A.N. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, here's another chapter of Britannia Rising!

Chapter 24

Japan, February 26, 2022 a.t.b.

If the UFN had created a device to hear what was going on in Japan, the device would've broken from the amount of noise it would've heard. Men, and machines swarmed through staging areas, airfields, and docks. Crates of ammunition, supplies, energy fillers, and the other necessities of a military campaign were unloaded, cataloged, stored, and or reloaded in a different area. Like the gears of a clock the bureaucracy of the Black Knight war machine belied the chaos of its appearance.

Overhead airships floated patrolling or awaiting there turns to land, around them swirled gunships, and flying knightmares. Around each of these stations were the silent sentinels of the emperor's guards, tasked with keeping secrecy of the operation being prepared. All those involved were unable to leave and any communication was monitored and if needed censored for pertinent information.

Looking over the organized chaos Jeremiah gazed, having been assigned to this offensive he took up his post with as much fervor as he did with his previous assignments. He hummed as he watched the soldiers he would command prepare for the great battle that was to come. Behind him came the fairly monotone voice of Anya, "it is amazing what one man's words can create."

"Indeed," nodded the cyborg. "This same man turned a nation that over the centuries became so low completely around. He founded a nation and re-founded an empire, and even with his power it was his genius that truly built him up. Which means are we all in agreement?"

The knight turned to see Anya sitting in her chair, her customary phone absent and her eyes locked on the older male. Beside her a holographic screen bore the image of Tamaki, in the corner of the screen glowed a red symbol showing the line was secure to all outsiders. His chambers were empty and only he took part in the private conference. The marshal nodded, "yeah, I've also been in contact with our French friend and he is in agreement. His written confirmation should be with you in the morning Jeremiah. As well as proof that the Scandinavian Coalition is behind him, as are the rest of our European allies."

The knight nodded, "Sayoko has been in contact with OSI who in turn are speaking with individuals in the UFN and they have agreed to back our movement."

"What do they want in return?" asked Anya. "Some of these people were likely those who stepped aside for Sawasaki. So, what made them make such a major decision?"

Jeremiah smirked, "some want nothing more than money, others want money and asylum away from the public eye, and a few are completely for our cause and are almost falling over themselves."

"Are we going to honor these?" asked Tamaki.

"Up front," replied Jeremiah. "How far we'll go however will depend, it is likely that we will be able to liquidate the problems before they become to much of a stumbling block."

The group nodded, the plan of the small cadre of people from across the worlds power circles was already in motion.

Berlin, Germany

Smoke rose from the ruins of the once great city, many historical sites were covered in ruble or were the ruble. Echoes of the city's destruction echoed through the hollowed buildings that once held life, happiness, and culture. Explosions, machine gun fire, energy blasts and shield impacts, harmonized with the roar of engines and the squeals of overused Landspiners, and tires. Overhead Black Knight gunships and flying knightmares swarmed blasting away at targets that foolishly made themselves known or calling in powerful artillery strikes that turn ruble to dust.

Outside the irradiated wastes of the city Guilford watched over the battlefield, he looked back and forth between the digital map table, papers, and various screens of the command center. Like many of his counterparts across the world he coordinated his troops for a final blow to end the campaign. While the emperor had given him a large measure of freedom in his conduct for the ending of the campaign, he had still given the knight a set of parameters to meet. This included the capture of Machavel, the minimalization of friendly casualties, and the complete neutralization of the Republican Guard in Berlin.

For this purpose, the emperor had deployed a small group of Imperial Guards to the area. But these soldiers were not here for the purpose of being on the frontline, no these men were present armed with a FLEIJA warhead. Guilford had been given what safety measures were programed into the warheads, he was also given the ability to call in the strike to a place of his choosing. Or he could not use it at all, but the he knew this was unlikely if not impossible, in fact the emperor had hinted this was the case. The raven-haired monarch had not said so in verbal or written words, but the fact that the parameters of his mission were what they were, and such a weapon was even given to him meant only the one option. The emperor wanted the WMD used.

"No real civilians in the city anymore," Guilford thought. "Fanatical defenders, a near perfect place to tactically and strategically use such a weapon. The Republican Guard is destroyed, and the world realizes fully that the emperor is willing to use the weapon on mass targets."

Guilford had little doubt that these were just a few reasons to the use of this weapon, his emperor had proven that his plans exceeded what most others thought. Guilford and many others saw him as a true superior to the former prince Schneizel.

