A twenty page chapter, a lot of character development for Rayne in this chapter—so sorry about that but her part in this chapter kind of got away from me—and the final part of the Battle of Sapporo. Yay!

Bakura: did you have to shout?

Shut up, Bakura. Plus, this is my first update in May! Funny that I'm updating a Code Geass on unofficial Star Wars day but ah well. Anyway, thank you to Rc1212, DYnoJackal19, barksdale2468, B-Kira, Shadow-Shinobi666, DarthMaine, TC9078, Mr. Q, Doommajor, Scarease, YDdraigGoch94, Adamantium-Soldier74, and OBSERVER01 for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome!

Bakura: STOP SHOUTING, FOOLISH MORTAL!

You're the one that's shouting now. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

. . .

. . .

August 1, 2004

Frost Manor, Pendragon

Five-year-old Rayne wandered around the gardens of the manor, not really sure what she was doing. She was bored and she had no idea where her brother was. Then again, she didn't know where any of her siblings or her parents were. She wanted to play with someone but she didn't know who to play with.

There were a lot of red and orange leaves littering the garden from the trees and Rayne noticed that they were being raked into two large piles by the gardeners. She also then noticed that she wasn't alone in the gardens; the tall, dark-blue haired form of her thirteen-year-old sister Gretchen was seated cross-legged on the ground near one of the piles, reading through a book.

She grinned. Maybe Gretchen will play with me, she thought and jogged over to join he sister. "Gretchen," she called in that whiny tone that always got on her brother Matthias's nerves.

Gretchen looked up. "Rayne, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm bored. Come play with me," Rayne said firmly.

"I'm busy, Rayne, perhaps another time," Gretchen said.

"But you're always busy," Rayne whined in protest. "Can't you take a break or something? We can go jumping in leaves! That's fun!"

"Rayne, I have work to do," Gretchen said firmly and returned her attention to her book.

"You're no fun! All you do is read, read, read," Rayne complained and then a brilliant, to her, idea came to her. She grabbed the book and yanked it out of Gretchen's hands and then waved it in front of her.

"You gotta catch me if you want it back," she said and, with a laugh, she darted away.

"Give me back my book, you little brat," Gretchen shouted, jumping to her feet and chasing after Rayne but the little girl just laughed as she ran around the garden, always attempting to stay at least a few feet in front of Gretchen.

When she reached one of the big piles of leaves, though, she tripped and went, with a yelp, flailing backwards into the big pile of leaves, Gretchen's book that she hadn't realized she'd let go of, landing beside her.

Gretchen reached down and picked up the book, rolling her eyes at Rayne as she sat up, pouting with leaves sticking out of her hair. "You look like you got into a fight with a tree and lost," she said.

Rayne blinked at her in confusion. "Why would I fight a tree? What did the tree ever do to me?" she asked in bewilderment.

Gretchen let out a soft laugh, the first one that Rayne had heard in a long time, and flopped onto the pile of leaves next to Rayne. "I suppose I can finish reading here. It's not that uncomfortable," she said. She picked up a handle of leaves and plopped them on Rayne's head as she laid back.

"Hey," Rayne whined but Gretchen just laughed again before returning her attention to her book.

. . .

26

The End of the Storm

July 22, 2016

South of the Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office, Sapporo

Lelouch gritted his teeth as he felt a barrage of bullets slam into his knightmare's arm though, thankfully, it wasn't enough to make it unable to function. He was being pushed back toward the ward office by the current Lupus that he was fighting and, at the moment, all of his men were focused on their own fights. He pressed his lips together as he dodged out of the way of the next barrage of bullets and fired a Slash Harken at one of the assault rifles, only for the Lupus to quickly glide out of the way and continue peppering him with bullets.

As he danced out of the way of the bullets, Lelouch glanced at his tactical screen, noticing that, while a few dog fights had erupted beyond the perimeter that the second half of his regiment had created, the Liberators were still boxed in. Good. Now I just need them to keep those Liberators in place. The Lupus seems to work better if it has space to maneuver. If I can cut off that space, I could give an advantage to the regiment, he thought.

Suddenly, a resounding boom sounded and Lelouch whirled around, swearing when he saw the entire east wing of the ward office collapse, causing the ground to tremble violently and throwing the foot soldiers, enemy and ally alike, off their feet. He quickly connected with Lila in the ward office.

"Lieutenant Moore? Are you and everyone in there all right?" he asked since he'd tasked Lila and Tadashi with keeping Ried and his cameraman safe, as everyone else was fighting in the battle. Plus, he knew that if he could get them to a good enough vantage point, and they were able to get a clear shot, they would be able to take out the Liberators who were using the missile and grenade launchers. With the destruction of the ward office though, he did feel a brief pang of worry for his friend.

A cough sounded, then Lila's voice sounded. "We're all right...mostly. Tadashi and I nearly fell to the floor below but Ried caught us," she said.

"Good. What happened?" Leouch asked, catching sight of the Lupus he was fighting attempting to use his distraction to slice through the lance-wielding arm but he quickly jerked backwards to avoid it.

"A knightmare crashed into the first floor and was then hit with two missiles that took out the support," Lila explained.

Lelouch nodded, inwardly relieved that his friends were all right. "Can you find a good view of the northern flank? I may need you and Private Akiyama to use your sniping skills on the ones with the missile and grenade launchers," he said as he, again, dodged out of the way of the Lupus's claws.

"The stairs weren't damaged. We could get to the roof and snipe from up there, Your Highness," Lila said.

"Do that. Focus on the northern flank for now. I will be sending some squads to help," Lelouch said, swiftly firing his Slash Harkens at his enemy's side but it jumped out of the way.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Disconnecting the transmission, Lelouch connected to the regiment-wide channel.

"This is Prince Lelouch. Keep the Liberators pinned and close in ranks on either side of them. Do not give them room to maneuver. Squad 7 and 8, you are needed on the northern flank. Be wary of missiles and grenades," he ordered as he dodged to the side and then speared the Lupus he was fighting through the side with his jousting lance. Jumping back, he fired both of his Slash Harkens. The Lupus slashed at the first one, forcing Lelouch to retract it immediately, but the second one hit its target, taking out the second assault rifle.

"Yes, Your Highness," he heard through the channel and watched as the parallel lines of the Black Knights, the first half from the guerrilla attacks the day before and the second half, who were hidden for the primary purpose of making the Liberators believe Lelouch was only fighting with half his strength, closed in.

"Now attack. Use their lack of maneuverability to your advantage," Lelouch ordered as he jumped back to avoid another barrage of bullets and shot forward, slamming his jousting lance into the Lupus's factsphere and also pushing it back a few feet, leading to the pilot ejecting.

As he moved back, he quickly scanned the area. He heard a series of booms to the east and turned his knightmare to find that a few buildings were collapsing or up in flames, most likely struck by missiles. The squads with those missiles and grenades are going to pose a problem, he thought, though he knew that squads seven and eight were already ordered to take care of those squads.

They were obviously having some trouble with that though but he'd check on them as soon as he unleashed his 'secret weapon' as Lloyd had taken to calling it.

He keyed on the channel connecting him to the A.S.E.E.C.'s base. "Warrant Officer, are you ready to launch?" he asked.

"Yes, Your Highness, I'm ready," Suzaku said.

"Good. You are free to launch," Lelouch ordered and his lips quirked a little when he heard a loud whoop of happiness sound in the background followed by a groan of exasperation.

"Yes, Your Highness," Suzaku said firmly and Lelouch disconnected the transmission as he looked at his display for another enemy.

. . .

East of the Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office, Sapporo

Adeline gritted her teeth as she dodged out of the way of a Slash Harken that was fired at her before she triggered her assault rifles, firing at the enemy. The enemy was forced to retreat a bit but it then darted forward and attempted to spear her through but she dodged out of the way nimbly.

She smiled to herself. "I do love these. They aren't as good as the Starfire but they are fun. It will be nice when I can pilot the Starfire in battle. I hope Alexei gets it ready to fight soon," she murmured to herself and, again, dodged out of the way of the Sutherland's jousting lance.

It wasn't that she enjoyed fighting. She just enjoyed piloting and the Lupus acted like a wolf when it fought under her control and it was proving to be deadly to the opponent. Of course, she wasn't actively trying to kill the enemy; she was just trying to force them to eject. She wasn't bloodthirsty and she definitely didn't enjoy killing people; she wasn't Nightfall.

