September 8, 2017 a.t.b.
Area 11, Shizouka Ghetto, 9:47 am
Even during this time as the SAZ was underway, clashes between rebels and the Britannian military continued in the ghettoes. Local resistance fighters not affiliated with the Black Knights kept fighting as they always did.
A Britannian military division called the Electron Battalion was sent out to quell one such resistance group in Shizouka. A certain Warrant Officer Charmelle Finlay, a young woman of above average height with auburn hair and brown eyes, led the operation on the field from her Gloucester.
The resistance forces lacked any heavy mechanised units, while their infantry and improvised light assault vehicles were easily dispatched by the Britannian tanks, gunships, and knightmares.
During the last phases of the battle, out of the sudden a building-sized drop pod had crashed right in the middle of the ghetto.
After the remaining members of the resistance had been rounded up and loaded into personnel transport VTOL planes to be taken to high security prison facilities, the unit went in around the pod to investigate.
"Ma'am, we have the unidentified object secure," a soldier reported, speaking on a communicator.
"Acknowledged," said Charmelle from inside her cockpit. "Warrant Officer Finlay to G1 command, we report an unidentified object crash in Shizouka Ghetto."
"Status, Warrant Officer?" the G1 command staff inquired from the communicator.
"It seems to be inert," said Charmelle. "But we can't be off our guard. We have no clue about what might be inside. We are proceeding to investigate with caution."
One of the investigation crews attempted to scan the pod only to detect nothing. "It's not getting through. These things are somehow blocking our scanners." a crew member reported.
A low lurching sound filled their ears as the massive drop pod began to open up.
"Ma'am, it's opening!" one of the investigation crew members exclaimed.
"Move back!" Charmelle commanded. "We have no idea what will come out, so we need to be careful."
The battalion moved back several metres. As the pod opened up, a long, metallic tentacle-like appendage ending in three fingers emerged and stomped on the nearby ground to the left.
"What is that…," a soldier said in shock and awe.
Another tentacle-like appendage emerged from the right, and one from the rear. They pushed against the ground to lift the object in question within – which was soon revealed to be a tripod similar to the one that had emerged in Numazu.
Its gigantic form made the tanks and knightmare frames around it look like mere children's toys.
"Oh my god…," another soldier said, stunned.
The Britannians pointed guns at the tripod, wary of any sudden moves. Fear of the uncertain and the unknown enveloped their minds, as none of them have encountered anything like this…
"Unidentified unit! Identify yourself and state your purpose!" Charmelle commanded to the tripod, with no response.
The arms of the tripod charged up and fired laser blasts at the transport plane containing the prisoners as it flew off. The aircraft exploded, burst into flame and crashed into a building. There were no survivors.
Their questions about the tripod's purpose here were immediately answered. "This unidentified unit is hostile! I repeat, this unidentified unit is hostile!" Charmelle exclaimed across her communicator. "Fire at will!"
Tanks, gunships, and knightmares opened fire at the tripod as they simultaneously moved back. But to their shock and horror, the munitions were stopped by a deflector shield around the tripod's upper body. The shield was durable to the point where it simply shrugged off their shots.
"Keep firing! That shield has to give way sometime!" Charmelle commanded as she fired at the tripod herself with her Gloucester's assault rifle. The tripod opened fire back as it walked slowly towards the Britannian forces, blasting tanks and knightmares into slag.
"We're taking heavy fire!" a Sutherland pilot screamed, panicked, before their knightmare frame was destroyed by a powerful laser blast.
"AAAHHH!" a Gloucester pilot screamed as he and his knightmare were destroyed by another laser blast. Meanwhile the Britannians' firepower had yet to break through the shield.
"Take cover!" Charmelle commanded. "To the buildings!"
The soldiers obeyed and manoeuvred their knightmares into various sheltered spaces within the ghetto for cover. They continued to fire at the tripod, to no avail.
"At once, fire!" a gunship commander commanded. At the order his squad of five gunships unloaded their rocket pods on the tripod. The missile explosions created an impressive fiery display, but the tripod's shields held. In response, the tripod destroyed the entire squad of gunships with its lasers in a sweeping motion from left to right. They were obliterated in seconds.
The other gunship squadron pilots were horrified. "More distance!" another gunship commander ordered. "Fall back!"
The Britannian aircraft in question backed away faster than before, firing their ventral cannons at full auto on the gargantuan alien war machine as it marched, its shields…still holding.
But then it got even worse.
