Well, I think the ending of the first chapter wasn't really good. I'll try to do it better in the next one. Didn't expect to get the first review in a day. Haha, thanks "random reviewer" and as promised here is the second chapter. Hope I didn't screw up.


10:30 a.m. Central Britannia, New England

Dear Kallen-san,

I hope you are doing well in Japan. How is everything going? I heard that Ohgi-san has been re-elected again. That is good news. Things must be going smoothly in Japan now.

Though I would like to say things are the same here, it is not. There are enemies who still want the old Britannia back and our troops are having trouble maintaining order and Zero could not be at every place.

The Knights of the Round are needed once again to serve the people but their ranks are badly decimated during the war. We need people who can fight with the strength and courage of a lion with the wisdom of an owl. I believe you are one of them. I know you have suffered much during the war and the last thing you want to do is to jump into that nightmare again. Believe me if I can live normally again like we did before the Great War, I would. Would you become a Knight of the Round and help me like you did with my brother?

Warmest regards to your mother,

Nunally

Kallen looked at the letter again to remind herself why she was still in Britannia. Personally, she hated the place. It was cold, bright and far too luxurious for her tastes. She preferred something more spartan. The former resistance member had found herself time and time again lost in the enormous palace and more than once she had to ask one of the Imperial Guard to escort her.

This is why I hate Britannia! She thought angrily to herself.

Kallen Kozuki wore an elaborately designed Knightmare uniform as she prepared to go to the hanger. She knew it was part of the "military protocol" but that does not mean she could not hate it.

After arguing with Suzaku, Kallen met Nunnally on the way out of the palace who was feeding a flock of doves in the Imperial Gardens.

Earlier 8:30 am in the Imperial Palace

"Hello, Kallen-san." The Empress greeted in Japanese as Kallen approached the young ruler. Nunally threw some more crumbs into the large white mass. The birds jumped slightly at Kallen's presence but then ignored her and continued with their meal. They were in the Palace Gardens near the lake.

"Nunally-chan," Kallen replied as she bent down to look at Nunally who bent slightly to get more bread crumbs from a bag by the wheel-chair's side. It was the first time she had gotten a closer look at Nunally and noticed how familiar she looked like her mother from the paintings she had seen. She had light sandy blonde hair from her father and facial features of her mother. Her violet eyes were beautiful and spoke of her wisdom, kindness and determination. Much like the way she saw in Lelouch.

"Here." Nunally pour a handful crumbs into Kallen's hand, surprising her. Before she knew it, a dozen doves were crawling all over her. Several landed on her head and shoulders.

"Hey…cut it out!" She shouted, laughing when one dove landed near her neck, tickling the red-haired teenager. "They seemed to love you, Kallen." Nunally laughed and took more crumbs and threw it over Kallen, causing more doves to come.

"Well, I'm not the only one." Kallen said, taking some and throwing over to the Empress.

"I'm really glad her majesty got Kozuki around. Despite all her wisdom, she is after all a young girl." A long haired man of twenty eight told his companion. He wore gold trimmed green uniform of Prince Schneizel's royal guard.

"Yes, but it is shocking that someone who hold such wisdom and kindness had a demon of brother." A slender, dark-haired man adjusted his dark sunglasses. He wore the maroon red uniform also gold trimmed. This man however bore a gold tripped sabre on his left hip indicating his status as a knight.

"Yes, it is surprising, Sir Gilbert. I find it hart to believe myself. But there are things you need to take note of though, about our latest Emperor."

"What do you mean, Kanon?" Cornelia's knight asked. Guilford wore sunglasses even though not sunny at all. Kanon was not really surprised. After the war, he went through a surgery to treat his wounds from the F.L.E.I.J.A. blast. He tried to brush the matter off but Princess Cornelia insisted that he went through it. Though Cornelia claimed that a wounded knight could not possibly serve her, Kanon knew that the princess harbour feelings for the Spearhead of the Empire. The treatment was successful though Guilford was no longer blind, he still could not expose his eyes to sunlight.

"Well, for one, Zero was able make it easily pass a unit of Vincents commanded by Jeremiah which crushed our forces at Mt. Fuji, single-handedly. Don't you think that's a little suspicious? For all his brilliance Lelouch couldn't defeat a single knight."

"Actually, I did. But then I thought everyone was too shocked to see that his alter ego Zero appeared."

"True. What did Princess Cornelia say about this?" The former Earl paused to smile as another flock of doves joined the current one which was still jumping around Kozuki and the Empress.