Some enemies, unfortunately, hadn't been able to eject in time before the damage caused their knightmare to explode. And, while she did feel guilty about that, she pushed it aside because she knew that, in war, people died. Just because she'd never fought in an actual battle before didn't mean that she didn't know what happened in a battle. She wasn't that ignorant.

A Sutherland shot toward her, firing both of their Slash Harkens at her shoulders but she quickly retracted her assault rifles as she darted to the side, slashing at one of the Slash Harkens with her Claw. The Slash Harken was retracted before she could connect but she retaliate by revealing her assault rifles again and firing at the Sutherland. The Sutherland, for being as bulky as it was, was nimble and managed to avoid it.

Her earpiece chimed, indicating that she was being contacted and, with one hand, she turned it on. "Kinda busy now, what?" she asked as she dodged out of the way to avoid a barrage of bullets from the Sutherland she was fighting.

"Just checking up on you, Adeline," Petal's voice said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, Petal," Adeline said as she fired back a barrage of bullets and then darted forward as the Sutherland moved out of the way. She slashed toward the Sutherland with one of her Claws, succeeding in slashing a gash into the Sutherland's leg and she then sank her other Claw into the gash and ripped it out. She jumped backwards as the Sutherland toppled over, crashing into the ground as the cockpit shot away from it like a bullet.

"Good. You seem to be handling your own but be careful. We do have those new enemies that appeared out of the blue to deal with," Petal said.

"Do we have any idea where those even came from?"

"Reyes thinks that they either had their IFF Transponders disabled or their knightmares were off so we didn't pick up their transponder's signals, which was a rather ingenious way of ensuring that we wouldn't know that we weren't facing the prince's full force," Petal said. "He really is a good strategist. I can see why Unity wants him alive."

Adeline frowned. "But Nightfall said that he's going to go kill the prince," she said.

"Michal told all of us that he wants us to try to get to the prince before Nightfall does," Petal said. "That is why I want you to start heading for the south flank. Reyes said that was where he last saw the prince."

"How could he even tell which one was the prince's? These knightmares all look the same," Adeline said bewildered.

"The prince's stands out," Petal said. "Just look at where he's positioned. He has a good view of the entire battle field due to his location at the heart of the conflict and, thus, he can give orders more easily since he's aware of what is happening."

"Oh. Yeah, that does make sense. All right,"—Adeline broke off as she jerked her Lupus out of the way to avoid the Slash Harken that suddenly flew at her—"I'll head out as soon as I take care of this guy."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

. . .

South of the Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office, Sapporo

Nightfall had been pushed to the south of the Ward Office but he didn't care. As he took out another knightmare, grinning at the explosion, he looked around for another enemy to take out when his eyes landed on a knightmare that was positioned almost at the heart of the entire conflict. It was currently fighting another Lupus but he could see that it was already battered, covered in scorch marks from flames as well as scars from bullets and gashes from Diamond-tipped Claws. He licked his lips, his eyes alit with satisfaction when he realized that he was absolutely positive of who the pilot of that knightmare was.

After all, any commander would be at the heart of the conflict simply because it would give him a better view of the entire conflict.

At least, that was what he thought.

Hmm, I'll wait until he beats that enemy. Hopefully that Lupus won't beat 'im 'cause I want my shot, he thought with a cool smirk before he launched himself at another Sutherland that was fighting nearby. He kept one eye on the commander's knightmare even as he tackled the Sutherland down and tore through it, slashing off parts of the knightmare and riddling it face and factsphere with bullets from his assault rifles. Stabbing his Claw into the chest of the Sutherland as deep as it could go, he cut through the casing around the Yggdrasil Drive and then dove his second Claw into the gash before jumping back as the Sutherland exploded.

. . .

Roof, Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office

Lila and Tadashi made their way onto the roof of the ward office and took up a position by the wall and looked out over the northern flank. It was still holding its own against the Lupus it was fighting against but Lila could see some on the ground in pieces and burnt from the missiles or grenades that hit them. She bit her lip but pushed the thought aside as she focused on the situation at hand.

She set up her sniper rifle and, peering through the scope, began to look for those that were carrying or using the missile and grenade launchers. "Looks like there are about six of them," she said, turning to Tadashi who had set up his sniper rifle a few meters away.

"Yeah, I see 'em," Tadashi said, peering through his own scope. "Can't see 'em that well right now but I think I can hit two of 'em but the third one's kinda hidden by two fighting knightmares and you'd have a better chance at hitting the other three."

Lila nodded. "Okay. I'll see what I can do," she said and peered through her scope again, turning her sniper rifle so that she could focus on the four that Tadashi couldn't reach. "I've got the fourth one in sight too."

"Great."

Lila took a deep breath and slowly released it as she relaxed and focused, concentrating on one of her targets. She focused the scope on them and took another deep breath before slowly releasing it as she pulled the trigger. Due to the silencer attached to the rifle, no noise was made as the bullet sailed across the air and slammed into the head of target, causing him to topple off the truck and drop his missile launcher.

She quickly turned her rifle to the second target and repeated the process, pulling the trigger as she released her breath, taking out the second one. The third one fell quickly after that while the fourth one was a bit trickier due to the two knightmares battling in front of it.

The fourth one suddenly fired a missile straight at the Sutherland, crashing into its chest as the Lupus leapt out of the way. The resulting explosion sent flaming debris flying in all directions, crashing into windows and walls of buildings. However, the fall of that Sutherland gave Lila the perfect opportunity and she took it, firing a single bullet that shot across the air and hit the fourth soldier between the eyes.

She turned her scope to look for the other two, only to find that they were already taken out. She turned to Tadashi, about to offer her congrats, but found that he was rather pale as he placed the rifle down, his hands shaking.

"Tadashi? Is everything all right?" she asked concerned as she put the rifle down. A goofball and a flirt though he was, he still had become Lila's friend and it was obvious something had happened that troubled him.

"One of those...he was just a kid," Tadashi whispered, turning to Lila and she saw tears in his eyes. "He...He looked around our age. I...I almost didn't take the shot when I noticed that." He closed his eyes, clearly trying to calm himself down as he sank to the ground beside his rifle.

She moved to his side and placed a hand on his arm. "You did what you had to do, Tadashi," she said gently.

"I definitely didn't like it though. He was just a kid! Why did I have to do that?"

"Soldiers have to obey orders," Lila said.

"Even if those orders go against their conscious?"

Lila bit her lip because Tadashi did have a point. How many soldiers out there were forced to kill someone, even if it went against their conscious? But then, she realized, that one couldn't really be a soldier if one couldn't pull the trigger and kill someone who was trying to kill them.

"He would have killed you had you not killed him," she pointed out.

"I...I know but..." Tadashi sighed and shook his head. "No, you're right. That doesn't mean that I have to like it but...I'm a soldier and I know that's what soldiers do." He opened his eyes and turned to pick up his sniper rifle but not before Lila saw the distress in his eyes.

For a long moment, they were both silent, then: "Lila, can I ask you something?" Tadashi asked finally.

"What is it?"

"Do you feel guilty after killing someone?"

Lila thought about it and realized that, in a way, she kind of did. When she'd killed that assassin that had tried to kill Lelouch, she had to fight down her revulsion when she pulled the trigger. It had all happened so fast though, so she hadn't really thought about it, but, afterwards, she did feel a bit guilty. She understood that it was necessary, just as killing these people was necessary, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty.

"Yeah, I do," she admitted. "Even though I know it's necessary, I still feel guilty." She rested her back against the wall and sighed, drawing her sniper rifle onto her lap. "Maybe this is one reason why Mother wasn't happy with me being in the military, even if she said it was because she didn't want me to get killed."

She was starting to wonder if she'd made the right choice in going behind her parents' backs to join the military, no matter how interested she was in how the military works.

"I only joined because of my mom," Tadashi said. "Because I wanted to avenge her. She was killed by terrorists and I just...I suppose it doesn't help that we're in Sapporo. I've been trying hard not to think about that fact, that we're actually not that far away from where my mother was killed but..." He trailed off and his eyes filled with tears but he hastily wiped them away before they could fall.

Lila bit her lip. She honestly didn't know how to comfort someone, not that well anyway. Due to how coddled she'd been, she never really had any friends growing up nor did she ever really spend time with anyone other than her parents or her bodyguards. She decided to just go with her instinct and gently put an arm around Tadashi's shoulders.