From the corner of her eye, one of the gunship commanders spotted a swarm of objects rapidly approaching from the sky to the east. They revealed themselves to be fighters, but they were unlike any of the fighter jets used by any Earthly nation. They were roughly crescent-shaped with the tips of their wings curving forward. Two triangular vaguely horn-like protrusions jutted out of the base of the wings anteriorly, extending beyond the cockpit. They were armed with two guns attached to each side of the cockpit, as well as a larger gun attached to the medial side of each of the triangular protrusions, making a total of six. They were of a dark metallic colour, similar to the tripods.
"Ma'am, fighters incoming! There seems to be hundreds of them!" she reported to Charmelle.
"Received!" Charmelle affirmed. "Aircraft incoming!" she announced.
Several of the knightmares pointed their guns away from the tripod and towards the swarm of fighters. The alien fighters opened fire first, setting loose a hail of bluish-white plasma blasts on the Britannians.
The gunships fired back, but the invader force were much more numerous and had much better weaponry. The gunship squadrons were quickly overwhelmed and started to suffer casualties at a fast rate.
The knightmares opened fire, but they soon were overwhelmed. They managed to hit some of the fighters, but they were simply too numerous. Many of the frames were bombarded by the plasma bolts and destroyed, while some others were damaged or crushed by large pieces of falling debris blasted out of the buildings they used as cover. However, to move out would be to expose oneself to the slaughter outside.
"We're under heavy fire! We're pinned down!" the knightmare pilots exclaimed in distress.
If that wasn't enough, transport ships had already made landing on various places in the ghetto. Some of the ground units they deployed had reached the battle and joined in.
"What in the world…," said Charmelle as she saw what looked like a giant mechanical segmented millipede – a "mechapede" as one could call it – as it crawled out from behind the ruins of a nearby building. Its sloped, approximately triangular head had three sharp horn-like protrusions on the back, and two more on the front that gave the appearance of insect mandibles. Between the frontal protrusions was a single eye. Mounted on the top of each of the eight body segments behind the head, was a gun turret for each. Each segment was 3.5 m tall and 4 m long, making the mechapedes 36 metres long in total. Each segment had four legs ending in claw-like feet, for a total of 36 per unit. They were of a dark metallic colour like the tripods and fighters.
As they manoeuvred between the buildings with the flexibility of a, well, giant millipede, they cleared out forces left over by the tripod. Their cannons unleashed bursts of blue-white plasma on nearby tanks, knightmares, and garrisoned infantry from all directions.
Alien infantry had also arrived to the scene and engaged the Britannian troops inside buildings using laser and plasma weaponry. They were winning skirmish after skirmish with ease.
"Ma'am, we're taking heavy losses— aaahhh!" a knightmare pilot screamed through the communicator before meeting a fiery death.
Charmelle was utterly mortified as she saw the IFFs of her forces vanish, one after another, at an alarming rate. "FULL RETREAT!" she commanded.
The remnants of the battalion didn't hesitate as they made a full speed retreat to their G1 located about a kilometre west, but continued to take heavy losses as the invader forces continued to open fire at them. Around them buildings continued to collapse and burn as they took on so much laser and plasma fire. As Charmelle tried to find a path to safety, she found her way obstructed by a pair of dark metallic six-legged insectoid machines, each roughly the size of a Sutherland and with guns where the mandibles would have been. Their legs ended in claw-like feet.
Charmelle gritted her teeth. Faced with no choice, she opened fire at the insectoid machines with her frame's assault rifle while attempting to dodge their plasma bolts with zigzag manoeuvres. She hit one of them multiple times in the front, destroying its gun and neutralising it. She switched to her lance as she closed in on the other one and impaled its abdomen, destroying it. More of those "insectoid tanks" – they seemed to serve the same role as main battle tanks in the invader force – closed in on Charmelle, surrounding her from three directions in an intersection as a mechapede advanced in from the way she came from, having been in pursuit. She was trapped.
She realised that she had to fight her way out. She aimed her lance at the insectoid to the west and charged at full speed, dodging its blasts as she went, but alas several blasts from the other invader machines hit her Gloucester. Its left arm was blown off by the time she ran her lance through her target. She turned to face the others, set her frame to full reverse, then threw the lance at the insectoid to her left, which attempted to dodge only to have the lance embed itself on its right side, disabling it. She switched back to the assault rifle and fired while moving.
