"The purpose of a blitzkrieg is to be as grandiose as possible. This way, the enemy will be too overtaken by dread to mount an effective defense."
- Schneizel el Britannia
Chapter XIII: Tora Tora Tora
Pacific Ocean
April 10, 2025
"Shadow Two-Four to Shadow Two-Three, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Shadow Two-Four spoke as he turned his head to the side of his canopy to look back at his wingman and flight leader.
"Shadow Two-Three to Shadow Two-Four, unfortunately I am. Keep to the approach and stay alert," Shadow Two-Three replied as he angled his Typhoon fighter to a more level flight course that would come closer to what they were sent out to track.
The subject in question was a massive gray cloud that was rolling across the ocean surface and rising all the way up and over two kilometers into the sky. Like a rolling blanket of fog from old seafaring tales, nobody knew where the cloud had come from or whether it was a natural phenomenon or not. No conventional sensors could scan into the cloud, and anything that was sent inside of it disappeared without a trace. And to make matters worse, the cloud was moving at a speed of sixteen knots, and was heading straight for the Area 7 island of Crusoe (once known as Oahu) and the Britannian military bases that had been placed there. Needless to say, it drew a lot of attention from the Imperial hierarchy, which was why the two Typhoons were out there.
But even with the Typhoons' advanced radar, neither pilot was able to detect anything on the inside of the overlapping cloud, while the gray shade was only growing larger when cast against the fighters' individual canopies. Nothing seemed to penetrate into the cloud's interior, yet there wasn't any indication of electronic jamming; it was as if the cloud itself was nonexistent and the two fighters were chasing a ghost.
Resisting the urge to break off, Flash pushed back his disposition and contacted the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft in the area, which went by the callsign "Fort". "This is Shadow Two-Three to Fort, my scope is clear. I'm detecting nothing in that cloud."
After a moment, the AWACS operator replied. "Fort to Shadow Two-Three, continue your current vector and keep scanning. You are authorized to enter the cloud." said the young voice on the other end.
"Roger, Fort. Maintaining vector," Shadow Two-Three replied, keeping his aircraft steady, though he was still feeling anxious about getting too close to that gray mass, even with the heavy firepower his fighter had to offer. No matter how he tried to reason about it, there was just something off with that cloud, something that Shadow Two-Three did not want to find out about. But at the same time, orders were orders, and so he kept his course.
"Fucking wanker," Shadow Two-Four stated over the radio frequency between him and Shadow Two-Three. "If they want to scan that blob so badly, why not use the AWACS for that?"
"Not now," Shadow Two-Three stated up front before his wingman could complain further. "We'll make our pass and then bug out to Hickam."
"Roger," Shadow Two-Four signed off, not fully convinced but still willing to follow his flight leader, as per his duty. With that, the two fighters angled out and proceeded to enter the cloud.
Immediately upon entering, the outside of the canopy became filled with a grey and black mass that totally obstructed the pilots' visual. To make matters worse, static began to fill the sensor displays, instrument panels and even the communication channels, with any spoken words sounding broken up and strained. "Ge-t-ng ac-ve ja-mm-g. Y-to-Sha-w T-ro?"
"Lik-ly…" Shadow Two-Three tried to reply, but his own words were broken up as well when they reached his wingman's ears. The more and more they journeyed into the cloud, the less and less resolute he felt about the situation.
For the next few minutes, the two fighters flew deeper into the abyss practically blindfolded. No matter how far they went, their onboard sensors were picking up nothing, and their communications were little more than garbled word mashing. Even with night vision active neither pilot was able to see very far ahead of them, as if they were flying into a void.
Somewhere in the abyss however, Shadow Two-Three's eye seemed to catch a silhouette in the distance. What is that? Could that be…?
"Sha-you se-at?" Shadow Two-Four called out, signifying that he saw the shadow as well.
"Aff-tiv-. Mo- in an- tak- -ook." Shadow Two-Three replied back as he turned his plane toward the shadows in the distance.
As they drew closer to the black shapes, they began to take more prominent forms, transforming from black blobs to clearly metal objects, long and narrow from both ends. The details only grew more apparent as the fighters closed range, and soon enough, Shadow Two-Three and Shadow Two-Four were directly over the shapes, close enough to see the hyper-velocity cannons and winged sword sigils on their hulls. Those are warships! Shadow Two-Three let out with wide eyes.
A shrill noise soon emitted from Shadow Two-Four's cockpit display, signifying that the enemy had gained a missile lock. "I'm-be-pai-ted!"
"Go-evas-ve!" Shadow Two-Three exclaimed as his own sensors beeped shrilly, indicating he was also under a missile lock. Before his wingman could carry out that order however, he caught sight of a single missile flying out of one of the ships and striking Shadow Two-Four's Typhoon in the engine, detonating it and engulfing the entire plane in fire before the hapless pilot could even eject.
But Shadow Two-Three had no time to mourn or get angry, as his radar caught another missile incoming and heading toward him. His training reacting faster than his mind could process, he began dumping flares and executing a series of twists and turns to evade, while sending out a call to the AWACS at the same time. He only hoped that it made it past the jamming. "This-Sha-Two-Thr-ha-bee-gaged! Rep-t-the-re-hostil-th-clo-d!"
Unfortunately his efforts were in vain, as in spite of his evasive techniques, the missile had locked onto the plane's radar signature and homed right in. The last thing Shadow Two-Three saw before the world went white was the missile's nose intersecting right into his cockpit canopy.
Imperial Air Force Hickam
County of Crusoe, Area 7 (Sandwich Islands), Britannian Empire
Air Marshal Sir Walter Short, Earl of Crusoe, still could not believe what he was seeing on the screen in front of him. In fact, such was his disbelief that he blinked his eyes to make sure that his vision wasn't slipping away with his age.
As he stared up at the tactical screen at the end of the command center, Short's eyes befell a massive blob of nothing over the southwestern quadrant of the Pacific. Whereas anywhere else on the screen he could have seen icons depicting Britannian ships or fighters on their patrol runs across the ocean, that area of the screen, ranging some eight kilometers in diameter, was totally blank of sensor readouts or data. Radar could not pierce it, and the only information he got from any ships or aircraft that were sent there was that the "blob" in question appeared to be a massive blanket of fog. That wouldn't have bothered Short much, except that it was on a direct course for Area 7, and despite its slow speed it still kept coming.
The whole idea of an unknown force incoming toward his territory made Short stroke his brows in near exhaustion. By this point in time he was a dinosaur through and through, having served in the Imperial Air Force for over forty years and through multiple wars, including the Indochinese War and the Second Pacific War only fifteen years ago. Having been decades since he had stepped into the cockpit of a fighter, and only capable of doing so much as a commander and a strategist, Short had decided to live out the rest of his commission in comfort by taking the title of Earl of Crusoe and full control of the air force detachment in Area 7, which among many things served as the Empire's primary basin in the pacific. From that point forward the days had been going more slowly for the Air Marshal, almost as if he had officially retired.
As far as deployments went, Area 7 wasn't as bad Indochina or the Middle East. The former Sandwich Islands had long been assimilated into the Britannian superstructure as had their original inhabitants, the once savage Sevens, while their proximity to the Imperial Homeland meant that the Area would always be properly civilized and modernized with the latest technologies and comforts. As well, due to the dual presence of Pearl Harbor and Hickam as well as several other military installations, no opposing force had ever attempted an invasion of the isles even for the foothold it would represent against the Empire, making assignment to Area 7 more of a vacation from the outside world and wars instead of a true military posting. It also helped that the closest foreign power to the islands had been the Republic of Japan, that is before they were turned into Area 11 and then properly wiped out when they tried to rebel.
