Okay, we are back! As I told one Vein Bloodborne, this chapter was delayed because I was focusing on getting the first chapter of my new story, 'Gate: Thus the Demon was Exiled there!' finished and posted but now that I've done that, I was able to get to work on this chapter. As things were left unfinished in the last chapter, the whole war in Kyūshū will be resolved here, the ending of it might came as surprising but it will end how it does because to me, it was just the opening act in a much larger performance. There's also the fact that Sawasaki won't try to buy time by talking to them as he has no reason to believe they'll entertain it, which goes double because the Black Knights are attacking their naval component, boxing them in.
tf330129: Thanks, but I would love it if you left more than that the next time you review. Share your opinions about this.
ChimaTigon: Remember that Shirley as some growing feelings for Lelouch? She and Milly talked about in some chapters back so she wants to speak with his wife and see how to deal with this. Is it the best option? Not really but she's young(she's 20) and we youth tend to make poor decisions on the regular.
Vein Bloodborne: Oh yes, things are progressing nicely, with any luck, that big reveal will happen in this chapter. As far as their plans go, they might work….on earth only, which would just shut them away like how China did to the rest of the world for a couple centuries. I do have plans for when they'll discover this but I'm still split on now they'll react to this.
Blaze1992: Yes, and that storm is here.
JCarrasco: Thank you, here is an update.
raw66: Thank you but I know that I still have things I need to work on, namely grammar and spelling.
7: It was the first mecha anima I ever watched and still remains one of my favourite, despite its age.
ChunkyFunkyMunky: OCs can be great, if handled carefully. As I've not received any criticism for them, I can say that they're being received alright. Even your review is less about their quality and more along the lines of them being there, period. All I ask is that you give them a chance.
Greer123: Thank you, the fight was purely my own work so I was concerned that it was subpar. And I'm doing great, avoiding getting Covid19 isn't that hard if you know what you're doing.
Chapter 33: Gathering Tropical Storm
27th November 2020 a.t.b. /3 9688 BBY:
Unknown Region:
Milky Way Galaxy:
Earth/Sol-3:
Area 11:
Kyūshū Military base:
"What do you think we should do?" Sawasaki asked Cao, showing some fear as they watched as the Britannian forces slowly but surely cut through way towards them.
"Send out first and second squad. Have third and fourth take up defensive positions behind them." Cao ordered his men as he tried to buy time to come up with a better plan of attack.
"Sir!"
"And make sure our anti-air unit is on high alert in case they start flying again!" He added in as he wasn't going to let those damn machines start flying again. He didn't know why they came back down to earth but he wasn't going to let them get back in the air.
"But that still leaves out-" One of the controllers tried to remind them of the other issue that was heading their way.
"I know, but don't have enough time to waste on him. Zero and his terrorists have to cut through our entire naval force to get here, there's no way he'll make it." Cao instructed. Confident that not even Zero could fight his way through such numbers, if nothing else, he'll ran out of munitions before he got to them.
(With the Britannians)
"They are putting up a fight." Edgar noted as they found themselves having to mow down wave after wave of enemy units. Everything from those cheap imitations of knightmares they called Gun-Rus to mobile artillery and tanks.
"They'll just desperate to stop us." Claudio replied as he drove his lance straight through the chest of such Gun-Ru but pulled back before the unit could explode, already moving towards his next target.
"That doesn't mean you can be sloppy. We need to end things quickly." Nonette reminded them as they had been fighting ever since they were forced to land at the base's edge to conserve as much power as they could. Though she was grateful that their better firepower was making up for the numbers as she blasted apart a tank and crippled the Gun-Ru behind it with a single shot from her V.A.R.I.S.
"Dammit, these Gun-Rus sure suck, but they make up for it with numbers. How many have you all taken down already?" Bart asked, now very pissed by the overall lack of skill from their foes as he slashed one unit across the chest area and then fired both his hip mounted slash harkens, one striking the exposed knew joint of a Gun-Ru targeting one of his brothers and the other smashing right under the barrel of a mobile artillery gun, disabling the thing.
"8." David replied as he blasted at a tank trying to fire on him.
"9." Claudio responded as he shot up another unit, marking his ninth kill.
"11." Rai called out as he fire doff all four slash harkens towards one unit, dealing enough damage that the unit all but collapsed.
"10." Nonette replied as she lead them further in, eyeing her enemy levels as she blocked a tank shot with her blaze shield.
"And that," Bart started as he zipped ahead and cut off both arms for another unit before kicking it onto its back. "9 for me."
"Looks like more are on the way." Rai pointed out as all their scanners picked up another attack wave. Seriously, was ganging up on something all these guys knew?
"Dammit, we don't have time for this!" David called out as he started firing on the approaching Gun-Rus while he and the rest of them used the building and wrecks of fallen units as cover.
(With Zero and Liu Mei)
"Looks like they're holding their own." Liu Mei pointed out as they watched the carnage going on their screens. They may not be able to see the actual fighting but they could pick up how the enemy numbers were declining at a rapid rate.
"Seems that way." Zero responded as he fired off another salvo of missiles towards some attack copters trying to stop him. They soon joined the dozens of others that tried to stop them.
"Geez boss, you're normally chattier than this." Liu Mei poked as she fired her shotgun towards a fighter that tried to take her out, tearing it to pieces.
"I have far more important things on my mind right now then this little invasion from the federation." Zero replied as he was thinking about their next step as they both avoided the anti-air fire from the ships still in the water. "At this point, all I see are targets waiting to be destroyed." He finished as he performed an aerial flip which allowed him to target one of those vessels, a destroyer by the look of it and get off a double shot from his hip mounted rail guns. Hitting home as both shots tore into the bridge of the ship and exploded, killing or injuring anyone who was unlucky enough to have been present.
"You have a point, they certainly not used to this style of combat." Liu Mei pointed out as she observed how the enemy would try to attack them like they were ground targets or slow moving planes, mistakes on their part. "Either way, we're making good time. We should get to their command soon."
'I just hope that they are ready to go when the signal is given.' Zero thought to himself as he was sure that SK and LM had made it to their targeted starting point. If their plans are to succeed, they needed sow as much chaos and confusion as they could. "Won't you all just get out of the way?" He asked as he shot at some fighters with his blaster rifle, some of his shots may have missed but the majority hit home and blasted them out of the sky. From the smoke from their exploding and crashing wrecks, he could make out land but more importantly, he could see the enemy command post.
'Target in sight.' He thought to himself as he let a small smirk form on his face. Looks like things will be over within the hour.
(Back on the base)
"This is Minister Sawasaki." They all heard someone speak out over their radios, surprising them that he was willing to talk.
"An open channel?" Nonette wondered to herself as she listened in, though she was careful to keep her awareness of their surroundings as they advanced.
"I hereby order that you imperial soldiers retreat at once. What you are standing ground if the sovereign land of Japan, you have no authority here." Sawasaki ordered them like they were on actual foreign land, if this wasn't such a tense moment, she would have laughed in his face.