A few moments later, her eyes grew wide and she gasped as she saw her G1's IFF vanish. "What…the…hell…"
The third insectoid was now heavily damaged enough to stop moving, but the more heavily armoured mechapede kept on going, its guns now having left Charmelle's frame on its last legs. Another shot placed the Gloucester on critical. Charmelle managed to eject in time as her frame exploded.
The ground trembled as the tripod advanced northeastward, its movements accompanied by a strange whirring sound. The smouldering ruins of the G1 lay a not-so-long distance behind it.
Special Administrative Zone opening ceremony, 10:06 am
While the one-sided battle took place in Shizouka, no signs of trouble yet appeared in the SAZ.
Euphemia and Zero walked out of the G1 by each other's' side back to the podium, as they were awaited by the thousands of people around them. Suzaku stared at them from nearby but said nothing.
"Zero and Princess Euphemia have finally finished their solo audience inside and have returned. The opening of the Special Zone should start any time now," the newscaster announced.
"This is it, Zero…," said Euphemia to the masked revolutionary.
"Yes," said Zero. "I believe you should go first, Princess Euphemia."
"Right," said the pinkette. Euphemia went up to the front of the podium, took the microphone located there, and began her speech.
"People of Japan, Britannian or Eleven, I am Euphemia li Britannia, the Third Princess," she introduced. "For a long time, we of Britannia have believed that all people are not born equal. That is true, but it does not mean that we must abuse our power over those who are less fortunate. It also does not mean that if one is born lesser, that they cannot become greater themselves through their own efforts. It does not mean that the strong should feed on the weak, but rather, the strong should nurture and protect the weak, to build them up so they can become strong themselves! The strong should serve inspiration and guidance for the less fortunate. They should serve as examples to aspire to, rather than fear."
She continued with her speech. "Discrimination has held as the national policy of Britannia for far too long. Why do we discriminate? Is it because it fuels a selfish feeling of superiority?"
Ashford Academy
Milly, Nina, and Laura were among the students watching the live broadcast from the television. With them were Sayoko and Nunnally.
"I…I…don't understand…," Nina squeaked out. "Why would Euphemia care so much…about those Elevens…"
She had been shivering the whole time with a fearful expression as she spoke. "They…they…," she trailed off as the rest of her words died in her throat.
"Calm down Nina, no-one can hurt you from here...," said Milly as she tried to comfort her. "Besides, not all of them are bad people. Look at Sayoko, she's really kind. None of the bad ones are here. They can't hurt you…"
"She might go into a panic attack…her trauma from that night in the ghetto still runs deep…," thought Milly.
Milly wrapped her arms around Nina, aiming to make her feel safe and secure. "Don't worry Nina, we'll be here for you."
Special Administrative Zone
Euphemia continued on. "To hurt others out of a want for selfish validation and a feeling of high is nothing short of despicable. If you are secure in your strength, there is no need to need to validate yourself by trampling on the less fortunate. Who you are as a person, the worth of your character, is decided by your actions, your choices, not by your race, creed, sex, or age. We all have the potential for greatness."
"Before we are Britannians or Japanese, we are humans," said Euphemia. "So why should we discriminate? The answer to that is simple – we shouldn't! For equality of opportunity should be an immutable right to all! Everyone should have the right to live free of unjust prejudice and discrimination! I understand that this is against the longstanding belief of the Britannian system. But this very system needs to change! Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution holds true of course. However, Darwin's true theory is that it is the fittest and most adaptable that survive, not necessarily the strongest! It is the ones who can change that survive. And, my friends, that is why we need to change. We need to change if we are to live and thrive together. And I wish to begin enacting this change."
She moved on to the final part of her speech. "For this, I will give up my royal title and claim to the throne, for this is the price I must take upon myself for this action. As my final proclamation as a Princess of Britannia, I therefore declare this Special Administrative Zone of Japan, where Japanese and Britannians will be able to call themselves equals, open!"
Tokyo Settlement, Administrative Building, 10:08 am
To say that Cornelia was merely shocked would be an understatement. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates and her mouth was ajar in a gasp.
"You did WHAT!? Euphemia, you gave away your place in the royal family for those Elevens?!" she thought in a mixture of shock and anger. "How dare you even think of this disgrace?!"
Special Administrative Zone
A few seconds after the conclusion of Euphemia's speech, the crowd erupted into a cheer. Now it was Zero's turn.
