It's finally here! Sorry for the suspense! This is the longest chapter I've written yet, over 10,000 words. I really hope it would come up to your expectation. I'm also sorry for the sneakpeak on chapter 11. It's not going to follow it but instead something else would happen. It took me months to do this. Well, guys enjoy! Read & Review!
"Here it comes." Anduin muttered. "Let's hope we fair better than Fafnir did."
Arthur hoped so too. The Siegfried was just as terrifying as the battle reports had claimed. It was enormous, dwarfing its escorting Vipers. Its armament consists of a set of Slash Harkens, which consist of the five conical structures on its frame and two ordinary versions mounted on the front, and generators which can electrify the hull to keep enemies at bay. Using the conical Lance-Slash Harkens, it could perform a devastating attack in which it spins like a top and obliterates anything in its path. It was practically a giant flying wrecking ball with its tough construction and energy shields make it incredibly durable. Arthur remembered that it manages to survive having a building dropped on it without taking even cosmetic damage. The Siegfried could also spin rapidly to generate an electromagnetic shield to block most bombardments.
The sphere like monstrosity descended on them like a flying cannon ball, picking up speed as it did then began to spin. The Imperial Guard obeying their commander's orders fell back without a fight allowing the Siegfried into their centre where it could easily smash their entire formation apart.
As it neared, Arthur charged forward firing his machine gun at it. The bullets pathetically bounced off its hard hide but it managed to catch the Siegfried's attention which was all the knight was counting on. Its thrusters screaming akin to a roar, the Knight Giga Fortress turned to the customised Vincent. Arthur also fired his own boosters on his Aerial system and flew out of its path, the spinning Siegfried almost catching him with its spinning blades.
"Arthur!" Anduin shouted, opening the cannon on his right arm. The Hadron beam lanced towards the KGF. But the beam dispersed on the electromagnetic shield as if it was water.
"Stay clear of it!" Arthur snapped at the other knight as he fired a second volley at the Siegfried. 'Damn, this thing's fast.'
However, the Siegfried had other things in mind and ignored the red knight's attacks and turned to the Imperial fleet.
"Damn it, follow me!" Arthur gritted his teeth and fired at one of the Vipers near the Siegfried, firing precisely at its float system's right wing. The Knightmare lost balance and fell straight into the spinning path. The blades ripped it shreds of metal and fire.
That seemed to catch its attention as it wheeled about.
Arthur's alarm system suddenly rang as a Viper suddenly charged at him from behind, wielding a blade. He grabbed its wrist and twisted himself around and stabbed the Viper's back with his rear lance. Then he used the Viper's momentum and flung it towards the charging Siegfried's path.
The Viper's explosion did nothing to dent the electromagnetic armour and Arthur was forced to pull himself out of the way lest he be crushed as well. He continued to harass it firing his machine gun knowing all too well the results. His thrusters burst to the maximum as he fired, staying out of the KGF's reach.
While he did, Arthur looked down on the surface of the Palace. The entire court yard was filled with lights, showing signs of battle but most of them were infantrymen and knew that the attackers had somehow disabled their Knightmares. But they'll do.
He flipped a channel.
Arthur turned to dodge a slash harken that would have skewered him. He flew pass the battle on the ground using his IFF signal to give the Guardsmen a breather.
Guilford sat with his rifle against his shoulder and body braced against the mountain of rubble made by an explosion protecting him from the stream of bullets that saw down from above. The Guardsmen under him huddled in the rubbles with him each one still looking worst to wear but still alive. Guilford saw that the earlier Knightmare assault was a distraction so they could send in their soldiers down and now the entire palace had turned into a grim battlefield between the Royal Guard and the Assassins.
But what the assassins looked like was hard to say. Sometimes they're fighting soldiers disguised in the grey and crimson of the Guard and at others they seemed to be engaging their own shadows. That they were using Knightmares that had Gejun deflectors was the main problem and Guilford had to restrain a laugh at how ironic the situation was for him. Years ago, as the Spearhead of the Empire, he had led the armies of Britannia into battle riding Knightmares against a lesser foe. Well, it must be karma!
Another volley of lead struck the rubble, sending splintering pieces of rocks against his face. The royal knight gritted his teeth and was about to pulled his rifle out and fire back when it suddenly rained gunfire just beyond their position.
Two enemy Knightmares stood guard surrounded by squads of assassins engaging another unit of Royal Guards in a deadly fire fight with the Guards in the worse part of it. An enemy soldier fell to the ground in a haze of blood as one of their snipers under cover of some debris pulled a round into his head. A second fell, clutching his neck as blood sprayed out of it. Before a third shot could be done, one of the behemoth took notice and fired a burst of rounds from its chest machine guns. The rounds were Knightmare sized and they ripped the man and his cover into bloody shreds.
"We've got them, sir!" One of his men shouted to Guilford as he readied himself for their counter attack. The squad's missile launchers were still smoking from their recent fire that had dropped several enemy Knightmares. It had brought heart back to the men and the knight had divided his forces into three groups: one armed with missile launchers stationed on various high positions where the gun emplacements were to take down enemy Knightmares, the second sent out to help clear the other areas while the third, the largest was under Guilford himself to destroy the generators.
Not willing to lose the chance to attack, Guilford bellowed a charge and the Guardsmen ran out, firing as they go. The other units must have arrived. He saw several more soldiers coming from the side. Guilford saw a shadowy figure aiming a rifle at him but the knight managed to fire first forcing it back to its hiding place.
Then before he knew it, Guilford's squad was surrounded by a hundred rifles all pointing at them some were on the windows while others on the ground. Most of them wore body armour similar to the Britannians save for their helmets which covered their faces, some of them wore a massive black cloak with a hood that only revealed two crimson with a bird symbol eyes. He suspected they were their officers.
Then those new soldiers turned their rifles on them as well, their eyes crimson under the shako. Damn, it was a trap. These men were part of the assassins.
Guilford readied his weapon preparing to die to the end.
Just then a huge shadow fell before them and a massive volley of sabot rounds rained down on buildings at the entrenched troops, the massive rounds ripping men to pieces in single shots. Guilford twisted away from the assassin's line of fire and let unleashed his own barrage followed by his men. They dance in the gunfire and Guilford stared at them with coldly remembering the deaths of so many of his men at their hands.
One of the crimson eyed shadows managed to escape the deadly stream of gunfire and leapt forward, his eyes glowing and disappeared before appearing again on his left. Guilford was a fully trained knight verse in many arts including swordsmanship and sensing an attack, he unsheathed his sabre automatically blocking a dagger swing.
The assassin's eyes unnerved him and it took all he had not to stare back in his adversary's eyes. They traded blows and Guilford saw how dangerous his opponent was. He blocked a second attack and thrust. The tip of the blade missed him by inches and Guilford just only managed to block a knee thrust. The blow was hard as it contacted his left elbow and the knight swung his sword and again it was deflected.
Then suddenly the sky rained more sabot rounds down on the shadow which it move away to dodge the steam of bullets and disappeared.
As he stopped to catch his breath, Guilford saw a familiar silver and crimson Vincent flying pass and knew who had saved him.
