Chapter Three: The Covenant

-2018 a.t.b, three days after the Zero Requiem-

"I have…destroyed the world…"

Eternal sunset dawned over the world, a realm filled with nothingness; a universe of thought. Drifting through this world of consciousness, a lithe body dressed in white robes floated on the endless currents of time; despised by many, yet beloved by some.

"And created it…anew.

The body was set to rest, laying on a platform of stone hovering in the billowing clouds of eternal dusk. Slowly, the man's eyes opened; his pupils taking in surroundings before him. He sat up, getting to his feet as he beheld the strange world in which he now existed.

"Where…am I?" The man asked out loud, looking around the area in confusion

"You are in the World, Demon Emperor; the World of Unconsciousness."

The raven-haired man quickly turned around, trying to find exactly where the voice had come from; but it simply hadn't come from anywhere: or to be more precise, it had come from everywhere. "C's World; a Realm you are part of, an Existence you saved." The voice spoke, sounding as if multiple voices were speaking in unison

"C's…World?" The violet-eyed man asked, confusion in his voice, "Does this mean that…I'm dead, and this…is my afterlife?" He thought

"No." The voice replied, as if it could read his thoughts, "You have died, but this is not your afterlife; what awaits one after death is oneness with the World, but you have been rejected this privilege; the 99th Emperor of Britannia, Zero of the Black Knights,"

"Lelouch vi Britannia."

At those words, Lelouch felt his right hand burning, glowing crimson as a painful burning sensation ran across his palm. Looking towards his hand, he saw a bright red mark running across his palm; glowing fiercely as the pain slowly faded away. "Geass…" Lelouch spoke with astonishment, recognizing the symbol, "The Code…"

"I'm…immortal?" Lelouch asked with trepidation, looking up to the skies for an answer

"You have been cursed with the Mark of Immortality, Lelouch."

The raven-haired prince turned around, his eyes widening as he beheld the intimidating visage of the very last man he ever wanted to see. "Father…?"

Charles zi Britannia's grin widened, as he walked closer to Lelouch on the platform of stone, "Cursed to forever walk the earth forevermore, as you try to find some meaning in your eternal existence. A suitable punishment for disobeying your own father, don't you think?"

"You gave this power to me?!" Lelouch replied with anger, his eyes displaying barely held back rage, "You gave me immortality as revenge for what I did to you?"

"Don't give him more credit than what he's due." Spoke a feminine voice, all to familiar to Lelouch, "The Code transfers to the closest eligible candidate upon its owner's return to the World of C, you were just unlucky."

Lelouch turned once more, lime green hair and eyes assaulting his vision immediately, "C.C?" He asked, looking upon his closest confidant; his witch

"Codes can't just go out of existence, Lelouch. " C.C spoke with a sad smile, as she too walked closer to him, "You're the same as me now, cursed to forever roam the earth; rejected from the World of C."

Lelouch's face registered shock as the reality of the situation finally hit him, "What of the Zero Requiem? If I'm not dead, then there's no point to any of this!" He shouted, clenching his glowing fist in anger, "I haven't atoned for anything; I've just cheated my way out of my own execution; the world no longer needs or wants me."

"On the contrary, Lelouch." Charles replied to Lelouch's thoughts, his grin disappearing, "The world still needs you, now more than ever; that is why the Code chose you. In the future, far beyond the current age, C's World has predicted a calamity of unspeakable scale. Since you refused my way out of it, you've got to take responsibility in making sure it never happens."

Lelouch's eyes widened once more as he heard the words coming out of his father's mouth, turning to C.C for confirmation. But the green-haired witch simply shook her head, "I've got no idea what he's talking about; I'm not dead, so I don't know what the World of C is thinking. But it's probably important."

"Indeed, Lelouch vi Britannia." Stated another male voice from behind Lelouch, his childish appearance being instantly recognizable as he sighed, "There is nobody who can halt this calamity but you now."

"V.V." Lelouch spoke, beholding the blond-haired former immortal standing in front of him

"Sorry, Lulu." Said another female voice, sending shivers down Lelouch's spine as he recognized who it was, "But the World of C isn't ready for you yet; it won't be for a long time."