"They say birds of the feather flock together, eh?" The knight joked, laughing but then controlled himself as he addressed Kanon's question. "The Princess thought the same, though she has yet to talk about it. Maybe it's too painful her. He is after her blood despite everything. I remember that she used to love Lelouch a lot after her highness Euphemia. It must have hurt a lot."

"Agreed...perhaps he had planned…" He stopped when Guilford reached for his COM link.

"Guilford here. Zero?" Kanon's eyes narrowed, suspecting something bad. True enough, the royal knight's eyes widened with surprise. "What?! The rebels have taken over New York? Alright, I'll call her." He hung up and turned to the royal adviser.

"The purists have taken New York. Apparently they had some inside work but that's not the problem. A large strike force has been spotted and is heading for this direction! How did they get pass all our troops without knowing anything...?"

"Must be that prudent duke Oxbridge. Get the Guard, I'll call Kozuki."

As Guilford ran back to the palace bellowing orders, Kanon turned to the girls. He bowed upon reaching the Empress.

"Your highness, a rebel strike force have gotten pass our defences. Knight of Two, Zero said he'll need your Elite Guard on the front."

"He can have it after I get in my Guren." Kallen took out her key to her Guren, which she had been keeping since Lelouch's death.

"Good luck, Kallen-san. Please take care." Nunally said with a smile.

"Thanks, Nunally." Kallen turned to Kanon and nodded before sprinting off with the speed of horse. The former noble looked after the young woman before chuckling in amusement.

"She's really a wild one."

11:00 am Central Britannia, New England

Kallen in the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N and launched herself out of the hanger followed closely by a squadron of Float system equipped Akatsuki Jikisanshiyō and two squadrons of Black Knight valiants of the Vincent. It was her first time she piloted the red Knightmare since the Great War. She had been forced to use a Commander Type Vincent given to her by Cornelia in the recent skirmishes against the rebels while Rakshata tried to rebuild and repair the badly damaged Guren. She was glad to be back in her old friend now that they would be fighting a full scale battle instead of minor skirmishes.

Her squadron was joined by two other Britannian squadrons of airborne Vincent Wards and Gloucesters.

"Attention all ships. Move on to sector A." General Alexandros ordered as a large white and orange air-cruiser appeared near the Black Knights which their leader recognised as the Lionheart, a capital-ship similar to the Avalon. Two grey-green Caerleon-class cruisers appeared beside it serving as an escort to the capital ship. Beside the cruisers were two more Knightmare squadrons.

"All wings report in."

"Zero leader standing by." Kallen replied at once. While the other leaders reported in, Kallen took a closer look at the enemy army from her monitor screen and saw a large number of violet and purple Knightmares likely airborne Sutherlands and a few Wards. Behind them was a large capital ship, a Logres-class one so this army was probably commanded by a powerful noble, Kallen thought.

"Enemy flagship hailing us," A Britiannian voice spoke through all channels. "All units stand by."

Kallen, like she usually did in her previous battles, took a closer look at the enemy army. They certainly outnumbered them by a large margin, and though the Imperial forces had superior Knightmares in form of more Vincent Wards, the rebels could still overwhelm them by sheer numbers. They were numerous as gnats and Kallen wondered how they were able to field so many Knightmares. They could start another great war with this. Then suddenly the rebel Knightmares were moving forward.

"Enemy forces are attacking. All units prepare to engage!"

"That ends any negotiations…" She muttered as Kallen gripped her controls in anticipation. She had never felt more alive since the battle of Tokyo. Her machine suddenly beeped a warning and the Black Knight ace pulled her Guren up.

From the purist rebels, two massive crimson-black beams shot out, irradiating anything in its path. The Haldron cannon blast continued, striking one of the Caerleon-class cruisers on its side. While the Blaze Luminous shielding managed to save the ship from being destroyed, it left the flank exposed to any more attacks.

"Bloody hell! Where in blazes did they get those?!" A Britannian in the Black knights shouted.

"Off the bodies of your regiment in New York," A grim voice replied.

Kallen ignored them and opened her channel to the Lionheart. It probably came from some big cruiser, judging from the beams' size it was much larger than the Haldron cannons the Ikaruga had.

"General, we've got to destroy that thing before it tears the fleet into pieces."

"I know. Kozuki, take your Guard and flank them. We'll keep the distracted here."

"Flank?" An officer asked. "But the flagship is already there. We can just hit it with our turrets and end the battle."

