Code Gundam: Lelouch of the Skies Chapter 11: Rage of the Berserker, a Gundam Seed + Code Geass Crossover fanfic

A/N: I don't own Code Geass or Gundam Seed. They belong to Sunrise.

The climax is here. Prepare yourself. I've been wanting to write this one since I started this story.

Flashback

The birth of Nunnally.

That was Lelouch's first real memory. Or at least the earliest he can remember with the most clarity.

Sure he had other memories before that, small ones, like learning to walk. His first look in his mother's eyes. His first… 'accident' in the dipper.

But Nunnally's birth was the one thing that he could remember clear as day, without confusion. He was about three years old when she came into this world. He remembered it like it was yesterday.

It was the twilight of fall. October was ending and soon November would begin. The trees had already turned red and gold, signaling the change of seasons, and soon they would fall.

But not this day. Because today… today was the day an angel was born.

Lelouch had been informed in advance that he would be getting another sibling, which wasn't something rare or amazing considering all the others he already had. But unlike the hundreds of others he had, this one was gonna be his and his alone.

He had been informed that it was a sister, like Euphie and Cornelia, but this was gonna be his, and no one else's.

Though he was a tad bit jealous. Now with another in the house, she was gonna steal his mother away from him, and he wouldn't allow that, no matter who this new baby thinks they are.

He heard his mother scream that day. Not even born yet, and that baby was already hurting his mother. Yeah, Lelouch was safe from any worry of his mother being stolen away from his new sister. Cause he in no way would hurt his mother.

As the screams of his mother died down, they were replaced with a whining sob of a newborn. Yeah, this baby was so not gonna steal his mother away.

As the maid lead him into the room where his mother was, Lelouch was surprised with what he saw. First, his mother, whom he always associated with being the strongest woman in the world, was exhausted and sweating in great pain. She looks like she was gonna crack if his father had not come to support her.

Speaking of, secondly, why was his father here? Sure, he should be here for the birth of his child, but he had so many children, and he barely showed up for any of them. So why was he here now for this child of them all?

And that brought Lelouch to his third surprise, where was the little rascal? Here their mother was in pain and the new girl hadn't even come to offer to help her. Such a selfish little brat. He then saw his mother point to the side with a smile. He turned and looked to see a crib, and heard a soft noise coming from it.

His curiosity getting the best of him, he walked over to the wooden prison, that's what he called it, got himself a boost from a stool to the side of him, and looked inside.

There, wrapped in a blanket, snoring without a care in the world, was a baby girl. Lelouch was in awe of the sight. Sure he'd seen newborns before, he'd seen Euphie, heck he was once a newborn too. But this was different. Seeing this creature, this being in this… this fortress, that's what it looked like to him now because it protected the treasure in it, he was having feelings he never knew before bubble inside of him.

He reaches his hand inside to grab one of hers, but inches away from the hand, he hesitated. Looking at her, seeing her like this, he looked so fragile like she would break if he dared to touch her with his boyish and rough hands. He looked back to his mother as if asking permission from a higher power if it was okay. She smiled warmly as she nodded towards him to proceed.

He then grabbed the hand of his sister. It was soft, softer than the silk blankets and mattress he had in his enormous bedroom. He just couldn't fathom how something this soft could exist and feel so warm to him. No just warm physically, but also warming in his jellies, or something like that, he didn't know what his big brother Schneizel called it, the thing that was deep in his stomach.

The baby's eyes struggled for a moment before they opened to reveal the most beautiful set of lavender eyes he had ever seen. More beautiful than his own, and his mother, which he didn't think was possible.

As he continued to stare dumbly into the set of eyes that belong to this newly born creature, its lips curled upward into a smile, and let out a guileless laugh. It was the most beautiful sound and smile Lelouch had ever seen. How could anything on this earth be this beautiful and be his sister?

"Lelouch." Lelouch looked back to see his mother hovering next to him. He immediately withdrew his hand from the crib in embarrassment, which only caused his mother to laugh. She then reached into the crib, unafraid of breaking apart the creature in her arms. She pulled her out and presented her close to Lelouch.

"Lelouch, I would like you to meet someone very special." His mother said as she presented the baby toward Lelouch. "Meet your little sister Lelouch. Meet Nunnally."

Nunnally.

The name of an angle.

His angle.

"N… Nunn… Nunnally." Lelouch muttered her name, mystified by the glorious name that had befallen his angle. He reached out his hand again, and this time, the angle, Nunnally, grabbed onto his and shared that magnificent smile.

And at that moment, Lelouch had made a vow. A vow that no matter what happened, no matter who got in his way, he would always protect her.

He would always protect Nunnally, his little sister.

No matter what!

Flashback end

That was the scene that played in Lelouch's mind over and over again as his face turned from indescribable joy to sheer horror.

The beam from the Legend's DRAGOON shot through a rear section of the transport ship, the engine probably. The ship then began to ignite in a flame, it's pilots and crew turned back in horror to see the explosion grow and consume them completely.

All except Nunnally. She had kept her eyes on the Gundam, on her brother, and would never turn away from him, even in her dying moments. And as the flames consumed her, she had a smile on her face and said three simple words.

"I love you."

BOOM

As the explosion began to consume all that was around it, Lelouch couldn't help but widen his eyes in absolute disbelief. Unlike with the F.L.E.I.J.A. explosion that happened months ago in the Tokyo Settlement, where Lelouch originally believed his sister had perished he knew now that his sister was gone.

He tried to fool himself. Tell himself that his exhausted mind was playing tricks on him due to the exhaustion that Schneixzle put him through. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't convince himself. Dang him and his genius-level intellect!

As the explosion began to consume the Strike Freedom, Lelouch couldn't help but cry out the name of his beloved sister that was now gone. Gone forever.

"NUNNALLY!"

The whole battlefield froze.

All participants stopped fighting and immediately looked toward the source of both the explosion and anguished cry.

There, emerging from the bottom of the smoke cloud, the legendary Strike Freedom, who had challenged the might of both the Britannian Empire and the UFN, fall from grace into the ocean below.

As she saw the Strike Freedom make hit the water hard, Kallen couldn't move. She was frozen in absolute shock. Did that just happen? Did Schneizel really just kill Nunnally? Did he just kill Lelouch's sister in front of his eyes? She couldn't believe it. It couldn't be real. And yet, it was real. And so too was the rage she felt towards the one responsible.

Suzaku too was in a state of disbelief. He had just reunited with Nunnally and finally poached things up with her. And not only that, but she had also regained her sight. And not five minutes later, she met her end in a fiery explosion. He gripped the controls of the Infinite Justice so hard his hands threatened to turn white. He was supposed to protect Nunnally! She was an innocent angle in this whole conflict! So why did she have to die when he was guilty of far greater crimes than she could ever be?! As these thoughts flooded his mind, another thought appeared that he caught hold of, a dangerous, cold malicious thought. Kill Schneizel!

As such, both Gundam pilots acted on this impulse and charged the black Gundam, both screaming in fury and despair.

Schneizel was easily able to dodge their pathetic attacks. He then launched his DRAGOONs and they fired at the Gundams. While the Destiny and Infinite Justice were able to defend themselves against the onslaught of firepower, they had one weakness that Schneizel was able to act on that the Strike Freedom never had: their lack of speed.

While the Destiny had more than the Infinite Justice did, the DRAGOONs were still able to nick the hulls of the Knightmares, no matter how much the two attempted to evade or block with their beam shields.

Though Schneizel knew he had the upper hand, that wouldn't last. He would surely lose this fight if these two continued to attack him together. But, with their emotions controlling their actions, and blindly attacking him, he can use them to his advantage and make them attack one another.

As the Destiny charged at him from behind, the Infinite Justice launched the Fatum-01 toward the Legend, the support unit's beam saber extended. However, Schneizel was able to barrel roll out of the way of the flyer and it collided with the Destiny, stopping the Gundam's attack. Suzaku looked in shock at his actions, only to barely bring his beam saber up and defend against the Legend's beam javelin.

"Why so angry Suzaku?" Schneizel asked in a mocking tone that made the Japanese youth's blood boil. "You were crushed for so long for the thought that you killed Nunnally. But now that burden has been taken off due to my actions. If anything, you should be grateful."

"Grateful…? GRATEFUL?!" Suzaku shouted in anger as he pushed Schneizel away and began slashing madly at him. However, his rage and anger made his attacks sloppy, allowing Schneizel to easily dodge or block the attacks, all with a sick smile on his face. "Nunnally did nothing wrong! She had nothing to do with this! Why did you kill her?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Schneizel asked rhetorically as their beams locked together. "To win." His answer only made Suzaku madder as he tried to break the lock. "As much as it pains mew to admit, that fight with Lelouch could have gone either way for us, and I'd like to make sure I have the highest possible chance of success. By killing Nunnally, I have guaranteed my victory over him, and in this battle. Even if he does somehow pull himself together, he will either be too angry or unmotivated to fight, leading to my easy victory."