Lelouch turned around once again, his eyes taking in the sight of a woman who he indirectly caused unbearable suffering, "Shirley…" He spoke, taking in the sight of the orange-haired girl's smile

"We're all counting on you, Lelouch."

"…Euphemia." Lelouch whispered immediately, refusing to turn around this time and face his biggest regret, but Euphemia did not seem to mind; closing in on him as she hugged him from behind

"It's okay, really. You don't have to look at me." Euphemia said, her kind tones reverberating through the cold-hearted Britannian prince, "I know what you did was an accident; and I'd really be pushing it if I kept being angry at you considering what you're going to have to face."

As Euphemia let go of her half-brother, Lelouch turned to face her; his face impassive as his logical side finally kicked in, "What am I going up against? What the hell is so much of a threat that I have to be brought back from the dead to face it?"

Euphermia's face fell in sadness, as C.C interrupted, "They can't tell you, Lelouch." She spoke with a sigh, "The World of C is forbidden from telling anybody knowledge of the future directly, it's just one of the many weird rules of how it works; and they're all part of it now."

"Rest assured, nephew." V.V began, walking up to the two, "It's very dangerous, even to us here in the World of C; I wish you hadn't destroyed the Sword of Akasha, it realty could've helped in stopping it."

"I think he can manage without your insane world-ending device, V.V" C.C replied with a frown, "Those that came before never intended for it to be used that way."

Lelouch paused in thought, "Those that came before?"

"Yeah! You guys went way overboard!" Shirley exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air as she turned to Charles and V.V, "What the hell were you thinking?!"

Euphemia giggled, as she beheld how taken aback Lelouch was from the former Emperor of Britannia and his brother being berated by a high school girl, "Everybody's equal in the World of C." She explained to Lelouch with a smile

"I'm…not sure if I can stop this calamity you speak of," Lelouch said with sadness, looking down to his Code-imbedded palm, "Immortal or not, I'm just one man; one man who could save any of you, one man who killed all of you."

"Be that as it may, Lelouch." Charles replied, stopping Euphermia and Shirley from speaking comforting words, "The World of C has nobody else it can rely on; you either do it, or all your efforts towards saving humanity goes to waste."

"So what is it going to be, boy?" V.V asked with a smile, "You going to back down from the challenge? Or are you going to rise up against it and take responsibility for what you've done?"

"You know you don't have to, Lelouch." Euphemia said kindly, holding his right hand, "Maybe it's our destiny to fade away; you've done so much for us already."

"Yeah, Lulu!" Shirley said, looking up to Lelouch as she held his left hand, "You don't have to if it's too hard; I don't want to force you to do anything."

"But it's not too hard, is it?" C.C asked with her trademark grin, coming up between the two girls, "Because you're my warlock; the man who restored the pride of the Japanese, the man who toppled the Britannian Empire, and the man who saved the World of C."

"So, my son; what is your answer?" A new female voice asked, from behind Lelouch

The raven-haired prince closed his eyes, looking downwards as he mulled in thought, before opening his violet eyes with resolution as he turned towards his one and only mother.

"I will move forward, I will meet apocalyptic enemy head on," Lelouch replied resolutely, turning his head as he looked towards all the friends and family who surrounded him, "And I will defeat it with my own two hands. The World of C…can put its faith into me."

Marianne smiled kindly, as she beheld her beloved son, "Then go, return back to the world of the living. We'll be waiting for you and C.C to return."

Lelouch smiled, as the Code on his palm faded into invisibility; having finally accepted it into himself, "But of course, no matter how many years pass; I will never yield to this enemy of yours, and I will not fail the trust of you all put into me."

Lelouch's body began fading away, as he spoke his final words confidently to the World of C: His friends, family, and allies.

"Because I am Zero, the Man of Miracles; and I yearn for tomorrow."

