25 December 2016
Naoto POV
"Ladies and gentlemen, this will be our greatest operation, after this Britannia Will stop ignoring us, if anyone has second thoughts this is the time to back down" Nobody talked "Very well, everyone in position".
They arrive at the Port of Nagoya, everything will be brought onto a train that will take the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line, the attack will happen in the city of Atsugi.
He has to get his Knightmare, if everything goes alright they all will be home in a few hours... if it doesn't go well they still have 5 Knightmare(3 Glasgow and 2 Sutherland), he hopes this will be enough, in four hours he will have his answer.
Lelouch POV
He couldn't believe it, he accepted it, maybe... maybe today they will win.
Oghi POV
This will be the moment of the truth for their group, the only thing that really worries him it's Naoto, he shouldn't fight, they are expendable, he isn't, but there isn't time to think about this, his Sutherland was waiting for him.
Tamaki Pov
He can't believe he will not have a Knightmare, the 3 Glasgow were given to Naomi, Minami and Kento... If he still could use his left arm he surely would have been the first choice.
4 hours later
Naoto POV
The train hit the obstacles they had left on the rails and most of the train derailed "The time has come, let's start operation rebirth, we only have 20 minutes "The Knightmares ran towards the train, in the meantime some police Knightmare came out of the wagons, there were seven of them, they tried to fight back but still stunned and divided they only managed to, land some hit before being destroyed, "Tamaki bring the trucks".
Tamaki and his group arrived and started looting the wagons, there wasn't much, it could really be a trap?
Oghi screamed "Naoto, 16... 23 enemy Knightmare, we are surrounded".
Naoto ordered "EVERYONE, retreat through the bridge".
Kento "We can't other 10 Knightmares are blocking it".
A communication was transmitted on an open channel "It's General Bartley speaking, surrender or be destroyed" They arrived in less than 10 minutes, this was definitely a trap.
Oghi"Naoto, what are the orders".
Naoto had never heard Oghi so scared "I..." He only sees one way to escape, sorry Kallen" We will break their encirclement on the left, there are only 4 Knightmares on that road".
Oghi "The other 30 will be on us in no time".
Naoto "I know, I will buy time".
Oghi "But...".
Naoto interrupted him immediately "My Knightmare is the best, and I'm the better pilot... don't worry I will expel in your direction... Oghi I entrust them to yo...".
An explosion interrupted him, the bridge behind him was destroyed, and the enemy Knightmares on it received the same fate.
Naoto received a transmission "Who am I talking to?".
"My name is Zero, general Katase kindly lent us one of his ships, if you want to survive follow my order".
Naoto was out of options, it was worth a try "Very well, what do we have to do?".
"Take the road to the right, we are bombarding them, their position is already compromised"
Naoto did it, 4 Knightmears sent from Zero were already attacking from behind, and before reinforcement could arrive the left wing of Bartely's army was destroyed.
Zero" Now follow the red Knightmare, EVERY STEP".
Naoto was a bit confused, but until now Zero seemed trustworthy.
Zero "General Bartley, my name is Zero, I give you the chance to retreat and avoid further losses".
Bartley didn't answer, he sent what remained of his forces toward them.
Meanwhile, they reached Zero ship, but Bartley Knightmare caught up, 15 vs 9, even with support from the ship and the man on it this will not be eas...
One Knightmare exploded, then another one, at the third Naoto understood, the beach was mined, and despite the losses most of the enemy continued to charge, the further they went, the denser the minefield seemed, when they got close enough to fire it was already too late for them, it was a massacre.
Zero "Reinforcements will arrive soon, we have to go now".
Lelouch POV
Kallen called him on a private line "We made it?".
Lelouch "Yes, Britannia fleet it's too far away, we will soon reunite with Katase fleet".
Kallen "You still haven't explained to me how you convinced him to give you a ship".
Lelouch "Katase is a man of honor, watching Japanese die without doing anything is not in his character, and I may have sweetened the deal with some information about the dirty business of some nobles".
Kallen "Next time can you ask him some man to install those bombs, the water was so cold, if you ever have to blow up a bridge don't count on me".
Lelouch laughed at this "You always complain, do you know how hard was to find Katase? You don't know how many people I had to talk to, to find him".
Kallen "There is still one person you need to talk to, he is arriving".
Immediately afterward He heard someone knocking on the door.
Naoto POV
Zero "So you are Naoto Kozuki, I've been watching you with great interest".
Naoto "I suppose it was you to warn us that this was a trap, I'm grateful for your help, and forgive me for asking, but how did you know about our operation?"
Zero "A fair question, but as I have already said, I've been watching you with great interest, you don't have to worry, as far as I know, no one in your group betrayed you".
