"A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity." Baltasar Gracian
"Running won't save you! I'll just shoot you in your asses! You are pissed today…Damn right…I'll kill these God damn bastards." Gears of War Act 1, stage 1, Dom Santiago...Marcus Fenix
X just continued to stare at the sleeping Reploid girl. He could not believe how fate had turned against him. X stood there speechless.
"X!" Alia shouted as she ran over towards him. "X…what's going on…"
Alia ran over to the entrance of the capsule and gasped as soon as she saw Iris. Both X and Alia had met Iris before. She had talked to them before about her feelings toward Zero. Alia and X we're both in shock and utter suspense.
But only one of the two was put into despair. The other was in blind joy.
"It's IRIS!" Alia shouted. "And she's alive!"
Alia ran over to Iris and checked her out as she saw the young breathing girl. Alia couldn't contain her joy.
"It's Iris X!" She said. "And she's alive! This is incredible! X…you and I have to find Zero! Once he finds out about this…"
Alia was about to continue bellowing her joy to X. However, she noticed his expression had not changed. His skin graft had turned almost completely white. What Alia saw was not joy, but fear. Fear and sorrow. Her expression changed herself and she looked at him.
"X…" She began. "Is…something wrong…?"
X said nothing.
Kallen was still unsure about the whole ordeal with the Black Knights. Ever since Shirley's mother's death, she had been lost and confused. She had walked towards the hanger where Lelouch was still hanging out by. She had opened the door.
She saw Lelouch there, although his shirt was off. He was naked from the waist up, wearing a towel over his head, concealing it. Kallen, unable to see him clearly enough, but still knowing his position, turned around almost instantly.
"Sorry." She said. "I'll just…"
"Are you still unsure?" Lelouch asked.
Kallen turned around, realizing Lelouch had dragged her into a conversation.
"I thought at first we we're fighting for justice." She began. "I thought we we're fighting because it's all we could do. That's how I kill people. But now…"
Kallen stood quiet for a few moments. Then she let out an outburst at Lelouch.
"Is this what we're doing!" She shouted. "Is what we're doing really going to change the world!"
"We can change it." Lelouch said. "Or more or less…we have to change it. But…there will be sacrifices. Not just soldiers…but innocent bystanders as well. Even so…because of that…we cannot stop. No matter what the means…We have to win. Even if people look at us like cowards. And for that…blood will be shed. And to ensure that the blood we have split is not in vain…we shall spill more. But…I shall not force this on you. Not you. Not the Second Zero. Not anyone. If you want to leave…if anyone wants to leave…you can do so."
Kallen was surprised that Lelouch (or Zero as she knew) did not defend himself with cryptic words. He knew with full knowledge the scenario he was in, what it would mean, and the cost. And he even acknowledged what was going on right in front of Kallen. He was honest. Well…honest enough for now. Kallen's expression changed as she turned back towards him.
"I will keep following you." She said. "Where you go, I go."
Lelouch smiled.
"Thank you Kallen." He said.
The two stared at each other, unaware that Zero was watching them the whole time. He flipped his saber a few times and caught it, without making a sound. He relaxed on the roof as he himself smiled.
"Good response." Zero said.
"No…" Alia said as she, Harpuia, Fefnir, and Serges met up in a private room. "That can't be X…Zero would never…"
"It's as I told you." X said. "Zero has gone Maverick."
"But how!" She shouted. "Why would he?"
"I have no idea." X said. "I can't say why he is…and I can't why he chooses to…or…if he even made that decision."
X inched his head out the door as he saw Iris gracefully talking to Cecile about possible upgrades to the Lancelot. Lloyd was in the background, writing down every little detail he could possibly get. X and the rest of the group stared out the door before they sealed it up carefully.
"What's so important about that girl to Zero?" Harpuria asked.
"Iris is Zero's lover." He said.
"Is that so?" Harpuia asked. "The poor bastard…"
"Ironic we would find her capsule first." Fefnir said.
"We found her by luck." X said. "Looks like it was the Black Knights who raided that place with the other capsules. They missed hers by a few inches. Iris is a great navigator and she is extremely intelligent for a Reploid model. Her skills could dramatically advance science and technology based research. And she had the intelligence of a colonel back in Abel City. Her skills could greatly assist the Empire."