"There is no Japan!" Edgar was quick on the reply as they drove ever deeper into the encampment, finding no resistance to them which put them all on edge as a second ago, it was like they were willing to pay for every inch with blood.
"I will not repeat myself, retreat at once!" Sawasaki had the gull to sound angered. Did he actually think they feared him?
"We do not take orders from you." Claudio's response may have been much more level headed and collected but it was as heated as his brothers.
"Then die." With that, Sawasaki signed off just as they picked up another 30 enemy units headed towards them. Except these one seemed a lot more competent than the last groups as one of them managed to land a shot that hit.
"Shit, they blasted off my float!" Bart yelled as his float unit was shot and he was forced to detach it before it could explode. With the enemy catching them in an open area, they didn't have much in the way of cover and were forced to dodge about or jumped onto buildings to avoid being shot to pieces.
"I'm running low on power." Rai voiced as he kept up the fire to try and break the enemy ranks as though their charge meant they took a full force of their own fire. They had purposely put their tanks in front to…well tank the blows. Meaning that they had to fire over them to try and destroy the knightmares coming for them. Though he and Nonette could blast apart the armour, their ammo was lower than the Glaston knights so they had to careful with who they shot at.
"Rai, redirect all power to combat and communication systems." Cecile informed him as he and Lloyd kept track of all their systems back on the mainland.
"Yes, my lord!" Rai replied as he did as she asked and shut down everything he didn't need to fight and talk with the rest of them. Meaning that his factspheres among other things had to be shut down. Something he didn't really like as it meant he couldn't see the enemy as well.
"We're really cutting it down to the wire here!" Bart cried as he managed to flank the tanks via the rooftops and drive his lance through the turret before he pulled it out and dived to the side to avoid the Gun-Ru's fire.
"We're in sight of the main building, we just need to break through here! Rai!" Nonette ordered as she along with Rai took aim at the enemy centre, it will take almost all their remaining ammo but they needed to get through.
"Yes, my lord!" Rai replied as they both fired shot after shot towards the enemy centre, blasting apart armour and knightmare as if it was nothing. But even after all that and they both counted at least 24 new destroyed units, the Chinese were quickly able to form up and plug up the hole before any of them could take advantage. He'll say this, these federation troops are dedicated!
"Can we call in an air strike?" David asked as he threw his lance towards a Gun-Ru, impaling the thing right on through before the unit exploded, taking half his lance with it and leaving him with the other half to act like a sword.
"They'll take too long to get here." Claudio replied as the closest strike team was assisting Cornelia. Even if they could get through, they didn't destroy all the base's anti-air systems on their way in.
(With Sawasaki)
"What in the hell are you doing? Stop them now! You outnumber them twenty to one!" Sawasaki yelled at their troops as he watched as the Britannians had been forced to stop and take whatever cover they could but that didn't mean they weren't still causing multiple casualties on their side. At this rate, they won't have enough troops to fend off against Cornelia's attack!
(With the Britannians)
"Dammit, you're never ending!" Nonette cried as she was forced to block attacks from their Chinese tanks and it was really taking a bite out of her remaining energy reserves.
"I'm running low, those blasted floats units sucked us dry." Edgar reported as he looked down and saw that he had less than 10% power left. He had around 5 minutes power before everything shut down.
"My lady, orders?" Rai asked as he stored away his V.A.R.I.S, the weapon having no ammo life and now useless. Still, he had his MVS blades and shields, but now he would have to either wait for the enemy to get too close or he would have to dash in.
"We fight till the last. Every one of them we cut down will make it all the easier for Cornelia to retake what's ours." Nonette replied as she fired off her last three shots from her own VARIS, destroyed three enemy tanks in the process which thin the enemy but only slightly. At this point, she figured that every trooper they had on sight was trying to stop them, which meant that just about everywhere else was deserted or manned by skeleton crews.
"Yes, my Lord!" They all replied as they got ready for what they felt would be their last battle.
(With Sawasaki and Cao)
"That's it, surround them!" Sawasaki ordered with a smile as he saw that the enemy had stopped firing ranged weaponry. So they had finally ran dry. Now they couldn't fight back at ranged which their forces were taking full advantage of.
"Even state of the art weaponry cannot make up for their numerical disadvantage it seems." Cao stated as he looked onward, though he was angered by the amount of losses they took but he supposed if he could present the Eunuchs with not just the head of a Knight of Round but several pieces of some of the best Britannia had to offer that he'll be forgiven for that, hell, if he played his cards right he could earn himself a lucrative positions in the higher ranks.
(With the Britannians)
"I'm on my last magazine, you?" Claudio asked as he hid behind a wall and checked his clip, it was half empty already. He was behind cover along with Nonette and Edgar.
"Ran out bout a minute ago." Edgar replied as he had to ditch the spent weapon, leaving him with just his double lance.
"The V.A.R.I.S is spent." Rai reminded them as he took cover around another wall alongside David and Claudio.
"So it seems we gotta switch to melee, too bad for them!" David huffed over the line as he was really starting to feel the exhaustion catching up with him, and he wasn't the only one as such high speed combat wasn't easy.
'Less than 10% left, we don't have the energy to make it.' Nonette thought to herself as she inspected all her systems and gauges and saw that she at the very least, was on her last legs. 'Never thought this would be how I die, but as far as deaths go…it's not bad.' She rationalized as she was told by veterans she had met over her career, when faced with a situation where the chances of death were high and escape wasn't possible, think about what your sacrifice would mean on the grand scale of things, of how your blood might have saved another's, how your life may have been what was needed for victory.
'Sorry Nelly, looks like you'll have to take care of Euphemia by yourself. I'm about to see Marianne again.' Nonette thought to herself as she gave a silent goodbye to her two friends as she jumped out of cover, pulled out her axe and charged the approaching enemy lines. She did her best to avoid their fire but every now and then, a shot would strike him, some didn't do much, others punched holes in her armour as she brutalized her way through them, slashing and crushing everything within reach.
"My Lady!" Rai cried out as they soon joined her in combat but noticed that she was separated from them and an easy target, something that Rai saw first-hand when he picked up a couple Gun-Rus aiming for her.
(With Sawasaki and Cao)
"Fire!" Sawasaki gave the order but at that same moment, several red bolts of blaster bolts reigned down from the sky along with a salvo of missile fire. It came too fast for any of to react to their surprise attack but the bigger surprise was that this surprise attack didn't hit Rai, the Glaston Knights or Nonette, but rather each and every one of the bolts or missiles struck one of the Chinese machines or vehicles. The result was around 6 Gun-Ru's blowing up along with 7 Tanks or Mobile Artillery.
BOOM!
"What the hell was that?!" Cao demanded as they could only watched as a small portion of their forces were wiped out by an unseen enemy.
"Where did that shot came from?!" Sawasaki was of the same mind.
"Sir, Its Zero. He's broken through!" A controller reported as their ships just reported that he along with another unknown Black Knight had gotten past them after blasting apart over a third of their air power and sinking another 2 ships.
"What!" Cao demanded, cursing those naval fools for taking too long to report this.