"WHY YOU?!" Kallen yelled from behind as she approached the Legend from behind, the Destiny's left palm cannon activated.

But Schenizel merely smirked at this childish attempt and merely stepped out of the way, causing the Destiny's palm to hit the Infinite Justice in the abdomen, blasting it back. Kallen was in shock by her actions but was pulled out of it when the Legend slashed upward with it's beam javelin.

Kallen attempted to catch it with her beam sword, but she was too late as the beam from the javelin sliced the sword in two. She attempted to bring the beam cannon up, only for Schenizle to slice that up as well by drawing another beam javelin. He then brought both beam javelins up then swung them down onto the Destiny. Acting fast, Kallen shot the Destiny's hands up while simultaneously activating the palm cannons. The two weapons met and both pilots struggled to win, however, the Destiny lost as the Legend was able to break through the force of the palm cannons and slice off the arms of the Gundam. Getting desperate, Kallen attempted to kick at the Legend, only for Schneizel to meet her kick with one of his only and knock the foot off. The Destiny's warning lights were going crazy as it reported multiple systems failures before it just couldn't handle it anymore and the system crashed, along with it's pilot as Kallen fell unconscious. Numerous tiny explosions went off on the Destiny's hull shutting down the Gundams propulsion system, causing it to fall to the ocean below. But not before Schneizle decided to rip out the beam boomerang that also functioned as a F.L.E.I.J.A. eraser.

Suzaku came back, his beam saber raised high and he brought them down in a vertical slash, only for Schenizel to block them with a horizontal slash with his beam javelin. He then noticed a chink in the Infinite Justice's armor, most likely caused by the Destiny's palm cannon, and smiled. He then activated the F.L.E.I.J.A. eraser and jammed the tip of the beam boomerang into the Infinite Justice's opening. The blade met with the red Gundam's F.L.E.I.J.A. reactor. The warning lights went off briefly in the cockpit of the Infinite Justice before shutting down, along with the rest of the Gundam.

"Nononononononononononono!" Suzaku yelled in denial as he tried everything to bring his Gundam back to life. But it was futile as the Infinite Justice was held limp in the air by the Legend.

"Do not fear Suzaku. I won't kill you, at least, not yet." Schneizel said with a sick smile as Suzaku growled at him. "I want you to see the glorious world which I will bring about with the Gundams and Damocles. And after I fish Lelouch out of the ocean, I'm gonna kill you just to hurt him even more." Schneizel then threw the Infinite Justice away as he then blasted off to meet more of those who would oppose him.

As she continued to fall through the sky, Kallen couldn't help the feeling of failure from falling all over her spirit. Lelouch trusted her with his sister. The person who meant the most to him in his whole world. And she failed him. She failed Nunnally too. She couldn't look him in the eye should he ever decide to show his face to her again. She'd rather die.

As she continued to fall through the sky, she failed to notice something catch her mid-air before she made contact with the ocean. She happened to glance at the machine that caught her in her only functioning camera in her cockpit.

The Tristian Divider, or the half that was still functional after she cut it in half, held the damaged Destiny in it's remaining arm and used itself to slow it's a descent towards the sea. 'Maybe Gino isn't such a bad guy after all.' That was the last thing Kallen thought as her mind slipped into unconsciousness.

Suzaku was in a similar state as her as he fell to the ocean. How could he let this happen? How could he lose another friend to this insane fighting and death going on around him while he was still alive? Why does he get to live while others die and suffer all around him?!

He wanted to get back up there! He wanted to make Schneizel pay for what he did with every cell in his body. But he couldn't. His Gundam was currently useless. He couldn't even activate the camera system on the machine to see what was happening outside. He was useless. And he hated feeling like that.

He was absorbed in his self-loathing that he almost failed to notice that his Gundam had stopped falling, or more accurately slowed down. Outside, the Infinite Justice was being carried by a black Knight Sutherland piloted by Sayoko, who had stayed in the Black Knights to figure out what truly happened with them when they betrayed her master. She let out a sigh of relief that she was able to catch him in time.

As Schneizel flew around the battlefield, he took a certain joy in watching all those who stood in his way die all around him. This machine truly was a marvel to behold. It's strength and firepower was incredible! And it all belonged to him.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed a familiar Gloucester flying toward him with a cape flowing behind it's back. Schneizel smiled as he easily figured out who the pilot was in that machine. He opened a channel with the Knightmare and casually greeted the pilot who was dead set on killing him, with a carefree smile. "Hello, Cornelia."

"SCHNEIZEL!" Said Second Princess roared in fury as she jabbed her lance forward in an attempt to pierce the Gundam's hull, only for the Legend to easily maneuver around the sloppy attack. Schneizel smiled at this pathetic attempt to kill him. Whenever Cornelia got angry, her attacks became sloppy and easy to predict. And boy was she angry.

"Is there a problem Cornelia? Why so angry?" Schneizel asked in that same carefree tone as if he had no idea what she was angry about. And that only fueled the fire in Cornelia.

"You killed Nunnally!" Cornelia shouted as she again charged the Legend, only for it to easily dodge the attack. "How could you?! She did nothing wrong! She had no reason to die! Why did you kill her?!" As she asked her questions, she fired her slash harkens as Schneizel. He didn't even blink as he pulled out a beam javelin and easily sliced them apart.

"Nunnally had outlived her usefulness." Schneizel merely said in an emotionless tone, as if he was talking about the weather.

"What?!" Cornelia shouted in disbelief as she charged him again with her lance. Only this time, Schneizel made no move to dodge. Rather, he simply swung his beam javelin up and sliced the lance in half. Cornelia backed away and then began to fire at the Gundam with her rifle. However, thanks to the VPS armor, the bullets did not harm the machine as it just loomed over her.

"Nunnally's only strength was her hold over Lelouch," Schneizel began explaining as he approached Cornelia's Gloucester. "By using her emotional connection to him, I figured she would be able to get him to surrender the Gundams, or at least get him morally discouraged so that he would be easily conquered in a fight. But when he showed to not be slowed down or discouraged in the least but instead made more determined by me having Nunnally, she had effectively outlived her usefulness to me. And when I saw her leaving the Damocles, I just knew it was a sign of betrayal on her part. However, I found one final way for her to be useful. By killing her in front of Lelouch after he believed he saved her, it would leave him too discouraged and with no will to continue fighting."

As Cornelia continued to listen to Schneizel's explanation, she couldn't keep the look of horror on her face. Did his siblings mean so little to him that he only saw them as tools to be used against his enemies? Is that all they were to him? Just pawns to be thrown away. If that's the truth, then he's worse than Lelouch ever could be. At least Lelouch still had a little or a lot of love for siblings like Nunnally and Euphie-

And at that moment, a dark thought had entered Cornelia's mind. If Schneizel was willing to sacrifice Nunnally like this, then what about…

"What about Euphie?!" Cornelia asked as she continued to uselessly fire at Schneizel with her rifle. "Was she just another piece to be sacrificed in your game with Lelouch?!" As she glared at her brother's new machine, she was shocked when she heard her answer.

"Yes," Schneizel answered in a calm tone, and that only shocked Cornelia even more. "She was the same as Nunnally. She was no soldier or politician, she held no gift in strategy or deceit. Without you, she would have died the moment she was born. Her Special Administrative Zone was useless as well. I can't believe she thought it would succeed? I simply approved of it so that it would lure Zero in and then we could finish him off then, or if he decided not to show, everyone in Area 11 would turn against him. That was the only useful thing Euphemia could have done for Britannia."

As Cornelia heard those words, she was again blinded by a rage she hadn't felt since Euphie died. Making her massacre and kill all those people then kill her himself was one thing. But using her and her hopes, her dreams, for a simple plot against a terrorist, was unforgivable. She was so blinded by rage that she didn't care if she was at a huge disadvantage as she charged the black Gundam before her. "SCHNEIZEL!"

As she continued to fire useless at the black machine, the Legend merely slashed upward to slice both the rifle and the weapon holding it, in half. Still blinded by anger, she attempted to punch the Legend in the face with her Knightmare's remaining arm, only for the Gundam to catch the fist by the wrist. She struggled in vain for a brief moment before Schneizel decided enough was enough and ripped the arm off of the Knightmare.

"I believe you have outlived your usefulness as well Cornelia," Schneizel said, this time, his tone was grim and his face folded down in a frown. He then raised his beam weapon high. "Say hi to Euphie, Nunnally, and all our other siblings in the afterlife for me. Oh and don't worry, Lelouch will be joining you all shortly.

