radiation entered its system. It would only be a matter of seconds before the radiation triggered the sakuradite in the Knightmare Frame. The Lancelot's pilot knew that he had only seconds to work with. With the confidence of an Ace Pilot, Benjamin flipped a switch and began typing a special code into the machine. Finally, Benjamin hit a button in the upper left corner of his control panel. With that a loud explosion sounded, and the area was filled with smoke.

The Guren's arm went slack and was pulled back. Kallen gazed at the smoke, hoping that it was finally over. Colonel Yoshiaki had finally righted himself and entered the Edo's hangar bay. Every Japanese pilot held their breath with the hope that they had finally ended this battle. Suddenly they were astounded as something flew from the smoke. It was the Emergency Survival Cockpit! They had defeated the Lancelot, and now had the chance to capture the pilot! The Japanese frames began to chase after the pod, confidant in their ability to catch one escape pod.

On board the King Arthur

"Here you go, my lady. This room is for you." stated the General who had decided to personally show them to their rooms. "Yours, master Zero is here across the hall. If you will follow me-"

"I'm sorry," interrupted Zero, "but I will share the same room with the Empress."

"Oh?" said the General looking between the two of them with a surprised and questioning expression on his face, "Forgive me, I did not know you two shared the same bed, in that case Schneizel you can have the room across the hall."

"That is not what I said," stated Zero with a hint of anger in his voice, "I said I will share the same room. I am her Guardian as well as advisor, and though you have proved to be trustworthy General Hector, that does not mean that trust extends to your men, not in this type of situation where anyone could look for a bonus from the other side by killing or kidnapping the Empress."

"Well I am insulted that you would think my men would betray you, they are all professional soldiers and loyal to me." said an obviously amused and skeptical General, "Well either way it does not concern me how deep you twos relationship goes, all I now is that I will protect you your Highness, even if you are a little to close to a masked man." the General still smiling, bowed and said, "I will take my leave then, Schneizel I would like to talk to you about some things, and reminisce about old times."

As the General walked off, Zero glared off at him. Zero was thankful for the mask, because he could feel his face on fire. Finally he looked down at the Empress who had a huge smile on her face and looked like she was about to laugh. She looked up at him and said, "You know you could of told him that you are helping me with my leg exercises."

He opened the door to their room, pushed her wheelchair in, and said, "Like he said, it is none of his business." He closed and locked the door behind them.

In the general's quarters, Schneizel and the general were reminiscing about old times, when suddenly the general asked, "Schneizel, is this rebellion your doing?"

Schneizel looked over at the general, cool as ever, and said, "Why would you think that?"

"You were always an ambitious one Schneizel. It would not surprise me if you had started this in the hope of becoming emperor yourself. You and Nunnally are just about all of the Imperial family left, so if she was to abdicate the throne because of this, you would be the obvious choice. I want to know Schneizel, did you have anything to do with it."

"...No," said Schneizel, "I have nothing to do with it. I have lost much of my support in the army after my loss to Lelouch, which destroyed my credibility. Besides which, I owe Zero my life. If he supports Nunnally then so do I."

The general looked at Schneizel for a second, then said, "Very well Schneizel, I believe you. So what are our plans regarding this war we must fight?"

As the two excellent strategist talked they relieved much of the stress that they had been under. Yet they had no idea about what was coming in just a short amount of time....

2 hours later

"Come on Nunnally, you can do it. Just a little farther." said Suzaku, who was at the opposite end of the room. Nunnally had been trying to relearn to walk for a year now, and everyday she did exercises to try to rebuild her leg muscles. She had already completed her leg exercises and was had walked the length of the room twice now, and was halfway done with her fifth and final lap of the night. Suzaku had been coaching her through it all, yet she did not know how much farther she could go. The twin bars that he had set up along the length of the room gave her support and a much needed place to rest when she could not take it any longer. Yet she was determined to make this lap without any help. She was only ten steps from the end, where Suzaku waited for her. She smiled at that and remembered how even when they were young he would help her and brother. Though at first he had been mean, after time he had come to be one of there best friends. In truth, her only friend. Now here he was, helping her to walk!

She took another step, only nine more to go. The pain she felt in her legs was beginning to become intolerable, yet she pushed on. Eight more steps, seven, six....

Suddenly the floor shook and the bars at her sides fell to the floor. She staggered trying to reach Suzaku before falling. Suzaku meanwhile shot towards her as soon as he saw the bars fall and caught her as she fell. "Are you alright Nunnally?"

