Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.
Kallen scrambled into the Guren's cockpit, rushing to prepare for imminent combat. Tohdoh had given them enough advance warning that they weren't going to be blind sided, but it was still cutting it close. Jeremiah and Anya followed suit, hopping inside the Sutherland Loyal and Mordred Buildup respectively. It wasn't quite clear how many enemy Knightmares were inbound yet, but just knowledge that Nonette had a 9th Generation model, backed up by the most high spec 7th Gen model was cause enough for concern. Any other factors were secondary in nature. This was going to be a battle between aces.
The three Knightmares took to the air, their scanners on the lookout for enemies en route. Kallen's Factsphere eventually picked up high speed movement a ways out. "I have eight incoming signatures. It looks like the Albion Zero and the Shen Hu leading half a dozen Sutherland II."
"We may be outnumbered, but they aren't prepared for Jeremiah Gottwald. Behold, my loyal heart!" The shields of his Sutherland combined, forming its Shield Hadron Cannon. A beam of orange energy surged forward, eventually being intercepted by the Shen Hu's Baryon Cannon. The two beams clashed, struggling to overwhelm one another. Eventually they erupted in a huge explosion, which marked the beginning of the engagement.
Nonette made a beeline for Kallen's Guren, the EM Lance ready to run her through the cockpit. Kallen noticed the Albion Zero's change in appearance, but decided to pay it no mind. She activated the Wave Surger, a disk of radiant energy spiraling towards the Albion. Nonette activated the Lance's Blaze Luminous, angling the energy shield so the disk glanced off easily. She continued forwards, the shield still activated. Kallen realized the energy cone it formed acted as an improvised ramming weapon. Not discouraged in the least, the supplemental mechanisms of the Wave Surger flipped out, and the gauntlet began rotating at high speeds. Its Radiation Rotating Ramming Defensive Barrier humming to life. The two energy lances impacted one another at high speed, sending both Knightmares careening off in separate directions.
The other Knightmares that had been following the Albion eventually arrived to start their own dog fight. The Shen Hu leading the charge. Zhou drew the Shen Hu's sword, rushing to engage the Sutherland Loyal. She lunged forward, the blade skidding off one of the Loyal's shields.
"Who dares to challenge Jeremiah Gottwald?"
"Zhou Xianglin. I have followed in the footsteps of the late Li Xingke. Prepare yourself for an imminent defeat."
"Oh? The follower of that honorable man? A worthy opponent indeed. En guard!" His Sutherland spat out shots from its array of Hadron Blasters, which the Shen Hu deflected with its Slash Harkins. The spinning weapons surged with electricity.
The Sutherland II arrived at the engagement last, all of them opening up fire on the Mordred Buildup. Anya didn't even bother activating the Blaze Luminous shielding. The Buildup's armor was more than tough enough. It had a good 4 metric tonnes of armor plating over the original Mordred. "Pathetic. You'll never damage my Mordred." The Proximity Missile Launchers opened up, firing a salvo at the squad of Sutherland II. Most of them activated their own Blaze Luminous in time, but the lead one was caught off guard. It erupted into a smoking wreck., before crashing into the Ocean below. The remaining Knightmares split off, making sure not to group up for an easy target.
Kallen righted the Guren, quickly honing in on the Albion. Nonette had recovered quickly as well. The Albion spat out a barrage of beam needles from its Energy Wings, which Kallen evaded. She brought the Wave Surger to bear, and launched a beam of energy at the Albion, who intercepted with a quickly drawn V.A.R.I.S Rifle, switched to the Hadron Mode. The two beams collided, before the Guren's managed to overpower the Hadron beam. A quick activation of multiple Blaze Luminous shields saving the Albion from being destroyed.
"Ha! So the Type Special being higher specced wasn't an exaggeration. Schneizel warned me not to get into a shooting match with you, and I can see why." Nonette was impressed. While it was too early to say who had the advantage, it still lent some credence to the threat Kallen was supposed to represent. "It's a good thing I prefer getting in close!"
"Bring it! I've defeated more than one of your kind before. The Knights of the Round are given too much credit!" Kallen drew the Guren's MVS, and she met the Albion in melee. Nonette abandoned the idea of using any ranged weapons, and had once again readied the Lance. The two weapons impacted fiercely, the Blaze Luminous again coating the EM Lance.
