12 hours after Rivalz was shot, the Mordred lands in a seemingly empty field.

C2 leaps out her makeshift harness. "Alright, we're here."

Suzaku lets go of his death grip on the Mordred's leg. He had almost fallen off during the night when he nodded off, and he had worn himself out holding on too tightly after that incident. "Thank god."

C2 turns to the boy now collapsed on the ground. "I thought you knew. God doesn't exist."

Suzaku groans and covers his eyes with his arm.

Jeremiah helps the rest of the women off the Mordred. "Really, no god?"

C2 rolls her eyes. "It's a lame joke from the past."

Suzaku just lays there.

"So why are we here?" Lady Kaguya's face is drawn. She hadn't slept during the flight, and recents events are starting to catch up with her.

C2 pulls a small key fob with a single button on it. "We need some firepower."

She presses the button. The field starts to shake. Suzaku sits up just in time to see a hundred by hundred meter square chunk of the field being raised by massive pistons.

"We need firepower, and here's where we stored it."

Kallen is the first to spot the contents of the hidden bunker. "Is that a Guren?"

C2 grins. "Guren Ascension, Mark III. The escape pod's interior is almost exactly the same as the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N., but since we added a few weapons, there are a few extra controls in there."

Kallen slides down the slope into the garage, a laughing on the way down.

C2 turns to Suzaku. "We also have a Lancelot unit, the Lancelot Pointman. I figure you would want that?"

Suzaku pries himself off the ground and peeks down into the depths. "Hey, is it the white and gold one?"

C2 gives him a shove and he slides down after Kallen.

"Let's see, beside those two, we have three more units."

Anya and Nunnaly, who now sports a wicked hangover and was not enjoying the bright sunlight stumble over. Anya speaks. "So we have a total of seven people and six Knightmares. Unless Gregor makes it back soon, then it will be eight and six."

C2 thinks.

"We have two more single seaters and a double seater, so we should be fine for now. We'll just need to commander one later.

Anya gets back in her Knightmare and follows everyone else who are on foot into the garage, which C2 closes behind them. As soon as the doors close, blocking out all sunlight, fluorescent lights click on and reveal the other three Knightmares.

Anya docks at an empty berth while the four unassigned members look at the three remaining Knightmares.

"The garish pink one is based off the Lancelot system. We call it the Lancelot Shinobi. Before we modified it, I used something like it during the Damocles incident. It's got a blaze luminous shield, a Gefjun disturber net mark II, and a sword and shield set. It has three slash built into either side. It was built for speed and maneuverability, but lacks in the sheer defense capabilities. Oh, I almost forgot, all units have Cecile's energy wing system.

"The next yellow and grey unit is based of the Guren's Radiant wave systems. This one is very slow, but definitely powerful. It has the full Radiant wave arsenal, with the wide spread, beam, and physical attacks all still functional. However, this unit has two Yggdrasil drives which are needed to power both of the radiant wave surgers. It also posseses eight slash harkens, four beam Hadron cannons, and two racks of radiant missles. This results in slow movement speed, but humongous attack and defense capabilities."

Nunnally interrupts at this point. "Can I have the Shinobi? Please?"

C2 looks at the girl. "I'll consider it."

Jeremiah looks up at the yellow and gray model. "Do you have the necessary components for me to interface with any of these machines?"

C2 nods. "When we built these, it was in case of any circumstance. With you being in reserve, you were likely to be called upon. We couldn't develop a something on the scale of your Seig, but it should work just fine."

"And what is the name of this glorious machine?" Jeremiah walks over to the yellow and grey nightmare.

"It's the Radiant Cador."

Jeremiah put his hands on his hips and looks up at the machine.

"Which brings me to our last Knightmare. It's based on the Gawain and the Shinkirō, taking elements of both. It has a dual pilot system, one to maneuver and shoot, another as a secondary gunner and a tactician. It's weapons consist of four hadron cannons with a Gefjun field modulator that allows for a variety of attacks, effectively making then all in one hadron cannons. It has the finger slash harkens from its predecessor, and twin Varis rifles mounted on either arm."

"What do you call it?" Lady Kaguya steps up to the machine.

"Gregor never named it. I wanted to call it the storm something, like storm bringer or storm rider, but Gregor said that those names were already used."

Kaguya places a hand on the sleek metal frame. "We'll call it the Dai Shōri."

C2 smiles. "Presumptuous. I like it."

Jeremiah looks over at Suzaku who had finally stepped away from his new Knightmare frame. "What does Dai Shōri mean, Suzaku?"

Suzaku grins. "It means Great Victory."

Jeremiah turns. "With all seven of us and these six Knightmares, I think that any battle will be great, but whether it becomes a victory or not is up to the pilots."

C2 walks to a small panel embedded in the wall. She presses her hand not the surface and it clicks after a few seconds. The door swings away from the wall revealing five Knightmare keys.

C2 hands a red feather shaped one to Kallen, a white and gold sword to Suzaku, a pink jewel to Nunnally, a plain, shiny black rod to Jeremiah, and takes the small golden half crescent for herself. "Jeremiah, your special linkup is in that office area over there," she points to a door set into the back wall. "Everyone else, do a systems check. These Knightmares haven't been ever been used, and haven't been touched in twelve years.

The group scrambles to boot up the machines, feeling like children again down to every last member.

o-o-o-o

Back in the capital of Brittania, Gregor is locked in a prison. Not an ordinary prison with a lock and a key, but a prison that squeezed the life out of him.

Literally.

The same device used to keep C2 "dead," and that Zero had successfully reimplemented as a weapon of mass fear is now being used for it initial purpose: crushing immortals.

