A/N: Thanks again to JameyoftheMegacosmos for editing and his contributions to this chapter.

Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed and favorited the story so far.

Well, I did hint that the Huckbeins would appear at some point, although I admit its sooner than planned; however, the Reflection and Detonation movies just gave me a lot more material to work with. On top of the new CG movie coming giving me much more to work with and to really expand upon what I originally had planned.

By the time this new arc finishes, it will have lasting consequences for events later in the story.

Anyway, without further delay on with the chapter.


Chapter 30

Two Sisters

Within the sanctuary of a darkened room illuminated by various holographic screens, Suzuka stood beside the Mandarin, who clasped his hands on the desk by his seat. Before them, a holographic screen with Kusakabe's face displayed in front of them. Next to him was live footage of the TSAB and Britannian Army engaging the unknown force composed of Knightmare Frames and combat machines made from a mashed mix of various construction vehicles.

"It looks like someone else outdone us, sir," Kusakabe had been preparing to ambush the Britannian Convoy to assassinate Clovis, something any officer in the Japanese military would dream of doing. But while he hated to admit it, someone else had beaten him to the punch. "Those machines can't be part of the Black Knights."

"No," Suzuka said before realization dawned on her, "I am willing to wager they are the heavy-duty machines and Knightmares stolen from Kyoto."

"Then we are dealing with a new player," the Mandarin replied as he studied the various screens and satellite images of the battle. "What's going on here…"

The Mandarin, with a silent gesture of his hand, brought one of the satellite images to the forefront. He saw Hayate and Chrono confronting a trio of individuals who were leading this attack force. He zoomed in on a particular event that caught his eye.

"That man with them, I have heard about him," the Mandarin began. "His name is Veyron of the Hückebein Family."

"You must sound very disturbed about them, sir," Kusakabe noted.

"His family is a bunch of killers who have been raiding the fringes of TSAB space, indiscriminately killing anyone unfortunate enough to be in their way. I never knew that they sold themselves out as hired guns."

"Well, why would they be here?" Suzuka asked.

"I don't know," the Mandarin said before zooming in on Kyrie. "But that woman is the one responsible for all of this, I believe."

"What should we do?" Kusakabe asked while the Mandarin pondered that.

"Summon Mao in here right now."


Meanwhile, back at the research facility at Ashford Academy, Alicia stood by a computer screen. She wasn't playing any games on the computer. Instead, Alicia noticed some blips on the screen when the scientist wasn't looking. When she found red blips with the word "LOST" on them, she cried out to his older brother.

"Nii-san! Something's wrong with the tracking system!"

Peter went over to Alicia's screen, wondering what she meant. She noticed that the chibi icons of the three Aces have disappeared with only Ginga's still operational.

"Alicia, reset the system."

"I did, nii-san! We lost the signal for Nanoha-san, Nee-san, and Hayate-san!"

That seriously concerned Peter. Did they notice that he already planted tracking Devices on them? No, if they did, his tags were hard to sense even for them. If they knew that, they would have done so long ago.

"Show me the last location," Peter issued the screen, which located them at Highway 504.

The highway the Britannians took on their final stretch to be the location of Clovis's research facility. Lelouch gave all the details of the plan, which ensured that another engagement like at Port Yososuka would be unlikely. Quattro's recording backed Lelouch's stance that they'll avoid another confrontation with the Bureau. But with the three Aces' tags offline, and Ginga's being right on top of them, the scientist had to reach the man.

"Lel- I mean, Zero!" Peter contacted the leader of the Black Knights from the screen, almost slipping up due to a severe emergency. "What did I tell you not going against the Bureau!"

"What are you talking about?" Zero replied before grunting.

"Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate's tags just went offline!"

"What!?"

"We lost the tags' signal on the three Aces, damn it!" Peter got increasingly irritated. "I swear if you were out trying to do something out of your reach-"

"Your tags can't be busted," Quattro shared the same obliviousness as Lelouch did. "We may have suffered a setback, but we aren't stupid enough to go against the Bureau. I thought we already agreed to that!"

"But..."

"What's wrong, Peter?" Lelouch asked him. "You don't sound like yourself."

The young scientist remained puzzled over the dilemma. Lelouch might be capable of making believable lies, but he didn't sound like he would do such a thing. His voice was too sincere and innocent over the matter. Besides, Lelouch and the others agreed never to kill any Bureau agents, especially those very close to them. Furthermore, LOGOS might be willing to kill anyone who stood in their way, but even they knew the amount needed to take down the three Aces. The Mandarin's strength was not infinite, and Clovis would be a far more reasonable objective for him than further provoking the wrath of the TSAB.

Graham knew this as well, but that only questioned the events following Clovis's abduction. If it wasn't the Mandarin, then who could have possibly stood to destroy their tags and likely mortally wound his closest associates? The thought that someone so unknown and so dangerous only brought a dense and dark air around him.

"I believe," Graham spoke where even Lelouch and Quattro could hear. "Something very terrible has happened..."


Back on the highway, Hayate and Chrono were in a dangerous situation. They didn't know what kind of fighting abilities Kyrie or her companion Iris had, but they knew how dangerous Veyron was from his reputation alone.