"How is that possible?!" Sawasaki on the other hand, was more scared then angered as he couldn't even imagine one man being able to fight his way through a blockade, sure they had seen Zero's little media show but even a man with powers like that can be overwhelmed, can't he?
(With Zero)
"So, these are the new enemy models you fought?" Zero asked as he along with Liu Mei came down closer to the ground, his rifle still pointed towards the remaining Chinese forces who had halted their attack, though if that was out of fear, shock or orders, he didn't know.
"Yes, and it seems that they're on their last legs." Liu Mei giggled as she replied, her eyes fixed on the Glaston Knights who must realise who she was. Oh how she wished to have more time to mess with them but they had a schedule to keep to.
"They no doubt flew here on their one power, it makes sense that they'll be a little short on fuel." Zero observed as he noted they there didn't even use their rifles, hinting that they were out of ammo. They could have also flown right towards Sawasaki but most likely didn't have the power for that. He sometimes forget that Earth was on the lower end of the spectrum when it came to breakthroughs in science and medicine.
"And yet, we're still rearing to go." Liu Mei stated as she looked at her own screens and saw that despite having flown the entire distance whole fighting off any would be defenders, she was still riding pretty at 63%. On Zero's part, he was even higher at 67%.
"Benefits of having the superior technological edge." Zero boasted as he flew down towards the remaining Chinese Forces and switched to Arachnid mode. As he did this, it seemed that the Federation troops got their shit together and opened fire. Though a lot of good it did them as the few shots that managed to actually hit home didn't go any more than explode or deflect off his shields. Out of a sense for theatrics, Zero chose to land on a Gun-Ru and go to town on the poor fool, heedless of his screams as he tore pieces of it off while stabbing at it. The unit didn't last a chance as the unit soon exploded, though the blast did nothing to him. As this all happened, the others kept on firing on them, making him laugh at them, his laughter echoing throughout both side's radios and chilling bones.
"Shoot all you want, your weapons are useless against my Nightmare Tarantula." Zero laughed as the now terrified federation troops kept trying to kill him, though he had instructed the walker to send additional power towards the shielding, sure it'll chew through his power but he really wanted to see them shake and quake in fear of him…..maybe Suzaku was right, he had a problem. "Though, their battle plan isn't half bad. They sent on a small squad to disrupt the enemy main force and their command. Even if they fail, Cornelia will have her window to move right on in." Zero noted to himself, only speaking through the Black Knight channels with Liu Mei.
"These people are in my way, take care of them." Zero ordered as he got tired of these fools trying to kill him.
"My pleasure sir, sorry boys but," Liu Mei replied to his orders as she started to reign down her own fire on the Gun-Ru's. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." She finished with a smirk as she felt a certain enjoyment in eliminating troops loyal to those parasitic eunuchs.
(With Nonette and the rest of them)
"What in the hell?" Meanwhile, with the Britannians, they didn't know what to make of this as Zero of all people had saved them from death and was now tearing into the Federation troops like a hot knife through butter. His follower in the air just adding to the carnage as they blasted apart whoever escaped from her boss. "What's he doing here?" Bart asked as he was really confused, tried and pissed right now.
"I don't know but it's not making things easier." David answered as they took this chance for a small breather. Their enemies had bigger things to worry about than them right now.
"Cool it, he isn't attacking us." Claudio told his brothers before one of them did something stupid, though he fold it hard to follow those words himself as he was getting sick and tired of Zero doing as he pleased.
"So we shouldn't attack him? After everything he and his band of murderers have done?!" David yelled at him, moving to try and attack Zero with his back turned to them and he would have followed through with that if not for Nonette speaking up.
"David! Control yourself." Nonette ordered him as Zero broke off from the slaughter of his making and drove up to them. Moving like he didn't fear them and as painful as it was to admit, they didn't even have the power left to even offer up that fight. Though after seeing him take all those shots from both tanks, mobile artillery and knightmares, they weren't even sure they blades could do damage.
"Why if it isn't the knight of nine. It must have been the eventful evening for you." Zero spoke up as his unit, still in spider form approached them, and standing face to face to Nonette's Bors as the two sides stood in a field of wrecks and fire.
"Zero. Why are you here?" Nonette asked him, wondering why here and now of all times, he chose to make a move.
"Isn't that the million pound question? I suppose the answer you want would be to turn myself in but really," Zero mocked them as they all collectively grinded their teeth in anger at his insolence. "I'm here to ensure that the Federation learns a painful lesson on why they shouldn't get in my way." He finished as his machine pointed a leg towards the central command station where they knew Sawasaki to be.
(With Sawasaki)
"Zero." Sawasaki, for his part, was surprised that this was his apparent reason for being here.
"Is that an open channel?" Cao asked as they could clearly make out this conversation.
"Yes."
"Then stay with it." Cao finished, trying to see whatever scraps of troops they had they could throw their way but at this point, they had lost almost two thirds of their landed troops and with their naval assistance in complete chaos right now, they wouldn't be getting anymore anytime soon.
(Back on the field)
"Energy fillers?" Rai asked aloud as Zero pointed them towards a destroyed wall for a storage area but to their surprise, what they saw inside were energy fillers. Dozens of them, all lines up and ready for use.
"That's the supply depot. Looks like they didn't touch anything, how nice of them." Liu Mei said as she came down and landed right to her boss as he led them towards the treasure.
"We're going to take down the enemy command centre. It would be easier if we had some help, so the question is," Zero started as he turned his machine to look and each and every one of them, those red camera 'eyes' piercing through them. "What will you all do? Fight us or fight them?"
(With Sawasaki)
"What?" Cao asked, having heard everything said.
"Is he serious?" Sawasaki also brought up a point but it seemed that Zero chose to answer their unheard question by turning around and speeding off towards them, his fellow terrorist hot on his tail.
"Resume attack, stop them! Stop Zero!" Cao ordered as he brought up everything they still hand. It didn't matter if they had to surrender to Cornelia if she got to them, all that mattered was destroying this monster!
(With Zero)
"Looks like they finally are getting their act together." Zero mentioned as he danced side to side, evading their fire while he let loose his own from his grenade launcher, blaster cannons and mini-gun. Easily destroying any and all targets in his way. He wished to finish things quickly as his little scare tactic had left him with only 30% power and his shield generators being out of use as they cooled down.
"Too bad that it won't matter at this point. The boys just called in." Liu Mei radioed in as she had taken back to the skies and started to fire on them from above, abusing the fact that they had no functional(or intact) aircraft that could even hope to oppose them.
"Have they completed their objectives?" Zero asked as he jumped on top of another Gun-Ru and with the two front legs of his walker, he activated their vibro blades and drove them right into the knightmare, killing the pilot and damaging the unit's engine block. He moved on to his next target before the unit even had the time to explode.
"They managed to sink 7 enemy ships, including 2 Helicopter carriers and 2 Ballistic Missile submarines. The rest of them are in a full blown panic. Should they finish them off?" Liu Mei asked as she fired off some rockets towards a tank, destroying it.