-February 3rd, 2525 a.t.b-

-Outer Colony of Harvest, Orbital Station 'Tiara'-

The Tiara's command center was busier than what one might expect; the station, after all, had to be able to content with docking ships, incoming and outgoing elevators, and keeping the orbital stability of the seven elevators tethered to it on a daily basis. But one aspect of the command center was rather neglected: The sensory suites. Radar and spectroscopes were useful for detecting asteroids and avoiding collisions, but such tasks were easily accomplished by the elevator's A.I, Sif, and therefore required little human interface.

As such, the Britannian female sensory officer manning the station had little work to do; hence why she was currently stimulating her…intellectual curiosity with an almost ancient pastime that had somehow survived through the ages.

"Almost…almost…" She spoke, carefully tapping on her station's screens with the trepidation of a bomb disarmer

The slam of a palm on her station brought her back to reality, as she recoiled backwards and turned to the man who was now standing over her, "Marie, what the hell are you doing?" He asked suspiciously, his voice brimming with authority

"Nothing! Sir!" The sensory officer replied with dread, moving her hand slowly to close the window open on her screen before the man caught it and pushed it away

"Is that Minesweeper?" The man asked, surprise evident in his voice, "I haven't even seen that game around for the last twenty-five years, let alone on the Harvest net, where the hell did you download that?"

Marie saw her chance for escape, and grasped at it, "My parents sent me a hard-copy from Reach, retro games are getting pretty popular there apparently."

"Well, I'll be damned." The man replied, completely losing his interest in admonishing the sensory officer for slacking off, "I was pretty good at this back in the day, got the best high score out of all my bridge mates. Can I have a go after you're done with this match?"

Marie smiled, relieved to have been let off the hook, "Certainly, sir. But I'm in a bit of a pinch right now, as you can see; so you probably won't have to wait very long."

The man took a closer look at the screen, "Hmm, yeah; that's a tough one." He muttered, rubbing his chin in thought, before grinning, "But I can probably find you a safe spot to click; you've just gotta think about-"

"Sir, I'm terrible sorry to interrupt your fascinating conversation on the strategies of a ridiculously simple single-player retro game;"

Both Marie and her superior officer turned to look with surprise at Sif, the elevator's A.I, whose avatar had appeared before them. Sif, like most UFNSC , chose to display herself with a human avatar. She 'wore' an ankle-length sleeveless gown colored in interwoven sunset hues and a red poncho that draped over her shoulders, with long golden hair that fell in waves to the middle of her back. She had the appearance of Nordic royalty, which was appropriate; given that most of Harvest's settlers were Britannians that could trace their ancestry to Scandinavia.

"But we have a rapidly approaching object of unknown origin, composition, and intention currently heading towards us, so forgive me if I feel this to be a more pressing matter." Sif finished, a weary look on her face

The officer straightened up immediately, with Marie quickly closing her Minesweeper screen as the realization of what Sif had just said finally hit her.

"Intention?" A confused Marie asked, beating her superior officer to the question, "It's…not an asteroid?"

Sif looked even more annoyed with the question, bringing up a live spectroscopic and radar analysis of the object, "Unless asteroids are now capable of undetected star system incursions, self-propulsion, and course correction; then I highly doubt that it's any natural astronomic phenomenon, Ensign." She spoke, gesturing to the object's obviously intelligent movements

The disbelieving gazes of the two physical Humans grew further, with the officer in charge trembling slightly as realization finally hit him with the force of a typhoon.

"Then…these are the aliens; aren't they?" He muttered, stepping back as he beheld the screen before him, "These are the aliens that Sergeant Johnson and Commander Lamperouge were warning us about…" He spoke in a somewhat louder voice, yet one still quaking with fear

Sif's expression turned grave as she nodded, confirming the man's worst fears.

Harvest was under attack, by an enemy thought to have existed only in fiction: Up until now.

"Permission to sound the station's alarm and warn the fleet and ground forces, sir?" Sif asked, already knowing the answer

-Charon-Class Light Frigate 'Rising Sun', Harvest Inner Orbit-

Currently, the bridge crew of the Rising Sun was looking at a hologram of the object currently approaching them obtained from spectroscopic analysis. It only showed the shape of the object and it's composition, but that much was more than enough cause for serious concern. It was made out of materials unknown to science, human science at least, and had a roughly oblong shape with a bulbous, whale-like front and a sleek silhouette.

