Chapter 7: JLF at Narita
After taking their loot all the way back to the Castle, the Magic Knights were able to help treat Fuu and Ferio of their injuries before meeting with the other at the dinning hall. As soon as the Magic Knights meet up with Geo, Aska, and the twin Chizetian Princesses they all celebrated their first allied victory with Zero and the Black Knights at the dinning hall. There were various fruits, veggies, drinks, desserts, and meat placed all over the huge dinning table between them. The dishes were being passed out by the butlers and stewards from the kitchen. As they all feasted, Hikaru was summoned to the Cephirian Royal Court by Clef. When she sat down next to the Master Mage, he made his conversation with the Knight of Fire over the victory at Mt. Dakurd.
"So Hikaru, are you sure you can handle yourself being around Zero?" Clef asked out of concern.
"Clef, if anyone can save Area 11 and bring back what was taken from my fellow citizens, it will be him!" Hikaru responded, referring to Zero.
"Well, I still sense that he has a hatred grudge against a group of certain people within the Holy Britannian Empire, Hikaru!" Clef informed the Flame Knight. "It may have something to do with the Royal Imperial Family that is controlling Area 11, your homeworld. I have a very bad feeling that if his hatred gets out of control, Zero may not be any different from the Britannians."
"You know I can do this, Clef!" Hikaru said, trying to stay determined and confident. "Is there any reason that Zero cannot be trusted?!"
"The future around Zero can be uncertain. However, since he was a Britannian Prince, it might be possible for him to take over the Britannian Throne after defeating them in their final battle. When that happens, he might not keep our promise at all, the way our allies did!" Clef warned Hikaru. "It's as if he was using us like pieces in a chess game!"
"Oh Clef, you worry too much!" Hikaru giggled as she drank a goblet of orange juice in front of her.
At the dinning table, Tamaki couldn't stop stuffing his mouth full with meat and desserts along with Geo Metro.
"Hey Geo, I bet I can eat faster than you!" Tamaki taunted the sub-commander of Autozam while taking a big bite out of a chicken drumstick.
"No you can't!" Geo snapped as he tried to scarf down a bowl of macaroni with both of his hands.
Upon seeing the two men scarfing down their meals, Umi could not help but feel disgusted at such erroneous table manners.
"Geez, boys! Would you two slow down?! This isn't an eating competition!" Umi complained in annoyance while trying to drink her soup.
As the Geo and Tamaki continued eating like crazy, Mokona popped out in front of Tamaki and opened its mouth wide. Before Tamaki could see what was happening, Mokona open his mouth as wide as a punch bowl and shallowed a whole cake with just one gulp.
"HOLY COW, THAT THING IS AN EATING RIOT!" Tamaki laughed while drinking a mug full of beer and pointing at Mokona.
"Yeah well, you should've seen what that ball of fluff did to me when Lantis and Hikaru were traveling outside of the Castle three years ago!" Primera said as she appeared in front of Tamaki. "That crazy cretin almost shallowed me whole at one time!"
"Is that so? Um, you might you be little lady?' Tamaki asked the little fairy.
"I'm Primera I used to be with Lantis as my bodyguard. That isn't until Hikaru met him and everything turned upside down." Primera said as she introduced her before grunting in dismay. "Even though it wasn't worth harassing Hikaru anymore, I still wanted to support Lantis in any way possible."
"So, Mr. Tamaki, what are you guys going to do now?" Fuu asked the hot-headed Black Knight.
"Well kid, that will be up to Zero to decided. Every since he rose up from the shadows of Area 11, I felt skeptical about what he was up to, especially when he helped us fight back against Britannia at the Shinjuku Getto." Tamaki replied with an unamused tone. "But since he helped get far into rebelling against the Empire, I'll do anything to regain our former country back, even if its the last thing I do. Say Fuu, how did you girls end up becoming Knights while in your younger teen years?"
"Let's just say, that we got too carried away with finding our own path without knowing how grim our adventures were getting," Fuu said in disappointment.
"You mean you girls could not find your honor when you first entered Cephiro as Magic Knights, but was able to during your second visit here?!" Tamaki asked out of curiosity.
"I guess you could say that, Mr. Tamaki!" Fuu answered as she smiled.
"So Zero, what do are you going to do now?" Umi asked the masked hero.
As Umi turned to face Zero, she sees the masked leader leaning on the wall behind Tamaki and Kallen. Just when Zero stood up on his two legs, he makes his announcement in front of the Black Knights and the Magic Knights.
"Rakshata will be staying in Cephiro to help do some research and tune-ups with Geo Metro over the Knightmares that the Cephirians have captured. As for us, we'll be heading back to Area 11, to go after Princess Cornelia and her forces at Narita."
Upon hearing this, Tamaki spit out his beer and turned towards Zero out of fear for dealing with one of the Royal Members of the Imperial Family. For the rest of the Black Knights, they all gasped in fear over their next mission in Area 11.
"Zero, are you insane?!" Tamaki protested as he tried to grab Zero with both of his hands. "Her Royal Guard will be on top of us!"
"Yes, but we'll not be fighting them alone now that the Magic Knights are our allies," Zero continued. "They'll be attacking the Japanese Liberation Front at Narita. During their assault, we move in and have one of our squads accompany the Magic Knights."
"You mean, you want us to go with you back to Area 11?" Umi asked Zero.
"I hate to say this Lady Umi, but since one of your fellow Magic Knights put Kallen down with a little too much force, you all owe us!" Zero added in.
"If we go in and confront the Britannian Viceroy, they'll surround us at Narita with no chance of escaping!" Tamaki protested in fear.
"Of course they'll try to cut us off!" Zero responded fearlessly. "Our only chance to survive is to fight!"
"If we're going up against Cornelia, we'll be dealing with a force that's stronger than anyone that we encountered so far!" One of Black Knights said, denying Zero's decisions.
"Then, it'll take a miracle for us to win against her!" Zero said with determination. "Even messiahs needed to perform miracles if they were to survive. Therefore, we have to produce our own miracle as well, don't we?! Since the Magic Knights were able to display their own miracle out on the battlefield before us, there will no turning back anymore."
"But they're a lot different from the rest of us Black Knights and they were able to do things that we cannot do!" Tamaki said in denial tone. "Unlike them, we would end up paying the price with our lives even more worse than they did. I knew it's crazy to make you our leader. I should be the one leading the Black Knights!"
In spite of his anger, Tamaki pulled out his handgun from his holster and started to shove it into Zero's head but not before Zero took out his gun and pointed it directly into Tamaki's lower stomach. Upon seeing this, everyone stopped eating and stared at the two with shock and horror in their eyes. But before they could do anything, Zero dropped his gun on the floor and continued his speech with everyone.
"If you guys think you can win the war with the Britannians without me, then you might as well forget about me or kill me! However, since you people joined the Black Knights, there can only be two choices: one, fight to live another day or two, die trying! What will it be?! And you, Magic Knights, if you want to fight for our own country for the sake of your families, your friends, and for the people of Cephiro, now will be the time."
After hearing Zero's speech, the rest of the Black Knights looked at each other and stood up as they all saluted to Zero for they all choose to fight to live another day, while Tamaki lets go of Zero and backed away, unable to say anymore. As for the Magic Knights, they stood up and made a vow towards Zero.
"We'll do anything to protect our family, the way we protected the Cephirians from facing doom!" All three Magic Knights announced in unison.
As the Black Knights left the dinning hall to get ready to head back to Area 11, Lafarga, Lantis, Ferio, and Zazu decided to tag along with them while the Magic Knights pack up for the return trip. After Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are at the Castle gates getting ready to head back, Hikaru was the first to spot the four men getting ready to leave with the Black Knights.
"Are you sure you're going to meet us back at Area 11?" Hikaru asked, showing concern for Lantis and the other men that are packing up.
"Since they're equipped with teleportation devices latched onto their Knightmares, we'll accompany the Black Knights while undercover so that we won't draw any attention from the Britannians or the Japanese," Lafarga informed the Flame Knight. "Our customized Knightmares will be stashed in their Armory at their hideout until our next battle. Also, Geo will order his engineers to build a gateway to gain access to Area 11, thanks to the blueprints that Rakshata gave him earlier."
"Not to worry, Hikaru," Lantis said as he gave Hikaru a kiss on the head, making her blush. "As soon as we setup shop at Area 11, we'll meet up with you and the other Magic Knights. Only this time, we'll make sure nothing happens to Zazu again."
