Here's the next chapter. Anyway, I don't own Code Geass or any of the characters just the OC. This chapter will be the last chapter of the Chinese Federation Arc. It was originally going to be two separate chapters, but in the end, I decided they were better as one large chapter. Though it took longer to finish because of that.
32. Fight Against Oppression
As the guests continued to flee the wedding, with Milly, Lloyd, and Nina still being inside by the seats. Schneizel along with Gino, Anya and Odysseus were at the side of the altar a few feet away from Zero. Zero who appeared stood in front of the altar with the Empress beside him and held out his hand towards Xingke, urging him to escape with them.
"Zero, I see you arrived on time." Xingke addressed him.
"Indeed, now come." Zero reached out his hand. "Let us make our escape."
Xingke smirked. Suddenly there is an explosion that comes from above and it breaks a hole in the ceiling, causing a burst of rubble to fall down. When the rubble clears, standing in front of Zero and Tianzi is the Zangetsu, the Knightmare Frame built specifically for Todoh, who is currently the one piloting it.
"So you had a Knightmare prepared for this?" Xingke noted, running up to them.
"I never thought the Zangetsu's first mission would be the stealing bride from a wedding," Todoh said quietly, almost finding it amusing.
"Todoh, get Schneizel." Zero commanded.
"Right. I'm on it." Todoh responded. And so the Zangetsu turned towards Schneizel and his entourage while aiming its Blade, but before it could reach them a Slash Harken hit the Zangetsu's Sword from above and stopped it, Todoh knew who was responsible. "He's already here."
Coming from the sky was the Lancelot that was piloted by Suzaku who flew towards the wedding hall.
"Hands off the Prince!" Suzaku exclaimed, threateningly.
Todoh activated the Zangetsu's float-until and flew up to face the Lancelot. "Suzaku."
"It can't be. Master Todoh?" Suzaku exclaimed surprised, recognizing his voice.
The two Knightmares clashed Swords and were locked in a struggle in the sky above the building. With Todoh distracted Gino stands in front of Schneizel in a protective manner.
"Flee while you can, Your Highness," Gino advised him.
"I guess it can't be helped." Schneizel decided, turning to address Odysseus. "Brother."
"Yes, I think we should." Odysseus agreed, sounding afraid.
And so the two Princes, along with Anya walked away, fleeing the scene.
"Schneizel!" Zero thought, frustrated at Schneizel's escape.
Zhao Hao turned to the other High Eunuchs and spoke.
"We should go, too. Leave it to the soldiers." Zhao Hao suggested, mostly out of cowardice.
"Yes." Cheng Zhong agreed.
Soon an Akatsuki Command Model Zikisan Knightmare Frame that was piloted by Chiba flies from the opening in the ceiling and hovers down to the alter while carrying a large metal crate.
"Zero, the operation's on schedule," Chiba reported, within her Knightmare.
"Good. Enter phase 3." Zero ordered.
"We're on our way," Chiba replied.
Chiba then releases the create on the floor and it opens to reveal it was containing the Guren Mk-II. Kallen and Kaguya head towards it while Chiba shoots down some of the remaining soldiers. Zero heads inside it with Xingke and Tianzi, and when Kallen and Kaguya arrive they enter the create as well.
Skys Above The Wedding Hall
As Todoh and Suzaku clash above in the sky, both their Swords are clashing as the Zangetsu moves back to fire its Slash Harken, while the Lancelot blocks it with its Blaze Luminous. The Zangetsu then flies upwards and Suzaku sees an opening.
"Yes, now!" Suzaku exclaimed.
Suzaku tries to fire at Todoh with a blast from the VARIS, but Todoh reveals a Radiant-Wave shield system similar to the Guren's that nullified the blast.
"The same system as the Guren?" Suzaku said surprised.
"So, it does work. With this Zangetsu, I can take on a class-one warrior like Suzaku." Todoh said to himself.
"So be it." Suzaku resigned himself.
Suzaku then mounts another sanction of gear onto his VARIS in order to make it into the Hadron Blaster and aimed it at the Zangetsu, ready to fire.
"I'll blow away—"
Before Suzaku could finish, Todoh's Knightmare dashed past him.
"Think!" Todoh shouted, interrupting him. "Will you shoot at me in this position?"
Todoh's warning made him realize where the Zangetsu was positioned. The Knightmare was hovering with the Main hall right behind him, so if Suzaku fired and missed there would be mass casualties, including important people.
"The Forbidden City." Suzaku realized, before noticing another signal was picked up on his monitor. He zoomed in to see The Guren and Akatsuki piloted by Chiba were flying away while carrying the metal crate. "Are they…?"
This causes Suzaku to be distracted and Todoh takes advantage of that by flying above him and bring down his Sword for a powerful overhead slash.
"Suzaku Kururugi, taste defeat!" Todoh exclaimed, proudly.
"Kyoshiro Todoh, not yet!" Suzaku responded, defiant.
The Lancelot manages to dodge the Zangetsu's attack by a small space, but Todoh isn't finished.
"Shadow Longsword!" Todoh shouted.
Following up on his attack, the Zangetsu's Sword manages to slash off a chunk of Lancelot's float unit. This causes damage to Suzaku's float system
"He got my float unit!" Suzaku cursed.
While still in the air from the time being, the Lancelot spun and kicked the Zangetsu, which is blocked with its arm. Suzaku activated Lancelot's shield on its leg which caused the Zangetsu's arm and broke off of its body.
"He could still launch a direct attack?" Todoh cursed.
"Todoh, return now," Zero ordered, contacting him. "You destroyed the Lancelot's float unit. So he can't pursue us. That's enough for now. We need you here."
"Understood." Todoh obeyed.
Inside The Metal Crate
Within the metal crate container, there was a large empty space with nothing but a chair in the centre and a small seating spot by the wall. Kaguya, Tianzi and Xingke sat by the wall while Zero on the chair.
"Your Majesty, you'll soon be outside the Forbidden City." Kaguya consoled her.
"Huh?" Tianzi looked at her surprised.
Chinese Main Hall Command Center
Inside a command room that was used for military purposes, the High Eunuchs along with a group of soldiers were there following the Black Knights movements on a large screen monitor.
"Are they trying to escape through our capital radar surveillance network?" Xia Wang theorized.
"Absurd. How could they know that? It's barely ten days since they arrived here. There's no way for them to find that out." Cheng Zhong argued.
Black Knights Escape Truck
Meanwhile on the road driving away from the capital city was a large truck driven by C.C that had Sugiyama, Tamaki and R.R on board. Kallen, Todoh and Chiba's Knightmares were flying towards the truck. The roof of the truck's container opened, while the Knightmare carrying the metal crate containing the others slowly lowered it inside the truck's container, then the other two Knightmares flew in. And then the roof closed. Sugiyama had a radio communicator and contacted Todoh.
"General Todoh, we'll begin resupplying Knightmares from Chiba's Akatsuki," Sugiyama reported.
"Good. Then resupply the Zangetsu and Guren after we return to the Ikaruga." Todoh responded.
Sugiyama walked through a door in the truck and went to the room where the crate and Knightmares were in as the others walked out of the crate. Meanwhile, in the truck's driving seat, C.C was still driving away while Tamaki on one of the passengers' seats was reading the map.
"Okay, take the next left turn." Tamaki directed.
"Is that correct?" C.C asked.
Tamaki looked again and saw it wasn't.
"Oops, my mistake!" Tamaki said, loudly.
"Idiot!" C.C reprimanded him.
C.C is forced to quickly swerve the truck in order to change directions. This made the truck shake a bit and caused Tianzi to fall into Kaguya's arms.
"Your Majesty." Xingke went up to her concerned.
"Are you all right, Your Majesty?" Kaguya asked, also concerned.
"Are we, outside the palace?" Tianzi asked, looking around confused.
"Yes," Kaguya confirmed, with a frown. "I'm sorry I didn't expect that your dream would come true in such a violent way like this but…"
Tianzi heard what she said and smiled. "You remembered about my dream, too! You both did!" She said, happy.
Meanwhile, outside the truck, a fleet of enemy helicopters were chasing after the Black Knights. The Zangetsu's fired its guns at them, destroying a few helicopters but more swarmed around them.
"They don't know when to quit." Kallen aimed the Guren's left arm at them. "Get lost!"
With that Kallen fired the Guren's Radiant Wave Surger wide-range at the fleet of enemy helicopters and in an instant all of them exploded and were destroyed. But inside the truck, Tamaki was still reading the map to navigate their route.
"Now take the next right." Tamaki directed.
"No, we go straight here." C.C corrected him.
"What? You know how to get there?" Tamaki asked her.
"Long ago. There's something I…" C.C started but didn't say more.
In the back of the truck inside the container where the metal crate was placed, next to a table that was brought there and Zero was sitting at that table along with Tianzi, Kaguya and Xingke.
"Our nation, the United States of Japan, should be thought of as just a part of a giant union of united states. Including the United States of China. And for that we need you." Zero explained to Tianzi.
"The Indian southern province has already promised support. Mongolia and Burma will probably move with them." Kaguya added.
"This union of united states will form an axis to oppose Britannia."
"But our nation's already a federated system…" Tianzi pointed out.
"All systems are limited," Zero argued. "That's why the High Eunuchs sold you to Britannia for their own ambition. That is unforgivable."
