Ok, we're finally coming to the end of Arc I: The Rise of the Valiant (reedited). I was actually planning to make this the last chapter for the Arc but it turned out to be too long so I divided into two chapters. So I'm afraid the preview will not be here. Sorry to disappoint but this chapter will give hints on Arthur's past and something about Lelouch as well.
2345 Hours
New Pendragon
Outside the Imperial Palace
Whist Royal Guard and the Knights of the Round fought hard to ensure the safety of their queen, the alarm had been sounded to the city and the Imperial Guard took off at once, their Knightmares already flying towards the city. Hundreds of aerial cruisers, Vincent Wards and Gareths descended towards the now dark-gloomy palace. At their head, Lady Alleria Calvarias, the honourable Knight of Five piloting a white and gold Vincent Commander Model.
Alleria was one of the newer Knights of the Rounds, knighted personally under Empress Nunnally herself and training overseen personally by Zero. They have yet to have a Knight of One but Zero seemed to be taking that role and no one had complained. With long golden blond hair and sky-blue eyes, she made an impressive figure. 28 years old, Alleria was tall for a woman and she was well versed in the arts of war. And she had hoped to serve their new Empress well as a Round.
But of all the places, this was the last place Alleria had expected to fight at least not like this. She did not understand it. Ever since war had broken out, New Pendragon had slowly been fortified in case of any attack especially since the Rebel army greatly outnumbered the Imperial forces. It was done fight off almost anything from the mass ground forces to aerial armadas with both the latest technology available and a garrison of five thousand loyal Guardsmen.
Thus it came as a great shock to the defenders when the palace security was breeched.
But Zero was not known just for his victory over the Demon Emperor alone, having made several precautions just in case.
And this was one of them.
"All units stay frosty and keep an eye out for any new targets." Alleria spoke through all channels. "Remember we're up against an enemy who got into the palace unnoticed. Be on your guard!"
"Yes, milady!"
A few minutes later, a soldier called.
"Lady Alleria, I've got a signal in sector 238 near the East Tower."
The Knight of Five's brows furrowed as she picked the link up herself. A half-dozen or so Knightmares sized figures began to appear in the distance. She zoomed into the nearest one and scanned its design into her computer.
"Identification Unknown." The AI replied.
'Unknown? New Model?' Alleria thought when suddenly her alarm systems shrieked with alarm.
"An attack?" The Knight of the Round wheeled her Vincent around. The next moment, all the five Vincent Wards and Gareths around her exploded, raining the sky with metal and fire.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Her guard captain shouted as Alleria recovered. She saw a sphere like figure spinning in the air as the rest of her Guard fired machine guns, missiles and cannon shells at it. They contacted in a massive explosion that literally blinded everything on her screen. Nothing could have survived that she thought.
Her IFF screen, however, said otherwise as the signal of...whatever it was…remained and was still rapidly approaching the nearest unit in its scope.
The foremost of the Wards and Gareths raised their weapons and fired at point bank range but their efforts were naught ripped to shreds in the air as the spinning sphere rammed through them like a lawn mower. Some Wards drew out their MVS blades and charged forward as the gyrating figure went pass them but they might have ram into a wall for all the good it did them.
It continued spinning a complete circle around them towards a single battle group. One light aerial cruiser stood in its path, firing all of its armaments but they fared no better than the Knightmares' weapons as it crashed into one of the Caerleon, severing it in half, killing dozens of crewmen with a single blow.
And then it finally stopped in mid-air, just hovering there.
Alleria zoomed in at once, not willing to take away this chance to study her opponent and her eyes widen in shock when she realised what she was facing.
"Siegfried …" She muttered in horror. That Knight Giga Fortress had earned the fear and respect of even highest ranking knights.
"Milady! We've tracked more signals coming towards us." A voice blared in her earpiece.
As if signalling the Guardsman's words, several more figures appeared behind the Siegfried, two of them identically similar to it. Others were the sized of the Vincents though their designs were slightly more bulky and had horns on their heads with crimson visors.
"By the Gods…" Alleria muttered. They were facing an entirely new enemy. Although they outnumbered these invaders by a large margin, they were terribly outmatched. With a curse, the Knight of Five shook off her despair and fear. She was a Knight of the Round and since Empress Nunnally had knighted her, Alleria along with many others swore their life to protect their beloved queen. And she had the chance to do so now.