"Fine... What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied with a grim look on his face, "but I will find out."

Just then they heard the general's commanding voice over the intercom, "All men to battle stations! Launch all Knightmare frame units!" as the ship-wide communication ended, a message came over their intercom, "Empress Nunnally, are you there?"

"I'm here General, what happened? Are we under attack?"

"I'm afraid we are Empress. It appears some of the fleet found out about you being on board this ship. Don't worry though we will keep you safe. Zero are you there?"

"I'm here."

"Good, stay where you are and protect the Empress. Lt. Gilcrest will arrive shortly to escort the Empress and yourself to a safe area. Please listen to him."

"But General-"

"No buts Zero, I need to know that she is safe. She needs you Zero, let my men and I handle this."

"....Very well General, it will be as you say."

"Good, now I must go. Take care of her Zero..." With that the communication ended.

Suzaku helped Nunnally into her wheelchair and grabbed his mask and cape, (the only parts of his Zero outfit he had removed). As he put it on, their door opened and in walked a soldier who immediately gave a salute and said, "Lt. Gilcrest, reporting. Please follow me, the shield should give us plenty of time to reach the shuttle bay, but best not to dawdle." He turned around and began walking at a brisk pace.

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Nunnally as she was pushed out of the room by Zero, "Do you not think that the ship and troops will be able to hold?"

The lieutenant looked back but kept walking and said, "To be honest, no I do not. Who knows, perhaps the general can pull another miracle out of his hat. He certainly has managed to create a lot of them. Anyway, We are facing two Logres Class Floating Battleships and three Caerleon Class Battleships. We also have to deal with their Knightmares which they will have in plenty. Now come, we must hurry."

They moved as quickly as possible, dodging engineers and support units who ran to get to their destinations. It was a long walk but finally they arrived at a room. The lieutenant walked on in, yet Zero stopped and said, "This does not look like a shuttle bay.."

"Not yet it doesn't, but it will soon, if you will hurry up."

Said shuttle bay looked like any other room, complete with bed, chairs, and a bathroom of to the side. Nunnally looked up at Zero as if asking him to go in. He did just that, but made sure he was ready to draw his gun at a single wrong move by the lieutenant. As they walked in Gilcrest pressed a button and said, "We are in General. You may begin the separation."

"Good work Lieutenant, head to the control room and take command. Get them to Portland, Lieutenant." Gilcrest went to a swivel chair at a desk and pressed three buttons. A door appeared in the wall, which Gilcrest walked through. Zero followed and saw that it was a command area. Schneizal and Sayoko were inside, seated at a pair of control panels, while Gilcrest began working on another.

Schneizal looked up and said, "Zero, I suggest that you go and strap Nunnally's chair down and find a seat your self, we will be taking off soon and the separation of this shuttle may be rough, especially should the Battleship require evasive maneuvers." Zero looked at him and asked, "Where are we? This is not a standard shuttle. What is this place?"

Gilcrest looked up from his control panel and said, "If you must know to be quieted, this is the General's personal shuttle. It was built into the belly of the Battleship with the exact notion of should the General have to escape this would be available. It is faster than the other shuttles, and even has its own shield generator. It is a great honor the General has bestowed to give up his shuttle, now will you please go and get the Empress strapped down?"

Zero looked at Gilcrest for a moment, then nodded and walked out, going to Nunnally, "Apparently we are going to make an escape, I need you to move to one of the other chairs. Do you think you can walk or do I need to carry you?" She nodded and said, "I can make it." As she said this she stood up and walked the three steps needed to get to the nearest chair and sat down in it. Zero folded her wheelchair and locked it down, then went and sat next to Nunnally, who had buckled a seatbelt.

As another blast rocked the ship she whispered, "Thank you Suzaku, for everything."

Suzaku smiled under his mask, "It was a pleasure Nunnally." Suzaku looked over at the control room, to ensure those inside had not heard. They continued about there business as normal, so they most not have. Funny what you started to care about when it looked like you would die.

Then another blast rocked the Battleship, and suddenly a power surge went through the ship, as the shield went down. The two heard Gilcrest curse and turn on the com saying, "General, the surge just blew out my command controls. I can't disconnect from the ship. I need someone to do it from the outside."

"Understood Lieutenant, someone will be there shortly."

As the communication ended Gilcrest came out and said, "Blast it all! The surge blew out the command controls! Empress, due to this ship needing to disconnect from the ship and not just taking off through the hanger bay, we must now wait for the General to send someone to disconnect us with the manual switch outside. It should be fine, as those controls have a surge protector over it, all the General needs to do is flip the proverbial switch so to speak... But all we can do now is wait. I hope the General gets someone here soon..."