He stole a glance at his watch and saw once more that the time till the start of the operation was getting closer. Yet another parameter of the mission, though this was self-imposed, the highly mobile knightmare pilot in him found the static fighting of a siege stifling. The need to break the stalemate and end the siege had become paramount in his mind as well as the minds of all involved.

The door to the room opened and in walked the Special Soldier Akito, Guilford looked up, "Commander."

"General," greeted the Japanese youth in return. Once more the emperor's plans had brought about this meeting and many like it. People who would have never even considered standing in the same room greeting each other properly let alone fighting each other now stood ready to fight for a common cause. "My unit is ready."

Guilford nodded not pressing for any more information, already knowing what he needed. "Preparations will be ready within four hours; zero hour will be two hours following that. I have no intention of letting the enemy have time to reactor prepare for us."

Akito nodded, and though his face showed no emotion either way keeping the discipline of a soldier, he felt a prick of happiness at the prospect of leaving this mission soon and returning to Leila's side. This too was known to Guilford who understood the young man's plight and wish to be near his true commander. His princess. However, that would play little part in the execution of the assignment at hand.

Six Hours Later

The notes of the symphony of battle that had echoed in Berlin crescendo into a great chorus as artillery shells redoubled their detonations. Great blasts of high caliber shells accompanied the shrieks of missiles, but beneath this a subtle and secret tune rang. Overhead gunships, knightmares, and transports streaked, their movements hidden by the bombardment as well as hidden from the scanners of the enemy by electronic warfare countermeasures.

Inside the approaching craft the occupants tense in anticipation, there training however keeps them calm enough to perform at their peak. In their HUDs symbols appear showing that their target draws near. They feel their transports and vehicles descend and they hear the knightmares and gunships open fire.

Below in the compound that housed the entrance to the underground command bunker, chaos reigned, the bombardment has hit the compound like it usually did, however this had been far worse than normal. This was then followed by a peace then a swarm of attacking Black Knight craft. Smaller positions that held anti-armor weapons and guns were hit by green VARIS shots, rockets, and weapons. Several shots blew a large hole in the entrance to the command bunker.

The Black Knight knightmares opened fire with their anti-personal weapons sending all troops that came into view into corpses. The transports descended, and their doors opened allowing the special troops to flood out. At the head of the troops ran Akito his weapon already up and aimed searching for targets. They ran into the gaping maw of a hole that had been opened in the command bunker. The soldier's helmets compensated for the changing light giving the Black Knights clear vision and enemies lit up in targeting reticules. Bursts of fire from suppressed coil guns turned chests into leaking sieves.

Grenades were thrown into rooms and after the explosion the smoking room was sprayed with fire. Squads split and spread to out through the bunker heading for their assigned targets. Some stopped at computer terminals, inserting flash drives and connecting symbiotic computer programs to highjack the systems of the bunker. Some squads beelined for the command center where they would download the files of Machavel's personal command servers.

Resistance was slow in coming, the shock of the attack slowed as the viruses uploaded to the computer systems turned alarms off and scrambled radio and communication systems. Power even began to flicker in areas stopping elevators and plunging rooms into darkness that only the Black Knights could see through. Akito bolted, through the halls, his squad behind him, his rifle spewed metal and when he had to he pulled his Kodachi from its scabbard. The blade had been upgraded with an MVS system that gave the already sharp blade and even deadlier air.

Rounding the latest corner in the maze of the bunker Akito emptied his rifle's magazine at the Guards that moved up the hall. The Guards fired back almost immediately ignoring their fallen comrades. Akito rolled to the side and flattened himself against a door frame, his squad took similar cover against the walls and floor.

"Smoke," ordered Akito. One the commandos pulled a smoke grenade, pulled the pin and threw it down the hall. Chemical smoke began to fill the hall, the Guards at the end of the hall, not equipped with advanced eyewear in confines of the bunker, began to spray fire at any movement they believed they saw. Akito dropped his rifle and drew his blade and pistol, sprinting threw the smoke keeping low and to the wall, Akito jumped upon his first target. The blade sliced open his throat, while Akito's pistol flashed and another Guards head exploded out the back.