As the beam javelin came down upon her, Cornelia merely closed her eyes in anticipation. If she was going to die, she was not going to beg to live, she'd face it with dignity. But as she did, she couldn't help but feel all the regrets she had made over her life begin to flow to the surface. Not being able to patch things up with Euphie before she died. Not apologizing to Nunnally before her end. Nor attempting to fix her relationship with Lelouch. While she never would forgive him, not truly, for what happened to Euphie, there was a small shimmer of hope that they could at least try to start over with one another when this fight was over. But it seemed that she wasn't going to get the chance.

As the beam weapon was about to make contact with the Knightmare, the Legend was suddenly bombarded with multiple weapons blasts. Both Schneizel and Cornelia looked to see the Lancelot Albion and Zangetsu force the Legend away from her. When the Legend had gotten quite a distance away from her, the Lancelot Albion had flown next to the heavily damaged, but still functioning, Gloucester.

"You okay in there Nelly?" Nonnette asked as she took a break from firing on the Legend to check on her friend.

"Nonnette… and General Tohdoh? What are you two doing?" Cornelia asked in disbelief as she saw her friend and one of her enemies firing on a shared ally of theirs.

"What does it look like? Saving your royal butt!" Nonnette stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, with that carefree smile that always drove Cornelia insane when she saw it.

"Don't think this means I've forgiven you for what you did to me and my people Cornelia," Tohdoh said in obvious dislike for the Second Princess, and she didn't blame him, as he continued to fire on the Legend. "But at the moment, we all share a common enemy. The Second Prince of Britannia, Schneizel el Britannia."

At his name begin called, said Second Prince had launched his Gundam's DRAGOONs and maneuvered them to fire on all of his enemies, forcing them to take evasive action. "Well, if you believe that you can stop me, try and do so!" Schneizel challenged with an insane smile on his lips.

"Nelly, get out of here! We'll take care of this!" Nonnette ordered as she continued to dodge the beams coming from the Gundam.

"Are you sure?" Cornelia asked. She had already lost all her siblings, including her most beloved sisters. She didn't want to lose her best friend either.

Nonnette responded by pulling up the Blaze Luminous shield and blocking more beams before firing the VARIS rifle. "Right now your machine is in no condition to fight. I hate to say it but you being here will only get in the way."

As much as Cornelia hated it, Nonnette was right. If she continued to fight like this, she would only be a burden and get herself killed, along with quite possibly Nonnette and Tohdoh. So, for their sake, she had to sit this one out.

"Alright," Cornelia grumbled, still not happy about this. "But just be careful!"

"Hey! It's me! Remember?" Nonnette said as she drew the Lancelot's MVS and charged the Legend.

"I know… that's why I said it." Cornelia muttered as she flew away to a safe distance.

The Legend put away it's beam rifle as it then drew a beam javelin to block the Lancelot's downward strike. "You do realize this is treason to Britannia, Lady Enneagram?" Schneizel pointed out as they continued to lock blades.

"No, I am betraying you for your crimes against Britannia!" Nonnette fired back as she delivered a kick to the Gundam's chest with the Black Luminous on the leg activated. Her experience fighting against two Gundams with two different styles of fighting had given her an advantage over Schneizel most Knightmare pilots didn't have. "Your actions against the royal family and the destruction of Pendragon is unforgivable. And so, I will see to it that you are brought to justice!"

"Justice?" Schneizel asked before laughing madly at the word. "What kind of justice is there in Britannia? None! And yet you claim to fight for justice? Don't make me laugh!" He fired a beam from his rifle that hit the Blaze Luminous system, shattering it. Nonnette gritted her teeth as she moved to dodge more beams coming her way.

The Zangetsu came up toward the Gundam, raising it's revolving blade high, only for the Legend's beam javelin to intercept the weapon in a clash. "I knew putting our trust in you was a mistake Schneizel." Tohdoh declared as he glared daggers at the man inside the machine before him.

"If you knew it was a mistake, why'd you do it?" Schneizel asked mockingly, causing Tohdoh to narrow his eyes further. "Oh wait! That's right. It was my brother Lelouch. You believed me when I told you of Geassing Euphie. You were all so gullible, willing to believe any sort of deceit of Zero, wanting to believe that you all were forced into doing everything you did for him. But the truth is much more terrifying than that. The truth is that you all followed him since the beginning, of your own free will!"

At that Schenziel then sliced the revolving blade in two as he drew his second beam javelin. Tohdoh tried to fight back by firing more missiles at the Gundam, but the Legend shot them down using its CIWS. It then closed the distance between them as it slashed downward with it's beam javelin, slicing off the arms before using the DRAGOONs to remove the remaining limbs and weapons, as Tohdoh fell to the ocean below, he stared in disbelief toward the Gundam. This machine, this beast, was unstoppable. But he was in more horror as he realized the truth in Schneizel's words.

"Lelouch may be guilty of many things," Schneizel admitted toward the down Zangetsu, "But even I will admit, that he has never been one to force people to follow him. That would be like our father. And if their one thing Lelouch would never do, it's become Charles."

Schneizel would have finished him off then and there with his beam rifle, but a hundred energy daggers rained down upon him, forcing him to activate his beam shield to protect himself. He looked up at the culprit to see the Lancelot Albion charging him from above, an MVS in each hand.

Schneizel was able to bring up one of the Legend's beam javelins in time to stop the attack, but the Lancelot didn't slow as it continued to hack and slash with it's signature pair of blades. However, thanks to the VPS armor, the hits that the Knightmare did make, did little to no damage to the hull of the Gundam. Schneizel began growing tired of this effort and went to draw another beam javelin.

That was the moment Nonnette was waiting for!

As a compartment in the Legend's side opened up to reveal a beam javelin his free hand was going to, the Lancelot suddenly broke the blade lock it was in with the Legend and sliced at the open compartment. The MVS was able to separate that compartment and the beam javelin from the Gundam causing the beam weapon to fall to the ocean below.

Schneizel looked in shock at the action done by the Lancelot before he glared at the white and gold Knightmare Frame he once held great promise for. "Cleaver," Schneizel growled. "But now you will pay!"

The Lancelot raised it's right arm high to bring down on the Legend, only for the Gundam to catch the arm with his free hand. Nonnette tried to attack with her free hand, but the Legend intercepted the blade with it's beam javelin. It then stretched the arm out wide, leaving it open for a DRAGOON pod to blast the arm at the joint.

Schneizel wasn't done as he went for the Knightmare's right energy wing and gripped it hard, beginning to pull. At the same time, he knocked the MVS out of the Lancelot's remaining hand and pulled the beam javelin up, with the intent to jam it straight through the Lancelot's abdomen.

"What a waste," Schneizel said to himself as he continued to pull on the energy wing of the Lancelot. "I had hoped we could convert the Lancelot into a Gundam, but it seems that hope dies here. All well!" He then thrust the beam weapon through the Lancelot's abdomen just as he ripped off the energy wing. Thankfully, Nonnette was able to eject before the beam entered the Knightmare.

Schneizel then withdrew the beam from the Lancelot and flew away as the Knightmare sparked for a moment before it exploded!

BOOM!

"MY PRECIOUS LANCELOT!" Lloyd cried, his voice hysterical, the first time anyone could remember him being hysterical, as his greatest creation's destruction. The volume and tone behind it shocked most of the bridge crew that they looked at the man, fearing that a bomb had gone off. His look then evolved into a look of rage as he went over to the float ship's comma system and turned it on, directing it to the whole battlefield.

"ATTENTION PILOTS OF ALL THOSE WORTHLESS SECOND-RATE KNIGHTMARES!" He began shouting, his voice still hysterical. "MY BEAUTIFUL MACHINE, THE LANCELOT, HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY THAT NASTY SNAKE SCHNEIZEL EL BRITANNIA! I DEMAND THAT YOU CEASE ALL YOUR BATTLES AND CONCENTRATE ON KILLING HIM AND AVENGING ME CREA-OW! QUIT PULLING ON MY EAR!"

Lloyd's rant was cut off as Cecile pulled him back from the comm by the ear. Most of the crew looked bewildered as they observed the scene before them. Was this man really a genius scientist? He had just acted like a kid would if his favorite toy had just been broken.

As Schneizel began to fly off to meet more targets, Tohdoh couldn't help but grin in glee as he sat in the damaged Zangetsu. Sure, he and both the Knight of Nine lost, but he was glad because he was able to easily acquire more allies by simply turning the comm channel on during their fight and relaying the message to all Black Knight forces. Including the Ikaruga.

He only hoped Ohgi would put aside his pride and be willing to finally make the right choice.

As he replayed the words of Prince Schneizel over and over in his mind, he still couldn't believe it, nor did the look of shock leave his face.

How could he be so stupid? So foolish as to trust the Second Prince of Britannia?! All because he played a videotape that was meant to incriminate Zero, an obvious enemy of Britannia, and make it seem like he and the others were made to follow him with no choice. And for what, to get Japan back was that it!?

Ohgi then proceeded to look down in shame. If Schneizel was lying about this, then what other lies did he tell, and what truths did Lelouch tell he thought were lies? As it then sunk in, the realization of the consequences of his actions, he couldn't help but feel as if th4e shame and guilt he was feeling crawl all around in his stomach.

