Been watching a lot of deep fakes of US presidents playing games like Minecraft and Overwatch in my free time, makes me kinda wish that they did as Obama and Trump would be the most competitive Minecrafters. Again, this chapter had to be cut down for length, but I am LOVING this chapter cap as I don't have to worry about blowing through stuff like I did when I binged Edgerunners in like, 2 days.

Chapter 7: Sky Fortress Damocles

As Lelouch and Anya remised about lives they never got to live, and how things would only get worse for the world, another plane was flying over the Sea of Okhotsk away from Japan, to avoid detection, it flew without its IFF active, and at a low 300ft. Inside its cabin, Jeremiah tended to its other occupant. 'Schneizel outmaneuvered us, he knew that Master Lelouch would continue the attack and try to save Ms. Nunnally, so he prepared another escape plane during the battle of Tokyo.' Sayoko relayed to him as the man checked over his work to tend to her wounds from the battle and its aftermath dodging both the Black Knights and the OSI.

'I see, so Princess Nunnally lives then…' He muttered; his brow creased as this didn't bode well for them.

'She does, but I don't know why they haven't announced it, but instead silenced anyone who knew.' Sayoko replied as she found it strange with all the craziness that happened after the battle, such as Zero's death, the emperor's death, and then Master Lelouch being ousted by both sides of the conflict.

'So, they eliminated the rest of your squad?' Jeremiah hadn't been informed too well on the rescue attempt for Princess Nunnally, but he had known that she along with Rolo had been sent in with at least 9 other people, yet when he found her after she sent out her distress signal, she was the only one present, barely able to stand.

'Most died in the battle, and the rest of us were hunted for nearly a month, I was the only survivor, but not without injuries.' She confirmed his fears, as she looked away in shame at their failure, if she had been faster, or if she had requested more people, they might have managed to rescue Ms. Nunnally before everything went to hell but just like during the first rebellion, she was unable to get to her.

'Rest now, you've done more than enough, however,' Jeremiah placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, though both were aware of how strange that was considering it wasn't too long ago that he nearly killed her. His gaze still stayed on her, ignoring the frigid cold skies and seas outside the window as the pilot, a servant to his family, made sure to keep them well away from the water and any ice. 'You're Japanese, aren't you? Why seek out Master Lelouch instead of the Black Knights?' That was strange, as they had only picked up her distress by chance, and they had debated whether or not it was some kind of trap.

Sayoko was silent for a second, processing the question as she supposed it was a good one to ask, but she already had her answer. 'I'm loyal to Master Lelouch, not to Zero, or the Black Knights.' She joined the Black Knights because she believed them better than other terrorist cells, and once she learned about master Lelouch being Zero, that loyalty was only cemented, but to him-not the group.

'You're devoted to chivalry as well.' Jeremiah noted softly, to which she gave him a small smile, having never considered the day would come when a Britannian noble of all people would say such a thing to her.

'That's one way to putting it.' She replied, taking a breath as she waited for the painkillers she had taken to lessen her pain a bit more. In silence, Jeremiah got up and went to the cabinet, taking out a water bottle. 'What to happen now?' She was out of the loop by at least a month, things had changed drastically so she needed to know what their master planned to do now, especially after Pendragon was wiped out if the rumors floating around Tokyo were to be believed.

'For the short term, we'll be meeting back up with Master Lelouch and the rest of them. We'll finalize our final plans for our self-exile afterward.' Jeremiah handed her the bottle, her 3rd one to drink as she regained her strength. Hearing that their master planned to retreat rather than fight was a shock to her, as she had never known him to retreat, back off of course to take a breather and replan, sure but never retreat.

'I never thought I'll see the day he would surrender…' She said, feeling like there must have been something big that happened with him, something that Jeremiah also suspected but neither Anya, C.C., or master Lelouch would say anything about it.

'Dark times these are.' He agreed with her, returning to his seat to wait for them to land in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, refuel, and break any ice they built up, before the long flight to Anchorage.

The next day, as the sun rose over the city of Osaka, two figures watched this, having ventured up to the rook to chat. 'You know, I always wanted to fight alongside you, but didn't think it'll be like this.' Gino started, the man had only arrived the previous night, along with as many troops as he could get ready in only a few hours. Princess Cornelia had brought the bulk of the rest. Hearing the sadness in his tone, Kallen turned to him with a small smile, sharing that feeling.