Tianzi still seemed unsure and so she turned to Xingke.
"Xingke, what do you think?" Tianzi asked.
"Your Majesty, the only one who can make this decision is you," Xingke said to her.
Zero stood up and also looked at Xingke. "I would also like to hear your thoughts on these matters."
"I heard about your objective from Soul and have agreed to join forces. However, outside of her Majesty's desires, I have no other opinion on this matter." Xingke decided.
"But right now the Empress can't rely on anyone besides you and you have a better understanding of the needs of your nation than anyone, especially the High Eunuchs." Zero reasoned. "If it's you, I doubt the Empress would have a problem with it."
Xingke seemed to consider what he was saying but still stayed quiet.
"Xingke," Tianzi spoke up, getting his attention. "Um, it's hard to understand this, but… I don't mind doing what you think is right. I'll believe in whatever you believe in."
Xingke looked surprised by her words but then smiled gratefully. "Your words honour me." He said before he turned to Zero. "Very well, but I suggest we discuss this after this current battle is settled."
"Of course, that's fine with me." Zero agreed.
And with that, the two of them walked away and headed for the front of the truck.
"We're going up front to keep up to date with the current situation," Zero told Kaguya.
"I'll stay here to keep the Empress company," Kaguya said to them.
"Right, I appreciate this," Xingke said, before following Zero out the door.
Once they were they the room, Tianzi looked down. "I wonder, will things be okay?" She asked, concerned.
"Your Majesty. Is Li Xingke the one you'd really like to be married to?" Kaguya asked her, interested.
"Huh?" Tianzi gasped and blushed. "Oh, no. He just made a promise…"
"As your fiance?" Kaguya inquired.
"Well I, I told him I wanted to go outside six years ago," Tianzi explained.
"It was that long ago?" Kaguya asked, then she leaned forward excited. "He must be destined for you!"
"You, you think so?" Tianzi asked, surprised.
"That's great!" Kaguya exclaimed, excited while blushing.
Meanwhile in the front of the truck Zero and Xingke walked in and Zero was now sat next to C.C, while Xingke stood.
"How did discussing things with the Empress turn out?" R.R asked.
"We'll reach a conclusion at a later time," Zero answered.
"Are you sure you want to leave her to Kaguya?" C.C asked them.
"I believe it's better for the Empress the remain with someone she can confide in for the time being." Xingke reasoned.
"Besides, Kaguya is more capable than she sometimes lets on, especially in these types of situations," Zero added.
"Say, Zero. Have you come up with some kind of position for me yet?" Tamaki brought up. "I'm wide open, man! Maybe you can pose me as finance minister or head of banking."
"How about the grand minister of partying?" C.C suggested, sarcastically.
"I told you to quit making fun of me like that!" Tamaki barked at her, before looking back at Zero. "C'mon, we're all buddies, right?"
"Tamaki, no offence but, back in the day when you were the one managing our finances, we ended up having financial problems." R.R reminded him.
"Hey, that was a long time ago!" Tamaki argued.
"Soul is the one who reassigns positions to current members. Discuss it with him after we finish the mission." Zero instructed him.
Tamaki suddenly felt the truck come to a stop. "Huh?"
The truck ends up coming to a cliff where the bridge they intended to cross has been destroyed.
"What? The bridge is gone?" Tamaki said surprised.
The High Eunuchs' forces then begin to close in on the rear.
Chinese Main Hall Command Center
Back in the command room, the High Eunuchs saw the enemy signals on the monitor have stopped and a soldier contacted them.
"This is Forbidden City strike force, unit four. Target is currently stopped at Shen Chun." The soldier reported.
The High Eunuchs were pleased by this, thinking they've won.
"They're such fools." Zhao Hao said.
Black Knights Escape Truck
Back on the truck, Zero didn't seem upset by this at all, in fact, he seemed pleased.
"They fell for it just as I thought they would." Zero thought, before saying out loud. "Soul!"
Suddenly the Agravaine along with two more Akatsuki Zikisans that were being piloted by Urabe and Asahina flew up from beneath the cliff.
"Right, I'm on it," Soul responded. "All units rise up and prepare to attack!" He ordered.
And on his command, a battalion of Akatsuki Knightmare Frames that were piloted by members of the Black Knights climbed up from the cliff, while more appeared from both the left flank and the right flank.
Chinese Main Hall Command Center
The High Eunuchs were surprised by the sudden appearance of so many enemy signals that was now surrounding their forces.
"An ambush?" Zhao Hao said shocked.
"Enemy troops! We are surrounded!" A soldier reported.
"What? Shoot them, hurry!" Xia Wang ordered.
"No, wait! The Empress!" Cheng Zhong reminded him, with haste.
Black Knights Escape Truck
"Okay, let's try out these new weapons!" Asahina exclaimed as he fired.
From the wrist of his Knightmare, he fired a small missile at the enemy forces, which hit one of their tanks. Upon impact rather than detonating the missile unleashed the same energy as the Radiant Wave Surger and the tank was hit with the radiation energy before it swelled up and quickly exploded.
"Heh, the same as the Guren. It's a handy weapon." Urabe said, pleased.
The Agravaine brought out its VARIS Assault Rifle and then mounts another sanction of gear onto it, making it into the Hadron Blaster, he then fired. Destroying a large amount of the enemies forces.
"Let's end this quickly." Soul urged them.
It wasn't long before all the enemy forces were wiped out and the coast was cleared. Afterwards, The Akatsuki Zikisans lowered themselves to the truck and lifted it up in the air. Carrying it to the other side of the bridge, and with that, the truck continued to drive away as all the other Knightmares followed.
"We've taken out their strike force," R.R noted.
"Heh, just like we planned," Tamaki said, gleeful.
"Your plan was to hang back and stage an ambush at the Shen Chun ravine," Xingke said.
"That's correct." Zero replied.
"And now you plan to join up with your main force in Shao Pei," Xingke added.
That got Zero's attention. "Hmm, how did you know that?"
"That's just what I would do if I was in your place," Xingke answered while smiling.
"I see," Zero said, interested.
Bridge Aboard The Avalon
The Avalon was still hovering over the capital city and after evacuating the wedding hall, Schneizel and his entourage were now aboard it. The three Knights of the Round, along with Lloyd and Cecile were standing before Schneizel who was sitting on his throne and Kanon was standing at his side.
"How is Prince Odysseus?" Lloyd asked.
"He seems to have calmed down at last. He's resting." Schneizel said.
"Then, once we replace my float unit, I can go after the Empress," Suzaku suggested.
"No, we can't go there unless requested by the Chinese Federation," Kanon informed him.
"I understand, then we'll wait until then." Suzaku relented.
Shao Pei Wastelands
In the Shao Pei wastelands, the Black Knights had joined up with their main forces and were now aboard their flagship; the Ikaruga. Most of the Knightmares were also now aboard the ship, though a few Akatsuki were outside, guarding both the front, the back and both flanks of the ship while moving at the same pace as the ship with only a small distance separating them. Inside the ship on one of the lower decks, many of the Black Knights were there now on stand by. Since there were no pursuers following them, they believe they'd won for the moment.
While that was happening, Zero and C.C were walking together towards the elevator.
"That went more smoothly than I'd hoped. Perhaps I should thank Xingke for setting his own plan in motion. He's a talented strategist." Zero said.
"Did you know that he was planning to stage his coup de'tat at the ceremony?" C.C noted.
The two of them entered the elevator. Kallen who was a few feet away saw them together and had a small look of jealousy on her face. The doors closed and the elevator went up to the bridge.
"Not quite, it was actually the best possible time." Zero corrected her. "If he had waited any longer it would have been too late."
"And so because your goals happened to align you had Soul request we join forces at the ceremony?" C.C asked.
"Actually the whole thing was his idea," Zero admitted. "When he told me about it I immediately saw its merits and so I agreed."
"I see. You planned to use the Empress to take control of the Federation. But now you've decided to take the Federation through a rebellion with the Empress at its center?" C.C asked.
"We're rebels, after all, this is how we operate." Zero reasoned.
C.C smiled at that. Soon the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Zero and C.C walked out and were now on the bridge. Ohgi, Diethard, Euphie, Minami, Lyra, Soul, Rakshata and Xingke were already there and others were piloting the ship of working on other things.
"Is there news from Horai island?" Zero asked.
"Reinforcements from India have already arrived there," Diethard informed him.
"We just have to return and rendezvous with them. How are things with the Empress?" Ohgi asked.
"She is still with Lady Kaguya in a safe room," Zero answered. "It will take at least an hour before we encounter any more enemy forces, so for now let's discuss our next move."
"Then I have a proposal. I recommend we have our reinforcements from India move to the other location." Lyra suggested.
"Is there a reason to do that?" Ohgi asked.
"No, he has a point, Horai is our nation and has civilians there." Euphie reminded them. "Even if its defences are more fortified, we'll be exposing danger to our people."
"Not to mention we'll have another advantage by taking the fight there," Soul added. "The enemy won't be able to attack carelessly there."
"Where is this other location you plan on going to?" Xingke asked, joining the conversation.
"The Mausoleum of 88 Emperors," Diethard answered.
"The sacred monument where our previous Emperors are buried?" Xingke gasped, before realizing. "I see, it's a place where the enemy would think twice about attacking."