"People of Japan! For too long have the rulers of the Empire of Britannia used their strength to abuse those weaker than they were!" Zero began in his usual dramatic flair. "This is why we of the Black Knights have fought them, to protect those who cannot defend themselves! For long we have awaited them to come to their senses, and this day has finally come! One of the shining examples of a rare light from the imperial family has given her kindness to us and offered us this zone of peace. She had even given up her claim to the throne so you could have a chance to live a life free of oppression. We of the Black Knights shall join the Special Zone, and act as its protectors!"
The crowd erupted into a cheer once again. Chants of Zero's name filled the air.
Ashford Academy, 10:10 am
Laura's phone started ringing.
The bluenette promptly grabbed said smartphone from her pocket. She saw that Sophie was calling and answered it.
"Hi Sophie!" she greeted with enthusiasm. "How's your day with Shirley?"
"It…it's been horrible…," Sophie replied, a hint of fear in her voice that Laura easily picked up on.
"What's wrong, Soph?" asked Laura, now in a concerned tone.
"You won't believe…what we just saw…," said Sophie. "It's huge, like, really huge. It has three legs, and it shoots some kind of laser weapon."
Special Administrative Zone, 10:11 am
Journalists had went up in front of the podium and began asking a series of questions to Euphemia and Zero after the establishment of the SAZ.
"What exactly do you see in those Ele- I mean Japanese, Princes- Lady Euphemia?"
"Is it true that you had an affair with Zero?"
"Are there any plans to expand this Zone?"
Many more questions were asked, the whole thing took about 15 minutes as the journalists formed a line for their questions to be asked and answered one by one.
Europia, French-German border, Castle Weisswolf, 2:11 am
The broadcast of the SAZ had kept Anna awake for a while. As she saw the cheers and positive atmosphere around the crowds, she couldn't help but smile herself at Euphemia's actions.
"She sacrificed her chance at the throne to give those people a better life, at least for a moment," thought Anna. "So selfless, so compassionate. Euphemia, you put helping people in need over yourself. I hope you can continue to bring smiles and happiness."
Anna then shut off the television and finally fell asleep.
Area 11, Special Administrative Zone, 10:26 am
The questions have finally ceased.
"Now that there are no more questions, I would like to bring this ceremony to a—" Euphemia began, but was interrupted as a soldier came in through. He was pale and his face was of sheer panic.
"Princess Euphemia, General Darlton, you need to hear this!" the soldier exclaimed, his fright clear as day in his voice. He caught their attention, as well as Zero's and Suzaku's.
"At ease, soldier," ordered Darlton. Said soldier tried to calm down, but still had heavy breaths and a somewhat fearful expression in his eyes. "What is it that you wish to report?"
"Sir, we were attacked…," said the distressed soldier.
"Attacked by what?" asked Darlton.
"By what?" asked Euphemia as well.
"You're not going to believe this, General and Your highness," said the soldier. "We don't know much about them, but they came from the sky…they attacked our base stationed at Nishiizu…we fought back…but we were annihilated. General, Princess, I'm the only one left!" The soldier went into a panic attack.
"Keep it together, soldier!" Darlton commanded.
The crowd murmured about the exchange that occurred on the podium, with mixed reactions.
"Sir and Your Highness, we are being invaded by aliens!" exclaimed the soldier.
Darlton and Euphemia looked at him incredulously. Under his mask, Zero had the same expression.
"What?" Euphemia questioned the soldier. "Aliens? Are you serious? Are you okay?"
"Your Highness, I almost died out there. I'm not kidding, we were attacked by invaders from the sky," the soldier said.
"This sounds…unbelievable, I'm sorry," said Euphemia. "You need some rest. You're not well."
"Take him to the nearest infirmary for treatment," Darlton ordered some of the other soldiers. They obeyed and escorted the traumatised soldier away.
"I'm sorry for the trouble," said Euphemia to the crowd.
Literally the moment after she spoke, an eerie horn-like sound rang through the air. While not all that loud, it caught everyone's attention.
"What!?" exclaimed Suzaku as he became tense.
"What was that?" Darlton said in surprise as he looked around. Zero and Euphemia shared his reaction.
The sounds of explosions emerged from the distance beyond the stadium.
"A battle!?" thought Zero, unnerved. "Who could be attacking at this moment? The Black Knights are on standby in the hills, and there are no active resistance groups in the Special Zone!". Lelouch's mind raced with scenarios on what it could possibly be.
"This doesn't sound good…," Euphemia thought nervously.