"Thanks Lantis!" Hikaru said with a smile as she kissed the Magic Swordsman back before accompanying Umi and Fuu on the way back to Area 11.
As the light engulfed the Magic Knights and disappeared from the gate, Lantis went onboard his Knightmare, along with Ferio's and Lafarga's before meeting up with the Black Knights of Japan at the Castle Courtyard.
Outside of the Ashford Academy, Viletta Nu arrived at the parking lot and went over the school's log book for some investigation on finding clues to the Magic Knight's whereabouts.
"I hope I can start in the Ashford Academy first while finding evidence that might lead us to Zero and the Magic Knights in Cephrio," Viletta thought to herself as she looked at the IDs of the students in the log book. "I can't help but wonder why would those three Eleven transferred students be so nonchalant and unafraid of the Britannian students residing at that school."
As Viletta approached the school, Jeremiah stood beside his limousine while watching the baroness disappear into the school's main entrance.
For Lelouch, he appeared with the Hikaru and C.C while Umi and Fuu went to separate classes at the 2nd floor of the school. Just as soon as Lelouch lead Hikaru to the kitchen, he went over the plan to get Cornelia's attention.
"So Lelouch, do you know how will the battle at Narita will be planned out?" Hikaru asked as she sees Lelouch take out a map that lays out the details of the Narita Mountains.
"The Mountains will be guarded by the remains of the Japanese Liberation Front lead by General Tatewaki Katase." Lelouch spoke quietly with Hikaru. "You'll be in the Zero Squad along with Kallen Kozuki and her team."
"I understand," Hikaru said acknowledging Lelouch's plan for her roles in combat. "What about Umi, Fuu, and the rest of our friends from Cephiro?!"
"Lantis will be in the Zero Squad as well. As for Umi and Fuu, they'll be in Tamaki's Squad!" Lelouch answered. "Ferio will be escorting Ohgi on the frontlines. For Zazu, he'll be working and tuning up our Knightmare Frames before we head out into battle."
"That's fine with me, Lelouch!" Hikaru said in relief. "What about Nunnally? She might get worried about what will happen to you out there!"
"I already took care of that," Lelouch said as he smiled to himself.
In the morning, at the Mountains of Narita, a log cabin was used as a communications outpost by two JLF soldiers. Inside, they were surveying the area around them for suspicious activity while playing a board game on a table. As they waited until the next scheduled report, Zero appeared when he opened up the door right behind him.
"Zero?!" One of the JLF soldiers exclaimed as he took out his rifle.
Before either soldier could make any move, Zero makes his calm speech in front of them.
"Relax, I came to talk."
As Zero removed his helmet, he activated his geass and told the two soldiers to ignore any unusual activity during their watch.
When Zero's Geass hit his targets, the JLF soldiers put their weapons down and went back to their board game. After seeing his victims do as he says, Zero put his helmet back on and went back outside to observe the view around the Narita Mountains. During his observation, he spots C.C appear in front of him. On the other side of the Mountain, the Zero Squad noticed the signal from Zero and moved up the mountain slope while carrying two crates full of electrodes with one B.K Knightmare pushing it from behind and the other pulled it up front with several B.K infantry hanging on the Knightmare's shoulders. As for Kallen and her Guren, she moved up behind them with Hikaru walking in between them, wearing her full Magic Knight armor.
"Why didn't Zero used the signal from his radio inside his Burai?" One of the Black Knights asked while going up the slope.
"He did say 'hiking' right?" Kallen replied while inside her Guren.
"Maybe it was done through military training?" Hikaru assumed.
Right behind the Guren, Lantis was steering his personal Knightmare up the slope to catch up with Hikaru. It was a Sutherland painted in a complete Black Color. On the Sutherland's face, it was painted with the Emblem of Rayearth in which symbolizes his bond and loyalty towards Hikaru. Lantis' Knightmare happens to be armed with similar weapons that the GTO possessed when he first fought Eagle during his visit at Autozam. It was armed with a Giant Cannon, a Jousting Lance, and a Chest Mounted Machine gun. Even though he had his magic and his sword, Lantis still needed to adapt through Knightmare Frame combat first if he were to help the Magic Knights save Cephiro and Japan from Britannia.
"Hey Lantis! Are you doing okay back there?" Hikaru asked, showing concern for her boyfriend.
"It's been a long time since I was onboard a machine similar to that of Autozam's GTO," Lantis said as he looked at Hikaru from behind. "Not to worry, Hikaru. I won't let you down again like what happened between you and Nova."
"I'm glad that you can with me to Area 11, Lantis!" Hikaru said as she smiled at the Magic Swordsman while inside his Sutherland.
"Who's Nova?!" Kallen asked.
"You definitely don't want to know Kallen!" Lantis said while sweating underneath his breath. "Anyway, we have to stick with Zero's plan if we were to win back both of our countries."
"Understood, sir!" Kallen acknowledged while continuing up the trek in the Narita Mountains.
"What about you Ohgi?" One of the Black Knights spoke through the intercom inside the Deputy Commander's Burai. "Have heard anything from Zero's radio?!
"No, I not a word," Ohgi responded while driving his Knightmare up the mountain trail and looking at the map surrounding Narita. "Zero wasn't using the radio to avoid being tracked. Is he serious about doing this?"
Meanwhile on the outskirts of the Narita Mountains, another G-1 Base started moving forward with Princess Cornelia sitting on her throne with Lord Guilford standing by her side, while Princess Euphy is monitoring the map table from inside the bridge as sub-viceroy of Area 11. Next to Euphy, there is a tall-muscular man dressed in a red military officer's uniform. He had a scar across his face, light brown hair, and black eyes. He is known as Andreas Dartlon the General and Leader of the Glaston Knights of the Holy Britannian Empire. All around the map table, there were other Britannian Officers dressed in the same way as Darlton.
"It is certain that the Japan Liberation Front is hidden somewhere in the Narita Mountains!" Darlton announced to his fellow officers and Euphy. "We have dispatched 4 battalions into 7 units and had them surround their base while hiding underneath their radar. As soon as we received the signal from the Viceroy, we'll attacked with one big swoop and eliminate them."
"And are you sure that the enemy will not appear outside of their zone?!" Euphy asked, concerning for their determination during this mission.
"You mean Zero?!" Cornelia asked, clarifying of what Euphy is referring to.
"Not to worry, your highness!" Darlton said to Princess Euphy. "As soon as the mission begins, we'll block off all exits, roads, and highways. Also, we'll have the citizens from the nearby cities evacuate immediately."
"We do have reserve units incase anything goes wrong during our mission," Cornelia added. "If Zero does anything stupid to expose his presence out in the open, then we'll take him down as well."
Somewhere back at the Narita Mountains, Rayearth and the Guren were helping setup the electrodes all over the area along with the rest of the Black Knights, unknown to the JLF forces. As for Lantis, he stood on guard and watched out for any suspicious activity from afar.
"So Hikaru, what made you become a Magic Knight at the age of 14?" Kallen asked after setting up her electrode.
"I thought of this as if it we're in a real-life RPG!" Hikaru said, feeling a bit amused. "But it was actually more than that. I met people that do need help in dealing with people like High Priest Zagato."
"Is that so?!" Kallen asked further.
"Clef told us that because of Zagato's treason, Cephiro was suffering from various monster attacks and people living under a great deal of fear from each other," Hikaru continued.
"There used to be monsters in the world that you and your friends were in?" Kallen said as her eyes widened. "How so?"
"Apart from Ascot's friends, Clef told us that monsters usually come and go because they're usually controlled and created by fear from the hearts of the people. This is also one of the reasons why Cephiro is a Land of the Will."
"So for you, it's been like this when you, Umi, and Fuu first visited Cephiro?"
"Exactly! There's actually more to it about Cephrio than what meets the eye. For a long time, Cephirians has been struggling to create a beautiful, peaceful world without any controlled government. However, after three years of rebuilding itself after we fought hard to bring peace to that world, it still didn't stop other invaders from coming to take away everything that Cephiro is trying to gain. You already know what I'm talking about right?!"
"Yeah, I know. I wish I could see Japan the same way as I see Cephiro now," Kallen thought. "What about your friends, what was their verdict when they first came to Cephiro with you before they became Magic Knights?"
"Umi was against it, thinking that the problems in Cephiro should only be dealt with by the people that live there and that she just insisted on not having anything to do with all this!" Hikaru said, feeling a little disappointed from Umi's behavior back then. "As for Fuu, she decided to play along with our adventures as the Magic Knights. Overall, Clef denied our request to return home until we help save Cephiro from Zagato and his minions."