But now that had all changed, and for the first time since coming to this land, Short would be forced to deploy his forces for true combat purposes and he was not looking forward to it. Fortunately he was not shorthanded in numbers, as he had more than a few fighter and bomber wings at his command along with one or two Griffin-class air cruisers to throw at this incoming threat. If nothing else, Short could cooperate his efforts with his naval counterpart Admiral Kimmel and launch a double air/sea barrage into the cloud, which would at the very least draw any enemy ships or mobile fortresses out of the cover for a direct confrontation. That is, assuming there were actual enemy ships within the cloud as opposed to the off chance of it being a natural weather phenomenon.
However, what bothered Short the most wasn't so much the cloud itself or the idea of an invasion, but rather who was behind it. For the last five years Britannia had enjoyed unparalleled dominance in the Pacific as no other nation held ground there. Japan was gone, the Chinese Federation had been annexed, and all of the EU's holdings in the region had been taken by Britannia through the conquest of the Far East. Sure, the EU still had a massive naval force, but they were thought to have been gathered in the Atlantic trying to stave off the advances in Western Eurasia and Africa. As such, there was no possible way that the EU could put a force together to strike at Area 7 on the other side of the world.
That made Short consider another possibility, one that brought him great dread. Could it be the force that struck Pendragon?
It was a possibility, and a fairly large one. Though he did not know the group's name, he like every other Britannian had seen the siege on Pendragon and the large military force involved with it. He had also known that the enemy force had used some form of stealth technology to evade the homeland's warning systems for the strike, as well as the fact that it had used a tidal surge and the resulting steam based smokescreen to evade Prince Schneizel's forces in the Bering Sea. Logically they were attempting to use the same trick here, using a cloud of steam to conceal their strike group's number and strength, advancing toward the Area while destroying anything they came across with unrelenting force.
But at the same time, Short thought, there were holes in that plan as well. First, if they had a stealth system that allowed them to sneak past Britannian radar with ease, then why go to all the trouble of the steam cloud? Surely they would have tried to find a hole in Area 7's defenses to sneak through to launch another sneak attack. Second, despite the concealing nature of the cloud, it only served to gain notice as opposed to not; it should have been so obvious that even a half-witted dolt of a commander would realize that fact. So again, why go to the trouble of making the cloud, and have it move at such a slow speed no less?
Short didn't want to think about it, but he had a sinking feeling that it would be a long night ahead of him, unless he could somehow get an idea of what he would be fighting. Like that was going to happen at this time.
"Marshal, we've lost contact with Shadow Flight," one of the base operators looked back at him with a sense of urgency.
"Last transmission?" Short inquired.
"Nothing after they entered the cloud sir. AWACS believes it to be a form of comm. jamming, coming from inside the cloud," the operator replied.
Short's expression turned even grimmer. "That settles it then. There is something manmade in that cloud, and it's definitely hostile." he muttered, before turning to the base adjutant beside him. "Go to Combat Alert Status One. Mobilize all available forces for battle, and advise Admiral Kimmel to do the same."
"Aye sir." the adjutant replied, before turning to those before him. "Combat Alert Status One!" he ordered, the blaring sound of the alert klaxon becoming active a moment later. "Prepare all aircraft for battle! Send word to the Homeland: unknown hostile force sighted off Area 7 coast, moving to engage!"
As the orders were carried out and men and women scrambled around him, Short crossed his arms together and continued to stare up at the miniature "blob" on the tacscreen as it continued to make its way across the pacific toward his Area. Despite his unease, he was still an Air Marshal, and still tasked with the defense of Imperial territory; therefore, he would face this adversary just as he had done with others in the past. But even with that resolution, he could not get rid of the sinking feeling in his gut, which was telling him something was wrong…
Black Knights mobile battleship Izumo
Pacific Ocean
It was the deep breath before the plunge, as quoted from one of Lelouch's favorite childhood stories. It had taken a few days, but he had done his best to set up everything properly for the strike; from deliberating with Ryukyu's elected officials over the vitality and repercussions of the plan, which alone was more of a headache than facing Britannia had ever been, to gathering the resources together to make the strike force, getting Rakshata to create the special technology needed for the beginning of the operation and then performing near constant simulations of the attack itself at Ginowan. But now everything was set into motion, and in little more than an hour, what would be the first act of Lelouch's renewed holy war against Britannia would come to pass. All he needed to do now was wait a little longer.
Sitting back on his command chair in the Izumo's bridge, Lelouch's eyes were now fixed on the tactical screen along with the rest of the bridge crew's. Displayed on the tacscreen was a map that showed the individual ships of the taskforce and their current location in regards to their course toward Pearl, along with the red marks that represented the final positions of the Typhoons that had just been shot down. Upon looking at those marks, Lelouch's eyes narrowed somewhat. Now that the first move has been made, they'll begin to take the perceived threat more seriously…
It was quite an elaborate scheme, even by his standards. His taskforce, which consisted of the battleship Izumo, the cruisers Mikasa and Hiei, and the submarines Ryujin and Isonade, was advancing on a leisurely course toward Area 7 under a great shroud of fog. This was accomplished by positioning the two submarines at a specific distance around the flanks of the three warships, where they would use the radiant wave generators they had been specially equipped with to create a radiation field underneath the taskforce and evaporate the surrounding seawater, forming the "cloud" that now covered them. Under said cover, they purposely moved at a slow speed of sixteen knots while destroying any ship or aircraft that had entered the cloud in similar fashion to a true sea storm; so far they had sunk three patrol ships and now two fighter craft that had been deployed straight from Crusoe Island itself to investigate. The taskforce had been like that for hours now, which meant it would not be long before the white side made their countermove, which would consist of deploying a joint air-sea taskforce to intercept the "cloud". And that was exactly what Lelouch wanted.
"Did they send out a transmission?" Lelouch inquired toward the communications operator, whose name was Mutsuki if he remembered correctly.
Looking at her console, Mutsuki shook her head. "Negative. The lead pilot attempted a burst, but our jamming canceled it before it could reach the enemy AWACS."
"I see," Lelouch nodded, putting a finger underneath the "chin" of his mask in consideration. Though he had hoped the pilot would have been able to send word out that there were warships hidden in the cloud, if only to incite the Britannians further, it likely made no difference. The loss of the two fighters alone would make the Britannians realize that there was a hostile threat in the cloud instead of hostile weather. "Time for Phase Two?"
"Seventeen minutes and thirty-six seconds," Minami confirmed after checking his watch. Though deep inside he retained his own doubts about Lelouch's plan, which the masked revolutionary was keenly aware of, the Izumo's captain was professional enough to keep them to himself for the time being.
Upon that declaration, Ohgi, who was standing just a few meters from Zero's command area, looked up. "Shouldn't we be preparing our knightmares for launch Zero?"
"Not just yet General. We're still a good distance from Area 7, and we don't want to jump the gun before the fighting starts," Lelouch replied in his mechanically smooth tone, before turning back to Mutsuki a moment later. "But all the same, order our pilots to go on final standby alert. When the time comes, I want our entire force to be ready."
"Yes sir," Mutsuki replied as she activated the ship's intercom system and began broadcasting Lelouch's orders.