Nonette grinned, now in her element, before the Blaze Luminous surrounding the Lance shattered. Her momentum carried her forward, and she narrowly avoided being carved in two. The Lance she had been carrying was not so lucky. The Guren's MVS gouged into it, before the heat it gave off boiled it into slag. Nonette backed up, quickly drawing her own MVS as well.
"Ready to surrender yet?"
"That Guren is something else. Not yet. I guess that's what I get for relying on stock equipment. I'm only getting started." The two 9th Generation Knightmares met again, their respective MVS clashing.
Schneizel watched the feed of the battle. Nonette was putting up a good fight, but it was clear Kallen had the advantage. "Not quite the performance I had hoped for. It's less even than I would have suspected."
"Should we launch more of the Sutherland II? Maybe the distraction would give her the opening she needed," suggested Kanon.
"No, it would merely be a waste of resources. Anya has made short work of half the ones we already had sortie."
"What about Gino or Tohdoh? They could surely make a difference."
"Tohdoh already failed once, and Gino is too likely to betray us. Just because we've discovered the location of Sayoko, and he's no longer needed to play body guard, doesn't mean I'll let him do as he pleases."
"What else could turn the tide then? Zhou is matching Sir Gottwald evenly, but Lady Enneagram is slowly losing ground, and we have only, three-" Kanon winced as another Sutherland II was shot down by the Mordred's Stark Hadron Cannon. "Make that two Sutherland's keeping Lady Alstreim preoccupied."
"Oh don't worry, I have a present for them on its way. It will be more than enough to swing the tides of battle."
Kanon gave him a questioning look, but was met with a sly grin. He supposed Schneizel was keeping whatever was coming as a surprise. It was clear he was enjoying whatever was about to unfold.
Anya managed to shoot down the last remaining Sutherland II. After realizing they had no means of damaging her Knightmare, they had decided to slip off and harass her from different angles at the same time. It had taken a little while, but they had all died eventually. Her Mordred was too overwhelming in comparison. It had never even been a fair fight. Her warning systems blared at her, letting her know an enemy had her locked on. She lazily turned the Mordred to face whatever the new threat was. It would die as quickly as the others. Her eyes widened into saucers as the Mordred was engulfed in a gargantuan beam. She activated the Blaze Luminous, which held for a few seconds, before shattering all at once. The thick armor of the Mordred bagan melting away, layer after later dissolving from the onslaught. The beam finally subsided, revealing the Mordred, now a smoking mess.
The battles that had been going on came to a dead stop. All the pilots watched as the Mordred fell freely into the dark depths below. Nobody moved. From off in the distance, a gargantuan figure was finally noticed, towering over every Knightmare in the battlefield.
Jeremiah Gottwald was dreaming. He supposed that's what it had to be. For the simple fact that if he wasn't, then the world was surely ending. He watched as the Mordred made impact with the Ocean, causing a massive geyser of water to shoot up. Anya Alstreim was possibly dead. The behemoth that had shot her down approached closer. He took in its appearance, and realized he knew this machine well. Both from hearsay, and personal experience. The Knight Giga Fortress before him was derivative of his former Sutherland Seig. The weapons were different, but the overall appearance was largely the same. In place of the Hyper Velocity Canon, was a Hyper Hadron Cannon. Instead of drawing power from the Energy Filler, the cannon was fed a series of cartridges from the back of the unit. The Lance-type Slash Harkins had been replaced by large manipulator arms. It maintained the missile launchers, but the largest difference was the Knightmare helming the whole ensemble. The Lancelot Trial.
"So that's the backup Schneizel promised eh? I never thought I would have seen the Elphaba again after the Glinda Knights had defeated it." Nonette broke the silence, causing two things to happen at once. Kallen regained her focus, causing her to rush the Albion again, while Jeremiah Gottwald lost his self control.
"You're dead!" Jeremiah fired his own Hadron Cannon, attempting to shoot down the Elphaba. The Knight Giga Fortress simply activated a Blaze Luminous shield, an upgrade that the previous Elphaba had lacked. The Hadron beam impacted its shield, but scattered . The output between the two machines was too different in scope. Jeremiah swore, before dodging a return fire in the form of its missile launchers.