Complicating matters was a seemingly unending swarm of enemy machines attacking Nanoha, Fate, Signum, Vita, and the Britannians.

In this situation, retreating was ideal, but Chrono realized it was unlikely they would let them do that. Judging from Kyrie's comment, they were ready to take hostages to force Hayate to comply with them. Therefore, retreating wasn't an option for them, leaving them with one choice.

Anticipating what Chrono was thinking, Veyron attacked first as he rushed Chrono intent on beheading him, but Hayate raised a barrier stopping his attack. However, Veyron responded by firing the shotgun-portion of his weapon, causing the barrier to shatter. Thankfully, Chrono already moved out of the way, but his enemy was already moving to intercept the young man.

Hayate used Balmung to rain down dozens of swords upon Veyron, and Chrono used Stinger Blade to add to the shower of magical blades. The two mages expected Veyron to evade them, but if the stream of magical swords was thick enough, then one or more could lay a hit.

Unfortunately, Veyron used Gunshot Defense to deflect most of the swords before retaliating with Birdshot Shell aimed at the ground between Hayate and Chrono. The pair took to the air just as the shot hit the ground, leaving a deep crater after the explosion from the resulting impact. Chrono narrowly raised his device in time to parry a swing from Veyron's weapon,

Hayate attempted to intervene, but Kyrie chose this time to attack her. Her sword locked against the staff belonging to the Mistress of the Night Sky.

"Hand over the Tome of the Night Sky before Veyron begins killing your associates."

"I won't," Hayate replied before she delivered a kick to Kyrie's stomach to push her back. She followed it up by casting Panzerschild to push her back even further.

"Then how long will your friend last without you helping him against Veyron?"

As Hayate struggled against Kyrie, Chrono was left to contend with Veyron alone.

"Stinger Ray!" Chrono fired multiple bolts in rapid succession. However, nothing he had was capable of harming Veyron, let alone slow him down. Every spell he threw at him, the latter shrugged it off. If Chrono didn't know better, he felt like Veyron was merely toying with him.

"How are you a TSAB mage?" Veyron mocked as he got close to Chrono and clashed with his Device. "My grandmother was better with spells that hurt!"

The Eclipse Driver kicked Chrono in the chest after he deflected the blade attached to his shotgun. The strength behind the kick was enough to send Chrono off his feet. Veyron loaded his weapon, prepared to finish the Mage off.

"Maybe killing you will get Kyrie's point across."

Before Veyron could land a killing blow, a Blade Impulse shot between the two before Fate arrived on the scene to lock blades with Veyron. Fate had switched over to her Sonic Form for increased speed and agility to take on Chrono's opponent.

"Well, now the Ace of the Navy!" Veyron had bloodlust in his eyes. "Now, I can expect a real workout!"

"You will not kill him," Fate replied with determination.

"Then, you better give it your all, or I'll make his final moments painful."

The power they were channeling into their weapons was enough to push each other back, but Veyron didn't waste time going on the offensive. Fate sidestepped his first attack before following it up with a slash of her scythe before using one at his waist to disable him. Veyron jumped back to dodge the blade before counterattacking with another shot from his shotgun-like Device. Fate responded with a slash of energy she sent at Veyron. The Huckebein took to the air to dodge, raining down blasts of explosive charges, which destroyed much of the highway and the vehicle that contained Clovis. Fate was quick to follow, thus escaping the explosions before moving to reengage Veryon as their blades met again in a shower of sparks.

During the slate mate, Veyron attempted to shoot Fate in the face, but the girl moved her head out of the way before kicking him back. She tried to flank him while Veyron was stunned, but her opponent recovered quickly and deflected the attack before he fired another shot from his weapon.

Nearby, Hayate was struggling to hold her own against Kyrie. As she continued to run away from the seemingly strong woman, she stopped to cast another spell around her.

"Frierenfesseln!"

As the Britannian forces continued their fight against the unmanned weapons, Alfred took the front line after another Sutherland got shot down. He used his sword to destroy two more Glasgows before hopping on the bulldozer unit, standing in their way. Just when Suzaku got on top with his Slash Harken, Suzaku stopped as she witnessed the ongoing battle. Specifically, he was in time to notice a large swirl of water erupting from the nearby lake.

"What the hell is going on here!" David exclaimed as the massive flying body of water hovered above them like a cloud. It went past the blonde-haired woman and her opponent and surrounded the brown-haired girl with magical triangles by her feet.

Alfred clicked his tongue. He had never expected such a bizarre weapon, let alone little girls speaking German and Japanese, to be here. His frustrations led him to be distracted as the bulldozer sent steel cables at him. The leader of the Glaston Knights got snapped back to the current battlefield as he worked to break himself free of the enemy machines.

Hayate called upon the nearby bodies of water to surround herself. She noticed Kyrie stopping as the swirling waters froze. Although it was a cage-type spell made to capture people, she made it in a way to temporarily protect herself from her enemy.

I can't let them have this tome, Hayate thought as Kyrie tried to break through the barrier. However, Kyrie acted like she expected this move.