After she finished, Lelouch stood up from his chair and looked back at Ohgi and Minami. "Once we reach Phase Two, send a final broadcast to Naha, secure line: at 1830 hours, Taskforce Izumo has made final preparations to engage the Britannian Pacific Fleet in Area 7. All communications will be ceased thereafter until combat operations have concluded," After he saw them nod in confirmation of their orders, he turned to make his way to the elevator. "Now if you would excuse me, I have to go change into my pilot suit."
Minami looked up at that. "You're going to lead the attack personally Zero?"
"Of course. After all, if the King does not lead, how does he expect his subordinates to follow?" Lelouch replied with a smirk behind his mask as he stepped toward the elevator. "Besides, it's been eight years since I participated in a battle against Britannia, and this is the perfect opportunity to get back into the game."
"But at the same time you haven't piloted a knightmare in eight years," Ohgi replied out of faux concern. It was obviously a lie, but he had to put on a show for the rest of the crew present, since it would not make sense for a man who had supposedly been in captivity for so long to automatically remember his way around a knightmare.
Lelouch laughed at that, both out of finding amusement toward Ohgi's little act and to go along with said act. "Very true Ohgi. Fortunately however I brushed up on my piloting abilities before we left Ryukyu; rest assured I can handle myself out there appropriately."
Ohgi shrugged in response, pretending to be defeated. "If that is your decision, then I will inform General Tohdoh immediately."
"Do that, and tell the hangar deck to prepare the Mordred for battle," Lelouch acknowledged before finally entering into the elevator. "You have operational command now General," he said as the door closed.
As the elevator began to ascend to the upper decks, Lelouch silently waited.
The atmosphere was undeniably tense throughout the ship. Though business went on as usual, with the various Black Knights tending to their duties in one way or another, there was something of an anxiety amongst them, a constrained panic that seemingly threatened to break loose of and run amok throughout the Izumo, as well as the other four vessels. This development was only natural; while the Black Knights had all gone through a hardened training regimen during the last eight years of inactivity, for many of them the coming battle would be their first combat experience. There were only few veterans from the Black Rebellion aboard the Izumo, as the few that had survived that and the Devastation had either become instructors at Ginowan or part of the High Command. At the same time, only a fair margin of veterans from the Pendragon strike remained as well; many had perished during that operation, and even more had died in the ambush in the Bering Strait. Thus, much of the Izumo's crew, as well as her knightmare force, remained untested except through textbook studies and simulations, and the fact that their very first combat deployment would be taking the Britannian Empire's central installation in the pacific caused a fair amount of dread within their numbers. Even the knowledge that Zero was with them did not belay the fact that not many would survive Operation Tsunami.
Alfred was not amongst those people. As one of the few combat veterans aboard that had experience predating the Black Rebellion and even the Japanese Insurrection as a whole, he had long grown accustomed to the idea that he may not survive the next battle, instead choosing to focus on his present priorities as opposed to dreading his potential end. If anything, his current feelings could best described as "annoyance"; though he understood the predicament of the "newbies", as he himself had been one a long time ago, it had gotten to the point where their silence and barely concealed fright threatened to disturb his own calmness. The fact he was on standby with the rest of the Izumo's devicers didn't help much either; being on final standby alert meant all battlestations were held and all pilots were dressed in their pilot suits while their knightmares were ready and waiting to launch at a moment's notice. As such, there was not much for Alfred to do in such a time, as he did not dare go back to his quarters or the pilot lounge or even get a snack at the mess when he could be ordered out at any moment. All he could do was wait for Mutsuki's voice to sound over the intercom and command their launch, with the only consolation being he and the other pilots had not yet been ordered on Ready Five status, which by definition meant they had to be ready to launch in five minutes at most; that meant sitting in the cockpit of one's knightmare with all instruments active for what could be hours.
Since he could not eat, sleep, watch a movie or play a video game, all of which were Alfred's primary methods to kill time, he instead chose to remain on the hangar deck and inspect his machine. As usual, his Guren Isshiki was an intimidating sight; even inactive it looked more powerful and imposing than any other knightmare the former Glaston Knight had piloted in the past. The damage it had taken from Pendragon and beyond was all gone now, so that in the coming battle the machine would be operating at one hundred percent efficiency, something Alfred appreciated.
A shrill cry from above interrupted his thoughts, as well as caused more than a few others in the hangar to look upward as well. "How the hell did a bird get in here?" one of the mechanics let out.
Upon looking up himself, Alfred saw the familiar form of a bird of prey circling directly above him, letting out a shriek or two as if to gain his attention. Alfred sighed at that. "Andreas!" he called out.
As soon as his voice rang out, the bird of prey, now identifiable as a peregrine falcon, dove down and promptly landed on Alfred's waiting arm. "I thought I told you it's not safe to be flying around the ship right now." Alfred stated to, which the falcon squawked once in reply.
"I didn't know you brought Andreas with you," Rai, now dressed in a blue version of the Black Knights' pilot suit, said as he came up next to Alred. He took one look at the bird and smiled.
Alfred looked from the bird over to the individual, then reaching his arm up to his collar and allowed Andreas to perch himself on his master's shoulder. "I brought him on this trip because he raised hell while I was away at Pendragon. Damn near killed the guy I left him with."
"He must have been bored without you; the fact he's apparently figured out the Izumo's layout as well as locate you means he's quite intelligent, even for his species," Rai replied knowingly
"Heh." Alfred laughed a little, casually petting Andreas' back. "I don't suppose you've had a bird for a pet once Rai."
The opposite devicer shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I only know them from books and zoos," He replied. "Never really had a thing for pets."
"I see." Alfred said while carefully eyeing his comrade. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were with your pilots in the mess."
Rai laughed a little bit. "Well, the problem is my pilots ended up picking a fight with your pilots, albeit at Lieutenant Hamamura's provoking. I just got back from threatening to put them all on Ready Five status if they didn't shut up."
"Damn it Ageha," Alfred cringed, imagining the surrounding damage that would occur from such a conflict. "Sorry. I know my unit can be rowdy at times..."
"Not at all, they were just anxious," Rai replied understandingly. "Waiting for a battle to begin is never easy, especially for the types of pilots Zero Squadron likes to recruit."
"Yeah. Aside from the Major, Charmelle, Lieutenant Akagi and myself, they're all psychotic killers in one way or the other," Alfred retorted. "Though considering you were one of them, doesn't that make you as much a psycho?"
Rai shrugged at the mock accusation. "Depends on how you look at it," he replied. "You don't get nicknamed the Blue Thunder God because you're terrible at killing."
"True enough," Alfred replied, before another thought came to mid. "Tell me one more thing," he said, causing Rai to listen intently. "When the Major reformed Zero Squadron, why didn't you rejoin?"
The white haired ace considered that for a moment. "Well, I did intend on rejoining, but Kallen thought it would be better if I commanded a squadron of my own. Something to the effect of the newer knightmare squadrons needing all the experienced leadership they can get," he answered. "Made sense at the time."
"I see," Alfred replied as Andreas let out a squawk. It was hardly the most relevant topic, but he had been rather curious about it for some time.
At that, Rai turned and looked up toward the line of Gurens. "Sometimes I still can't believe how far we've come in such a short time," he murmured. "If we had machines like these during the Insurrection, the Lancelot would have been turned into scrap metal early on."
"I don't know about that. You guys had Triple G." Alfred pointed out.
"'Triple G'?" Rai raised an eyebrow.
"The Guren, the Gekka and the Gawain." Alfred explained, as he went back to stroking the back of Andreas' head. "One advanced model prototype, six limited production types, and a specialty command unit. That's more of a technological edge than our side had with just the Lancelot, yet Kururugi still kept showing you guys up."