"Correct, and if we battle there along with our reinforcements we'll be able to overwhelm the enemy force with both numbers and the advantage of a greater strategy," Lyra explained.
"I see, very well then." Zero turned to Minami. "Minami, contact our reinforcements and tell them to change locations."
"Understood," Minami responded.
"Now moving on to the matter of the High Eunuchs," Zero said, looking to Xingke. "It's very likely they ask the Britannians for assistance."
"But if that's the case, we might end up fighting the Knights of the Round as well," Ohgi said, concerned.
"The High Eunuchs are fools, bringing the forces of a foreign Empire into our territory. Aid from Britannia, from the Avalon? Don't the High Eunuchs know who they're dealing with? Who do they think conquered half of the EU? It's Schneizel." Xingke cursed while clenching his fist.
"That's precisely why they'll seek his aid." Soul informed him. "Schneizel is a terrifying opponent to face against, he's an ingenious commander and controls strong military power, things they currently lack. Plus since the High Eunuchs already planned to hand over all this country's territory to Britannia it makes no difference to them."
"However, we can assume the Britannians won't be joining the battle right away. Meaning the enemy forces we'll be facing not long from now will be made up of only the Chinese forces." Zero pointed out.
"So for now, we should simply retreat and conserve our power for the main battle," Diethard suggested.
"I disagree," Soul spoke out. "I believe it'll be better to take out a portion of their forces now, that way they'll have less military strength during the main battle." He reasoned. "We need to assure total victory in this operation."
"Yes but—" Diethard still wanted to argue.
"If I may." Xingke interrupted them. "I believe I know of a way to defeat the incoming forces, without losing almost any of your own."
Vermilion Forbidden City
Back in the forbidden city, Milly was inside one of the main buildings, inside a lounge room, sitting on a couch alone and resting with nothing to do. Suddenly the sound of a camera phone went off and she looked to see Anya was standing next to her.
"Ah, Knight of the Round?" Milly addressed her, surprised.
Anya walked up to her and sat down on the couch as well. She typed a bit on her camera phone and then showed it to her.
"Look at these." Anya showed her.
Milly looked at the screen on the phone and was surprised by what she saw.
"Those are," Milly said.
A little while later, Suzaku came into the lounge as well and he was carrying a small book with him, he quickly came over to the couch to join the two of them.
"Hey, Milly." Suzaku greeted her. "We've been told to stand by here and wait for orders."
"Oh. Say Suzaku, did you see these? Show him those photos, Lady Alstreim?" Milly requested her.
Anya did so and started typing on her phone to show Suzaku the same thing she showed Milly.
"What are they?" Suzaku asked.
"Here." Anya opened the diary on her phone to show Suzaku the photos she had.
They were all photos of things that happened at the festival that took place in Ashford that she went to with Gino.
"Oh, from my welcome home party," Suzaku recalled. The first one was of Gino enjoying the festival food, then one of Villetta and Sophie posing for the swim club cafe, with Villetta looking embarrassed, then one of Rivalz taking through his megaphone. The next one was of Milly who was in the girls' locker room and fondling Shirley's breasts through her school swimsuit, while other girls who were getting changed were around.
"Huh, That one's an invasion of privacy…" Suzaku told her hastily, though she ignored him and went to the next picture. Which was one of him getting bitten by Arthur, then one of Rolo and another boy who was in the boys' bathroom and were shocked to see her. The final one was of Lelouch and C.C, whose face was covered, walking together. "Oh, Lelouch."
"Huh? Lelouch?" Anya repeated.
"If Shirley saw that she'd be really mad," Suzaku noted.
"Aha?" Milly agreed.
"Oh, that's right. We have to contact Ashford. But I need to get permission first." Suzaku told Milly.
"I see. Well, I can't be helped. Lelouch and the others must be so worried about us." Milly said.
Anya kept scrolling through her picture diary until she stopped at a picture of a child Lelouch who was still a Prince in Britannia dressed in noble attire and holding a rose.
"Is this also Lelouch?" Anya wondered, curious.
Shao Pei Wastelands
Back at the Shao Pei wastelands. On the main bridge of the Ikaruga, the Black Knights saw a vast amount of enemy signals appear on the monitor and outside they could see it coming up from the rear. A swarm of Chinese Federation forces with the centre being a large pyramid-shaped, land-cruising, mobile fortress known as the Longdan, it also had two large cannons on the front and 13 smaller ones all around it. While in front of it and at both its flanks were large hordes of Gun-Ru's and some air crafts were also there.
"Chinese Federation behind us, a huge force!" Futaba reported.
"As expected they've come," Zero said. "Now to begin our objective."
"Turn the ship around!" Soul commanded them. "We'll face our enemy head-on."
The Ikaruga turned to face the Chinese forces and a large number of Akatsuki's came out to face the enemy Gun-Ru's. A firefight soon began with both sides shooting ammunition at each other from a distance. The Guren, Zangetsu, R.R's Vincent, and Chiba, Asahina and Urabe's Akatsuki Zikisans.
"We have the strength advantage since their side has no Knightmare that can compete with Kallen or the others," Zero said.
"Still though, I would've liked to have been able to assist them," Soul said. "But it can't be helped, the Agravaine has to be at full strength for when we face the Knights of the Round."
The Black Knights forces were still engaging the Chinese forces but were being pushed because the Gun-Ru's had a long firing range compared to the more nimble Akatsuki's. Meanwhile, all the Knightmares from the Black Knights that could fly were destroying the Chinese air forces. With the Zangetsu using a Slash Harken to destroy an aircraft.
"Keep pressing the attack!" Todoh said loudly to all of them.
"Yes sir!" They all said in unison.
Longdan Command Room
Aboard their moving fortress, the High Eunuchs were in the main bridge, along with a squadron of soldiers and were looking at the monitor to see the current state of the battle, while giving orders.
"We have the advantage in firepower. But our air forces are being decimated." A soldier reported.
"Continue your advance. Take out as many of their ground units as you can." Zhao Hao ordered.
Bridge Aboard The Ikaruga
"All ground forces, keep your distance." Zero ordered them. "Keeping attacking while making a retreat."
"We're almost there, just a little more and we'll have them in our net," Xingke said.
"The groundwork has already been laid, now we just wait for the right moment," Soul said.
Shao Pei Wastelands
The Black Knights' Knightmares were slowly retreating while still firing back at the enemy forces. All the while the Gun-Ru's kept moving forward as they kept firing back at the Akatsuki's. Even though it would have been more advantageous for the Chinese forces to attack from long-range, the High Eunuchs ordered them to continue advancing. It appeared on the surface that the Black Knights were being pushed back, however, this is all part of Xingke's plan.
Out of nowhere a small body of water streams onto the battlefield where the Knightmares are and a lake suddenly flows down to swamp the Gun-Ru's. But the water level only reached up the Knightmares' ankles.
Bridge Aboard The Ikaruga
"As a counter-measure for in case the enemy tried to use the water levels to submerge us, we went there before the battle and lowered the water levels ourselves," Zero said.
"Even so this is enough to trap them," Xingke smirked, confident.
They all watched to see on the battlefield that the real purpose of the plan is that, with the water there the ground becomes soggy and muddy beneath the feet of the enemy Knightmares as part of an irrigation system, causing them to get stuck there and unable to escape. With that, the Akatsuki's began to close in and surround them, firing the guns at the defenceless Gun-Ru's.
Longdan Command Room
Back on the Longdan, the High Eunuchs were watching what was happening in horror as in a single move, they had been rendered trapped and their enemies had completely pulled the rug from underneath them.
"Wait! Isn't this…?" Xia Wang said, looking horrified.
"It can't be, our entire main force has been halted." Zhao Hao said, shocked.
Bridge Aboard The Ikaruga
"The plan was a success," Diethard said, pleased by the result.
"The ground beneath their feet is reclaimed, irrigation land. With the addition of a stream of water, the inferior materials were bound to melt and give way." Lyra said.
"All we had to do was lure them into position and break the water banks, thus leaving them trapped," Zero said. "And the High Eunuchs being the fools that they are, never saw it coming."
"It is the very land of my nation that is giving us this victory." Xingke proclaimed, proudly.
"Actually, it'd be more accurate to say; the corruption that runs rampant in this nation that was caused by the High Eunuchs themselves has brought the High Eunuchs to defeat," Soul interjected.
"It's almost poetic, it's almost like the High Eunuchs were indirectly responsible for their defeat," Euphie said.
"That's usually the case in these situations, tyrants bring about their own defeat," C.C added, casually.
"All forces, close in all the enemy and wipe them out!" Zero commanded.
"Reserve forces, enter the battle and finish them in one charge!" Soul commanded.
Shao Pei Wastelands
On the battlefield, all the Akatsuki began to open fire at the trapped Gun-Ru's. The other Knightmares that were in the sky now came downwards and started destroying the enemy forces as well.
"With this, we've taken control of this battle." Todoh as well.
"You're finished!" Kallen shouted.
As the Guren fired the Radiant Waver Surger long-range and wiped out more of the enemy. The Knightmares from the reverse forces came out of the Ikaruga and joined the battle as well.
"Hit 'em hard!" Tamaki exclaimed, within his Akatsuki.