"Lord Guilford..." The same voice from New England appeared. And before he could thank him, it spoke again.
"Fight your way to Sector 235. Wait for my signal."
Before he could respond, the voice was gone...again.
Meanwhile, the battle in the Palace becomes more intense. A unit of Royal Guardsmen defended a hasty made barricade in the area's ball room. The room once filled with lights and decorations was now just like another battlefield with rubbles, the bodies of soldiers and the sound of gunfire. The Guard Justicar had brought up a light machine gun, the RGLMG20 and they were making good use of it to hold off the attacks. It was one of the most unnerving battles he had been in. With the power cut (the officer had no idea how that was even possible with all the precautions and secondary powers), the automatic defences were rendered useless. Thus it was up to old shot and shell.
The enemy was unlike any other foe it wasn't their fighting skills that frightened him. It was that no matter how many times they shot or thought to have killed the shadowy figures, they could never see the bodies even with the Shock Troopers' inferred goggles. Sometimes they would see other soldiers armed and armoured like their shock troops and they were pretty much human as the commander saw them bleed and die like any man...but those shadow things, he didn't know what to say except that they needed to die.
The guardsman beside him gave a short cry as his head exploded into a mist of blood.
"Hold the line! Pour in everything you got!" The commander bellowed and turned his pistol to return fire. One figure dropped with a spark as the bullet contacted the metallic helmet.
The machine gun crew unleashed a lethal barrage spraying rounds left and right. Clouds of dust and rabble appeared where the rounds struck marble, wood and metal. He saw two clouds of blood droplets spraying in the mist and saw that it was taking affect. Two soldiers with the crimson eyes appeared from one side with firing their rifles wildly. The light machine gun traverse to the new target and ended it with a dozen holes in his chest.
A grenade exploded near their make shift barricade and a small piece of rock bounced off the commander's shoulder plate. One of the Guardsmen threw a return grenade at the same direction and he heard a satisfying bang followed by a scream. Now to push back.
"You two, get over there!" The Justicar gestured to a marble table a few yards ahead of them. The two guardsmen nodded and trained their weapons before them and walked their machine gun rounds towards the enemy pinning them down with suppressing fire. The foremost one jumped to the table and turned it over with his rifle butt in the crossfire then started firing a covering fire for his comrade. The other Guardsman threw a grenade down and dropped to the ground. As he did, he lowered the visor on his helmet.
There was a massive flash and they heard someone stumbling back. The two armoured soldiers then stood up firing. The Guard commander bellowed a charge. The other Guardsmen turned up shooting at anything that moved in the shadow.
The commander emptied a round into the face of an assassin who tried to shoot him and fired at another on his left.
They were the Royal Guard! They were the best amongst the Imperial Guard and were selected careful to protect the Empress.
"Don't let them up!" He bellowed. One of the first pair of Guardsmen smashed his rifle butt into one and fired in full automatic at a cluster of them. A second dark armoured figure appeared and stabbed his dagger into the Guardsman's neck. Fortunately, the constant movement of the soldier made the blow falling on the chest where it buried on the breastplate. A red dot appeared on the assassin's forehead and then burst into a mist of blood. The Guardsman pushed the lifeless body back and saw his commander with a smoking pistol. Nodding his thanks, the soldier continued his fighting to the door which is scanned.
"Clear!" The soldier shouted through all channels.
The Justicar panted as he made his way through the enemy barricade. They clustered around the lifeless bodies of the enemy soldiers.
"We've got them all sir." One of his Guard officers said, putting a new clip into his pistol then pulled his sabre out of a body beside him. However, they were only those of the basic troops. How about those shadowy things with red eyes? He started to turn around and suddenly realised that it was all a trap.
A gasp came in front of him and the officer he was talking to fell to the ground, a dagger appearing on his head. A shadowy figure appeared and flung two blades at him and the soldier beside. The blade struck his shoulder and he shouted in pain. The other soldiers turned and train their guns on the shadow only for his attacker to disappear.
"Where is he? Sir, are you alright?" His Captain arrived at his side.
"Just get it out!" He gritted his teeth and turned to the Guardsman who also got struck down. Unfortunately, the dagger struck home, right on the heart. The Justicar cursed. Another letter to write once this was over…assuming they survive.
"Agrah!" He roared as the dagger came free. The Captain tossed the accursed thing away and ripped the tail of his crimson coat and started to bandage the wound.
Then they heard something clanking. As one their weapons were trained at the door way. The clanking became louder and louder. They tensed, backing away it slowly. There was no doubt of it.
Finally, one of the soldiers took a step forward and fired a few rounds. The bullets vanished into the darkness. But nothing else happened.
The soldier dared to take a closer step then suddenly froze. He just stood there, unmoving. The rest of the Guardsmen looked at each other in puzzlement.
"Guardsman?" He asked but as he did, a short hiss suddenly rang in his ear.
Then the soldier suddenly turned, his rifle pointing at them. An inch of fire opened up as a volley of super-sonic rounds tore through the unexpected Guardsmen. There was no time for any of them to react and the volley took down half of their squad. At such a close range, even the Shock Troopers' armour was render useless.
However, the Justicar noticed something about the soldier...his eyes. They had crimson rings around them. Not just that, his face showed only horror as if he had no control over his body. Before he could say anything else, a single pistol shot boomed near him and the Guardsman fell back with a bloody hole on his forehead.
"Bloody traitor." The Captain muttered. The Justicar wasn't sure if his subordinate's words were correct but before he could try to do anything a cry behind him forced the guard officer to turn. He saw the machine gunner grunting.
"Corporal! Are you alright?" The Justicar shouted. Then he heard the same hiss again. The Guardsman looked up and saw his eyes trimming with crimson rings. This time the hiss formed into words.
"Fire."
In a bitter twist of irony, the RGL20 that had been protecting this section of the palace became their undoing. The Justicar was struck down early, the bullets tearing his chest apart but unable to give him the peace of death falling on his back and forced to stare at the formerly decorated ceiling which was now utterly ruined. It was forced to hear the screams of pain of his subordinates. His captain was more fortunate and died at once with his head vaporised but far too many shots. The screams lasted cruelly lasted for about ten seconds or so and then died down. The wounded officer heard footsteps walking towards him and the sound of blade scrapping flesh or single gun shots went around him.
Finally, he heard someone stopping beside him and saw the Guard machine gunner aiming a pistol at him. His eyes had crimson rings but his face was however showed only of fear and horror.
"I'm...sorry, sir." He managed. "I can't control...my body...It feels...as if...controlled...like puppet..."
Beside the crimson-uniformed soldier, two shadowy figures appeared. Their eyes had a glowing crimson bird like symbol on them. They stared at him with those eyes, as if mocking him.
"Go...to...hell..." The Justicar said, defiantly, the pain causing him to pause between his breathing.
"Strong of will this one. Zero picked the guards well..." A smooth yet unidentified voice spoke.
A fourth figure joined them; this one much more cloaked then the other two and wore a clothed helmet instead of hoods. There were gold trims at the edges of his cloak and wore a more elaborated purple uniform underneath. His eyes were deep imperial violet, beautiful yet held some kind of malice that made the guard officer shudder in fear.