"Either the Innies are playing a really expensive prank on us," Tatsuya began, breaking the silence, "Or we've got an alien spaceship coming to kill us all."

Ignoring Tatsuya's words, Hilda turned to her Lieutenant Commander with concern etched on her face, "The ship is prepped for battle; Archer missile pods are keyed and our VARIS cannon is coming online, but the enemy is still too far away to target, and it hasn't made its intentions clear yet."

Aoi gritted her teeth, "Intentions? I think they made their intentions clear enough when they raided our trading vessels and almost killed our marines." She spoke, obviously unnerved by the rapidly approaching alien ship, "I say we fire on it now, before they have a chance to do the same."

"Aoi, they could be coming with peaceful intentions." Hibiki spoke, trying to get a positive view of the situation, "Certainly, no one small group of Humans can represent all of humanity; perhaps those vessels were simply raided by alien pirate ships acting on their own accord, and this vessel is approaching us to reach some sort of peaceful agreement."

"I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of guessing, Lieutenant Kugenin."

The bridge crew turned to Commander Lamperouge, who stared upon the hologram displaying the incoming object with his keen violet eyes; his emotions, as always, were almost completely hidden behind a façade of professionalism; but Lieutenant Commander Kei Koda, to his great shock, could almost make out the tiniest glint of fear in his eyes. "From what we've already seen, the alien vessel possesses a hull armored with completely unknown materials and a very fast propulsion system. It's large size, comparable to a cruiser in length, would mean that the ship most probably possesses a powerful array of weaponry."

"But, Commander," Kei replied, eyeing the hologram as he spoke, "I don't see any cannons or missile pods in the spectroscopic analysis; it doesn't seem very dangerous at all."

Leon Lamperouge turned to his second-in-command, his hard violet gaze piercing the man's very soul, "That's exactly why this is a cause for concern; if the ship is indeed armed, then it obviously possesses weaponry that's either beyond our comprehension or far beyond our technological level. What we've seen so far, without even actually getting a glimpse of the ship and it's capabilities, already puts it ahead of us technologically."

Suddenly, before the crew could speak up, a video transmission came up from the Majestic displaying a blue-eyed brown-haired man with a pointed beard and an expression of nervousness escaping his attempts at assuming a commanding façade.

"Commander Lamperouge, I trust you've been made aware of the situation." Captain John Upson spoke, a drop of sweat falling down the side of his face, "Now, I don't want to hear an 'I told you so' or a 'we should've prepared more for this'; all I want to know is if your ship is prepared for what we may be about to face."

'Leon' showed no signs of even smirking as he beheld the signs of a man whom was supposedly his superior officer melting down in the face of true pressure. "Oh, I assure you Captain Upson; I had no intention of doing anything of the sort." He replied, maintaining proper naval conduct with said superior officer nonetheless, "My ship is prepared for combat; and all my men and women are simply awaiting the order to fire. If I may ask, though; what is our fleet's strategy regarding the matter?"

Captain John Upson looked slightly annoyed with the question, "We await the alien ship's approach, discern its intentions, and act accordingly; all weapons are to be kept at medium readiness, and all ships will maintain the their current status and position until then." He spoke, "Why? Do you find that insufficient as well?"

"Oh, quite the contrary; " Commander Lamperouge spoke in a polite voice, his face displaying utmost sincerity, "I find that to be an excellent strategy, Captain Upson."

There was a pause as both Leon's crew and Captain Upson found themselves surprised with the Commander's words, "Well…that's good then." Upson spoke, in a somewhat relieved voice, "Then all that's left is to-"

"If you want to get us all killed, that is."

Upson's face went through the almost routine emotions of confusion, shock, and sheer anger almost like clockwork; as Lamperouge continued speaking, "The alien ship's potential danger eclipses anything we've ever encountered before, and you want us to stay off-formation and keep our fingers off the triggers because –and I'm just guessing here-, you don't want them to assume that we're hostile."