'For what it's worth, I always did respect you, Gino. Hoped that the day would come when we wouldn't fight, and for a time, I thought that time had come.' She replied as while she never got to interact with him at Ashford, on the account of being a wanted terrorist, she had fought him and spoken with him while she was captured enough to understand that despite his allegiance, he was a pretty stand-up guy. A bit dorky, a touchy but she wouldn't have been against having someone like him in the council.

'Me too, sorry that we couldn't muster up any more than what Princess Cornelia and I could get, but things are a mess right now.' He looked down, to where their ships had docked in the harbor overnight, or more accurately, floated as they sure freaked out the locals when they awoke to massive Britannian ships floating right over their fishing boats.

'Don't apologize, things have been crazy for us as well. Speaking of princesses,' The two had given them a summary of the details of what happened with Schneizel's surprise attack, including how Nunnally was supposedly working with Schneizel, a fact Kallen still didn't want to believe.

'Princess Marrybell can't help it, so we'll have to make do without aid from the Area 14 forces, or the Glynda Knights, though not too sure how much help they'll be considering their main counter-terrorism.' Gino wished that they could make it, but even at full speed, they'll arrive too late, and with the areas in chaos thanks to the central government getting axed with a single blow, it wasn't like she could leave when she had to try and prevent the streets from running red.

'Pretty sure that's what Schneizel can be called right now.' Kallen responded.

'True, but most terrorists don't have floating castles and weapons capable of wiping out whole cities.' Gino smiled.

'Then we'll just have to fight all the harder, but that's something I'm used to after all, I did have to match up to you three.' Kallen swiped some non-existent dust off her shoulder, her pride at keeping someone like him at bay showing but instead of getting mad or feeling insulted, his smile only grew.

'You know, right now I'm starting to understand your feelings just a bit.' He told her, turning back to look at the sky as it brightened more with the rising sun. Kallen paused here, not sure what to make his comment.

'Really, now?' She asked him, knowing that he must be trying to get a good luck kiss out of her, having been caught, he merely laughed as he rubbed the back of his head.

'Can't fault a guy for trying.' She rolled her eyes, but her amusement showed as she too looked towards the city, taking in this final moment of peace before they went off to fight and defeat Schneizel.

Hours later, abroad the Ikaruga, Xingke, and the rest of the command staff looked over maps of the global situation. 'With Pendragon's destruction, the internal government of the Holy Britannian Empire is paralyzed.'

'Which means that the only Britannian forces that we can rely on for this battle would be the one-a-half divisions that Princess Cornelia and the Knight of Three were able to muster from Hawaii and Alaska.' His confidante and the ship's weapons control officer, Zhou Xianglin added as their forces had largely been based around knightmares with few capital ships. The forces that the Britannians brought to the table helped to solve that issue.

'But what is going for us is that Schneizel isn't acting with the support of Britannia, and therefore can only use the forces that he managed to sneak close enough to Japan, including the Damocles.' Minami said as while the empire was in chaos, none of those forces were acting in Schneizel's favor as many viceroys had already denounced his actions, along with the remaining military officers.

'Their numbers?' Ohgi asked, missing the glare that Xingke sent him as one of the bridge crew zoomed in on the battlefield over Mt. Fuji.

'It's estimated that Schneizel forces are made up of Floating Fortress, the Damocles; 11 Logres classes; 44 Caerleon classes; and thousands of knightmares equipped with float packs, many of them older Gloucester and Sunderland models.' She relayed as the commanders said nothing as they took in the sight of dots representing thousands of machines waiting for them, it gave credence to Princess Cornelia's claims that he had been plotting this for years.

'It's fair to assume that these are the forces that he's been building up, correct Princess Cornelia?' Xingke turned his attention to another screen, with the woman in question shown, being in command of her Logres ships making up their fighting force.

'Yes, it would have been easy for him to squirrel away those knightmares rather than ensure they get recycled to turned to scrap. It does give us the qualitative edge, does it not?' She asked him, her staff working hard to keep things in order, many having never served on the same vessel before but with the crisis, she had to spread out more experienced and competent officers over as many of her ships as possible to ensure they ran smoothly.

'We have more vessels, sure but most are just our transports, they're lightly armored and have no shields, so they'll at best can serve as shields for the larger ships. But our knightmares are both of a higher quality than his and we have more of them.' Xingke wasn't thrilled with the idea of those ships being used just to take whatever Schneizel could throw at them, and neither was she but she wasn't about to let sentiment stop her from making the best move.

