"Why do men follow me? That is something I truly do not know the answer to, its not really something I think about, I suppose its just natural, a feeling people have around me that makes them... Well fear and love me is the best way to describe it... an Aura of power if you want to get more mystic."
Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia.
…
"We are approaching the minefield my Prince."
My smirk turned viscous at the words, a sea mine field, what a simple solution, one that I would not have thought to use in Xingke's place, but an effective one, stopping or at least heavily slowing incoming fleets, combined with the storm preventing conventional aircraft from engaging. A brilliant defensive strategy, but not one that takes my newest toys into account, such a shame you are so dedicated Xingke, I get the feeling you would make an excellent opponent in Kriegspiel.
"Status on the lance batteries?"
"All except the rear batteries are online, but functioning at half capacity."
That would have to do, the shock was the biggest thing here anyway.
"Raise the Olympus."
With that the 600 meter long, near 200.000 ton super carrier began to rise from the waves into the skies, revealing the massive barrels of fusion lances previously hidden under the waves, along with giant float strips, 'borrowed' from Camelot's files, along with the massive blaze luminous projectors that could surround the Olympus in a full bubble, take that Schneizel, mine is bigger.
…
"Are we really deploying to join a suicide mission? This seems a bit out of character for you Lelouch."
"Its not quite as suicidal as you might think, its more like bait, to lure the lion into attacking earlier then he would like, Kallen?"
"Yes..." She did not like where he was going with this...
"Trust me, the lion will come, rushing in to save the day, especially when he sees you in danger."
For some reason Kallen felt like that statement should be worrying, but she trusted Lelouch, and his words had merit, Andre would not hesitate to come to her rescue, Lelouch only made her understand that that was true.
"Alright then, let's do this."
...
"Suzaku Kururugi, launching!"
Euphemia stood on the bridge of the Avalon, worried more then was probably reasonable, but her Knight was going off into battle on his own, with only terrorist to support him. Sure those terrorist were under her brothers command, but that was semantics, he was still in danger.
"When will Zero's forces arrive?"
"Quite soon, the man likes his dramatics, I will be there shortly too, no need to worry sister."
"I... Alright Andre, thank you."
With that she cut to connection, still gazing fearfully at the strat map, questioning, for the first time in a long time, her brothers decisions... was following his advice really the best idea? Maybe he was too pessimistic? He was always really careful, well... until now at least.
...
"Incoming strike craft! It's going through the storm at over 800 meters per second!"
The Lion was not that desperate... something felt off about this, this was a move unlike him, like a trap was being placed in front of him, but only... that was too obvious. Xingke found himself worried for the first time since the Lions invasion when half of China burned and the federation nearly collapsed under the political pressure. This felt like a trap, but not one he could ignore... had the Lion already lured him into such a situation?
"Cameras?"
"No sir, the clouds are providing cover from both ground based and low orbit craft."
"Ready full response, launch Mach 3 capable VTOL's to intercept, prepare Knightmare forces for possible airstrike or Knightmare drop."
"Yes Glorious General!"
"Please stop calling me that, I am but a humble servant of the Tianzi."
...
"This is Perseus Pegasus, perform last system check."
"Understood your highness! Running last checks! Reactor online, energy fillers, full, plasma generation, optimal, wings, operational, lance system operation, mirror shield, operational, lance battery, operational, shoulder batteries, operational, you are ready to launch your highness.
"Alright then, Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia, Knightmare Perseus Pegasus..." My mind drifted to the form of my new machine, the tall, golden giant that was Perseus having been fitted with a new set of skeletal looking wings, somewhat resembling those of a angle without the feathers only mechanical, along with a brand new two hander plasma sword, and a bunch of fun little upgrades like the new shoulder guns. I am ready for these final battles, come at me Lelouch, come at me Father, come at me Schneizel, I am ready. "Launching!"
The launching rail atop the Olympus pulsed, magnets gripping my frame and acceleration kicking in, punching me all over my body at once as the Perseus Pegasus was catapulted at near the speed of sound towards the clouded skies. A moment later the Wings on my Knightmares back spread wide, dozens of plasma thrusters kicking in to keep my mech elevated, a great boosters between them blasting a pure white plume of light into the air behind me, propelling the Perseus towards the Chinese invasion force.