"If Zero we're to find out about this…" Serges said.
"He would rip through every nook and cranny of this Empire to find her." X said. "Even though Zero was forced to kill her when she fused with her brother…he still loved her. And tragic love can make the worst monsters humanity has ever seen. And before Zero would kill everyone on Japan, they would eventually find out by interrogating me or anyone else I know and they would know everything. They would use Iris as a hostage. One way or another, it would lead to her death. I may have to fight Zero because of the decision he made, but I do not want to hurt. I will never hurt him like that. If I have to retire him, I'll do it on my terms. Not anyone else's quota."
Alia sat down in complete despair. She wanted to pretend that none of this was real. That X was tricking her as a joke about Zero being Maverick.
"Alia…" X began.
Alia looked up at X.
"She must never find out about him." X said.
Cecile pulled out her cell phone as a text message went to it; same with Lloyd. Both of them while speaking, looked at it, looked up a bit. Both of them looked at X's direction through the small crack in the door and nodded. After that, X and the others left the room. X went to Harpuria and Fefnir.
"Let's get down to the docks." He said. "We have a battle to win."
"X…" Alia said.
X turned around towards Alia.
"A single lie destroys the whole reputation of integrity."
The docks were quiet. The Britannian Command Center monitored the ship as it continued to sail out to sea. The Knightmares in their cameo stood concealed under the moonlight. The Marine Knightmares stayed ready to move at anytime. Cornelia and his line of troops and Knightmares loaded their weapons and remained hidden. The three Reploids teleported behind Cornelia. Cornelia turned around and saw X and his guardians. She and he nodded as she turned to raise her hand.
"Commence Operation!" She shouted.
As soon as she had said that, all the Marine Knightmares descended from the docks to the sea and began to charge directly towards the ship. All of the Knightmares appeared from the docks and loaded their weapons.
"All units!" A commander shouted. "Use category C weaponry. Cover the units as they approach the shore. X…Get ready to attack the ship and capture the General as the enemies launch their assault."
"Yes sir!" X said.
"Do not sink the tanker!" The commander shouted. "Unleash suppressive torpedoes! Fire at will!"
The five Marine Knightmares unleashed a barrage of torpedoes and destroyed the frontal wall that protected the tanker from attack. It unleashed a massive water column hundreds and thousands of feet in the air. The Black Knights even saw the water column from where they we're. They we're by a series of docks themselves somewhere farther off, most of their technology was hidden there currently as well. Ohgi grabbed a radio and called out to Lelouch.
"Hey Zero!" Ohgi shouted. "They have begun the attack. Do we engage?"
Lelouch said nothing.
"Hey Zero!" Ohgi said. "They are attacking the JLF! Do we render assistance!"
"Cornelia moved faster than I predicted." Lelouch said. "If we move in now, we will die with them."
The boat that contained the ten Knightmares and the Guren closed. Ohgi watched as the Reploids who we're there prepped the boat to move. About fifty Pantheons boarded the boat. Douglas looked as the troops boarded the boat. Douglas stared as the troops boarded the boat.
"Are they serious?" Douglas shouted. "Are they seriously planning on fighting those humans?"
"What is Zero thinking?" Signas said as he sat next to Douglas. "He fought against the Mavericks to stop their goals; yet now he is siding with them? What is he thinking?"
"And we got ourselves caught up with him." Marino said as they saw Zero being taken by Axl high above the air where the cloud we're.
"I doubt it." Ciel said.
"What makes you so sure that he's not a Maverick?" Signas asked.
"Why would he fight alongside people if he wanted to destroy them?" Ciel said.
Cerveau stood behind them holding a data pad. He was looking at it with the same corrupted batch files that he had extracted from Zero.
"He may or may not be done yet." Cerveau said.
Lelouch stood there as the battle had begun. He grabbed a radio and called out on it.
"Zero…" Lelouch began. "Where are you?"
"Axl has me suspended currently above the enemy headquarters." Zero said.
"Fire at will once the target is in range." Lelouch said.
"Yes sir!" Zero said, as he looked and saw the enemy HQ right above him. Axl held onto both of his hands and kept Zero suspended in midair. Zero turned off his radio and stared off into space as the clouds concealed both his and Axl's position.