Drawing her double bladed lances, she cried out to all channels.
"Come you, knights of Britannia! The function of the Imperial Guard was to protect our Empress and now this is our hour! Now come and show it to these bastards who dare threaten Her Majesty!! For the Empress!!!"
"For the Empress!" With that the battle for Pendragon had begun. They would fight to save their queen… or die trying.
Meanwhile in the Palace itself
A Palace Guard screamed as his chest was split open by a wicked looking dagger, blood straining on his grey uniform. His companion thrust his spear at the attacker in question which was quickly parried and was not able to utter any sound at all as a second blade slashed before him in a silver arc. His head shook and fell rolling on the green carpet leaving a train of blood.
Kallen did not know how the battle was going after the two guards' deaths as she was being hard pressed as any in the room. She had long abandoned her pistol in favour of a fallen Guard's sabre seeing that she could not aim properly at her opponent.
She raised her blade and parried a thrust at her neck and retaliated with a series of strikes and jabs. However, the Geass user was extremely skilled in combat as he managed to block every single blow she made.
As she blocked another attack, Kallen considered her chances against her opponent. She was still unable to identify his Geass but knew that they had the power to either blend into darkness or teleport short distances. Such things would have repulsed the Knight of Two was no longer surprised about the way they got in as she had seen her fair share of Geass and its power.
"Watch out!" A cloaked body collided with her from the side and Kallen bit a curse. She later regretted it when, the darkness was split by a volley of machine gun rounds. Kallen's former opponent jumped back into the safety of its shadow disappearing before the horrific barrage took it.
"Clear!" An electronic voice shouted. A squad of Royal Guardsmen in full body armour entered the room.
"You alright?" Kallen saw it was Mellenia who pushed her and gratefully took her hand.
"If you can tackle like that again in training, I'm sure you can last longer next time." She smiled.
"Can still be sarcastic at a time like this?" The Knight of Nine asked with a smile of her own.
"Are you alright?" The Guard officer asked. Their armour was different from the Army issued ones with armour a lighter grey than their Army counterpart and their crimson tunic and white pants underneath.
"We're fine." Kallen replied. Behind them Kannon, Schnizel aide de camp arrived. His green and white uniform had blood stains on them.
"Lady Evergreen, Lady Kozuki, I see you managed to survive these things."
"Any idea who they are or what they're after?" Mellenia asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine. The Imperial Guard is engaging them outside the palace while the Royal Guard is engaging them in here. Guilford reported that they have Knightmares as well and are shielded from the Gejun disturber in the courtyard."
"If I can get to the hanger now, my Guren can even up the odds." Kallen suggested but Kannon shook his head.
"I'm afraid that's not possible. All paths to the hangers are blocked even the emergency exits. Someone had known them and blasted them to pieces and it'll take too long to break through."
"Do you have a communicator?" Kallen asked. She wanted to warn Zero about Geass.
The brown haired man shook his head, his expression frustrated.
"Not since Guilford called. They have an EMP device with the Gejun disturber in the courtyard. It's rendering all our Knightmares and most of our electronic equipment useless."
"Well," Mellenia cut in, hefting one of the Palace Guard's rifled pole arms. "Nothing going to happen unless we do something now! Come on!"
Kallen and Kannon followed the cloaked knight out of the room, quickly but cautiously. Shadow flickered here and there in the hall way, signalling the movement of these assassins. Desperate to find the assassins, they followed without pause.
On the way, a Royal Guardsman armed with a rifle burst in.
"Sir, we're under attack by some shadowy things!" He said, his voice shaking and his face pale although the brim of his shako covered his eyes. Kallen could well understand the man's fear. While death in battle was common, fighting these enemies unnerved even the most hardened soldier.
"Calm down! Where's your unit?"
"In the hall way. Follow me!" They followed the soldier. As they reached the edge of the hallway, the Guardsman slammed himself against the wall point his assault rifle against the door. Kallen did so against the other side. He turned and nodded.
"Now." The group stormed in, expecting heavy resistance. Their guns pointing at…nothing? It was nothing until they looked at the floor which was littered with the bodies of both Palace and Royal Guardsmen.
"I guess they must be dead now." Mellenia said sadly when Kallen heard a gasp.
"He's gone!" One of the Guardsmen exclaimed, looking back. "I swear he was here just now!"