"Speed?"
"1027 meters per second, just under Mach 3 your highness! Is the inertia manageable?"
"Yes, those dampeners are working wonders, I barely feel a thing."
…..
"This is Lelouch Lamperouge, Shogun Gawain, Now launching!"
"Kallen Kozuki, Guren Talon, launching!"
Kallen found that taking to the air was unlike anything she had ever expected, sure the Gawain could fly, and now that its engines were stripped and slotted onto the Shogun so could the Shogun, but this flight was different.
The float system was exactly that, It caused shit to float, a single thruster and a bunch of those float strips and you could make anything float and move in the air, but these jet wings... Now these were the real thing, with enough burst thrust to concuss the pilot if they were not careful, less manoeuvrable sure, but they did not run on an energy filler so when the jet fuel ran out it would not mean the end of the fight for frames fitted with them.
"Move to destroy enemy Knightmares Kallen, don't worry about over extending, the Lion will send reinforcements to help you, trust me."
"Sure thing Lelouch."
…
"Three additional contacts generals! 2 joining the first in the clouds, eta 30 seconds, we have image of the last one! Above the minefield!"
"On screen."
What Xingke saw made his heartrate spike, its form was unmistakable, the Perseus had been burnt into the mind of every single Chinese General, along with the order to destroy it. The giant golden Knightmare soared through the air on a pair of golden wings with feathers of pure white jet plumes, a greater plume of white fire from its thrusters propelling it forward at Mach 3.
"A flying Knightmare... The Lion is pushing his luck, it wont be able to contend with proper jets, shame I don't have any of those here."
"General! The other three are landing! Its machines just like it! Two of them look like members of the dragons!"
"Zero betrays his own people... The operation has gone AWOL... Prepare the Shen-hu with the BRS, damn the consequences."
…..
"Sir Kururugi, we have a temporary truce with the Black-knights, work with them to secure the beach head. I have linked your comms, they are secure, please get to work."
"Yes, your highness!"
Kallen rolled her eyes at the deference the knight showed her boyfriend, Suzaku was always a stickler for rules and regulations but some banter was always good, Andre would have appreciated it too. Still she angled her Guren down, the thrusters in her blood red wings kicking down, white fire licking the ground as she landed atop a Chuyen, a unit based on a Chinese prototype that actually halted the lion for a brief moment during the war, the yellow machine crushing the Guren's bulk.
Her fact sphere popped open for a second, giving her a detailed analysis of her surroundings, eight Chuyen's were already moving towards her, Kallens tongue darted out for a brief second, wetting her lips, before she charged. The Shogun and Lancelot staying behind to secure their landing zone as she went to work, her lance thrusted forwards in a lunge, taking her first victim by surprise, the burning red plasma of the tip piercing his cockpit and tearing the pilot in half.
She took brief notice of how the Guren's wings folded onto her back, the thrusters in her legs kicked for second and she was upon the second Chuyen, her claw latching onto its head, radiation spiked and the escape pod flew far into the distance. The smoke provided her cover as two more charged her, their rifles spitting rounds ineffectively against her armor, their short-swords ready to strike.
Time for her next trick then, she pulled a trigger on her controllers and the Guren's shoulders whined for a second before spitting two bolts of bright red plasma towards her targets. Their armor slagged and melted, their pilots burned from the flash of radiation and heat, and the frames collapsed to cool on the burning grass.
"I see why Andre likes those so much..."
The remaining Chuyen made a swift retreat from the Knightmare emerging from the smoke, wings stretched wide, spear in its left hand, fire dancing around its armor, its claw cracking with red electricity.
…
"Incoming Chinese fighters your highness. 4 VTOLS armed with missiles."
"Excellent, ready the chest-gun, focus ECM on those missiles, never did like those."
"Of course!"
Soon enough the fighters came onto my HUD and I moved to engage, my ECM, equal to none, disabled their missiles before they could even fire them, from that point on, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT-BOOM
"Huh, the chest gun does go BRRR..."