The Japan Liberation Front began to move from the inside of the boat all the way to the top after the gunshot and torpedo explosions began. Britannian Infantry and the Command Center began to fire at the tanker within a few minutes. All the troops went to the side and saw the torpedoes coming their way.
"Damn those Britannians!" One shouted. "How did they find us!"
"Enemy units coming from the water!" An officer shouted.
Before he could continue, the man flung forward and fell off the boat. The guards who managed to see him saw a massive red mist appear from his chest before his body fell into the sea below.
"Itasgski!" One shouted.
Within a few seconds after the people on the tanker had tried to come to the rescue of their comrade, they themselves met the same fate as the man earlier from the Knightmare sniper rounds from the docks. The Knightmares continued to unleash a barrage of ammo at the soldiers, killing their targets one by one. The Lancelot was the only one that was not firing.
"02-05-04," an Officer called on the radio. "Intensify torpedo barrage at the nine o clock!"
"Belay that order units!" Sigma called on radio. "Concentrate fire on the 11 o clock. The engines are right there. Shut down the ship and prevent it from moving."
"Yes my lord!" They called out.
Suzaku held his hands on the trigger, but did not fire. The emotions of what Britannia was doing were too great for him to deal with. He hated it. The people on the tanker had no weapons to even remotely damage the Knightmares.
"What we're doing…" Suzaku said. "This isn't a battle anymore."
"Warrant Officer Kurururgi." Cecile said as her image appeared. "I know this may be hard, but you're a professional soldier."
"Yes…understood." Suzaku said.
Suzaku no longer hesitated. Despite his heritage, he knew he couldn't worry about it now. Besides, the JLF massacred Britannians in cold blood at the hotel. In a way, it was revenge.
Even so…
Suzaku fired several rounds, hitting several targets. It was hard for him, but he had to be sure he could use this opportunity to advance. And fulfill the goals he desired. Bodies fell from the tanker as he and the Britannians began to fire. The Japanese continued to fire at the Britannians, inflicting no damage. Finally after thirty of them we're killed on the tanker, the JLF requested surrender.
"We surrender at once!" They shouted. "We the JLF surrender. Please cease fire at once!"
"Major!" Suzaku called. "Their issuing surrender on an open channel!"
"Belay that order Kurururgi." Sigma said.
Within a few seconds after the surrender had been given, the boat began to leave the docks, even though the Marine Knightmares constantly hounded at their engines. The boat left the Docks area. The Black Knights stood waiting without the Britannians knowledge, while the Britannians blindly followed their orders.
"See!" Dolton began. "It was just a ploy to buy time! Follow your orders without hesitation!"
"I thought Dolton your men would have had the engines destroyed by now." Sigma said.
"We're working on it!" Dolton shouted.
The Black Knights stood at their positions waiting to move. Lelouch had no given any order to move since the attack had begun. People we're getting worried if Lelouch or "Zero" was going to give an order. People saw the flames rising above the tanker.
"Damn it!" Ohgi shouted. "If we don't move now, it'll be too late!"
"I pray Zero isn't just an idealist, but…" Diethard said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Neige asked.
"Nothing…" Diethard said. "Just talking to myself."
Lelouch watched from his Knightmare as the Marine Knightmares fired their Slash Harkens from the water and attached them on the tanker. Lelouch watched as each of the Knightmares hooked up to the tanker and slaughtered all the remaining passengers on deck.
I see. There should be only one escape route now.
"Zero!" Ohgi shouted.
"Understood…move out!" Lelouch shouted.
The moment he said that, a massive explosion tore through the tanker, literally taking it apart. All of the Black Knights watched as the entire tanker exploded in a massive red fireball. Lelouch turned on the accelerator and the ship charged forward towards the docks. While he did, he silently put away a detonator from his hand into the back of his seat.
All according to plan…
Zero and Axl watched from above and saw the tanker explode. Zero took almost no notice other than a quick glance, but Axl couldn't take his eyes off the explosion. Something inside him got tore apart. The JLF have taken care of him since he awoke in this mysterious place.
"Axl…" Zero said. "Begin!"
Axl nodded, not looking in Zero's direction and dropped him towards the battlefield. Zero descended from the clouds towards the enemy. Axl stood there hovering for a few more seconds.
"They'll pay for this…" He said.
With that, Axl pushed energy into the accelerator and charged forward towards the base.