"Ah, but we only had the Nishiki early on," Rai pointed out. "I didn't receive my Gekka until after Narita, while Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords didn't get theirs until much later, and as for the Gawain we only obtained that toward the very end. For the rest of the war we only had Burais and whatever we could capture from your side, whereas you had the Lancelot since the very beginning, as well as those Gloucesters that came with Cornelia's Eighth Army."
The mention of Cornelia and her unit immediately caused a stream of memories to flow through Alfred's mind, depicting his father and his brothers prominently. Unconsciously Alfred cringed at that, causing Andreas, the falcon Andreas, to let out a worried cry as he noticed it.
It took only a moment for Rai to realize his mistake. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"No, it's alright. You just caught me off guard," Alfred replied. Casually he reached down to his side and withdrew his Glaston Knight visor from a compartment on his hip, looking down at the ruby colored lens with a frown. "Regardless what happened before, things are different now. I'm no longer the naïve fool that fought for a nation and an Emperor that would throw my life and the lives of innocents aside without a second thought, nor am I longer blind to the crimes my former country committed in the name of dominance."
Clutching his fingers around the mask, Alfred looked back up to the surrounding knightmares and the other Black Knights in the hangar, all still waiting for their final orders to come. "My only regret is that neither my father nor my brothers were able to see the truth as well."
Rai nodded in sympathy, just as what seemed to be his own barely noticeable remembrance past over his eyes.
Finally closing her collar, Chigusa turned and looked at herself in a nearby mirror in the locker room. In it, she saw a tall, tan skinned Britannian woman dressed in a Black Knight pilot suit, looking more ready to fight her home country than she would have believed. From her bob cut silver hair to her fairly thin but clearly toned build, she looked every ounce the soldier and devicer she had been for a good portion of her life. The only thing that looked foreign to her in that reflection – as it always did - was the winged sword on the suit's side, as she was too used to the Britannian cross being.
The Colonel sighed at that image. Though she had worn the standard uniform since the initial reorgannization, Chigusa still felt as though she were looking at an alien or at least a different woman each time she saw herself in a mirror. Yes, the women she saw, despite the foreign uniform, wore her tanned face, held her piercing golden eyes and spoke with her proud, commanding voice while keeping the same aura of superiority that she had held since becoming a soldier.
Yet in spite of those facts, Chigusa could not for the life of her tell whether the very woman she was looking at now was her or not. Had things gone the way they were intended to so long ago, she would have been appalled to even think of herself wearing an "enemy" uniform with a differing insignia – much less having an entirely different name to go with it – while preparing to go into battle against her Emperor and country. In fact, she would have likely been continuing to serve Britannia now, taking part in its war against the Eurasian Union. Or administering its rule upon an Area, as she had eight years ago.
I would have thought Pendragon would have cleared away all doubt. Chigusa thought as she resisted the urge to lean her forehead against the mirror's surface. In spite of all facts and logic, such thoughts had plagued her for eight years running; remnants of her past identity continuing to linger within her, casting doubt upon herself and the choices she had made to the present. And even worse was that she knew she was not the only one with this problem; she could imagine that almost every Britannian soldier in the Black Knights was having similar sentiments as her. Even if none of them would discuss their discomforts openly.
Even so, she pushed back those ill feelings and reaccepted that things had turned out the way they were. For at least six or seven years running, she had been Colonel Chigusa Ohgi of the Black Knights, commander of 6th Knightmare Squadron "Kyosha" and one of the most experienced pilots in the Black Knights' 1st Knightmare Battalion. To continue to dwell on the matter, no matter her inability to completely rid herself of it, would affect her morale, and from that the men that she commanded, something that the leader in her could not and would not allow. Thus, she looked away from the mirror and chose instead to find something that would pass the time before the order to launch came.
"You alright Colonel?" the voice of Charmelle Finlay suddenly spoke up from behind her, to which Chigusa turned to see that its owner had suddenly appeared in that empty space. "Because speaking freely ma'am, you don't look like it."
Chigusa smirked cynically. "Ignoring the fact you didn't ask for permission first, I can't say I disagree with that statement Captain Finlay," She then looked down on the floor for a second. "But then I suppose it's natural, since I am, technically speaking, about to commit an act of treason against my home country. For the second time anyway."
"It's only treason when you strike the first blow," Charmelle countered. "Whereas when you are abandoned to die by said home country at the beginning, it's Newton's third law."
"'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction', huh?" Chigusa could only chuckle at the idea. "Can't disagree with that one either. I must compliment you Captain; I would not have expected a member of Zero Squadron to have such logical reasoning. It's still a shame that I could not convince you to join the 6th."
"With respect to you and Kyosha Squadron, Colonel, I like being part of the best unit the Black Knights have to offer," Charmelle explained with a small, challenging smirk.
Chigusa retorted with a domineering smile of her own. "We'll see who holds that title after this battle," she said. "It will be nothing like Pendragon."
"I believe can that," Charmelle replied. Her expression then became a bit more taciturn. "But seriously Colonel, at risk of sounding out of line by asking, will you be alright going into battle like that?"
She continued, in spite of the dark glance she was receiving from Chigusa. "I mean, our role in Pendragon was simply to liberate Zero," she said. "Here, we will be fighting to actually hurt our former nation…"
"Yes, and hurt it we shall," Chigusa interrupted purposely, her voice now hardened. "For those we left behind in Yomi, and for the world itself."
Though she knew Charmelle was speaking out of rightful concern, Chigusa was not about to have the junior officer worrying about her now. As painful as it was to sound forceful, especially when the Captain clearly looked up to Chigusa, the Colonel knew it was necessary. "Is that answer sufficient, Captain?"
Charmelle blinked, and then let out a small laugh. "Perfectly, Colonel."
It had always been one of the last things any sane individual would expect to find on a warship, yet somehow it had made its way onto the Izumo. Though it was not the most tactically important section of the battleship, the ship's chapel was a peaceful and well maintained place, as good of a house for the Lord as any human could make. It held everything one would expect from a standard church, including lines of pews, an altar, multiple stained glass images across the walls depicting different Biblical scenes, miniature statues of various saints at each side and even a ship chaplain that kept it all in order. Naturally it and other institutions like it onboard the Izumo were among the most frequently visited areas of the ship, as a surprising number of the Izumo's crew, both Britannian and Japanese, were devoutly religious in some form, despite the events over the last eight years; if anything those aforementioned events only reinforced the belief that there was a God out there watching over mankind. After all, if there was no God, then how could anyone have survived the Devastation?
Moving quietly, as if trying not to disturb the one who was said to eternally live in such a place, C.C. made her way from the entrance to the chapel and, while making sure her boot heels did not make too much of an echo, slowly came up to the altar. Had anyone been present they would have noted that the mysterious woman was more reverent to her surroundings than she would be anywhere else, acting in a reserved manner than was quite unlike her normal behavior. She did not make any movements that would generate excess sound and disturb the peace of her surroundings, nor did she show any of her usual willful manner, instead keeping herself composed throughout her walk to the heart of the chapel.