'But we can't just ignore the F.L.E.I. , can we? One of those could wipe out entire groups at a time.' Ohgi spoke up, drawing her attention to him as she frowned, having thought about that for quite some time.

'Which is why despite our superior numbers and equipment, we're closer to an equal footing with him and his traitors.' She replied, hating that fact as it would only lead to a much higher death count. She along with Sir Weinberg had amassed over 25,000 for this, but she just knew that even in victory, a great many would die today.

'Guilford, how are you handling things?' She turned her attention to her knight, who wasn't with on the bridge but rather in one of the Vincent Commander Models they brought with. She was hesitant about him fighting, but they couldn't afford to let one of their aces sit this one out, even if his eyesight still wasn't the best, that doctor Rakshata had given him something to help.

'No issues here, your highness. Though I must admit that this time around, I'm much more comfortable with fighting alongside the Black Knights.' He looked to the sides where he saw Britannian units, and so did he see Black Knight ones.

'We are not fighting against Britannia Guilford, merely a traitor, and working with the Black Knights is the logical option here.' She corrected him, she didn't particularly like fighting alongside them, despite them ousting her brother, they still fought against her and killed a great many of her men but this was a case of the enemy of my enemy. Though she didn't know what would come after as with most of her family gone, that only left her and Marrybell with claims to the throne, a thought that made her chuckle as she couldn't see herself spending her days ruling from the rear, signing papers and meeting with dignitaries.

'I know, your highness. I will not fail you.' Guilford signed out, leaving her to stew as she prayed for success, and that Euphemia would help guide her to make the best choices she could.

'The Holy Britannian Empire and the United Federation of Nations are superpowers of the old world, one where such forces did nothing but spread hate, war, and death. What we face today are the last great guardians of an unjust era that they exploit for their gains. Through the might of Damocles, and the courageous efforts of those like-minded men and women, we seek to create a new world, a peaceful world, a better world.' Schneizel's poisoned words didn't just air over his channels for his troops t hear, but to all on the battlefield, only feeding resentment against him as he preached like he was some sort of prophet.

'I pray that this will be the last battle in the last war that mankind will ever have to fight, and in the future, we seek the build, the petty rivalries and grudges have the past will be swept aside as the people of this world hear our song of peace and victory.' Onboard the Damocles, he finished his speech for all to hear, the crew around him enraptured by his words while the ever-dutiful Kanon stood to the side, watching his lord speak with nothing but approval. Across the skies from the, watching his formations of thousands form up, Gino and Kallen looked through the waves of Vincents, Gareths, and Sunderlands before they finally spotted it, the green-winged angel of death.

'You see him?' Kallen asked him, her camera zooming in on the unit of the man she hated even more than Schneizel, a man she thought she could understand, even if never agree with him his actions of recent had shattered that. He was a parasite, and she wouldn't let him escape this time.

'I do…Suzaku, what madness have you gotten yourself involved in?' Gino asked himself, wondering if he could have seen this and prevented this, but shaking himself out of that mindset. He was their enemy now, he had turned his back on all of them but more than that, he was one of the last people to see Anya, and if he was willing to kill their emperor for Schneizel…

The lines stabilized, the distance between the two forces of size even larger than what had been gathered for the second battle of Tokyo only a few kilometers. In the tense atmosphere that made up the surroundings, no one said anything, and no moves were made as if there was a silent debate over who would fire the first shot, and who would commence this battle. Onboard the Ikaruga, Xingke was looking over all their deployments and the enemies with a fine eye when he heard an incoming call. 'And open channel?' Knowing who this was from, one of the bridge crew turned to him, hesitant.

'Should we?' She asked, waiting for a response from the man who took a moment to think. He had been anxious ever since the conference kidnapping, knowing that his true master was in danger, her life held in the hands of a madman that killed his blood without hesitation. This made the upcoming battle all the more difficult as there was no doubt that all the hostages were aboard the Damocles, and while the UFN had elected temporary representatives, the idea of firing on the Damocles and potentially killing them all…he almost wished to hand over command to something else, almost.

But he couldn't afford to slip here, he wouldn't let his anger blind him so he turned back to her. 'Do it.' With that order, she quickly answered the call, the map on the main screen changing to an image of the most wanted man who looked and acted like he was merely calling an old friend, making Xingke want to take his head all the more.

'Greetings, General Commander Xingke.' Schneizel started, his calm and assuring voice carrying through the speakers, yet no one felt amused or uplifted by it.