"Tell them to continue their attack." Zero ordered as he saw that he now had a direct path towards his target, the enemy numbers were spread too thin to even offer up some resistance. "We have our own fish to fry." He said as he aimed his weapons to his flanks before firing, decimating another large number of enemy knightmares before they could even get in his way.
"I'll leave you to it." Liu Mei replied as she had a feeling of her boss was intending and though she would love to see it, they all had their roles to play.
"Keep them busy." Zero told his machine, which responded with a series of bleeps. Confident that the AI had taken over control, Zero undid his seatbelts and only had to wait for his walker and jump right towards the building while firing missiles and grenades at the well, damaging it to the point that when they crashed into it, the wall gave in and allowed to entry. On landing, his cockpit burst open and he jumped out, both lightsabers drawn and blades lit. With the acrobatic flow that only a force user could obtain, he was easily able to decapitate the heads off two unlucky soldiers that were close to him.
"Sorry fine soldiers," Zero started as he felt his excitement for carnage rising as he summoned fourth his Grey skinned Oni by way of his Force Daunt. "I'm not taking any prisoners today." He finished as he launched himself into them, slashing, cutting, smashing, crushing and electrifying anyone that got in his way. The speed and ferocity he displayed despatching of the federation troops was both awe inspiring and terrifying.
(With Sawasaki)
"Sir, he blew a hole through the main wall and is making his way here!" One of the controllers reported, as freaked out as the rest of them were as they didn't have picture of the interior of the base but they did have radio contact with their men and they were reporting the same thing. Zero and some monster were rampaging towards them, smashing, slashing and otherwise killing any and all who opposed him. already they had gotten reports that bullets were useless as when he didn't use his power to rip their guns from their hands, the shots fire merely hit the Oni. Even through the radio, they could make out the shooting, screaming, and what sounded like lighting discharging.
"Zero, shouldn't we be fighting together as comrades? Don't you care about Japan?" Sawasaki tied to bargain with him, though whether he was more concerned about their safety or his own for up for debate.
"The Black Knights stand against anyone who would use unjust violence for their own selfish ends. You don't care one bit for Japan, do you? You're in this for your own gains." Zero replied over the line as he lifted one guard with the force, snapped his neck and throw his lifeless body into another. Man, he was not holding back!
"That's outrageous, I'm doing this for Japan!" Sawasaki yelled back as a few of their own guards in the command room advised that they fall back. Zero's machine and the other knightmare he brought along were still wreaking havoc on what little defenders the base had. Those blasted Britannians had even joined in and now they were down to just a sixth of their troops they had in the beginning of this!
"And yet, up till now you've been as silent as a church mouse. If you cared, you would have been quite the vocal person over the years, trying to rally support, keep the people's morale up but instead, you are hiding your head in some far away corner of the Chinese Federation." Zero said as he stopped using force daunt, sending his Oni away before he control aspect of the force and increased his speed to that far beyond what any normal human could ever hope to achieve and set about cutting right through the remaining guards on the second floor before he could the stairs leading to the third.
"Don't you dare talk like you understand politics!" Sawasaki was now full blown panicking as it seemed like nothing they had could stop them monster!
"I understand the game far more than you." Zero started as he reached the third floor and saw that it was packed with soldiers, ready to fight him but he had other things to do. So he turned off his lightsabers, and erected a force barrier to protect him from their fire as he prepped another attack. This one requiring him to take a stance similar to that of a certain dark haired alien's signature attack. "Either way, you can't hide from me forever, I will find you." Once he felt that he gathered enough power, Zero let down the barrier, at the same time he unleashed his force destruction, the ball of purplish force energy crashing right on through over a dozen of the soldiers before the things exploded, killing the rest of them while even shaking the very hallway itself from the destructive power.
"Sir, he's just cleared the 3rd floor!" One of the controller yelped out in sheet terror.
"What, but there were over 20 people down there!" Cao yelled back as Zero had only just got up there, at this rate, he'll reach them within five minutes.
(With Cornelia)
"What, Zero?" Cornelia asked as she drove her lance right on through a Gun-Ru, all around her and Guilford were the wrecks of the Chinese force that had tried to keep them from advancing. And with their birds back in the air, they had been able to effectively wipe out most of the federation's coastal defences they set up, paving the way for their own counter offensive.
"Yes, he saved Nonette and the Glaston Knights. He and another member of the Black Knights are rampaging across the entire base." Guilford reported to her what they had just heard back from Nonette. She appeared to be just as confused as they were but had reported that the Kyūshū military base was all but theirs again and they she along with….Zero were cleaning up the last remaining troops.
"So you're on our side now? What the hell are you thinking?" Cornelia asked herself as this man was proving to be more a mystery just about every day.
(Back with Sawasaki)
"What's wrong with going to another country and waiting for the right moment to strike? It's an effective strategy, isn't it?" Sawasaki asked, trying to appear like he was control as he and Cao drove off towards their escape helicopter. They had both bailed when Zero got past the 4th floor with similar results to all the others and had instructed the men they left behind to slow him down. Was it cruel to leave them to die? Yes, but did they care about their lives? No, did he and Cao care about their own lives? Yes.
"We can set up a new line of defence at Nagasaki." Cao told him as he just finished contacting their forces there and get ready for their arrival.
"Right, I appreciate your help." Sawasaki told him as he wiped away a nervous sweat. This whole operation was turning into a disaster.
"Don't thank me yet, I have orders to ensure that this investment wasn't a bad decision. If we fail, you will be made to answer for it." Cao reminded him as he was only able to get this far because people with more power than he thought he was useful but after this mess, Cao wouldn't be surprised if that usefulness evaporated. But before Sawasaki could offer up anything, they were spotted.
"Sir, Zero's in front of us!" The driver cried as they both looked ahead and saw that Zero was lazily walking across the path until he stood in the middle of road.
"What!" Cao yelled as he didn't think he would find them so quickly? How did he even know they would be here?!
"But how did you get up here?" Sawasaki was now full blown panicking as the sight of the masked man and though they couldn't see it for sure, they had a feeling he was smirking like a Cheshire cat that just caught the canary.
"There you are, my little mouse. It's been fun and all but," Zero spoke up as he lifted one hand towards their car and their fear, he was able to bring the thing to a halt, despite the fact that the driver was going full throttle yet all that did was wear out the tyres and make some smoke. "I have a schedule to keep."
"You-ARG!" When he saw that didn't work, the driver went for his side-arm but as if it was an afterthought, Zero's other hand shot and sent forth a blast of black force lightning that struck the driver before he could even blink, the force of the lightning was enough to send him out of his seat and onto the fall where he muscle spammed for a second or two before he stop.
"Y-you killed him…!" Sawasaki whispered as they saw the dead man just...lay there.
"He was not important and in the way, really it was his choice to try and fight me." Zero didn't even appear to care about that as he addressed them.
"Now, why don't you came quietly," He started as he brought out the Oni again for intimidation purposes. "But if you prefer, my pet can always eat a limb or two, it's been a while since his last meal, you see."