Darlton's communicator rang. He picked it up and opened the channel to contact. "Status?" he asked.
"We're under attack!" a knightmare pilot's voice replied from the other side.
"By who?" asked Darlton. But rather than a reply, he heard a scream followed by static. "Damn it…" he thought as he grit his teeth.
"Look at the sky!" a person in the crowd exclaimed. Out of the west, fighters flew over their heads. Even as they flew at very fast speeds, it was apparent to them that these were not Britannian fighters nor were they anything known from Earth.
"What in the world…," Euphemia gasped. "Okay, we have a situation here! All civilians, evacuate immediately!", she ordered urgently. "All civilians, remain calm and evacuate!"
The crowd started getting up en masse and began to exit the stadium. Due to the massive numbers, they filled up the paths and as a whole were slow to evacuate.
"All forces!" commanded Darlton. "On the defensive! Form a defensive line to the west!"
"Yes sir!" The soldiers complied and scrambled to their battle stations. An air-raid siren was activated.
"Bravo squad, remain here and defend the evacuees!" Darlton added to his order. Several Sutherlands and Gloucesters remained in guard within the stadium.
The fighters began to open fire, showering the stadium with plasma blasts. The crowd was caught up in it, with many people being hit, injured, and killed, either by said blasts or the debris blown out of the stadium structure by the explosions.
Zero, Euphemia, and Suzaku were aghast at the bloodshed. "No…oh no…," Euphemia thought distressed.
Screams filled the air as panic ensued. The crowd attempted to flee wildly towards every possible exit they could find, and stampedes occurred in the more densely-packed areas. The Britannian knightmares opened fire at the invading fighters.
"We need to get out of here!" one of the leaders of Kyoto exclaimed.
"I agree!" said Kirihara. "Everyone out, now!"
The Kyoto leaders started to flee out of the stadium.
Darlton noticed Zero as the masked man walked towards the Gawain. "Zero, where do you think you're going!?" Darlton questioned and exclaimed, threat and suspicion in his voice.
"I'm going to rendezvous with my Knights and organise battle plans. Once I have scrambled our forces, we will return to assist in defending the people," said Zero.
"Zero, if you think we're just going to allow you to bring your band of terrorists here then—" Darlton said angrily to the masked man, but was then interrupted by Euphemia.
"Let him go," Euphemia ordered simply.
"But, Your Highness—" Darlton spoke out only to be cut off.
"Just let him go! We need all the help we can get!" Euphemia retorted. Darlton was about to protest, but lost his words before they could come out. He complied upon realising she had a point.
Zero went up to the Gawain, boarded it and flew away. Up in the air, the black frame engaged nearby alien fighters with its finger slash harkens on the way.
Suzaku went up to Euphemia. "Your Highness, I need to take you to safety!" he exclaimed. He escorted her as they began to exit the podium to safety. People from the crowd ran past them, some even into the G1 for shelter. As the open stadium was far too risky, they started going towards the G1 as well.
"What about you, General Darlton?" Suzaku asked, turning to the said general.
"I will get to my Gloucester and join in the defence," replied Darlton, who then began to make his way to the G1.
The eerie horn-like sound repeated itself once more, now louder than before.
"What was that!?" Suzaku said, while a strange whirring sound accompanied by heavy footsteps permeated their ears. Euphemia turned to look at her side and was utterly flabbergasted at what she saw. She took a few steps back, her mouth was agape and her eyes wide.
A distance away, but visible over the stadium walls, was the head of a massive tripod. Its weapons were powered up and glowed with a bluish-white light. Right before their eyes, it fired its lasers at a group of people in the stadium, incinerating them to ashes.
Euphemia shook and hyperventilated at the sight before her as the tripod proceeded to shoot at the fleeing crowds without relent, as more people were disintegrated before her eyes into ashes. Their screams of mortified horror filled her ears. She could not speak, her words died in her throat.
"No…this can't be happening…no! Why…why…this was supposed to be their day of hope…they were supposed to come out happy…but instead…they now only face horror and death…," the pink-haired woman thought in anguish as tears began to flow out of her eyes.
Suzaku came up to his stunned princess, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him. "Euphemia, we need to get to safety now! You have to get it together or we'll be killed!" Suzaku exclaimed. This snapped the pinkette out of her stupor. She nodded and started to run towards the G1.