"What? Where could he have disappeared to?"
"Something's wrong." Kannon muttered when suddenly the sound of the chamber of a rifle slamming into its place echoed.
The Britannian infantry standard issued AR-28 assault rifle was a powerful weapon, firing electric powered steel "spiked" rounds capable of rending flesh and muscles to pieces easier than it could be cleaved by a butcher's knife matching the intimidating sound it made. Kallen knew it from her days as a resistance fighter and she had seen thousands of people killed by these weapons. She had even wielded it herself more than once.
The same intimidating sound roared from the other end of the hall and a volley of supersonic rounds fired at them. The steel spikes pierced through two of the Royal Guardsmen despite the armour, rounds shattering into the helmet and the skull.
Kallen dove down to the side and drew out her pistol all in practice ease and emptied a couple of rounds into the darkness. She saw the same soldier who had led them into the hall firing the rifle. The same soldier with the exception of his glowing crimson eyes. A Geass user.
A loud barking sound boomed from her side as Mellenia fired her rifle followed by the sound of Kannon's pistol. More gun fire roared from both entrances with Kallen, Kannon, Mellenia and their squad trapped in the middle.
It seemed as if they were doomed but then Kannon crawled to the side of a suit of armour and started pressing something.
"Kannon, what the hell are you doing?" Mellenia shouted over the gunfire. One of their soldiers took a full volley in his chest, shattering the breast plate and his chest.
"There's a secret path shielded from EMP waves. In case of times like this." Suddenly, a door opened up in the wall revealing a large elevator akin to the one which Kallen remembered using in Ashford.
"Go!" Kannon roared. They entered it without protest. With two of the soldier providing covering fire, they rushed into the elevator. By the time everyone had entered, the gunfire had intensified.
"Come on!" They shouted to the last two. But as they came, one of the Guardsmen fell with his leg shot.
"Jack!" One of the soldiers shouted.
"Go!" Jack replied and the wounded Guardsman took out his grenade. Knowing exactly what he intended to do with it, Kannon sadly closed the door.
A second later, they heard an explosion. Everyone panted, trying to overcome the fact they barely escaped with their lives and a good man had given his life doing so.
Kallen used the silence to observe her surroundings. The elevator managed to fit the eight of them but just. Out of the full six man squad and the eight surviving Guardsmen who Kallen and Mellenia met on the way only five made it alive.
"Where is this taking us?" Kallen asked.
"Down to the next level. The passage there is a shorter path to reach the Empress."
As soon as they arrive, gunfire and the screams of men could be heard down the hallway they arrived from.
"Damn, they're fast. You two get to Zero quickly! We'll hold them here." Kannon barked an order to the soldiers and the fell into two lines with the front kneeling, their weapons pointing at the door way.
Mellenia and Kallen nodded and they sprinted through the other end hoping to reach Nunnally in time.
Meanwhile in the Empress's own quarters
Suzaku knew that such a thing might happen but he didn't expect it to be like this. The new Zero raced through the Palace to the refuge where Nunnally would be kept safe at the same time coordinated with the Imperial forces engaging her assassins. So far he hadn't been able to identify.
The sandy-blond young Empress had been sleeping so soundly that he almost regretted waking her up. Nunnally had spent countless hours dealing with the Imperial Senate, the UFN affairs and keeping peace in loyalist regions. Sometimes he wished Lelouch hadn't died and that he didn't need to rule the world as an evil tyrant to save it.
Suzaku recalled with some guilt that he had been the driving force in the Zero Requiem and knew that it was because of it Kallen hated him. He could very well understand her feelings. He had hated Lelouch with a passion indescribable when he found out about his role in Euphie's death. In some ways, during that battle he had seen the hidden pain between Kallen and Lelouch as revenge for the pain he had suffered. Lelouch had never told him anything when it comes to romance but that he refused to include her in the Zero Requiem, she who had so willing followed him, she would have followed him to hell itself spoke the unheard words of affection.
Now he could only recall those moments with guilt which was why he had accepted the insults and hateful gaze of the crimson-stress knight. However, he hoped she would move on as Lelouch had wanted. The pain was tearing her apart. He did not hold any romantic feelings for her despite the rumours between Zero and his most "loyal" knight (only Euphie had his heart) but he did care for her as a friend even if it had been a rocky one. Suzaku had been relieved when he saw Kallen with Gino at the New Ashford during his visit on its opening. Gino's attraction to Kallen was obvious to everyone and he hoped she would return the feelings not just for the sake of the Knight of Three but for her own peace as well.