Meanwhile the General was issuing orders, "I need security teams on floors twelve through fourteen. I also need teams standing by in shuttle bay eight to engage enemy forces."

"Sir! Another enemy boarding party has arrived, this time on deck seven. It's apparent they either want to take the ship or they want the Empress alive."

"Send a security team to defend deck seven, and have engineers evacuate the area. Once the engineers are out pull the team out and seal off deck seven. There's nothing there that we need, so best for them to move to repair the shields or the turrets anyway. Who are the two closest officers to shuttle bay omega?"

"..... That would be you and the colonel sir. The rest are scattered around the ship's edge, battling boarding parties. "

The general cursed under his breath. He and the colonel looked at one another and the general said, "It will take both of our command codes to activate it from the outside." The colonel nodded, and began walking to the elevator. The general looked to his crew and said, "Captain Mitchell, your in command. Don't let me down. Give me as much time as you can against those boarding parties."

"Sir, yes sir!" said the Captain and took the command chair. The general joined the colonel in the elevator and they began to descend into the ship. The colonel spoke, saying, "It has been an honor serving with you all these years sir."

The general smiled and said, "The pleasure was mine Colonel, you are one of the best officers I have ever known. Now don't start getting sentimental on me, we are far from dead yet. I plan to get this shuttle launched and then to pull another Iwo Jima.

The colonel laughed at that. Iwo Jima had certainly been a miracle. "Of course sir, if anyone can pull off a miracle in this situation its you."

"That's right, and lets not forget the fact that we have a lot better equipment this time around. Before, I had to use tanks and ground troops to pull a miracle off, now we have Knightmares and floating fortresses. Don't worry my old friend, we will find a way to bring these traitors down."

Another blast rocked the ship and the general began to move as fast as his sixty year old legs would carry him. The colonel was right behind him. Finally they arrived and the general called over the com, "Ready Lieutenant?"

"Yes sir, on your mark."

"Colonel, the other command pad is right down there, I'll take this one you use that one."

"Understood," the colonel ran off down the hall and slid his card through the pad, and began pressing buttons. The general did the same. Unfortunately, the general was much slower due to his arthritis, and the colonel had finished and pressed the release button and was already walking down to the general. It would not release until both had been unlocked so the sooner the general finished the better.

He was almost done when five men came in, and said, "Hold it right there General." The general pushed the last button of his code in, all that remained was the launch button. He turned to look at the five, a captain, two lieutenants, a sergeant and two privates, all members of his crew. The captain raised his gun and said, "I told you to hold it General."

"What is the meaning of this Captain..."

"I think you know sir, we are not going to die for you, and the easiest way to gain favor with them is to hand over the Empress. You are an added bonus though sir. It's over, I'm relieving you of command. Private Lewis, disarm the General."

As the Private moved forward and began to reach for the gun the General pulled it out and stuck it under the privates chin, saying "This the one you want Private?" All four of the others had their guns trained on the general now.

"Let him go General, and hand over the gun" said the captain, then looking at the colonel he said, "Your either with us or against us Colonel," As he said this the Sergeant trained his gun on the Colonel.

The colonel stood there for a time, then drew his gun..... and pointed it at the general's head! He said, "As I told you before sir, it has been an honor serving with you, but like they said, it's over." The sergeant moved his gun to the general, and suddenly the colonel pointed at the sergeant and fired, hitting the sergeant in the head. The general followed suit, killing the private and grabbed the body and used it as a shield. The Colonel shot the other private, this time right between the eyes, but was then shot twice in the chest by a lieutenant. The general shot the captain right through the neck, then fell to the floor as one of his legs were hit, yet he kept firing killing the lieutenant who had shot the colonel. The final lieutenant shot the general in the chest, kicked the body of the private out of the general's tiring hand and stepped on his wrist which held the gun.

The lieutenant smiled down at the general and said, "Well you certainly made a mess of things sir, but you've increased whatever reward I will get, and for that I thank you. Don't worry sir, I'll make it quick, you deserve that much." As he said this he raised his gun and pointed it at the generals head, "Goodbye General Hector, you will be remembered as an idealist I believe, a loyal soldier to a weak regime. Goodbye sir, and may you find happiness in what ever gods you cherish.

A single bullet shot rang through the hall.