In a flurry of blade and pistol Akito butchered the Guards, though despite being outmatched by the skilled fighter the Guards did everything in their power to kill him. Guards sprayed fire where they could see him, keeping clear heads even as their comrades fell as bloodied corpses. When the final Guard fell, Akito had been hit only a few times only his armor having saved his life. A few years previous neither the Britannian or European soldiers would've been able to touch him their panic having overtaken their reasoning.

As the last breath left the final Guard Akito could just make out the faint red glow of a geass. Akito wished he had had some of the new Geass Cancellers, but he still could not argue with the reasoning he had not been given any. They were needed more dearly with the Emperor's campaign.

The rest of his squad ran through the smoke behind him and together they returned to their sprint down the hall. Veering through more halls and rooms, killing as they ran they stopped before another door closed and locked. The door was made of metal and wood belying its armored nature. The men stopped and spread through the room as one of the men came forward and planted a square object onto the door.

Depressing the trigger on the remote detonator red waves of energy burned and melted away wood, and metal. The Radiant Wave Surger warhead destroyed the armored door and locks. As the energy died away one of the men turned around and kicked the door in, as it opened he through in a flash bang. The stun grenade detonated and Akito ran inside, men were bent over clutching their heads, quickly finding his target he moved forward and used his blades hilt to knock out the form of Machevel. The other commandos entered the room spraying their rifles, killing the rest of the room's occupants.

As the fire stopped Akito motioned for several of his squad to pick up the unconscious form of Macheval. The man was far from what he had been on the news just a year prior. He had grown thin though the he had a small belly that suggested that he was trying to change this earnestly. His face was sweaty, and his hair seemed to be falling out, and where it wasn't it was losing color and hair dye was used badly to try and cover the grayness. As the men carried the slumbering leader Akito lead them back through the halls. Fighting still echoed through the halls as other groups fought the occupants of the bunker.

"HV1 has been found and captured," called Akito through the radio. "All blades re-sheath. Repeat All blades re-sheath."

Throughout the bunker commandos began to pull back out of the bunker, outside the knightmares, gunships, and transports readied to evacuate the soldiers. Around the compound the bombardment continued, the explosions kept reinforcements under cover. Small groups tried to reinforce the command bunker, but these were beaten away easily by the large bipedal war machines.

As Akito and his squad emerged from the bunker they dove into the closest transport. The aircraft immediately took to the skies again and several gunships and knightmares followed as guards. The rest of the transports took off after their passengers boarded. But as their craft took to the skies, two men in UFN uniforms watched from an untouched part of the bunker. Looking at each other, their eyes glowed a slight red and one pushed a button and a signal was sent along a physical communications line below in the sewers. The other worked on a communication device sending out a small stream of data back to the UFN. Then as one they pulled pistols and shot themselves.

Thirty Minutes later

Guilford stood on the bridge of the command G-1 base, as it moved behind the main lines of his troops. He gazed across the map of the city, or what was left anyway, a spike in radiation had been detected but had quickly disappeared. The signature was far to distinct and small to have been the power core of any knightmare or vehicle. The fact it was moving when it had been detected gave credence that it wasn't the power source of any of the enemy bunkers.

"Status on Krachenko?" asked Guilford. The Russian commander had insisted on being the one to scout the area.

One of the technicians replied, "moving into the area, escorts are engaging local units of the Guard. Communication link established."

As small window opened with Krachenko's bearded face, he grinned a toothy grin as he greeted, "my lord."

"Grigori," replied Guilford with a nod. "What have you found."

While Krachenko's English was good, his accent bleed through, "nothing yet. Well. Nothing except the crazy bastards that make up the Guard."

The Russian's image shook as his knightmare was battered by a muffled explosion from outside, Guilford rolled his eyes, "you know I'm starting to think letting you go out there was a bad idea."

"Bah!" came the reply. "I can't always be sitting behind a map table and pushing flags about." The Russian grinned, "admit it even you are getting antsy to come out here."

Guilford allowed himself a small smile at that, for it was true, he had been the knight of Cornelia. He had led the force of an entire Area of the empire, and even then, he had taken out his own knightmare and done battle. But now that he ran an entire theatre of war instead of a single battle, he found that he had to trade the controls of a knightmare to the "flags on a map table."

Another explosion rocked the picture of Krachenko, this one far larger than the previous one. Immediately a small alarm sounded on the bridge and a technician cried out, "radiation spike detected."

Krachenko spoke up saying, "yeah, I think we just found the enemies trump card."