"Kill him and take care of the rest." He said and left, leaving the Justicar at the hands of the two shadowy figures.
The soldier looked like he was trying a titanic struggle as his pistol hand unwillingly turned and pointed at the officer.
Before the merciful darkness descended, the Justicar saw a flash of a man with a long duster with a half orange mask behind the shadows...
Under the sound of the pistol, a dagger flashed and flew straight towards the pair of shadows. One of them turned and parried the spinning blade quickly; the dagger struck the concrete wall with a clank.
Then suddenly, from the darkness a tall muscular figure with his duster fluttering appeared and delivered a punch at the shadowy assassin. The attack came within a short second of the dagger throw and the blow landed solidly on the assassin's face with a satisfying crunch. His companion, eyes widened in surprise as if not believing that the blow had taken place, then recovered and slashed at his arm.
But the weapon bounced back as if striking metal instead of flesh. The figure grinned and shoved the shadow off and punched forward with his other arm.
He dodged the attack and fell back to join his companion and their bird-symbol eyes glared at their new foe.
The figure straightened and stepped into the moonlight. He was of middle age with green-blue hair and a half-orange metallic mask. He was a Britannian knight that was for certain, dressed in white and violet uniform underneath over a duster of white and light purple...or rather looked like one. But it is hard to know whether he was even human...for on his right hand was a golden blade jutting out from his wrist.
"Know that you face Jeremiah Gottwald." The man declared.
The two shadows glared at him with their glowing crimson eyes and gestured. At once, half a dozen or so soldiers dressed in dark purple and black mixed with the crimson and white of the Royal Guardsmen with glowing crimson rings in their eyes training their rifles at Jeremiah.
As they fired their rifles at him, a second blade drew out from Jeremiah's left hand and he charged towards them into the gun fire. He seemed to dodge the bullets at ease and even if they struck, they landed in sparks on his chest.
All of a sudden, two spinning blades split through the air beside the charging Jeremiah and sliced through the necks of two of the invaders. They fell down, clutching their bloodied necks.
A third turned and pulled his rifle up, preparing to pull the trigger when he froze as a ring hinted dagger buried on his forehead, piecing through the helmet and visor. Three more daggers flew and struck down the enemy in amazing accuracy.
And the clearing was all what Jeremiah needed. He ran pass a pair of them his blades slashing forward, slicing their chests and torso. He swung one blade up, taking an arm off a possessed Guardsman and finally removing his head.
As the decapitated body fell, the room left only Jeremiah and the two shadowy commanders. They glared at the knight standing before them and charged with their blades.
Jeremiah grinned and blocked the series of attacks with amazing reflexes. He blocked a claw with his left hand and countered with a swing which the shadow figure avoided with a step back. The second one used the distraction caused by his companion to bury the dagger into Jeremiah's back when his target suddenly shifted in an inhumanly speed and his eyes to widen in surprise as the golden blade pierce through his chest.
Jeremiah smoothly pulled out his blade allowing the blood to drip on the floor. The last assassin seeing that they were facing an enemy, who was more than a match for them, disappeared into the shadow.
At that, the knight laughed.
"Do you really think you could escape that easily?" He taunted and his masked eye opened up and a blue bird symbol appeared and shot out a beam into the darkness. (YOU CAN'T ESCAPE THE ORANGE! I'm sorry, I can't help it! :P)
At once, a figure appeared in the shadows and before it could move a second dagger struck his head, killing him at once.
"You're getting out of practice, Lord Jeremiah." A voice commented. A tall woman with brown hair wearing a white cap approached. She was similarly dressed wearing a grey jumpsuit and white and pink coat. In her hands was a pair of kunai which turned out to be the daggers and blades thrown.
Jeremiah chuckled. "It's been a while, Sayoko. Come on, Her Majesty is probably at the refuge. We'll need to hurry."
Sayoko smiled. "It's just like old times."
"Just like old times." Jeremiah laughed and wiped the blood on his blade. "I hope we can return to the farm in time for the harvest."
Meanwhile in the New Pendragon Airspace
Alleria did not understand what that knight was planning but he was minimizing the Imperial casualties. And that was enough for her.
She deflected a blow from one Viper with her MVS blades and replied by severing it in half. The Vipers were extremely powerful Knightmares, stronger and faster than their mass-produced Vincent Wards each an equal to the Vincent Commander Models.
"Milady, enemy Knightmares at sector 9!" Her guard captain warned.
No sooner he spoke, a dozen or so new red dots appeared on her IFF screens arriving down her flank.
A massive volley of missiles and Hadron beams suddenly fired into the fighting, taking down several units of Vipers that was trying to flank the Britannian positions. Alleria turned her Knightmare around. If the Imperial Guard was engaging the main enemy force who were these newcomers?
"Imperial Commander! This is Lord Bernard of Bedford from the Dragonblade. My forces have arrived to the palace. We have your rear. The rest are protecting the civilian areas."
"You made it right on time, commander." Alleria answered relief plain in her voice.
"I sent my best knights earlier. They'll make short work of the Siegfrieds."
"Siegfrieds?" Alleria realised that the crimson-silver Vincent that she saw earlier must have brought reinforcements along. Perhaps, the battle can be won...
Arthur gritted his teeth as he dodge another lance-slash harken from the Siegfried which seemed to have focused all its attention on him. It wasn't a bad thing as it rendered the KGF from wrecking havoc on anyone else.
The Siegfried fired another harken this time using it as a whip swung at the customised Vincent. Arthur twisted aside and the swing instead took a Viper's chest, slicing it in half. Sometimes an Imperial Vincent Ward would get in the way and the price of disobeying orders was extremely severe. One was literally torn into pieces by the spinning blades.
Arthur turned to his map where the Imperial forces in the centre had fallen back; forming a crescent formation at their head was the gold and white Vincent of the Knight of Five.
It was good. He continued to fire against the Siegfried which was relentless in catching his prey. Arthur had no doubt he was a high bounty for the Geass order and getting rid of him would remove a large threat. Thus their greed would be their downfall.
"Now!"
With that, three large violet missiles shot out from below and struck the Siegfried's green head before the red eyes. The white flash burst before it so bright that even Arthur had to shield his own eyes. As it faded away, the Siegfried appeared again as if untouched. But as it moved, the Knight Giga Fortress was shaking as if dazed. It ignored the effect and seemed to refocus on the crimson Vincent and fired a slash harken fast only it went completely wide.
Arthur grinned. The flash had damaged its sensors. It should have wiped out all of its screen and other sensors but the Siegfried's tough shields and likely the new technology had saved it but it was enough. The red Vincent pulled out its rifle and started firing again. The bullets scattered over the armour but otherwise did nothing much save for a few scratches. In return the Siegfried fired its lance slash harkens again but they were completely off their target.
The knight commander turned his Vincent and flew around in circles taunting its opponent's accuracy.
In anger, the Siegfried charged forward spinning but again it was off the target. Then suddenly, Arthur charged towards the Siegfried as it slowed down and delivered a kick into the head and pulled his throttle out to get out of range. Finally consumed with rage, letting go of all trace of tactics, the Siegfried charged after him. Blinded and humiliated, Arthur's enemy followed him like a determined animal after its prey.