Gregor had been dying over and over from the high pressure, each time his body reformed and adjusted, they'd increase the pressure until his organs burst again.

Finally, it got to the point where his body stopped reforming, and all was horrible nothingness until he suddenly reformed and fell out of the newly opened pod.

"Well, well, well. I seems the guest of honor has arrived. Ladies and gentlemen, I present Zero!"

Gregor looks upwards through the haze. He finds himself in Brittania's capital building with throngs of new nobles watching him warily.

"This man has denounced me. Claimed that I am not who I say I am. Well, let's see who makes this claim!" Lelouch pulls Zero to his feet and rips off the mask.

Lelouch looks disappointed at the face under the mask. "Ah. I was hoping you would have been one of my old friends, or maybe an errant nobleman, but all you are is common filth, masquerading as my equal."

Lelouch throws Gregor sideways into a close wall. "Guards, lock him back up."

"Yessir!" three guards surround Gregor.

Gregor gets to his feet. "Who I am has no bearing on my claim. You are not Lelouch vi Brittania, and I will not let you put me back into that!"

Gregor draws a pistol and points it at the fake emperor.

"So foolish." Lelouch makes a finger gun and pulls the trigger at Gregor. Gregor sees the Geass flash just a little too late. A sniper, hidden for just such and occasion, finds his mark.

Gregor's head is blown clean off, spraying blood across the room. Nobles shriek and run from the room.

Lelouch just stands in the center of the room, his evil smile reflected on the face of the sniper.

o-o-o-o

"Alright. Lancelot Shinobi ready for launch. Nunnally, are you sure you're good?"

Nunnally replies back. "I feel great! I can't believe how fun this is!"

C2 sets her face in her palm. "Right. Lancelot Shinobi, Launch!"

"Launching!"

The pink and gold Lancelot derivative takes to the sky, slowly climbing as Nunnally gets used to the controls. "Ready the Radiant Cador for launch."

Jeremiah's voice responds thorough the speakers. "How did you obtain these machines, may I ask?"

"Gregor had these in place even before Emperor Lelouch's death. Are you ready to launch?"

"Affimative."

"Radiant Cador now launch!"

"Launching!"

"Lancelot Pointman, prepare to launch."

Suzaku and Kallen, being experienced pilots, take off with a hitch. Then C2 and Kaguya start their Knightmare.

"Ready, Lady Kaguya?"

"Ready."

The Dai Shōri takes to the skies.

Lady Kaguya looks around at the panoramic viewport. "Wow."

C2 glances over her shoulder. "Remember, your job is coordination."

Lady Kaguya nods. "Of course." she pulls a computer control set out of the side panel. It lights up with six Knightmares.

"Alright, time to test our combat effectiveness." C2 give the order over the radio and the six Knightmares fall into the position that Lady Kaguya indicates.

"Now scatter!" C2 orders. Kallen jerks her Ascension backwards while Suzaku pilots the Pointman straight up. Jeremiah cuts power to his wings and starts to plummet. C2 decides to fly away tot he right and up. Nunnally heads straight left at a leisurely pace.

"Good. Nunnally, is there a problem with lateral movement?"

"Er," the younger devicer responds. "I'm not good with the controls yet."

C2 orders her to practice some complex ariel maneuvers while everyone else tests the limit of their machines. The Dai Shōri comes up as a slightly substandard in one on one combat, but with its Hadron cannons, it fulfills the same purpose as the Gawain did during the first battle for Tokyo. Air superiority and tactical command.

The Radiant Cador was predictably unmanueverable, but that was hardly a problem. Of it had been a real fight, the only way for any of the units to save themselves from the twin Radiant wave surgers would be for them to get way out of range. Jeremiah actually ended up handicapping himself to short range attacks to make the fights fair. Also, any time that the Cador was on the defensive, it could produce a massive horizontal Radient shield that could cover their entire team.

The Lancelot Pointman operates exactly like the Lancelot Albion. It flies quickly and hits hard. It has a Varis and an extended Varis cannon, two shoulder mounted beam hadrons, harkens mounted on near every joint, and twin swords. Suzaku finds that it's most effective when hitting quickly and not staying around to finish the other Knightmare off. It has no shield system, ditching the blaze luminous for a missile bay.

The Guren Ascension is the crown jewel of the bunch. The red and gold Knightmare is so fast that Lady Kaguya has a hard time tracking it on the Dai's screen. Kallen's skill with her favorite type of Knightmare had certainly not diminished as she takes on the Pointman, Mordred and Dai without problem. Unfortunately for Kallen, Jeremiah's Wave surgers are more powerful, but the Ascension's speed makes the two evenly matched.

Once everyone's energy fillers are drained, they all dock back into the hangar area. C2 calls a meeting in the back room.

Anya looks downcast. "My Mordred isn't very effective."

Jeremiah sets his hand on her shoulder. "My dear, your Knightmare wasn't made by C2 and Gregor, and even if had been, they didn't have the same amount of time to work on it as they did on these five."

C2 nods. "Actually, we should still have some parts. We should upgrade the Mordred even further."

Anya looks happy at these prospects. Suzaku mentally notes that the size of her smile is roughly equivalent of anyone else leaping in the air with joy.

"I find nothing wrong with my Ascension." Kallen twirls the key in her hand. "As far as I can tell, I could take on all the former knights of the round and still have energy left over."

Suzaku jerks his head towards Kallen. "Maybe not so extreme, but I feel similarly."

Jeremiah grins. "My knightmare's interface works flawlessly, though the ariel capabilities leave someone to be desired."

Nunnally tilts her head. "I think I'm used to the controls now, but I have a different problem."

Lady Kaguya looks over curiously.

"Shouldn't Gregor be back by now?"