Laughing at my own joke I engaged the next jet up close, It was trying to get me with its cannons, but even if it could get a shot on me those cannons would not be able to pierce my armor. Another burst from Perseus's chest gun shredded its wing and sent it careening towards the ground, its two last friends banking away to disengage.
"ETA to the landing zone?"
"Fifteen minutes your highness, the Lancelot and those dragons are holding out but the Chinese are not allowing them to clear their artillery landships."
"Well, lets increase our speed then, activate the override, Mach 4 will do for now."
"Of course!"
…..
"How many of these fucks are there!?"
"If I find out I will let you know Guren!"
"Shut it Lancelot! That was a rhetorical question!"
"Will you two please shut up and get back to fighting them!?"
Suzaku wondered why it felt so natural to fight with these two, especially Lelouch, the two of them sort of clicked when fighting, able to not get in each other's way and strike enemies in each other's blind spots. It was exhilarating, stressful but exhilarating. His energy filler was getting closer to empty, the enemy was pushing them back, his allies fought furiously and with little regard for honour.
Kallen was a bit further away from them, engaging mostly on her own, dancing around her opponents, striking them with her spear, wings, shoulder cannons and terrifying claw. Why was she breaking formation? It was not like her. At least not in his experience. Something felt off about this, Kallen was a monster in combat, confident and aggressive, but not suicidal.
"Lancelot, next wave is incoming, cover me while I charge another blast."
"Understood Shogun."
He kept an eye on the rear camera, watching as the large Hadron projectors stuck to the Shoguns hips gathered energy around themselves, whatever workaround the Black knight mechanics had found for them requiring time to charge. Suzaku cleaved through a pair of Chuyen's before they had fully charged up, the hips of the Shogun blazing with red and black light, before lancing out like a pair of supercharged flamethrowers.
The ten Chuyen's were caught in the middle of their charge, the red and black overtaking them in an instant, leaving nothing but charred ground and puddles of slag. What a brutal weapon, sometimes Suzaku found himself despising Lloyd and the Lion for making such things possible.
….
"Shen-hu is ready for deployment sir!"
"Status on the enemy attack?"
"Those three on the beach are keeping their position, but their reinforcements cant move in with the artillery landships still in position."
"Good, the Perseus?"
"Approaching at Mach 4, you should have five minutes sir, the Red Dragon Empress is tearing her way to the closest landship, will she be your target?"
"It's the only logical one... The Olympus?"
"Twenty minutes away from our fleet, should we move to engage it?"
"No keep to crescent formation and bombard it when it moves into range, that airship is not moving in unarmed, and whatever the lion has concocted... it will be destructive."
"Yes General, good luck out there sir."
…..
Kallen felt a bit strange... she was fighting, which was fun, as always, but her own behaviour was confusing, why was she charging on her own? She found it a bit weird, sure she liked to get a bit forward from her allies in battle, fight with more enemies at once and engage aces in one on one, but charging like this, it felt weird. Sure she had Lelouch's orders and the trust that Andre was on his way to help her out, but it still felt weird.
Her shoulder guns spat another two blasts of red plasma downrange towards a group of Chuyen's, the Chinese must have been building those none fucking stop because whenever she taught she had gotten through a good number of them more showed up. Her energy filler was half empty and the fuel for her plasma thrusters was a bit further along than that, she could easily go for another hour, but it would get tough after that.
Her Guren flares its wings as its leg thrusters and wings blasted plumes of white hot plasma behind her, she soared through the air a leap, a move copied from observing her boyfriend during the times they fought. Her spear impaling a Chuyen below her, its bullets pinging off of her chest armor without effect, its companion, another Chuyen, the Chinese seemed to always fight in pairs of two within their formations, moved to strike her with its sword.
"Bad move..."
Her muttered words came over the voice box like a demonic growl, her machines clawed right hand latching onto the frames sword hand as she extended it, then the surger activated, and the machine boiled and bubbled. Chinese mass production, they don't account for the need to remove limbs separately for maintenance, when a part breaks they just send the machine to recycling, which meant to reactive armor to pop off when she got a hold of their machines.