The Guren's Wave Surger glowed an angry red, as it chased the Albion Zero. Nonette was trying to avoid the gauntlet, but somehow the Guren was a good deal faster. Was this really the performance of something from the same generation as her Knightmare? After the Mordred had gone down, it was as if a switch had been flipped. Kallen had gone deathly quiet. Her tactics had taken a much more aggressive stance. Nonette drew her twin V.A.R.I.S. Rifles, and began to spray fire, attempting to buy herself some distance. The Guren's Wave Surger produced a full body shield, and Kallen just straight up ignored the attacks coming her way.
Zhou had been thrown off by the sudden appearance of the KGF, but eventually she came back into focus. Her opponent was now engaging the Elphaba, and as far as she could tell, was losing spectacularly. The Sutherland Loyal narrowly avoided a shot from the Hyper Hadron Cannon, losing its left arm in the process. On the other hand, Nonette was on the business end of the Guren's Radiant Wave Surger, and had already given up trying to engage it directly. Having made up her mind, Zhou flew the Shen Hu after the Guren, firing the Baryon Cannon to give Nonette Space. Without looking, the Guren raised the MVS in its left hand, and split the beam from the Shen Hu down the middle.
Nonette fired off the Albion's four Slash Harkins, which were intercepted by the Radiant Wave Shield. They all detonated, depriving the Albion Zero of another weapon. The Shen Hu drew in close, its sword attempting to gut the Guren, but a quick impact from the Guren's own Slash Harkins clipped its Air Glide System, knocking it out of the air.
It was finally dawning on Nonette why she was having so much trouble with Kozuki. Surely, the Guren was the superior Knightmare, but the pilot was the real strength of that combination. Kallen Kozuki eclipsed herself in skill, and not by a small margin. At the beginning of the battle, things had seemed relatively even, but she slowly began to be overwhelmed. After Alstreim had been shot down, Kallen was no longer holding anything back.
The Guren's Wave Surger launched from its right arm, attached to a wire, akin to a Slash Harkin. Nonette barely dodged it, but then was surprised when a rocket booster activated, causing the Wave Surger to turn sharply. Having no choice, she blocked it with an MVS, which then exploded as well. The Wave Surger began to retract, and Nonette aimed a V.A.R.I.S , readying to shoot the Guren down before the gauntlet reconnected to the body.
Kallen threw the Guren's MVS, which skewered the Albion Zero through the arm carrying the V.A.R.I.S., forcing Nonette to eject the limb before the whole unit was lost. Apparently satisfied with the condition of her enemy, Kallen peeled away, and headed for the Elphaba, who had caught the Sutherland Loyal in one of its giant arms.
The pilot of the Elphaba saw the Guren closing in, and fired off a shot from its Hyper Hadron Cannon. Kallen activated the drill-like barrier of the Waver Surger, and split the Hadron beam. The Guren continued onwards, eventually overpowering the Hadron Cannon. The Elphaba's Blaze Luminous went up, but was easily shattered. Kallen plunged the Wave Surger into the Elphaba, causing its frame to bubble up.
The pilot ejected the Lancelot Trial, and the Elphaba's body catastrophically failed, blowing away the Guren, Lancelot Trial, and now severely damaged Sutherland loyal. Jeremiah broke off, his Knightmare making a beeline to where the Mordred was last seen.
Kallen once again turned her focus onto Nonette, whose Knightmare was down a limb, and now only carried a single MVS as its sole remaining weapon. Nonette felt a shiver run down her spine, unsure if she was going to survive the next onslaught.
Tohdoh knew now was their chance. Kallen had somehow turned a hopeless situation around completely. He contacted Minami and Sugiyama to move up with their plans. They had to strike now while everything was in chaos. The fighting strength of Schneizel's forces had been shattered. Only Nonette Enneagram was barely hanging on, and whoever had been piloting the Knight Giga Fortress had retreated after its destruction.
Chiba tailed Tohdoh, alongside a small force of Black Knights who decided to join their cause. Minami would lead a separate force to take control over the bridge, while he himself would rescue the prisoners being held captive.
His group ran down through the passage ways, coming to the cell blocks. Minami had given him an old override passcode for each of the rooms. The only issue was it had to be entered one at a time, an inconvenient security measure given the circumstances. The group arrived at the first cell, which carried Cornelia. After entering the override, she jumped to her feet, a look of anger appearing.