But right now, there was no time for such thinking. Nunnally's life was threatened and Suzaku had sworn to Lelouch to be her personal Knight and Guardian throughout his entire life.
"Lord Guilford, focus all attacks on the Gejun disturbers. Make sure they are destroyed as soon as possible. Otherwise, our Knightmares would be rendered useless here. Don't worry about us. The Empress is being sent to the refuge."
"Understood."
"Zero," Nornette said. "We have seen reports on enemy units heading this way."
Damn. This fast? "Alright, have squads on all exits around here. We've got to protect Her Majesty at all costs."
"Zero…" Nunnally looked up to him from her hover chair. "Please be careful. If it means to save all of your lives, I'll gladly give myself…"
"Don't worry your highness." He injected and with a whisper he injected. "I promise your brother I'll keep you safe, even it means my death. The future of this world depends on it."
"But I made a mess." She whispered. "The civil war…"
"Only you can bring an end to it." Zero replied firmly. "I am just a symbol. The future is in your hands…"
"I created and destroyed both worlds..." A young man with black-raven hair muttered. His gaze was set over a large school in the United States of Japan, its inhabitants happily forgotten by the world around them. A smile crossed his features.
Then he frowned. "And now I must maintain it..."
A dark figure appeared behind him with features strikingly similar to his own. The same look, the same face...as if it was his own shadow. He turned, facing the newcomer.
"I, Lelouch Vi Britannia command you..."
His eyes flared red with the avian symbol.
"Red Knight!"
Arthur Peregrine blinked. Suddenly he found himself panting. He was sweating as well: he could feel the moisture on his uniform. He was back in the cockpit of his new Vincent flying in the night skies. What happened? How did he get here?
And then slowly the memories returned to him. After killing the noble, Arthur had rushed back to the base and fortunately Anduin had everything prepared for him so he suited up and led the Arfon Knights to New Pendragon. Knowing that the warning was already too late, the Grand Master assembled the entire Order to move in to the capital. While no one doubts their courage and Zero's ability to defend the queen, those soldiers had no idea who they were up against.
But then what was that he saw just now? He didn't remember falling asleep on the way nor did he remember such an incident from the past. Was that Lelouch he saw?
"Red Knight, are you alright? Please respond. Over." The voice repeated.
"I'm fine." He replied. Now was not the time to think of such things. The war comes first. "All units keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Report once sighted."
"Yes, milord!"
Arthur closed all channels but one. "Anduin, send me the data Lloyd has on the enemy Knightmares."
"Aye, sir. Transmitting."
Arthur brushed a strand of the fake white hair from his face as he waited. They had reached the city now as the aerial-battle became very clear on his video screens. He was zooming into to one of the invading Knightmares when he realised they were new models. They were midnight blue with silver trimmings and features similar to the Gareth only much smaller and much more sleek and lithe. Its head was much like that of the Vincent Ward except for the horns and the crimson visor where two crimson orbs glowed. They reminded him of those rangers in those fantasy top board games. Quick, dark and deadly. He scanned it using the data the developer of the Lancelot sent.
As the data appeared on the corner of his screen, Arthur saw half a dozen of Imperial Guard Vincent Wards led by one of their Commander Type models engage a trio of the sleek Knightmares in question. They surrounded their outnumbered foes and attacked from different sides firing their rifles as they go.
The trio looked up, their ruby orbs glaring at the Guard Knightmares. With the sound of their thrusters roaring akin to a battle cry, they charged. They avoided the gun fire with practice ease. The two on the flanks then broke out of their formation, each going to different directions. The Imperial Wards broke off with a pair following each while the last pair and the Vincent commander charged their leader in the centre.
The foremost Vincent Ward took aim of his rifle and was about to fire when the unknown Knightmare fired one of its slash harkens from its arms. Due to the sudden atck, the Knightmare pilot used his rifle as a makeshift shield but as it contacted his weapon, the harken pierced through the rifle and appeared on the other side. As the harken appeared on the other end, the pilot saw its head was a drill and it struck Vincent Ward's shoulder taking its entire arm off. Before he knew it, a second harken fired striking its chest which drilled its way through the chest plate and…into the pilot's own killing him instantly.