'Schneizel, you're outnumbered and are branded an international criminal, this is your once chance to surrender.' Xingke ordered him, but he merely continue the smile, much like an adult did when a child said something crazy to impress them.

'Surrender? What an amusing idea, I was calling you to request the same thing. I have an arsenal of F.L.E.I.J.A., what can your forces do to match such power?' He asked, raising a point that had left many people concerned, but he wouldn't back done to him.

'You underestimate us.' They may not have F.L.E.I.J.A.s of their own or an effective countermeasure, but they had still made several plans to work around them.

'I think not, but I can see that you're determined to fight.' Schneizel dismissed them as he kept his gaze on Xingke, not caring for the growing hostility from the others.

'I would think that obvious.' The Chinese general replied, his gaze as strong as iron.

'Then may the better side win.' With that, Schneizel cut the call.

'It's just as you predicted, Kanon.' Schneizel spoke to his assistant. Diethard, who was also present, stood by the sidelines with a massive smile.

'If we went forward with the plan with the Black Knights' fighting strength still intact, we would have run into the same issue that the administration of Area 11 did after the war. For the new world to be born, all hope of the old world needs to be destroyed.' Kanon replied, as their plans took note of Area 11 and were adjusted accordingly. Simply put, they needed the massed force to fight them, to resist with all their might so that when they were eventually crushed, so too would the hope of any who would dare to raise again.

Nodding to his assistant, Schneizel turned his attention back to their formations, it was time to begin the battle. 'Transmit pattern theta to all forces.'

'They're in motion, their left and right flanks are breaking from the center and forming spearheads.' One of the bridge crew on the Ikaruga relayed as their screens showed the enemy forces splitting into three distinct groups, with the center being the largest while the flanks sharpened themselves up, as if ready to charge their lines and attempt to pierce them at two points.

'Conventional forces? So be it, we'll eliminate as many of his forces as we can and assault the Damocles directly.' Cornelia noted, she agreed that they wouldn't pour excess fire on the Damocles to increase their chances of taking the fortress and saving the UFN members, but she also made it clear that if things got dicey, and they had a shot, her forces would take it.

Knowing that fact, Xingke acted to bring about one of their plans. 'Broaden out front line forces, bring in the 2nd, and have the 3rd elevate 400m and hold.'

'Their center is increasing in size; they're also trying to take higher positions.' One of the controllers on Damocles reported as the enemy front line seemed to increase in width, like the opening of a funnel, meanwhile parts of their flanks raised higher, no doubt to bombard them.

'Have Grant and Isaac's teams move forward and target their center, also move Simon's squad to meet the enemy's new elevation.' Schneizel's cool order was carried out quickly.

'You won't give up the high ground, will you?' Xingke asked himself, seeing that the enemy lines were shifting to counter his move. 'Have the 3rd return to their previous positions.'

'But that'll leave them open to attack.' Someone told him, but he ignored it.

'Do it.'

'Simon team is to hold position, don't engage.' Schneizel ordered, getting his units to pause, a decision that Diethard found odd.

'Wouldn't it be prudent to attack when they're in disarray?' The journalist turncoat asked him.

'It's a false opening, he wants us to attack thinking they're in disarray.' Schneizel wasn't about to fall for such a simple trick.

With Xingke, he suspected as much as he kept an eye on things to make another move. 'Wasn't expecting much but he didn't even move. Have Tristan and Guilford's Vincent move forward on the right, Guren, you remain in the center while the Zangetsu takes the left.'

'He wants to keep the Lancelot in check them? It's not a bad play, but one I've already prepared for. Switch attack pattern to rho-3.' Schneizel noted the new portion of the enemy's most powerful units, it would certainly give them time to eliminate most of his forces before they joined the Guren to press Suzaku, but he planned for such.

'Enemy wings are spreading out even further, with units decreasing and increasing in altitude.' Minami told Xingke as it looked like Schneizel was going to spread them as far as he could, increasing the area of spread of their fire, and giving more units the space would need to pour out on them.

'Risky, but high reward. Move the 5th and 8th Line Squads further back while lowering the 6th and 9th positions behind the Logres'.' Xingke ordered, moving to counter this while decreasing their distance from the enemy front line.

'Move Talleyrand and Ford teams closer to the front.' 4 of his Caerlon-class moved to reinforce the lines along with the Albion, allowing the Black Knights and Britannian loyalists to see that there was something different about his ships, namely the fact they had tarps covering portions of them.