"Tohdoh! Here to finish me off I see."
"Hardly. We're breaking you out, and staging a coup. Minami is attempting to overtake the bridge. Here, take this." He handed her a pistol, which surprised her for a second, before she quickly caught onto the situation.
"I'm going after Guilford. He's still in the medical bay."
Tohdoh paused before nodding. "You have less than five minutes. If the coup fails, then we're falling back to the Knightmare hangar." Cornelia nodded her agreement before going off to her goal.
Tohdoh turned, seeing Chiba had already freed Cecile Croomy, and was currently doing the same for Nina Einstein. He moved onto Lloyd Asplund, when he heard gunshots ring out. A glance to his left, and he saw a Black Knight officer that had joined them go down. "Chiba, we're out of time! Retreat to the fallback point." He opened up a return fire, catching someone in the head.
"Yes sir! Everyone follows me!" The group fell in line behind her, including Cecile and Nina. Tohdoh gave them covering fire, before eventually bringing up the rear.
"We didn't get to everyone, but this will have to do for now. If we survive this, we can always free the others later."
As they continued onwards, Tohdoh saw Minami retreating, another decently large group following him.
"Minami, what happened on the bridge?"
"The resistance was too heavy. As soon as they realized what we were up to, things went south. We managed to get Minase, Hinata, and Futaba to come with us, but Sugiyama and a few others went down during the firefight."
"Damn it! They must have expected us to try something. Schneizel is too paranoid for his own good. Cornelia is grabbing Guilford, so she should meet with us shortly."
Cornelia slipped her way past another guard patrol. It seemed the ship was on high alert. Not surprising with the amount of havoc Tohdoh and the others were causing. Even though she dearly wanted to pay her brother Schneizel a visit to place a bullet in that pretty little blond head of his, her Knight came first. Guilford had taken a bullet for her, and she still felt riddled with guilt about it.
As she came to the medical bay, she spotted a couple Black Knights guarding the door to the room he was resting in. She felt bad about killing people who probably didn't know what was really going on, but she had done much worse things in the past. A couple of quick headshots, and they crumpled to the floor. She lifted her boot and roughly kicked down the door. A startled Guilford looked clearly alarmed until he saw who it was.
"Princess!", he tried getting up, but his wrist caught on the handcuffs he was still shackled to. It appeared they had taken some precautions to make sure he hadn't been able to flee.
"I'm getting you out of here. Tohdoh and a few others managed to break me out. They were attempting a coup, but it seems to have not gone as well as they had hoped. The fallback point is the Knightmare hangar. Are you well enough to fly?"
Guilford nodded as Cornelia picked his handcuffs. After massaging his wrist for a few seconds, he hopped out of his bed. A wince caused Cornelia to give him a worried look, but he played it off. "Don't worry, I'm just a little tender. Let's get moving."
They both ran out of the room, Guilford pausing for a second to grab a rifle from one of the dead guards outside. The pair made a bee line for the hangar, before they had to duck for cover. One of the guard patrols had come running at the sound of Cornelia's gun shots. "Wonderful, exactly what we needed right now." Cornelia hid behind some metal crates, periodically exchanging fire with the others.
"Princess, I'll buy you time to get past them. If we get captured again, they'll execute us for sure."
"If I had merely wanted to escape, I would have. You sacrificing yourself for my sake would defeat the purpose of my coming to rescue you."
Guilford frowned a second, before a confident grin split his face. "Then we'll just have to both make it out of here alive." With a nod in return, the pair rushed forward, dispatching the guards in their way with practiced efficiency.They continued onwards, eventually making it to their destination. Tohdoh's group was in another firefight, while Cecile and Nina were escaping into the Moosa. The Knightmare took off, and Tohdoh's group started falling back now that the pair of scientists had gotten away.
Cornelia and Guilford caught the group pinning down Tohdoh and the others in a pincer attack, which quickly thinned their numbers enough for Tohdoh to finish the rest off.
"It's good to see you safe. Guilford, I'm glad she was successful in your rescue." Tohdoh nodded at the man, who returned the sentiment. "We need to get out of here. Noncombatants will ride single passenger to any Knightmare pilots. We might have failed to take the Ikaruga back, but I still have a plan."
Cornelia raised an eyebrow "Which is?"