Naoto wanted to believe it, until now this man only helped them "Very well, so what's the plan now? You are part of the JLF? We will meet with Katase?".
Zero "You're half right, we will meet with Katase in a few hours, but I'm not part of the JLF".
This was Unhortodox, he never heard of this Zero, and supporting a possible traitor this much... It was strange, especially for the JLF "I will not ask you who you are, I doubt that a man wearing a mask would respond, but what is your goal?".
Zero stayed silent for a while "My goal is to destroy Britannia, I hope we will collaborate again Kozuki".
Naoto was not sure what to think about it, he had seen many with the same goal, thirsty for revenge, usually, they only brought chaos and death to themself and to those close to them, Naoto hoped he'd be a little smarter than that.
Kallen POV
She remained alone in the knightmare, unfortunately Lelouch didn't provided her a disguise, this left her time to think, the last weeks has been crazy, in the morning she was a normal student, but right after school he and Lelouch made the impossible, finding the money for their operation was the first problem, Initially they tried in a legal way, but there was not enough time, she was not proud of robbing her own father, but it was't enough to really damage his business, and it was for Naoto, Even though he is a terrible father, she is convinced that he would understand, Kallen quickly got over it, from that moment it was easier, Lelouch initially managed to get access to a simulator, after having tried some mission she understood how much harder a real battle would have been, it was not a simple 1 vs 1, she had to look at the bigger picture, even the best pilot whil receive some damage being careless, after some failed simulations she learned it; The hardest part was getting an actual Knightmare, even if the JLF perhaps could have lent her one, they had to show something to receive their support; Lelouch disguised himself as a technician, he managed to sabotage a Knightmare right before the start of an exersice, that caused the emergency expulsion of the knightmare, and whit some man they hired, the knightmare was quickly loaded in a truck, about the pilot's cabin luckily they found one on the black market (it costed most of they money they still had).
And then the battle arrived, she was ready for the worst, she feared that she wouldn't be good enough as a pilot and somebody would die, but in the end they won, 3 Knightmares destroyed by her hand, Kallen thought killing someone would be hard, but in the battlefield, it was her or them, she had no hesitation.
It was incredible to think that the most painful part of this whole story was how long she was stuck in the Knightmare, alone and with nothing to do.
Naoto POV
A few hours later
General Katase's pride of the fleet
Words of their victory had already reached the JLF, they were welcomed as heroes, from a strategic point of view it would not be hard for the Empire to replace the losses, but a victory was increasingly rare these days, one in which Britannia was humiliated was something to celebrate; Both Naoto and Zero used the opportunity to get closer to the leading members and gain information, after all the JLF was the greatest rebel group in Japan, he even was pretty excited to know some of the General and commander of the old Japanese army, Naoto gifted to them a good portion of the little equipment that was actually on the train and that they managed to recover, but this was more a diplomatic move to create some sort of friendship, he hopes it will be worth it in the end.
Lelouch POV
After some hours Lelouch was invited to Katase's quarters, it's not a smart idea to reject an invitation from the captain of the ship.
He knocked at the door, and Katase himself opened the door.
Katase "Sit down child".
Lelouch was annoyed by being called child, but he ignored it "What do I owe the invitation to?".
Katase "I was impressed by your performance today, I would like you to join JLF under my direct command".
Lelouch was expecting something similar "It was your idea from the start, right?".
Katase poured himself a drink before answering "When you contacted me the first thing in my mind was how have you done it and if I had to kill you, but thinking about it better you managed to do what Britannia has failed since the war, and talking what you made me sure of one thing, you are young".
This surprised a bit Lelouch, he was pretty average in height, and his voice was distorted.
Katase poured himself another drink and continued "Don't be surprised, you don't talk and act neither as someone of my generation nor as a soldier, you have seen the war, but as a civilian, you grew up in the blood, this is the reason why I gave you what you asked, so young and yet with so many resources, you impressed me."
Katase poured himself another drink emptying the bottle, and continued "I'm old Zero, soon Todoh will take my place, but he will need help, I want to bet on you, and on your potential".
Lelouch was surprised, his original plan was to refuse his offer but he was expecting nothing like this, maybe...
Lelouch "I have a few conditions, 1 I want direct command over my soldier 2 I will be able to act independently 3 I will not take orders from Kusakabe 4 I will keep mine and the identity of my subordinate a secret 5 I will not live in your base".
Katase "Mmm... Until You will respond and follow my order when needed I suppose we can arrange that, but what is your problem with Kusakabe"
Lelouch didn't even search for a kind way to say it "He is an idiot".