The burnt-orange-haired young man looked at her in surprise.

She blushed in embarrassment. "Ah, I just...well, you looked like...erm...well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!" She blurted out defensively, her lips curving into a pout, which surprised her. She has never acted like this before.

Then she felt Tadashi's shoulders shaking. For a moment, she thought he was crying but it took only a moment for her to realize that he was laughing, laughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes.

"What's so funny?" she protested.

Tadashi's laughter died down into snickers and he gave her a bright smile, the distress in his dark-gray eyes had dimmed and mingled with faint amusement. "You're pouting," he said in between his snickers. "I've never seen you pout before. It's so adorable."

Lila's cheeks went even redder. "S...Shut up!" She exclaimed, removing her arm from around his shoulders and smacking one.

Tadashi snickered for a bit longer before he sobered and gave her a smile. "Thanks, Lila," he said. "I needed that. And...thanks for listening to me too."

Lila blinked as the blush died, finding herself unable to take her eyes away from Tadashi's before she flushed again and quickly looked away. "Yeah, no problem. Now can we get back to work before someone notices we're slacking off?" she demanded while attempting to quench the blush that dotted her cheeks.

Tadashi chuckled. "What work? We did our work already," he said.

Lila huffed, rolling her eyes. "You know that was not what I meant," she said.

. . .

South of the Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office, Sapporo

Suzaku had originally been in the Toyohira Ghetto, to the east, but, after having to get around a series of dog fights as well as craters in the streets and buildings that looked like they were about to collapse—too weak to handle the weight of a knightmare using them to swing around the dogfights. Suzaku wondered just what happened to them—he ended up south of the battle. At the very least, he had a clear shot to the line of Sutherlands and Lupus knightmare frames.

He glided rapidly down the street, heading toward the lines of battles. The Liberators were pinned between two lines of knightmares but were fighting hard to break through the line. Unfortunately, as was evident by what was happening to the east, the line had already been broken through. Once he neared the line, he fired his Slash Harkens into a stable-looking building and, using that, swung over the line of Sutherlands to crash into a Lupus that hadn't gotten out of the way in time.

Jumping off it, he fired his Slash Harkens at it, sinking them into the shoulders and destroying the assault rifles. The canine-like knightmare turned but, before it could attack Suzaku as he landed behind it, it was assaulted by a barrage of bullets from two Sutherlands near it. Another Sutherland shot forward and stabbed it with its jousting lancing but Suzaku didn't stay to see what happened next.

He launched himself at the next enemy, landing a spinkick into the Lupus's face and then taken out its assault rifles with his Slash Harkens. The canine-like knightmare slashed out at him with its Claws, the ones that Lelouch had said could cut through metal, and Suzaku jumped back. He reached for his sides and removed the Maser Vibration Swords, holding one in each hand as they activated, shimmering red.

Well, let's see if they work, Suzaku thought and launched himself at the Lupus. Dodging swiftly to the side to avoid another slash, he brought the first Maser Vibration Sword up and caught the metal-cutting claw on it. They were at a stalemate; the Maser Vibration Sword vibrated rapidly against the metal-cutting claw as the claw attempted to cut through the sword. However, the MVS broke the stalemate, slicing through the metal-cutting claw.

So they can work against those metal-cutting claws that Lelouch warned us about? Good to know, Suzaku thought. Jumping back, he shot forward again and slashed downward with his MVSs before the canine-like knightmare could attack with its remaining metal-cutting claw again and severed the canine-like knightmare's front paws at the shoulders, causing it to topple forward. The cockpit ejected before the knightmare completed its fall.

Connecting to the A.S.E.E.C.'s base, Suzaku said, "The MVSs work well. They were even able to cut through the metal-cutting claws that these knightmares use," as he launched himself at another enemy.

"Awesome!" Lloyd cheered.

Suzaku smiled a little at the scientist's enthusiasm but quickly focused on the battle. It was complete chaos around him; pieces of knightmares littered the ground, Lupus knightmare frames were locked in vicious fights with Sutherlands, the Ward Office had taken a pretty bad hit, causing an entire wing to be destroyed, and Suzaku could see that quite a few other buildings had suffered a similar fate. He found himself hoping that there weren't any civilians left in the city; the sweep that was done following the first 'battle' had revealed that the city was devoid of civilians and Suzaku hoped that there weren't some who stayed behind.

Fighting against terrorists or enemy knightmare frames was one thing but innocent civilians getting caught in the crossfire? That was something that Suzaku didn't want to happen, even though he knew that, sometimes, it wouldn't be intentional. At least, when he and his comrades ever ended up in a situation where such a thing was possible, he hoped it wouldn't be intentional.

Yanking himself out of his thoughts when a barrage of bullets nearly slammed into his side, Suzaku dodged out of the way. With a swift slash of both of his MVSs, he severed the assault rifles off the shoulders of the Lupus he'd launched himself at. He then sank both his MVSs into the shoulders of the knightmare and, yanking them out, launched himself at another enemy as the one he'd been fighting ejected.

Just then, his headset buzzed and Lelouch's voice sounded over the channel. "Warrant Officer, I need you to head for the east flank and..." he broke off and Suzaku's eyes widened when he heard a crash on the other line followed by a series of curse words.

"Your Highness, are you all right?" Suzaku asked.

"I'm fine, just got ambushed by an enemy. Head for the east flank. They're getting outnumbered and need some backup. Damn it, he's quick," Lelouch's voice exclaimed and Suzaku winced when he heard another crash. He didn't know what was happening but it was obvious that his friend was in trouble.

"Your Highness, you sound like you need help," Suzaku said.

"I'm fine, Warrant Officer, I can handle this. You have your orders," Lelouch said.

"Yes, Your Highness," Suzaku said but kept the channel open so that he could listen to Lelouch's fight with the enemy that ambushed him. Even if Lelouch really could handle the threat that he was facing, Suzaku was supposed to be Lelouch's Knight of Honor, even if it was unofficial right now; he was supposed to protect and defend his prince. Even if he wasn't an official knight yet, Suzaku would be remiss of his duties if he didn't, at least, make sure his prince was safe.

For now, though, he would follow his orders. It wasn't as if Lelouch couldn't take care of himself. He wasn't the weak, no-stamina boy that Suzaku had met almost seven years ago; even if he still had less stamina than Suzaku, he was still capable and strong enough to handle his own in a fight.

Glancing at his tactical display, Suzaku could see that Lelouch was right. The number of the enemy was greatly outnumbering the number of the soldiers on the east flank. The east flank appeared to have the most breaches in the defensive line that had been formed earlier and the fighting had spread out toward the Clock Tower.

Speeding rapidly around the fighting men and breaking out of the line, Suzaku shot toward the Clock Tower.

. . .

Abandoned Hotel, West of the Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office

Lelouch gritted his teeth as he was thrown into the staircase of the abandoned building that he had just been tackled into. The Lupus that had attacked him while he was speaking to Suzaku had caught him completely off guard, slamming into him before he had a chance to react. The result was him creating a knightmare-sized hole in the wall of the first floor of an abandoned hotel and then getting tackled into the staircase next.

The Lupus that had attacked him had him pinned against the railing but, when he attempted to fire his assault rifles at Lelouch, Lelouch retaliated by firing the Slash Harkens mounted on his knightmare's chest straight at the Lupus. The Lupus was quick to leap off him and, nimbly, landed on all fours on the ground in front of him.

Getting his knightmare to his feet, Lelouch retracted his Slash Harkens and fired them again, aiming at the rifles on the Lupus's shoulders but the canine-like knightmare quickly dodged out of the way while unleashing a barrage of bullets. Quickly gliding to the side to avoid them, Lelouch withdrew his own assault rifle and returned fire, forcing the Lupus to dance around to avoid getting hit by the bullets before it leapt him again.

He gritted his teeth as he quickly dodged out of the way to avoid the Lupus and twisted his knightmare out of range when the Lupus slashed at him. Exchanging his assault rifle for his jousting lance, he launched himself at the Lupus, firing his Slash Harkens at the same time. Both of them missed when the Lupus nimbly danced around them before it was thrown off its feet by the jousting lance Lelouch jabbed into its side.

"You're an okay opponent, princey," the Lupus's pilot said over the loudspeaker as he fired a barrage of bullets at Lelouch before he could finish the job, forcing the prince to back off. He wasn't as surprised as he thought he'd be that this guy knew who he was.