"We take one of the escort ships. They'll be less defended, and we have enough troops to commandeer one of them."
"Ha! I like your style Tohdoh. Let's get moving."
They all entered their respective Knightmares. Cornelia and Guilford in their Quin Roses, and Tohdoh in his Zangetsu. Minami, Chiba, and the others each picked out random Sutherland II. The noncombatants, including the three bridge operators, squeezed into the cockpits as well.
"Let's move out!" Tohdoh fired the Zangetsu's machine guns, which blew out the hangar doors of the Ikaruga. He took off flying, the other Knightmares following suit.
Cornelia and Guilford were about to fly out of the makeshift exit, when the heavily damaged Albion Zero flew into the ship, skidding roughly across the hangar floor.
"What's the Albion Zero doing here?" Cornelia hadn't heard anything about it being prepped for battle. Then she recognized the color scheme. "That's the same as the Lancelot club. That would mean..."
The Albion Zero came to its feet, and lifted an MVS in its only remaining arm. Cornelia bristled at the aggressive move, and readied to enter melee combat. To her surprise, the Albion launched the MVS like a Javelin, and hurled it at Cornelia's Quin Roses.
"Princess!" On instinct, Guilford lurched his Knightmare forward, pushing Cornelia's out of the way. The MVS gutted his own mech, and impaled it through the cockpit, narrowly missing bisecting Guilford in two.
"Guilford!" Cornelia panicked, moving to grab his Knightmare, but he pulled back.
"It's too late, my systems are critical. The Yggdrasil drive was hit. Please, save yourself."
Cornelia didn't budge, refusing to give into his demand. "I refuse. I promised to get you out of here alive."
"Then you leave me no choice." He activated his Quin Roses' jump jets, and pushed Cornelia's Knightmare out of the Ikaruga. She activated her Air Glide System, and righted her Knightmare after free falling for a few seconds. She started to fly back, but was stopped when several of the Ikaruga's gun turrets started spitting fire her way.
Guilford turned his attention to the barely in one piece Albion Zero, which didn't have any weapons until it picked an assault rifle off of a docked Sutherland II.
"So this is my end? It could have been worse. At least I served my lady one final time. He ripped the MVS out of his cockpit, and gripped it in the Quin Roses hands. "I am Gilbert G.P. Guilford, former Knight of Honor of Princess Corneli li Britannia. Prepare to meet your end. En guard!" His Knightmare rushed forward, before assault rifle fire tore its sabotaged armor to shreds. A round hit the Knightmare's core, and it blew the whole frame apart violently. Guilford smiled one last time before all he saw was ash and flame. Then everything went dark.
Kallen desperately shielded the others from the fire of the Ikaruga's turrets. Enemy Sutherland II sortied from the escort ships, numbering in over a dozen in total. Tohdoh, leading the vanguard of theirs, quickly cut one in half. Cornelia, now enraged from the death of Guilford, jumped headlong into the fray, easily impaling another enemy Knightmare with her EM Lance. In a matter of minutes the enemy force was mopped up, the left flanking escort ship going down in the chaotic battle. Tohdoh and Cornelia led their force onto the escort carrier flanking the Ikaruga on the right. They all exited when they landed inside the hangar, where they immediately were met with another firefight. Things still weren't getting any easier for them it seemed.
The Scatter Hadron Cannons of the Ikaruga began charging, taking aim at the escort ship the enemy had gathered on. It opened fire, before Kallen intercepted it with the Guren. It raised the Wave Surger, pouring all its power into its shield. The Hadron beam began to slowly overpower the shield, before both forces gave out. The beam dissipated, and the Guren's shield overloaded, something in the gauntlet failing, the broken weapon now blowing out smoke.
With the main weapon of the Ikaruga now recharging, Kallen systematically destroyed the turrets of the Ikaruga, finishing by damaging the Hadron Cannons beyond usability. Now unable to contribute the fight, the Ikaruga began to turn around, readying its retreat.
Kallen flew the Guren onboard their new carrier, and saw the hangar littered with the bodies of several Black Knights. It was impossible to tell friend from foe. Luckily, no one she recognized was visible. She exited the Guren, and stumbled a bit, before collapsing to her hands and knees. Her adrenaline high crashed, and sweat was pouring down her in streams. That had easily been one of the most intense battles she had even participated in. The sound of another Knightmare entering the hangar caused her to panic momentarily before she turned and saw the damaged Sutherland Loyal of Jeremiah. In its remaining arm were Sayoko and Ohgi, clinging desperately to not be dropped. They were gently deposited to the floor, before Jeremiah's cockpit opened up.