The Britannian Captain's expression grew even more impatient at 'Leon's' words, proving the veracity of his claim, "Are you so damn bloodthirsty that you want to spark a damn intergalactic war?! We can't risk alienating these aliens with a battle formation for our first contact!"

The Commander, for once, allowed annoyance to sully his expression as he finally ran out of patience for his superior officer, "And are you so cowardly that you're not willing to even take into consideration the fact that they may already be hostile to us? May I remind you that this is not our first contact with them; their forces have been responsible for multiple lost trading ships and the attempted murder of two UFNSC Marines."

Captain Upson slammed his palms on the table in anger, the sound travelling through the comms and startling a few of the Rising Sun's crewmembers, the ship's Commander did not even flinch; expecting this sort of reaction from a man like Upson who wasn't used to getting and hearing exactly what he wanted. "If you can't follow my orders, Commander Lamperouge, then by the end of this all I will have you reprimanded! And should your actions start off a damn war with these aliens, we will all have to pay the price for your mistake!" Captain Upson shouted, having lost the will to continue the discussion

"And should your actions result in the first lost battle of this hypothesized war, Captain." Commander Lamperouge replied, his piercing violet eyes gazing into the Britannian Captain's furious blue ones, "Then you will finally share the same disgrace your ancestor did all those hundreds of years ago, having lost the lives of everybody under your command and protection along with your own to an enemy you willingly didn't prepare for."

John Upson flinched in shock from the raven-haired Commander's words, which then switched over to indescribable fury as he almost roared at Leon's words. He fumbled with his words for a while longer, trying to find the correct retort within his enraged mind, before simply shutting off the comm-link; his face disappearing from the holographic screen.

Leon turned to his crew, "All hands to battle stations, and keep the MAC charged and ready. When the ship comes in range, keep all weapons targeted on it and wait for my order to fire."

Kei looked towards his Commander, the Japanese man's brows furrowing in thought, "So, are we going to follow the Captain's orders, sir?"

Lamperouge turned towards his subordinate, "I suppose we have little choice in the matter, wouldn't you say?" He replied, before turning away to look at one of the screens

"With all due respect, Commander." Kei said, a degree of frustration in his voice, "Captain Upson's orders regarding this matter are, to put it frankly, strategically unsound; the aliens have the complete drop on us if we aren't in formation, especially considering that we're going to let them fire first."

Commmander Lamperouge did not turn around, continuing on looking at the screen. "Can't say that I disagree with you, Lieutenant Commander. But orders are orders." He replied, in an uncharacteristically disinterested voice

Kei sat back down in his chair, he and the rest of the crew somewhat dissatisfied with the Commander's words internally; but keeping his rigid military composure undisturbed as he replied with a "Yes, sir." to his Commander's reply.

But unbeknownst to him, a small grin began forming on the face of his raven-haired leader as he watched the enemy ship come closer and closer to their lines; thankful that his subordinates had more sense in them than the unfortunate descendant of a man he'd killed so very long ago.

-CAG-Class Cruiser 'Rapid Conversion', Harvest Outer Orbit-

The room was both dark and silent, reeking of a putrid stench similar to that of a room full of apes; but its inhabitants did not seem to mind, crowding around a screen that displayed the planet before them. Several humanoid figures stood across the room, their shaggy hides and heavy breathing making them seem like little more than animals. But they were far more dangerous than mere animals; these beings were the Jiralhanae, the 'Brutes': Giant hairy bipedal beings with extremely aggressive personality traits and the strength to back it up. Intellectually, they were often far from impressive; but they were still sentient beings that were bred for war since the very day they were born.

On a large stone chair, similar to a throne, sat Maccabeus: a Jiralhanae Chieftain. His head rested on his arm as he beheld the world that his ship was rapidly approaching; grinning in anticipation as he wondered just what treasures awaited him on this 'Harvest'. Around him were his most trusted pack members: Tartarus, his nephew and the security officer of the 'Rapid Conversion'; and Vorenus, his close friend and second in command.