Zero flew towards the earth with blinding speed. Inside his eyes, a targeting reticule appeared over the Britannian mobile base. As soon as it said locked on, Zero held out his buster and pointed it towards the base. Zero felt the energy build up inside of him as glowing spheres of white energy entered his arm cannon and began to build up energy.
During the last months of Sigma's loyalty to us, X did an aerial assault on a maverick from the air similar to what I'm doing now. I hope at least this Command Center has no shielding that I need to worry about.
Lelouch watched Zero from above and smiled with joy as he saw the glowing sphere build up on Zero's arm. Lelouch pulled a data pad from his pocket (since he had obtained plenty of scientists now, Lelouch had become fascinated with Reploid technology. He enjoyed the small devices that held so much memory and had more functionality than anything seen in his day currently). He watched as Zero fell towards the base. Lelouch pressed a button and a display of the Z-Buster appeared in front of him on a holo screen.
Douglas says a full charged Z-Buster should be enough to destroy the command center in a single shot. Show me how powerful your arm cannon really is Zero.
"Idiots!" Cornelia shouted as massive wind currents ramped against her. "Blowing up the Liquid Sakuradite just to kill our men!"
Cornelia found it difficult to maintain her posture from the fierce wind gusts. Sigma grabbed her arm and kept her balance as the wind gusts and massive tidal wives approached the shore. X and the Reploids leapt to rooftops and began to brace themselves from the wind.
Most of the Knightmares though we're not as lucky. Massive boulders crashed into several of them, destroying them. The Lancelot stayed secure from the energy shield it held. Two of his comrades we're crushed by flying debris and killed. The others we're simply knocked from the docks into the sea.
Ohgi looked upon the explosions with complete. He did not believe the JLF would self destruct the entire tanker.
"Just what you would expect from the JLF." Lelouch said. "Choosing to take the Britannians with them!"
"Suicide!" Neige shouted with disbelief. "But they never mentioned…"
"We're going to rush Cornelia's units head on!" Lelouch shouted. "Forgot about everything and all forces converge on Cornelia's unit. If you want to avenge the JLF…then capture Cornelia! Nothing else matters!"
Ohgi dropped his communicator and looked at the wreckage left behind by the tanker. He just couldn't believe the damage left over by it…let alone the JLF simply killing them.
"This is like Narita all over again!" Ohgi shouted.
"The horror, the complete massacre!" Neige shouted. "Why would Britannia do this!"
"It's outstanding!" Diethard said as he leaped down and slid down on the ladder of the tower him and Ohgi we're on.
"Hey; get back here!" Ohgi said, reaching for his pistol. He pointed it at Diethard as he slid down. He eyed over to where Neige was. Neige just stood still.
"Don't look at me!" She shouted. "I'm not moving!"
Ohgi agreed and then re-pointed back at Diethard who continued to slide down the ladder.
The JLF was just bait. Their command is wide open now! One of the oldest tricks in the book.
Ohgi popped in a magazine into his pistol.
"Where are you going!" He shouted. "Get back here!"
Ohgi fired three shots from his gun, all of which missed. Diethard then managed to get a safe distance away from where Ohgi's pistols we're and continued to run manically away from the area, passing through different series and sets of boxes, evading any of Ohgi's fire.
It makes perfect sense now! He wanted to cripple his enemy's defenses, using the JLF as a living trap. Hahahaha….He's excellent material this Zero. He's chaos incarnate! Show me! Show me the world you wish to create! Show me more of your genius! Let your ego engulf the world! HehehehHAHAHAHAHAAH!
At this point, Diethard could no longer restrain himself and began to laugh endlessly as he ran off into the darkness and disappeared from the fight.
"Alright then!" Zero shouted. "Take this Britannian pigs!"
Zero…with a semi charged Z-Buster, fired it upon the command center of the Britannians. The Britannian commanders and the Knightmare pilots who we're in the area looked up to see a glowing dot in the sky. Seconds later, they saw a beam of white and blue energy fire from the dot towards their position. The people at first seemed astonished, but then cried out in fear as the shot headed towards them. Unfortunately, none of them made it far enough, and the blast smashed straight into the command center. After that, the webbing around the Buster that held the energy intact broke open, unleashing a massive blue and white fireball, consuming the command center, and all of the reserve forces. Zero watched from above as the fireball consumed everyone. He nodded with confirmation. Zero held his buster to the right and fired it, propelling him towards an enemy Knightmare. The Knightmare looked up and opened is IFF, only to be sliced in half on Zero's way down.