"That's quite a big catch there, Hikaru!" Kallen said as her Guren placed its Radium Claw on top of her electrode, with Rayearth doing the same thing. "Is being a Magic Knight all you ever dreamed of?"
"Not quite, our journey to protect the people that we love is just the beginning!" Hikaru responded with determination.
Meanwhile back at Cornelia's G-1 Base, Prince Clovis appeared right besides his sister Euphy while looking down at the map table that's displaying the area around Mt. Narita. Before Clovis could issue some suggestions to Euphy, she starting to wonder why would her brother show up at time like this.
"So Clovis, are you sure you want to help me carry out orders here?"
"Euphy, I've been humiliated by my defeat when the Magic Knights helped the armies of Cephiro overwhelmed our base camps at Mt. Dakurd in Cephiro. Now that our elder sister is on the battlefield, I'm sure Cornelia would teach those three Knights a lesson that they'll never forget." Clovis hissed as he turned to see Euphy on his left. "After all, she's one of the best female Britannian Commanders we ever had out on the battlefield. And if they ever face General Darlton and Lord Guilford during battle, it'll be the last thing they'll ever do!"
"Viceroy, all units are in position!" One of the Britannian officers said as he spoke to Cornelia through the Royal Channel.
"Understood!" Cornelia acknowledged as she embarked on her customized Gloucester inside the G-1's hangar. "Euphemia and Clovis will provide logistical support from the G-1 as planned. Have Euphy command the medical group and have Clovis monitor the map for any enemy reinforcements!"
"Yes, your highness!" The Britannian officer responded in a positive tone.
After giving out her orders to the officers inside the G-1 bridge, Cornelia heard another beep inside her cockpit, indicating another communication channel coming from her knight Lord Guilford.
"Princess Cornelia!"
"Guilford?! Let me guess, it's about Euphy isn't it?!" Cornelia assumed.
"Yes! Well, I think Euphy should do her part in the government agency, not..."
"But she's being pretty stubborn in seeing actual combat personally," Cornelia said, interrupting Guilford's speech.
Back at the bridge of the G-1 Base, Euphy spotted a yellow arrow southwest of the mobile fortress' current position on the map table.
"What is that unit behind us?!" Euphy asked, referring to the yellow arrow on the map table.
"That will be our reserve force, mostly an Eleven pilot!" One of the officers answered.
"You mean the Lancelot?" Euphy asked further.
"Elevens weren't permitted to operate Knightmares. However, since he's an Honorary Britannian, Suzaku is actually an exception," Another officer explained.
"And just remember, Euphy!" Clovis said before informing the sub-viceroy. "I wanted to see Suzaku have may chances at real combat as much as possible to prove his worth to us!"
Back at the Narita Mountains, they Black Knights and the Magic Knights have finished setting up all of their electrodes as they dug into the ground, with dirt coming out of their funnels. As the operation continued, Zero watched before Ohgi came up to him to clarify with their mission of capturing Cornelia, while the rest stood by behind the two.
"Are you sure you want to go after Cornelia?" Ohgi asked, fearing the wrath of the Britannian Viceroy of Area 11.
"What? You don't believe that I can help you fight back against Britannia anymore?" Zero said, taken back by what Ohgi is getting at.
"Well, I asked you to be our leader, right?!" Ohgi said, as his eyes widened with confusion.
"Then, there is only one way to answer this..." Zero said to the Deputy Commander.
"Viceroy, it's time!" General Darlton said through Cornelia's channel.
"Right, commence operation!" Cornelia announced to her forces.
The moment she activated her Knightmare, Cornelia took off from the G-1 Hanger and proceeded into battle with the rest of her units. At the same time, the rest of the other Britannian Knightmares started popping out from their hiding places, while others dropped down from the sky after being carried by their air transports.
In the JLF underground HQ, their map picked up a hundred signals at an alarming rate. Upon seeing this, the JLF general came up to one of his officers to inform him of this immediate turn of events.
"We're under attack!" The General Katase said with horror in his eyes.
"Yes sir! Mt. Narita is surrounded by Britannian Forces. About a hundred of their Knightmares have been spotted in the vicinity!" One of the officers reported while saluting to the general.
"Our ground forces are captured all at once!" Another JLF Officer reported.
"General, we've received word from Princess Cornelia's forces demanding our surrender!" The 3rd JLF Officer told General Katase.
"YOU IMBECILES!" Katase shouted in anger. "If we surrender now, the whole resistance will fall down along with us!"
"So, do we engage Cornelia's forces or are we going to dig in?!" One of the officers asked.
"Where is Commander Tohdoh?!" Katase asked one of his officers.
"He went to Kyoto to get the customized Burai, along with the Four Holy Swords! They should be returning soon by now!"
"Prepare to send out the Burais!" The General ordered his officers. "We'll show the Britannians our spirit and pride, for it will be our moment of truth!"
"Remember what I said back in Cephiro before carrying out our mission at Narita!" Zero said as he made his announcement to the Black Knights, Cephrio's warriors, and the Magic Knights. "If you wanted to become heroes filled with miracles like the Magic Knights you see before you, now will be the time to do it! So, are you all in or are you all out?!"
After giving it some thought to themselves, the Black Knights finally made their decision.
"Okay fine, you do what you have to do to keep us alive!" Tamaki said, finally yielding to Zero's leadership.
"We'll follow you all the way to the bitter end, Zero!" One of the Black Knights said, acknowledging Zero's influence.
"Thank you very much, everyone!" Zero replied as he ordered the Black Knights and the other two Magic Knight allies to wait inside the trees before ambushing the Britannians, while Kallen stands by to activate the electrodes.
As Darlton's forces scaled up the Mountain slopes, they move in to search for the JLF's secret base. While inside his cockpit of his Gloucester, Darlton started to clarify on what he is up against in the JLF.
"What Knightmares are they using against us again?!"
"The Burais, sir!" One of Darlton's soldiers answered from another Knightmare.
"Right!" Darlton acknowledged. "Remember boys, they're like Sudo Glasgows so watch out for them!"
"Yes, my Lord!" Darlton's soldiers responded, heeding his orders.
Somewhere on the other side of Narita near Cornelia's position, she spotted several trees move aside where a squad of JLF Burais appear from the ground in front of her. As Cornelia approached, several of her men were right behind her.
"It seems that they treated this mountain like a fortress," Cornelia thought while piloting her customized Gloucester.
"Your highness, please get back!" Guilford told the princess as he steered his Gloucester right besides Cornelia's.
"Guilford, please! I'm not some sort of random lady that can't defend herself in a dark area, I'm a Commander of Britannia's elite forces!" Cornelia said, denying her Knight's request as she moved forward with her Knightmare.
"Princess Cornelia, wait!" Guilford shouted.
"It's Princess Cornelia!" One of the JLF soldiers inside his Burai shouted. "GET HER!"
As the squad of three Burais opened fire at Cornelia's Knightmare with their assault rifles, she rushed forward dodging their shots and struck with her jousting lance.
"INSOLENT WORMS!" Cornelia shouted ruthlessly as she swung her lance and knocked the two Burais to the ground all at once and impaled the third one in its chest, obliterating him in an instant above her Knightmare.
As the fight pressed on between the JLF and Cornelia's guard, her main force gained the upper hand.
"CORNELIA IS HERE! IS THERE NO ONE ELSE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE ME?!" Cornelia taunted out loud as she stood in a fearless stance with her lance pointing straight to the sky while holding its shaft with her left grip, hitting its rear end on the ground.
During the ensuing battle between Britannia's Knightmares and the JLF forces, Darlton's squad spotted a mountain lodge above the trees in front of their position.
"General, I've confirmed that the lodge up ahead is the main base of the JLF!" One of Darlton's soldiers reported.
"Bingo!" General Darlton acknowledged. "Let's have Cornelia know too."
In an instant, Darlton raised a signal flare from his Gloucester in order to get Princess Cornelia's attention from the other side of Narita.
"It looks like General Darlton must've spotted the JLF's main base!" Lord Guilford said as he spoke to Cornelia through her channel inside his Knightmare.
"Then, we'll secure our position here first!" Cornelia suggested, giving out orders to Guilford. "Have the reserve force reinforce Darlton's position."
Meanwhile, back at the area where Zero and his personal squad are at, he is inside his customized Burai getting ready to carry out the plan to attack Cornelia at Narita.
"I knew you were always impressive, Cornelia," Zero muttered as he took off his mask. "Even with such brilliant deployment, your location is still predictable!"