"Prepare for hand to hand combat!" Sugiyama exclaimed, within his Akatsuki.
"Finish them in one strike!" Yoshida exclaimed, within his Akatsuki.
The charging Akatsuki's drew their Revolving Break Swords and went on the attack.
Longdan Command Room
"They're tearing us apart." Xia Wang said, gritting his teeth.
"We haven't lost yet. Have all the units on our left and right flanks charge in, surround the enemy and destroy them." Zhao Hao commanded.
"Understood." A soldier responded.
Bridge Aboard The Ikaruga
On the monitor on the Ikaruga, it showed both the enemy flanks were moving in to attack. Moving around the water trap and trying to pincer the Black Knights.
"The enemy has start to move around our forces," Minase reported.
"Then it's about time we end this," Soul said.
Shao Pei Wastelands
"As the battle was going on, R.R contacted all the Knightmares from the Black Knights and informed them on what was happening.
"All forces, we're about to wipe out both enemy flanks. Stay out of the firing range." R.R told them.
"Right!" They all said in unison.
After they all moved into position, the Ikaruga faced the battlefield and two Hadron Cannon holsters that resembled the ones the Gawain had but much larger were mounted on the ship's bow, they opened up and was charging up before it could fire.
"Bow-mounted Hadron Scatter Cannon, set!" Minase reported.
"Gefjun controls, locked in!" Hinata reported.
"Target lined up, ready to fire!" Futaba reported.
With that the bow-mounted Hadron Cannon fired, the blast power and radius was much larger than anything the Gawain was capable of and it consumed both enemy flanks. In no time at all, all the Gun-Ru's on the left and right flanks decimated and completely were wiped out.
With that done, the Cannons stopped, shortly after the Black Knights' Knightmares finished taking out the remaining enemy forces.
Bridge Aboard The Ikaruga
"The deed is done, the enemy has been annihilated. Minami, order all forces return to the Ikaruga!" Soul commanded.
"I'm on it," Minami responded.
"Right now it would be a simple matter to charge in and kill the High Eunuchs." Diethard pointed out.
"True, but just killing them isn't our objective." Lyra reminded him.
"I know, things have to be done in the proper order," Diethard replied.
"With have you to thank for this victory, Xingke," Euphie said to him, grateful. "Things wouldn't have gone this well without your strategy."
"You needn't thank me," Xingke assured her. "We're allies cooperating towards the same goal after all."
"Still though, we're grateful," Ohgi told him.
Zero just looked at Xingke while thinking.
"It was thanks to him that things went smoothly, but I can't help but think. If we had been enemies that trap could have been used against us, and no doubt I would have lost." Zero envisioned. "Xingke's a more dangerous man than I gave him credit for. I suppose I should be glad he's on our side."
Avalon
A few hours later. Aboard the Avalon, Suzaku was in the hallway, by himself and thinking until Kanon came up to him.
"Sir Kururugi." Kanon addressed him.
"Yes, is something wrong?" Suzaku asked.
"We just got word from Prince Schneizel, you've been ordered to head to the Knightmare Hanger," Kanon informed him. "We are to join to battle at the request of the High Eunuchs."
"Understood, sir," Suzaku said while thinking. "This means I'll have to fight."
Mausoleum of 88 Emperors
It was now the middle of the night and the Black Knights had now arrived at the Mausoleum of 88 Emperors. The location of the Mausoleum was grassland with small mountains small all around and nearby the Chinese Sea. The entrance to the Mausoleum was a long pathway that was as wide as the Ikaruga and was lit by a large number of miniature streetlights. The Mausoleum itself was inside a tall mountain that was hollowed out and had a large opening at the base of the mountain.
The Ikaruga hovered close to the ground and flew into the opening of the mountain, and landed inside the Mausoleum along with most of their Knightmares. While the Longdan was still a few miles away, but still visible in the distance.
"With this, we have a clear sign of the enemy forces," Diethard said.
"And they can only approach us from straight on," C.C said.
"That way we can fire the bow-mounted Hadron Cannon," Ohgi added.
"Remember it's a single fire blast." Minase reminded them.
Tamaki who was inside his Akatsuki opened the hatch on his cockpit and said. "Now we just wait for the Indian forces."
"They should be here before long," Chiba said, also coming out of her Knightmare.
"On the other hand we've taken out almost all of the Chinese forces, so it shouldn't be too bad. All they have with are a few dozen ground forces." Asahina reasoned.
"But that's assuming the Britannian's don't join this battle." Urabe reminded him.
Just then the Longdan fires a series of blasts from its cannons at Mausoleum. Which causes some tremors inside the mountain.
Bridge Aboard The Ikaruga
"So they've started," Euphie said, with a frown.
"Have they showed up on the radar?" Zero questioned.
"We're putting it on screen," Hinata responded.
The screen on the radar showed a large number of enemy signals that were different from the Chinese forces and they were in the air. After putting up a visual, it showed the Tristan and the Mordred were there and behind them was the Avalon.
"Just as we anticipated, the Knights of the Round are getting involved in this fight," Ohgi said, worried.
"Well, it seems that the High Eunuchs are intent on wiping us out by any means," C.C noted.
"Damn them, the High Eunuchs," Xingke spoke, with a venomous tone while clenching his fists.
"Diethard, get our little trick ready." Zero ordered.
"I see, you plan on doing it here?" Diethard asked.
"Everything is in place. And this will make a most excellent stage." Zero told him.
Soul turned and started to walk towards the door.
"In that case, I'm joining the battle," Soul said while leaving. "If we're facing the Knights of the Round, we'll need to use all our strength."
Ashford Academy
Back at Ashford, in the Student Council room, Rivalz, Shirley and a fake Lelouch who is actually Sayako in disguise are watching the news that is doing a broadcast on Xingke's coup, while doing that the fake Lelouch picks up the phone gets in contact with Milly who is on the other line.
"And we have a new report from the Chinese Federation. Taking advantage of an attempted coup Zero appeared and kidnapped the young Chinese Empress." The news anchor reported.
"Oh, really? You're okay then, madam Prez?" Fake Lelouch said, relieved.
Both Shirley and Rivalz, who were sitting at the table looked relieved as well upon hearing that.
"I'm with Suzaku and the others. What's the news saying there?" Milly asked over the phone.
"The TV and radio are just talking about Zero now." Fake Lelouch replied.
"Oh thank god! Madam President is all right." Rivalz said loudly, letting out his concerns.
Bridge Aboard The Ikaruga
"The battle is about to start," Rakshata said.
"Well, we still have the Chinese Empress with us on the ship. They can't just start shooting at us—"
Ohgi's words were interrupted by the sounds of explosions which causes the ground to start shaking a bit. The cause of this is air crafts that are flying above the mausoleum and dropping bombs down on them.
"What is it?" Diethard asked.
"Full-scale bombardment," Zero answered.
"But that means…" Futaba said.
"Yes. The Chinese Federation intends to obliterate the Mausoleum of 88 Emperors and us along with it. As for the Empress, they want her to die." Zero confirmed, grimly.
"The High Eunuchs, not only would they violate the sacred Mausoleum for their petty ambitions! But they would go so far as to try and instigate the death her Imperial Majesty!" Xingke said, outraged.
"All things considered, it sounds like something they would do," Lyra admitted. "From the beginning, they just wanted to use Empress as a bargaining chip to the Britannians, but an Empress that won't obey them is one they don't want. They probably already thought of who the next Empress will be."
"But it doesn't matter, since we're going to defeat them," Zero said.
Battlefield
Outside, Todoh and the Four Holy Swords flew upwards the fight against the Britannian Knightmares and the Knights of the Round.
"Remember our air power's limited. Live with honour and strike like steel." Todoh exclaimed.
"Roger." The three of them said in unison.
Following behind them the Agravaine, along with the Guren and the Vincent were also in the air and heading towards the Avalon.
"Remember our enemies are the Knights of the Round. If we defeat them the battle is ours." Soul told them.
"Yes sir," Kallen responded.
"Understood," R.R responded.
Bridge Aboard The Ikaruga
Back on the Ikaruga, C.C was now walking out the door as well.
"I'll go out in the Akatsuki," C.C told them.
"C.C." Zero addressed her. "Don't be reckless out there."
C.C smiled at him. "You don't have to tell me that. I'm not Kallen."
"Second enemy air raids squadron coming in fast!" Hinata reported.
The monitor showed a large number of enemy air crafts closing in.
"We're not gonna hold out long against this," Minase warned them.
Battlefield
A squadron of air crafts started firing missiles at the Zangetsu and Akatsuki Zikisans. But the Zangetsu manoeuvred around the missiles and easily closed in, using its Sword to slash them apart. While the Four Holy Swords used their Knightmares to shot down them.
"Stand aside. I am Kyoshiro Todoh!" Todoh roared.
Gino inside his Tristan watched Todoh cut down the air squadron.
"What do you know? They actually brought in someone good aside from Soul or even that Guren girl." Gino noted.
"Gino, leave them to me." Suzaku contacted him.
The Lancelot came out from the Avalon and flew towards the battle as well.
"Suzaku!" Todoh turned to face him.
"I'll take care of this!" Soul said.
The Agravaine dashed past and drew its Sword while aiming for the Lancelot. The Lancelot drew one of its Swords as well to face him. Soon both their Swords clashed and both Knightmares were locked in a power struggle.