"System Alter…"

Kyrie's hair began glowing pink, including her eyes. She charged at the barrier for another attack, but suddenly broke away. The confused Hayate didn't know what she planned until she heard a cry.

"SHAMAL!" Near the ground, Hayate watched through the ice in horror as Shamal got struck from behind. It was a typical move for the Knight of the Lake as she was preparing a spell to evacuate Hayate. Kyrie watched as Shamal caught her completely off guard, sending her falling to the ground.

"She should've protected herself better. It's a common tactic to take out the healer first," Kyrie pointed out. "We have researched all of you very thoroughly."

With Shamal out of commission, Kyrie resumed her attack, which made cracks onto the ice prison. Her System Alter had made her both stronger and faster, so it was effective chipping at her ice. It was merely a question if it could hold out.


Around the same time, Suzaku was facing similar problems at the Code R facility. When he entered the facility, he realized that the facility already had intruders judging by the damage. But before he could step out of the Lancelot, he felt the elevator moving. He noticed that a handful of unknown hostiles continued their pursuit for him, using the lift to trap him underground and restrict his movements. All of his enemies were young women with pink hair in armor and uniforms he had never seen. They were virtually identical to one another made the situation stranger, but they brought out what looked like energy rifles and began pelting at the Lancelot.

Unlike the TSAB mages, he had no magic whatsoever. However, the Lancelot gave Suzaku quite the advantage with its advanced systems. The fact they were boldly attacking the Lancelot baffled Suzaku.

"Stand down! Attacking a Knightmare Frame is madness!" Suzaku urged, trying to dissuade his enemies from attacking as their weapons bounced off the Lancelot's Blaze Luminous. But that only prompted them to launch handheld anti-tank missiles at their enemy. These were blocked as well, though they had much more of a punch than he expected.

When one of them attacked by attempting to get close to the Lancelot to attack it directly, Suzaku reacted instinctively and quickly leaped away before letting a Slash Harken fly, which bisected the android across the waist.

"What?"

Suzaku saw the woman's body thrown across the room, but he saw the mechanical parts within her. That meant that these were automated machines rather than people, which made the situation even more bizarre.

The remaining mechanical soldiers jumped to attack with bladed weapons. Now aware his opponents were not living, let alone human, Suzaku used a combination of Slash Harkens and MSV swords to dispatch them. The fact they didn't attempt to evade his attacks made it all the easier for Suzaku to cut them down.

From above, more of them attempted to shoot the Knightmare Frame from behind. Accompanying them was a squad of Glasgows that merged from the top.

Reinforcements?

The androids standing on the upper lip of the elevator continued firing their weapons at the Lancelot, but two Glasgows entered the elevator shaft to engage the Lancelot. Suzaku used its MVS blades to cut off the legs of one Glasgow before stabbing the cockpit block. The second Glasgow had its cockpit block cut in half as it tried to avenge its comrade. The last two Glasgows joined in only to be destroyed simultaneously by both MVS blades upon landing.

With the Glasgows defeated, Suzaku focused on destroying the remaining enemies on the edge of the elevator shaft. Taking out the VARIS, he obliterated the mechanical drones with several shots, though he caused some of the upper-level collapses in the process.

Once the last one was down, Suzaku put away the VARIS. With the area seemingly secured, he deactivated the Knightmare's systems and opened up the cockpit block. His first step was checking out the women who attacked him on foot, one of which had its mechanical parts right by his machine's feet.

Are these even from Earth? Suzaku thought as he opened the cockpit. He observed that all of the robotic girls were identical, like they were clones of the same person. Well, "clones" were not the right description. They were androids, so it was more like they used the same template to mass produce in great numbers. And they all had augmented reality visors, just like most Knightmare pilots.

Regarding the Knightmares, not all of the Glasgows were automated weapons. Some of them had pilots inside, which were the same as the assassins killed on the ground. He observed one that had a metal helmet with a sole red visor, and a black cloak around its body armor, and gold shoulder platings. They were undoubtedly covert agents and had colors matching a specific nation that he never thought would be in Area 11.

Zilkhstani soldiers? Here?

Suzaku knew about the infamous Land of Warriors. It was a nation that successfully defeated the Holy Brittanian Empire several times, and a handful of soldiers were powerful enough to take down entire battalions by themselves. The Honorary Britannian didn't believe in magic, but that got challenged by all the supernatural things that happened these past few weeks. Moreover, the kingdom believed to be blessed by their High Priestess with her prophecies that brought them victory.

"Lancelot to the A.S.S.E.C. trailer," Suzaku said, deciding to report this discovery by sending live feed from the Lancelot's Factospheres. "I have discovered enemy foreign soldiers at the site."

"What are those?" Jeremiah's voice spoke. "Zilkhstani soldiers?"

"I believe so based on the uniform, sir," Suzaku replied professionally.

"Leave them for the recovery teams. We'll leave them to verify their identities."

"Lancelot, proceed with your mission and secure the site for our forces," Cecile said, speaking on the open channel.

"Roger that," Suzaku replied.

Out of a sense of caution, Suzaku remained in the Lancelot for a few more minutes until he was sure he wouldn't encounter any more enemies. However, before disembarking, Suzaku picked up one of the defeated androids into his Knightmare's hands for safekeeping, believing Lloyd would want to see it.