She had reasons for being there, reasons that she did not wish to share with anyone else, not even Lelouch. Though she had been called a "witch", a demon, and many other unbefitting titles to her character and purity, she had at one time lived under the belief that, even when she was cursed, there was a God out there. A God that watched over her and guided her, and in turn she had been one of His most devout followers, believing that she had lived to perform the duty He had given to her, even when she had been "cursed" with a Code. However, that belief would much later on become shattered, and afterward she had come to believe that there was no real God; that for all intents and purposes, she and the rest of mankind were alone in the void. For the longest time she wandered the Earth with that nihilism, only living to see her wish seen through at the end of her various contracts, while having to suffer through the endless pain and ill will brought upon her by the mortals around her. But now, in the face of certain events and through the indirect support of certain people, she began to wonder once again.
Still silent as she came in front of the altar, C.C. stared up at the stained glass image over it, which depicted the Crucifixion among several other images. For a moment longer she recalled how several lifetimes ago she had looked upon that image before going off to fight in a totally different war, a war that had lasted for an entire lifetime of its own and had seen the near destruction of a kingdom. With that in mind, she found it ironic that she would be looking at the crucifixion, the ultimate sacrifice, once more before she would head out to fight in a war that would likely see the near destruction of humanity itself.
And then, after that moment had passed, C.C. began to speak. "I don't know if you would hear my words now, after all this time of silence between us," she began. "I don't even know whether you're actually out there or not, somewhere beyond everything I comprehend. But even so, if only for their sake, I pray now for the same things that I did then: your strength and guidance for what is it to come."
She then knelt down and made the sign of the cross over her chest, before beginning to recite a special prayer. A prayer that she had not recited in nearly two hundred years and only now, in the face of Armageddon, chose to utter.
"Âme du Christ, sanctifie-nous." Heart of Christ, sanctify us.
"Corps du Christ, sauve-nous." Body of Christ, save us.
"Sang du Christ, purifie-nous." Blood of Christ, purify us.
"Eau versée du flanc du Christ, lave-nous." Water left on the side of Christ, wash us.
"Passion du Christ, récomforte-nous." Passion of Christ, fortify us.
"Ô bon Jesus, donne-nous la force d'éxauçer ta volonté." O good Jesus, grant us Your will.
"Cache-nous dans tes plaies." Hide us in Your wounds.
"Accorde-nous ton ponvoir contre l'ennemi malveillant, alors que nous marchons vers les collines de Megiddo." Against the malignant enemy, issue us Your power, as we march in Your name to the hills of Megiddo.
"À l'heure de notre mort, appelle-nous et invite-nous de venir à tes côtés pour que nous puissions être dans la companie de tes saints choisis pour éternité." Per hour of death, call upon us to come toward you in the company of Your saints so that we may be by Your side for eternity.
"Au nom du Père, du Fils, et du Saint-Esprit." In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
She then bowed her head a little lower as she finished the prayer. "Amen."
No sooner than C.C. had finished did the intercom sound. "All Black Knights, this is General Ohgi. We are now within striking range of Area 7…" suddenly the General's voice deepened to a cutting edge. "Our war begins now."
Just as suddenly as that announcement was made, alarm klaxons began to sound off as Mutsuki's voice came over the comm. system. "All hands man your battlestations! All hands man your battlestations! All pilots to their knightmares!"
C.C. sighed as she rose from the altar, taking one final glance at that stained glass image with certain remembrance. "And so it begins George, just as you said it would," She murmured, before turning and making her way out.
The alarm klaxons and their volume were something that Kallen had not forgotten despite her last few days on leave, nor was the rushing of personnel through the corridors, all answering the singular call to battle just as she and the man beside her were. Without pause the two moved through the seeming river of incoming human bodies, who in turn were so concentrated on getting to their destinations that they barely acknowledged either of them as they passed. But Kallen did not let any of them hinder her, as she weaved through the river with almost practiced precision, keeping her intentions set on getting to the Guren. Not too far from her, Lelouch seemed to be doing the same.
Rather than his standard uniform and cape, Lelouch was now dressed in a customized pilot suit of his own, which was more or less a standard Black Knights suit colored in black and gold. Naturally, Lelouch wore his mask with the suit, thus ensuing every part of his body was covered up. As well as unintentionally appearing more like the titular hero of an old Kamen Rider series from Kallen's childhood as opposed to the world's greatest revolutionary.
At this point Lelouch was a few feet ahead of Kallen and moving at great speed despite the two way flow of people, and Kallen herself was having a semi-difficult time keeping up with him. However, while she struggled to follow, her eyes did not stray away from his back, neither did she lose sight of him throughout their trek to the Izumo's hangar deck. And at the same time, despite the present tension, her mind did not stop replaying their earlier meeting, the one that had happened not too long ago…
"Let me see your gun," Lelouch said, holding out a waiting hand.
At first Kallen hesitated, if only because Lelouch didn't tell her what he was going to do with a firearm once given one. But then she reminded herself that Lelouch was back to his old self now and that he would not commit suicide when he still had to accomplish his childhood goal of conquering Britannia and liberating the world from its clutches. So before Lelouch could ask again, Kallen reached down to her side and took her gun from its holster, and then presented it handle first to her commander.
Not wasting a second, Lelouch took the gun and casually inspected it, looking over the long cylinder barrel and the unique design that seemed somewhat simpler than modern day pistols. Lelouch smirked; he recognized the gun, and though he had seen Kallen use it more than once, this was the first time he could look at it in detail. "Pistole Parabellum 1908, otherwise known as the Luger. Standard Issue, Eurasian Army," He then ejected the magazine to see that, just as he had expected, it was fully loaded. "Why do you use this antique for your sidearm?"
"It belonged to my Britannian great-grandfather. He came home with it after a trip to Eurasia, it's been passed down my family ever since," Kallen explained without pause. "It's always worked better for me than modern pistols."
"I see," Lelouch replied as he ratcheted the magazine back into the pistol. He then twirled it in hand and passed it back to Kallen, who gladly accepted it. "Kallen, do you recall what I told you in the Bering Strait, when you were fighting the Brunor?"
Kallen quickly recalled that exchange and unconsciously looked away somewhat. "Yes, I do," she said, once more hesitant. "You said you had chosen me out of all others to be your Knight of Zero."
"Correct," Lelouch said, continuing. "In Britannian custom, a knight is charged with two duties. The first is to carry out any action or service that pertains to the will of his or her liege, and the second is the protection of the same."
Lelouch paused for a moment before going further. "Though you are not in any way a knight of Britannia, your duties are not too far removed, as you are charged with both carrying out my will and my protection. But as I am now able to hold my own when in battle, I will only charge you to watch over one area: my back."
The Guren pilot looked a little confused at that. "I do not understand."
"Let me clarify," Lelouch replied, having figured she would say that. "As with all creatures, my back is the one area of my body that I cannot protect myself, and no matter how much I have improved in fighting skill, it will always remain a physical and metaphorical weak spot. In other words, as the protector of that singular weak spot, you would be in a position to kill me at any time, and that is exactly what I require."
Lelouch purposely continued before any opinion could be voiced. "This is my command to you Kallen: if I ever fall away from the path of righteousness, you are to shoot me in the back."
Instantly Kallen's eyes became filled with horror as she realized Lelouch was serious. "You want me to kill you…?" she muttered, not wanting to believe what she heard. "You can't have me do this Lelouch! I can't…!"
"No, you're the only one who can, because aside from C.C., you're the only one that I completely trust," Lelouch explained, moving forward.
"And what about C.C.? Wouldn't she be in a better position to do what you ask?" Kallen stammered, backing away.
"C.C. does not care if I were to become corrupted, as long as I live to fulfill our contract, whatever it is," Lelouch answered, stopping her from backing away further by grabbing her shoulders. "Kallen, even with all of my power and intelligence, I cannot tell what I will become in the future. All I know is that as Zero, I have indirectly caused unspeakable damage to this planet and humanity, damage that will take perhaps eons to fully heal," he emphasized further. "Who knows how much destruction I would create were I to fall into the same darkness as my father and my ancestors."