"What the!" Cornelia shouted as she the massive explosion. "What kind of tactical missile was that?!"
"We lost the entire reserve force and the command staff!" Sigma shouted. "Impossible! Who is doing this?!"
A group of five Knightmares among the shorelines watched to see an unknown target heading towards. They opened up their IFFs to analyze the craft, but didn't last too long as five tactical RPGs flew from the ship and crashed into theirs, wiping all of them out. The ship then extended the bottom portion in order to gain enough flight in order to avoid crashing into the docks. The ship flew in the air and headed towards two other Knightmares.
"We're being attacked!" A pilot called out. "It's…"
The pilot couldn't finish. The Black Knights speed boat ran into them with enough force that it sliced the machines in half. The Knightmares exploded shortly later after crashing into the ground.
"02, 04, and 06, are lost!" A lieutenant called out on the radio.
"Vixen squad!" Another called out. "Regroup with the surviving units! Provide support!"
"All units!" Another called out. "Status report! Repeat! What is your status!"
Suzaku wasn't paying attention, even though several units called out their addresses. He was more concerned on trying to figure out why the JLF committed suicide. It just didn't add up.
"Why would the JLF do that?" Suzaku asked himself. "It doesn't make any sense!"
Suzaku's thoughts we're cut off by an explosion that tore through the docks. He turned his Knightmare's attention over to several units as he watched them be under attack and destroyed by machine gun fire.
"The main force!" Suzaku shouted. "Could they have used the tanker as a decoy!"
"Board you Knightmares!" Dolton shouted. "Form a defense line around us on the double!"
"How did they know we we're here!" Cornelia shouted.
"Doesn't matter now; get ready!" Sigma shouted.
"X!" Harpuia shouted. "Look over there!"
X turned around to see the units on the other side of the docks being attacked. He looked and saw Zero with his Z-saber slice three Knightmares in half easily. The Knightmares had tried firing at the small machine, but they sadly could not hit him from his pure speed.
"Zero!" X shouted. "The Black Knights are here!"
X armed his Buster and looked around the area. Before he could leap towards the Red Reploid, a large beam of light hit X, tearing right through his arm, dislodging it from his body. X covered in electricity flew from his position somewhere twenty meters away. Cornelia and the rest of her command staff turned to see three Reploid units by them (Craft, Leviathan, and Phantom). Craft held his large beam sniper rifle at the position.
"Capture the Princess under any cost!" Commander Craft shouted.
"Yes!" Leviathan and Phantom shouted.
The Three Reploids charged at the group. Craft while running, used his large rifle and fired on three enemy Knightmares as the pilots tried to board them. The Knightmares exploded from every hit they took, knocking the pilots from their scaling point and to a deadly bone crushing fall. The cracking from the pilots fall was enough to make men squeamish.
There we're however five Knightmares that we're armed and mounted. The Knightmare turned and began to fire at Craft and the other two. Craft fired at the one behind the front, hitting it in the chest, causing it to explode. Craft then pressed a button on his rifle. On the bayonet of the rifle, a series of chains and blades began to move. Thick blue energy covered them as the chainsaw bayonet was revved up. Craft leaped towards the closest Knightmare. After doing a flip, he brought the full force of the chainsaw at the Knightmare. Craft cut it from the chest down to its left leg, making it fall in two.
Phantom climbed up the Knightmare he was attacking and sliced a hole in the pilot's cockpit. He then armed a detonator and threw it in the pilot's quarters. The entire cockpit exploded, throwing metal and flesh everywhere. Phantom then leaped away from the immobile Knightmare and then used his Reploid strength to kick down the next unit. Phantom then sliced the Sakuradite tank of the downed Knightmare, causing it to explode a few seconds later.
Leviathan just took the last one that was operable. She went on top of where the pilot was and brought her lance inside of the cockpit, stabbing the pilot through the heart. She and the others then leaped off their destroyed units and then leapt towards the princess and her staff. Sigma snarled as he saw the downed men.
"Imbeciles!" Sigma shouted. "Your highness! Get to your unit! We'll slow them down!"