After ensuring the pistol he kept in the cockpit was loaded, Suzaku disembarked the white machine before proceeding inside.


Around the same time, in the construction yard, Signum and Vita launched a coordinated attack. The duo had found the entire yard filled with more mix-matched machines supported by a few more Knightmares.

"We're creating a chokepoint here, so let's finish them off," Signum said as her sword transformed into its Bogenform.

"Sturmfalken," Laevatein said as Signum let her arrow fly.

Vita transformed Graf Eisen into its Gigantform and flattened another machine before them. Signum switched Laevtein back into its sword form before heading down to engage the remaining machines head-on. As she closed the distance between them, some sent flying fists at them, but Signum dodged one before slicing another in two.

Signum attacked an excavator type, one of the few that had escaped Vita's attack. She proceeded to hack off its arms before cutting it in half from top to bottom.

Using Kometfliegen, Vita destroyed another enemy machine built out of cranes before it could attack Signum.

"Only five left," Signum remarked.

"Four," Vita offered as a correction as she used as second Kometfiegen to destroy another.

Signum smiled before she used her sword to cut apart the limbs of a crane-type machine before cleaving it into two.

Compared to the ease of dispatching their foes Signum and Vita, unfortunately, it was the same for Veyron.

Fate struggled against her eager opponent, who held his own against her. Veyron was both physically mighty and extremely aggressive. Even worrying was that none of Fate's attacks had much of an effect.

"Come on! I expected the Ace of the Navy to do much better than this! " Veyron mocked before shooting at Fate with a burst of power from his weapon.

Fate dodged it quickly but retaliated with a binding spell to immobilize her target. Veyron broke the bindings holding him down before swiftly retaliating with a punch to the face followed up by a point-blank shot to Fate.

The resulting hit sent Fate flying to the ground, but instead of pressing his advantage, he broke away to attack his primary target. However, Fate recovered despite the blow she took and intercepted Veyron resuming their fight.

"Good, I don't want an easy win," Veyron remarked savagely.

Without a word, Fate engaged Veyron in round two of their battle. She finally managed to land a blow after dodging another shot from Veyron's weapon, slashing him across his stomach. Fate quickly switching from its Harken Form to Zanber Form.

"Jet Zanber," a yellow beam of magical energy engulfed Veyron at point-blank range, throwing him backward for a few seconds.

"Ok, now you are putting up a fight," Veyron said with a smile finding enjoyment with the challenge his foe was beginning to show.

How is he still standing? Fate wondered before deflecting a retaliation shot from Veyon with a swing of her weapon.

Changing tactics, Fate switched to Sonic Form while Bardiche switched into a pair of dual blades. She was now sacrificing defense for raw speed to overwhelm her foe.

Moving faster than the casual observer could see Fate employed hit and run attacks against Veyron slashing him with her blades, but after a dozen rapid fast strikes, Fate was growing concerned nothing she had was harming him.

"The problem you have is that you got nothing that can hurt me," Veyron said, suspecting what Fate was thinking.

"What!?"

Suddenly Veyron swung his fist and delivered an elbow blow to Fate's face, which stopped her and gave Veyron a chance to shoot her in the face.


Suzaku cautiously advanced through the main entrance of the laboratory, finding the bodies of the scientists and Code-R personnel who tried to escape. As a precaution, Suzaku maintained an open communications line with the trailer.

"I entered the facility," Suzaku reported. "There appear to be bodies of dead researchers and armed personnel who operated this facility."

Suzaku knew no one would reply since anything he was transmitting was being recorded as a precaution if he ran into something dangerous. Despite the apparent danger, Suzaku boldly proceeded further while peeking around every corner to avoid potential ambushes by lingering enemies.

What were they trying to escape from?

Along the way, Suzaku found one of the passages had collapsed.

What happened here? Some kind of accident?

Suzaku pulled out a map of the facility he received from Clovis when he was sent on ahead to scout it provided by Clovis before the mission.

Suddenly a transmission came in.

"Kururugi here," Suzaku tapped his earpiece.

"Kururugi, while you are there, find a terminal to plug that device I gave you," Lloyd asked. "I trust you didn't forget it in the Lancelot?"

"No, I didn't," Suzaku replied as he drew a small transmitter from a hidden pocket on his flight suit.

"Find a terminal, and that map I gave you with that device should show you an alternate way of getting around."

Suzaku was a little uneasy, but if Lloyd was asking him to do it, then that should be enough for him. Retracing his steps, Suzaku found an open office with a computer terminal on, allowing him to plug in the small device and transmitter. Suzaku sent a signal to Lloyd, who began using it to access the terminal remotely.

As Lloyd began downloading the files, Suzaku continued his investigation of the facility. Using the map, he discovered an alternate route through the maintenance tunnels. The soldier made his way around the collapsed passageway and decided to investigate what caused the collapse.

When he reached the room that connected to the collapsed corridor, he found a young woman with red hair partially buried by rubble. Only her head, part of her upper shoulders, and her left arm were sticking out. Suzaku had expected the worse, but when he checked her pulse by placing two fingers against her neck, Suzaku found a pulse. This woman was alive.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out," Suzaku said as he began working to unbury the young woman.