"Chieftain, we are approaching within firing range of the Heretics." Vorenus spoke, his bass tones rumbling through the air, "Their ships show primitive design, but they do have energy shielding. We should approach this matter with care."

Tartarus, a large Jiralhanae with silver fur, begged to differ, "Care? The Prophet of Truth has already condemned these Heretics to a holy cleansing for their defilation of the works of our gods; we need not give thought to their primitive attempts at defense, we should open fire immediately lest they fire first!"

Maccabeus looked displeased at his nephew's statements, the larger Brute standing up to eye level with him, "Tartarus, surely you jest? We cannot risk damaging any artifacts on the world's surface; the Heretics deserve a chance to surrender and recant their sacrilegious ways if only to allow us undisturbed access to the treasures of our gods."

"If I may interject, Chieftain." Vorenus spoke, pointing towards the screen, "After the sheer audacity of Heresy that they have committed and the number of ships they have volleyed against us; there is little doubt that the Heretics will refuse our terms. The only option we have is to destroy all those ships in our path before scouring the planet clean of relics, lest we invite the anger of the Prophet of Truth by disobeying his orders to cleanse this world."

"Vorenus speaks sense, at long last." Tartarus stated, staring at his uncle impatiently and ignoring Vorenus' indignation at his remark, "We must attack now, or risk losing the first attack and being overwhelmed by the numbers of their pathetic ships. They will not surrender to us, and nor should they; for we shall slaughter them, eviscerate their bodies, and burn their world until it is naught but glass."

Maccabeus thought for a bit more, before turning towards Vorenus; his mind finally made up, "Open communications with them, we will use what little the Huragok has managed to decipher of their language to speak with them."

Tartarus looked wary of his uncle's orders, "What will you say to them?" He asked, obviously suspicious that his uncle was going to attempt to negotiate some kind of peace. But Maccabeus simply smiled slightly in reply, displaying his fanged teeth.

"A proclamation."

-Stalwart-Class Light Frigate 'Majestic', Harvest Inner Orbit-

Captain Upson sweated nervously as he watched the alien ship get closer and closer, seemingly taunting them with defiance as it repeatedly refused to reply to the hails his ship was sending them. But this could easily be due to the fact that they obviously did not understand any Human languages, and so were considering their words carefully. This was, quite blatantly, the real reason they were refusing the respond; how could he think otherwise?

He reassured himself; it obviously wasn't because they were hoping to come in closer for a devastating assault on their ships, the aliens probably had no hostile intentions; and were simply hoping to communicate with them. Maybe they were even going to apologize for blowing up UFNSC trading ships; there was even the chance this was simply the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship with an advanced alien race!

Yet, despite John Upson's self-assurances, his words took away nothing from the sheer terror he felt towards the incoming vessel. His family's name had already been tarnished enough from the mistakes of his ancestors, but the Upson lineage would suffer a lot more from one of its kin losing an entire world than it did when General Upson of the Britannian Airforce lost both his entire fleet of FLOAT ships to a Black Knight raiding party and his own life due to his obsession with his reputation. If only that thrice-damned Commander hadn't brought the matter up, he wouldn't have been bloody worrying about it so much.

Ah yes, Commander Leon Lamperouge: a class-A smartass straight from Luna OCS Academy. The man came to Harvest only a year ago, and right from the very start began questioning his decisions and disrespecting his authority. He would never have let him get away with any of it if only he hadn't wooed every damn officer in the Harvest Defense Fleet with his words and looks to his side. The only thing Upson had on him was rank and older connections, but Lamperouge had been stealing all those connections without even trying in the last year. He saw the looks his damn crew gave him every time he opened a comm-link to his ship; they were devoted beyond reason, and he'd never managed to get that kind of insane admiration from his own crew.

"But now is the time, now's when I finally show that bastard his place!" Upson thought with a grin. If Upson could reach out to these aliens and establish friendly contact, who knows what kind of advanced technology they could offer humanity? He'd be famous; known galaxy-wide as the first man who made contact with prosperity bringing aliens. Hell, they'd probably even promote him to an Admiral or even the Fleet Admiral of the UFNSC; then he could rub it in that cocky brat's face and bring honor to his family name once more.