The lieutenant fell, with a bullet hole right between the eyes! The general turned around, and saw the colonel, laying against a wall, smiling he said, "I couldn't let you go before me sir." The two had a short laugh at that, yet they both knew they were dying.

The general crawled over to the command pad turned on his com and said, "You are clear to go lieutenant." with that he pressed the release button and heard the engines of the shuttle take off. He pressed his com and said, "Bridge.... patch me into the ship wide com system,"

"Yes sir, are you alright sir?"

"Just do as I order Captain," the General's breathing had become heavy and he knew he did not have a lot of time.

"Done sir, ready to receive message.

"Thank you Captain.... All units, this is the general speaking, I want to thank you all for serving under me.....cough, cough, cough", the general's speech was broken by his coughing and by another blast that rocked the ship. Yet he continued, "It has been a pleasure and a- an honor serving with you. You are some of the finest troops, I have ever commanded, and I am proud to of been your commanding officer. Now-(the generals voice begins to get weaker as the blood drains from his wounds and he is sure he has internal bleeding,) "Now, I have one last favor to ask of all of you. It is not an order, I can not order this. This is a favor I ask of a man who has come to think of you all as brothers. Please assist the Empress escape. This is my final request. It has been a great honor serv-serving with all of you....." That last was but a whisper, yet it brought tears to many strong men's eyes, they could hear the defeat in their general's voice and knew his time was running out. Some troops chose to run, others chose to avenge his death, others surrendered on the spot in despair at their general's death, yet the vast majority chose to grant their general's last request.

Gilcrest suddenly had fifteen knightmare frames protecting the shuttlecraft. He could not help but smile and say, "Thank you General, for everything." He quickly out maneuvered the pursuers with the help of the Knightmare frames and was soon on their way to Portland.

Back on the ship, the general made one last call to his men, "Captain Mitchell, set the ship on a course to the nearest capital ship, and give the order to begin the self destruct sequence. Order all men to evac."

"Sir, understood sir. I will activate the self-destruct sequence myself. And sir, may I say, that it has been an honor to serve under you these last three years."

"Thank you Captain. You have been an excellent officer..... It was a pleasure working with you." whispered the general, and with that they ended the communication.

The general crawled over to the colonel. They sat next to each other, both feeling their deaths approaching. The colonel, pulled some beads out of his back pocket, did a sign and croaked, "We should spend these last few moments in prayer for the after life."

The general laughed weakly and said, "And what god do you pray to my friend? What god will take care of us, now that we are nearing death?"

The colonel looked over and said, "Why, the one true God, Jesus Christ of course. I suppose you do not believe my friend?"

"Haha, and to think, I had thought that Emperor Charles had rooted out all of the members of that cult you call a religion, and here I find that my own second is a member of 'The Way', ironic no?"

The colonel frowned but replied weakly, "Yes it is my friend, yet I had hoped that you a had found something to believe in after all the miracles you have seen.."

Once again the general laughed weakly and whispered, "I'm sorry my friend, those miracles are nothing more than a mix of luck and skill on our part. We really were just that good my friend, I do not see the hand of some divine being in those miracles."

"I am sorry to hear that Hector, in that case, I shall pray for the both of us."

The general laughed at this, but began to choke and cough. He knew his time was coming, he couldn't even talk anymore. He was sure that the bullet in his chest had punctured a lung. The last thing he felt was his friend's hand on his shoulder, and the last he heard before entering the blackness was a whispered,

"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, cough cough cough.... thy will be done... on Earth... as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, cough.. our-our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those, cough cough... who sin against us, and lead us not into temptation, but.... deliver us from evil. (little more than a whispered croak) Lord forgive us cough cough cough, our sins and help us to come-come to your holy-holy alter, where we will give you praise and glory.... now and forever. Lord Jesus Christ (takes in painful breath), please bring my friend Hector, to your kingdom. Though he knows you not, he is a good man. May his actions and deeds bring him mercy and the reward of eternal life. In your name Jesus Christ, we pray amen. Come (another coughing fit strikes him, in which he spits up blood)..... Holy spirit... and renew the face of the earth. T....."

Though his friend continued to defiantly pray, fighting his nearing death to get every prayer for his friend in as possible, General Hector heard no more.

As Gilcrest flew away, keeping the Empress safe, he saw on the radar an explosion, as the King Arthur self-destructed, taking two enemy Caerleon Battleships with it. 'Good-bye General, you were like a father to me. I will honor your last wish and keep the Empress safe. You may rest in peace General, knowing that I will defend her, even should it cost me my life.' were his final thoughts as he finally got out of radar range and escaped the battlefield.