"Our Swords cross once again, Suzaku!" Soul said to him.
"You won't stop me this time, Soul!" Suzaku said back.
C.C was now inside a flight-enabled Akatsuki and also joined the battle along with a squadron of flight enabled Akatsuki's behind her. While facing them were flight enabled Britannian Knightmares, which were the newly built Vincent Wards that were mass-produced Knightmares based on the Vincent but less powerful and were all the same colour; light blue and grey.
"We really are in trouble this time," C.C said to herself. "They've got the Lancelot and those next-generation units."
The Mordred closed in as well as and was preparing to attack.
"All rebel forces, annihilate them," Anya said, stoically.
"Hold it right there!" Kallen exclaimed as the Guren was charging towards her.
The Guren's sliver arm was outstretched and the Radiant Wave Surger close-range was activated. But the Mordred activates its shield that covered its entire body, thus blocking the Guren's attack.
"You're fighting me Britannian!" Kallen told her.
"Fine then, die," Anya replied emotionless.
The Mordred flew back and released its shield after gaining some distance, then Anya activates its Miniature Proximity Missiles and fired them at the Guren. Though Kallen used the Guren's superior speed and manoeuvrability to dodge pasted her attacks and went back on the offensive.
Meanwhile, up in the sky the Vincent was closing in on the Tristan and drew both of its MVS short-Swords preparing to strike.
"Prepare yourself, Knight of Three!" R.R shouted.
"Well now, looks like I'm also taking part in this party," Gino said, jokingly.
Though quickly became serious and piloted the Tristan to dodge R.R's first attack. Then he fired the Tristans large Slash Harken at the Vincent, but R.R used the Vincent's MVS short-Swords to blocked it and push it back.
Avalon
Aboard the Avalon, on the bridge, Schneizel was watching the battle unfold with Kanon at his side. While also on the bridge were Lloyd, Cecile and Nina.
"A single shot from the Mordred's Stark Hadron Cannon would demolish the Mausoleum, wouldn't it?" Nina suggested.
"Well, yes. If you just want to crush them." Lloyd answered.
"And the moment we did that they'd say we killed their Empress. We have to let the High Eunuchs make that last mortal blow." Kanon told them.
Battlefield
On the battlefield, some of the Chinese ground forces were closing in on the Mausoleum, but one of their tanks was hit by cannon fire. And appearing from the west were the Indian reinforcements that we're here to assist the Black Knights.
"The reinforcements from India, they showed up." Asahina noticed.
"Took'em long enough," Urabe said.
Longdan Command Room
Aboard the Longdan, Zero had contacted the High Eunuchs and was now on a large screen to negotiate with them.
"So you admit you're outmatched. Well, we won't accept your surrender. It's too late now." Zhao Hao said confidently.
"You insist on fighting? Even though your own Empress will die in the attack?" Zero asked.
"The Empress is merely a system." Zhao Hao merely replied.
"There are plenty of others to replace her." Xia Wang added.
"So you can't use her as a bargaining chip." Cheng Zhong told him.
"But you use her to gain noble titles in the Britannian court." Zero, shot back.
"You have sharp ears, don't you?" Zhao Hao responded, with a laugh.
"A cheap price to pay for power." Xia Wang said, decidedly.
"Cheap! A phoney treaty that gives China's land to a foreign nation?" Zero asked, angered.
"Land is nothing but dirt after all." Zhao Hao reasoned.
"Correct. We're Britannian noblemen now. That's what counts." Xia Wang added.
"And what about the common people you've sworn to protect!" Zero demanded.
"Zero, when you walk down the street, do you worry about stepping on the ants?" Zhao Hao ashed, rhetorically.
"You throw away paper that clings to your bottom, don't you? It's the same thing." Cheng Zhong defended.
"You sell out your country, abandon your empress, betray your own people, and all for what?" Zero asked, hateful.
"An idealist. I never thought you were so naive, Zero." Zhao Hao said amused.
"Indeed, masters and commoners will always breed." Xia Wang added.
"Like insects." Cheng Zhong finished, as all three of them started to laugh.
Ikaruga
Because of all the fighting going on around the Mausoleum, rocks and rubble kept breaking off from the mountain and hitting the top of the Ikaruga. The Radiant Wave shields equipped to the ship were protecting it but they started to reach their limit and now some of the shields weren't down.
"Radiant shield generators 2 and 5 are offline!" Futaba reported.
"That leaves the deck exposed!" Ohgi realized with horror.
In the safe room that Kaguya and Tianzi, Kaguya is holding on to Tianzi to keep her safe the sounds of explosions could be heard every second and the room kept shaking from the impacts. After a loud explosion caused a bigger impact, Tianzi quickly breaks out of Kaguya's embrace.
"Stop it!" Tianzi cried out as she ran off.
"Your Majesty!" Kaguya called out to her.
Back on the bridge, the others noticed something on the deck outside the ship on the radar. After looking at a visual they saw that Tianzi had run onto the deck by herself. A sight that froze Xingke with horror.
"The Empress?!" Euphie said, horrified.
"This terrible, the shields on the deck are down," Lyra added, also worried.
"Your Majesty!" Xingke shouted as he ran off.
"Wait Xingke!" Ohgi called out.
On the deck Tianzi forward and faced the direction of the battlefield.
"Please stop it! You have to stop all this fighting!" Tianzi pleads.
She shouted to all of them, though her words couldn't be heard through the sounds of the battle.
Back inside the ship, Kaguya wanted to go after her onto the deck, but to members of the Black Knights wouldn't let her pass.
"You can't go out there now!" A Black Knight urged her.
"I have to. Out of my way, I have to go after the Empress!" Kaguya insisted.
Though at the same time, Xingke came through and quickly ran pasted them to get by. He then also ran up onto the deck and ran towards Tianzi as fast as he could.
"Your Majesty!" Xingke called out to her.
"This is wrong. All of it! All of it!" Tianzi cred out.
Longdan Command Room
On the Longdan the High Eunuchs saw Tiani on the deck and believed this was their chance.
"Do it now. Fire on the Empress." Zhao Hao ordered.
Battlefield
"We hear and obey." All the Chinese soldier said in unison.
All the Gun-Ru's on the ground turned to the Ikaruga and aimed the turrets at Tianzi.
Xingke had reached Tianzi and quickly stood in front of her protectively as if using his body to shield her.
"Your Majesty!" Xingke said, concerned.
"Xingke!" Tianzi said, surprised by his appearance.
Soul saw what was happening and immediately knew the danger of this situation, but was being held at bay by Suzaku and couldn't get to them, so he contacted the Guren.
"Kallen hurry! Get the deck and guard them!" Soul said, hastily.
"I'm on it!" Kallen immediately responded.
The Guren in a hurry flew towards the Ikaruga and landed on the deck, in front of Xingke and Tianzi. All the enemy forces open fired on them the Guren used its Radiant Wave shields to block their attacks. Though the impacts of the explosions were still rocking the Knightmare.
"Kallen Kozuki?" Xingke said, surprised.
"Both of you, hurry and get to safety!" Kallen told them.
Xingke was about to take Tianzi and run, but suddenly he felt a pain erupt in his chest and coughed out a streak of blood, then he had trouble moving.
"No, not now! I have to hold out just a little longer until I've saved the Empress!" Xingke shouted in his head, unable to run.
Xingke then coughed some more and then fell on one knee.
"Runaway, Your Majesty! Go now!" Xingke urged her.
"Xingke!" Tianzi went up to him, concerned.
"You finally made it outside of the city. But you haven't seen any of the world yet. Leave me here and get to safety." Xingke told her, with caring.
"But without you I still… Xingke, it has to be you and I together, it has to be!" Tianzi said to him, in tears.
Xingke was surprised by her words but then smiled.
"Your words are wasted on me, Your Majesty. However…" Xingke said before the attacks increased.
Inside the Guren, Kallen was gritting her teeth as the Guren was starting to lose ground against all these intense and continuous swarms of attacks. And worse the energy of the Guren's shield was running low.
"My shields won't hold out much longer," Kallen spoke, worried.
Longdon Command Room
"Intensify the attack. Don't stop until you crush that Knightmare!" Zhao Hao ordered.
Battlefield
Back on the battlefield the Gun'Ru's were firing with more intensity and the Guren's shields were about to give out. To make matters worse, neither R.R nor Soul could reach her to help because they were being held at bay by Suzaku and Gino.
"I can't hold out much more." Kallen grit her teeth.
"Kallen!" R.R shouted, unable to get to her.
"Dammit, not now when we're so close." Soul cursed.
Xingke looked frustrated at himself and thought. "I can't save you after all. I can't protect you. For six years, everything I've done has been to fulfil my promise to you." Then out loud he yelled. "Someone do it. I don't care who! But please, someone save her!"
Before the final barrage of gunfire from the Gun-Ru's could reach them, something suddenly appeared on the battlefield and flew in front of the Guren and defended them the attack. The impact caused a large explosion that created a cloud of smoke which blocked them from sight.
"Very well. I understand. Wish is granted." Lelouch said while taking off his mask inside the cockpit of his Knightmare.
When the cloud of smoke cleared it was revealed that standing in front of the Guren was the Shinkiro that completely blocked the enemy barrage of fire and didn't so much as have a scratch.