Confronted and cornered like this, it was a given which choice they made.
3rd December November 2020 a.t.b. /3 9688 BBY:(Early Morning-around 10am)
Unknown Region:
Milky Way Galaxy:
Earth/Sol-3:
Area 11:
Tokyo Settlement:
Lamperouge Residence:
"The terrorism in the Kyūshū block lead by anti-government group had been stopped by Viceroy Cornelia and the knight of nine, Nonette Enneagram's sudden and decisive attack." The news reported stated to the audience watching the broadcast as the images being shown behind her showed the Princess and Knight of Round in question as they watched the prisoners being loaded up for transport. It had been a few days since the incident and they were still cleaning things up as according to the rumours, the Black Knights had been involved and to the shock of those who heard this, they had been helping the Britannians by striking at the Chinese ships directly. Since then, almost all Black Knight activity had slowed to a halt, putting everyone on edge for one reason for another.
"Although four members of the former Japanese government have been arrested, it has been reported that Atushi Sawasaki committed suicide prior to his capture. 30% of the Chinese federation troops have been captured, in response this this, Chinese Federation leaders are asserting that this invasion was unauthorised action by General Cao of the Leodong Military district and request that all POWs be released in accordance to the 2nd Milan Convention of 1932." The news caster went on as she spoke about how talks between the two countries have been going well and it seemed that the survivors of the combined Britannian/Black Knight assault would be transferred back to the Federation by the end of the week. But the two women watching this weren't really paying attention to that as Reyla reached for the remote and muted the TV.
"That was quite the mess." The pale skinned beauty remarked as she was hosting Shirley over for some morning tea. Ashford had closed for the holidays so she found herself with free time which to visit. Alice wasn't with them as she was in the garden playing with some friends she had made in school. Reyla and Lelouch would be concerned that something could happened but Nagata was watching over them, they couldn't deny her this as she found it hard to make friends due to her heritage, so when she came home one day and told them about how she had made some friends, they couldn't help by feel delighted for her.
"Yeah, we were worried that it would spill over into Honshu." Shirley, who was wearing a pair orange winter jeans and red shoes, on her upper half, she wore a sleeved green turtle neck and white wool gloves to fend off against the winter cold. At present, she had removed the gloves as she sat in the living room of the rather lovely room.
"I'm just glad it didn't. But I have to apologise for cancelling the other day, I had a doctor's appointment that slipped my mind." Reyla apologised with a sorry smile as she had to cancel when she was reminded by Nunnally that she needed to go for her weekly appointment.
"Oh no, you don't have to, you're expecting any day now, right?" Shirley hurriedly waved her apology off, sure she was upset that their meeting was delayed but she wouldn't be mad with her over that.
"Yes, my first born is sure taking his time. If I didn't know any better, I would say that he's still picking what to take with him." Reyla joked as she rubbed her swollen belly, feeling her offspring kicking in response.
"That might be true, I remember when I was younger, I could never pick my favourite toy." Shirley found herself laughing at the joke and the happy memories she made with her father….something else she needed to discuss as she was going through some of his old notes and found….some disturbing reports and medical records.
"Indeed but now that you're here," Reyla said as she steered the conversation back to the matter at hand, though she didn't know what it was. "What was the issue you wanted to talk about?"
"It," Shirley started but paused, as if she was gathering her wits before she spoke up again. "It's about Lelouch. I….I have feelings for him." She revealed as she met the surprise eyes of Reyla, who at the time was reaching for her cup of tea when she heard this and froze.
.
.
.
"Came again?" Reyla asked, having a feeling in the corner of her mind that this conversation will go on for a while.
(Meanwhile – On route to Earth)
"I trust everything went well on your end?" Zero said as he along with Kallen and Lockon stood on the bridge of their flagship. It had been almost five full earth days since the mess in Kyūshū and in that time, they hadn't been sitting around doing nothing. Despite the fact that their activities in Area 11 had all but ceased for the moment, both in space and in the western Pacific Ocean, they had been abuzz with activity. Even now, alongside the Sakura, was: another Sakura class; 2 Guardian class Fleet Carriers; 3 Reyla class Carriers; 4 Iris class Heavy Cruisers; 7 Alexis class Light Cruisers and 9 Elizabeth Class Frigates.
Around this large force of ships, were hundreds of knightmares and spacecraft(I can't really call them aircraft when they aren't even in atmosphere, can I). Knightmares were flying around, quickly entering 5 unit descent pobs, designed to allow for knightmares to be deployed from orbit onto a planet's surface without risking being shot down as they reach speeds of mac 5. Others were being prepped to just fly down to their targets as most of their machines were capable of entering and exiting atmospheres with ease.
Even on earth, they were far from silent as submarines, hidden beneath the waves, cruised over closer to their ignorant target. Some being carriers filled with knightmares or fighters, others equipped with ballistic missiles.
"Yup, they didn't even know we're here. All the automated SAM sites have been deployed and are ready for action." SK replied over the video call line. He appeared to be standing on a large deserted island. With him were LM, Akito and rest of the former wZERO unit pilots as well as another 20 pilots and their gear. Kallen looked to the side and saw them doing some final adjustments to the 4 S-300 missile system vehicles for combat. Along with those, were an about 5 Type 81 (missile) vehicles and 8 ZSU-23-4 anti-aircraft guns. All of which would be controlled by droids when they left.
"And their droid cargo?" Zero asked, not letting all the chatter from the officers and crewmen on deck bother him. They weren't that loud to begin as they all understood that yelling and shouting to be heard as stupid.
"They got there without issue, we should be able to begin within the hour." SK reported as he was just on the target island the night before to make sure their little surprise got through the Britannians security measures without issue. They had been extremely careful to make sure they weren't spotted. It was especially hard to get a small unit of their droids past their targets defences undetected so that they could hack into their communications and scanners.
"Good, we have been planning this assault for months. It cannot fail." Zero reminded him as they were pitting more than 70% of their power on this fight. They were deploying over 1,900 pilots in this strike so a failure would break their spine, so to speak.
"Sure thing, out." SK responded, understanding where his friend was coming from as this was a extremely high risk operation, but it was also an extremely high reward one as well. So with that, he cut the connection so he could get back to his own duties on the ground.
"So, the day has finally came. Is Kyoto aware of this?" Lockon asked as he looked around at all the staff hurriedly doing her jobs. The officers discussing tactics and other issues and to himself and Kallen, who were in their piloting suits, the redhead particularly eager to get to work as her new machine had just been completed 12 hours prior.
"We informed them about two hours ago." Zero replied as he was handed a data pad detailing some last minutes changes, nothing too bad, everything was still on track.
"A little late, don't you think?" Kallen asked, slightly concerned that Kyoto would take that as an offense, even if they were allies.
"It was a courtesy call, they didn't need to know since we're not even in Japan." Zero answered, Kirihara knew how he operated so he wouldn't take offense, Kaguya….she'll think of some way to get him back as he was already 'engaged' to her for political reasons. The worst part was that he couldn't even argue his way out of it, despite the fact he was already in a relationship. Kaguya was many things and it seemed a shrewd and cunning industrialist and politician was one of them as she even got his masters to agree to her idea to wed him.