"But I ain't gonna stop yet, princey," the pilot added as the Lupus jumped to its feet and shot forward rapidly, slamming into Lelouch. He gritted his teeth as both of them went skidding across the floor and crashing into and through another wall. They ended up in the ballroom with sunlight streaming through a large window and reflecting off the chandelier that hung over head. Lelouch found himself pinned beneath the Lupus and warning signs erupted on his command panels as the Lupus sank its Claws into the Sutherland's side, ripping downward.

As a result, the auto eject activated and Lelouch's cockpit was sent flying out of the severely damaged knightmare to crash into the ground and skid across the floor to crash into the wall at the other end.

. . .

East of the Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office, Sapporo

Adeline slashed through the Sutherland in front of her and watched as the cockpit ejected before straightening in her seat as she glanced at her tactical display. "Okay, there doesn't seem to be any more enemies heading in this direction. They all seem congregated to the north or south," she said. "Good work, Adeline. Reyes says that, unfortunately, Nightfall seems to have caught up with the prince before we could get to him so go and make sure that Nightfall doesn't kill the prince," Petal ordered.

"I doubt I'll be able to do anything but I'll...wait, incoming enemy," Adeline said when she noticed a red blip was heading rapidly toward them. She bit her lip because the blip was moving a lot faster than the others. "It's moving a lot faster than the Sutherlands."

"Keep on your guard," Petal said.

"I know," Adeline said and turned her Lupus in the direction that the enemy was coming in. She was honestly surprised by the appearance of the white knightmare frame. It was sleeker and not as bulky as the Sutherland with gold accents and it moved faster and more nimbly than the Sutherland did.

She gripped her controls and launched herself at the new enemy, activating and firing her assault rifles at it, only to release a gasp of surprise a moment later when a bright green shield blazed to life around the knightmare's arm, blocking and redirecting the bullets she'd just fired at it. "That thing can block bullets!" She exclaimed.

"What?!" Petal exclaimed in surprise.

Gripping her controls as she jumped back to avoid the Slash Harkens the white knightmare frame fired at her, Adeline smiled. "Well, let's see how you handle these," she said and shot forward, slashing her claws toward the knightmare's arm, where that shield was located. If she could destroy that then she could use her assault rifles on the knightmare itself.

But the white knightmare was fast and dodged out of the way just in time, gliding nimbly to the side before reaching for its sides and withdrawing what looked like swords, the blade of which began to shimmer red. It darted toward her, one of those blades aimed for one of her assault rifles but she jumped back and used the Claws on one of her paws to catch the blow. She was startled when the Diamond-tipped Claws didn't break through the blade; they were at a stalemate at the moment but she could see that she was starting to lose the stalemate.

Her eyes went wide when the red blade sliced through the Claws, causing them to shatter, raining fragments of diamond to the ground. "T...Those swords...what are you?" she whispered.

"What's wrong, Adeline?" Petal asked as Adeline, jerking herself back into the battle, quickly jumped to the side to avoid another slash from those blades that could, apparently, cut through diamond.

"The weapons this new knightmare uses, these swords...they were able to cut through my Claws," Adeline said.

"What?!"

"Not right away," Adeline added as she unleashed a barrage of bullets that the white knightmare caught with its glowing green shield. "It was a stalemate for a while but this knightmare's sword was able to cut through them and he has two of them."

Petal swore. "That's not good. Adeline, retreat, if that knightmare frame can cut through diamond and block bullets, you're at a disadvantage," she said.

"I can still fight!" Adeline protested.

"That white knightmare is obviously more advanced than the Lupus. Retreat, Adeline, that's an order," Petal said firmly.

Adeline was about to respond only to focus on dodging out of the way of those red swords again. She wasn't quite quick enough though as the first blade sliced through the shoulder of her paw that held her remaining Diamond-tipped Claws. She wobbled but, before she could react, the second blade was severing her other paw at the shoulder, causing her Lupus to topple forward.

"Shit! You win this round, whoever you are," Adeline growled in frustration as she yanked the ejection lever and allowed the cockpit to eject away from the fallen Lupus.

. . .

Sapporo Clock Tower, Sapporo

"Gah!" Rayne cried out as she was tackled into a building just across the street from the Clock Tower. The pilot she was facing was really good and was able to counter a lot of Rayne's moves; she wasn't an Ace pilot like Suzaku or Kay but she was able to hold her own. Against this pilot, however, she had been forced to retreat multiple times just to avoid getting killed, which was how she ended up on the east end of the battle. She was beginning to wonder if this pilot was an Ace; she certainly wouldn't be surprised if he was.

Climbing out of the building she'd been tackled into, Rayne barely managed to avoid the slash from one of the pilot's metal-cutting claws. Firing her Slash Harkens at the Lupus and forcing it to focus on those, Rayne used the distraction to get her knightmare to its feet. She retracted the Slash Harkens and, pulling out her assault rifle, unleashed a barrage of bullets at her enemy.

The enemy dodged out of the way swiftly—damn, those Lupus knightmare frames sure are fast, she thought—and leapt toward her.

The blue-haired girl jerked her controls so that she was gliding out of the way, her landspinners spinning against the ground as she shot clear of the Lupus's claws. She found herself near the group of knightmares on the east flank near the Clock Tower who were locked in dog fights against some canine-like units.

He, irony, Rayne thought as she forced herself to dodge another attack from the Lupus. Well, at least it's not raining anymore. That lifted her mood a little bit.

Though her mood did sour again when an unwelcome voice sounded over her channel. "Rayne, what are you doing here?" Gretchen asked and Rayne spotted a knightmare she figured belonged to her bitch of a sister came to her side, firing at the Lupus.

"How the hell can you tell who I am, bitch? All these knightmares look alike," Rayne scoffed back.

"The way that you move. It was clear that it was you, Rayne, and please stop calling me that," Gretchen said.

"Whatever, bitch," Rayne said coolly as she pulled out her jousting lance and launched herself at the Lupus. She didn't even bother on answering her bitch of a sister's question.

"We should work together to take it out. It seems easier to take it out with two knightmares instead of one," Gretchen said and Rayne scowled when she noticed that her bitch of a sister was gliding right by her.

"I don't need your damn help, bitch," she shouted as she lashed out wildly with her jousting lance, successfully taking out an assault rifle but not doing much damage beyond that. Realizing her temper was getting the better of her, and affecting her performance, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to calm down. It was hard because just hearing her bitch of a sister's voice caused her temper to flare.

"Rayne, please, let me help you," Gretchen said.

"Why should I?! You never bothered on helping me before when I was growing up!"

"I know I've already told you this but I made a mistake and I'm sorry but I don't want you to get hurt. I never wanted you to get hurt," Gretchen said, unleashing another barrage of bullets at the Lupus when it moved to attack Rayne again.

She ground her teeth in fury at her bitch of a sister's words. "Don't pretend like you care!" She shouted. "I know that you don't so don't pretend like you do! You've never cared about me or Kay. You've never…"

"I know I never really showed it but I did care about you," Gretchen interrupted softly, firing her Slash Harkens at the Lupus, forcing it to jump back to avoid them. "I made a mistake. I was young and stupid and...you know that I was the heir to our family's name. That put a lot of pressure on me, Mom and Dad put a lot of pressure on me to be the best because of that. While I tried to show that I cared about you, my duties often forced me to focus more on them than on caring for you and Kay."

"You're lying! Why should I believe you?! If you truly cared, why didn't you tell Kay and I that before?" Rayne shouted.

"Because you never gave me the chance!" Gretchen cried back and Rayne started when she heard sorrow in her bitch of a sister's voice, sorrow and guilt mingling together. "You two ran away and then when I finally met up with you two again, you wouldn't even give me the time of day! I tried talking to you. That was why I suggested that we all sit down and talk but you wouldn't listen!"

Rayne gritted her teeth, feeling tears prick in her eyes but she hastily wiped them away. "If...If that's the case then...then you just proved that you care more about your duties than you do us, your own family! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" she screamed, slamming her fists onto the display as tears blurred her vision. Why the hell am I crying?