He betrayed Zero. He betrayed the man who stood up to evil and tyranny when no one else could. He turned his back on the man that made the hard choices and got his hands dirty in blood so the rest of them wouldn't have to. And it led to this. A young innocent girl was dead. A city and all its people were destroyed. A weapon of terrible power was unleashed on the world. And a madman had a machine that could change the world in his image. And the one man who could stop him, was at the bottom of the ocean, morning over the loss of his sister.

And it was all his fault.

'Naoto… What have I done? Oh my… what have I done?!'

"Commander?" Ohgi looked up as his title was spoken. Everyone was looking toward him for the next course of action. That's right, even though he was responsible for this, he had to take action to fix his wrongs here and now.

"Contact all our forces!" Ohgi began spouting orders. "Tell them to cease their hostility with the E.U. and refocus their efforts on the Britannians that are under Schneizel's rule!"

Schneizel dodged and blocked multiple blue beam daggers shot from the Alexander Freedom as it moved to fire back. The Alexander, however, pulled up its energy wings to act as a shield and was able to protect itself from the blasts. The Legend was about to return more fire when an explosion went off in it's back. Schneizel growled as he turned to see three Rounds, the Knights of Two, Five, and Eight, all aim their ranged weaponry at them.

"I see." Schneizel simply said as he looked at the Rounds with disdain. "So you are betraying me too?"

"I never signed on to be a Knight of the Round just so I could work for a guy who's willing to kill his family for power." Yzak growled.

"Me neither!" Nicol stated. "If you're willing to kill innocent people along with your own family, then you don't deserve our service or loyalty!"

"Yeah! What they said!" Dearka said as he turned to the Alexander Freedom. "Mind if we team up with you to take down this Royal scumbag?"

Akito was surprised to hear a Knight of The Round use such language when talking about one of his royals, but then that made him smile. "I'd be happy to!" Akito said as his eyes held red iris in them.

"What?! Why would you even suggest we work with this guy Dearka?!" Yzak asked, shocked at the Knight of Five's offer. "We can take this guy on our own!"

Before Dearka could argue, Nicol beat him to it. "Yzak! For once in your life, don't be an idiot!" Nicol order, shocking both Rounds, as they never heard Nicol talk like that, at least out loud. "We couldn't even handle one Gundam, and he wasn't even trying to kill us. Prince Schneizel, however, has full intention of killing all of us, and he was able to take down three Gundam all by himself along with a ninth-generation Knightmare frame! What hope do you think we have against him by ourselves?!"

As the battlefield was silent for a short moment, Yzak then grumbled. "Sheesh. You didn't have to call me an idiot, and for the record, I'm not one all the time." The Knight of two tried to argue.

"Yeah, you do," Dearka commented.

Before this could erupt into another argument, Schneizel broke into the conversation. "Are you four gonna just sit here and chat all day or are you gonna fight?"

In response, the Duel drew it's MVS and pointed it toward the Legend. "What do you think?!" Yzak yelled as he charged the Legend as the Buster covered him and the Blitz activated it's cloaking system.

Schneizel smiled as he easily avoided a strike from the Duel. he then saw the multiple missiles were coming his way, but he paid no mind to it as he activated the DRAGOONs and had them form a protective beam of beams around him that destroyed the incoming missiles.

He had to bring up his beam javelin to block an attack from the Alexander's katana. The Knightmare began slashing wildly at the Legend which Schneizel had trouble keeping up with, unlike his last opponents who attacked wildly. Inside the cockpit of the Knightmare, Akito had a sick bloodlust smile on his face as his eyes glowed with red circles around them, as he chanted "die" over and over again.

Finally having enough of this and that insane chanting, Schneizel swung the beam javelin upward and sliced off the arm holding the katana. Inside his cockpit, Akito snapped out of the bloodlust he held and looked up in shock toward the Gundam. "No," Schneizel said in a low voice that sent chills down Akito's spine, as his eyes narrowed, "You die."

Akito was barely able to bring up the energy wings to protect against Schneizel's blade thrust.

The beam went through a hole in the shield's armor and went through the cockpit section of the Alexander. However, the shield was able to move the beam just enough that it missed Akito, if only by a hair.

Despite being alive, the attack did deactivate his Knightmare and he ended up falling to the ocean to join the others.

As Schneizel watched the Knightmare splash down into the ocean, his face held an interesting look. Maybe the pilot could be a useful addition to his further plans. The Legend then slashed at its side, seemingly slashing at nothing but air. But a moment later the Blitz emerged out of it's cloaking, clearly cut in half, from the cockpit down. The Blitz then erupted in a fiery explosion, taking it's pilot with it.

"NICOL!" Both Yzak and Dearka yelled in shock at their friend dying.

Yzak then growled as he again went after the Legend. "You son of a-" He didn't get to finish as a beam was shot at his Knightmare's arm holding the beam saber. More beams followed as the Duel's limbs were shot off one by one before it couldn't take any more and it's float system deactivated, causing it to fall to the ocean.

The Buster attempted to try and land a hit on it with it's missiles, but the DRAGOONs kept him from touching it. He kept firing until he realized, to his horror, he was out. He then looked to see the DRAGOONs had surrounded him. They all fired and Dearka brought up the Blaze Luminous to protect himself. While he did keep the cockpit safe, any other part of the Knightmare was destroyed by the onslaught of beams.

Schneizel would have finished the two off, but he was suddenly distracted by multiple bullets firing in his direction. He turned to see a squadron of Knightmares opening fire on them. He merely maneuvered the DRAGOONs and destroyed them all. He then noticed that they were Black Knight Knightmares and he gave off a devious smile at this revelation.

It would seem that the Black Knights, no, that Ohgi had finally wised up to his schemes. "Well, no matter." Schneizel simply said in a carefree tone. "I believe it's time for me to sever my ties to the Black Knights, permanently."

He then turned the Legend around and blasted off to meet the Ikaruga.

While the destructive battle continued to rage on up in the sky, at the bottom of the ocean, one young soul was having a battle of his own. The battle of how to think again.

As the Strike Freedom laid silent on the ocean floor, it's pilot Lelouch Lamperouge, shook violently as he clenched the sides of his head. He tried to tell himself otherwise, he tried his best to tell himself it wasn't possible. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't convince himself that Nunnally was still alive. He saw it with his own eyes after all, so how could he not be convinced that his sister was truly dead this time. But that did not help him, in fact, it only made him worse than he ever was when he thought he lost her at the Tokyo Settlement months ago. He at least had others trying to comfort him and help him. But now he was alone.

He failed. He failed to help Euphie. He failed to protect Shirley, he failed to stop Rolo from killing himself so he could save him. He failed to keep C.C. from sacrificing himself so he could continue to try and change the world. And he failed to save his sister who he vowed he would always protect. That's all he was, a failure.

As he heard the cries of people dying at the hands of his brother, he just ignored them all and turned off his radio. "What's the point?" He said, his tone devoid of emotion. "What should I risk my life for these people, now that Nunnally's not here, why should I continue to live?" He told himself as he closed his eyes, and wanted nothing more than to just die.

"Lelouch!" Came a voice he never thought he'd heard again.

He opened his eyes and was shocked to see he was no longer in the cockpit of the Strike Freedom at the bottom of the ocean. Instead, he was in space, overlooking the cosmos of the universe. He knew this was some sort of illusion, because if it was real, then he wouldn't be able to breathe in outer space.

But what shocked him most was the voice. He looked around to find it's owner, only to find no one. He then looked at what appeared to be stars gathering together in one spot. They continued to come together, glowing brighter and forming a figure. A figure that Lelouch would never have trouble mistaking.

"Nunnally…?" Lelouch muttered in disbelief.

Indeed, Nunnally vi Britannia, his beloved sister, was before him, eyes wide open, wearing the same clothes in which she died, and was smiling a sad smile toward him. "Hello, Lelouch."

Lelouch was just shocked still as he looked at her. "So I'm dead?" Lelouch asked. "I died in the explosion and now I'm in heaven?" Nunnally then giggled as she shook her head in denial.

"No, you're alive. But I'm… not." Nunnally told him as she adopted a sad frown.

At that, Lelouch bowed down and sobbed as he held onto the ghostly image of his sister. "I'm sorry Nunnally!" He cried over and over as he sobbed. "I'm sorry for lying to you! I'm sorry I left you alone! I'm sorry for fighting you! I'm sorry I couldn't protect you! I'm just so sorry!"

As he continued to sob, he felt a gentle touch on his face. He then looked up to see Nunnally was holding his face in a gentle touch. But she looked different. She wasn't happy or sad or angry. Instead, she looked shameful and guilty.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing to you, Lelouch," Nunnally said, surprising Lelouch. "I accused both you and Suzaku of lying to me for a long time when I'm the liar. I deceived you into thinking I was dead for so long, making you think full of grief and depression when I could have easily done something to relieve you of that pain. But I didn't, I was being selfish in protecting myself. And for that, and for thinking you could do such terrible things like destroying a city with no remorse, I am truly sorry."