Upson's thoughts of glory were interrupted, as his communications officer snapped him out of stupor, "Sir!" He spoke with alarm, "The unknown vessel has just sent us a message; it appears to be written in English."

At that, Upson's mood went up dramatically; almost grinning from sheer happiness: The aliens wanted to and could communicate with humanity; his reputation would soar far above everything he'd ever dreamed of, finally granting him the respect he deserved. "What does it say? Read it out!" Upson demanded, growing increasingly impatient as he leaned forward on his chair

The comms officer pressed an icon, opening the message and displaying it to the entire bridge. Upson's face suddenly paled as he slowly beheld the words written before him, collapsing to his seat. One of his crewmembers stood up slowly, shaking as he read the words on the screen out loud.

"Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we…" He spoke, his voice laced with fear

"We are their instruments." Captain Upson finished, terrified beyond measure; as alerts began sounding loudly

The last thought going through John Upson's mind was how he had failed his colony, failed his people, and tarnished his lineage once more. Before a bright flash of light filled with bridge, ceasing his thoughts, his career, and his life for eternity.

-Charon-Class Light Frigate 'Rising Sun', Same Time-

Lieutenant Commander Kei Koda's eyes widened as he beheld four shining blue comet-like objects eject from the unknown vessel like speeding meteors and smash into the Majestic, cutting through its Blaze Luminous shielding with the second 'comet' and blasting apart its bridge with the third. With the loss of its bridge, the Majestic was unable to return fire; as the enemy ship unleashed another type of weapon, a bright continuous blue beam of energy that erupted out of it's bow, which gutted it straight through its Sakuradite reactor and destroyed it in a large explosion. The shockwave from the detonation spread across the battlefield, showering ships in debris and depleting their shielding.

The crew of the Rising Sun was surprised beyond belief; the Majestic, a Stalwart-class frigate with 60 centimeters of Titanium-A armor and Blaze Luminous shielding, was destroyed in only a few seconds by the fire of a single ship. Such devastation was almost unheard of in battles against Insurrectionist ships. Even Commander Lamperouge, a veteran of naval combat, was taken by surprise from the sheer power of the enemy's weapons. The aliens then took advantage of the moment, blasting apart a corvette before it had a chance to open fire with two of its torpedoes.

It was then that, after countless centuries, Commander Lamperouge took the back seat…

"All forces, this is Commander Leon Lamperouge!" The raven-haired commander spoke, his voice laden with authority, "Captain John Upson is presumed KIA; as such, I will be assuming command of the fleet. The alien vessel has shown itself to be hostile; return fire with a full barrage, send out lifeboats to recover any survivors from the Majestic and the Crown, and assume battle formation!" He ordered, throwing his arm to one side as the rush of battle filled his veins, "The fate of Harvest depends on us now!"

…and Lelouch vi Britannia emerged from his dormancy, ready to protect the people he swore to eternally safeguard.

"Lieutenant Jaeger, Lieutenant Aoi; unleash a hail of Archer missile pods, but keep half of them in reserve." Lelouch ordered, turning towards the enemy ship that he could now see through the bridge's glass viewing deck, "Keep all other weapons on standby, we need to assess the enemy's capability."

The Harvest defense fleet opened fire with a hailstorm of Archer missiles, ship-to-ship missiles that could deplete shielding easily and destroy or disable all but the largest UFNSC warships. But to the great shock of the fleet, the alien ship began rapidly firing dozens of beam weapons from its hull; detonating over half the missiles before they even got close to the ship. What missiles did impact against the ship seemingly did negligible damage to its own energy shielding, which consisted of a blue hexagonal honeycombed sphere that covered the entire ship; it was obviously far more powerful than Blaze Luminous technology.

"No way…" Tatsuya spoke with disbelief, "A whole barrage of Archers, and not a scratch on that thing? It's freaking unstoppable!"