She wiped her eyes rapidly but, before she could say anything else, the Lupus crashed into her, taking her by surprise and sending both of them skidding across the ground and crashing through the wall into the first floor of the Clock Tower. The Lupus then got to its paws and sank its claws into the sides of Rayne's knightmare, slashing downward and causing red lights to blare, indicating that the damage was severe. The auto-ejection activated and Rayne felt the cockpit seat jettison out of the Sutherland.

It didn't go very far, as there was very limited space on the first floor of the Clock Tower, and crashed hard into the wall behind the Sutherland. The force of the impact sent Rayne jerking forward hard, though the restraints prevented her from getting a concussion. Gritting her teeth, Rayne felt around for the clasp to her restraints and yanked at them. Once they were undone, she crawled to the hatch and fought to push it open, succeeding just barely, scowling to herself.

Once again, I got distracted and it nearly cost me. And Gretchen didn't help at all! And yet...why did I start crying at her words? She thought.

She climbed out of the ejected cockpit and looked around, noticing that the Lupus that she had been fighting was locked in battle with another Sutherland. Scrambling down from the cockpit and wincing when she put pressure on her leg, Rayne gazed around, searching for a way out of the Clock Tower; as she looked around, she noticed that the floor above was cracked and looked about ready to fall.

Yeah, I really gotta get out of here, she thought but she noticed that the only way out was past the two fighting knightmares.

She limped forward, her leg hurt and she wasn't sure what she did to it, as she continued to find a way out of the building. Suddenly the Lupus tackled the Sutherland, sending both of them skidding across the floor where they slammed into a pillar; the pillar buckled and collapsed, showering them in debris but the ceiling above groaned as if it was about to collapse itself.

Rayne's eyes went wide as pieces of the ceiling started to fall to the ground, each gradually growing larger and larger and she rapidly looked around for someplace that she could hide under to protect herself from the fallen debris. She limped forward but she didn't see anything; more debris fell, a big piece nearly flattened her had she not dived out of the way in time.

Her leg flared up in pain and then gave out, causing Rayne to cry out in pain as she collapsed. She struggled to get to her feet but her leg wouldn't agree with her and more and more pieces of the ceiling were falling down. She squeezed her eyes closed, feeling tears prick in her eyes as she thought about her twin and all of her friends.

She heard more debris crashing into the ground and, suddenly, she felt the cool feel of metal. Her eyes snapping open, Rayne stared at the Sutherland that was crouched over her, shielding her from the debris. The ceiling collapsed inward, shedding large pieces of stone on the Sutherland but Rayne was left untouched.

She blinked up at the Sutherland as it straightened up, causing the debris that had landed on it to slide off its back.

"Rayne, are you okay?" Gretchen's voice sounded over the loudspeaker of the Sutherland.

Rayne's eyes went wide. She saved my life? She thought.

"Rayne?"

"W...Why?" Rayne stammered out, staring. "Why did you save me?"

"Because you're my sister, Rayne," Gretchen said softly. "You were right, Rayne. You were right. My biggest mistake wasn't not taking care of you and Kay. My biggest mistake was putting my duties as the heir to the Frost Family ahead of my own family. I am truly sorry. I know you will likely never forgive me but I am."

"Gretchen..." Rayne murmured. She wanted to still be angry with Gretchen; she could still feel the resentment simmering away within her but she found that she couldn't stay angry. The resentment didn't seem like it was going to fade right now but the anger...she just couldn't feel angry anymore.

Kay's words about how he was willing to give their siblings another chance echoed in her head.

Suddenly, the Lupus from before launched itself at Gretchen's unprotected back and Rayne's eyes went wider as the Lupus's claws lodged themselves in the back of Gretchen's Sutherland and jumped back before firing at the gash it had made in the Sutherland's back.

"Damn it! It struck the Yggdrasil Drive. Rayne, get out of here now!" Gretchen shouted.

"What about you?" Rayne protested.

"Just go! The Yggdrasil Drive's overheating. It's gonna blow."

"Eject, Gretchen, eject!" Rayne shouted, scrambling to her feet despite the pain that flared up in her leg as a result.

"I can't! The debris from that collapsed ceiling damaged the ejection mechanism. You need to get out of here, Rayne, now, or you'll get caught in the explosion too!" Gretchen shouted.

"I...I can't leave you," Rayne protested.

"...I thought you hated me..."

Rayne felt tears prick in the corner of her eyes. "I...I thought I did too but...you're my sister! And...And...Kay was right! He...He decided to give you, Parker, and Matthias a second chance and I...I was too stubborn to realize that...that everyone deserves a second chance," she shouted. She didn't know if it was Kay's words or the fact that she was about to watch her sister, the sister she resented who was still her family, die but she knew that what she said was true.

"I love you, Rayne," Gretchen said and then glided backwards so that she crashed into the Lupus who had damaged her knightmare so severely. Both of them went skidding across the floor to crash into the wall at the other end and then exploded.

"No!" Rayne screamed. The shockwave from the explosion slammed into her and sent her flying backwards and through a window. She crashed into the ground and rolled a few meters before coming to a stop near a streetlight.

Before her, the Clock Tower began to crumble downward as that explosion had taken out the last of the support pillars and beams that kept it standing. It toppled onto its side, crushing anything that was beneath it—knightmares and buildings alike—causing a massive cloud of dust and debris to spray in all directions and the ground to tremble from the impact.

Rayne covered her head to try to protect herself from the flying debris but she didn't have to as a certain white knightmare frame was suddenly crouched in front of her, shielding her from the debris that was sent flying her way. She blinked up at the frame. "S...Suzaku?" she stammered out.

"Rayne, are you okay?" Suzaku's voice sounded over the loudspeaker.

"I...I..." Rayne found that she couldn't say anything and she felt tears slide down her face. She buried her face into her arms and said nothing more, just sobbed. She sobbed as she thought about how much of a fool she'd been, a stubborn fool; she sobbed for the path that she didn't take, the one that Kay had taken, the one in which second chances were given; most importantly, she sobbed for the loss of the sister that she had always resented who had just given her life to save hers.

. . .

Suzaku bit his lip, not entirely sure what he was supposed to do. Rayne was crying and yet he didn't know whether to try and comfort her or not. He didn't even know why she was crying but he figured that something must have happened. He'd arrived to the area just in time to see the collapse of the Clock Tower that took out the squadron members and the terrorists that were unfortunate enough to be beneath it and hadn't been able to get out of the way in time.

He'd then seen Rayne and had been quick to move to protect her from the flying debris that came from the collapsed Clock Tower. Now he wasn't sure what to do; he couldn't see any enemies nearby, and his tactical display only showed a series of 'LOST' signals from the enemy, which made him think that they'd all been caught beneath the Clock Tower when it collapsed.

Deciding that he might as well see if Rayne was all right, since she hadn't answered him, he shut down the Lancelot and ejected the cockpit so that he could climb out. Jumping to the ground, rather than using the access cable, Suzaku moved to join Rayne, kneeling in front of her. "Rayne?" he said softly.

Rayne gazed up at him, tears streaming out of her dark-blue eyes. "S...Suzaku?" she said again even as she continued to sob.

Awkwardly, Suzaku put his arms around her in a comforting hug. She responded by burying her face into his chest and crying, clinging onto him. It was a surprise to see someone normally so strong suddenly break down into tears. But he just patted her back and let her cry; it was obvious she needed to cry and, since she didn't have someone like her brother around to comfort her, Suzaku would just have to do.

Slowly, Rayne managed to calm herself down; her cries died down into sobs that gradually faded away and she pulled back, wiping her tears and flushing in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she began.

"Don't worry about it, Rayne. You're my friend and, even if I don't know why, you needed a shoulder to cry on. That's what friends are for," Suzaku assured her.

She gave him a small watery smile. "Thank you," she said softly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was supposed to help the east flank but..." Suzaku glanced over at the damage done by the fallen Clock Tower. "I think I'm too late."

Rayne let out a small laugh, but Suzaku could still see the sadness in her eyes.

"I should probably let Lelouch know," Suzaku said, releasing Rayne and turning the headset back on for his end, since he could still hear what was going on on Lelouch's end. "Your Highness?" he said.

"Kinda in the middle of something here, Warrant Officer, what is it?" Lelouch's out of breath voice asked and another crash echoed in the background.

"I thought to report that the east flank has fallen but they took the enemy out with them. It doesn't look like there are any survivors from either side," Suzaku said.