As he spotted Cornelia's forces get closer to the Narita Mountain, Zero makes his first order out on the battlefield.
"ALL PREPARATIONS ARE NOW COMPLETED! Black Knights of Japan, Magic Knights of Cephiro, prepare to move out!"
"You heard what he said guys!" Umi told to the rest of the Black Knights. "If none of you want to die here, then make your miracle happen right now!"
After hearing Umi's voice coming from her Rune God Selece, the Black Knight infantry mounted up and loaded their all their weapons and Burais for battle. For the Magic Knights, as soon as they went onboard their Rune Gods, they all drew out their swords before backing up their designated squads.
"We are going to launch a surprise attack on Cornelia's forces at the summit of the mountain!" Zero announced as his Burai drew out its Assault Rifle from its holster. "You are to change down on to point 3! And our top priority is to capture Viceroy Cornelia, 2nd Princess of Britannia. We'll start our breakthrough with the Guren and Rayearth!"
As Kallen went onboard her Guren and powered it up from the inside of its cockpit, she hears Zero issuing out his first orders to the Ace pilot of the Black Knights.
"Kallen, use Electrode #3 and do it with one blow!"
"Got it!" Kallen acknowledged before turning towards Hikaru while placing its Radium claw on top of the Electrode. "Are you ready to face Cornelia in battle, Hikaru?!"
"I was born ready!" Hikaru smirked as she drew out her broadsword while inside her Rune God.
"Good then, output confirmed! Radiation wave level surges ready and holding!" Kallen announced as she activated her Radium Claw to maximum power.
"This is my chance to stop Cornelia here before she attacks Cephiro!" Hikaru said to herself as she readied herself with her battle stance.
"ACTIVATING GAUNTLET NOW!" Kallen spoke as she unleashed a Radiation Wave on the Electrode.
In an instant, the radiation waves were transferred through the Electrode. Underneath the ground where the end of the Electrode is, the radiation fired a H20 pressure full of bubbles in the water underneath the mountain. After a few seconds, a massive rumble started to occur all over the Mt. Narita. As a result, the ground exploded from underneath and unleashed a landslide that engulfed and took out several JLF Burai's and Alex's and Darlton's entire detachments.
Upon seeing this back at the G-1 Base, Euphy and the officers could not help but wonder how could a landslide occur in the middle of the Narita Mountains.
"SOLDIERS, GET TO HIGHER GROUND!" Darlton ordered his remaining soldiers as he activated his Slash Harkens.
As Darlton's Slash Harkens struck the ground outside of the landslide, he struggled to pull himself up and away from the destructive mess underneath his Knightmare.
"Status report!" Cornelia ordered.
"We're still trying to confirm!" The Princess soldiers responded.
"Your highness, it's dangerous over there!" Guilford told Cornelia. "Get back now!"
"I don't care!" Cornelia protested, concerning over the lives of her men. "Find Darlton and Alex!"
Back inside the underground JLF base, the floor started to shake as the officers struggled to hold onto something immobile.
"W-What's happening out there?!" One of the officers said in a panic.
"Is this place still going to hold?" General Katase asked in fear.
"Well, the central area should make it through!" Katase's officers said while holding onto the map table.
Inside the transport carrying the Lancelot, Lloyd spotted the landslide from his map computer along with Cecil.
"Oh my! With this going on, they'll be swept all the way to the bottom of the mountain!" Lloyd said calmly.
"This is abnormal!" Cecil said in denial. "Is this caused by a volcanic eruption?!"
"That's absurd, unless someone was using Rakshata's Radium Wave Surger!" Lloyd replied to Cecil.
"Did something happen?" Suzaku asked as he turned to face Lloyd and Cecil from Lancelot's cockpit.
"It has nothing to do with us, so just relax and wait for further orders," Lloyd said to Suzaku while being nonchalant.
As the landslide came down from Narita, it engulfed a nearby city south of its mountains. Just when it stopped, the landslide caused damage to the buildings that are close to the forest, while toppling over several of them.
"It's even more destructive that I thought it would be!" Lelouch grinned. "By doing so, we have succeeded in isolating Cornelia's unit away from the rest of her forces. However, if we were to do this more accurately, I'm sure that this landslide will not reach the city at all. Maybe by being lectured by a physics teacher or being supervised by Nina Einstein over probabilities."
Back at Cornelia's position, she still stood by to see if they can continue with their mission in taking out the JLF. Before she could do anything else, Cornelia's channel started kicking in as one of her soldiers makes his report on the battlefield.
"New enemy forces are appearing from the summit. Carius' unit is on the field, preparing to engage them!"
"I bet they'll try to take advantage of the confusion, eh?!" Cornelia thought to herself before getting a response of Carius himself.
"This is Carius' unit on an emergency roll-call!" One of Carius' soldiers shouted through Cornelia's channel.
"What's wrong?!" Cornelia asked in alarm.
"It's not the Japanese Liberation Front! IT'S THE BLACK KNIGHTS!"
"What?! Then that means..." Cornelia responded in shock.
"IT'S ZERO!" Jeremiah shouted as he steered his Sutherland away from his position. "How dare he show up at Narita!? ZERO!"
"Lord Jeremiah, wait!" Viletta exclaimed as she tried desperately to catch up with "Orange Boy" with her Sutherland. "You can't just abandon your post!"
"It's my biggest chance! If you want glory against Zero, then FOLLOW ME!" Jeremiah shouted at the top of his lungs.
As Zero's Burai pressed forward, along with 5 other Burai's, Rayearth, and the Guren following from behind, they begun attacking the Britannians head on.
"Cornelia has a limited number of reinforcements!" Zero announced from inside his Burai. "Smash right through them!"
"YES, WE CAN DO THIS!" Tamaki said excitedly as he opened fire with the Burai's assault rifle, destroying one enemy Sutherland up front.
As for Hikaru, she had Rayearth fly over Zero's squad and struck into the middle of Britannian squad of Sutherlands. Before one of the Sutherlands turned around and opened fire at the Rune God, he was met with chop in the Knightmare's side by Hikaru's sword in which slashed right through its torso before he exploded the moment he collapsed. For the Sutherland behind Hikaru, he was about to shoot her with his Assault Rifle only for the Magic Knight of Fire to do another chop on enemy Knightmare. This time, Hikaru chopped off the Sutherland's head from its torso before the pilot activated his ejector seat, sending him flying into the woods behind him.
"Alright everyone, you know the game plan!" Inoue said as her eyes narrowed after looking through her binoculars. "Our job is to watch our backs. Ready the RPGs!"
As soon as their RPGs are loaded and aiming at Britannia's battle tanks, Inoue shouts out her command at the top of her lungs.
"FIRE!"
In less than a second, three Black Knights fired their RPGs at the battle tanks. Upon impact, the tank tumbled to its side before it exploded.
"The enemy has taken out Carius' unit?!" Jeremiah muttered as his eyes widened. "If I can finish off Zero before he reaches Princess Cornelia, then I'm golden!"
"Lord Jeremiah are you still there?!" Viletta said through her channel.
"Viletta, you finally came to back me up!" Jeremiah smiled in a positive tone.
While doing battle against the Britannians, Windam and Selece flew up from the trees behind the Black Knights and charged forward while delivering kicks and jabs at the enemy Sutherlands that got in their way. As Sutherlands fell on the ground, Umi charged up her magic and unleashed it at Darlton's Gloucester.
"SAPPHIRE WHIRLWIND!"
As a blue magical whirlwind shot out from Selece's hands, the Gloucester started spinning his Jousting Lance in a circular motion to repel against Umi's magic. Behind Umi, Windam appeared from her side and aimed her hand at the same Gloucester as a small spiral green wind appeared.
"EMERALD TYPHOON!"
After blocking Umi's magic with his lance, Darlton steered away from Fuu's magic with his landspinners and opened fire at Windam with his Assault Rifle.
"Princess Cornelia, it's Magic Knights. They're here on the battlefield and they're assisting the Black Knights!" Darlton spoke through his communication channel while fighting against Umi's and Fuu's Rune Gods.
"I never thought that the Magic Knights would form an allegiance with Zero and the Black Knights! But no matter, we're just going to have to fight them too," Cornelia muttered to herself before announcing her new orders through all of her open channels. "Attention, all Britannian forces! The Magic Knights of Cephiro are now spotted on the battlefield at Narita, aiding the Black Knights in their wake. You are to defeat them and capture all three of them at all costs. Anyone who is able to do so, I'll promote them as a Honorable Nobles of the Britannian Empire!"