As the Ward exploded, the dark Knightmare turned to the second Ward firing its chest mount machine guns. Still stunned from the destruction of its companion, the pilot easily fell to the volley of sabot rounds.
Their commander poised to avenge the death of his comrades unleashed a volley of his own. The unknown Knightmare evaded the attacks and charged at the Vincent. The commander fired his slash harkens as well mixing them with his sabot barrage. The dark Knightmare avoid the rounds easily then drew out what looked a blur of crimson which turned out to be an MVS blade. However, instead of the double-blade lance or the long sword type many of the pilots were used to, this one was a curved blade like that of a scimitar or a light cavalry sabre.
With the new blades, the Vincent's adversary sliced through the slash harkens as easy as knife through butter. The Vincent held its other arm's needle blazer and charged but before it could make contact, a crimson blade slashed through the wrist. Using its other blade, the dark Knightmare ran it through the chest, the curve edge appearing out of the cockpit's tip.
So these are their main battle units? Interesting. They're of mixed design. Arthur thought reading the data. On another screen, another dark Knightmares sliced an Imperial Vincent Ward in half with a single stroke with its curve sword, sending the exploding debris down the city.
Series: GX-23
Code Name: Viper
General characteristics
-Height: 4.45 meters
-Weight: 6.90 metric tones
-Power Source: Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler
Design Features
-Cockpit Ejection System
-Factsphere sensor
-Landspinner propulsion system
-Optional Float System
Armament
-2x Maser Vibration Sword (MVS) Scimitar type
-2x Drill Slash Harken
-2x Chest Mount machine guns
"Right. Brother-Captain Dunford, take half our forces and engage the enemy Knightmares. The rest of you follow me."
"But Arthur, the Grand Master and the rest of the Order haven't arrived yet." Harry Dunford said.
"I've already sent a message to him. Hurry. Move into Sector B 4. Spread yourselves up."
"Yes." The captain saluted.
"The rest of you follow me!"
They accelerated forward into the centre of the battle. The first of the enemy Knightmares took notice of them and open fired.
"Take evasive actions!" Arthur roared and they scattered. The Arfon Vincent Wards and Gareths returned fire and they had joined the battle.
Arthur charged through the clouds of duelling Knightmares. Taking advantage of his lighter armour, he flew out of formation towards through two of these Vipers before they could react and fired both of his slash harkens. The attack would serve to test these Knightmare's reflexes and see if calculations were correct.
One of the projectiles took the first sleek Knightmare by surprise and struck it hard on its chest, damaging the chest mount machine guns and driving it back.
The second one however evaded the attack and fired its Assault rifle. Arthur evaded the volley of bullets with ease and pulled his thrusters to the maximum arming his needle blazer and discharged it at the Viper's chest. The Blazer knocked the Viper's rifle out and took the full blast. It exploded like any other Knightmare and Arthur felt heartened by it. They could be defeated.
Two more Vipers engaged him, firing their arm mount Drill Slash Harkens. Had his Vincent had not been modified; he would have been skewered where he stood. But using the speed he had now, he managed to dodge all four projectiles with ease. Arthur then brought his rifle to shoot down the Vipers.
The rounds managed to strike one of them but the second one evaded the barrage and charge forward with his scimitar.
The shape of the blade made its swing much faster and Arthur barely dodged the attack. Withdrawing his rifle, the knight pulled out his double bladed lances from his back and hit his thrusters, locking the blades as he went. Brandishing the blades in the air as they turn crimson, Arthur met the curved sword with his double-blades in a shower of sparks. The Viper then fired its right drill slash harken point blank range so quickly that its drill head cut through the Vincent's right shoulder tip. Due to his lighter armour, the shoulder tip the drill pierced it like knife through butter. Arthur gritted his teeth as the impact forced him back. The Viper then took the advantage and slashed again but Arthur blocked the attack with his rear blade. Bringing the first blade, he slashed forward. The sleek Knightmare dodged the blow and fired both hand mounted harkens. But Arthur was better prepared.
Pulling his weapon before him out before him, Arthur spin it rapidly, a deadly windmill of MVS blades. The slash harkens were easily severed as they met the blades and Arthur then hit his thrusters to the maximum charging forward. Before the Viper pilot could respond, the crimson and silver Knightmare lunged and slashed, the rear blade slicing down the Viper's right shoulder to its left torso. The powerful thrusters that Cecile had done for him worked perfectly with his lighter armour that he appeared nothing more than a flash.