Suzaku spent a few minutes carefully shifting debris while mindful if he was too careless, he could bring down parts of the collapsed corridor on top of them. Within five minutes, Suzaku had most of the woman's body unburied, leaving only her legs.

How did she survive that? Suzaku thought upon noticing the girl move. He realized that she regained consciousness as she was beginning to stir.

"Please lay still, you've been badly injured," Suzaku calmed her down. "I'll have your legs unburied shortly."

"What," the woman began, dazed from what happened.

"I don't know what happened here, but you were under a collapsed corridor," Suzaku said as the girl moved his arms before becoming aware that she was still trapped under the rubble. "I'll get you out of here. Just lay still so I can finish unburying your legs."

Too weakened from what had happened earlier during her brief clash with Zero, the woman complied. It wasn't long before Suzaku finished unburying her, having removed the last of the debris and broken metal. While pulling her out of the floor, he felt a tight grip coming from the woman.

Her strength seems far more than someone her age, Suzaku noted as he recovered from rescuing the girl. Is she the one that Clovis held here?

Before he could think, Suzaku noticed by instinct a shadow looming behind him. He turned around to block a knife with his gun, wielded by someone with the same black tactical suits worn by the previous soldiers he discovered. It gave him time to evade a few more attacks from a couple more operatives who launched their attacks against him. Suzaku fired his gun at them, but they were too quick for him, and they surrounded him.

Two of the three men attacked the Warrant Officer from both sides. Suzaku countered both of them with this fists, striking down the one on his left before deflecting the knife of the other. He then entered a lock with the third one before countering with a kick.

Before Suzaku could continue, a few gunshots rained by his feet. Suzaku then confronted by an armed group led by two men who differed from them. One of them was Swaile Qujappat, and his companion was wearing a dark blue cloak with a hood covering his face. Even more worrying was that they were joined seconds later by seven more of those pink-haired androids he had defeated outside the facility with the Lancelot.

Suzaku raised his gun against the dark-skinned man, both of them waiting for each other to make a move. While Suzaku's arm shook, the Zilkhstani agent stood firm and confident against his opponent.

"For a member of an oppressed populace, you're quick on your feet," the assassin leader commented. "Too bad that you picked the wrong opponent to confront alone."

"Who are these androids?" Suzaku jerked his eyes before reverting his focus on Swaile. "And what's a group of Zilkhstani assassins doing in Area 11? At a covert Britannian research facility, no less?"

"There's no need for you to know," Swaile replied. "We finished our job here long ago and have uncovered what we needed. But that doesn't mean we can let anyone find out about it just yet."

"If you're mercenaries, then someone must've hired you. Was it the Black Knights? The Japan Liberation Front?"

Swaile smiled malevolently, prompting Suzaku to tighten his grip on his gun. His hands shook more noticeably as the Zilkhstani officer went on.

"I'm afraid you have it all wrong. This job was an order directly from Her Majesty and her greatest supporter, who seeks to release the specimen contained here."

"Her Majesty? Contained?"

"And you got one other thing wrong here," Just then, the other unmasked man stepped as the Honorary Britannian turned his attention.

Suzaku aimed his gun at him, but what he didn't expect was how close the other person already got to him.

WHOP!

"GAAHH!"

Suzaku didn't know what happened, but an uppercut went straight into his stomach, sending him flying into the air. Before he could process anything in his mind, Suzaku's head banged onto the wall of the collapsed corridor's entrance. He fell face-first onto the ground and was rendered immobile. He staggered for breath and any kind of muscle he could move. It was fortunate that the enemy didn't take the time to finish him off, which allowed him to see both of his enemies as one approached him.

"We weren't hired under the banner of Zilkhstan," the other agent shook the hand he used punch Suzaku while revealing himself from his cloak. Unlike the smug Zilkhstani commander, he had a much more polite smile. "It was Zilkhstan who hired us."

"Shall we finish him?" Swaile asked, leveling his gun towards Suzaku's head.

"No, it would be against our client's wishes," the other boy before switching the mood over. "Please forgive me for that attack. I am Fortis of Huckebein, and today is your lucky day, Warrant Officer Suzaku Kururugi."

"You know who I am?" Suzaku remarked, surprised by how their knowledge of him.

"Yes, since you are a friend of Hayate Yagami. Under normal circumstances, we would have finished you off, but we intend to use you as a hostage," Fortis explained. "While I have no doubt Veyron and the others will be successful, they did ask us to capture you if given a chance as an insurance policy."

Fortis then took what looked like a silver-colored small arms weapon, something Suzaku never saw in his life other than for decorative antiquity. He fought his body in a futile attempt to move, but no progress was made as the man prepared his weapon. It was an unspoken warning that if Suzaku tried anything, he would regret it.

Before anything else could happen, an explosion shook the ground. The two infiltrators noticed the underground chamber around them was sparking as smoke and small explosions were erupting around the underground complex. Suzaku could see any of the falling debris, but it distracted the two from their intended hostage. While the assassin jumped from the scene, the blue-haired boy smashed one of the panels falling from the ceiling as it came loose before aiming his gun. A silver beam shot into the sky, something like what Suzaku saw at Narita but far smaller, but it was enough to eradicate all the pieces of ventilation and metal plates into pebbles and scraps.