"That's…?" Kallen spoke, shocked by its appearance.
Longdan Command Room
The High Eunuchs watching were even more shocked. Not just by the appearance of the Shinkiro but by the fact that it protected the others from the attack.
"Ah, what is that Knightmare?" Zhao Hao asked, shocked.
"It's not only protecting the Empress but Xingke as well?" Xia Wang added, also shocked.
Battlefield
"I ask this of the Chinese Federation and the Britannians. If you want to keep fighting, are you prepared to face Zero himself?" Lelouch asked them, confident.
"Zero? He's come to the front line himself?" Suzaku asked surprised.
"Zero!" Xingke turned to see the Shinkiro himself.
"But why would he…?" Tianzi asked surprised.
"They're safe, as long as Zero is there," R.R said, now relieved.
"If it's the Shinkiro protecting them, then we don't have to worry," Soul said, now confident.
Longdan Command Room
"Why are you stopping? All units, wipe them out!" Zhao Hao angrily commanded.
Battlefield
"So be it! I gave you your chance. Let no one forget that!" Lelouch declared.
Appearing over the Shinkiro's controls was a keyboard like one on a computer and Lelouch typed down a specific pattern on the keyboard which activated the Absolute Defence Field. Which created an array of hexagonal energy shields that projected over the Knightmare and completely blocked against the bombardment of energy attacks.
Avalon
"Lloyd, isn't that the Knightmare from before?" Cecile asked, concerned.
"Yes, from the battle at the pacific. We may have lost this one." Lloyd said, displeased.
"Using the Gawain's Druid System to generate that shield! I can't believe it! What kind of scientist worked it out?" Nina asked. amazed.
Battlefield
The Shinkiro then deactivated its shield and used its main weapon, a chest-mounted Diffusion Structure Phase Transition Cannon. When activated, a prism-like object was fired from the Shinkiro's chest. The Shinkiro then fires a powerful beam into the prism, which refracts the blast into dozens of devastating pinpoint lasers. The lasers spread out and quickly decimate all the Chinese ground forces, before coming together and blasting into the Mordred. The Mordred's Blaze Luminous shielded it from the hit, but barely.
"This could be a problem," Anya said to herself
Avalon
"What are your orders, Prince Schneizel? If we fire the Empress will…" Gino contacted the Avalon.
Schneizel pondered on his thoughts, trying to think of an answer.
"We could just hang back and wait them out," Kanon suggested.
"There's something strange about this. Why did Zero choose this time to show up in front?" Schneizel wondered.
Battlefield
With the Shinkiro there, the Guren stood before it as the Shinkiro turned to face the Guren.
"Tell me, Kallen, did the Guren sustain any significant damage?" Zero asked.
"No, it's still operating fine," Kallen answered, within the Guren's cockpit she looked ashamed. "Forgive me, Zero. As the Captain of your elite guard, my duty is to protect you. But instead, I needed you to protect me."
"Don't blame yourself, Kallen, it's thanks to you that Xingke and the Empress were saved back there." Zero reminded her. "And now everything is already in place. The battle will soon be ours."
Upon hearing that, Xingke looked up at him and asked. "Zero, are you saying…?"
"That's right Xingke, it's been done," Zero confirmed. "The High Eunuchs have already lost, and they're about to realize it themselves."
Longdan Command Room
On the Longdon, as things were now at a standstill, a soldier rushed in and hastily addressed the High Eunuchs.
"Emergency alert. Riot's broken out in Shanghai." The soldier reported.
The High Eunuchs were shocked and horrified by this news.
"Street riots?" Xia Wang asked.
Shanghai
In the middle of the city of Shanghai, as it was just reported the people had started a large scale riot. Cars and vehicles were being tipped over and destroyed, fires were burning on the streets and in buildings and the civilians were all carrying blunt, sharp, or heavy objects to serve as weapons. All their fury was aimed at the government. A group of military vehicles were firing around them in an attempt to suppress the rioters. But they retaliated by throwing flaming bottles at them.
"Damn you!" A rioter screamed.
"You'll pay for this!" Another rioter screamed.
Longdan Command Room
"They are rioting? In Shanghai?" Xia Wang asked in disbelief.
"It's not just Shanghai." The soldier informed them as more locations appeared on the monitor, which he began listing them down. "Shou Xian, Beijing, Burma, Jakarta, Islamabad and there're 14 other areas we're still confirming. People are rising up everywhere."
Avalon
Those on the Avalon realized the mass rioting happening across the nation as well.
"Rebellions breaking out simultaneously?" Nina asked surprised.
"Yes. They're broadcasting the communication between Zero and High Eunuchs." Cecile informed them.
"Communication? So they were conspiring without informing us." Kanon realized.
"Can you run it?" Schneizel requested.
"Yes," Cecile responded.
Cecile turned on a recording of the conversation that Zero and the High Eunuchs had earlier.
[The Empress is merely a system.] Zhao Hao merely replied.
[There are plenty of others to replace her.] Xia Wang added.
[And what about the common people you sworn to protect!] Zero demanded.
[Zero, when you walk down the street, do you worry about stepping on the ants?] Zhao Hao ashed, rhetorically.
[You throw away paper that clings to your bottom, don't you? It's the same thing.] Cheng Zhong defended.
[An idealist. I never thought you are so naive, Zero.] Zhao Hao said amused.
[Indeed, masters and commoners will always breed.] Xia Wang added.
[Like insects.] Cheng Zhong finished.
Battlefield
"Thanks to the Empress, the High Eunuchs are now firmly cast as the villains," Lelouch said within his Knightmare, looking both prideful and satisfied.
"And now, our people are rising up against their oppression," Xingke added.
Avalon
"They couldn't have caused this. It's happening too fast." Kanon argued.
"Unless this plan was made along with the input of someone else." Schneizel pointed out.
Battlefield
"That's correct because we had Xingke with us, this strategy was possible!" Soul said, loudly which firing Slash Harkens at the Lancelot.
"In other words, this battle is no longer that of a simple coup!" Todoh joined in as he slashed another Vincent Ward.
Ikaruga
"It's now a revolutionary change. And all the starving masses of this land are behind us!" Diethard chimed in, typing things down.
"So now that we have the will of the people on our side!" Euphie started.
Battlefield
"We can completely take the offensive!" Chiba added.
"And strike!" C.C added.
"With all of our power!" Kallen finished.
Taking the offensive, Chiba and C.C's Knightmares' charge at the Mordred, and Anya deflects their attack with her Blaze Luminous, but she can't push them away as the two continue pressing on her, halting her movements.
"The Black Knight are to be annihilated," Anya said, still stoic.
"She's just as tough as I expected," C.C noted until her Code suddenly starts glowing and she lapses into a Geass illusion, taking Anya with her. "No!"
"What is this?" Anya asked herself, shocked at what was happening.
Though they keep their Knightmares in place, they suddenly begin sharing migraine about the shock imagines they see. While C.C was seeing memories about Lelouch's childhood, and C.C acknowledges that someone she knows did this.
"So that's what you did." C.C acknowledged.
Suddenly another Akatsuki Command Model flew in.
"Now's our chance!" Asahina roared.
With Anya distracted, Asahina's Knightmare comes from behind and slashes the Mordred, breaking her float system, causing it to fall and to crash into the ground.
"Anya, no!" Suzaku called out, worried.
"This is the Tristan. I'm moving in to cover the Mordred." Gino reported to the Avalon, flying downwards.
"Hold it right there!" Kallen yelled, charging towards the Tristan the Guren powered up the Radiant Wave Surger, but the energy surrounding it suddenly went out and the Guren's power became empty. "My power supply!"
Seeing the opportunity, Gino fired the Tristan's large Slash Harkens and they wrapped around the Guren's body, both trapping it and stopping Kallen from ejecting.
"What?" Zero uttered, shocked at what happened.
"Ha, guess you used up all your energy to block those attacks from earlier with your shield," Gino informed her. "Air squad, carry the Mordred back to the Avalon, I'll carry this back."
"Kallen!" R.R shouted.
He, Soul and Todoh all flew after Gino in an attempt to save Kallen.
"Uh, Uh," Gino warned them.
They were forced to stop when the Tristan brought out an MVS and pointed it towards the Guren, threatening to strike.
"Any closer and I'll destroy it along with the pilot inside." Gino threatened them.
"Gah, we're stuck." Todoh cursed, gritting his teeth.
"You know it's ironic, in our last battle I was her hostage," Gino remembered. "Guess we've come full circle."
With that, the Tristan flew off towards the Avalon, while carrying the Guren. And the others could only watch helplessly as she was being taken.
"K-Kallen, no." Asahina said, upset.
"This can't be," Soul uttered, taken aback.
"She's their prisoner?" Lelouch thought in disbelief. "Impossible!" He then contacted the Guren. "Kallen, is your radio working?"
"Sorry, I failed you," Kallen responded, slightly unnerved.
"Forget about that! Don't give up. I promise I'll save you." Lelouch reassured her. "Am I clear? No hasty moves."
Kallen was surprised but responded. "Right. I understand. I won't give up. I'll do yo…"
Her radio was then cut off. At the same time, the ground forces from the Black Knights were deployed from the Ikaruga and a hoard of Akatsuki's swarmed onto the battlefield. In the lead was Tamaki.