"Flash", a voice echoed in his head.
Suddenly before his eyes, stood not the grim aerial battlefield but a massive funeral. Before him stood a young boy barely ten crying bitterly. In front of the boy, a Palace Guard stood announcing to the mass mourners.
"The Empire mourns as Imperial Consort Lady Marianne the Flash former Knight of One fell to a terrorist attack on the Imperial Villa…"
"Arthur, watch out!" Anduin's voice roared, smacking him back to reality. He saw the Viper with a dented chest charging at him, sword raised high.
Then suddenly a slash harken shot out and strike the Viper's sword arm, knocking the blade out. Arthur took the initiative and fired both slash harkens at the dark Knightmare's chest and finished the Viper off.
"It's not like you to doze off like that!" Anduin chided. "What were you thinking?" The blond knight's Gareth turned to a charging group of Vipers and turned on his targeting computer. Quickly he took a lock on each Knightmare and unleashed a barrage of missiles from the Gareth's various missile launchers. The projectiles struck them with deadly accuracy causing the sky to shower metals.
"Luckily, our Knightmares aren't outclassed. Yet."
"Yet." Arthur agreed grimly. He pressed his fingers to his temple. What was happening to him? A funeral for his lord's mother? Why was he seeing that?
Whatever he was about to think was cut off when Harry Dunford's voice broke in. The bronze skinned knight's grim face told him the urgency of the report.
"Sir Arthur! Unknown unit at sector five. It just wiped out two Imperial squadrons in a second and took down Sir Melphis's unit. It's…It's a Siegfried!"
"A Siegfried?" Anduin's voice was shaken. "Here?"
"Three Siegfrieds." Arthur corrected as he picked up two other identical energy signatures on his map. "Spread out in different points. It means there are high ranking cultists here."
Arthur remembered that there were only two individuals he knew who had piloted these fearsome machines, one was V.V. Lelouch's bastard uncle and Jeremiah Gottwald. With the former dead and the latter having sworn an oath of undying loyalty to the Vi Britannia family, it leaves the pilots of these KGFs unknown.
The knight watched grimly as he saw the dark spinning shape a few klicks from his position easily breaking the Imperial formations leaving a long trail of orange fire balls and raining metal.
Using the Vipers to distract the enemy then use the Siegfried to finish it off. Good tactics but far too obvious. And now that I know what you are capable of…victory is ours.
A grim smile formed on his lips. "Harry, execute Formation Delta. Force the Vipers in your area to cluster at sector B-2. Once you're done, keep them there but you will come here." He switched channels.
"Sword-1, fire 30 degrees to your left." A few seconds later he switched to another unit. "Ram leader, launch your missiles 30 degrees to the edge of the Eastern Tower. Sword-5 in twenty seconds fire your slash harkens 20 degrees above you."
'Sword 1' Arfon Vincent obeyed and unleashed a machine gun barrage at a seemingly nothing when a hapless Viper suddenly rammed into the rain of deadly sabot rounds ripping it to shreds.
At the same time, missiles from the Ram Squadron's Gareths were discharged and like eagles scooping on its prey flew to the tower…to where the Viper had exploded. The missiles then suddenly went pass the smoking debris of the fallen Knightmare…and raining down on an entire unit of Vipers trying to flank a surrounded Logres-battle ship. Seeing missiles appearing out of the smoke so suddenly, their reactions were not fast enough and were blown to dust.
A sole Viper escaped the barrage and charged forward when a pair of slash harkens shot out from below striking its cockpit system, killing the pilot.
"Wow that got their attention." Anduin muttered as a number of Vipers started for their positions. "And how about that Sie-"
He never got any further than that as the crimson-silver customised Vincent hit its thrusters of its Float System and accelerated forward into the mass.
"Damn, Arthur what are you doing?!" He started to follow when Arthur replied.
"Stay with the Ram Squadron. Wait for my signal." Then he broke contact again.
Arthur ignored the cursing protest of his comrade and focused on his flight path. Straight into the cloud of Vipers, brandishing their weapons waiting for him like a pack of snakes they were named after. It was a menacing sight that could despair many.