As she looked back, a powerful laser swept through a group of Sutherlands in the stadium, destroying them in a fiery, sweeping explosion. This was followed by laser bursts on the upper portions of the stadium structure, which tore it to rubble in a series of fierce explosions. Large portions of the stadium collapsed, and thousands of people were crushed by massive pieces of concrete and metal in seconds.
The G1 started its engines and began moving, with Euphemia, Darlton, Suzaku, and the Kyoto leaders, along with some 60 civilians, on board.
Euphemia could only watch as she saw the tripod continue to make a massacre out of the thousands upon thousands of people still left at the stadium, as well as the immediate area around it.
"I…I've failed them all," she thought, sobbing as she was wracked with guilt over the massacre.
Avalon, 10:33 am
Prince Schniezel could only stare in shock as he observed the sheer destruction that took place in the SAZ as well as the gigantic three-legged alien machine behind it. His mouth was agape, his eyes wide and he could not utter a single word.
Ashford Academy
Milly, Nina, Laura, and Sayoko noticed that several students were looking out the windows. They joined in to see for themselves. As they looked over the nearby buildings in the direction of Mt. Fuji, they saw plumes of smoke rising from the distance not too far from the base of the mountain.
"What is going on out there?", Laura asked to no one in particular.
A grave realisation hit Milly after a few seconds as she noted the direction the plumes were rising from. "Wait, that's the Special Administrative Zone!" she exclaimed.
"The…the Special Zone!?" Nina squeaked in shock. "Oh no…Princess Euphemia…please be safe…please be safe…," she trailed off with apprehension. Milly held Nina's hand in order to try and calm her down.
Special Administrative Zone sky, 10:35 am
Lelouch and C.C., in the Gawain, were currently on route to the Black Knights, but their path was less than ideal as alien fighters swarmed the skies.
C.C. picked up from her screen that a squad of three fighters were incoming from behind them. "Lelouch, from our rear!" she exclaimed.
"Got it!" said Lelouch.
As the trio closed in, the Gawain turned around. The fighters opened fire but the Gawain managed to evade the shots. The frame pointed and extended its arms towards them, and fired all ten of its finger slash harkens on the middle fighter, piercing its armour through and destroying the cockpit.
The slash harkens were retracted quickly as the Gawain manoeuvred just in time to evade a second fighter's plasma blasts. Before the slash harkens could fully retract they were swung towards the attacking fighter, hitting it on the wing. Lelouch then fired the slash harkens at the fighter's body, destroying it. He turned to the third one and fired all the slash harkens on it. After the harkens were embedded in the fighter's body, the black and gold frame moved its arms and fingers to split the alien craft into pieces.
The Gawain sped towards the hills, but then a whole squadron of fighters came up in the way.
"Out of my way!" exclaimed Lelouch as he fired the Gawain's hadron cannons, destroying the squadron as he swept through them.
C's World
Even the Emperor himself was not spared from widened eyes and agape mouths. This…this was something he never saw coming. The nature of the SAZ's destroyers shocked him.
"What…what is this?" said Charles.
V.V., a child with long blonde hair and purple eyes, walked up next to him. "This certainly is unexpected, brother."
Charles, now having regained his composure, replied. "I never thought that creatures from another world would come upon us. Vincent, this could be bad for Ragnarok…"
"Indeed," V.V. said. "If things get really bad, completing Ragnarok might even become impossible. We have no choice but to put the plan on hold."
"We don't have a choice," said Charles. "We need to set up fortifications on our Thought Elevators. If those extraterrestrials destroy them, then all the work we have done would be for nothing."
"I will have it done." V.V. nodded and then walked away.
"This is certainly an enormous problem," thought V.V. as he walked past the staircase. "But I can take advantage of this. I can still make Marianne's spawn suffer. I have an undercover agent in Ashford Academy. I only need to wait until the time is right."
Special Administrative Zone
Andreas Darlton had boarded his Gloucester and sortied out of the mobile base, which continued to move away. He proceeded to join the defensive line close to the stadium.
Several Sutherlands, Gloucesters, tanks, APCs, and gunships were in a fierce firefight against an alien battalion comprised of insectoid machines and mechapedes. Behind their lines masses of Japanese and Britannian civilians fled along the road. Ruined and burning buildings set a dire atmosphere around them.
The defenders put out their best efforts into repelling the invaders, but they still lost ground at a steady rate.
"What's the status?" asked Darlton as he arrived onto the battlefield.
"We're taking heavy fire! There's too many hostiles!" a pilot answered in a panicked tone.