"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!" All of the Britannian soldiers shouted in unison.
"ZERO!" Jeremiah shouted as he opened fire at the Black Knight's Burai's.
After getting struck by Jeremiah, the two Black Knights ejected from their defeated Burai's as they left the battlefield.
"Is Zero here?!" Jeremiah asked as two of his fellow Purist Members appeared on his left. "If he is, then face me! Come forth and fight Jeremiah Gottwald!"
"It's been awhile Jeremiah!" Zero smirked while facing Jeremiah with his Burai. "So, you're still in the army?! I'd love to stay and play, but I don't have the time for it, Orange boy!"
"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH! ORANGE?!" Jeremiah growled." PREPARE TO DIE!"
Just as Jeremiah attempted to charge at Zero's Burai, Kallen's Guren appeared from above and landed right in front of the raging Purist Faction member. The next thing that happened is when the Guren knocked the Assault Rifle from Jeremiah's hands as he drew out his stun tonfas.
"LORD JEREMIAH!" Viletta shrieked.
"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Jeremiah shouted back as he was getting ready to fight with his Sutherland. "This is my fight!"
"But I never seen such a Knightmare like that before. Is it possible that the Elevens were able to get their hands on it?!" Viletta said in a panic.
"Like hell I'm ever going to believe that!" Jeremiah shouted in denial.
As Jeremiah's Sutherland attempted to attack the Guren with his tonfas, the Guren jumped up high above the ground 65 feet and did a mid-air flip before landing in front of him again.
"Is this what destroyed Carius' unit?!" Jeremiah asked to himself.
"Yeah, that's right Britannia! Now that I got this Knightmare under my control, it'll be our turn to go against you in equal footing!" Kallen snarled. "Behold, the Guren MK-II!"
"And don't forget us, the Magic Knights of Cephiro!" Hikaru shouted as she slammed into the ground with her left fist hitting the ground while kneeling behind the Guren.
"It's Rayearth!" Viletta exclaimed.
As the fight continued with Jeremiah's Sutherland and Kallen's Guren, Jeremiah attempted to reverse his Knightmare away from the Eleven's Knightmare. However, the Guren's Radium Claw was able to extend further and grabbed the Sutherland by the face.
"Prepare to die, Britannia!" Kallen glared as she activated her Radium Claw.
"LORD JEREMIAH!" Viletta shouted in horror before she was confronted by Hikaru's Rune God.
"Nice try, Britannian!" Hikaru shouted through her Rune God as she held her sword up to Viletta's Knightmare in the neck.
As his Sutherland's Tungsten Metal started bubbling from the inside due to the Radiation that Guren's Claw is emitting, Jeremiah started to feel a red electrical surge spew out from inside his cockpit as it started damaging him and his controls, forcing his main camera to malfunction with a massive static display.
"W-WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Jeremiah shrieked in horror as he sees a small glimpse of Zero's Burai behind the Guren. "NO! I CAN'T RUN NOW! ZERO IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!"
As the damage in his Knightmare continued to accumulate, the ejector seat started to activate as the Ejection Seat screen started to appear before Jeremiah.
"DAMMIT, DON'T YOU DARE ACTIVATE ON ME, AUTO EJECT!" Jeremiah screeched as his nose started bleeding. "I KNOW I CAN STILL GET ZERO...GYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Just like that, Jeremiah collapsed onto his side in a crippled state as his cockpit ejected from his Sutherland before it exploded behind the Guren.
As the flames all around the Guren burst out, not damaging the red Knightmare, Kallen feels rather pleased with herself that she is able to get the upper hand against the Britannians, despite her defeat against Hikaru and Rayearth.
"I won't lose to a Britannian scum." Kallen grinned. "Not with this, Guren MK-II!"
"She defeated Jeremiah!" Viletta muttered in fear. "Who are the Black Knights?! Who are these warriors?!"
"Now that all our tasks are met, the only thing to do is to check my opponent's strength and weakness," Zero smirked upon witnessing the glory of Kallen's Guren.
"Come on, baroness!" Hikaru hissed as she lunged with her sword at Viletta's Sutherland. "Let's dance!"
As she caught the sight of Rayearth attacking, Viletta steered her Sutherland backwards to avoid Hikaru's lunge attack before opening fire with her assault rifle. Rayearth raised his shield up to ward off the Sutherland's gunfire before powering up her broadsword. After making a vertical slice with her sword, Hikaru unleashed another beam of white flames at the Sutherland, much to Viletta's horror. In a immediate reaction, Viletta steered her Knightmare to her left as she barely missed Hikaru's attack by one meter in width.
"Those Magic Knights are full of surprises!" Viletta thought to herself as she hurled a Chaos Mine at Rayearth. "I'll still find a way to defeat them even if its the last thing I do!"
As the Chaos Mine hovered in the air, it unleashed another barrage of dangerous shrapnel at Rayearth. At the same time, Viletta's Sutherland shot out two of her Slasher Harkens at the Red Rune God, only for it to parry both of them with her broadsword. As Hikaru charged forward to Viletta's position, she held her shield up front with her left hand and her sword held onto her right hand.
"You won't escape this time!" Hikaru grunted as she tried to defend herself against Viletta's Assault Rifle fire.
"Back off!" Viletta screamed as she reversed her Knightmare while continuing to shoot at Rayearth with her Assault Rifle.
Despite her efforts, Viletta was met with Rayearth's Flame Arrow shooting straight at her with extreme precision. Upon impact, Rayearth's magic struck Viletta's Sutherland in both of her landspinners, making her Knightmare completely immobilized.
"No! I lost again!" Viletta screamed in terror as she activated her ejector seat.
As the ejector compartment flew away with Viletta inside it, her Knightmare exploded when Rayearth slashed across its Tungsten armor with its sword, dissecting the torso from its legs. Before Hikaru had a chance to go after Viletta inside her ejector cockpit, she was met by another barrage of Assault Rifle fire from the other Purist Faction members of Britannia. After raising her shield to block their bullets, Zero gave Hikaru another order on the battlefield.
"Hikaru, we'll deal with the Purist Members. You go after Princess Cornelia!"
"Understood!" Hikaru responded in a fierce tone.
Upon hearing new orders from Zero, Hikaru raised her hand up to the sky and summoned a ball of strange, red magic from her palm. In an instant, Hikaru teleported herself away from the Purist Faction, leaving behind a small, red flash behind them, confusing the Britannian soldiers.
On the other side of Narita, Ferio's Burai, Lantis' Sutherland, and Lafarga's Gloucester make their moves upon the Britannian Forces, with the Black Knight's Burais backing them up.
As the fight between Darlton's Knightmare and Umi's Rune God continues, the Britannian General is still able to hold his ground while parrying against Umi's rapier in several reps, with Umi dodging the General's lance during his retaliation. In the middle of the fight with the Knight of Water, Darlton attempts to make contact with some of his remaining soldiers.
"Corporal, what's our casualty rate?"
"About 20% of our forces are down, sir!" The Corporal answered through the communication channel.
"Twenty percent?!" Darlton grunted while blocking another of Umi's lunge attacks with her rapier. "Our Command structure can't sustain this much damage!"
"This is Marcel's unit! We can't contact General Alex's unit at all! It looks as if our 2nd division is annihilated!"
Back at the transport carrying the Lancelot, the two Britannian engineers and the Honorary Britannian were able to hear the communication coming from both Marcel's channel and Darlton's channel.
"This is so unnatural!" Lloyd thought.
"What is?!" Suzaku asked while sitting in his pilot seat of the white Knightmare.
"It seems that the Black Knights and the Magic Knights have appeared on screen!" Lloyd reported. "This may be your chance to shine once again, Suzaku."
"Then that means Zero and the Magic Knights must have..." Suzaku muttered to himself.
"Well, since the High Command is still gathering data, we can only play it by ear, right?!" Lloyd suggested to Cecil and Suzaku.
As random mumbo jumbo started blurting out all over the communication channels, the officers were trying to suggest Euphy some decisions to make while inside the G-1 Base.
"Is Viceroy Cornelia safe?" The 1st Officer asked, concerning for the 2nd Princess of Britannia.
"Yes, she is outside of the mud flow!" The 2nd Officer responded, bringing out the good news and the bad news on the battlefield. "But the mud flow has taken out the units guarding Cornelia. She's totally isolated from the rest of our forces."
"What the hell are those Purebloods doing?!" The 3rd Officer asked in a panic. "They should be backing up Princess Cornelia by now.