"They don't have the cannons, you idiot!" The large general shouted, causing Kallen to smile. "They have it somewhere behind that nest. They on purposely had the flagship in front so we'll think they had fired it especially since its cannons can not be retracted. Kozuki, I'm leaving you to find them."

"With pleasure! Black knights follow me!" The Black Knight ace grinned and lunched forward to the left followed by her Elite Guard. Though she initially had little respect for the Britannian commanders, Kallen had come to admire Lord General Sir Harold Alexandros. Aging already 58, with his greying white hair and incredible height and size the Britannian general was still an imposing sight. A former royal knight to Emperor William de Britannia, he was an old warhorse that was known for his military experiences in the E.U. and Africa. Though not as brilliant as Lelouch, he suppressed both Todoh and Guilford and heck maybe even Cornelia herself. She also appreciated his non-racist views and called each races by their own names instead of numbers which some Britannians on their own side still keep using.

Their movement did not go unnoticed as a unit of purple Knightmares broke off the main group and followed them. Kallen grinned. These purist idiots did not know who they were messing with. She led them on and on away from the battle. They were led by a Gloucester with green shoulder guards. It was probably some arrogant noble who wanted the glory of destroying the Crimson Lotus.

She suddenly wheeled the Guren around in full speed, passing her subordinates in a movement of blur, the radiation energy glowing in the Guren's hand.

The purist rebels' eyes widen with horror as they saw a blur of red. It was about five hundred metres away a moment ago and now it was right in front of them!

"It's the-" The pilot did not even have time to finish his sentence as his Sutherland exploded in a ball of fire.

"All units fire on the Guren!" Lord Tarpon, former Baron of New Chester shouted, firing a burst of rounds with his assault rifle. The Guren, he remembered was a living demon during the war. He knew that taking it down would not only destroy the best Knightmare the usurpers had but also the Black knights' finest pilot. He owed the monster a lot in the war.

"Come on, bitch! This is for Charles the true Emperor!"

Kallen smirked as the unit of Sutherlands led by one Gloucester tried to shoot her down with their rifles. The Guren dodged the shots as if they were nothing. She launched a radiation burst. The crimson beam caused the offending Knightmares to vibrate vigorously and explode into fireballs into the ground. The sole Gloucester bravely or foolishly threw down its rifle and charge forward with its MVS long sword.

"All hail Britannia!" The violet Knightmare thrust. Kallen parried the blow like it was nothing with a swift kick and sliced the Gloucester in half with her MVS forked knife.

Two more rebel units attacked her but a volley of sabot rounds behind her quickly destroyed them.

"Spread out in squads and destroy them, we've got technology in our side but they've got numbers. Don't let them surround you!"

"Hai!"

Harold Alexandros looked the screen as the red circles of the enemy spearhead disappeared to a blue circle. It was followed by dozen or so more.

"She really did earned the title of ace…"General Alexandros mused. The girl reminded him of his own daughter who had perished during an assassination attempt on him by rival nobles before. Putting aside any other thoughts, he addressed to his forces. "All wings engage!"

"Yes, milord!"

On the frontlines

With that all hell broke loose. Yellow-orange balls of flame appeared here and there in the sky and on the ground while cruisers exchanged fire amongst themselves. A unit of rebel Vincent Wards hovered above the Lionheart raining lead and explosive rounds on it, but a quick missile barrage took down most of them and sent the survivors fleeing. Jet-black Knightmares of Black Knights and the violet and maroon of the Imperial forces clashed with the green and purple of the rebels. Two more shots from the giant Haldron cannons were fired on the Imperial forces. This time however, it took out an entire Knightmare squadron and fatally damaging the Wallace, the Caerleon-class that was hit before.

Lord Guilford in his new silver and violet Vincent wreck havoc on the rebel forces with his two double blades MVS. While he was supposed to be with his princess now, Cornelia had asked him to look over her sister. Remember how she was when Euphemia had been killed, Guilford swore to defend the Empress with his life. His first blow took a Ward's head clean off and the royal knight turned around thrusting one of the blood-red blades into the chest, destroying both machine and pilot.

A Gloucester with its lance charged at Guilford who mused. After piloting the medieval-styled Knightmare for most of the war, he knew its manoeuvre better than anyone else, perhaps save his princess. And now this arrogant fool thinks he could skewer him? The bespectacled knight grabbed the lance with a hand and sliced it in half with the MVS. The rebel fell back, shooting out its slash harkens but Guilford just dodged them and ran the Gloucester through. The Knightmare fell with an explosion. Three Sutherlands appeared behind him, their guns blazing as they advanced towards Guilford. The knight smirked and gunned his Knightmare up high above the outdated purple Knightmares and pulled out his own rifle and sprayed rounds into them, destroying them in seconds.