Darlton got to see for himself as he saw the alien machines on the other side. "Damn, there's too many of them. But we still need to hold out as long as we can," he thought as he joined the line, drew out his frame's assault rifle and fired at the invaders. "We need to hold on until the civilians get to safety!" he commanded.
"Yes, sir!" The pilots complied and barely held the line. Just about a minute later, several gunships were suddenly obliterated by a high-energy laser over them as a tripod came into view.
Knightmares and tanks turned to fire at the tripod, only for their shots to be stopped by a deflector shield before they can hit the invaders' fighting machine. With its arrival, Darlton's defensive line lost ground even faster.
Tokyo Settlement, 10:44 am
News of the attack on the SAZ had reached Cornelia. While Cornelia had openly disapproved of the SAZ, it was still a large-scale attack on Britannian-controlled territory and she wasn't going to stand for it. She had started organising a counteroffensive to aid Darlton's forces and fight the invaders. Jets and gunships were being launched from the airpads, while knightmares and tanks were being lifted out by VTOL transport aircraft.
Cornelia herself was making her way to the hangar where her custom Gloucester was stored. Beside her was her knight Guilford. The duo were being trailed by two members of Cornelia's elite all-female Valkyrie Squadron, Marika Soresi and Liliana Vergamon.
"Princess Cornelia, wait!" Marika called out to her.
"Don't follow me unless you want to come with me," said Cornelia.
"We do, Your Highness! We have to assist you in the fight!" said Liliana.
"Hmm, very well," said Cornelia. "Valkyrie Squadron, you're coming with me. We'll show those invaders from who-knows-where the true strength of Britannia! Let's move out!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" said the two girls as they saluted in unison, followed by the other squadron members. The princess, her knight, and the Valkyrie Squadron proceeded to board their Gloucesters. The frames were loaded on transport aircraft, which took off for the SAZ.
"If those invaders think we'll just stand by as they launch an attack on imperial territory, we will make them regret it," thought Cornelia.
Special Administrative Zone, 10:46 am
Inside the bridge of the G1, Euphemia was silent as she maintained a downcast expression, lines of tears still visible on her face. The screams of the horrified, dying people, all the death and destruction, they all reverberated through her head.
"They were counting on me," she thought disconsolately. "Counting on me to give them a better life this day. Instead, they got a massacre…they only got horror and death…and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything to stop it…couldn't do anything to save them…I couldn't save them!"
Suzaku had made contact with Lloyd and Cecile. "Are you on your way now? We are in urgent need of the Lancelot."
"We're trying, but swarms of enemy fighters are slowing us down!" said Cecile from the communicator. "We'll meet up on the outer edges of the SAZ, okay?"
"Got it," said Suzaku.
Euphemia still wallowed in her despair. Images of the massacre of thousands by the hands of the tripod still played out over and over again in her mind.
She mentally cursed her own inability to act. "I feel so worthless…so helpless…thousands and thousands are being massacred out there…thousands who looked to me for hope, and what am I doing…I'm running away!? I wanted to be able to help…I need to be there for those who rely on me…I can't stand by and let this happen! No…no…no…no…no!"
Something snapped in her mind. She clenched her hands and wiped her tears.
"No more. No more will I simply stand by on the side while others suffer on my watch."
Euphemia took a deep breath and steeled her expression. "I have to do something," she mused. She began to walk out of the bridge.
Suzaku noticed and caught up to her as she walked out into the hallway. "Euphemia, where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm not going to stand by on the sidelines anymore and do nothing while thousands of innocents die, while people risk their lives around me. I refuse to let myself become a useless figurehead anymore. I'm going out there to help," said Euphemia with a serious expression.
"Wait, Euphemia!" Suzaku called to her. "You can't go out there! It's dangerous! I have to get you to—"
"I'd rather risk my life than live knowing I simply let them get slaughtered out there and did nothing but run and twiddle my thumbs, Suzaku," Euphemia cut him off.
"Please, Euphemia, you have to—" Suzaku was cut off again.
"Don't you dare think of me like some fairytale damsel-in-distress, Suzaku!" Euphemia shot back. "Those people, they saw me as their hope. What kind of hope would abandon them to their deaths!? I have to, I have to be there to do my part for them!"
"Those people are my responsibility, do you understand, Suzaku?" she continued on. "I was the one who gave them a promise of a new life. I was the one who brought them there to the stadium. I was the one who they put their faith on. I can't just let them down and leave them to save my own skin like a coward…," she trailed off.