The moment Hikaru disengaged fighting the Purebloods and teleported herself away from them, Kallen's Guren moved right into their flank, right where the Flame Knight was last seen at, and started to unleash hell up close and person. With just one swift movement, the Guren grabbed a nearby Purist's Sutherland by the head and showered a radiation wave. Despite the Purist's attempt to eject from his Knightmare, he could not escape his death by the hands of an Eleven.
"Come on, move! I can't lose to an Eleven! I'M A BRITANNIAN!"
That was the last thing the pilot said before he blew up along with his defeated Sutherland.
"Alright R2, move to plant point!" Zero said, issuing out orders to his Black Knights. "We'll break through the rest of our forces and met up with Hikaru while she keeps Cornelia at bay!"
As the battle rages on, explosions erupted from within the forest, Burais get shot down and Black Knight members ended up getting killed or badly wounded. However, Lelouch was expecting them to move swiftly on the battlefield like the Magic Knights of Cephiro did.
"If you Black Knights survive this battle, you then, can call yourselves true warriors of Japan." Zero said in his head.
"Sir, the Purebloods are falling back and Lady Viletta is pinned down in the forest!" One of the soldiers spoke to the officer on the channel.
"That's not good! Send in the air support to cover Cornelia's retreat!" The Officer replied.
"Wait! Another unit is approaching the Viceroy from behind!" Euphy informed as she spotted two units on the map table heading straight to where Cornelia is at.
As Cornelia and her guards advanced, they were met by a red beam of light appearing in front of them. As soon as the light disappeared, the red Rune God showed up and drew out his broadsword. It was Rayearth. Unknown to them, the Rune God was piloted by Hikaru, the Magic Knight of Fire. Despite their efforts of attacking Hikaru, 5 more Sutherlands were defeated by Hikaru's magic and with several quick draws of her escudo sword. Before Hikaru could get Cornelia, she gets confronted by one of her knights.
"Princess, stay back! It's one of the Magic Knights of Cephiro!" Lord Guilford shouted as he steered his Gloucester right in front of Cornelia's. "I'll deal with this one!"
"If I remember correctly from what Zero said about Cornelia's guard, one of them happens to be the Viceroy's most honorable knight of Britannia, Lord Guilford!" Hikaru thought to herself before taunting him out loud. "Alright Guilford! If it's a fight you want, then bring it on!"
As Guilford made his first move, he lunged his jousting lance at Hikaru only to be repelled by her broadsword. Just when Hikaru attacked back with her sword, Guilford's lance split into four more spearheads. Undiscouraged by such a flexible weapon, Hikaru continued to press on with her sword strikes at Guilford before she jumped backwards to evade one of his Lance thrusts. The moment she landed on her two feet, Hikaru struck again with a vertical chop with her sword to be met with Guilford blocking it with the shaft of his lance. In less than a second, Guilford shoved Hikaru's sword away from him with his lance and attempted to make a forceful impale on the Rune God's chest. However, Hikaru lifted Rayearth's shield up and struggled to block Guilford's lance only for it to penetrate the shield by a foot close to her face. Not wanting to get stabbed in the face, Hikaru swung her sword in a horizontal swipe but not before Guilford's Gloucester jump several feet back and away from Hikaru's counterattack. Before Guilford could do anymore, Hikaru threw out another magic wave heading directly to his position. Upon seeing this, Guilford panicked as he attempted to block Hikaru's wave attack with his lance. However, the moment Hikaru's magic from her sword reaches to the feet of Guilford's Knightmare, it exploded from underneath, almost knocking him backwards while still standing.
"Damn! Just how much power does this Magic Knight have?!" Guilford said while sweating underneath his breath.
On the highway leading to Narita, two huge trucks were heading towards the mountain. Inside the trucks, the Four Holy Swords were driving towards their rendezvous to aid the Japanese Liberation Front. They happened to be an elite team of warriors of the JLF. They go by Nagisa Chiba, Shogo Asahina, Ryoga Senba, and Kotsetsu Urabe.
The Four Holy Swords were being lead by Lt. Colonel Kyuoshiro Tohdoh. He is known to have spiky black hair, eyebrows and grey eyes. During Britannia's Invasion over Japan, Tohdoh was known to win against their forces without their Knightmares despite losing Japan's former glory. Earlier before the invasion, he used to be Suzaku's instructor during the Honorary Britannian's childhood. Even though their country is lost, Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords still live to fight back against the Britannians; this time with their customized Burai Kai. As they prepare for battle of Narita, Tohdoh makes his announcement to his squad.
"All units, are you ready?!"
"Yes!" All four elite members replied in unison.
"Alright, deploy the custom Burais!" Tohdoh continued with his orders.
As the top compartment of the two trucks opened up, 4 Burai Kai were lifted all the way to the top, with their left hand on the grip of their revolving swords pointing its blade on the floor. As for Tohdoh's Burai, it's face and shoulders were painted in a grey-white color, apart from the other Burais that were painted with a black torso and shoulder pads.
"Listen carefully, the custom Burais were manmade. It should be enough to allow us to hit Cornelia from behind!" Tohdoh announced to the Four Holy Swords. "Capture Cornelia now! Take revenge for what happened seven years ago!"
"Yes sir, by the honor of the Four Holy Swords!" The Elite warriors said in unison.
As the fight between Hikaru and Guilford continues, Cornelia spotted another enemy unit coming in from her radar. Four more Knightmares appeared as they jumped out from the trees in front of Cornelia and her forces. Upon seeing this behind Rayearth, Guilford's eyes widened with shock and makes his attempt to protect Cornelia.
"ENEMY REINFORCEMENTS!" Guilford shouted as he disengaged from his fight with Hikaru. "PROTECT HER HIGHNESS!"
"What in the world is that?!" Hikaru said in shock as she turned around to see what Guilford saw.
After taking down several Sutherlands, the Burai Kais started to converge onto Cornelia but not before one of them spots Rayearth on the battlefield.
"What is that strange Knightmare doing here?!" Urabe muttered referring to Hikaru's Rune God. "Hey! Who are you?!"
"I'M JAPANESE!" Hikaru shouted through her Rune God, giving Cornelia and Guilford quite a shock.
"The Magic Knight is actually Japanese?! An Eleven?!" Cornelia muttered to herself in a confused tone.
"I saw that thing fight one of the Cornelia's Knights!" Senba told the other elite members. "That thing might be an ally of ours!"
"How can that be?!" Asahina asked Senba. "We don't even know who is piloting that thing nor we know what his or her true intentions are!"
"Then we'll just have to find out after the battle!" Tohdoh suggested to the Four Holy Swords. "For now, let's get this over with. SLASH AND IN CIRCLE!"
Upon hearing Tohdoh's command, the Burai Kais circled around and slashed every Britannian Sutherland that stood in their way.
"Your highness, leave it to us! You have to withdraw for now!" Guilford suggested as he confronted one of the Burais that Tohdoh was piloting.
As Guilford's lance collided with Tohdoh's revolving sword, Cornelia decides to move on but not before issuing another order to Guilford.
"Guilford, after you drive them back, meet me over at point 9!"
"Yes, your highness!" Guilford said, acknowledging Cornelia's orders.
When two of the Four Holy Swords members tried to go after Cornelia, she reacted by firing her Slasher Harkens first and then thrusted her lance through both warriors at once, breaking through their formation.
"YOU WEAKLINGS!" Cornelia snarled as she drove her Gloucester off the battlefield.
However, Hikaru was seen chasing Cornelia down the mountains while flying in mid-air.
"You're not going to get away that easy, Princess Cornelia!" Hikaru hissed as she aimed her magic at Cornelia's Gloucester from behind. "FLAME ARROW!"
Inside her cockpit, Cornelia sees a warning, beeping noise, indicating that the Red Rune God is pursuing her from behind. In a heated stroke, Cornelia steered her Knightmare to her side and evaded Hikaru's magic before turning around. As her Gloucester started moving backwards and faced Rayearth, Cornelia opened fire with her Assault Rifle at the encroaching Rune God at will.
"It looks like I have another challenger!" Cornelia thought. "Let's see if this Magic Knight can keep up with me!"
While Cornelia's Gloucester kept firing her Assault Rifle at Rayearth during the pursuit, Hikaru kept her shield up to her side while deflecting the bullets while chasing after the Britannian Princess.
As the remaining Purist members are falling back, they covered their retreat with return fire from their Sutherlands' Assault Rifles.
"Soldiers, crush Zero!" Cornelia shouted through her Royal Channel.
Behind the rocks, Zero and the Black Knights are seeking cover while trying to communicate with each other.