'Move the Ikraruga forward, have Tang ground forces prep for combat, and target their flanks.' Xingke ordered their ground forces who started to load their cannon with air-burst and high explosive rounds while missiles were prepared in equal measure. 2 of the Longdan Float ships aimed their cannons as high as they get their elevation, right for the enemy's flanks, each loaded with a similar kind of shot that the Raiko fired.

'What the hell, no-ones fighting, we're just moving around like it's a dance!' Tamaki questioned what both sides were doing for moving around.

'You're wrong, battles between two masters are decided before the first shots are fired.' Tohdoh calmly replied, noting that their distance was decreasing ever so slightly.

'The only issue is who will take advantage?' Gino whispered as he continued to move as instructed, however, it seem like they would get their chance as Schneizel's forces finally picked up on their decreasing distance as they spread their lines.

'They're surrounding us.' The terrorist prince nodded his head, smiling at the idea that Xingke had devised for this battle.

'I would have expected nothing less when they have the numbers advantage. He's trying to close the distance so we can't use F.L.E.I.J.A. without endangering Damocles and wiping out our forces. Pattern rho-4.' Schneizel ordered a slight rearrangement of their forces, but in that he gave away too much, which his foes would not slip up on.

'There, he hasn't accounted for this. Tohdoh, Kallen.' Xingke ordered as the two, seeing the opening, rushed in.

'We won't fail.' Tohdoh confirmed as he gripped his control's extra hand, the Guren already rushing ahead as he followed behind with a detachment of their forces.

'They're closing the distance.' They picked up the 9th Gen machine rushing right for them.

'Engage.' With that, Schneizel's forces opened fire, filling the sky with bullets and missiles; an action that was returned by the coalition forces.

'If we can kill him, this will be over!' Kallen declared as she dodged just about everything that could throw at her on her way for the Lancelot, her arm shooting out and grabbing the head of a Sunderland, blasting it with enough radiation to cook both its pilot and the suit in a few moments. The machine exploded after she had already rushed past it, using her energy wings to launch off a barrage against another group, eliminating most of them.

'Smash enough of their forces, and this will be a free-for-all!' Nagisa ordered their troop as she followed behind Tohdoh, slashing through a Gareth before moving on to the next target which she fired on with her machine's rifle.

With the power of a 9th gen in the hands of one of the best pilots in the world, the coalition forces started to make good progress, his forces started to fall by the dozens with their ships being kept from the worst of it through continuing fire and multiple lines of knightmares slowing her down, but the others made that even harder. 'They've punched through the first line; 2nd won't last long either.' Schneizel, having not taken any seat, kept his gaze fixed on the screens as they displayed the situation.

'Fall back 500m, have our 4th send half its forces to reinforce the 3rd and bring up 6 of the Caerleon's on the left flank.' He suspected that they'll be prepared, at least to an extent for the F.L.E.I.J.A. as well as the fact he had hostages, but that wasn't the only trick he had up his sleeve.

'They're falling back!' Gino noted as he destroyed his 18th Sunderland, moving on to take on a squad of Vincents.

'Don't lose the momentum, keep pushing them!' Xingke ordered them but then they got an emergency report from the front-line troops, zooming in n the feed, he saw that a good portion of Schneizel's ships was moving forward, their tarps falling away. 'Hold on, what's that?' He got his answer when their cameras managed to catch what was under those traps, massive hadron cannon and what appeared to be V.A.R.I.S. turrets, all targeting their forces.

'All forces, evasive manoeuvres!' Tohdoh didn't need to be commanded to give the hurried order right as the enemy opened fire. The power of the VARIS turrets punched right through their machines, destroying many, pilots included while the beams of Hadron energy which could match the Mordred cut through even more, punching holes in the shields of their ships and landing critical hits. As the fire continued, their forces moved to avoid them.

'What are our losses?' Xingke asked as he saw the increasing number of their forces being replaced with the dreaded 'Lost' signal on their screens.

'The left flank's lost 2 Logres and 3 Caerlons with at least 120 knightmares caught in the attack.' He wanted to punch himself for not seeing something like this coming, it wasn't too large a chunk of their forces but it was still hundreds killed, it would also slow down their charge for the fortress even with the Guren in play as it found itself without aid.

'Of course, he would have implemented V.A.R.I.S and Hadron weaponry on his ships.' Cornelia, whose forces made up the right flank, cursed as their men found themselves facing similar weapons.