Cornelia nodded and ran into the hanger where her unit was stored. Sigma reached to his side and grabbed his emerald green beam saber, igniting it. Harpuria ignited his daggers while Fefnir grabbed his large beam cannon. The three Reploids then charged towards the Reploid group. Sigma put his arm towards his mouth shouting orders to Vile and Violen, whose forces we're currently being hounded by Zero and Axl.
Speaking of the main force, they themselves we're equally having rotten luck. One of the first Knightmares fired at Zero with his machine gun. Zero simply jumped on top of him and cut him in half from the waist. He then leapt off and leapt towards the ground. He rolled under a Knightmare and then fired his Z-Buster straight up. The Buster went through the armor and out the head, causing it to explode. Another Knightmare tried to slash Zero while he was on the ground, using his arm blade. Zero rolled out of the way and redid what he did on the other Knightmare. Another Knightmare rolled towards Zero. Zero got on his feet, leapt towards nearby boxes, kicked off of them, and then round house kicked the Knightmare with enough force, that its head was knocked clean off.
Axl flew by the headless Knightmare and dropped in a grenade to its body. The Knightmare exploded. Axl then flew towards another group. Materializing his rocket launcher, Axl fired three high speed rockets at them. The rockets smashed into all three behind Zero, destroying them. While they did, several gunshots landed nearby Zero's feet. Zero looked up and using his vision, enlarged the area where the shots came from to see four snipers.
"I'll get…" Zero began.
"Let me!" Axl shouted as he rolled next to him, materializing his sniper rifle.
Axl looked into the scope with his sniper as he got up from the attack he had done of the three Knightmares. He fired a beam of plasma at the sniper farthest to the right. The blast of energy smashed into his head, causing the head of the soldier to explode. A fountain of blood came pouring out from him. The other snipers hesitated, allowing Axl to pick off the next one. The snipers dropped their rifles and ran. Axl picked both of them off in seconds.
Finally, after a brief moment, the ship to where it had crashed, the ship opened up revealing ten Knightmares and fifty pantheons. Lelouch grabbed the controls of his Knightmare and leaped in front to where Kallen was.
"Knock their Knightmares into the sea before the pilots can mount them!" Lelouch shouted. "Guren MK II, you are with me! Let's get Cornelia! The Reploids will buy us time while we launch our attack!"
"Yes Zero!" She shouted.
Lelouch and Kallen charged forward. Kallen quickly pivoted to the right, firing a blast from her Guren at an approaching Knightmare, destroying it. Two Knightmares tried to flank them from the 6 o clock. The other Knightmares who we're nearby shot up the enemy Knightmares and destroyed them.
Cornelia attempted to mount her Knightmare as her attackers kept coming. Sigma deflected a blow from Colonel Craft's chainsaw. Sigma leapt off the ground and used his head laser to try and hit Craft. Craft sped quickly to left and avoid the attack. Leviathan moved her head under Harpuia's daggers and managed to dodge his attack. She held out her hand and fired a sphere of ice at Harpuia. Harpuia sped into the air and tried throw his slashes at Leviathan. Leviathan rolled forward and dodged the attack. Fefnir fired a beam at Phantom. Phantom leapt in the air and grabbed his kunai knifes and threw six at Fefnir. Fefnir used his gun to deflect the knifes. Phantom landed nearby Fefnir.
"You insulted me before with that shot from the command center." Phantom shouted. "You will not insult me again!"
"Die traitor!" Fefnir shouted.
Fefnir changed his rifle to automatic mode. He fired several shots from his rifle to hit Phantom. Phantom moved to the right and avoided several shots. Craft kicked Fefnir away from the area. Craft then swung his gun around a few seconds. And then he put the gun behind him to avoid Sigma's beam saber from hitting him.