"We'll...send a squad to...search for survivors later. For now, I want you to rejoin with the main body and help..." Lelouch began. A thundering crash sounded in the background followed by Lelouch's scream of pain that caused Suzaku to jump in surprise and Rayne's eyes to widen since it had been loud enough for her to hear.

"Your Highness!" Suzaku exclaimed in worry. "Your Highness, are you there?"

"Y...Yes, I'm here," Lelouch said and Suzaku could hear the agony in his voice.

Suzaku ground his teeth together and turned to Rayne. "Get to safety, Rayne. I have to go," he said.

"Go. You're his Knight of Honor and he clearly needs you now," Rayne said, slowly pushing herself to her feet, though her eyes flared and she seemed to be favoring one of her legs. "I'll be fine."

Suzaku nodded, hoping that Rayne wasn't just putting on a brave face because she did look in pain. However, he did have to worry about Lelouch, since it was clear that Lelouch needed help. He darted off to the access cable for the Lancelot. "I'm on my way," he said into the headset as he climbed into the cockpit of the Lancelot and started it back up.

"The main body...needs your help more than...I do, Warrant Officer," Lelouch said as Suzaku sped away from the Clock Tower and toward where Lelouch's IFF Transponder told him that he was located.

"With all due respect, my prince, I'm your Knight of Honor, even if it's unofficial, and I'm supposed to protect you," Suzaku said firmly as he swiftly glided past the small dog fights that were making up the end of the battle.

"Warrant Officer, I...am fine. I order...you to go aid...the main body in...finishing this battle. I want this...battle to end and...the Lancelot should be...able to end it itself," Lelouch said firmly, though his breath was coming out shorter and the agony in his voice was a lot stronger. Suzaku had no idea what happened but it must have been bad and he mused that Lelouch was just as stubborn as he was during the invasion. Then, he'd done the same thing, tried to get Suzaku to take Nunnally and leave him behind whenever he got hurt. And, each time, Suzaku had refused.

Even if he was disobeying the prince's order, he was, once again, refusing to not help his friend when it was obvious he needed it.

He'd made the decision to be Lelouch's Knight of Honor, he had made the decision to protect and defend his friend because his friend trusted him enough to give him that opportunity—and there was no denying that Lelouch's trust was very hard to come by—and he was not about to ignore that.

Besides, Lelouch must have lost communications with the rest of the regiment, otherwise he would know that they really didn't need Suzaku's help.

"I apologize, my prince, but I cannot obey that order. As your Knight of Honor, you are my top priority," Suzaku said as he sped past the main fighting body, or what was left of it—since there weren't very many enemies left—and headed toward Lelouch's location.

. . .

Abandoned Hotel, West of Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office

Lelouch gritted his teeth, in both agony and irritation, though, in hindsight, he really should have seen Suzaku's response from a mile away. Suzaku knew that being a Knight of Honor was not just some honor that elevated someone, it involved its own responsibilities and he was obviously taking those responsibilities seriously, even if he was only Lelouch's unofficial knight at the moment.

Suzaku refusing to obey his orders in favor of saving him wasn't anything new; he rarely ever obeyed Lelouch's orders when they were children, and even less during the invasion, especially when Lelouch had ordered Suzaku to take Nunnally, get to safety, and leave him behind.

Nonetheless, Lelouch only knew that Suzaku's decision to disobey his order and come help him was because of his current predicament. He had spent a good ten minutes just trying to avoid getting flattened by the Lupus whenever the pilot decided to leap at him, after he'd gotten out of the ejected cockpit and thought the pilot would leave him alone. To make matters worse, it had also decided to try to collapse the already fragile building on his head by firing its assault rifles at the ceiling.

That had actually succeeded, partially. The ceiling had collapsed and the scream that had prompted Suzaku's worried response had been caused by a large piece of the ceiling crashing into Lelouch's arm and pinning him to the floor. He'd felt some of his bones snap and the agony made it impossible for him to even think about just how many had broken. Debris covered almost his entire body, though he had been lucky that the debris hadn't hit his head; he was also lucky that he hadn't broken anything else from the collapsing ceiling.

He tried to push the debris off his arm but it was too heavy and any movement caused a spasm of pain to ripple up and down his pinned arm, forcing him to bite his lip to keep from screaming again. The last thing he'd heard from Suzaku was Suzaku's refusing to obey his order by stating that Lelouch was his top priority.

He also had no idea of where that Lupus was.

"Princey, princey, where for art thou, princey?" That irritating and sadistic voice of the Lupus pilot who was trying to kill Lelouch said.

Never mind, I found it, Lelouch thought bitterly as he twisted his head to find the Lupus edging its way around the fallen debris.

"Ah, there you are, princey. Got yourself into quite the predicament, eh?" the pilot said.

"I believe you are...remembering what happened...only a few minutes ago...wrong," Lelouch said through gritted teeth as pain flared up his arm again.

"Oh, right, right. Well, if you hadn't kept running from me, I wouldn't have had to do that. I was getting rather bored with chasing you around to kill you so I decided on a different way. Shame you're still alive. Guess I'll just have to use another method," the pilot of the Lupus said as the canine-like knightmare prowled forward.

"Why do you want to kill me?" Lelouch demanded.

"Why? Because you're the commander of this entire operation against my organization. Why else? You're the enemy and I kill my enemies. Simple as that," he replied as the Lupus prowled even closer. "Now then, goodbye, princey."

The Lupus's pilot raised one of its paws and pressed one of its claws against Lelouch's throat. He bit his lip when a sharp pain erupted in his throat as the Lupus's claw started to sink into it, causing a trickle of blood to fall from the wound. Am I really going to die here? He thought and his thoughts drifted to Nunnally.

Nunnally...What'll happen to Nunnally if I die here? I can't let anything happen to her but what can I do? I can't move, my arm's pinned and if I so much as move an inch, I could slit my own throat. Damn it! Nunnally, I'm sorry...

Just then, the pressure on his throat vanished as a flash of white flashed above him. He turned his head as much as he could just in time to see the Lancelot crash a spinkick into the Lupus sending it flying even further backwards.

"My prince, are you all right?" Suzaku's voice asked over the headset. "Wait, don't answer that. Stupid question. Of course you're not all right. Just hold on, my prince. I'll get you out of there in a bit, once I take care of the enemy." He then turned his attention to the Lupus.

The Lupus got to its paws. "Well, well, looks like the little princey has a knighty. Well then, what will you do, oh white knight in shining armor? Do you honestly think you can take me on?" The pilot asked through the loudspeaker.

The Lancelot shifted until it was in front of Lelouch and withdrew the MVSs.

"So you're gonna fight? Fine then. I'll kill you and then I'll kill the princey. Prepare yourself for death, knighty," the pilot stated and launched himself at Suzaku.

. . .

Suzaku quickly darted to the side to avoid the claws that slashed toward him and fired his Slash Harkens at the Lupus's shoulders but it was fast, moving nimbly out of the way. He then unleashed a barrage of bullets at Suzaku who jerked the Lancelot''s arm in front of him, activating the Blaze Luminous. The bullets slammed into the shimmering green shield and were redirected downward.

"What?! That fucking thing can block bullets? Why the fucking hell didn't Kozar think of that?!" the pilot exclaimed, not seeming to notice, or care, that his loudspeaker was still on. "Tch, whatever. It's not gonna matter. The fucker's gonna die either way."

Suzaku pressed his lips together as he deactivated the Blaze Luminous and tightened his grip on the MVSs, his eyes training on those metal-cutting claws as the Lupus leapt at him, sunlight glinting off the claws as the pilot slashed them toward him.

Recognizing the move as similar to the move that the pilot he'd fought while on his way to the east flank had used, Suzaku responded the same exact way, catching the claws of one of its' paws on one of his MVSs. The blade vibrated violently against the claws as the stalemate stretched onward before the claws shattered.

"What the fucking hell is that thing?!" The pilot screeched, more in fury than surprise, as the Lupus leapt backwards, landing a little unsteadily due to its damaged paw. A growl sounded over the loudspeaker along with a series of curse words in Russian before the pilot launched himself at Suzaku again.

The Honorary Britannian quickly jumped out of the way, firing a Slash Harken at the Lupus as he went, managing to sink it into the Lupus's leg. When he retracted it, he slashed out with his MVS, nearly severing the leg had the Lupus not spun out of the way in time, now limping a little.