Dammit, if she and Suzaku weren't cousins, he'll find some way to pawn him off on her instead.
"Yes, with this blow, we will cripple the Pacific fleet. Paving the way to take back Japan." Lockon spoke up as the rest of the Zero squad entered the bridge and approached them.
"And with their fleet smashed, it'll be much easier to operate from now on." Kallen finished the thoughts, having been clued in to this plan months ago.
"Landing teams are in position." One of the crewmen reported to them.
"Fighters and bombers are fuelled up and ready to go." Another informed them as the hanger deck crews had all reported in with the green light.
"Knightmare teams awaiting the start of the operation." An officer walked to them and saluted Zero before relying this piece of information.
"Final check of communication lines." Another officer, most likely in charge of communications, reported as she worked to ensure that they would keep up their comms without issue. As this was happening, pilots of both knightmares, fighters, ground attack and bombers all boarded their units. Crewmen ran along to their battle stations and all weapons systems were for the first time outside simulation and training, were being brought online as cannons and shields were charged to full power.
"Commander. We're ready." The captain of the Sakura, an orange skinned Twi'lek, spoke up as he gave their commander and founder a firm nod. To which Zero stepped forward to address their forces as a whole.
"Soldiers of the Order of the Black Knights, this is your commander Zero speaking." Zero started, using the microphone in his built to boast his voice as his image was broadcast to every knightmare, spacecraft and ship included in the attack. "As we embark on this operation, it is my strongest wish that this will serve as giant leap to a swift conclusion. Inspiring the hope in us all that this will lead to true freedom and prosperity for us all!" He announced, allowing his voice to wash over them and give them strength.
"I hereby declare that Operation: Island getaway has begun! May the force be with us all!" And with that, he sounded what would be the death call for the Britannians power and prestige not just in Area 11 but on the world stage. Almost as soon as he ended the broadcast, alarms sounded alerting all crewmen to get to their posts.
(Back on Earth – With Suzaku)
'So it has begun, we are finally going to show them what we can really do.' SK thought to himself as he jumped into his unit, the others with him doing the same as they all begun to power them up and ready for battle. They were quite the distance from their target, around 230km but they'll manage that within 2 hours if they wanted to take it slow.
"Message from main operations centre. Operation code names Island getaway had commenced, the target, Pearl Harbour Pacific Naval command." They all heard the call as SK looked south east as he along with the rest of the pilots started to take to the sky and fly towards where he gazed, towards where their target lay.
'I gotta hand it to him, going for such a critical blow is a ballsy move. And with the federation in a pissed off mood, chances are that more than a few ships won't be present.' SK thought to himself.
3rd December November 2020 a.t.b. /3 9688 BBY:
Unknown Region:
Milky Way Galaxy:
Earth/Sol-3:
Area 12:
Honolulu Island:
Pearl Harbour Pacific Imperial Naval command:
"Oh, what is taking them so long?" The knight of ten, and the 2nd most infamous member of the Knights of Round, Luciano Bradley asked as he along with his Valkyrie Squadron found themselves still in Hawaii, despite the fact they were supposed to have left three hours ago.
"My lord, it seems that there is some sort of delay. Our ship won't leave port for another hour." A soldier reported to him, having been given the unfortunate job of telling the Vampire the bad news.
(With the Black Knights)
"Distance from target, 160km. Holding position as ordered and prepping missiles for launch." One of their submarines reported as they reached their target area and while keeping themselves at a depth of around 100m, they started to open the silo doors.
(Back with Bradley)
"Tell them to hurry up before my patience runs thin." Bradley told the poor soul with a glare as the man nearly pissed himself in fear having heard tales of what happened to those who were unlucky enough to be in his cross hairs whenever he was upset.
"Yes, my Lord!" The soldier replied with a salute as he left the room as quickly as he could.
(With the Black Knights)
"Distance from target, 170km. Holding positions as ordered and prepping missiles for launch." Another submarine reported in as they were no way near the first but none the less, they stayed at a depth of 100m and prepped their ballistic payload.
(Back with Bradley)
"At least we're finally be out of here. The natives weren't even much fun to fight." Bradley stated as he half laid, half sat on the sofa of the suite he had been given. Referring to the fact that he had been despatched to deal with the uprising twelves. He should have known that Bismarck sent him to cow them into submission since as soon as he arrived two weeks prior, they all fell in line.
(With the Black Knights)
"Distance from target, 165km. Holding positions as ordered and prepping missiles for launch." The third and last ballistic submarine reported in as above them, fishing ships owned by the locals didn't even realise they were there.
(Back with Bradley)
"Sir, they were smart enough not to fight as they know they were no match for you." One of the members of the all-female Valkyrie squadron spoke up, Soresi if he recalled.
"And that's the problem, if they don't even have the stones to fight me then there was no point in me being sent here. His majesty could have easily sent Monica but no, she got the more exciting posting." Luciano replied. To him, if he couldn't fight and kill people, then he would rather be doing something else.
"Sir, if I may, Area 17 can't be that exciting, can it?" Another member asked him, treading lightly as they all know that despite the fact they were competent pilots from respected families, he could kill any one of them without consequence.
(With the Black Knights)
"Distance from target, 56km. All signs point to us not being detected. As ordered, all knightmares are to make ready for launch, I repeat, all knightmares are to make ready for launch." A carrier submarine reported as it prepared to launch it's GOOhN.
(Back with Bradley)
"Oh but it is, they got their hands on some Glasgows and the odd Sunderland every now and then. They have been up in arms for quite some time now." The murder happy knight replied with a gleam in his eye. He had just got his new machine and was itching to test it in battle.
"But my lord, surely such weak numbers aren't worth your time." Soresi stated, like any 'proper' Britannian, she knew that the numbers were no match for them and could only irritate them with hit and run tactics.
"Even so, it would have been entertaining proving that point in battle." Bradley conceded, having the same viewpoint on numbers as she did. Not realizing that as they spoke, an enemy force was on the horizon and closing.
(With the Black Knights)
"Distance from target, 65km. All signs point to us not being detected. As ordered, all knightmares are to make ready for launch, I repeat, all knightmares are to make ready for launch!" One captain called out over the coms so all crewmembers heard.
"Distance from target, 70km. All signs point to us not being detected. As ordered, all knightmares are to make ready for launch, I repeat, all knightmares are to make ready for launch." Another reported in as they were just about ready to launch their GOOhNs.
(Back with Bradley)
"But what I really want to do, is head over to Area 11 and see these 'Black Knights' for myself. They have been giving Nonette a lot of trouble." Bradley said, as he wished that he got that assignment but at the time, he didn't think much of it and when Bismarck brought it up in a meeting, he passed it along to Nonette.
"My Lord, with our new machines, those elevens and their traitorous leader wouldn't stand a chance." One of the Valkyries spoke up, having absolute faith their new Vincents would be more than a match and surpass whatever those rebels had.