Leviathan flipped over Harpuia. She used her lance to deflect a blow from Harpuria. She tried stabbing him, but he pivoted to the right. Leviathan tried to arm herself with ice, but Fefnir flew into her. She tried to get up, but Fefnir used his energy to create a pillar of energy on the ground towards Leviathan. Leviathan got hit and screamed as the energy pushed her off the ground. Phantom sliced Fefnir, injuring his arm. Sigma and Craft continued to try and fight. Craft tried to slice him with the chainsaw bayonet. Sigma tried to slash him. Craft dodged and tried to chainsaw Sigma. Sigma back-flipped away. Craft then leapt on the wall, running while on it. He switched his gun to automatic and began to fire at Sigma. Sigma leapt towards the wall and tried to slash him. Leviathan however came down on top of Sigma. Although she succeeded in getting Sigma away from Craft, Sigma grabbed Leviathan and crushed her. Leviathan screamed. Sigma grabbed his saber and tried to stab her. Craft kicked Leviathan out of the way, getting his foot stabbed instead. Craft gritted his teeth as the pain was registered. Phantom then kicked Sigma away and then blocked a slash from Harpuia.
Cornelia was being repealed up to her Knightmare. She got in the cockpit and then began to turn it on.
"Your highness!" A soldier called out. "We can handle this!"
"I can't believe this!" Cornelia shouted. "Even after the battle of Narita, they keep mocking me!"
Lelouch charged forward with his Knightmare and crashed into hers. Lelouch crashed through the wall and pushed her back.
"I haven't powered on yet!" Cornelia shouted.
Cornelia's Knightmare crashed into the pile of crates. As she saw Lelouch's Knightmare approach hers, she fired her Slash Harken at him. Lelouch however smirked and activated the barrier that Cerveau had supplied him with. The barrier deflected the Slash Harken and prevented any damage. Lelouch spun around and then used his foot to smash in Cornelia's IFF. Lelouch used the beam saber to cut both of the arms to Cornelia's unit off. Lelouch then used his foot to crush the chest of Cornelia's unit. Cornelia grunted with pain as pieces of the Knightmare came out in front of her and sliced her body. Lelouch then got up with his beam saber and then looked at her.
"Foolish Cornelia." Lelouch said. "You should have invested more in this technology rather than consider it inferior."
"Zero!" She shouted. "Do you think you can best me at Knightmare combat!"
"I believe I just did." Lelouch said, pointing his saber at her. "I'll smash in your hatch and drag you out! Cornelia!"
"Zero; look out!" Kallen shouted.
Lelouch looked up and saw a single Sutherland charge towards him.
What's this unit thinking? He thinks he can match up to me. How cute.
Lelouch pulled out his Reploid rifle and pointed it at the unit. He fired it.
However, the Sutherland ducked under the shot and missed it. Lelouch's eyebrows went up when he saw this. The Knightmare had used extreme aerobatics to do that.
That's unexpected.
Lelouch fired again. The unit simply dodged to the left. Lelouch continued to fire at the unit, missing each shot. Kallen joined up with Lelouch and saw him fighting the unit. The Sutherland got right next to Lelouch's. Lelouch swung at the unit with his saber. The unit ducked under Lelouch's swing. As soon as it did, the unit turned to Lelouch's direction and unleashed a barrage of ammo towards Lelouch. Lelouch's barrier continued to receive damage from the attack. Lelouch pulled his rifle and tried to fire at the mysterious Sutherland. The Sutherland fired its Slash Harkens at a box at a hanger and pulled its self towards it, just as Kallen tried to grab it with a claw. Kallen tried to fire her on. The Sutherland moved to the right and slashed the Harken as it came by. It then drove on the docking boxes and used its machine guns to fire at Lelouch. After it spent its clip, Lelouch's shield broke.
"What!" Lelouch shouted. "Who is this pilot?"
The Sutherland looked down at Lelouch. While it did, a transmission came directly to it.
"Did you secure the princess Vile?" Sigma asked.
"Yeah, miss kill everything is fine." Vile said.
Lelouch looked up behind him and saw the Lancelot fly towards him. Lelouch saw his IFF get smashed in by the unit's massive feet.
Zero sliced up a Knightmare and cut it in half. Seven Knightmares charged towards the two Reploids. Axl simply formed a Gatling gun and pointed it towards the approaching units.
"Die mother fuckers!" Axl shouted.
Axl unleashed a barrage of ammo at the Knightmares. All of the Knightmares that we're charging towards them we're shot to pieces, exploding before they got close.
"Running won't stop you!" Axl said. "I'll just shoot you in your asses!"
"You are pissed today." Zero said.
"Damn right!" Axl shouted. "They killed people that we're my family. I'll kill these god damn bastards…Zero…check out on the docks over there."
Zero turned to the docks and saw Sigma.