'Your highness?' Guilford asked as he continued to battle, tearing through their forces with the speed and skill she had come to expect and respect from her spear.

'Keep up the assault, but we wise to their ships, let us focus on that.' She ordered him, and the rest of them as she directed their ships to fire at the enemy. Let the knightmares handle the rest, they needed to take them out fast.

'Yes, your highness!'

As they fought, the radio picked up a warning from the Ikaruga to all friendly forces. 'Be advised, the Ikaruga is about to open fire, all forces to clear from the line of fire.' It was moments later, as their forces raced to get out of the way, did the Ikaruga opened fire. The devastating power of its duel hadron cannons tearing through their central lines, and several ships went down after their shields failed to protect them, once more swinging things in their favor.

'As he predicted, they'll try to go for a quick strike instead of a drawn-out battle. All forces, target the enemy center and fire!' Suzaku, who had remained passive this entire time, observed as he watched the battle rage on. Despite his central forces taking some heavy losses, they still maintained their formation and order.

'Move our knightmares out of the line of fire, switch to small unit tactics.' He ordered them as he gripped his controls, looking for a suitable first opponent when his geass command acted up, he didn't even think as he turned his machine behind him, one sword raised to block a surprise attack. 'Sir, behind you!' He didn't care for the warning that would have come too late; his attention was solely focused on the one-eyed machine trying to kill him.

'Suzaku…!' Its pilot, Tohdoh, grimaced, both at the failure of his sneak attack and at how far his lost student had fallen. 'I heard that you sided with him, but I didn't want to believe it.' Suzaku broke the lock, his machine having far more power than the Zangetsu as Tohdoh moved back before immediately being put on the defensive as the Lancelot Albion went on the offensive.

'There's a lot of things that are disappointing in this world, doesn't make them any less real.' Suzaku replied, his machine's speed and power allowing him to maintain the upper hand against his foe who struggled to remain in the fight, even when he used his machine built-in machine guns, the Albion didn't move and merely let its powerful shields block his shots.

'I'll be right there, Tohdoh, just hold on!' Kallen, seeing this, rushed to aid in the fight but got stopped by a way of Gareths, with them another one of the Caerlons with its 8 V.A.R.I.S.s cannons firing on her, forcing her to divert to take them out. 'Dammit, everyone move!' Some of the others weren't so lucky as another 15 of their machines were destroyed in the barrage.

This went on as the two, once student and master, continued their duel as Suzaku pressed his opponent even more, making him regret that his machine lacked any real ranged capabilities as Suzaku didn't even need to get him close, and he kept up the pressure whether it be in crossing blades, firring with his Super V.A.R.I.S rifle, or using his energy wings to fill an entire with dangerous high-speed projectiles that tore apart whatever reinforcements managed to reach the two.

Despite this, their numbers managed to keep themselves higher than Schneizels, whose smaller force started to shrink more as the battle continued with the Black Knights managing to inflict considerable loss on Schneizel's flanks, the left more than the right as even with Tohdoh occupied fighting for his life, Kallen and Nagisa were more than enough to destroy enough enemy units for their own to pour in, pushing their advantage to such a point that Schneizel's left wing would surely collapse, allowing them a direct route to Damocles itself. But as they got closer to Damocles, there was a surprise twist as, with a push of a button, a F.L.E.I.J.A was launched.

'Incoming F.L.E.I.J.A.! It's heading right for the left flank!' One of the bridge crews on a loyalist Caerlon called out, fear shooting through their vein as the same with the rest of the crew as they were in the direct line of fire.

'Pull our forces back!' The captain ordered, but this proved futile as the F.L.E.I.J.A. had gone critical the moment it launched, the explosion engulfing a good chunk of the left flank, with even parts of Schneizel's forces caught in the blast and aftermath vacuum.

'You would follow a man that would fire on his men?' Tohdoh demanded of his fallen pupil as the two fought to keep their machines under control as the air raced to fill the massive space created by such an explosion.

'It was a small yield, anyone caught in the blast has themselves to blame.' Suzaku replied, righting himself even faster and charging him, managing to take a leg off his machine before he could raise a defense. With this surprise attack, the momentum once more shifted to Schneizel's favor as he had waited for them to get close, expecting that he wouldn't use his trump card so that he could wipe out a large chunk of them. With a smile on his face, he watched as his forces charged the disorganized and weakened left flank, forcing it back as they cut down more of their number, forcing them to surrender almost all their own space as they now found themselves on the defensive.

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