At once, Arthur knew that the Siegfried was under his control now. He was right to pick this one. It had broken from its formation, either because the pilot was extremely cocky, or some other reason he did not know nor does he care.
Now that it was Arthur also noticed that the Vipers in the centre seemed to have lost the fury that they had unleashed on the Imperial Guard earlier. His calculations were correct. This Siegfried was not only their trump card but also their section commander and he had let his pride wash over his fury.
"Muahahahaha...this is perfect! So perfect..."
Thus he turned his way towards the enemy lines which seemed to wavering.
On board the Dragonblade
"All forces accounted for, my lord." The captain announced.
The Grand Master nodded. Fooling the Imperial forces that they were a loyalist noble's personal army had been a simple thing compare to what he was seeing now so Bernard watched the battlefield with keen interest. The two armies were battling on the flanks while a huge gap was in the centre save for a few Knightmares and one huge sphere shaped orb chasing a red light. At once, he knew what was going on and grinned. His student never ceased to surprise him.
"Shall we deploy our Knightmares, sir?" His aide asked.
"Deploy them but have them stand by around the fleet."
The officer seemed confused. "We're not lending them aid?"
"Not at the moment. Wait for the signal from Sir Peregrine."
"Yes, milord."
Bernard watched as one gold and white Vincent skilfully fighting two pairs of the Directorate Vipers alone at ease. A Knight of the Rounds. There was no doubt of that. The Empress had chosen her royal knights well. It seemed like back in the old days. On another screen, a crimson-silver Vincent with a different Float System flew around in different directions engaging the dreaded KMF, Siegfried. It was clear to anyone that how foolish it would be to engage a Knight Giga Fortress with a simple 7th Generation Knightmare. However, the young knight in red seemed to be proving that theory wrong.
"Impressed with your new squire, Bedivere?" A smooth female voice spoke softly to him in a different tongue.
"Indeed." He replied in the same language. "I can finally see why you chose him. He is...interesting. Much like someone I knew. Does he know of his true role in the future?"
"Of course not. He doesn't even remember his past."
"No. I mean when he was..."
"Oh." The figure shook her head. "He has no idea."
"Good...then let our prince get his prize." Bedivere 'Bernard' watched as the crimson and silver Vincent suddenly changed its course.
Meanwhile back in the Palace interior
Two figures appeared from the darkness and leapt on the Empress' escort. The first figure flung a dagger striking a Guardsman in the throat. The other one charged at a pair of Guards wielding pole-rifles. One of the Guards thrust his spear which was parried and brought his weapon up to block an upcoming blow but it shattered from the impact by a gauntlet wielding dagger with the blade burying itself on his forehead. The second soldier threw his pole arm down in favour of a sabre and they traded blows.
"Take the Empress!" Zero shouted to Nornette. The Knight of Four stormed off with Nunnally without argument with the other Guardsmen to the refuge. A gunshot took a Guardsman's head right in the back despite the helmet and the soldier's brains exploded behind his head. A volley of automatic fire followed and his eyes flared with crimson rings as he involuntarily jumped up narrowly avoiding the getting hit. Instead they sheared through a richly decorated arm chair.
The assassins' leaders wore hooded black cloaks and violet uniforms underneath. Their arms were covered with steel gauntlets with sharp claws wielding thick looking daggers already bloodied. Behind them were more soldiers also clad in black armour and crimson goggles armed the same way as the Britannian infantry.
But whatever they looked like nothing else startled Zero more than the eyes of their leaders. They were red...red with the symbol of Geass!
The shadow figures gestured and the soldiers open fired. Suzaku's eyes flared crimson. The dark knight's cape fluttered like a startled raven and charged forward in the brink of an eye, running in zigzags. Despite the massive amount of gun fire, none of the rounds seemed to hit him; the speed of the helmed knight was even faster than a bullet.
If the enemy was surprised, they did show it as Suzaku leapt out twisting himself into his infamous spinning roundhouse kick. The two shadow figures disappeared into the darkness avoiding the blow but their followers did not escape it and the kick struck them hard tossing half a dozen of them like toy soldiers sending them all flying. Several struck the wall and lay them unmoving.
One of them dropped his firearm and pulled out a pistol and aimed for Suzaku. The second Zero just let the bullet pass him as it flew and hit a second soldier trying to knife him; Suzaku then grabbed the soldier's knife and flung it at the gunner's neck. A high-powered rifle shot almost struck him as he heard the sound. The Japanese knight gritted his teeth as he threw a lunging soldier into his companions. Snipers! He had to make sure they are taken out first. Using the com-link in his helmet, Suzaku gave orders to the remaining squads to protect the Empress' refuge and to look out for enemy snipers. Several units did not respond, likely wiped out but most did and acknowledged the orders.
His eyes suddenly flare again as he parried a hand wielding a dagger. He replied with punch which was effectively blocked. Suzaku jumped up suddenly missing a dagger throw and the return swing from the first, allowing his "Live on" command to take control. They were dangerous indeed! The only person to ever activate that command outside of a Knightmare had been Bismarck the decreased Knight of One and he had been lucky to survive the encounter.
As he landed gracefully, Suzaku realised the danger Nunnally was in was far greater than he thought. That the Geass order which Lelouch had destroyed would want to kill Nunnally meant that even with the full might of the Empire's finest knights protecting her would not be enough.
He heard a second shot, a loud boom of a high powered rifle enough to pierce through body armour. But it came from behind him and struck one sniper hidden from sight until now in the head.
"Zero!" Mellenia's voice shouted, wielding a Palace Guard's pole-rifles entered with Kallen who put a pistol round in another's neck. They stopped by his side pointing their weapons at the shadowy figures before them.
"Stop them. They're after the Empress! I'll hold this line." He whispered.
"Zero," Kallen whispered in Japanese so Mellenia would not hear nor understand. "They've Geass here. This is no mere assassination plot."
"I know." Suzaku replied. "That's why I need you two with Nunnally."
Kallen nodded. "Understood. Mellenia, come on!"
As they went, Mellenia teased Kallen. "Exchanging some love words? Gino would be heartbroken..."
"Shut up! It's nothing like that!" The fiery Knight snapped angrily.
At other times, Suzaku would have scoffed at how ridiculous the comment was but now he was more concerned with the shadows before him.
A third figure dressed in a more elaborate uniform than the two shadows appeared instead of a hood, he wore a clothed helmet. His eyes, though, vivid violet were however clear of Geass.
"I'll handle him. Finish what we came here to do."
"Yes, Cardinal." The shadows muttered emotionlessly and broke into a run.
"Hold it!" Suzaku leapt to cut them off, swinging at both who just disappeared into the darkness pass him. He turned to follow only to face two more of the shadows glaring at him, effectively blocking him.
"So this must be the great Zero..." He started his voice smooth and calm. Despite the hood, Suzaku could see a smirk forming. "Or should I say...the Knight of Zero?"
Suzaku startled. He knew who he was!
"Who are you?" Suzaku snapped.
"Apparently," The newcomer ignored him. "You're not as good as your predecessor thought you would be. I can't believe he left the hands of his sister in your hands. Such a big mistake."