Lelouch was speechless. His younger sister, whom he always associated with being an angel, just confessed to committing sins and apologizing for what she did. It was unbelievable.

"But I'm not here to ask for forgiveness or to hear it from you. I'm here to help you." Nunnally said as her voice became serious.

"Help me, with what? Guiding me to the afterlife?" Lelouch said, his voice still devoid of emotion.

"No, to help you get back up and fight!"

"Fight?" Lelouch asked, his voice now filling with slight anger. "What's the point?! All this fight had ever done for me was cost me so many of the people I love and lead this world into greater chaos! I'm nothing but a destroyer of lives to those he loves!"

"That's not true!" Another familiar voice called to him.

He then looked around to see more stars gather together to form a glowing being. Euphemia, Shirley, Rolo, and C.C. suddenly appeared around him and approached him. All wearing the same clothes the day they died. The day he got them killed.

Seeing them all again only brought more tears to his face. "Why are you all here? To punish me for my sins against you? Then go right ahead, I deserve it."

"No! We're all here to help you, Lelouch!" Euphie cried as she came up to him, only for him to flinch away in fear as he saw her. Euphie had a sad frown on her face.

"Why help me? Why help the man that got all of you killed?!"

"You didn't do that," Rolo said as he came closer to Lelouch. Lelouch looked guilty as he saw him. He had tried to kill the boy for so long, never realizing how devoted he was to him till the end. That guilt still haunted Lelouch. 'You didn't kill us, if anything, you saved us?"

"How is death salvation in any way?!" Lelouch asked angrily.

"You saved us from our darkest moments." Lelouch looked behind him to see it was Shirley approaching him. He tried to back away, only for her to grab his hand and keep him from moving. "I was ready to kill myself because of the uncertainty regarding you, but then I was able to see the real you and everything became so clear. You kept me from doing something that I would have truly regretted."

"Shirley…" Lelouch said, the tears forming in his eye. Rolo then stood next to him.

"I was raised from birth as a weapon to kill." The boy began. "I never knew anything like love or warmth until my time with you. Even though it may have been a lie, the feelings and the memories we made together were real and very dear to me. Even when you said those words to me, I knew deep down that you felt the same way I did, you enjoyed those memories with me too, even if you tried to convince yourself otherwise."

"Rolo…" Lelouch said the tears were falling down his neck.

"I was always useless." It was Euphie's turn. "I was never really that special, just a figurehead for the Empire. But when I learned you were alive, I felt such conviction to try and help you any way I could. And when I came up with the SAZ, I felt like I really could make a difference. I know it didn't turn out how I wanted, nor did it have a happy ending, but I was still happy to have that hope that I could help you. It helped rescue me from a depressed state where I more than likely would have remained if not for you and Suzaku."

"Euphie…" Lelouch muttered before getting slapped in the face.

He looked to see the culprit was none other than the green-haired witch that helped him start this journey long ago. "You're pathetic Lelouch," C.C. said bluntly. "Completely pathetic. I can't believe I gave up both my wish and my life just so you could sit here and whine about yourself! Whatever happened to the man who works impossible miracles, who challenged an Empire in control of a third of the world, who never let Geass lead him into a life of solitude like so many others? Cause All I see is a pale imitation of him before me now."

As Lelouch processed her words, a fire began to be born in his heart. A fire to fight.

Finally, Nunnally came before Lelouch once again. "Lelouch, do you remember what you once told me? About why you were still fighting?" As Lelouch thought back to the conversation, or argument more precisely, that he had with Nunnally, he recalled the words he said to her as she spoke to him. "You said you weren't just fighting for my dream, but Euphie's dream, and so many other's dreams as well. You were fighting for so many people's hopes and dreams for a better world that you were even dead set for going against me. Are you willing to let all those dreams die just because I'm not here anymore? Are you just gonna give up after everything that's happened?"

As Lelouch pondered over her question, he thought back to all the times where all hope had seemed to be lost for him. When he realized he was responsible for the death of Shirley's father. When he accidentally Geass Euphie into killing innocent people and then killing her. When his back was against the wall trying to save the Black Knights. When he was forced to fight Nunnally when she was made Viceroy of Area 11. When Shirley died. When the Black Knight's betrayed him and forced him to leave Kallen's side. When C.C. died and he was then left with nothing.

He faced challenges all his life, but not once did he ever truly give up. Not once did he ever let himself fall into despair that he stopped in his mission completely.

"Please get up. Just one more time big brother." Nunnally begged as she and the others began to glow bright and envelope him. "Let us protect you this time."

As he was bathed in the light of those closest to him, he remembered why he started this journey years ago. It was to create a better world. Not for just one person, but everyone. And he wasn't just gonna back down now, not when so many people need him.

"I won't stop fighting." Lelouch began, his voice gaining power as a fire raged in his heart. "I'll never stop fighting. The efforts that Euphie and Nunnally worked and died for must come to pass. And I won't let their, and the others' sacrifices for me to live be in vain. I'm gonna live! I'm going to change this world! My name is Lelouch Lamperouge and I. Will. Not. Give. UP!"

The Strike Freedom's eyes glowed a bright gold color signifying its awakening. It then began to move it's limbs as it then stood upright and blasted up to the surface. With a splash, the Strike Freedom emerged from the water, the Wings of the Skies fully activated and sped off into the sky to face the Legend.

Lelouch still cried as he flew, just some leftover emotions from when he confronted the ghosts of those he lost. But now, the time for tears was over. He took his time to mourn. Now was the time for action!

As his eyes opened, they, along with the look of intense rage, again held a familiar bird-like symbol in them, but with one clear difference. While Geass usually emerged red in the eyes of the user, the color of the bird matched his natural eye color in a bright violet glow. This signified the awakening of his true power.

The power of the kings.

The power of Geass.

The power of Absolute Berserker.

The Ikaruga shook violently as multiple explosions went off all over the ship. As Ohgi held onto the railings as best he could to steady himself, he called for a damage report. In short, it wasn't pretty.

"Report! Our turrets and missile launchers were destroyed in the attack!"

"Shields are at 15 percent and dropping!"

"Our main gun is offline!"

"We got hull breaches in sector 9-12! We can't maintain altitude at this height for much longer!"

As Ohgi grimaced at the damage report, he glared out at the viewport to see the Legend floating in front of them, it's DRAGOONs were separated, meaning he was the obvious culprit behind the attack.

"Greetings Commander Ohgi." Schneizel said as he performed a mocking bow in his Gundam. This only served to irate Ohgi even more than and his tone when he used the word Commander.

"Schneizel," Ohgi growled out the name of the man he held such hate for now, even more than Zero. "How dare you manipulate us?! How dare you use us for your own twisted purpose!"

Schneizel laughed at that comment, sending Ohgi in a further rage. "Manipulate?! I never manipulated you, my dear commander. I simply presented you with what knowledge I had of your leader and made you decide what was the best course of action in your own mind. You made the decision."

This only irritated Ohgi further as he glared at the black machine outside. "You made us fight for you! Kill for you! All for a false premise that you'd give us Japan back!" Ohgi shouted.

Schneizel was silent for a moment, pondering his words. "Okay I'll admit, that was a bit deceitful of me," Schneizel confessed. "But since you couldn't find my brother, I needed alternative forms of ways so our agreement could be reached. You understand right?"

"I thought I did. But now I see how wrong I was." Ohgi admitted as he clenched his fist, more in anger toward himself than anything. "But now I see that even if we did give you Lelouch, even if we did all you ask without complaining, even if we did help Britannia conquer the rest of the world, you would never have given us Japan."

Schneizel actually smiled. "Finally figured that out. Good for you Commander." His smile then disappeared as his voice went cold. "But sadly it was too late. As you have now outlived your usefulness to me and my mission, I don't see any more reason to keep you alive."

"Wait!" A voice called from behind. Ohgi and the others turned to see Diethard standing there, looking terrified. "You're going to kill me?! After all, I've done for you?! After I told you all I knew about the Black Knights? After I told you when the Guren pilot left the hangar?! After everything I've done, your throwing me away?!"

Schneizel was silent for a long time, before giving a simple "Yes." And aimed at the bridge again.

He then aimed his beam rifle toward the bridge of the Ikaruga. With the shields down to less than 15 percent, there was no way for them to protect themselves from the beam of the Legend. So the bridge crew could only try and evacuate as they scrambled to move away from the blast radius. All except Ohgi as he refused to run away in fear. He was done running; from his fears, from his enemies, from his friends, from his mistakes, from the truth, from all of it. He was gonna face it all head-on, no matter what happened to him.