"Well, fuck, that was close. I honestly can't tell whether you're a good pilot or just really fucking lucky," the pilot said as he spun his Lupus around to face Suzaku, its remaining metal-cutting claws scratching the stone ground. The assault rifles on its shoulders began firing at Suzaku again but he blocked the bullets with the Blaze Luminous, gliding to the side just in time to avoid the Lupus attempting to ram into him and spinning to keep the green shield in front of him since the pilot hadn't stopped firing yet.

He and the Lupus continued fighting and Suzaku focused on drawing the Lupus away from where Lelouch was pinned beneath the debris. The last thing he wanted was for the Lupus to go after the prince when he was unable to fight back at the moment. Unfortunately, the Lupus had managed to get between him and the prince but, thankfully, the pilot seemed more focused on him than on Lelouch.

Despite the MVSs and the Blaze Luminous, Suzaku and this pilot had started off pretty evenly matched and, even though his knightmare was damaged, the pilot was still putting up a good fight. He was combining use of its assault rifles with his remaining metal-cutting claws, attempting to get past Suzaku's defense. Suzaku was quick though, able to avoid the slashes and block the bullets while going on the offensive whenever he saw an opening. He didn't just rely on his MVSs though; he also used his Slash Harkens, one of which he finally managed to lodge into one of the Lupus's assault rifles, and used the knightmare itself. However, the Lupus retaliated by firing its assault rifles at the portion of the ceiling that still remained intact, forcing Suzaku to quickly dodge out of the way to avoid the falling debris.

"You're a pretty decent fighter," the pilot said again over the loudspeaker. "Just who the fuck are ya anyway? I wanna know the name of the person I'm fighting, especially one as good as ya, before I kill you."

Suzaku remained silent, edging around the Lupus until he was between it and Lelouch again, keying on his headset as he did so. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"Still conscious at the moment," Lelouch replied.

Suzaku returned his attention to his opponent.

"So you ain't gonna tell me? That's fucking rude. I mean, I'll even introduce myself. I'm Nightfall, Second in Command of the Liberators," the pilot said.

Suzaku's eyes went wide. All this time, he was fighting the Second in Command of the Liberators?

"So who the fuck are you? Or are you just gonna leave me hanging? 'Cause I really would like to know just who the hell is actually managing to get the best of me at the moment, not that I'm outta the fight yet, no fucking way am I outta the fight yet," Nightfall said.

Suzaku pressed his lips together, not entirely sure if he should tell Nightfall.

"Tch, fine then, stubborn bastard," Nightfall huffed. "I just wanna know your name. How about a deal then, pilot? You tell me who you are and I'll let both you and the prince live today."

Suzaku narrowed his eyes. He sounded confident that he could actually win.

"Ahhh, you think I'm actually outta this fight since I've lost one of my Claws. I ain't outta the fight yet. In fact,"—Nightfall let out a sadistic laugh—"I am far from being done. I did pack a few surprises in my Lupus. Never thought I'd get to use 'em but there ya go."

His undamaged paw seemed to fold in, reaching into a compartment and he withdrew a long, cylindrical container that Suzaku, to his horror, recognized as a chaos mine. "I'll just unleash this little surprise. Even if ya can block it with that fucking shield of yours, I don't think this building can handle something like this and I doubt even your advanced knightmare can stand having the rest of this building topple on your head," he said, balancing on three legs as he had the Lupus's undamaged paw hold the chaos mine, ready to activate it with just a press of one of its claws.

Suzaku narrowed his eyes, judging whether he could get to Nightfall before he activated the chaos mine or not, while also wondering if Nightfall was bluffing and whether he will keep his end of the deal or not. It didn't seem likely that he could reach the other pilot and, as he briefly looked around the damaged building, he realized that Nightfall was right. Only the ceiling of the second floor had collapsed earlier, as he could see the ceiling of the third floor, but the walls were badly damaged and the building really did look as if it would cave inward at any second.

"So do we got a deal? Tell me who you are and both you and the prince get to live to see another day," Nightfall said.

Biting his lip, Suzaku finally keyed on his loudspeaker. "How do I even know you'll stick with your end of the deal?" he said.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a loud, creepy laugh. "Japanese! You're Japanese! This is hilarious. The conquered serving the conquers like a beat-up dog returning to the master that had beat it! You're a traitor to your entire country, you know that? Ahahaha," Nightfall exclaimed.

Suzaku gritted his teeth, forcing himself not to react or say anything. It wouldn't be the first time that he'd been called a traitor; he was used to it, or so he kept telling himself. In reality, he still felt hurt whenever he heard his own people call him a traitor because he was doing this all for them. He was trying to change things from within for them without having to resort to violence and terrorism.

"So who are you, oh dog of Britannia?" Nightfall asked, not answering Suzaku's question at all.

He bit his lip again but, with the threat of Nightfall unleashing that chaos mine and destroying what was left of the building they were in—and Lelouch's life on the line—he did the only thing he could do. "My name's Suzaku Kururugi," he said.

There was another long moment of silence, then loud laughter. "Oh my God! The son of Genbu Kururugi himself is serving Britannia! Ahahahaha. Oh the irony, the sweet, sweet irony that the son of the man whom called for a do-or-die resistance against Britannia fighting for Britannia! Ahahaha," Nightfall exclaimed. "What would your father think were he here? Ahahaha. You're so weak and foolish, fighting for the very people who destroyed your country. You are even more of a traitor than I had thought, turning your back on your people like that. Pathetic."

Suzaku licked his lips. "I'm doing this for my people," he blurted out and, a moment later, found himself wondering why he was trying to defend himself to the second-in-command of the Liberators, to a terrorist.

Another round of sadistic laughter echoed from the Lupus across from him. "Do you truly believe that? Oh you are such a fucking moron if you actually think that fighting for Britannia will change anything. Ahahahaha," Nightfall said gleefully. "Admit it, you're just too scared to fight against Britannia, too much of a weak, useless, treacherous coward to pick up arms and fight back for your people."

"You're wrong! I can change things for my people by working within the system," Suzaku said, trying hard to keep his voice steady but, even though he should be used to hearing such words, they still felt like a punch to the gut whenever he heard them.

"Change the system from within? Ahahahaha. You are such a fucking naive little bastard, aren't you? Do you honestly think someone as useless and weak as you can do something like that? Ha," Nightfall said with a laugh. "You are a moron, a pathetic moron. Your father would be so ashamed of you and will probably tell you as much when he sees you again in the afterlife!"

That was the only warning Suzaku got before the chaos mine was released.

He jolted out of his shock and shot forward, toward Lelouch, immediately covering Lelouch's body with the Lancelot, hoping that Nightfall was wrong and the entire building wouldn't come down on their heads. Or, at the very least, that the Lancelot would be able to withstand the added weight.

Nightfall, his sadistic laughter echoing out of his loudspeaker, leapt through the large window, getting clear of the red bolts of energy just in time. The bolts shot everywhere, crashing into windows, walls, and the ceiling, taking out what was left of the support that kept the building up.

Suzaku kept himself over Lelouch, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes. Just let Lelouch survive, let Lelouch survive, he thought as he felt the debris from above fall onto the back of his knightmare.

. . .

Coughing as dust rose up despite the white knightmare frame that was crouched over him, Lelouch blinked and gazed around. The Lancelot was shielding him and Lelouch could see debris from the collapsed building laying all around him. He tilted his head up to find that the Lancelot seemed to be holding the weight of the debris fairly well.

"Suzaku?" he called through his headset.

"I'm here," Suzaku said.

"Any injuries?"

"None that I can tell right now," Suzaku said and straightened up, letting the debris fall to the ground and the Lancelot picked up the heavy piece of debris that was pinning Lelouch's arm to the floor. "We need to get out of here before the rest of the building collapses."

Lelouch, using his good arm to push himself into a sitting position, despite the fact that moving caused white-hot pain to ripple up and down his arm, nodded. "I need to get to the ward office and assess what's happened anyway," he said.

"My prince, I strongly suggest that we see a medic first," Suzaku said.

"I'm fine. It's just a broken arm. I can take care of it later. Right now, I've been out of touch ever since my fight with Nightfall started," Lelouch said. He also hadn't been able to contact anyone when Suzaku's fight against Nightfall began because of his inability to move without feeling intense pain. He needed to see what was happening personally since he couldn't contact anyone. The only reason he'd been able to speak to Suzaku was because Suzaku had contacted him first..