"I used to think that any kind of fighting was absolutely unnecessary," said Euphemia. "But after the horrors of what I have seen today, now I understand…I now understand that sometimes you must fight to protect what you value. So, for better or worse, I will fight to protect those innocent lives, and I will lead them as they have counted on me, as they have trusted me. You know, Suzaku, a loved one of mine from the past once said that if the leader cannot lead, then their subordinates cannot follow."
"Wait…," Suzaku thought. "Could she be referring to…"
"You go to Lloyd and Cecile. I will do what must be done," she finished, leaving no room for further protests. Suzaku stayed silent and watched as the pinkette made her way to the knightmare frame hangar.
Forest, a few hundred metres from Black Knights' hiding location, 10:50 am
After having battled through alien fighters, the Gawain had finally reached clearer skies and made its way to its destination. Lelouch cleared his throat as he prepared to give his order to the Black Knights.
"This is my order to all Black Knights!" Lelouch, as Zero, declared through the communicators. "The Special Administrative Zone has been attacked by a new, unearthly foe! They have come to us with a single-minded intent to wage war on all of humanity! All autonomous armoured battle units, advance on the ceremony grounds and defend the civilians! Hurry!"
Below, the other Black Knights were in disbelief at what had happened.
"This is crazy! We're being invaded by fucking aliens!?" Tamaki cried out.
"The Britannians are not our enemy today. We must aid Princess Euphemia and repel the invaders!" Zero commanded.
"Tamaki, we wouldn't have believed it ourselves. But we got our order from Zero! Let's go!" said Naomi.
"Right!" said Kallen. She rode down the hill with her Guren Mk. II, followed by Rai and his Gekka Pre-Production model. They were followed by the rest of the Black Knights in their frames as they sped down from the hills and into the plain below in the direction of the SAZ.
Special Administrative Zone, 10:54 am
The Black Knights have entered the Zone. Surviving Japanese cheered them on as they passed by.
"The Black Knights!" a Japanese yelled. "They've come to save us!"
"Let's grind those aliens to dust!" Tamaki cried as he zipped along in his Burai.
Alien forces came into view as the Knights moved forward. Kallen manoeuvred her Guren towards an insectoid. The insectoid opened fire, but Kallen managed to dodge its blasts. She closed in, leapt over towards the alien walker's back and then extended the Radiant Wave Surger claw, which grabbed unto the insectoid's abdomen.
"Damn you, alien bastards!" Kallen cried out as she unleased a burst of radiant energy on the alien machine, causing it to overheat and overload. She retracted the arm and sped away to her next targets as the insectoid exploded.
"I could have expected the Britannians to crack down on the Zone, but this…we didn't expect this…," Kallen thought.
Black Knight Burais and alien machines exchanged shots in a fierce firefight.
"Crush the invaders!" Tohdoh cried out as he pulled out his black Gekka's brake sword and activated the thrusters on the back of the blade as he sped towards a mechapede. He evaded the plasma blasts and zipped to the flanks with his sword extended towards the alien machine. The sword's thrusters still on, Tohdoh cut a deep gash through the mechapede's flanks, neutralising the invader machine.
"For Japan!" the Four Holy Swords cried as they charged, revolving blade swords drawn, into a squad of six insectoids. Nagisa led as she slashed the legs and guns of the first insectoid before finishing it off with a well-placed slash through its body. The others followed, with all six insectoids destroyed in a space of twenty seconds.
Rai's Pre-Production Gekka grabbed the head of a mechapede and blasted it with his frame's radiation wave arm. This destroyed the head and the first few segments of the alien machine, leaving behind its middle and rear body sections as inert husks.
As the Black Knights charged on deeper into the SAZ, confident that they could fight the invaders, an eerie foghorn-like sound hit their ears…
Kyoshiro Tohdoh looked around to find the source of the sound. It was the gigantic form of a tripod, looming over their forces…
"Great Kami…," he gasped out.
Note: I took from Independence Day and Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars for units to fill in the alien armies.
The alien fighters are based from the, well, alien fighters from Independence Day: Resurgence, but recoloured with the same colour scheme as the tripods (War of the Worlds 2005) to fit in.
Mechapedes are based on the Scrin Mechapede from C&C:TW, but recoloured to fit with the tripods.
Insectoids are based on the Scrin Gun Walkers from C&C:TW, but with the legs of the Eradicator Hexapod and also given the tripods' colour scheme.