At this moment, the woman, who had been quietly listening and playing possum, rose from the ground.

"Accelerator!" She shouted as she struck Fortis away. Swaile aimed his gun at her as their soldiers aimed weapons, but the falling debris blocked their vision. At that point, she quickly grabbed Suzaku and escaped down the nearest corridor. Even though he was dazed from the sudden rescue, Suzaku immediately offered her an escape route.

"Go through the open panel," he offered. "It will lead us towards the corridor that heads for the exit."

Suzaku's rescuer did as suggested and discovered the maintenance corridor he had used to bypass the collapsed passageway. But once she came out on the other side, she stopped as bullets cruised through the hallway. Putting Suzaku down, the woman blocked the shots, then drew a pistol-like weapon, which transformed into a rocket-launcher style weapon. She then destroyed the passageway behind them, hopefully cutting off any pursuit.

The woman then tried to continue with Suzaku in two. However, being caught in that collapsing passageway still injured her. This time, it was Suzaku caught the woman before she could hit the ground.

"Easy, you should see a doctor," Suzaku checked her wounds.

"I am fine," she replied stubbornly. She was forced to correct herself when she had trouble standing, let alone walking properly. "Ok, maybe not."

"Let's get out of here, and I'll get you some medical attention, Miss…"

"Amitie," she introduced herself. "Amitie Florian."

"Warrant Officer Suzaku Kuruugui," the Honorary Britannian returned the introduction. "It's the least I can do for you saving me from ending up as a hostage."

"Well, you rescued me when I was buried, so we are almost even," Amitie replied as Suzaku began helping her down the corridor.

However, complicating matters was the fact the complex was still shaking as if a chain of explosions happened deeper within the complex. The ceiling above showed noticeable cracks as they rushed forward.

"I don't think we have time to walk out of here," Suzaku said before giving Amitie an apologetic look. "I am sorry about this."

Suzaku scooped up Amitie before spiriting down the hallway, making a beeline for the exit. Amitie didn't protest, but she was nevertheless surprised by the action as Suzaku carried her in a bridal fashion. The termors and shaking grew worse with every passing second. Still, Suzaku made it to the Lancelot as the ranger station above was beginning to crumble under the termors rocking the entire area.

"Here," Suzaku offered Amitie to sit on his lap the Lancelot before starting it up. As the elevator was close to collapsing, he used the Slash Harkens to climbed out of the shaft. Once it was out, the Lancelot began speeding away while transmitting to the Lancelot trailer.

"This is Warrant Officer Kurugui," Suzaku began. "An enemy force, including soldiers from Zilkhstan, are counted among the enemy are at the Code-R facility. Furthermore, the installation seems to be collapsing as its corridors were crumbling."

"Understood, Officer Kururugi," Cecile's voice replied as her face appeared on one of Lancelot's screens.

"It appears the complex's self-destruct system has activated," Lloyd interrupted, learning about it upon exploring the facility's computer network and research files. "Get away from that area, Suzaku! That complex is about to blow!"

"Roger that," Suzaku said as he put everything the Lancelot had into its Landspinners as it quickly fled the area. Still, mere minutes later, an enormous explosion erupted from where the ranger station used to be as a pillar of fire shot up into the sky with the surrounding ground for a half-a-mile collapsed upon itself.

As the dust settled, Suzaku and Amitie took a deep breath as they were more than enough away from the resulting blast. They had far more than enough time to reach the minimum safe distance before the facility exploded. Now that they were safe from any more dangers, Suzaku opened another screen to contact Cecile visually.

"This is Warrant Officer Kururugi," Suzaku reported. "I have safely escaped the blast zone and on my back to our unit.

"Understood, General Darlton is currently under siege but should be wrapping up the hostile force long enough," Cecile responded, implying that their work wasn't finished yet. But before she could continue, she noticed the Lancelot's passenger sitting on her lap. "Suzaku, who is that with you?"

"A survivor who needs medical attention," Suzaku replied before glancing at the Knightmare's hand on one of the monitors. "Also, I have something Lloyd should take a look at."

The Warrant Officer already had more than enough weird things going on at once. Following orders was something that Suzaku put before anything else, but the recent bizarre occurrences that happened this past month was starting to get harder to ignore. But thanks to this operation, he can finally get some answers.


"O' ruler of the white snow, with silver wings, turn all the earth in vision into ice! Come forth, breath of frost!"

Hayate summoned four ice cubes around her that shot at Kyrie, hoping to catch her with her area-of-effect spells. However, Kyrie was too fast from the spell's attacks.

Hayate was on the defense ever since the pink-haired woman smashed her ice prison. Although she managed to protect herself with a Panzerschild, Kyrie attempted to use her sword to pierce it. Hayate knocked her away, forcing her to use the limited opening for an attack. However, she was struggling to fight back as Kyrie was stronger and faster than her. Complicating matters was the fact that Hayate had difficulties fighting battles on her own without proper preparation or support to back her up.