"Push them back now!" Tamaki cheered.
Avalon
"Fools! Deploying their ground forces at this point in the battle." A soldier Soldier, irritated.
"If we bomb them from the air, we'll destroy them." Another soldier suggested.
"No. We're withdrawing," Schneizel ordered, his eyes narrowed. "Nations aren't dirt and they're not systems. They're people. The High Eunuchs have lost the people's support. They're no longer qualified to join us as representatives of the Chinese Federation."
Battlefield
"Yes, Your Highness," Suzaku responded to Schneizel order.
After which all the other Britannian forces began to withdraw from the battlefield and return to the Avalon. After taking one last look, Suzaku turned the Lancelot around and also left.
Ikaruga
"The Avalon and the Knights of the Round are withdrawing," Futaba reported.
"We have to go after them. Fly the ship." Ohgi ordered.
"I respectfully suggest we withdraw," Diethard ordered.
"What? We have to get Kallen back." Ohgi reminded him.
"Kallen Kozuki is a single combat loss." Diethard pointed out.
"So just leave her?" Minami questioned, upset.
"Mr Minami, consider our choice. We just finished a harsh battle against the High Eunuchs, our forces can't sustain immediately jumping into a second one, especially against the Avalon." Diethard reasoned with them, before turning to the communicator. "Zero, it's your decision. You gave special comfort to Captain Kozuki before. If you show her favouritism now, it could put our entire operation at risk. It could ruin us."
"But…" Lelouch said over the communicator, not knowing what to do.
"You must put aside your personal feelings. Grand plans require sacrifice." Diethard informed him.
Everyone was quiet, like Lelouch they were torn on what they should do. Diethard wasn't wrong in saying it was better to end things here, from a tactical standpoint. But emotionally it was hard to just leave Kallen to her fate without even attempting to save her.
Then Euphie stepped in front of the communicator.
"Zero, I also think we should withdraw," Euphie said.
Everyone else looked surprised by her suggestion.
"You too, Euphemia?" Ohgi said, surprised.
"Think about it this way; even if we could save Kallen, are we able to save her right at this moment? Or would it be better to save her at a later time?" Euphie asked them. "Right now she's been taken out of our reach, but if we can wait a little longer and think of a plan, we'll be able to get her back."
The others seemed to consider this but still looked a little unsure.
"Well…" Ohgi said, looking troubled.
"Besides that, consider how Kallen would feel about this," Euphie told them, which made Lelouch gasp. "Do you really think Kallen would want us to try and save her if it meant the rest of us, including Zero, would be put in danger because of it?"
Cockpit Within The Shinkiro
Hearing that, within the Shinkiro, Lelouch looked down and thought upon Euphie's words. Then Soul contacted him on a private channel.
"Zero, you know that she has a point," Soul told him. "Kallen values your safety above her own, that's been the case ever since she became the Captain of the Zero squad."
"Yes, I'm aware of that," Lelouch said. "Even so, I value her safety as well."
"I know that, and so does those of us who are close to you. Do you know why Euphie suggested we withdraw as if she knew Kallen would be all right?" Soul asked. "Because she knows that Suzaku is there with her, and he'll make sure she's safe."
Lelouch's eyes widened, as if he just know realized that.
"For now all we can do is trust in him. While we need to act as leaders of the Black Knights require us to be." Soul informed him.
"…I know, and I know what the right choice to make is, as the leader of the Black Knights," Lelouch said, with reluctance. "We'll withdraw."
Avalon
On the bridge of the Avalon and the ship was flying away from the Mausoleum.
"What do you think the Emperor would've done, Kanon?" Schneizel asked, offhandedly. Which confused Kanon. "Forget it. I was just musing a bit."
Meanwhile, inside the Knightmare Hanger aboard the Avalon, the Knights of the Rounds' Knightmare were being lined up for any needed repairs. While the Guren was at the side and tied up. Kallen was still in the cockpit and keeping quiet.
"I'll be waiting," Kallen whispered.
Longdan Command Room
The Longdan was now defenceless and the High Eunuchs watched in terror as R.R's Vincent burst in through the front wall, with Xingke riding on its shoulder.
"So Prince Schneizel has abandoned you. So much for your titles." Xingke drew his Sword.
"Don't hurt us." Zhao Hao pleaded. "We'll give up our power, whatever you want…"
"Still worried about your own skin?!" Xingke roared in anger.
He jumped down and mercilessly cut down Zhao Hao, then slashed Cheng Zhong and finally decapitated Xia Wang. thus ending the lives of the High Eunuchs.
"With that, it's been settled," R.R whispered.
Unknown Location
In a dark and purple lit base underground, Bartley and a small team of researchers were standing before Jeremiah and V.V, who was standing behind the entrance to a thought elevator.
"Where is this place? I thought we were going to meet in the Britannian homeland. And besides, this is by direct order of the Emperor." Bartley said confused and afraid.
"Yes as requested. In your attempt to recreate C.C's power you enhanced Lord Jeremiah. Enlightened of your efforts I felt we should call you in." V.V said.
"You see, I need some fine adjustments. You're really the only logical choice for this. And in any case, you should be pleased that it's a great honour for you." Jeremiah said.
Ikaruga
The next morning the Ikaruga was landed on the ground and the core members of the Black Knights, along with Xingke's faction were standing on the deck, while standing apart from them were Xingke and Tianzi who reaffirmed their pinky promise.
"Is this all right for you?" Xingke asked.
"Well, I was finally able to leave the Forbidden City. And now… I mean… this doesn't mean it's… beyond… it's just…" Tianzi was struggling to put her feelings into words.
Xingke smiled and then lowered his head. "I shall protect you in the future as well. Until the very end of time."
Upon hearing his vow, Tianzi began to tear up. "It's so strange. It's so happy… it's so happy and yet…"
Many of the others smiled upon seeing things were fine now. Though Diethard turned to Zero and Soul.
"Zero, Soul, we need to let the world know that the empress's betrothal to the Britannian Prince is off." Diethard brought up.
"That's true." Zero agreed.
"And the best way to do that is to have her marry someone from our side, a member of a Japanese family would be perfect," Diethard suggested.
"That's tastelessly obvious but smart move all the same." Zero thought in agreement. "We can have her marry Todoh, even Tamaki would do."
"If you'd like I can draw up a list of suitable candidates." Diethard offered.
"But you mustn't!" Kaguya quickly objected.
"Lady Kaguya, this is a political manoeuvre, it isn't personal."
"You're wrong, it is personal! It's a simple question of love!" Kaguya argued.
"She has a point," C.C added, nonchalant.
"True, it is something to consider," Euphie added, smiling.
"We're at war. Lives are its stake." Diethard pointed out.
"Hey, you're pushin' it, buddy." Chiba chided him.
"Buddy? I am a staff officer!" Diethard reprimanded her, which made Rakshata laugh in amusement. He then turned to Zero. "Zero, what's your decision?"
"You understand, Master Zero, don't you?" Kaguya asked, hopeful.
"Well…" Zero was a little taken aback by the sudden questions.
"Alright enough," Soul spoke out, making them quiet. "Let's stop arguing for a moment and calm down."
"Then what about you?" R.R asked. "Do you have a suggestion on this matter?"
"Yes, I do." Soul then turned to Zero. "I agree with the fact that we shouldn't have the Empress marry someone."
Both Zero and Diethard were surprised by his choice.
"But we need to establish a position of power," Diethard argued.
"And how would you go about that? The Empress was almost married off to the Britannian's to be used as a tool for diplomacy. If we do the same thing right after that, people will see us as no better than them." Soul told them. "We would lose the will of the people."
Diethard looked as though he couldn't argue with that statement, but still wanted to say something. "Yes, but…"
"Zero, I believe it isn't necessary to use a political marriage. The reason we won this battle against the High Eunuchs was because we were together, the Black Knights, the forces from India, Xingke and the Empress." Soul proclaimed. "It's because all of us were united that this was possible. So let's continue doing so and work towards our goals as a united coalition, after all, isn't that how we formed our nation in the first place?"
Zero's eyes widened in realization. "He's right. Up until now, our success was the result of all of us working as one. Logan and Rolo, C.C, Kallen even Suzaku and Euphie. Things that were impossible to overcome became possible only because it was all of us together."
With that in mind, Zero walked up to Xingke and Tianzi and declared.
"Your Majesty, your future belongs to you. You decide your own fate." Zero declared.
Xingke was surprised by that statement. "Zero…"
"Oh, I knew you'd understand!" Kaguya said, happy and relieved.
"Our greatest power is that of cooperation. That's why the people rose up against the High Eunuchs and the Black Knight fight like Titans. We fight even if we have different ideologies or motivates, we can still work towards the same goal, that's the power we carry in our hearts." Zero proclaimed.
"Yeah, yes, you got that right," Ohgi said, a little inspired.
"Power of the heart, is that it?" Diethard wondered.
"Zero, and you as well Soul, I'm starting to see what kind of men are behind those masks," Xingke said, happily outstretching his hand.
Zero stepped forward and shook his hand. "The path ahead of us is arduous."
"That's precisely why tomorrow belongs to us alone," Xingke said.
Ashford Academy
It was now night time at Ashford and Shirley was walking through the school library while carrying a hand full of books.