Slowly, he reached up and placed his finger under Kallen's chin, so that he could turn her head back and look into her eyes. "You are my Knight of Zero and my Black Queen, as well as my last hope. With you watching my back, I can continue down this path without fearing the future; I can continue being Zero without fear that I may cause another Devastation or worse," he said, his gaze ever deepening. "And amongst all of the Black Knights, I can think of no other who is more qualified than you."
Though she wanted to turn away, Kallen could not escape the depth of Lelouch's eyes; even his left eye, alight with the red hue of Geass, continued to draw her in like a maelstrom. And no matter how much she tried to object or deny his command, every response she could think of would die in her throat, making her wonder if he had just cast Geass on her. She ignored that latter thought and, after another moment, she was finally able to speak. "But… how can you be sure Lelouch…?" she nearly whispered, unable to keep the reluctance from her voice. "…that I would be able to do what you ask?"
Lelouch smiled. "Because I know you will, if such a time comes."
Kallen's stomach still clenched at the memory of it. This was not the first time Lelouch had given her an unbelievable order that she could not fathom; during the Japanese Insurrection he had made her do things in and out of the Guren that seemed so far out of there, without having to dirty her hands too much of course, that she could only figure out the reason behind each action after she had successfully executed the commands. But this one, even if she did understand the logic behind it, was still beyond her reasoning, and she began to worry that a part of Lelouch still hadn't recovered from the reawakening, and perhaps never would.
And the worst part of it was while Lelouch seemed to have all the faith in the world in her ability to see it through, Kallen could not resolve that she had it in her to kill him, even if she would come to believe he had fallen. Yes, she had pointed a gun at him before, no more than a few days ago, but that had only been an emotional response to Lelouch's brazen attitude. Even if he continued to press on her, she doubted she could have pulled the trigger; in fact, she couldn't even remember if she had taken off the safety after drawing. The whole thing, even thinking about it, made her sick to her stomach in a similar manner to when she had watched C.C. forcibly revive his Geass and his memories, as for better or worse she had come to know and care for Lelouch far more than she had any other human being, both alive and dead. But then, she thought, that was likely the reason why Lelouch believed she could follow through with it, if his fall to evil ever came to pass.
For the moment however she had to put it out of her mind's eye as she and Lelouch had now come up to the hangar bay where their respective knightmares were stored. They both quickly entered it, finding the bay teaming with activity as pilots began boarding their knightmares while mechanics ran final checks on the different systems of each unit. The dead calm that had originally settled on this area of the ship was now very much a memory, as each pilot was now waiting and willing to go into battle and fight the Britannians on their own turf, no longer caring about whether they would come out alive or not.
Soon enough, Lelouch came up to the foot of the Mordred, which had been placed in an area of the hangar not far from where the Guren had been placed. At first Kallen was about to leave Lelouch to board his personal knightmare, but before she could go off, she noticed that Lelouch had stopped just in front of the massive black and gold machine and remained standing there, his mask angled upward toward the Mordred's impassive face. Feeling something amiss, perhaps even more so than the earlier exchange, Kallen came over and stood next to the Black Knights leader. "Hey, are you alright?"
Lelouch physically responded by looking down, but not turning to face her. "I just realized that this is the second time I will be cutting all ties to my past, and it's surprisingly difficult for me to accept," he replied. "Even if it was a false existence, I was truly happy."
Kallen expression softened with understanding, as she also knew how painful it was to let go of a happier life even if it was necessary. It was more than difficult for her to do after Naoto died and she decided to carry on the fight in his name, so she could imagine how Lelouch felt before when he had chosen to do the same fifteen years ago when he stood up to his father and was exiled, only to now repeat the experience with restarting the war on Britannia and whatever friendships and relations he had gained in the past few years. "You know you don't have to go out there. You can just as easily direct the battle from the bridge."
"No, it is essential that I lead the charge in this battle…" Lelouch replied, his voice sounding more resolute now. "It is the only way I can be rid of my second life as Lelouch vi Britannia and everything that it entails."
The fact Lelouch was willing to speak of his true identity out in the open, even if there wasn't anyone around to hear his name uttered, was enough to tell Kallen that he was serious about his decision and nothing else would sway him. With that idea, Kallen nodded. "If that is what you have to do," she replied, before turning to head toward the Guren Nishiki as well.
Before she made it more than a few meters from him however, Lelouch spoke up again. "Kallen," this time he turned to face her once she stopped. "No matter what happens, return from this battle alive," he said, speaking almost as if it were a plea. "For what I have planned for the future, I will need you and your strength especially."
Kallen remained silent for a moment, but then returned a smile and, before Lelouch realized it, drew to military attention and gave a crisp salute. "As you command, Zero."
With that exchange finished, Kallen turned back and made her way to where the Nishiki was waiting for her. For a few seconds, Lelouch watched her from behind his mask and said nothing, but then when he knew it was time he too turned and came over to the zip line that would draw him up to the Mordred's cockpit.
His Majesty's Naval Base, Pearl
County of Crusoe, Area 7 (Sandwich Islands), Britannian Empire
In little over an hour the command center of Pearl Harbor had become alight with activity as various officials went about their duties, all working in the face of an incoming battle with an unknown force off the coast. The map at the center was evident of the fact enough, as it displayed the massive "blob" that reflected the mysterious cloud that continued to block all sensor readings, while a fleet of Britannian warships was moving to intercept it from all directions but the south, drawing closer to the cloud with each passing minute. Sensor operators took in data carried over from the front ships and nearby sensor posts, communicators kept bringing in reports from the front ships while relaying orders in turn and tactical officers all took the information in while putting together the plans for attack; all differing actions that cumulated to the defense of Area 7 and the hope for the present Britannian naval and air arms deflecting this still unidentified threat. After all, this would be the first attempted foreign invasion of Area 7 since it had been established, and there was not a Britannian present who did not wish it to be recorded in the history books as a victory for the Empire.
Amidst the activity, Admiral Sir Henry Kimmel, Duke of Connecticut and Commander of the Britannian Pacific Fleet, observed it all with a narrowed, dour gaze, sitting back on the rather large and ornate command chair situated in the rear of the room. At the ripe old age of seventy-two, Kimmel was one of the Crown's most seasoned officers, having participated in every major war Britannia had been involved in since the Third Expansionary War. He held experience in ship-to-ship warfare, amphibious invasion, sea and land air assault thanks to his last command aboard the carrier Warspite, and just for the occasion, base defense. Just as well, Kimmel had fought against nearly every type of opponent imaginable, from the various Eurasian nations to the Chinese, and even the Israelis and Arabs during Operation Lionheart, the conquest of the Middle East into Area 18 not too long ago. Thus, he saw the current threat no different than any other battle he had participated in and his opponents no different than any other enemy he had faced and vanquished. Even if this was the Pendragon strike force as his Air Force counterpart, Air Marshal Short, believed it to be, Kimmel was far from intimidated; if anything, he looked forward to obliterating the enemy that not even Princess Cornelia nor Prince Schneizel could destroy.