"Too easy," Guilford commented.

"Guilford now is the time!" General Alexandros' voice ordered.

"Right! This is Guilford, all units press on! We will take them out with one sweep!"

"Long Live the Empress! Long Live Britannia!" The Knightmare pilots shouted and charged forward, the Gloucesters at their head with the Wards switching to their MVS behind them. The first rebel ranks were easily broken by the fierce attack while the second line was forced to pull back.

"They're falling back!" A soldier shouted. Cheers from other units could be heard.

"Don't celebrate yet!" Guilford warned. "The battle's far from over…"

At the flank of the Purist Forces

"Agrah!" A pilot screamed as a large purple blade pierced through his controls and finally into his chest. The legendary Zero squadron had cut its way through their enemies' ranks like knife through butter. They were Zero's best and the spearhead of the Black knights.

"Zero-Five and Two watch your back!" Kallen warned as she fired her radiant disks at some Sutherlands. She then saw two more of her Akatsuki firing at a modified version of a Gloucester Commander Type which was using its lance to deflect the shots.

"Three and Four use your swords. Guns don't work on that thing!"

"Hai!" Kallen then joined the fray, jumping into a unit of Sutherlands.

"Kallen-san! Watch out!" A Black knight warned in Japanese as Kallen was blocking the Sutherlands' attacks. Her warning system beeped again and Kallen zoomed out of the way as a giant blood-red and black beam passed her by an inch. The Sutherlands however were in the way and were turned to dust. The beam did however manage to hit a part of her chest.

"Are you alright?" The knight asked again.

"It's just a scratch, Sakura. I'm fine. How's our forces?"

"We're not hit but that blast took out both Falcon and Eagle squadrons on the front lines!"

"Damn! Come on, we need to destroy that cannon!" She decapitated a Sutherland in her way with her knife as she made her way through the fray into the rebel lines. Her squadrons had so far lost no one yet and that was good as a hundred or so Gloucesters were waiting for them.

"Kallen-san? We've found our giant Haldron cannon." A member of her squad spoke up. "It's the one crawling with Gloucesters." He sent his visual to Kallen. Her eyes narrowed. There were about over a hundred of them surrounding, a modified Caerleon-class except its turrets were replaced by oversized cannons.

Kallen allowed a short smile. Now the hunter had become the hunted.

"All wings! Report in. Zero squad, follow me! We need to take that monstrosity out! Blue group, gold group, hold off the Gloucesters while we do!"

"Yes, milord!" The Britannian squadrons responded. Kallen found it a little flattering and a little appalled at their response. The former because she was used to the curt replies of simply "yes" or "no" or at least a "sir" and the latter because it reminded her too much of the way how old Britannian soldiers shout before they slaughtered the Japanese back during the Black Rebellion.

The Gloucester pilots here were much more skilled than the ones they had so far fought and put up a staunch defence. Using their old but still efficient lances, several of them charged at their attackers while the rest used their rifles to provide support fire. Her units' losses started to increase from nil to a dozen now. Knowing that she would need to end the battle before her squadrons get destroyed or the Haldron cannons finish off the fleet, Kallen with her Zero squad charged into the enemy.

With a battle-cry, the Black Knight ace cut a bloody swathe through the rebels, using her forked knife and energy wings, beheading and decapitating anything in her way. Behind her, the Black knight Vincent Wards and Akatsukis attacked whatever she had left. Their revolving blades and MVS slashed and thrust, leaving explosions and pieces of metal falling down behind. One Akatsuki gripped its revolving blade katana with both hands and cut a broad swathe at Gloucester. The Britannian Knightmare attempted to block with its lance only to break in half. The swing continued and cleanly cut the Gloucester in half from the torso.

"Enough!" Kallen shouted. "Focus your attacks on the carrier!"

"Hai!"

Lol….Cliff hanger! It's soo fun to do that! So how is it? And no Lulu yet...sorry. Hope the battle scenes are good. I had a hard time doing it. If there's any way I can improve it let me know. Oh by the way, New England here in the central parts of our US not the East. I changed the Britannian battle-cry of "All hail Britannia!" to "Long live" because though the first one sounds way cooler it sounds sorta evil. Please tell me your views on this because I'm not sure if I should stick with it.