The enemy ship fired once more, another bright torpedo that was seemingly made out of energy speeding towards a corvette. The small vessel managed to dodge the torpedo, but the projectile simply turned around; guided by some unseen force as it impacted against the vessel's side and destroyed it in a flash of light. Now, the defense fleet was reduced to nine ships; only eight small corvettes and a light frigate versus an alien juggernaut the size of a cruiser with weapons that made a mockery of the UFNSC ships.

"Sir, there's no way we can beat that thing with our missiles!" Aoi exclaimed, her face tinged with fear, "We need to open fire with the VARIS, before the enemy finishes us off!"

The Commander turned towards Aoi, keeping his expression neutral, "Negative, hold the MAC's charge for now." He spoke, before gazing upon the enemy ship, "If the VARIS fails to take it out in one hit, we'll be sitting ducks; we have to take out that shielding first." Lelouch thought, analyzing the situation before him

Yet another corvette fell to the enemy's fire, gutted from stern to stern by the enemy's bow-mounted beam weapon. The fleet fired yet another storm of missiles, attempting to overwhelm its point-defenses and shielding by sheer numbers, but to no avail; as the ship shot down and absorbed all of the Archer missiles with its powerful shielding. Morale was sinking among the fleet, faced with the behemoth standing before them.

"Commander Lamperouge!" The captain of a corvette spoke through the comms, urgency in his voice, "We're hopelessly outgunned! The enemy has us by our throats! We have to retreat, because at this rate; we're all going to die!"

Similar calls were made to Commander Lamperouge by the other captains, afraid for their lives against this unknown enemy that seemingly had no weaknesses. The Rising Sun's crew turned towards their Commander respectfully, expecting him to spout insults of cowardice at the captains and come up with something that would defeat the enemy.

Lelouch paused for a moment, looking at his crew, before looking once more at the alien ship, before finally speaking up in a firm and commanding voice: "All ships, this is Commander Lamperouge speaking;"

"Retreat to Harvest's surface immediately."

The crew turned towards Lelouch with startled expressions on their faces, baffled at the words coming out of his mouth. "What?" Tatsuya almost whispered, barely believing what he was hearing

"All ships are free to choose their own destination upon arrival; but you are advised to take defensive positions above our major cities," Lelouch spoke, his face showing no expressions as he gave his orders, "This battle is beyond our ability to win; the aliens possess technology which far outstrips our capabilities."

The captains of the corvettes were surprised by Commander Lamperouge's words, but complied nonetheless; fleeing towards Harvest before they too could become prey to the alien vessel's energy weapons. Hibiki Kugenin turned towards Lelouch, astonishment present on his face, "Commander, are we going to abandon Harvest without a fight? The colonists are depending on us!"

"Lieutenant Kugenin," Lelouch replied, without missing a beat, "Take us to Harvest's surface, to the Valhalla Fields near Utgard. That is an order." He stated, his violet eyes staring down the silver-haired Britannian man

Hibiki was taken aback by his Commander's words, his desire to protect Harvest's settlers clashing with his obligation to obey the orders of his superiors; but this confliction did not last long, as said Commander was not finished speaking.

"This fight is far from finished." Lelouch spoke, staring upon the enemy ship that was now focused solely on them, "The enemy think that we've been defeated, and this will work to our advantage. I have no intention to allow them to take Harvest; we will fight them on the fields of Valhalla, and we will win."

The crew was silent for a moment, before a single voice spoke up. "Sir, what do you have planned?" Kei asked

Lelouch turned towards his subordinate, a small smirk encroaching upon his lips.

"A checkmate, of course."

And there we have it; immortality has been explained, the Covenant have appeared, and Lelouch is back in action. Sorry it took so long to publish, but I managed to finish it all and make this chapter twice as long as the last one!

To everybody who asked about Knightmare Frames, they'll be included next chapter; so don't you worry. If anybody's got any ideas for Knightmare Frames, please send me a PM or include it in your review; I'll consider including it into the story.

So, once again, thank you for reading; and please don't forget to review!