"We should get Kallen over here!" One of the Black Knights suggested.
"No, we do that and our plan will go up in smoke!" Zero said in denial. "This is grim! If we keep that up, we'll be running into Cornelia's Guard next. I hope Hikaru is able to evade them before luring Cornelia all the way to our ambush point."
"Zero! Cornelia's Guard is getting ambushed by another group of warriors from down below the mountains!" Hikaru spoke through her intercom to Zero.
"What? By who?" Zero asked in shock.
"It's not the Black Knights or our Cephirian comrades!" Hikaru said in a negative tone. "I think the JLF has got more reinforcements!"
"Did some else try to go after Cornelia too?!" Zero said to himself in a positive tone. "Excellent! They may be able to hold off Cornelia's Royal Guard next."
Inside the underground JLF Base, another screen appeared on the map and revealed Tohdoh speaking to his fellow JLF members.
"Sorry we're late, General Katase!"
"Tohdoh! It's about time you showed up!" The General said out of relief.
"General, please send all remaining JLF Forces to rendezvous with me!" Tohdoh requested.
"Can you beat them?!" Katase asked.
"Yes if we can hold off their main force!" Tohdoh replied with determination. "We may have the chance to turn the tables against the Britannians!"
As Tohdoh continued his fight with Guilford, the knight of Cornelia's guard thought of something that may concern with who he's dealing with right now.
"I heard rumors about a powerful fighter lurking in the shadows of Area 11!" Guilford thought, referring to the customized Burai Kai in front of his Gloucester. "Is it him?! Is this Tohdoh?!"
During the continuing clash between Umi and Darlton, they both heard artillery cannon fire coming out from within the mountains of Narita. As the explosions erupted all around them, Darlton immediately disengaged from his fight with Selece, realizing that the tide has turned against them.
"It looks like that the JLF is just getting started," Umi thought as she looked over her shoulder and then back towards Darlton's Gloucester.
"Why now, at a time like this?" Darlton said in a fearful tone. "All units fall back and regroup with Princess Cornelia!"
"Sir, we're so close in taking out the base!" One of the Britannian soldiers responded as he moved backwards with his Sutherland while firing.
"Don't be a fool!" Darlton growled in terror. "If those Elevens take down Cornelia, we'll lose this battle!"
"Yes sir-AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Britannian Knightmare pilot replied only to scream in terror as the ground underneath his Sutherland collapsed, taking him with it along with the other pilot next to him.
"We'll settle this fight another day, Magic Knight!" Darlton shouted as he turned away from the Knight of Water. "Next time you won't be so lucky, until then. Farewell!"
As Umi sees Darlton leave her alone, Umi is starting to wonder if she and the Magic Knights are able to do the right thing for Japan and Cephiro. Nevertheless, Umi flew up into the air and went to regroup with Fuu and their Cephirian Allies.
"General Darlton!" Umi muttered to herself. "Don't think this is over yet. I just hope the others are alright."
Back at the G-1 Base, Clovis was the first to notice that the battle is turning grim for the Britannian Army.
"Sister! We have to act now to prevent another disaster!" Clovis shrieked at he turned to face Euphy. "We need to send in the G-1!"
"No, Clovis!" Euphy denied.
"But sub-viceroy, Lord Guilford's unit is pinned down and they can't get to Cornelia!" One of the officers said, informing Euphy. "One of the Magic Knights is pursuing her from behind; her Royal Highness is in danger!"
"We can't!" Euphy shook her head in a negative gesture. "There was a field hospital that was filled with civilians. They just evacuated and relocated themselves all the way to here! Since this is our command center, the Viceroy doesn't want me to move it for any reason!"
On the map table, Euphy spots another screen appear below her, showing Suzaku, Lloyd, and Cecil in the Lancelot cockpit.
"Hello there, your highness!" Lloyd greeted. "Reporting for duty, Princess!"
"Insolent fools!" One of the officers snarled at the mini-screen. "You irregulars must remain silent and observe!"
"Yes sir, but all of this lingering is rather boring!" Lloyd said in denial.
"Sub-Viceroy Euphemia, please order us into the battle!" Suzaku spoke out loud.
"So transparent!" Another officer said in annoyance. "You just wanted glory for rescuing Viceroy Cornelia. Do you think one unit alone is going to change things with an Eleven pilot?!"
"It won't hurt as much if we just at least try even if we lose, right?!" Lloyd said in a persuasive tone.
"Yes, I understand!" Euphy said, accepting Lloyd's and Suzaku's request. "Please do it!"
"Thank you, your highness!" Suzaku acknowledged with determination on the battlefield.
Just when Tohdoh and Guilford disengaged from their fight, the Lord Knight hurled a chaos grenade, forcing Tohdoh and his warriors to scatter immediately.
"Such a fearsome opponent," Tohdoh thought to himself.
"Lt. Colonel, what about Cornelia?" One of the Four Holy Swords asked, concerning their recent mission.
"Since that strange Knightmare is chasing after Cornelia, it may be possible that the pilot inside it might be working for Zero as well," Tohdoh wagered. "If so, that Knightmare might be luring Cornelia straight into Zero's position right now. We got to trust Zero!"
"Where is Zero?!" Guilford asked his fellow soldiers.
"Zero's projector course his heading straight to where Cornelia and Rayearth are at!" One of the Purist members reported.
Upon seeing this, Guilford's eyes widened in terror as he realized that another Knightmare is waiting for Cornelia right in front of her.
"PRINCESS CORNELIA!"
After spraying several bullets at Rayearth in the ravine that she and the Magic Knight are both in, Cornelia was met with a torrent wave of magic coming out of the Red Rune God's sword much to her startled reaction. As she moved her Gloucester, Cornelia dodged the magic wave by a bare inch from her cape to her right, in which the ground exploded, shaking her cockpit a bit.
"What a stubborn Eleven!" Cornelia grunted in frustration for not shaking the Magic Knight off her tail.
As Cornelia turned around to face the exit of the ravine while being chased by Rayearth, she spots another Knightmare on the other side. It was Kallen's Guren.
"I got the message, Guilford." Cornelia said to herself. "It seems that this Magic Knight chased me to a breaking point where the Black Knights will ambush me at."
"Good work, Hikaru!" Kallen muttered silently as she prepared her Knightmare to do battle against Cornelia's Gloucester. "Now its time to have Cornelia face her judgement! You just leave this Britannian witch to me!"
"With pleasure, Kallen!" Hikaru replied as she heard Kallen's voice through her intercom.
As Suzaku activated his Lancelot before departing into battle, he was given instructions by Cecil and Lloyd.
"Advanced Weapon Systems Online. Use the Sand Panels to climb over the landslide with liquified, maximum combat speed and rescue the Viceroy!"
"Understood, my lord!" Suzaku said acknowledging his orders before hearing Lloyd's question.
"One more thing Suzaku, you hated it when people die yet when you joined the Britannian military, where death takes place in, why did you insist on doing it?!"
"My main purpose in the military is to stop people from killing each other." Suzaku blurted out in a confused tone.
"Beware my friend, your self-contradiction will be the death of you...UGH! CECIL, I'M SORRY!" Lloyd warned Suzaku before getting grabbed by Cecil in the neck.
As the Lancelot's Yggdrasil Drive started spinning, the white Knightmare stretched its legs in a wide position as he placed his left hand on the ground.
"Lancelot! Launching!" Suzaku announced as he started to move his Knightmare out into the battlefield, up the slopes of the landslide.
"CORNELIA!" Kallen roared as she lunged at the Viceroy's Gloucester head on.
"LOW-BORN SCUM!" Cornelia snarled as she thrusted her lance at the Guren, only for the red Knightmare to turn to her right side and jumped away from the Gloucester's attack.
As soon as the Guren landed right behind the Gloucester, Cornelia launched a Slash Harken above it in order to dodge the Guren's Radium Claw.
"What kind of customized unit is this?!" Cornelia said in shock, while hanging on a cliff wall with her Harken.
Cornelia started hearing a beeping alarm, indicating another unit appeared from behind her. The moment she heard gunfire, Cornelia lowered herself onto the ground to evade enemy fire from behind. It was Zero's Burai shooting Cornelia from above the cliff.
"Can you hear me, Cornelia?!" Zero said, while he smirked. "You are surrounded by my Black Knight Ace and the Magic Knight of Fire. This is checkmate!"
"ZERO!"
"Yes, should we celebrate our reunion?! Of course, you'll have to surrender to us and Clovis first. After that, there are a few questions that I want to ask you. I'll assure you, that your reinforcements will not be able to make it in time! I win, Cornelia!"