"What are you seeing General?" asked Guilford. K

Krachenko typed on a few buttons and images from his fact-spheres appeared before Guilford. A building had been blown out, exactly how was unknown and could very well have been an ammunition explosion. But the result was the same, the falling building had seemingly destabilized the street to the point where a chunk had fallen in on itself to reveal the tunnel beneath.

Radiation leak from the hole signifying the presence of the bomb held within, men could be seen in the hole. Some squirmed from beneath chunks of ruble as other moved about either trying to bring up weapons or move some of the ruble. In all the picture looked like a destroyed ant hill. Looking at the picture beneath Guilford called out, "Krachenko! Pin those men down, keep the bomb there for as long as possible."

Professionalism returned to the conversation, "yes sir!"

A spray of bullets flew into the hole and clumps of dust jumped into the air where the pieces of metal impacted the ruble. Other Knightmares entered the fray and began to fire into the hole as onboard sensors scanned looking for the exact position of the bomb. As they fought Guilford typed on a separate keypad, silently he sent commands to the FLEIJA team and a return signal came signifying the readiness of the weapon.

Turning back to the screen he addressed Krachenko, "Genera get ready to pull your troops back, I'm having the FLEIJA prepped and targeted to your location."

"Yes, my lord!" replied Krachenko understanding the plan, use the FLEIJA to destroy the bomb before it could go off. "All troops fall back!"

As the Russian gave the commands Guilford depressed the button on his keypad. Miles away FLOAT powered projectile jumped from a heavily guarded launcher, the FLEIJA warhead within immediately began guiding itself to its chosen target.

"The weapon is on its way general, double time it!" shouted Guilford as Krachenko began to lift into the air.

"Already at the bar," replied Krachenko as his Frame accelerated. Below him unseen gears of a timer had been jar out of alignment and mis truck. A firing pin shot forward, and a small explosion fired a piece of radioactive sakurdite enhanced uranium forward into another piece. Atoms split, and massive power was generated, searing light and heat expanded from the bomb and engulfed block after block. Krachenko barely processed the though of, "light?" before his frame was knocked down.

He didn't scream because there was no time for that, he didn't feel anything as his organs heated up and burst as the metal around him glowed hot, there was no time for that. Guilford had time to widen his eyes and gasp as he watched a bloom of fire and light flash in the city, and the feed from Krachenko turn to static. The warhead saw the fire and light and sensed the shock wave coming, its computer brain adjusted its engine power and balanced itself as it flew through the heavy wind on its course.

But chunks started to come off the casing of the advanced missile, its computer brain then sent out a signal to Guilford, "low possibility of reaching target. Premature detonation? Or self-destruction?"

Guilford looked at the message sent and an all to familiar sense of rage filled him, rage such as he had felt before when serving Cornelia and her life had been threatened. Rage such as when he had fought Zero, and he had believed the man he now served had taken everything from him. His face contorted as his rage overflowed and without thinking he pressed the button.

Another light plumed in the city, purple light swallowed the yellow brilliance of the fission explosion. Dust, debris, wind, and shock wave were swallowed in the expanding light sphere. Fires went out as there very being was sucked from existence itself. Powerful and deadly radiation vanished from the spectrum as a greater force broke through. As the great sphere vanished, so did a great portion of the city, the bomb blast, and many of the city's defenders, as well as any remains of Krachenko and his dead men.

Guilford watched and as he did his face smoothed out and the adrenaline wore off. His eyes widened as the gravity of what he had done hit him. Clenching his hands, he fought the wobbling in his legs and kept himself from falling to the ground. Straightening up he turned to the technicians and broke them from their stunned silence, "notify the emperor of what has happened. Tell him I will give him my report within the hour and begin broadcasting messages to the Republican Guard asking for their surrender. I shall be in my quarters, notify me of any developments."

With his orders given Guilford turned and left the bridge for his quarters, upon entering and closing the doors he collapsed on his bed his eyes wide open, yet unseeing. His steady breathing the only indication that he was yet living.

A.N. Before anyone reacts to much about Krachenko let me say that I always planned to kill him off which is why I didn't expand much of his character. Like in the Code Geass universe he was just a means to an end for me. And that end will be become more apparent later in the story. The Battle of Berlin is ended. What are Lelouch's underlings planning? You'll have to stay tuned to find out.