In his arms was an unconscious, but still alive Anya Alstreim. She looked mildly injured, but all in one piece.
"Jeremiah! Is she okay!?" Kallen jumped to her feet, running over to check on the girl.
"She's fine. It's a miracle. The Mordred's armor held out enough to keep her alive. The extra armor her newer model had saved her life."
"Thank God. Somehow the five of us all made it out of that alive. So what now?"
"She's still in need of medical attention, but it appears there is still a battle going on inside this ship. Kaname, Kozuki, please keep Anya safe while I help finish things here. Sayoko, follow me." Jeremiah deposited Anya into Ohgi's arms, and took off in a run, ready to end this fight. Sayoko followed behind him, her weapons drawn.
Ohgi set Anya down gently onto a wooden crate, careful not to injure the girl further. "I'm glad she's safe. When the Mordred went down, I feared the worst."
"Me too. After I thought she was dead, I went cold. Things like holding back didn't matter anymore. It was kind of scary actually. I haven't felt that since the battle on the Damocles. I thought times like that were in the past. Damn Schneizel, he's ruined everything."
"Well now it's up to us to stop whatever he has planned. We dealt him a pretty heavy defeat today. It will take him a while for him to lick his wounds. The Ikaruga's in no shape for a fight, and you did a number on the Shen Hu and Albion Zero."
"Yeah, the Knight Giga Fortress was destroyed too, but the damned pilot managed to flee before I could take them out too. Nonette was a higher priority at the time. No one else was a match for her."
"You were more than a match. You dismantled her in your duel."
"True, but now the Guren's damaged. Something in the Radiant Wave Surger failed when I blocked the Ikaruga's Hadron Cannons."
"We'll get it repaired eventually. We have a whole carrier ship of supplies to work with now. Hopefully someone that joined us knows how the Guren ticks."
"We'll have to wait and see." Kallen stared at the Guren. She hoped Ohgi was right. Without its claw operating properly, and it missing its MVS, she didn't know if she could overpower Nonette as easily the next time she came for a fight.
Schneizel was furious. At every turn Kallen Kozuki had fouled his plans. The Elphaba had been destroyed, only narrowly managing to eject the Lancelot Trial in time. The Shen Hu and Lancelot Albion Zero were heavily damaged. Everything he had prepared for this confrontation had been foiled.
Not to mention Tohdoh had chosen to capitalize on the poor luck by staging a coup. Several prisoners had been set free. Cornelia, Cecile Croomy, and Neena Einstein. The primary bridge crew of the Ikaruga had gone with them, choosing to side with Minami Yoshitaka, the former Captain of the Ikaruga, who had joined forces with Tohdoh. Together, they had commandeered one of the Ikaruga's escort ships, and managed to destroy the other one.
The only solace he had was that Guilford was dead, and that the Mordred had been destroyed when Anya Alstreim was caught off guard. The only remaining prisoners he still had in custody were Lloyd Asplund, Suzaku, and Nunnally.
Schneizel finally composed himself. Not all was lost. He still had pieces remaining on the board. All he had to do was make sure to use them to their full effect.
"Kanon, offer Lloyd Asplund his freedom in exchange for his cooperation. Make sure to let him know in no uncertain terms that he will be executed if he refuses."
"Gladly. What of the other prisoners?"
"I'm going to have a chat with our dear Sir Kururugi, or should I say Zero. It's about time the Knight of Justice lives up to his reputation. I'm sure if we tell him his dear friend Nunnally is our hostage, he won't refuse to cooperate." Schneizel scowled. If Suzaku refused, he was a dead man. First though, he'd have to watch helplessly as Schneizel put a bullet into Nunnally's brain. He was done negotiating at this point.
A/N: Things have turned around for the heroes. They managed to steal a ship for their own use, and Schneizel and his forces were utterly defeated, most of their Knightmares and even the Ikaruga in desperate need of repair. Too bad Schneizel becomes more dangerous the more desperate he is. Thanks for reading. Until next time.