"Lulu has really been acting strange lately," Shirley said to herself. "One minute he's his usual self, the next he's weirdly nice. Like a completely different per…" Suddenly the fake Lelouch walked up from around the corner of a bookshelf and they saw each other. "Lulu?"
"Hi, you need something?" The fake Lelouch asked, a little nervous.
"I told you earlier where I was going to bring back these gardening books," Shirley said.
"Ah, of course, that's right." The fake Lelouch who was Sayoko replied, as she thought. "This isn't good. If she sees the panel before it closes, she'll know about the underground control centre."
And just as she said, a bookshelf that was around the corner was the one that was hiding a secret elevator to the underground control centre that was used by the O.S.I before Lelouch and the others took control of it. And the bookshelf was still in the middle of closing up.
"What's up… Are you hiding something there?" Shirley asked with a grin.
"I can't let her see it. I've got to stop her!" Sayoko thought, panicked. And reached forward to grab Shirley by her shoulders. "Shirley…"
"Lulu…" Shirley said.
Before she could say anything though, the fake Lelouch leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Shirley was o surprised that she dropped her books.
Ikaruga
Back at the Ikaruga, Zero and C.C were walking together and entered Zero's private room aboard the ship. It was a wide four-walled room, with two wide flat-faced chairs, a flat-screen TV attached to the wall and a large bookshelf attached to the wall. Once inside they started a conversation.
"We will find Kallen but I need to return to Area 11 first," Zero said.
"And the Chinese Federation?" C.C asked.
"There are still some opposing fractions there. But they'll be no match for Xingke and Todoh now that the people are on our side." Lelouch said as he removed his mask and placed it on a small podium. "Besides you wanna see it, too. The power of the human heart."
"The little devil grows up, huh?" C.C asked, jokingly.
While they were talking C.C removed her Black Knight long robe and her boots and then laid down comfortably on one of the chairs while snuggling with her large Cheesy-kun plushy.
"And you're still a witch." Lelouch shot back. "And in any case, this gets us back on track so we can hit them at the deepest level."
"Their religious Order?" C.C asked.
"Hmm, the ones that are trying to create warriors with the Geass power," Lelouch confirmed. "If we can destroy the Order then I can make sure they can't get in our way like they did one year ago.
"However the very existence of the Order has been concealed from the human world. They change locations when a new leader is named so it's almost impossible to track them." C.C reminded him.
"But you are certain they're based in the Chinese Federation right now. Somewhere within reach?" Lelouch asked.
"Yes, according to V.V the one who replaced me as their leader," C.C confirmed. "But this is a vast country. Even that guy Orpheus doesn't know where their base is, right? So how are you going to find it?"
"That's why I took over the Chinese Federation. The flow of goods, power supplies, communications… the Order must leave traces of its existence." Lelouch reasoned.
"You're using the power of the whole nation to find them?" C.C asked.
"As you said it's a vast country," Lelouch replied.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"It's me, R.R," R.R said on the other side of the door.
"Enter," Lelouch replied.
The door opened and R.R walked in and then removed his visor to show his face.
"I wanted to let you know that the preparation has been set, we'll be able to enter Ashford through the O.S.I's underground facility," Rolo informed him.
"Ah, that's right. I was supposed to confirm that with Sayoko. But it seems you already took care of it." Lelouch then turned to C.C. "You're to remain here, C.C. If you find any clues on the order, contact me."
"Yes, I understand."
And with that, Lelouch went too.
O.S.I Port Facility
Inside a large room within an O.S.I. underground facility that was near the ocean of Area 11, Sayoko who still disguised as Lelouch stood in front of a large water tank with the lid opened. And soon the Shinkiro came out from the top and surfaced from the water. The cockpit opened and Lelouch and Rolo were revealed to be inside.
Sayoko removed her disguised mask of Lelouch's face and her wig that resembled Lelouch's hairstyle and then bowed to greet them.
"Welcome back." Sayoko addressed them.
"It's good to see you again," Rolo replied, pleasantly.
"Sayoko, did anything change while I was away on this mission?" Lelouch asked.
"Nothing of immediate concern. I noted all the detail in the designated file." Sayoko said.
Ashford Academy
After a little bit, Lelouch and Rolo went back to the Academy grounds and were now walking through the hallways, heading for the Student Council Room.
"So we'll be staying here for quite a while this time. Isn't that right, Lelouch?" Rolo asked.
"Yes, I have to develop some effective countermeasures for the Knights of the Round. The Lancelot's bad enough. And we certainly don't need the Tristan and the Mordred getting in our way again." Lelouch said.
"Wouldn't it be enough for us to simply increase our power?" Rolo asked.
"You're not seeing the bigger picture. And more than that we need to get Kallen back, ideally before we leave Area 11 again." Lelouch said.
Once they walked around a corner they were near the door to the Student Council room, but they both stopped when they saw that outside the room was Shirley standing by the wall and looking down, depressed.
"Shirley, are you okay?" Lelouch asked, addressing her.
"Look, Lulu, about what happened with us yesterday…" Shirley said quietly.
"Yesterday?" Lelouch thought confused.
Suddenly their conversation was interrupted when they heard the sound of a camera phone take a picture and when they looked in the direction of where the sound came from. To the shock and horror of both Lelouch and Rolo, Anya came out of the Student Council room, wearing the Ashford Academy middle-school uniform.
"Morning Lelouch Lamperouge." Anya greeted, stoic.
"It's Anya, the Knight of Six!" Rolo said, shaken.
Quickly following up, Gino came out from the Student Council room as well. Behind him were Rivalz and Milly.
"Hey, we've been waiting for you." Gino greeted him, excited. "You're the Vice-President, right? This is an honour."
"Don't be so formal," Rivalz advised him.
"Oh, right. Anyway, we've both just enrolled here in Ashford. And… while we are here we insist that our social status be ignored." Gino requested, still smiling.
"They said they wanted the experience of being an ordinary student," Milly explained.
"So I'm teaching them how to talk normally," Rivalz added.
Gino then went up to Lelouch and placed a hand on his should. "I am really looking forward to this, Senpai."
"Right…" Lelouch replied, feeling awkward.
Still shaken, Lelouch took a step back from Gino as Anya took another picture.
"You're still being too formal, new guy." A familiar voice spoke out. "Just call him Lelouch."
They all looked to see, walking up to them was none other than Logon Raymond. Once they saw him, everyone looked surprised. Lelouch and Rolo just stared, while Rivalz and Milly ran up to him, even Shirley forgot about her depression for the moment to greet him as well.
"Logan, you're back," Rivalz said, excited.
"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Shirley asked, surprised.
"I wanted to see the surprised looks on your faces," Logan answered jokingly.
"Hmm, who's that?" Gino asked, out of the loop.
"That's Logan," Milly answered, nostalgic. "He's also been a member of the Council, but almost a year ago he left to go study aboard in the E.U. We haven't seen him since."
"Huh, so why'd he choose to suddenly come back?" Gino asked.
"It's because I heard Milly was going to graduate soon and so I wanted to be around when she's gone," Logan answered.
"Hmph, the one thing I didn't miss about you was how you were the only one who didn't respect my authority as President." Milly pouted.
"I prefer to call it; common sense," Logan responded.
"Hey, so what was it like in the E.U?" Shirley asked. "Did you see lots of cool sights?"
"Well these days they call it Euro Britannia, so it wasn't too different. But I did see a bunch of landmarks." Logan answered. "I even learned a few other languages, though nothing fluent."
"Forget that, how were the girls over there?" Rivalz asked, interested. "Did you gin any experience while you were away?"
"How were their figures, on a scale from 1 to 10?" Milly joined in.
"Of course that's what you'd asked." Logan brushed them off.
They all laughed, remembering that this used to happen all the time. While Lelouch just looked and understood why Logan was here now.
"I get it because the Black Knights have Zero back and Xingke now joined us. We're now stable enough where Soul doesn't need to be there at all times." Lelouch deduced. "So he's now free to come back to Ashford. That'll make things easier for us now." He then looked to Gino and Anya. "Especially with them here."
Rolo and Lelouch then waked up to Logan and then smiled.
"Welcome back. Brother." Rolo greeted him with a smile.
"Yes, it's been too long. Logan." Lelouch did the same.
Logan smiled back and said. "It's good to be back."
To Be Continued
And that's the chapter. This was easily the longest Code Geass chapter I've ever done. To start things off, when facing the High Eunuchs I decided to make it completely one-sided because it's obvious that they wouldn't stand a chance against the Black Knights or Xingke, much less both. But due to the way things went I wasn't able to have Xingke gain the Shen Hu in this battle. Sorry for those of you who wanted to see it, but I couldn't think of a way for him to get it in this current time that made sense.
And for Kallen. I understand that some of you didn't want her to get captured, but hear me out. I needed her to be capture so the Britannian's could get the Guren and upgrade it, which is important. But don't worry, Kallen herself will be rescued much sooner than in the Canon. Like, a lot sooner.
And at the end of the chapter, Logan returned to Ashford. I always intended for him to come back to Ashford at this point because, well he couldn't stay gone forever. Besides he's been Soul for the entirety of season two, so he needs more time as Logan.
So see you next time, hope you enjoyed, if you liked the story leave a review, if you want more clicked the follow/favourite and as always people have an awesome day.