So he closed his eyes and waited for the end to come.

(Play Hi-Finesse Supreme 1:08-2:31)

"RAHHHHHH!" Lelocuh yelled in righteous fury as he charged the Legend in the Strike Freedom, firing off multiple beams in an attempt to destroy it.

Somehow, Schneizel was able to pick up on the beams and narrowly dodge the attack. He turned back and looked in shock to see the Strike Freedom charge at him. However, he was able to regain enough focus to dodge the beams.

He pivoted around the charging Gundam and fired back, but the Strike Freedom dodged and returned fire.

"You killed her!" Lelouch yelled in a tone never before heard by anyone, a tone of absolute rage. "You killed Nunnally!"

As his brother continued to shout, Schneizel couldn't help but smirk in sick joy. While this wasn't the outcome he wished for, this was the next best thing. With Lelouch so angry at the death of Nunnally, it would make him easy to predict and thereby eliminate. He then maneuvered the DRAGOONs around him to easily take him out.

However, to his horror, Lelouch wasn't going down, or seemed to be letting his rage blind him. Instead, he was using it, channeling it into his attacks. A perfect example was when he spectacularly dodged a beam coming from a DRAGOON by barrel rolling and fired while upside down, destroying it, then spinning around and destroying a Knightmare that was right coming up behind him before it could fire all in the blink of an eye.

Schneizel just couldn't believe what he was seeing. How could this be? How can he still be doing this? He should either be too demoralized by Nunnally's death or too angry to properly focus in battle. So how is he able to fight with the same-no, even more vigor than before. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he barely was able to dodge more of Lelouch's beams.

"DIE!" Lelouch demanded as he fired again upside down destroying a DRAGOON.

(Hi-Finesse Supreme Ends)

As the participants of the battle observed the Strike Freedom and the Legend duke it out, it was very clear to the trained eye that this was no mere duel. No. This was an uphill battle the Strike Freedom was fighting against the Legend, and the former was winning. It was that and so much more. It was as if the Strike Freedom and Legend were predator and prey. The Legend doing its best to stay one step ahead to survive, while the Strike Freedom put all it had, and some more, into making sure that the Legend never got back up, or that its pilot was left breathing.

The machine with the glowing wings zoomed across the battlefield with no signs of slowing down. In fact, quite the opposite, it picked up speed, getting faster and faster, and fought more viciously and like a savage yet was still elegant and precise in its attacks that those watching couldn't help but look in awe and fear at the machine before them.

As Ohgi saw the Strike Freedom and Legend duke it out, he couldn't help but look in disbelief and awe at the machine piloted by the one he used to follow.

'Why is he doing this? Why did he save us? Save me? After everything, I did to him?' Ohgi thought as he continued to watch the battle outside. It then dawned on him.

'He's fighting for everyone.' Ohgi said as he reached an epiphany. 'What he said on Horai Island was true. He's not doing this for himself or for revenge, he's doing this because he's trying to change.'

As similar thoughts swarmed in his head, the so-called Commander of the Black Knights held his head down in shame. He was wrong about Lelouch this whole time. He betrayed him, he turned against a kid that only wanted to make the world better so his loved ones could live happily in it. How could he not see it?

It was then that Ohgi made a decision. If Lelouch was gonna be better, then so was he, even if it cost him his life.

"What's the status of the Damocles?" Ohgi asked. The radar officer was surprised at the question as she looked at the computer.

"It's reached about 280 kilometers, only a few minutes until it reaches 300." She reported.

"What's the status of the Ikaruga? Can we take it down?" Ohgi asked the weapons officer.

"Negative. That last attack knocked out all our turrets and the main gun. We can't take this thing down."

Then an idea came to Ohgi's head. "At least, not from this far away." When the bridge crew looked at him in confusion, he then addressed the comm officer. "Put out a ship-wide announcement, tell-all crew members to abandon ship! We're gonna ram the Ikaruga straight into the Damocles in an attempt to destroy it!"

The whole crew just looked at him in shock. "Are you sure Commander?" An officer asked.

"I am." He then looked toward the helmsmen. "Set the autopilot to crash into the Damocles and let's get out of here."

The helmsman looked more confused than anybody. "But commander, there isn't-"

"I know we don't have a high chance of pulling this off," Ohgi said quickly, cutting him off, "But destroying that fortress comes before anything else. We can't allow a weapon like that to exist in this world. Do it now! That's an order!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" The comm officer said as he began to carry out the orders and told all crew members of the Ikaruga to abandon ship. All the while, the helmsman gave a concerning glance toward Ohgi.

(Birth of Secretion - Gundam Seed Soundtrack III)

The Strike Freedom, beam saber in its right hand, flew in to slash at the Legend, who had its own beam javelin activated with the same intent. They slashed, missed, then came around and clashed their blades together.

"Don't you see Lelouch?!" Schneizel asked as their beam weapons let out sparks of electricity. "This is what people are destined for! They knew the choice they were making when they started on this path of savagery!"

"Shut up!" Lelouch shouted in anger, not wanting to listen to his brother's rambles, his only desire being to kill him. But the older brother didn't stop rambling.

"Justice and faith! Ignorance and escapism! They never learn! They never listen!" Schneizel shouted. When he was making those accusations, Lelouch thought back to all the twistedness in the world and wickedness that he experienced and done to come this far. He merely gritted his teeth at Schneizel's words. "We have reached the end of that path! There is no way to prevent it now!"

The two Gundams broke their blade block and backed away from each other. "Mankind vanquished! At last! Just as they deserve!" Schneizel cheered as his remaining DRAGOONs fired a barrage of beams at the Strike Freedom.

The Strike Freedom dodged and weaved throughout the volley of beams in its way as it did it's best to avoid getting his, even bringing up its beam shield to protect itself. "I won't allow it!" Lelouch declared!

As the other two Gundam pilots observed the battle above, one couldn't help but look in worry for her love, while the other had a determined look in his eyes.

'Lelouch.' Kallen thought in worry over Lelouch in this encounter.

'Finish this. End him once and for all Lelouch!' Suzaku thought as he continued to watch the two Gundams do battle.

A few quick moments after the order was issued, all of the Ikaruga's personnel were put aboard the escape pods. Even Diethard was on board, though he was in custody. But he was happy with it, otherwise, the alternative would have him be stuck on the ship as it crashed into the Damocles. So he took whatever chance he had to stay alive.

"Is that everyone?" Ohgi asked as he stood right outside the pod.

"Yes. That should be just about all personnel on the Ikaruga." Tamaki said with a smirk.

A grave look then formed on the Commander's face. "Good." Ohgi simply said as he then pressed a button that shut all the pods, leaving him outside them.

"Ohgi what the heck are you doing?!" Tamaki called as he came up to the door and banged on the window.

Ohgi looked down. "There is no autopilot to the Ikaruga. It needs to be brought in manually." Ohgi confessed.

"But why do you gotta do it?! Can't someone like Diethard do it, he'll die anyway for treason and that stuff right?" Tamaki tried to convince him but Ohgi wouldn't budge.

"I have to make this right Tamaki," Ohgi said his tone grave. "I did this. If I never doubted Lelouch, if I never doubted Zero, none of this would have happened. I have to make up for this, even if that's with my life."

"Ohgi-" Tamaki began but Ohgi held his hand up to stop him from speaking anymore.

"Please, don't try to stop me," Ohgi said with a sad smile on his face. "Just promise me one thing: Please let Kallen and Viletta know I love them and my child. And Tamaki, please take care of my kid the best you can. Please."

The usual hot head of the Black Knights was shocked into silence as he looked at the man in shock. He was trusting his child to Tamaki, of all people, to look after. He wanted to say no, to say for Ohgi to be the one to raise his kid, but how could he deny the last request of a friend.

"I promise." Tamaki said, the tears threatening to spill out as he and the rest of the Black Knights gave a sharp solute that Ohgi gladly returned.

"Long live Japan!" Ohgi cheered.

"Long live Japan!" The rest of the Knights responded. They held their solutes as Ohgi went to the controls and was about to release them when he took one last long look at all of them.

"Gentlemen, it's been an honor." He said with a smile.

"You as well Commander." They all returned.

Ohgi then pressed the button and watched all of them drop from the ship and fall to the earth below, the pods activating parachutes to slow the descent. He took a deep breath and his eyes flared with a blazing determination. "No turning back now." He said to himself as he made his way back to the bridge to finish this once and for all.

"Your crazy Schneizel! And so is your logic!" Lelouch declared as he flew the Strike Freedom around more beams and blocked what he could with his shields as he returned fire with his beam rifle, destroying another Knightmare that attempted to get the jump on him.

"That's how people think. And you know it, Lelouch!" Schneizel argued.