And yet the crimson-silver Knightmare did not slow down. Raising his double-bladed lances in his right hand, Arthur roared as he charged.
The first Viper raised his sword to meet him and they contacted in a shower of sparks. The crimson-silver Vincent did not turn back and flew pass the pair behind him leaving the same display of sparks until Arthur had just run through the entire group and burst out on the rear of the Knightmares.
Before anyone else could make a move, all the Vipers in the centre of the formation suddenly exploded from what now appeared to be slashing marks on the Knightmares' armour….
Arthur smiled. His new Knightmare's adjustments suited him well. Other than the lighter armour and the newly perfected Aerial System that he had asked the former Camelot Scientists to temporally make, he had also asked them to have his MVS blades replaced with a more potent version. It was a prototype but he had convinced them to add them to his arsenal.
Together, he had made use of the combination of speed so well that the Vipers had not realised they were cut down until it was too late. More than a dozen Vipers fell burning from the skies. Their companions realising what happened wheeled about.
"Now." Then a volley of Hadron beams shot out from different directions, decimating the wheeling Vipers. With the survivors in disarray, Arthur charged down. He swept pass the first pair, slicing the torso of the first and beheading the second with his rear blade. As they exploded, the crimson and silver Knightmare continued its charge, ramming its needle-blazer into the next Viper in line, blasting its entire chest to dust. Arthur then turned spinning, and used his double-sword to cut down another one, the blood-red MVS blades slicing through both armour and human flesh.
Anduin's Gareth appeared on his screens, unleashing another Hadron beam from the Gareth's arm mounted cannon. He took a slight cut on the chest from a lunging Viper but a volley of the Knightmare's numerous Slash Harkens took it down easily.
While Arthur cut a clear space on his side, Anduin did the same on his, taking down enemies as much if not more than he was and Lelouch's knight knew why. Anduin was a marksman first and foremost. He was a fair close combatant but years of training as a Special Forces sniper had made him an extremely dangerous opponent in a fire fight with skills matching the Knights of the Round.
The Gareth suited the blond knight well, with its role a more of a heavy supporting role rather than an all purpose Knightmare like the Vincent Ward.
Then a new unit of Vipers surrounded the Gareth hoping to take advantage of its lack of melee weapon. It was a big mistake.
Using his targeting computer, Anduin locked on to each Viper expertly avoiding their machine gun volleys, swings and thrusts. Once it was done, the Britannian knight unleashed his wrath.
Simultaneously, the missile launchers, chest mount machine guns and arm mount Hadron cannons fired. The explosive projectiles swept forward together like locus flying alongside the sabot rounds and the two crimson-black beams. They struck their targets with deadly accuracy, an impossible accuracy. Not a single attack missed and it was a devastating effect.
Before the Gareth was a massive explosion, as if someone had fired the FLEIA, illuminating the gold trimming on the grey Knightmare.
"Now that's how you make fire works." Anduin remarked. And Arthur smiled both at the humour and what happened. The Viper Squadron was completely decimated. Now for his next plan.
"My god." Alleria watched in awe as these 'irregulars' decimated a full squadron with only a handful of Knightmares. "So those stories were really true."
"Knight of Five." A monotonous voice called from an unknown channel. It was unrecognisable likely due to a voice changer but its tone held great authority.
"Yes?"
"Spread out your forces in Sector 1 along the flanks. Make sure there is nothing but the enemy in the centre."
"But if we do that they'll just smash through our lines with those Siegfrieds!"
"Do it if you want those Siegfrieds destroyed." With that he broke off contact.
Alleria cursed. What he had ordered made no sense. Was he part of those invaders trying to pull off as this mysterious knight who is trying to be another Zero?
The downing of one of their Logres Aerial Cruiser told her how there were fairing in battle. Alleria knew that the Imperial Guard could defeat the enemy Knightmares but the constantly sweeping Siegfrieds made it impossible. And the disabled Knightmares of the Royal Guard did nothing to help it. She could either continue fight a hopeless battle or leave their fates into the hands of a stranger.
The Knight of Five shrugged. It wasn't much of a choice.
"All units pull back along the flanks." No sooner than they did, a horrifying spinning figure appeared in the screen, eager to smash them apart.
Alleria hoped she had not made a mistake.
Well, at this point, I have no idea how I've done. So I'll leave the decision to you. All I can say is Read & Review! As always I accept any critic as long as they're done politely.