Bogota Columbia

Captain Uribe sat in his cell, contemplating his life up to now. Though he sat in this dark dingy cell, he wouldn't change a thing. The Britannian scum had not treated him well and he had not eaten in three days and the water he had been given was rancid and filled with dirt. He had been in this cell for the last week and a half, and the daily beatings were wearing even his tough, battle hardened frame. The only thing that made it bearable was the thought of his Commander, General Bolivar, being free. That lone fact made it possible for Uribe to make it through the days of beatings and nights of hunger.

Suddenly his concentration was broken by the sound of doors clashing. Uribe knew it was to be today. From what he had been able to gather from the few guards who would talk to him, usually young guards who enjoyed the beatings and who liked to crush their captives spirits, it was to be a public execution. It was to be an example for all those who dared stand against the Empire, or in this case, General Hollister. The guards, in their camo military uniforms stood outside of the cell door. Some of those same guards who had enjoyed taunting him now stood outside, with wicked smiles on their faces. The Captain of the team opened the door and told Uribe to get up. Uribe steeled himself for what was to come, and stood, as they placed the restraints on his wrists and ankles. Always the proud warrior he refused to show them any weakness.

The guards, five in all, led him roughly out of the cell and into the rest of the prison. After five minutes of walking through the prison, they emerged from the building into the light of day. The light forced its way into Uribe's eyes. After being enclosed in the dark cell for so long, the light felt like needles being shoved forcefully into his brain. Uribe winced in pain, but refused to show any further signs of frailty. They marched him, towards the center of the square, where a raised platform awaited him. Set upon the platform were the gallows, revealing to Uribe just how they planned to have him executed.

A large crowd had gathered around the square, fenced in by Military police. Surrounding the waiting gallows, were five towering Knightmare Frames, all positioned inward, starring down at Uribe as he approached. The guards forcefully hurried him to his place, on top the gallows, where the hangman awaited him. They turned and left, leaving Uribe alone with his executioner. The Security Commander, the master of Life and Death in Bogota, joined the officers on the balcony of the police station. As he arrived, a murmur arouse from those gathered. He silenced them with a wave of his hand, and looked down upon the proud resistance fighter in front of him. He raised his voice and in a commanding tone, stated, "If you have any last words, speak them now."

Uribe looked up at the Commander, then at the gathered crowd, and said, "I would give my life a thousand times over, for one man's freedom. I regret, that I have but one life to give for my people, but I die, with the knowledge that one day, my people will be free, and so, I die now, a free man! ¡Viva la Revolución!" With that, the black bag was pulled over his head, and as he struggled, a noose was pulled over his head and down his neck. The crowd waited in silence, waiting for the lever to be pulled.

Suddenly the silence of the square was broken, by the sound of a bullet, slicing through the air. The security Commander fell from his perch on the balcony. The crowd looked on in silence, stunned by what they had just seen. A split second after the Commander hit the ground, the air was rent by gun fire, and explosions. The square erupted into chaos, onlookers trampling over each other to try to get away. Even the Knightmare Frames were not immune, as rocket fire flew through the air, striking the Knightmare Frames.

As Rockets and gunfire flew from the buildings and alleyway, a transport shuttle landed in the square, allowing three small Knightmare Frames to disgorge from it. The small team of light Knightmares laid down suppression fire, forcing the security forces to run, and crippling the opposing Knightmare Frames.

Uribe was pushed into the shuttle, and the black bag was pulled off his head, revealing the Ambassador Clinton! "It's good to have you back Uribe." Said the Ambassador, as the shuttle was refilled by the Knightmare Frames. As soon as the Frames were back in, the Shuttle took off and was met by arial Knightmares, who escorted it out of the city. As the shuttle took off those freedom fighters throughout the city began to slowly disengage and slink back into the sewers and dark places of the city. The entire operation took less than ten minutes.

End!

Thank you for Reading. Once again, I am sorry for not having got this done sooner, and I hope to get the next ch done much faster. Hopefully I wont make you all wait as long as this last time. The last part was a little rushed, but I think it came out pretty good, even if it was a little short. Anyways, Remember, Review! All suggestions and Ideas are welcome and appreciated. The more reviews the easier it is for me to put school and life on hold and write so lets get a lot of reviews ^_^

Shhh! Ok this is Thomas, alternite half of this account. Just a bit of detail for next chapter: Minimum Fourty days. So, check back then maybe a bit after.