"You're a fool, Zero!" Cornelia hissed as she faced the Guren infront of her. "If I can take that Knightmare down, I'll be able to escape that Magic Knight Eleven before she even had the chance to chase me again."
As Cornelia's Gloucester aimed her Assault Rifle at the Guren, it started jumping all over the place to evade the bullets as well as her Slash Harkens with the Guren's Fork Knife.
"YOU GOT SOME MOVES!" Cornelia sneered as she thrusted her lance at the Guren.
However, before Cornelia's lance was able to stab the Guren in the face, it grabbed her weapon with both the Radium Claw and its regular hand. The next thing that happened is when Kallen activated the Radiation Waves from her Radium Claw, in which destroyed the Gloucester's both lance and the hand that was holding onto the weapon. In addition, just as soon as Cornelia raised her Assault Rifle at the Guren, Rayearth appeared right next to her and with just one chop from Hikaru's sword, the Gloucester's gun blew after it was cut in two.
"ARGH!" Cornelia grunted in defeat. "DAMN ELEVEN! ATTACKING FROM MY LEFT!"
As Hikaru held her sword up to the Gloucester's neck, Cornelia just realized that this is the first time that she has met her defeat in battle.
"Is that so?!" Zero grinned at the success both Hikaru and Kallen made on the battlefield. "Even though your attacks don't show acts of cowardice, you're still outnumbered from 2 to 1 against one of my best Black Knight warriors and one of the strongest Magic Knights of Cephiro."
As Cornelia started to lose her ground, the rest of her forces were getting hammered by the JLF's pincer assault, much to Darlton's frustration, unable to regroup with the rest of the Britannian Army.
"We'll never be able to reach the Princess in time!"
For Guilford and the remaining Gloucesters, they hurdled together with their backs behind each other as they see the rest of their Sutherlands get defeated by Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords. Now that the Britannians are cornered from all sides, Tohdoh decided to finish them off with a final attack.
"Lt. Colonel, we crushed the enemy reinforcements!" Katase spoke through Tohdoh's channel.
"Right! Everyone, switch to spinning 'Life or Death' Formation!" Tohdoh ordered as he and the Burais circled around Guilford and his fellow Knights.
"If this keeps up, Princess Cornelia will be..." Guilford thought while sweating nervously under his breath before he started hearing Cornelia's voice through the channel.
"Guilford my Knight, you and Darlton protect Euphy and Clovis!"
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" Guilford shouted as his eyes widened in a panic, fearing that he'll lose his Princess.
"I won't surrender. As an Imperial Princess, I'll fight until I breathe my last!"
"PRINCESS CORNELIA!"
Before either Hikaru or Kallen make their move to finish off Cornelia, they were interrupted by a dirt explosion coming from behind Rayearth. As Hikaru flipped out, removed her blade away from Cornelia's Knightmare, and jumped away from the explosion, she saw a familiar Knightmare that was not expected to show up. It was the Lancelot. Despite the obstacles and the mudflow caused by the recent landslide, the Lancelot was able to blast its way through with high speed before meeting up with Princess Cornelia.
"Reckless as ever, eh?!" Lloyd said while being impressed. "Suzaku used the Lancelot's VARIS to clear the obstacles in his path.
As the Lancelot landed on his two feet, after jumping up high with the use of all four Slash Harkens, Suzaku went to check up on Princess Cornelia.
"Princess, are you alright?! I came here to help you, your highness!"
"Special Corps?! Who authorized you?" Cornelia asked in surprise.
"No way?! It's the Lancelot that was seen back in Cephiro!" Hikaru said under a surprising tone.
"Hey! It's that Knightmare from Shinjuku and Lake Kawaguiche!" Ohgi muttered while inside his Burai.
"IT'S HIM AGAIN?!" Zero snarled in confusion before shouted out orders to the Guren. "MARK 2, DESTROY THAT UNIT, IT'S INTERFERED WITH US ENOUGH!"
As Hikaru unleashed another magic wave from her sword at the Lancelot, it blocked it with an energy shield which is enough to distract him while Kallen goes in for the kill on the White Knightmare.
"Right!" Kallen replied as she charged forward at the Lancelot, dodging ever shot from its VARIS. "YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID BACK AT SHINJUKU!"
"Suzaku, you handle that thing!" Cornelia ordered. "I'll take care of that Magic Knight!"
As the Gloucester fired her two Slash Harkens at Rayearth, Hikaru reacted by raising her shield up with her sword up front while blocking the two anchors. Before Hikaru could fight back, she was met with a ramming Gloucester that's trying to push her backwards. Hikaru started grunted as she struggled to hold her ground against the Britannian Witch, in hopes of shoving her off balance from both of her feet.
For the Lancelot, he fired several more shots with his VARIS at the Guren only for it dodge every single one of them while closing in on Suzaku's position. In one swift, the Lancelot threw a kick with its left leg. Upon impact, the Guren grabbed the Sand Panel with its Radium Claw before showering it with Radiation Waves, blowing it up in the process. When the Guren got closer, the Lancelot shoved it away with its elbow before drawing out one of its MVS.
"It's just as fast as the Lancelot," Suzaku thought after seeing the Guren dodge another shot from his VARIS.
Every time the Guren dodges every shot made from the Lancelot's VARIS, it explodes behind Kallen's Knightmare as it continued to zig-zag across the battlefield before zooming into the white Knightmare.
"As soon as I take that thing down..." Kallen muttered sternly.
In just several meters away from the Guren, the Lancelot hurled the other Sand Panel only for Kallen to whack it away with her Fork Knife. In a heartbeat, the Lancelot sees Guren jump up above him, making him back away further. As soon as the Guren landed on two feet, she swiped her claw at the Lancelot. At the same time, the Lancelot dodged the Guren's Claw and swung his sword at it only for the Guren to lean her face away from the blade. When the Guren tried to swipe her Claw at the Lancelot again, this time the white Knightmare flipped over the Guren after placing both of his hands on the ground before jumping up into the air. While in mid-air, he spun around like spinning top and landed at a mere distance behind the Guren and fired a Slash Harken at her, but not before the Guren blocked it with her Radium Claw.
"Is that all you got?!" Kallen taunted during her fight with the Lancelot.
After doing several more flips and swipes with both of their Knightmare weapons, Kallen's Guren gets a little closer to the ledge, unaware, while the Lancelot finally makes his MVS attack. The Guren blocked the Lancelot's MVS and destroyed it with her Radium Claw. In less than a second, the Lancelot fired his VARIS at the Guren. Again, the Guren blocked the VARIS' shot with her Radium Claw. Unfortunately, after a few seconds of trying to deflect the VARIS' shot, the Guren suddenly fell backwards down the mountain slope, much to Kallen's fright.
"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHH!"
When the Guren landed on both of its legs down the ledge, two Black Knight Burais came by to check up on Kallen.
"Kallen, are you okay?!" Ohgi asked, concerning for the Black Knight ace.
"I am!" Kallen responded positively.
"Ohgi, how's the Guren Mark II?" Zero asked through the channel.
Upon seeing the Guren's Claw spewing out green electricity, Ohgi can only confirmed that the Guren's main weapon is badly damaged.
"The right hand's wrecked; we got to fix it!"
"Retreat! All Black Knights move to your escape points!" Zero announced as he hoisted his Burai up the cliff with his Slash Harkens. "It is now a war of attrition. Retreat!"
Upon hearing Zero's orders, Hikaru disengaged with her fight with Cornelia and teleported herself away from the battlefield. As for Cornelia, her Gloucester collapsed after moving for a few feet. When the Lancelot came by to help Cornelia, the Viceroy issues her orders to Suzaku.
"Suzaku, my energy filler just drained. Go after Zero!"
"Right!" Suzaku acknowledged as he jumped up into the air and disappeared from the screen.
On the other side of Narita, Hikaru reappeared where Umi and Fuu are at while they were escorting the Black Knights off the battlefield.
"Umi! Fuu! It's time to go! This fight is over for now!" Hikaru told her two best friends.
"We know, Hikaru!" Umi said anxiously. "We heard Zero's orders from both of our intercoms."
As the Magic Knights head to their escape points, Lantis, Lafarga, and Ferio are already there, with all three of their Knightmares intact.
"Hikaru, what happened to Zero?!" Lantis asked the flame knight.
"He'll catch up to us very soon, Lantis," Hikaru responded in a confident tone. "Let's move out!"