If there was anything that annoyed Kimmel, it was the damn waiting before his naval forces and Short's air forces came into firing range of the cloud. Yes, those ships would manage to intercept the enemy force before they could even come in sight of Area 7, but it would still be several minutes before any engagement could be made. Even in his old age Kimmel hated waiting on anything, especially a battle, as the more time there was before shots could be fired, the more time his adversaries had to make last minute changes to their battle plans, which more often than not led to their general favor in the long run. Had this been fifty years ago, the enemy would have been reduced to debris by now. he thought derisively. One would think His Majesty's Navy was made up of children in this day and age.
"How much longer before our ships make contact?" Kimmel asked loudly, his voice doing little to hide his agitation from those around him.
"Approximately nineteen minutes and thirty-four seconds Admiral," came the reply from a sensor officer which Kimmel didn't recognize. "Enemy units have yet to emerge from the cloud."
"I can see that Ensign," Kimmel rolled his eyes at the obviousness. Upon that action, he noticed his aide-de-camp looking rather nervous as he watched the tacscreen. More out of annoyance than curiosity, Kimmel asked. "Is there something the matter Commander?"
"It's nothing Admiral, it's just…" the aide replied. "What if this really is the Pendragon force we're fighting against?"
"So what if it is?" Kimmel looked over with a raised eyebrow as he took out his antique smoking pipe. "It's not like we're going to have a repeat of Pendragon here."
Needless to say, the Commander did not share his superior's optimism. "What makes you believe that Admiral?"
"Because Pendragon was a fluke," Kimmel spoke as if it were a simple fact. "A fluke that was only accomplished by two factors: the element of surprise and lax defense on the Imperial Guard's part."
He then gestured toward the screen. "As you can see, this time we know that they're coming and our ships are in the process of intercepting them as we speak. Therefore the fluke will not be repeated here in Area 7."
"But Admiral, Prince Schneizel has already reported the enemy battleship was using active stealth in order to slip through our defenses," the Commander pointed out. "Why would they go to all the trouble of creating a visible cloud if that's the case?"
Kimmel glared toward his aide. "It should be obvious even to you Commander," he explained. "They've brought a few more ships along for this attack, and they don't want us to know their exact number; while their active stealth can blind sensors, it can't do so to the naked eye and our spotters would be more than able to identify how many ships they have in their force."
"And just how many do you believe there are sir?" the Commander inquired.
Kimmel shrugged. "My guess would be two or three more. Since they only used one during the Pendragon attack, I doubt they have too many other ships to spare. Really Peter, you have nothing to worry about; they may have been able to escape His Highness Prince Schneizel before, but this time we have more ships and we know exactly where they are…"
"Radar contact!" a sensor officer reported. "Single faint contact, no identification."
"Location?" Kimmel demanded.
The sensor operator's eyes widened. "Sector Sigma Nine, speed thirty knots and closing fast!"
"Mary mother of god…!" the Commander gasped, reflecting upon the realization of those present. "That's right off our coast!"
Like a puff of smoke, Kimmel's dour expression vanished as he realized something had made it past his net. Impossible! There shouldn't be any other ships outside of that cloud, and we would have detected anything that moved away from it! "Make of the intruder?"
"Establishing ID now sir," the sensor man let out with fear over his face. All eyes were now frozen on the red dot on the screen that represented the contact, which was closing on Pearl at a fast rate. "No…!"
"What is it!?" Kimmel let out in a bark, an attempt to keep the dread out of his voice.
The sensorman did not even bother trying. "Sir, it's the Black Battleship!"
Now well within striking distance of the enemy stronghold, the Izumo moved through the water at great speed. To those that could see its approach from the nearby islands, her form was something dark and terrible to behold, with her blackened hull evenly cast against the twilit sky like a great shadow upon the Earth, moving toward Pearl as an incarnation of death. No sooner than when she entered into range did she begin her attack, her main hyper-velocity cannon swiveling toward the distant Britannian installations and firing, first striking the long-range communication arrays at either basin, and then striking different command centers such as the control tower at Hickham and the main HQ building at Pearl, among other targets. As the hypersonic warshots rained down on Area 7, Hayabusa equipped knightmares began to take flight from the battleship's hold.
As the Mordred lurched out from the Izumo's deck and into the cold evening sky, Lelouch allowed himself to grin from behind his mask. Although his plan was more simplistic than his usual schemes, as well as being based on the ancient and well used "Bait and Switch" tactic, it had all come together perfectly. The Britannians had been expecting the Black Knights to move against Area 7 from the cover of the cloud, expecting the cloud to exist solely for concealing enemy numbers and thus the said enemy would remain in the cloud until the main attack began. But in reality Lelouch never had the intention of doing so; in fact, while it was true that the cloud was meant to shroud them from Britannian sensors and reconnaissance craft, that was only half of its purpose. The other half was far more sinister: to misdirect the Britannians into believing they knew exactly where the enemy would move in to attack.
With the Britannians entirely set upon the cloud, Lelouch, like a magician manipulating a deck of cards, had the Black Knights move from behind the scene. Once a certain distance and position within Britannian territory had been reached, he had the Izumo break off from the main taskforce and travel the rest of her journey alone while using the Gefjun Disturber to evade enemy sonar nets. Sure they had been detected before when employing that tactic, where the Britannians had used the jammed sonar as an indicator of the Izumo's position, but this time with all focus kept on the cloud and the "fleet" of ships within it, the battleship's advance through enemy waters was all but assured. In fact, the Britannian commander had focused so many ships toward intercepting the cloud that he had unintentionally left a gaping hole in Area 7's defensive network, and the Izumo had slipped through it without obstruction. And now the Black Knights were set upon the vulnerable enemy stronghold, of which a substantial amount of the Britannian Pacific Fleet still laid at anchor and only a rear guard to protect them all. Lelouch could not have hoped for a better result.
"Your mistake, Admiral Kimmel, was being too proactive," Lelouch spoke as he watched the island of Crusoe grow larger on his HMDS. In his mind's eye, he could just see the withered corpse that was the Pacific Fleet's commander gaping in paralyzed disbelief as the realization dawned on him. "You were so focused on keeping the perceived threat away from your territory that you never considered the possibility of a single force breaking off and attacking from your unguarded flank. Had you paid attention to the lessons taught at Pendragon and afterward, you would have been able to see us coming earlier, but I'm grateful that you didn't."
Around the Mordred the Black Knights formed up, their knightmares falling into position one after the other. The Guren Nishiki dropped down to Lelouch's right while the Guren Isshikis of Zero Squadron came into a Flying V formation. The Zangetsu remained just behind the front force, and the other squadrons adopted similar Flying V formations as they arranged themselves into their respective flight positions, all cumulating into a perfect deploy and attack formation. Lelouch had to admit that while he had known the Black Knights had evolved far from their original militia establishment over the last eight years, it was only now, just as they wear headed into battle, that he saw how far they had advanced into a true fighting force. But even with their parade-level organization, there was only one way for him to learn how they would fair against the Britannians firsthand, Pendragon notwithstanding.
"Gyoku One to all units…" Lelouch began, inwardly finding irony in his given callsign, which was the designation of the challenger King in Shogi. "Our objective is to destroy as much of Area 7's installations as possible before reinforcements from Britannia arrive. We have evaded the main enemy fleet, but regardless expect heavy resistance from the island itself. The Britannians are far from giving up this fight."
Sure enough, Kallen chimed in over broadband, voicing awareness of the new signals coming up on the forward knightmares' sensors. "Enemy knightmares deploying across the base."