"Brionac!" Hayate sent swarms of dagger-shaped shots at Kyrie. While the Florian sister deflected with her sword, that attack was a diversion for the TSAB agent's next attack.

"Diabolic Emission!" Hayate called out as a glowing sphere of black energy manifested in the vicinity.

Witnessing the attack was Bart, who cut down another headless Burai that still attacked by transforming its arm into a missile launcher. Claudio evaded the missiles before responding with his own against a crane-like machine before it could fire a huge cannon at them. He considered himself lucky as their father was in its line of sight, but he didn't have time to think of that as they witnessed the sphere of energy above.

"Uh, sir?" Claudio spoke before they were blown away by the enormous forces coming from the attack spell. All of them took cover as wrecks of the destroyed vehicles went flying.

As the sphere dissipated, Hayate checked her surroundings to see if she got rid of her opponent.

Did she finally retreat?

Hayate saw no sign of Kyrie until suddenly she felt a sword slash her across her back.

"Recklessly using Area-of-effect spells isn't always good against a foe who is faster than you," Kyrie scolded.

Shortly after, a shot from Veyron knocked all of the air out of Hayate before she could give Kyrie a retort.

"I assume you won against the other one?"

"I expected more from her, but you seem to have things under control," Veyron noted. " You hired us to get the Tome of the Night Sky and ensure you and Iris escape safely. We of the Huckinbein Family are many things, but when hired, we are professionals at what we do."

"Very well," Kyrie replied as she and Veyron observed Hayate fall to the ground below. However, thanks to Reinforce, Hayate's fall slowed down before she hit the ground.

"HAYATE!" Fate cried before charging at Veyron. Like Hayate's shield, the Eclipse Driver cut through the magical blade of Fate's weapon.

The wound wasn't deep, but it was apparent. Fate didn't stand a chance against the Eclipse Driver.

"I am disappointed you aren't better. I guess your skills are overrated," Veyron mocked before reaching Fate with a claw-like weapon in his left arm. It pierced her shield and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Napalm Fang"

An eruption of flame scorched Fate as she screamed out in pain with blood splattering onto her face. Veyron followed up his attack with a kick to her head, knocking the Ace of the Navy out.

"Starlight Breaker," a familiar AI voice spoke as a beam of pink magical energy engulfed Veyron.

Nanoha was furious after seeing both Hayate and Fate dispatched so easily. That and the resulting magical energy reside prompted her to use her signature attack. But her opponent emerged from her beam and shocked the last Ace in front of her.

"Now the Ace of Aces is such a disappointment. That only tickled me," Veyron offered mockingly before cutting Raising Heart into two. "Didn't your friend listen to me? None of you have anything to hurt us with."

Despite the damage, Nanoha tried to fight back, but this only resulted in Veyron punching her in the face, stomach followed by a kick to the side of the head. Nanoha crashed on the vehicle Clovis was kept in, which Veyron fired a shot at, causing it to explode.

With all of their opponents on the ground, the three guests walked over to the critically wounded Hayate. Reinforce was still watching over her mistress's body, crying for her to wake up. Kyrie switched to her regular uniform as the effects of Accelerator wore off. She knelt to the fallen Mistress of the Night Sky, staring at the main trinket for the Tome.

"So that's the key, huh?" Veyron observed fallen Ace.

"Not exactly," Iris descended to the ground. "The key is sealed within the Tome, but it'll take a moment to retrieve it. If the battle continued further and you hit the book with your Divider, you could have damaged it beyond repair."

"Hmph," Veyron hummed away. "And I thought I was careful."

Kyrie noticed some of the less wounded members groaning on the ground. They only had enough time and resources to hit their enemy, retrieve the Tome of the Night Sky, and then flee before reinforcements could arrive. It was time to wrap up their confrontation fast.

"We should not be around here for any longer," Kyrie issued Veyron. "Let's what we came for and get out of here."

"NO!" Reinforce put her hand over the Tome of the Night Sky's trinket just after Kyrie did. "You can't! Please, you can't!"

"Quit your whining and let go," Veyron threatened to shoot. "Or do you want to get vaporized just like what Sister Curren nearly did to you last year?"

"I can't!" Reinforce encased the Device in ice to no avail. "This is the only treasure left behind by the old Master. It's the only thing Mistress Hayate, and everyone has to remember her! Please don't-"

Reinforce was interrupted by a shot from Kyrie's gun. The new Reinforce fell to the ground with snowflakes drifting into the air. The last obstacle preventing them from obtaining the Tome was out of the way.

"Never thought you were the ruthless type," Veyron commented Kyrie's cruel assault on the little fairy. "For once, my opinion has changed about you."

"I only do what's necessary," the rose-haired girl commented. "Just like how your members handle the virus."

"Pfft, you haven't seen anything about what the life of Eclipse Drivers," Veyron commented as he noticed Nanoha getting back up.

Meanwhile, Nanoha managed to crawl out from the burning wreckage of the vehicle Clovis had been in, which despite the explosion Nanoha was alive yet she was injured quite severely.