"Perhaps," Suzaku admitted. "Regardless...if you're going to take the Empress it'll be over my dead body!" With that Zero, the Knight of Justice drew out the gold and violet sword at his side and levelled it at the 'Cardinal'. Suzaku looked at the violet blade in his hands. It was the same weapon Lelouch had wielded and the same weapon that drove into his chest. It would be the same weapon to defend Nunnally.
"So be it. I've always wanted to see how fierce the White Knight of Britannia was. So let's see if you can handle the Shadow Striders." He snapped his fingers and half a dozen of those shadows appeared surrounding him, looking at his as if he was a tasty morsel.
"Kill him."
The Shadow Striders in the room leapt at him like a pack of wolves over a prey, their eyes glaring with the Geass symbol. His eyes flaring red, Suzaku grabbed the blade with both hands and swung hard. With the aid of his unnatural strength and skill plus the power of his "Live on" command, his hands pulled the bastard sword up and contacted.
As if they were dolls, the Shadow Striders were tossed away blood spraying from where the blade contacted. Then they all started to swarm the lone knight. With the speed of lightning they started attacking, launching slashes, thrusts, swings, punches and kicks. Zero however stood still and blocked every one of those attacks and counter attacking. Then without warning, he leapt forward sword gripped until his knuckles under the gloves were white and brought it down on one of the Striders, the blade sliced through the assassin's chest, tearing muscle and flesh like blood spraying at Suzaku's helmet.
He turned his blade swing along parrying a thrust at his back and twisted again knocking the dagger aside and slashed its wielder who fell back without a sound. His next opponent suddenly burst out of the darkness and swung at his neck. Suzaku brought his sword to block and countered with a slash which his opponent dodged. Another appeared delivering a spinning kick which Suzaku jumped aside and slashed as his opponent landed, slicing off his leg cleanly from the knee. The man screamed as blood poured through and he finished him off with a stab in the chest.
Suzaku hated being so violent but these were evil men who would bring chaos and destruction back to the world. And he would do anything to keep it safe. So many had died as a result, he could not allow it again!
His next attack, a downward swing was so powerful that it knocked the smaller blade flying and ran the assassin through blade piercing through his back. Suzaku slammed an elbow into the next Strider's face, a move so fast that the Japanese knight knew it was because of his Geass command. Then his 'curse' took complete control and Suzaku's hands automatically pull up to parry an upcoming blow from a dagger and he took a flip back and landed in a crouch where he thrust into the darkness. The tip of his violet sword pierced a whole in the blackness, contacting something leathery and dripped blood. In a second, a figure appeared in front of him, clutching a bloody wound as it fell. Up close, Suzaku saw that man was dressed in a violet jumpsuit gold trimmed and wore a black leathery cloak around him with a black hood. His eyes, glaring with the Geass sigil dimmed as death took the man. On his hands and arms were gauntlets were knife long claws, covered with blood. At his belt was a long curved dagger sheathe. The uniform was almost a mockery of his Zero outfit.
Then Zero raised his elbow to block a flying kick aiming straight for his head. The impact was hard and it forced Suzaku a step back. He retaliated with a roundhouse kick which his opponent dodged and swung around to block an attack from behind. The Japanese knight then let the force of his opponent's blow fall causing the assassin to momentarily lose his balance and fell towards him where Suzaku landed a knee kick in the assassin's chest, breaking his ribs. The assassin staggered back clutching his chest. Suzaku finished him off with an upward slash, splitting his chest open.
"Impressive, indeed." The Cardinal admitted his voice had a grudging respect for Suzaku as the knight thrust his blade into another hooded figure.
(Somehow listening to the Song, Frontline by Pillar helped me write this scene so its the music for this scene. I find it matches the song in a way. Not sure if it works for you guys though. :P)
The assassin centre had just been moving up to follow their vanguard to the Imperial centre when an odd sight greeted them. At first, they thought they were seeing things but as it came closer a crimson and silver Knightmare, a heavily customised Vincent model, flew towards them followed by one of their own Siegfried commanders.
Their 3rd and 4th Viper squadrons moved in at once to box the foolish knight so their commander could have the pleasure of ripping it into shreds. But as they did, the crimson Vincent's Aerial System glowed violently bright and swept pass them in a flash of light. A few Vipers exploded as the red flash pass them and they turned to either shoot or cut down the Vincent when all their warning system rang out. They turned and saw their Siegfried battering through them.
For once, the Geass order knew how it felt getting hit by one of their own behemoths and the results were devastating. Both squadrons were completely broken and more were damaged. The crimson Vincent slashed fought his way through the enemy ranks, dodging missile, gun, swords and other weaponry they threw at it with skills of a Knight of the Rounds. But as they focused on it, they were blinded to the rampaging Siegfried that battered its way through their own forces.
Their commander was no fool and ordered their forces to scatter into different points dividing their centre into several smaller groups. Then in front of one group of Vipers, a grey and gold figure appeared before them, revealing to be one of the RPI-Gareths though its markings were different, a golden dragon symbol was on each shoulder plate and its missile slots were open and armed.
Before anyone could do anything, a massive barrage of missiles, sabot rounds and Hadron beam fired turning the entire group to flame and dust.
Into another group, a duo of normal Vincent Commander Models, one white with gold trims and the other gold with white trims charged through slicing their way through with their MVS double swords. They were master swordsmen and cut and deflected their way through the Vipers like a lawn mower through grass.
For another, missiles flew from the ground and struck them down before they could move or raise their weapons. The Vipers were powerful Knightmares, an equal footing to the Vincent Commanders but the timing was so precise that no one could have done anything to prevent. A few escaped but they could do nothing as the crimson light caused rampage into their centre using one of their own. All communication had been cut off from the unit and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
The Shadow commander at once realised that the terrible situation they were facing. With the centre completely disarrayed, the Imperial forces started moving forward and the flanks of their army lost its support. At the same time, a series of explosions occurred in certain parts of the palace but mainly in the battle areas. There was little else he could do now. Here was conventional fighting Knightmare against Knightmare without Geass and although the Imperial forces would have the higher losses, they could not afford to lose here, not while their mission was still undone. The power they had been using was by Brother Georg who was also commanding the Siegfried. The Power of Absolute Confident raised the moral of their forces but unfortunately, Georg was also known to be a little bit of arrogance, likely the cause of his own Geass. Reinforcements must be prevented from reaching the palace where the infantry was fighting against the strike teams sent into the building itself. The Order had used its resources along with that of their allies to build up this powerful force but their losses were greater than estimated. He knew that while the Striders were in the Palace and the royal guards were fighting every step against them and have finally been able to inflict causalities to the Geass users. They needed more Geass here! As he said it, a crimson blur flashed across a Viper leaving only pieces of metal and flame.
It was him. That red knightmare! They needed to destroy it. Fast. With that his eyes glow crimson with the Geass sigil.