"No way!" Lelouch bit back as he then brought up the Strike Freedom's remaining ranged weapons: a single beam rifle, the railguns on its hips, and the beam cannon in its abdomen. He then fired in full burst toward the Legend. While the black Gundam was able to dodge the attack, the beams were still able to destroy a DRAGOON, leaving Schneizel with only three more. "Your wrong! People aren't like that at all!"

The Strike Freedom flew higher up to avoid more blast as the Legend took aim and fired with it's DRAGOONs and beam rifle. Schneizel scoffed at Lelouch's words. "How are they not like that?! What's your proof brother?!" Schneizel asked.

Lelouch's Geass filled eyes widened in shock, he then narrowed them as he gritted his teeth in anger.

"This is a world filled with hatred! Where fingers have no other function but to pull triggers!" Schneizel continued as he fired a beam that was able to nick the right knee of the Strike Freedom. Lelouch grunted as the knee and everything below exploded, and he pulled the Strike Freedom up.

"What do you believe in?! And why do you?!" Schneizel asked as he fired his rifle and DRAGOONs at the Strike Freedom. Lelouch was able to bring up the beam shield on the left arm in time to block the shot. However, the shield had been through too much and shorted out. But Lelouch paid no mind to it as he charged the Legend.

"I believe that people seek the future, a future with a better world. But you… You don't understand anything else other than your own blasted logic!" Lelouch argued as he pulled out a beam saber in the Gundam's left hand. He then swung it viciously at the Legend, only for it to activate its beam shield to block the attack. Both Gundams struggled to win out the lock.

"Of course! After all, people can only understand what they've experienced!" Schneizel bit back with a crazed smile as he was able to push the Strike Freedom back and fire his DRAGOONs, forcing the Gundam to evade as best it could.

As he subconsciously dodged the incoming beams, Lelouch's mind flashed back to multiple different phrases and voices overlapping in his head, some his own.

"Any results gain through contemptible means are worthless."

"I wish the world was a gentler place."

"Snap out of it Lelouch!"

"This is a world of lies!"

"Lelouch you ungrateful child!"

"Over my dead body!"

"You're a sinner!"

"When someone wins the fighting will end."

Lelouch gritted his teeth as he was brought out of his mind and back into the battle. He dodged and flew around the DRAGOONs beams as Schneizel began another monologue.

"Why torment yourself by saying "Someday"? How long have you been fighting with your thoughts cloud by that sweet poison known as revenge?" Schneizel asked in a mocking tone as tragedy after tragedy flew through Lelouch's mind.

Ohgi had everything ready. The shields were directed toward the bow at maximum power, the engines were ready for maximum thrust, and his path toward the Damocles was clear. All that was left to do was throw the switch.

As he was about to do so, he hesitated slightly. Did he really have to do this, a voice in the back of his head kept asking? But as he looked outside toward the battle between the Strike Freedom and Legend, he got his answer. Yes, he had to. To save the future, and redeem himself.

So with one final moment to take a deep breath, he pushed the lever forward and the engines roared at maximum power as he charged toward the Damocles!

"General Leila, the Ikaruga is charging toward the Damocles, it looks as if it's attempting to ram it. How should we proceed?"

Leila looked toward the Ikaruga, a suicide run, she couldn't do anything to stop one that a soldier carried out of his own will, the best she could do was make sure it wasn't in vain. "Give the flagship some covering fire, make sure no Knightmare or other float ship stops its assault."

(Birth of Secretion - Gundam Seed Soundtrack III ends)

Bringing their fight toward the Damocles, the Strike Freedom sliced a DRAGOON in half with its beam saber, before turning around and using the rail guns to stop an assault on an incoming enemy Knightmare by destroying it. It then flew upward to avoid more beams from the Legend.

Inside the cockpit of the black Gundam, Schneizel could help but laugh like a maniac. The action surprised Lelouch. Why was Schneizel acting as he won already? "No matter what happens next between us, I've won!" Schneizel declared. "When the Damocles reach 300 kilometers, the backup F.L.E.I.J.A. cannon will fire at all the major cities of the world!"

Lelouch was shocked still at Schneizel's revelation, but that also fueled the fire burning in him to finally take Schneizel down for good. The two Gundams crossed their beam weapons and circled one another.

"There's no way the process can be stopped, Earth will burn!" Schneizel declared in a triumphant smirk. "Leaving this world to finally be brought to peace under the fear of the mighty Damocles, and the Gundams!"

"It can't…" Lelouch muttered in disbelief.

The beams that were firing at the Ikaruga from the Damocles were just piling on and the shield took as much as it could, but it couldn't stop all of them. The ship was being torn apart.

"Come on! Come on! Just stay together! Just a little longer! Just a little bit more!" Ohgi begged as he held on tight to the railings and struggled to maintain the course. Sweat was falling down his brow as the ceiling was coming down all around him. But he wouldn't waver, not now, not anymore.

(Countdown - Gundam Seed Soundtrack III)

Lelouch gasped as the Legend came upon him with all it had, Schneizel smiling crazed and declaring, "This will be a day of reckoning for everyone!"

The last two remaining DRAGOONs fired and were able to destroy the railguns on the Strike Freedom's hips. "I won't allow it!" Lelouch declared as he fired with his beam rifle, the hit struck home as it blasted off the Legend's left arm, the shockwave of the explosion sending it back.

"This is the destiny of mankind! They lead us to this point!" Schneizel declared.

The Ikaruga was upon the Damocles, having been directed at it's firing chamber where the backup F.L.E.I.J.A. cannon was stored. Ohgi knew if he made contact, he could ignite the F.L.E.I.J.A. and create an explosion big enough to destroy the Damocles.

But Ohgi knew if he was to do that, then he would never see his child grow up along with Viletta. But for them and the rest of his friends and comrades to live in a world free from tyranny, he had to do this to protect them.

The Strike Freedom fired off another beam as it flew upward that destroyed the last Knightmare that was getting in the way of his and Schneizel's battle.

"You even helped bring this about brother! You introducing the Gundams to the world showed mankind the power that one posses!" Schneizel accused as he brought his beam rifle up and fired. The beam hit the Strike Freedom in its right arm, where it was currently holding its last beam rifle, causing both to explode.

"So what?!" Lelouch asked as he then brought his left hand, holding a beam saber, to his left hip, where another was stored. The two beam sabers connected and he ignited the two ends into a double blade beam saber and charged Schneizel.

As he reached the point of no return, Ohgi thought back throughout his life, the choices and mistakes he made that lead him here. The regrets and joys he had over the course of his life. All of it leading to this very moment.

"This world is still worth protecting!" Lelouch shouted in the declaration as he continued to charge the Legend, the Strike Freedom enveloped in a gold glowy outline. Schneizel backed up as far and as fast as he could as he continued to fire beam after beam toward the approaching Gundam, but the Strike Freedom didn't slow down, it just kept charging despite the danger.

Schneizel braced himself as his brother's Gundam came upon him as Lelouch screamed in righteous fury as it slashed upward with its double-edged beam saber, slicing off the remaining arm of the Legend. The black Gundam retreated, but the Strike Freedom didn't slow down in its pursuit as it just blasted off after it.

In a last-ditch effort, Schneizel fired non-stop with his last two DRAGOONs in an attempt to stop Lelouch or get him to slow down. Lelouch didn't do either as the Strike Freedom just kept pushing forward despite the beams blowing off its head and destroying one of the vents located in its chest. Lelouch just screamed in fury as he came upon his brother.

Raising the combined weapon, he thrust the double-edged beam saber through the Legend's cockpit, straight through Schneizel! The Legend flickered a moment before the lights went out, signifying its death. Lelouch gritted his teeth as he refused to move from his spot, not just yet.

(Countdown - Gundam Seed Soundtrack III ends)

The Damocles had just reached 300 kilometers and it's back up warhead cannon was about to fire off F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads toward all the major cities. Not today however as the Ikaruga was upon the cannon section of the flying fortress.

Before he took the last step, Ohgi left out a sigh of relief. He prayed this made up for the mistakes he made. Both to Lelouch and Naoto's memory.

"To the future." He said as he pushed the lever forward and let the Ikaruga crash into the Damocles firing chamber.

The fires of the crash met with the F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads and formed a chain reaction that resulted in an explosion of multiple F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads all at once and consumed both the Damocles and the Ikaruga in its pink orb.

Lelouch saw the explosion coming. He let go of the beam weapon, leaving it and the Legend to be absorbed in the expanding orb.

He pushed his Gundam to the limit to get out of range. But the orb was growing too fast and while he seemed to be clear of being caught up in it, the sheer power of it was able to blow multiple parts off the Strike Freedom, as well as destroy the VPS armor, leaving it a grey husk as the Damocles erupted in a tremendous explosion.

BOOM!

"LELOUCH!" Kallen cried out his name as she saw the Damocles go up in flames knowing that was where Lelouch was when he was fighting Schneizel. She just prayed he made it out of there in time.

Suzaku too hoped that Lelouch made it. After all, how was he supposed to keep his promise to Nunnally if the subject of that promise was no more?