"Oh that I'm sure, in fact." Bradley said, not knowing that he was going to get a chance to put his money where his mouth was, real soon.
(With SK)
"Release the droids. Let them cause some terror before we get there." SK ordered as lead his group of knightmares towards the target, happy that their infiltration droids had all but shut down their scanners so they wouldn't be picking them up until they got really close.
(At the main gate)
"What's that?" While all this was happening, the Britannian soldiers with the duty to man the main gate into the complex spotted something approaching them in the distance.
"Don't know, we're weren't told of any shipments coming in." The commanding officer stationed there said as she reached for the mega-horn and started to speak. "Attention vehicles, you are to stop and produce the appropriate passes to be here." But against their orders, the now confirmed 3 unknown vehicles didn't stop.
"They're no stopping." One of the men stationed there said as he gripped at his rifle.
"Prepare to fire on my command." The commander said as she wasn't taking chances with this. "Unknown vehicles, this is your final warning. Stop your vehicles and step out of the vehicles at once!" But when the vehicles didn't stop, she decided that she was done.
"Open fire!" She ordered as all the men present opened fire, everything from their rifles to the grenade launcher and mini-gun mounted on the two Humvees out front. But to their collective shock and slight fear, nothing seemed to work against them as they actually speed up.
"What the hell?!" The one manning the mini-gun yelled as they all saw that their assault was as effective as a pellet gun would be against a cow. It didn't make things easier when they saw the unknown vehicles speeding towards them, ramming speed.
"Get out of the way!" One of the screamed as they all dived out of the way, with the two guys manning the mini-gun and grenade launchers being unfortunate enough to be in vehicles….parked right in front of the gate. That didn't matter much as the first unknown car drove right on through, throwing the two humvee's out of the way and then some as he ploughed through the gate as well, clearing the way for the other two.
CRASH!
"Is, is everyone okay?" The commander asked as she got up coughing to clear out the dust from her mouth, oh how she wished she wore a helmet and rebreather like the rest of them.
"Yeah!" She heard a couple of them respond as they all got up and approached the three vehicles, guns raised as the soldiers who were nearby rushed in to join them. The three armoured vehicles may have crashed into a wall and stopped moving but that didn't mean they were taking chances.
"We're good!" Another couple of guys said as the got up and ran to inspect the two overturned Humvees.
"Just what the hell was that? I thought the numbers stopped resisting." One of the asked as the natives had been passive for almost a month now, even then, how would they have gotten their hands on vehicles like these as they clearly weren't Britannian made.
"Don't know, send word to command." The commander said as she was waiting for them to drag whoever was still alive from the vehicles and handing them over to interrogation…after they roughed them up a bit for almost killing them. Sadly, she wouldn't get her wish or live to complain since as soon as one of them touched the backdoor of one, the covers on the top of the three vehicles burst off, revealing to the world that two of them had heavy machine guns and the larger third one had two heavy machine guns and a grenade launcher turret.
"Turrets!" One of them screamed out as they dived for cover as the guns opened fire, tearing up anyone who was unfortunately enough to be caught in their deadly spray. The grenades made things worse as they blasted apart whole groups and then targeted the nearby buildings and parked vehicles. Even a nearby knightmare found itself totalled from a few well-placed shots. They thought this was the end of it, oh how wrong they were.
Is if to add salt to the still bleeding wounds, the backs of the cars opened up and from them, racks were pushed out. On this racks were things that none of them thought they'll ever see in their careers. Robots.
Lots of robots.
They didn't have a moment to take this all in as while the machine guns and grenade launcher fired on them, the droids were deployed off the racks where they unfolded and begun to join the assault. The smaller cars each deployed 20 while the larger one with the three turrets deployed 40, making it that they had 80 new hostiles to deal with.
"What in the hell are those?!" One of the screamed as they tried to fire on them but for the most part, they couldn't find a gap in the enemy fire they could exploit.
"I don't care, just shoot them!" The commander yelled over the sounds of gunfire as the two sides fought the other off but it was clear who was winning.
"Targets sighted. Eliminating targets." One of the droids reported over their own network to avoid the enemy hearing them as they fired from behind their own cover. Just because they were machines, didn't mean they didn't know how to conduct a fire fight and even to them, marching in formations and letting your targets shoot with you was the height of illogical.
"Is everyone on schedule?" Another asked as the picked out an enemy trooper and shot them in their exposed legs.
"Roger, roger. Infiltration team has successfully wired their scanners and looped them, the enemy is totally blind." The first one replied as they had seen the chatter on their network about the infiltration team being successful in their mission. The enemy never suspected that they were smuggled in as normal looking boxes.
"Command, this is the main gate, we're under attack! I repeat, we are under attack! Enemy force appears to be robots!" The commander reported over the radio as they saw a couple sunderlands moving in t join the defence.
"This is command, did you just say robots?" Command asked them, no doubt surprised and sceptical about her report but she wasn't in the mood to care about that right now.
"Roger, we don't know why they're here, we're currently engaging them in combat but they are still pushing us back," She had to paused as she ducked her head to avoid the kicked up dust and stones from the blast of a grenade landing near to her. "Requesting back-!" She was silenced before she could even finish her message by a bullet hitting her right in the eye, going through her brain and out the back.
(Back with Bradley)
"Oh my, what seems to be all this about?" Bradley asked as his room gave him and his Valkyries enough of a view to see the smoke rising in the distance. They couldn't tell what was happening but they all had seen it enough times to know when a battle was starting up, and going by the fact that it hasn't been resolved in their victory, the enemy was sure putting up a fight.
"Sir, it appears that terrorists are assaulting the main gate." Soresi said as she picked up a knightmare being destroyed and the cockpit flying off further into the base, though she couldn't make out what destroyed it or what they seemed to be fighting.
"Oh, they must think I'm gone then, do you need any help?" Bradley immediately assumed it was the natives. How cute, they were so mistaken about his whereabouts but hey, they were offering themselves up for the slaughter and he was one eager butcher. He didn't wait for more but rather just called up the commanding officer of the entire base, one Fleet Admiral Wilson Chesters. He didn't take long for his video call to connect and give them a view of the uniformed man in his late 60s as he was barking our orders at the rest of the command staff.
"My lord, there is no-" Wilson turned to try and reassure him to decrease the odds of him reporting of this farce to the emperor before they could properly investigate but before he could even try, more trouble arose in the form of the perimeter alarms sounding. "What the hell, that's the close proximity alarm!"
"Close proximity, as in within 20km of here?" Okay, now Bradley was really curious. The proximity alarm shouldn't be sound now since the enemy was already on the base, it should should when unknown or not cleared for entry craft entered within a 20km radius of the facility.
"What's going on?" Wilson demanded, furious that someone had dared to strike at his base.
"Sir, we don't know how but three large groups of unknown aircraft are heading straight for us, one group from the south east, another from the west south and another from the east!" A controller responded as they worked to find out how the hell so many were able to avoid detection. While he did this, another was trying to contact their radar stations across the island and the base itself, not realising that all of them had been hit by infiltration droids hours prior who then killed all the crews of each one before looping the feed to show the all clear.