"Bring all Siegfrieds into the centre. Push the Imperial advance. Destroy that red one!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Arthur's Siegfried had managed to scatter the entire enemy centre's formation while Anduin and the other knights took the confusion left by his wake to slaughter enemy here and there. The enemy strike force here at least numbered at least six hundred Knightmares with an unknown number of support troops but that was not unusual. The Geass order was known for its resourcefulness. All that mattered now was to defeat them here and now. The rest will come later.
Arthur closed into a duo of Vipers, cutting them apart with his MVS double swords and firing his machine gun into several more then flew away again, letting the rampaging Siegfried finish off the rest. Two crimson-black beams fired into another formation. Bubbles of orange fireballs flowed as the Knightmares exploded.
More Knightmares from the Imperial Guard appeared and engage the scattered Vipers. A Vincent Ward attacked his Viper opponent with its Stun Tonfa on the head going under its defences, while a second Ward knocked its scimitar off with its MVS double swords. Another Ward charged forward with a heavy lance finished it off, skewering with the lance tip piercing through the cockpit.
Gold Vincents, the Knight of Five's personal guard flew in a wedge formation spearheaded the attack. With the rear Knightmares firing their rifles and cannons, the other Vincents with drawn swords and lowered lances, slicing and blasting anything in their way. A group of Vipers sought to break the formation apart and flew in, guns blazing and swords rising. They were quickly defeated; two of them ran straight into a volley of sabot rounds while many of them were blasted into pieces by cannon fire. One slammed right into a pointing lance, running it through the cockpit. A second Viper reached them and slashed down with its curved blade which clashed with another lance. A crimson blade swung before it could do more, slicing through its torso and exploded.
Now that the Vipers had suddenly lost their will to fight, they began to fall before onslaught of the Imperial Guard.
A unit of Gareths spread out in a line and unleashed a volley of black-crimson beams, bringing inferno into the Vipers' ranks. A whole row of Vipers was wiped out in a second leaving a massive gap in side where the Vincent Wards poured in.
The flanks however remained the same so Arthur presumed that they had different commanders.
Then on his screens a large energy signature dove in from the side with incredibly speed destroying anything in its path. He knew what it was straight away and flicked a few channels.
"Anduin, there's a second Siegfried coming. Engage it with everything you got!"
The second Siegfried entered the fray spinning like a metallic tornado, smashing anything in its way.
"Keep out of reach!" Alleria shouted, as she fired her own rifle at the spinning object. A Gareth fired its missiles which only impacted on its shield before the Siegfried countered with a slash harken skewering the bulky Knightmare.
A Vincent Ward armed with a heavy lance charged and flung the lance towards the Siegfried. The weapon struck and bounced off the blade storm. The extended harken came back around and sliced it in half. More attacks were done, each no braver than the other despite the failures seen on the other Siegfried.
Then the Siegfried stopped right in the middle of a large number of Imperial Knightmares and increased its spinning speed. The velocity of its movement was so fast that the electromagnetic shield was visible to the human eye. Volleys of machine gun rounds and grenades landed on it without any effect. A Hadron blast just bounced right off it. The moment the barrage ended, the Siegfried fired out all of its lance slash harkens. Lances cut through the ranks of Imperial Knightmares with deadly accuracy. Then like an octopus would be swinging its arms, the KGF swung its harkens around, slicing anything its path, spinning and as if extending the spiked tornado it had done earlier.
An entire squadron of Gareths were decapitated like a giant sword had just cut through them. Vincent Wards and their commanders were smashed into pieces. The entire group around the Siegfried was completely wiped out.
"Fools!" The Siegfried commander shouted. "You're completely outmatched here!"
The latest group attempting an attack exploded mid air before they could even reach the KGF. Beside, the Siegfried more Vipers appeared providing cover fire with cannons. Some turned to fire at them but before they could do so, another group of Vipers appeared, armed with MVS swords and cut them apart before returning to their Siegfried's side.
Slowly, the new Siegfried worked its way through the Imperial forces, destroying anything. Alleria's guard charged forward to meet the invaders but were forced to scatter lest they end up in the same fate.
But from the fire and smoke that washed over the air, a ruby figure flashed before the Siegfried. It was a Vincent but had a different float system and had different armour. The pilot grinned.
The customised Vincent charged, its sword readied. The prey had just appeared before it. Siegfried had found its Fafnir!
The red knight was even more foolish than he thought. The knightmare was charging head on towards a spinning Siegfried. It would be an easy kill...
The slash harkens span around to attack, however where so many had perished, the red Vincent dodged the lance-harkens and its wires at ease with incredible speed. In moments, he had made pass the all the harkens and their wiring, avoiding them with complete ease. The pilot swung some of the harkens around to cut it apart but each move was completely avoided despite that the controls were used by the Geass user' nerve system which was far more accurate than any piloting system. The Vipers brought up their weapons and started firing but the results were the same with the scarlet figure flying alone surrounded by tiny explosions.
Then, he brought out his sword and raised high. Panic started to bubble up amongst the assassins. Then, what happened completely shocked everyone around. The Vincent from going straight to the Siegfried's hands disappeared in a blur of red before its screens. Instead, a massive sphere shape, burning, dented and glowing replaced it coming in high speed that the last thing the Siegfried pilot could even think was that he had been fooled...
The spinning harkens struck the charging Siegfried again and again, tearing thick pieces of its armour before the two finally contacted. The head slash harken lance of the charging pieced through the green head other in turn while the rest pierce through other body parts, bubbling explosions. So huge the two machines were they went down slowly before completely exploding.
The impact between two titans was tremendous was almost akin to a small FLEIA blast. The spinning Siegfried's shield contacted with something that was just as hard as itself. Broken pieces of the two KGF flew here and there. Most of the Imperials had moved away out of range but not the Vipers so stunned they were. The debris rained down on them instead, destroying them all increasing the explosion.
The light of the flame reflected on the crimson surface of the Vincent that hovered before them, ignoring the small pieces of metal and flame that flew pass it. The fire reflected in its eyes.
"Now!" Several missile launchers fired from the sides as the Directorate Knightmares and soldiers broke into confusion. The Knightmares guarding the generator took the missiles square in the chest knocking both of them down before exploding.
"Now, charge!" Guilford threw a grenade over the enemy barricade and fired his way into the ranks of soldiers. Their volley took them full on and they were ripped apart. There was some return fire towards the crimson clad Guardsmen but it was weak and pathetic. It seemed like the destruction of the Knight Giga Fortresses had taken away their will to fight, while that of the Royal guards' increased drastically. Guilford drew his sabre and cut down one who was frantically trying to reload as they charged pass their defences. Grenades were thrown by his men and a series of explosions occurred over the enemy lines. The royal knight stabbed his sword down and pulled out his rifle and joined the onslaught. The moment the weapon had finished its bullets, Guilford pulled out his pistol and grabbed the sword.
One of his men slammed a rifle butt into an assassin before finishing him off with his dagger. The rest chased the enemy off, engaging both fire fights and melee. Guilford joined the fray, firing his pistol at several enemies cutting down anyone that got close enough. He slammed his sabre guard into one's face, breaking his nose with a satisfying crunch. One of those shadow figures leapt at him from behind, trying to kill him but he was better prepared and slashing up to the dropping figure that disappeared into the darkness. Anticipating the move, Guilford readied his pistol and simply waited for it appear again and fired. The shot went wide and the figure slashed at him with his dagger. Guilford parried the blow and thrust forward which the shadow figure just slid pass the blade but as he turned, the royal knight twisted his blade and slashed hard down the shadow figure's back. The figure screamed in pain and he thrust into his chest. The blade pierce through his heart with practice aim and Guilford quickly withdrew his weapon.