"...At least let me splint your arm when we get out of this building, my prince," Suzaku said finally.

Lelouch pressed his lips together but finally nodded. "Very well," he said and Suzaku stretched out his knightmare's hand. Trying not to move his broken arm too much, Lelouch climbed onto it and his unofficial knight turned and left the building.

They managed to clear the building before it collapsed fully. Once they were clear, Suzaku gently placed Lelouch on the ground before ejecting and leaping down from his cockpit. Lelouch studied Suzaku's face as his friend, and knight, came to his side. Nightfall's words had made even Lelouch bristle with fury but he had no idea of how they'd affected Suzaku.

To anyone else, he wasn't showing any sign of being affected by what Nightfall said but Lelouch has always been good at reading people. He could see the tension in Suzaku's shoulders and the way he was attempting to mask the guilt and self-loathing on his face. It was the self-loathing that Lelouch caught on Suzaku's face that really threw him off. Why does he feel that way about himself? He thought.

After Suzaku splinted his arm, Lelouch slowly stood up and gazed around. They weren't too far from the Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office, or what was left of it anyway, but Lelouch could see, just from his perspective, that more than just the ward office had been damaged. There didn't seem to be any more fighting but he couldn't be sure until he spoke to Dimitri, whom he'd tasked with keeping an eye on everyone during the battle.

"Let's go, Suzaku," he said, glancing at his friend who nodded, his face clearing of emotion and setting on the determined battle-worn face of a soldier. Even so, Lelouch could still see traces of self-loathing in his friend's emerald green eyes; he frowned to himself but decide that now wasn't the time to figure out what was going on with his friend.

Right now, he needed to assess the situation, ensure that the battle was truly over, go over causalities and damage reports and, most importantly, see if his plan worked and he'd pulled off the miracle he'd told General Andon that he would pull off.

. . .

West Wing Conference Room, Fifth Floor, Sapporo City Chūō Ward Office

"This is Diethard Ried coming to you live from Sapporo on Hokkaido Island where I have just witnessed the most chaotic battle in my life," Diethard Ried said, gazing out the window at the devastated city below for a moment before turning to the cameraman. Below, the pilots who hadn't lost their knightmares during the battle were assessing the damage done to them and Prince Lelouch, who had arrived back at the ward office injured and on the palm of the white knightmare frame's hand, immediately began issuing orders to his still-able men. While Diethard couldn't hear what was being said, he knew that the sweeping gesture that the prince was making with his good arm suggested that he wanted a sweep of the city, which was only natural to ensure that there were no more enemies laying in wait.

"The battles are over, things are winding down here, and it would appear that Prince Lelouch vi Britannia has succeeded in doing what only one other person has done; he has successfully defeated a cell of the Liberators. There is no doubt about that," Diethard went on and then began to give a summary of what had transpired since the battle began earlier that afternoon. It was already almost midnight and moonlight illuminated the quiet, battle-scarred city of Sapporo.

"What had started out as an unfair fight in favor of the Liberators quickly turned into a nearly evenly matched fight between the Liberators and Britannia. However, it wasn't long before the chaos that dominated the heart of Sapporo quickly turned even more chaotic, brutal, and ruthless as the Liberators slowly found themselves losing ground and men to Prince Lelouch and the 11th Regiment."

Diethard couldn't help but tremble as he spoke, his eyes bright because he was happy, beyond happy, to actually be able to witness such a momentous, historical victory. In the decade that they have been around, the Liberators had practically achieved near legendary status due to winning twenty engagements in a row; even if Prince Lelouch hadn't been the one to break the streak, defeating someone who'd achieved near legendary status was an amazing accomplishment.

And the way he did it! Using half of his regiment to draw the enemy in and then going around and boxing them in with the other half. And, even though it was clear that the Liberators still outnumbered the Black Knights, the prince still managed to get the advantage. It didn't even appear as if he had a set plan, at least not one that Diethard could see—but then, once again, Diethard was a reporter, not a military strategist—and still managed to not only get the upper hand but also keep it for the rest of the battle. Even if he, himself, had been locked in his own personal fight toward the end, there was no denying that his men did very well on their own in fighting off the last of the enemy.

Just watching it from above, Diethard had seen the results and he couldn't deny that Prince Lelouch's men had practically annihilated the Eleven cell of the Liberators. At least, that was how he saw it and that was how he reported it. After all, such things made for a very good story and it wasn't as if he was lying.

"Slowly, but surely, the Liberators were defeated. No, that is not the right word for Lelouch vi Britannia did not defeat the Liberators; like a demon, he utterly annihilated them!" he stated dramatically even as he thought about something.

Princess Cornelia had the moniker of Witch of Britannia, along with the Goddess of Victory, Prince Schneizel had the White Prince, and the Cold-Blood Strategist.

But what moniker does Prince Lelouch have? None 'cause he's so new to the militaristic scene and yet being victorious over the Liberators, the biggest, most powerful, and nearly undefeated terrorist organization in the entire world, will definitely cause his reputation to skyrocket. Why not add to that reputation? Diethard thought.

He had first decided to accompany Prince Lelouch to Sapporo because he felt that the prince would be able to win against the Liberators, and he'd been right. Now he wanted to keep on following the prince because he had no doubt that the prince was not going to stop there. The prince had even stated during the interview earlier that day of what his intentions were, that he was going to fight against any terrorist that dares to challenge him. Diethard had no doubt that there would be terrorists who would challenge the prince, for various reasons, including but not limited to proving that the prince's victory here was a fluke or simply because they're too stubborn and prideful to back down in the face of a powerful enemy.

Nonetheless, after witnessing this victory firsthand, Diethard knew that the terrorists who decided to challenge Prince Lelouch would not know what they were getting into and he wanted to be the one to document it all.

And he decided to also be the one to designate a moniker onto the prince, mostly because, after witnessing this fight, he knew, to him anyway, the perfect one. "The chaos has ended and from the ashes and blood of his enemies, the demon Prince Lelouch vi Britannia rises," Diethard declared loudly. "This is Diethard Ried, reporting live from Sapporo on Hokkaido Island where I have just witnessed a miracle and the birth of the Demon Prince of Britannia!"

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: and so the Demon Prince of Britannia has been born!

Bakura: that's a nod to what Lelouch is referred to at the end of canon, isn't it?

Blaze: maybe~

Lelouch: why am I not surprised it's Diethard that gave me this moniker?

Blaze: it just seemed like something he would do. Still don't like the bastard

Suzaku: you don't like Diethard?

Blaze: I like him as much as I like Rolo, that is to say he's not my favorite character in the world but a small part of me does like him. Granted, I like Rolo more. Speaking of Rolo (starts sobbing)

Suzaku: on a completely unrelated note, how is Bakura here and Luciano's still falling?

Luciano: (still falling) HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?!

Bakura: (shrugs) it pays to be Blaze's favorite villain in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Charles: then why am I always getting blown up or killed?

Blaze: you really think you're my favorite villain in Code Geass? (Start laughing hysterically)

Suzaku: Schneizel's Blaze's favorite villain in Code Geass

Lelouch: (pulls out freezing chainsaw and grins sadistically at Charles)

Charles: shit! Not again! (Takes off running)

Lelouch: this never gets old (chases after Charles)

Blaze: anyway, so I teared up when I wrote Gretchen's death scene—and every time I reread it—and I honestly don't know if it's because the scene tugged at my heartstrings like I was trying to get it to do or my medicine is messing with my emotions again. Let me know what you think.

Suzaku: Blaze hopes that you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will cover the aftermath and there are three more chapters in Arc II after this one.

Blaze: wait, we're only four chapters away from the dreaded chapter 30?

Suzaku: yes

Lelouch: (walks into room while stowing away freezing chainsaw) what happens in chapter 30?

Blaze: (starts to edge backwards slowly)

Bakura: something that will have Nunnally's fans out for her blood

Blaze: BAKURA! You weren't supposed to tell him!

Bakura: (shrugs) I live to torture foolish mortals

Lelouch: (yanks out lightsaber and growls warningly) Blaze...what happens in chapter 30?

Blaze: Suzaku! End the chapter! (Bolts to find a place to hide from Lelouch and Nunnally's fans)

Lelouch: get back here and answer my question! (Chases after Blaze)

Suzaku: (sighs) well, the next chapter will be out hopefully before the end of the month, reviews are much appreciated, and thank you for reading.