"How many are we talking about?" Wilson asked, regaining some semblance of calm as they worked to try and fix the situation. Already he had despatched another 4 sunderlands to deal with the mess coming from the main entrance.
"Sir, 30 from each direction." The radar operator pointed out before he listened into reports coming in from others on the line. "We have confirmation, sir. They are knightmares, the unknown craft are knightmares!"
"Knightmares? Flying? Are you sure?" Wilson asked as Bradley picked up at that. The enemy had flying knightmares as well? How things were just getting better and better, weren't they?
"Fleet Admiral, sensors are detecting movement above us, 65,000m up!" Another called out to him as all their sensors seemed to been on the fritz and only giving info now. The only things that flew that high were rockets going to space and long ranged missiles.
"That high, what is it now?!" Wilson asked as those heights were impossible for just about every fighter, bomber or passenger plane in existence.
"Sir, we're picked up over a dozen large objects, possible ships heading right for us." The radar operator replied as they felt a cold sweat flow down their back. He didn't know what to make of that as not even the Avalon was as big as some of these larger ships, or flew that high. Hell, he wished these weren't what he said but he had used this type of equipment long enough to able to tell the difference between man-made craft and naturally forming objects, like meteors.
"There's no way that this is natural." Wilson felt himself grinding his teeth as he raced to handle this situation.
"Sir?"
"Consider those unknowns as hostile. All hands to level one battle stations! This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill. We are under attack!" Wilson ordered as he gave the command that will send the entire facility into a frenzy, even the ships still in harbour would respond if need be.
"Looks like you don't have this under control, do you Fleet Admiral?" Bradley asked as he got off his chair.
"I can't tell you how they got past our scanners, we should have seen them coming a long time ago." Wilson replied to him, too far in commander mood to feel fear for his position right now.
"Sir!"
"What is it now?" The aged naval commander asked as he looked to the side where the officer who spoke up stood.
"Our patrol ships have just radioed in, they believe, that…" The officer, most likely only a lieutenant going by their uniform and it's marking paused as he looked over the information with a nervous…scared look to him.
"Spit out loud already!" Sadly for him, Wilson wasn't in a caring mood.
"They believe that going by the model of knightmares coming towards us, that the enemy is the Black Knights!" The lieutenant replied as he relayed what was written on the emergency transmission from one of their patrol boats. That was all the message and as the ship was presumable sunk shortly after sending this.
"What?! How did they even get out here?!" Wilson yelled. He had seen the footage, he was heard the rumours about their skills and seemingly superior knightmares but he never imagined that they'll be here. They were thousands of km away from Area 11.
(With Kallen)
"It all begins here," Kallen thought to herself as she moved her brand new machine onto the catapult of the Sakura. The machine itself was a complete different beast from the Type-02, not enough that one wouldn't be able to see the resemblance but enough for even a rookie to tell that this new one was vastly superior to the older model. The model was both bigger and heavier to the Type-)2 but she had used in enough in trial runs to know that it not only handled better but was faster and stronger as well. The new and greatly improved Radiant wave surger built into the right arm was a vastly superior model to the older one and was more energy efficient to boot. Rather than being painted in a gold finish, it painted in a black finish with gold finished fingers which suites the frame better.
The model was also equipped with an ion flight and propulsion engine, gifting the new machine with the power of flight and unlike float packs units being tested and developed by the Britannians, the engine didn't need an external add-on that could be targeted. She was even especially interested in this new model was it came with shielding, sensors and an AI superior to those used to build Zero's walker. Making it the most high performance and powerful frame in their arsenal.
And it was all hers.
"Connected to catapult!" The hanger deck crewman wearing an oxygen mask stated over the radio as the Star destroyer ad already entered the atmosphere a while ago but they were still high up enough that the air was too thin to breathe. The upside was that their descending height was giving them a wonderful view of the clouds and ocean, with their target like a little speck in the distance.
"All readings are green. No negative reading here." Another working a terminal said as they saw no abnormalities in any of the set up so she gave the green thumb. Meanwhile, on the bride of the ship, both genius behind the Guren's latest form, who were now fully rested and glee filled Rakshata and Kaya stood ready to see the fruit of their labour at work.
"Guren, you're clear for launch." The CIC informed her as the other ships in the formation were launching their own machines, letting loose dozens of GINNS and CGUEs while many more fighters, bombers and ground attack craft took off towards their target. All with the intent for wiping it off the face of the map.
'This is for Naoto and mother.' Kallen thought to herself as she calmed herself down, saying a silent pray to both her brother to watch over her. She gripped at the controls and opened her eyes, rather giddy that her cockpit resembled those of Zero and SK's machines. "Kallen Kōzuki. Guren StarGazer, launching!" She cried as the new and improved Guren StarGlazer was launched from the catapult, once it left the Starship, the ion engines kicked in and granted her flight as he red, black, and gold machine joined the gathering storm, taking its place at Zero's side alongside the rest of the Zero Squad as he and his personal unit led the charge.
And that this that, after months of planning and chapters leading up to it moment, the day has come. Operation Island Getaway had begun with unexpected target. As for the end of the little invasion of Kyūshū, that was the plan from the get go as after both playing and Star Wars content as well as reading up on the force abilities that a Jedi or Sith can learn from the wiki page, it was the only way that it would have ended.
For his machine going on the rampage without him, it was stated early on that it had a droid brain, the likes of R2-D2 so yeah, the AI is smart enough to know how the fight, especially against an weaker and scared enemy. Nonette and her group don't join in since unlike cannon where Lelouch brought along an energy filler, here he didn't as his machine doesn't use such a thing, so he nor Liu Mei would just have one on hand and he had no plans to help them like that. He saved them just so they can live with the truth that he saved their asses.
His rampage through the base to get to Sawasaki was one that I got off my time playing the Force Unleashed in PS3, I was an absolute monster when I got serious and with all the force abilities that both Jedi and Sith should be able to use, he wouldn't be too hard for someone like that of doing the same as Vader, Obi-Wan and Starkiller were monsters when you think about it as one of those three could pull down a Star Destroyer and crush an large droids like they were nothing.
I can't the Shirley/Reyla conversation as though it would be important to the overall story, it will be continued in the next chapter as this chapter was running long as is. What could she have found out about her father I wonder? How will she handle it? And how will Reyla take this admission of affection for her husband from another woman? Find out next time.
The attack itself was inspired by ZAFT's assault on Joshua Alaska in the Gundam series as if it wasn't apparent by now, I really like that Gundam series. I know that it's not the best or latest in the Gundam series but it's still my favourite as it was the first one I ever watched as little boy. Why no one saw them coming was due to them hacking into the Britannians satellites a long time ago and making sure that none of them would see them coming when the day came, the base itself was hit before the actual attack to ensure that they weren't see it coming until it was too late.
Anyway, if you stuck around till now, thank you for that. I would love it if you follow and favourite this story, drop a review or PM and have a good day.