A roaring sound caught his attention and he saw another enemy Knightmare charging down firing its machine guns at some of his men.
"Give me that!" Guilford snatched a stinger from one of his soldiers and took him. He could see his weapon had locked on the Viper but that's not where he was aiming. He had been given this chance to destroy this generator and he's not going to lose that opportunity. He would kill two birds with one stone.
He pressed the trigger and the impact almost knocked him off balance. The missile flew straight up the Knightmare but instead of going for its body, the missile struck its float system. The Knightmare lost balance at once and flew down. With a trail of smoke, the black sleek machine crashed straight into the generator. They both exploded in a massive explosion.
Guilford reached for his com-link. "The generators have been destroyed! Guards to your Knightmares!"
Kallen and Mellenia reached Nunnally as they were a few steps from the refuge. All they needed to do was to get their Empress inside...
An explosion knocked them all down and a burst of rifle fire took down one of the guards, striking his breastplate. Nornette had drawn her revolver and had put a bullet through an assassin in the way. The other guards kicked a nearby table for cover and starting firing.
"Come, your majesty." The guard captain tried to get the young monarch inside when his leg was shot. Nunnally screamed as the man fell, trying to help him up. Kallen brought out her own pistol and fired in the direction. Mellenia aimed her rifle and fired as well. A shadow figure leapt towards them kicking a soldier away and charged towards Nunnally. Mellenia then pulled her rifle and threw it like a javelin. The crimson spear point struck the assassin in the back and he fell with an inhuman scream before falling to the ground dead. The captain brought the Empress to the ground as torrents of gunfire sprayed around.
"Finally!" Mellenia exclaimed as she grabbed a fallen rifle and started firing towards the assassins.
Kallen searched the room for something to even the odds and finally she saw a grenade hanging on a dead royal guard's armour across her. She added a new magazine into her pistol then leapt towards the dead man. She pulled the grenade out and flung it with all her strength towards the coming gun fire and exploded with a satisfying bang. Kallen then realised, that they needed time to get the Empress inside. Even though part of her told her it was madness, her other side told her there was little choice.
Sheathing her pistol and grabbing the dead guard's rifle Kallen jumped right into the other room.
"Kallen!" She heard Nunnally screamed. But Kallen ignored her and started firing her way through the assassins. Her volley took a squad by surprise and she cut them all down. She turned her firing around taking another out with bullets through the head. An assassin aimed his rifle at her and fired. In attempt to dodge it, Kallen used her momentum to slide down missing the gun fire by inches. The former Black Knight retaliated with her own volley, killing the man with a single burst.
Before they could take aim again, she jumped into a fallen statue where the rounds chipped off the statue in pieces. Landing on her stomach, Kallen momentarily gasped for breath before rolling over to fire against the covered enemy. Her shots took out another but went wide for the other two who went back to their cover.
Then one of those shadow figures appeared again, the ones which she had barely escaped from. With a drawn blade, it charged at her. Kallen brought her rifle around but the blade knocked the firearm aside. Knowing its capabilities now, Kallen lunged forward. A second slash cut her left arm but Kallen managed to land a kick into the man's torso. She ignored the pain from her wound and swung around with a turning kick. Momentary stunned, the kick solidly contacted with the Geass user. The blow sent the man back. Before he could recover, Kallen took out her pistol and fired three shots into the man's chest, the Strider's crimson eyes faded as he fell.
Sighing in relief, Kallen leaned against the statue where the enemy fire came back again. She understood now that the Striders could be beaten but she knew she needed to be much quicker and faster and not allow the enemy to read her movements. She grabbed the fallen dagger and held in a reverse grip on her left hand while she readied her pistol on her right. She waiting, occasionally firing back then reloaded her pistol, her last clip and waited. This was how she fought in the Guren, a dagger in one hand and the radiant surger in the other. The pistol would do a replacement here. Once the gun fire had wavered, Kallen leapt out.
"Agrah!" She let out a battle cry and charged towards the invaders. One who had been foolish enough to come out fell with a bullet through the heart. The second one losing time to reload swung his rifle which Kallen easily dodged and sliced his throat. She turned and fired another one at point black range, blood spraying on her face as the assassin's head exploded. Another with his gun reloaded, brought it down to fire when Kallen knocked the gun away and slashed him in the face. She spun around and finished her opponent off with a stab in the back.
As she twisted her blade, she fired two shots at a charging Strider which winked out of nowhere. The Geass user winked away again and appeared above her intent to bury his dagger in her head. Kallen pulled the dagger out and used the momentum to pull the assassin body and use him as a shield. It worked perfectly and the dagger was buried in the asssassin's head instead. Kallen took the chance to put a bullet into the Strider's head.
But despite her victory, more Striders and riflemen entered the room which forced her to pull back lest she be killed. Two Striders lunged at her. Kallen fired two shots at them but they managed to dodge them using their Geass to vanish in the darkness. Kallen jumped aside knowing that they were going to leap on her. She flung back and fired the last of her rounds in the air. One Strider appeared early and was taken by the shots, both in the chest and fell.
The other however, charged towards her and fell as his brains exploded from a rifle burst.
From the next room, the royal shock troopers led by Mellenia had begun engaging the assassins. Her example of dispatching the Striders were seen and put to great use taking down some of them.
However, even with them there were still too many enemies pouring but they could not let go. Her Majesty was here.
Soon they were forced to fight the Striders in a grim hand to hand battle while the other basic assassins kept on firing. The gun fire took down several troopers who were easily dispatched by the Striders despite their armour.
Then from the darkness, the enemy riflemen flung forward flying over their cover. Then a familiar dark helm greeted the group with a violet blade.
"Zero!" Mellenia shouted, in joy.
The masked knight quickly made short work of the surviving riflemen and turned to engage the Striders. Then suddenly some of the troopers screamed in pain suddenly and turned on them aiding the Striders. More of them Shadows appeared as if to take the advantage of their weakness.
Those left loyal fought back furiously and fiercely and suddenly one Strider broke through the melee and charged towards the Empress.
Both Kallen and Suzaku were hard pressed to do anything about it struggling against more than half a dozen Striders.
The lone Shadow Strider brought up his dagger and charged.
"NO!"
"That was too easy..." Arthur Peregrine looked down at the falling debris. Now all he had to...
"Agraaaah!" Arthur screamed as a deep sharp pain entered his mind. Ghostly images flash before him. He kept on shouting until he could do no more then something snapped in his head as if a vein had physically burst.
When he opened his eyes, they had crimson rings around the eyes. Then a voice screamed in his mind.
"Nunnally...NOOOOO!"
"NOOOOO!" Arthur's hands moved in their own accord and turned to the direction of the palace.