"Very bad move..."
…
Xingke felt his ears burst, his nose bleed and his eyes burn as he connected himself to the Shen-hu, the experimental European technology that connected his mind directly to the machine via the brain raid system that invasively scanned his synapses for neural responses, increasing his reaction time tenfold. But when he emerged over the hill and came within sight range of the Guren he knew it was needed, the rather short red machine was tearing through his men at an alarming rate and he need everything he could get to stop the Red Dragon Empress.
"Come then Shen-hu, take your toll of blood from this old soldier... use it as fuel... All for my Tianzi."
The Shen-hu responded, launching him forward at speed unmatched, its shortsword popping out of its arm plate, lighting red at its edges as the left wrist mounted slash harken spinning fast enough to seem like solid shield. The Red Dragon responded to his approach quicker then he would have expected, her spear striking towards his chest, blocked by his harkens but with difficulty, and his sword strike just barely avoided by a short jet assisted jump
"A challenger approaches... Lets see how you match up Chinadoll!"
She pulled at her spear, wrapped by the Shen-hu's Harken cable and Xingke just avoided being pulled into range of her claw's extended grab, but his attempted retaliation strike with his shortsword was blocked by her spear. He spun his harken quickly as he noticed the slight whine coming from the Guren's shoulders, since the end of the war he had been training to counter this kind of move, the move that destroyed more frames in close combat than any other, those fucking shoulder guns.
The plasma blasts dispersed on the harkens reinforced cable, blinding him for a brief moment, but he did not wait, he had practiced this a thousand times in the simulator and a hundred in spars. He ducked, avoiding the spear thrust that left his shoulder plate singed, slashing his sword low, and felt it tear through the Guren's leg armor.
"Fuck!"
…..
She flared the Guren's wings in response, this man had clearly practised the move and had a further follow up for anything that Andre would do in that situation, and Andre would always move to counter attack. So she disengaged, her spear thrusting blindly into the smoke, smirk growing as it found one of the blue machines fact spheres and destroyed it. She would have loved to continue this spar, an new opponent was always a blast, sometimes literally, but the blue machines friends were moving in to support it and it was likely to have another friend, those Chinese troops always worked in pairs after all.
"Don't try to run Dragon, we have you surrounded."
"Oh... Do you now?" Was she getting a bit arrogant? Yes, probably, Andre was having a bit of an effect on her, she had faced off with the man many a time, the only pilot to engage the lion and stand up to the man acknowledged as one of the best Knightmare pilots in the world. Kallen felt she had the right to be bit arrogant, felt that she had earned it. "Then come at me and burn like the others before you!"
The Guren's wings flared again, blinding the charging Chuyens and their blue machine leader, sending her high into the air above them and allowing her to fire her last new toy. Her claw aimed down, glowing bright red and crackling with electricity a massive long range blast of radiation cutting across the ground, incinerating half a dozen of the Chinese Knightmares instantly. She came down towards the ground with her spear ready to pierce through the blue machine, he responded quicker then she expected, a glow on his chest and she felt fear for the first time in a long time as a blast of orange and blue emerged from its chest.
She fired her surger at max output, the two blasts fighting, her red being pushed back, not fully recharged from her earlier attack
Then she heard it in the distance, the roar of an engine...
A strange feeling of empowering hope...
And the lyrics of a song...
"Storm clouds, fire and steel! Death from above make their enemy kneel! Shining armour and wings! Death from above, it's an army of kings!"
The Lion had arrived... just as she trusted he would...
…..
"Timing is everything, both in a performance and in war Schneizel, you should know by now that ruling is just as much actually ruling as it is theatre."
Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia
…
Does the mind control make you uncomfortable? Good, it fucking should! That shit is scary as hell and most fanfic writers really undersell how fucking creepy Geass is.
All credits for lyrics go to Sabaton and their amazing songs, please check them out if you are into history, metal or both!
Hope everyone had a good holiday season and have a good end of the year, best wishes from this writer, to all of you. Lets hope 2022 is better then these last few years, welcome to year 3 of our six month lockdown too btw.