"Please, wait..." the highest among the Aces tried taking steps towards the trio. However, Veyron aimed his Divider at the woman, blasting her through the torso and into the wall. Blood splattered all over the highway as Nanoha fell unconscious and slid to the ground. Veyron wanted to take another shot, but the Divider clicked, indicating that it was out of ammo.

"Either way," the Eclipse Driver looked over to Iris. "We better leave before we end up just like them."

"That's assured," Iris agreed as she had screens projecting multiple incoming signals from orbit, indicating a squad of Mages coming in for reinforcements. "We also received a message from Mr. Qujappat that the Britannians have recaptured our secondary target. It appears she fought back against our forces, and the A.S.S.E.C. unit was far more formidable than expected."

"So Fortis-kun wasn't enough to handle a simple mission," Veyron clicked. "Next time, I'll tell him to go outside more for once."

"Retrieving my sister was just a secondary objective," Kyrie pointed out as she signaled a red motorcycle that jumped over the highway. "As long as we have the Tome, we have obtained what we needed. Besides, if Sister is still resisting, then she'll only get in the way. We'll find a way to get her back some other day."

"If that's how you play it," Veyron walked to the edge of the highway. "Not like it matters."

At that point, Veyron jumped off the destroyed highway wall. Kyrie was got onto her motorcycle with the Tome of the Night Sky packed safely in her pocket. Of course, just because she was prepared didn't mean there were still some minor obstacles in the way.

"You there!" Edgar arrived in his Knightmare. "Stop there at once!"

Kyrie responded with the typical bursts from her gun. Edgar retaliated with his anti-personnel machinegun, but all of his shots missed. Kyrie then damaged one of the Gloucester's legs, causing it to crash down.

A few seconds later, another motorcycle jumped from the highway wall. This one belonged to Veyron as a conventional means of ground transportation used by the Huckebein. The Eclipse Driver twitched his head, indicating that they were ready to go.

As Edgar recovered from his fall inside the cockpit, he witnessed the three unknown guests exiting the highway by jumping off to the side. It wasn't long before the disappeared into the forest, vanishing without a trace.


Around the same time at their hidden base, the Mandarin and Suzuka met with their agents returning from the field. Kusuabke accompanied Mao, who had a big smile on his face.

"I trust your mission was a success?" The Mandarin asked without turning around.

"Of course, I didn't need to get too close to extracting what I need," Mao reported with glee. "It seems Miss Kyrie Florian was aiming to acquire something sealed within the Book of Darkness. Aside from the scary one, her other companion is an artificial intelligence assisting her, and its what created those odd machines."

"Excellent, tell me everything you have learned about them."


Elsewhere, Simon Testorrosa opened his eyes as he sat behind his desk. He pondered everything that she learned through the Mandarin's eyes from one of the screens.

"Kyrie Florian," Simon muttered before using his computer built into his desk to bring up a file. "The younger sister of Amitie Florian, who has been one of Code-R's most prized specimens. I guess we now know where the younger sister has been all this time. But still…this is something I didn't need."

Simon reclined in his chair. Once he realized the Code-R facility was compromised, he did not hesitate to activate its self-destruct mechanism. He considered using it once the Britannian team had entered the base to dispose of Dalton and the others after assassinating Clovis. But with the appearance of Kyrie and the involvement of both Zilkistan and the Huckebein Family, they could prove to cause severe complications if left unchecked.

The loss of Amitie is regrettable, but at least I completed my research upon her, Simon recalled as he went over the study conducted from Clovis's staff team. Just by her armor, weapons, and biology, he was overly fascinated by such a specimen.

"I'll have to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow," Simon said, thinking and already working to adjust his plans accordingly. "Maybe I should consider upgrading Gray with the Eclipse Virus as well."


Meanwhile, while retreating from the area, Lelouch was sitting in the back of one of the trucks. He and the Black Knights were still making their way back to the Toyko Area. Lelouch was in no condition to move around due to his usage of Overdrive, so he was lying on a make-shift bed to recover.

Quattro had open communications between Peter and Graham, who wanted an update after being alarmed over the sudden loss of their ability to track Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate. The former Number, on the other hand, was busy forwarding everything they copied off of the Code-R base's database. They together viewed images of the young woman who attacked Lelouch, making it easier to bring their superiors up to speed.

"I see," Graham sighed after Lelouch finished telling them what happened at the Code-R base. "So someone else has gotten involved then."

"I don't know who, but we recovered some of the androids they using as troops," Lelouch added.

"I'll begin going over these files immediately," Peter added before turning his attention back to Quattro.

Graham, on the other hand, still wanted to talk to Lelouch. While he was not in trouble like before, mainly since it was never the fallen prince's fault, they knew that a wrench was suddenly thrown into everything.

"Lelouch, we're going to need to have a meeting as soon as you get back," Graham said grimly.

"Yes," Lelouch said in agreement. "From how things are going, this is going to change everything."


A/N: Only the Black Knights really walked out of this unharmed with the least amount of losses with their objectives completed, but Britannia took a beating but were second best. Kyrie and his allies got what they needed while the TSAB is clearly having a dreadful week.

Everyone will respond and decide their next moves on how to deal with Kyrie, Iris, and the Huckbein Family, but it's clear they aren't going to be ignored.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter, so I'll see you in the next one.