As the explosion began to die down, Leila had ordered a scan to be done to find the Strike Freedom, so far, no luck. She began to fear the worst when an officer spoke up.

"Look there!" Leila looked where he was pointing and saw the Strike Freedom, or what was left of it, a grey broke down the damaged machine, fall to the ocean. Leila's fear only grew when she saw this. From that height and that speed, and damage of a machine, the pilot would be dead.

She was about to order Knightmares to catch the Gundam when another machine, a red Knightmare by the look of it, sped past her float ship and caught the Gundam before it collided with the water and held it in a bridal carry.

The sudden jolt he felt in the cockpit signified two things. One: He was able to feel such things like a jolt, so he's still alive. Two: Something had stopped his descent into the ocean. So he was saved, but by who?

"Whoa hey there youngster!" A familiar voice called to him. It took a moment for Lelouch to recognize the voice, but his tone4 and the word 'youngster' gave him enough clues.

"Mr. Waltfeld?" Lelouch muttered.

"Ding ding ding! You guess right! Give the man a prize!" Waltfeld said in a cheerful voice. "Old man Ruben sent me up here in case anything drastic happened. Kinda like his star pilot falling at terminal velocity after an explosion that makes nukes look like a kid's firecracker."

Lelouch would have laughed. But at the moment, he was either too tired or too much in pain to make a comment, or do anything.

All he wanted to do right now is sleep. And sleep forever.

As he turned his head, he happened to gaze out at the setting sun on the horizon.

He then just realized that he never knew how beautiful a sunset could be. He'd have to invite Kallen out so they could watch it together. Would she be into that kind of thing though?

As Lelouch continued to watch the sunset, he couldn't help but think what if it had some underlying meaning to it. Like now that he had completed one journey, a new one was about to begin, just as the sun would rise again after it went down.

But that was for tomorrow. Today, all he wanted to do was rest. Rest for a very long time.

And so, as if he was dying, he closed his eyes and welcomed the darkness.

A/N: Merry Christmas! Or whatever you celebrate this time of year!

I decided my Christmas present to you would be this chapter posted today! I know that I left you all hanging with that cliffhanger. Ha, word pun! So to make up for it, I worked on this chapter for most of the day, while on vacation from school. Hope this makes y'all happy.

Now I know some of you were shocked by my action to kill Nunnally, but I had to do it. I needed someone's death that could send Lelouch into ultimate Seed mode, like how Flay's death did so with Kira, or as I call it, the Geass of Absolute Berserker. Since Seed mode is like becoming a Berserker, I figured it would make an awesome name for the fully evolved version of Absolute Coordination. That was one of my original names for the Geass Lelouch was gonna have, but Berserker made it sound sloppy and savage, which wasn't what Lelouch's Geass did to him, at least not at first. But since with the death of Nunnally, I figured that he should have a name that signified the level of power and savagery of a berserker so he could take Schneizel down. Also, it sounded cool and goes along with the chapter title.

Speaking of the fight between those two, I used elements from both the Freedom and Providence's fight and the Strike Freedom and Legend's fight, mostly the former, with my own twists thrown in there, like how I made the DRAGOONs into Knightmares in the second part of their fight. I did that because I never realized how many DRAGOONs the Providence and Legend had, so I used Knightmares to be in place of the ones I already had destroyed. I hope I did a good job with that fight.

Speaking of the fights. I know I made Schneizel seem like a totally OP out there fighting everyone else, especially when going against Kallen and Suzaku, but there are good reasons for that. Since Nunnally's death hit those two the hardest besides Lelouch, it made them blind and attack in a way that made them easy for Schneizel to predict and use them against each other. Also, he knows how the Britannian forces fight so the knights of the Round stood no chance against him and he has a too advanced machine to lose to Knightmares, no matter how much skill the pilot of the Knightmare has.

And there, Ohgi is dead, just not in the way some of you may have hoped. I needed to have a way for the Damocles to be destroyed, and having the Ikaruga crash into it was the best idea I could think of that involved Ohgi dying. Even though it was a heroic sacrifice.

I got one more chapter, my epilogue chapter. And it will include elements from Lelouch of the Resurrection, even though I didn't like the movie all that much.

Also, last note, the Knightmare Waltfeld was in was like a Knightmare version of his Mobile Suit from Gundam Seed Destiny.

P.S. I also have profile information up in my profile. It mostly just shares some story ideas I have and who I'll pair characters within any fanfics I do, also what I will never write about in my stories.

Tune in, I'll see if I can post my last chapter before the year ends. But don't hold your breaths. I was exhausted getting this one posted.

I'll give you all a little peek as to what I'm gonna include next chapter. though warning, there could be some spoilers.

GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam

The first Gundams created and developed by the Zilkhstan Kingdom using blueprints and leftover FL.E.I.J.A. Reactos stolen from the former Holy Britannian Empire that stole them from the Asford Foundation. The Destroy Gundams were a secret project that was put in place by the Zilkhstan royalty to build powerful machines to surpass that of the original Gundams. The Zilkhstans spent the last 10 years and most of their nation's wealth into building these machines in the hope of starting mass conflict to revitalize their nation after peace was created. It was built for mass destruction and has a transformation mode. But despite the massive size, it only requires one pilot.

Design

Classification: Limited Production Transformable Heavy Assult Mech

Height: 21 meters

Weight: 43 tons

Power Source: 2 x F.L.E.I.J.A. Reactor

Operating System: Generation Unsubdued Nuclear-Sakuradite Drive Assult Mode Complex

Crew: Pilot only (in the cockpit in torso)

Armaments

"Aufprall Dreizehn" High-energy Beam Cannon (Beam Cannons): A pair of twin-barrel beam cannons mounted on the Destroy's backpack, they are the suit's most destructive weaponry and also have the longest attack range. They are capable of destroying anything in their path, but can only be used in MA mode.

"Zorn Mk2" 200mm Energy Cannon (Energy Cannon): Mounted on the mouth section of the Destroy's head. This high output beam cannon can be used in conjunction with the chest-mounted Super Scylla cannons for serious destruction. Usable in MS mode only.

"Nefertem 503" Thermal Plasma Composite Cannon (Plasma Cannon): A set of 20 beam cannons set in the circumference of the Destroy's backpack, they are capable of continuous fire for limited amounts of time and can adjust their shooting angle by rotating its barrels while being fired. Usable in both MA and MS mode.

"Igelstellung" 75mm Automatic multi-barrel CIWS (CIWS): The Destroy Gundam has four "Igelstellung" CIWS mounted in its head, these rapid-fire weapons are usable only in MS mode and are normally used to shoot down missiles, weakly armored targets, or stop enemy units from closing in. However, the Destroy rarely used them, as most enemy units would have been destroyed by the suit's array of weaponry before they can get too close.

"Super Scylla" 1580mm Multi-phase Energy Cannon (Multi-phase Cannon): Three of these cannons are mounted on the chest of the Destroy and are usable only in MS form. They can deal serious damage against most targets and can be fired in conjunction with the "Zorn Mk 2" energy beam cannon for maximum effect.

"Sturm Faust" Detachable Arm Beam Cannon (Arm Beam Cannon): The forearms of the Destroy Gundam can detach and serve as wireless remote controlled weaponry like the DRAGOON Pods. They can be deployed in both MA and MS mode and can operate in the Earth atmosphere, unlike most other types of remotely operated weapons. The large section covering the hand contains a single beam cannon and a positron reflector for defense, while the hands each contain a five-barrel beam gun. It is also deployed to engage fast-moving targets since Destroy's sheer size and weight result in the unit's poor mobility.

MJ-1703 5-barrel Split Beam Gun (Split Beam Gun): Mounted in the hands of the "Sturm Faust" detachable arm beam cannons, the beam guns' multiple barrels masquerade as the Destroy's fingers. The beam guns are used for multi-directional attacks.

Mark 62 6-tube Multipurpose Missile Launcher (Missile Launcher): Four missile launchers (with two facing the front and the rear) are mounted on the top of the backpack, they are primarily used for mobile unit interception and pure offensive barrage.

"Schneidschutz" SX1021 Positron Reflector Shield (Reflector Shield): Three such devices are mounted on the Destroy, one on each Sturm Faust detachable arm, and one on the backpack, and they protect the suit from almost every form of ranged weaponry. The positron reflector shields are generated by the green-colored emitter in each location, and the arm-mounted shields are usable in both MA and MS mode, while the back-mounted shield is usable only in MA mode.

Special Systems and Features

F.L.E.I.J.A. Reactor Engine (2x): Unlike its predecessors, the Destroy Gundam is modified to hold two F.L.E.J.A. Reactors. This is most likely due to its size and power outage it uses to keep functional.

Operating System: The Destroy Gundams uses the Generation Unsubdued Nuclear-Sakuradite Drive Assult Mode Complex as the operating system.