"Arthur, where are you going?" Anduin's voice asked but Arthur ignored him. In fact, he ignored everything around him even the battlefield and his own energy filler which was low now. He passed through the fighting between the Imperial and Directorate forces and continued his way through to the Imperial Palace's Keep.
Suddenly Vipers appeared from all directions. Swords ready and drawn, they charged at him.
"Get...out...of...MY WAY!" The Vincent pulled back double swords in one hand flung it, spinning towards the Vipers. The spinning crimson blades mowed its way through the Vipers as if they weren't even there and Arthur just flew through their explosions and grabbing his sword again.
Another Viper charged down with his sword gripped in both hands. Arthur separated his double blades into shorter swords and blocked the blow with one blade and decapitating the Viper with the other. More Vipers attacked as if trying to stop him from reaching the palace. The crimson Vincent swept pass them, cutting two Vipers in half and blocked a blow with one blade then fired his slash harkens point blank range into the enemy's head. Then he sliced his way through anything in his way. Nothing would stop him.
Then before him a familiar massive sphere object appeared, the last Siegfried...
"I said, get out of MY WAY!" Arthur roared again, combining both blades again into a double sword and charged forward. The Siegfried seemed to be surprised by this head on attack and hesitated before finally firing his slash harkens.
Part of him told him it was suicide to do it, but he ignored it. Nunnally...only she mattered! Arthur's eyes were glowing literally crimson and with his black mane his roar made him look like his given name: the Demon of Britannia.
With that, the Vincent increased its speed despite the machine's energy warnings, dodging every lance harken thrown at him as well as any swings. The Siegfried pilot and others watching the battle could not believe their eyes as the blood coloured Knightmare made its way past such death traps twice, this time taking a Knight Giga Fortress alone. The crimson Knightmare brought down a heavy hard slash that brought a deep gash into the Siegfried's face and slashed again and again creating more deep gashes.
The Siegfried pilot broke his shock only in time to activate its electromagnetic shields, though without spinning which was used to repel boarders. The electricity coursed through the Vincent and its pilot.
"Agrah!" Arthur screamed as pain coursed through his body. He felt his body losing control. He had been pushing over his limits for these past days more than his fragile body could handle. The mercifully darkness seemed to hover before him. Then an image of a young girl with sandy blond hair appeared before him slowly being eaten away by a black cloud of human skulls...
"Brother!"
"No...No...I will NOT die here!" Struggling against the pain, he brought the double swords in both hands and buried its point into the green head. The electric wave seemed to have gone out of control instead of focusing on him. Arthur then flicked on a switch and brought out his needle blazer and slammed it on the head where he buried the blade and pressed the trigger. The energy coursed through the device and blasted a deep hole into the green head and appearing from the back of the Siegfried's back. With its electromagnetic shield up, the normal armour was greatly weakened. After the blow, Arthur leapt on the KGF and jumped over to continue without even looking back. Behind him the Siegfried started exploding and finally dropped like a rock. Everyone, knight and soldier alike stared at the sight in awe.
Using its needle blazer, the Vincent literally smashed its way through the building walls in search for his lost queen.
"Nunnally!" Kallen screamed as the Shadow Strider leapt towards the young queen but as he did. A giant grey hand suddenly lashed out from the walls and grabbed the Strider mid-air. It crushed the man with a crunch and tossed the body away which slammed into the wall.
Kallen almost shouted in joy as she saw that the hand belonged to a familiar sight. It was the crimson-silver Vincent that saved her months ago. The one she had been going to meet.
"Kill her!" A voice shouted. A line of riflemen started firing at the Empress but the Knightmare brought his hands down and covered the young queen from the fire, the tiny rounds doing nothing to it. The Vincent turned to the Shadow striders below and swung a heavy fist towards them sending them all flying.
"Your highness!" Kallen made her way through to Lelouch's sister. The Vincent let her enter his protective embrace. She took Nunnally in her arms and held her as the younger girl gripped her like a lifeline.
"Thank you." The teary eyed Empress told the red knight who just nodded and gestured to the refuge when a heavy force struck the Vincent from behind.
Nunnally screamed as the Vincent fell forward but it gripped the walls so that it won't fall on the queen.
A lone Viper had attacked it taking advantage of the Vincent's momentarily weakness, badly damaging its float system. The knights and guards moved in to protect their Empress as the two Knightmares engage in combat.
The Vincent turned and fired its slash harkens which was cut down by the MVS Swords and the Viper swung at the red Knightmare which cut a large chip of its shoulder. With the swords lost, the Vincent struggled to fight back using simple kicks and punches. The Viper swung and thrust again and again and the Vincent's speed was the only thing that saved it. Finally, Vincent finally started losing power and the dark Knightmare took advantage of it to pummel it to the ground, taking sadistic pleasure in its pain. With the red Vincent threw a fist but a sword swing severed its entire arm and with a side kick the Viper knocked the other Knightmare aside.
Only then it turned to the Empress and aimed its machine guns at the queen and her escort. Kallen pulled herself over Nunnally, in attempt to cover her.
"Glory will be mine!" The Viper exclaimed when a red flash blazed before him. The Vincent stood in front and took the volley fully, saving the group. The rounds truck the Vincent's chest plate again and again and with its light armour the sabot rounds melted its way through. But before it could fall, the Vincent then lunged forward and using whatever that was left of its energy inside to activate its needle blazer and slammed into the Viper's chest and the knight pulled his trigger.
The Viper's entire chest exploded and slammed back down in a pile of burning rubble. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one and the Vincent fell down by its side. Although it did not explode, the pilot would suffocate to death in the powerless Knightmare.
"Hurry! Save him!" Nunnally shouted and Kallen leaving her in the care of Zero and Nonette while her and the other guards help the pilot out of the Vincent.
It cockpit system had been damaged already in the fall and was already lying out broken. Kallen wanting to be the first one to help leapt over and stood watching in shock.
Kallen could not believe her eyes. Every logical part of her told her that what she was seeing was completely unreal. A dream. A fantasy. Memories of the brief but mournful funeral appeared; years of fighting under the black banner, countless nights of despair, love-sickness and anger consumed her. It was wrong. It was impossible. It...
"It can't be..."
"Kallen, what's wrong?" Nunnally asked concerned. But Kallen could not answer her.
The blood soaked figure that lay before her in the torn dark red and black uniform with dents, cuts and bruises with an unblemished face. The same face that she had thought she would never see again. The same face that haunted her since that very day. The same one she knew should no longer exist in this world.
"Lelouch…"
With that I conclude the end of Arc I of this story. I'm so glad to see there are many people expressing interest in this fanfiction. Personally speaking I don't think too highly of this story after seeing so many great fanfics out there. I've been extremely busy as I'm playing a part in my college's musical and it took up the whole week and there's alot of stuff to do. I want to thank you guys for all your support.
I'm going to take a small break here and focus more on "My Queen" either until I finish it or I get stuck somewhere.
So until then, stay tuned for...
Arc II: The Prince or the Puppet
Which obviously refer to our favourite prince. I've seen the polls and alot of you think Arthur is indeed Lelouch himself. Well, I could tell you but it would spoil the fun so, I'll just let you guys read and find out.
Well, take care! See you guys on My Queen.