Upon her warning, Lelouch deployed his factspheres and scanned ahead of him. Sure enough, he found a fair number of Sutherlands moving around the harbor, readying their weapons to prevent the Black Knights' landing. He knew this was only the initial group; that there were more knightmares readying to defend Pearl. Fortunately Lelouch also knew the exact composition of the Britannian Pacific Fleet, and that there were no seventh or eighth generation knightmare frames among them. Thus, unless they were testing top secret units off the coast of Area 7, which Lelouch did not dismiss, there was no true threat.
As they moved closer to the island, the first shots of gun and missile fire began to sail at them. At least two Gekkas went down as either they or their Hayabusas were struck, while a few more began to return fire with their various gunnery weapons. Lelouch however, though tempted to draw his VARIS and add his own fire to the mix, felt himself unable to. Instead, he watched as the base, and their deployment zone, drew closer and closer in his visor.
Again he felt discomfort weigh in on him, as he knew once he took to this battle he would be cutting off his past once and for all. He would once again be an enemy of Britannia, forced to live in the shadows and expect death at every turn, while those he had grown close to, even by little margin, would either believe him dead or a traitor depending upon whether his father chose to reveal his identity to the public or not. And much more, unlike during the Insurrection, he would not have Ashford Academy and his friends there to fall back on as Lelouch Lamperouge; this time he would only exist as Zero, the man who would bring chaos and destruction to the world in order to reform it. The whole idea felt damning to Lelouch to think about now, but then he remembered the ruins of Japan and knew, for whatever he would have to suffer underneath the mask, it was worth it if there would never be a second Devastation.
And then his sensors flashed: they were upon the deployment zone. The time was now. "Now within range. Weapons free. All Black Knights…" he spoke, once again knowing that there was no turning back from this. "…Engage!"
At the, the Black Knights descended, systematically landing on the tarmac and switching to their landspinners as their Hayabusas flitted away. Now on the ground, the invaders spread out as they came under further fire, the Britannians now moving en masse to repel them from their base. And yet, in spite of their valiant defense, the Black Knights would not be so easily defeated, returning the fire to the defenders in kind while closing in to engage at melee.
Lelouch, having been the first to land, engaged his MVS and closed the distance, cutting into several Sutherlands as he sped past. They responded in kind, raining machine gun rounds and grenades at his direction, but the former prince was able to evade most of the fire. He moved in and slashed back with his swords, destroying three more Sutherlands in the process, while pulling away as six more broke off to attack him directly, apparently hoping their multidirectional assault at close-range would overwhelm him.
Fools… the former prince thought disparagingly. He had trained with the best and had been considered among their level; as such, there was no way he would be overwhelmed by mere cannon fodder in antiquated machines. With certain deftness he fired off his left arm slash harken and impaled them into one of the Sutherlands, smashing its torso. With little choice, the pilot ejected just as Lelouch ripped the harken out of the Sutherland's broken hide, then switching back to his MVS to slash into another one of its partners, leaving only two behind.
Now seeing they were no match for the Mordred at close-range, both Sutherlands spread out in opposite directions while continuing to fire their machine guns at the black and gold knightmare. At that, Lelouch simply switched his MVS out for his VARIS and fired twin shots. The Britannian knightmares were obliterated with ease.
We can't get held up here, otherwise they really will overwhelm us. Lelouch thought as he finished off the knightmares, soon detecting more heading toward him. Even with the enemy king in sight, they still had go through the pawns before putting him in check. "Zero Squadron on me! We're going to move down the center and open a path."
"Acknowledged Gyoku One. Zero Squadron moving in," Kallen replied as she had her knightmare moved away from its latest kill to trail the Mordred. The rest of her squadron followed behind her, their own older model Gurens managing to stay with her.
"My, that's a lot of bandits coming our way Lead," Liliana spoke up as she angled her Isshiki out. In spite of the words she had spoken, the Britannian pilot showed no hesitance or fear in her tone; in fact, she seemed have been anticipating the destruction that was about to commence.
"Just means more for us to kill Rei Five," Kallen replied back, purposely ignoring the bloodlust in her subordinates' voice. Normally she couldn't stand being around the former-Purist-turned-Black-Knight for too long, much like the rest of her Squadron, but in a battle she had no problems having Liliana on her side. "Wipe them out!"
"Roger!" the other eleven pilots of Zero Squadron acknowledged their leader's command unanimously. At the same time, the Mordred fired its VARIS in Burst Mode at the formation of Britannian knightmares in front of it, while Kallen herself added a surger stream along with Lelouch's assault. In a matter of seconds, her shot bubbled a fifth generation knightmare's outer hide entirely, forcing its pilot to eject just as his frame exploded. Her squadmates followed her action up with their own firepower, raining surger streams or bolts and grenades down onto the hapless Sutherlands. In response to the incoming fire, the Britannian knightmares scattered like a swarm of flies, but even so still remained poised to keeping their enemy from charging through them. Soon it became a running battle, in which the thirteen knightmares were forced to fight their way through the Britannian horde.
Drawing her "Ryogo Otsugata Tozantou" fork knife, Kallen brought the Guren up to full speed and blasted for a pack of Sutherlands along her path. The Sutherlands spotted her approach and started to fire at her with their machine guns, but Kallen moved too fast for them to get a clean lock on. When she got close enough to one, Kallen dashed at its side and slashed across its torso, bifurcating it in one strike. Because she didn't hit the main drive, the Sutherland didn't explode, thus allowing its pilot to eject. With one down, Kallen quickly changed targets, this time jutting around another Sutherland and sending a grenade directly into its head, obliterating the knightmare before its pilot could realize what had just happened.
More Sutherlands flashed around her, most of them concentrated on other knightmares but more than a few of them were shooting at her as she and her squadron surged past. For a moment, Kallen checked her side monitor and saw that Alfred was still with her and that he was currently shooting back at the Sutherlands with his grenade launcher. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Gurens belonging to Charmelle and Benio cleaving through several Sutherlands at once with their surgers, while Liliana and Marika were firing grenades into other units. At this point she couldn't track the others' movements, but she imagined that they were all doing their respective jobs. After all, as Ageha liked to remind everyone, killing Brits was their business, and at this point business was booming.
Then out of the surrounding melee another Sutherland came hurtling toward her Guren at a greater velocity than was standard for a fifth generation knightmare. Kallen deftly avoided the first few machine gun shots, and deflected more with her radiant wave shield. She then tried to twist around the Sutherland and take it out point blank with the radiant wave surger, but the enemy pilot was observant enough to realize her plan of attack and so purposely kept the Sutherland out of reach. At that, Kallen launched the surger forward with the rocket harken, but all she managed to catch was the Sutherland's machine gun, which was abandoned just as Kallen sent radiation into it.
This one's got some fight in it... Kallen thought, noticing the enemy pilot's apparent skill when compared to its comrades. Suddenly realizing his main weapon was lost, the Sutherland folded out its stun tonfas and charged at the Guren, taking two swipes at Kallen's knightmare. Kallen dodged the first swipe efficiently and then used the fork knife to deflect the next swipe, before launching several rapid slashes in return. In turn, the Sutherland leaped back to avoid her furious attack, but just as it did that, something that caught even Kallen off guard happened. Twin bursts of radiant wave bolts struck the Sutherland from either direction in a sordid crossfire, riddling bullet holes all across the frame until the knightmare exploded from the damage. Kallen cringed to keep the explosion glare from her eyes, just barely making out the pair of Isshikis moving in front of her.
"Thanks for playing decoy Lead," spoke Shunsuke in a vehement sounding tone.
"It made it easier for us to move in for the kill," spoke Shunsui, also in a vehement sounding tone.
Then just as quickly as they came, the two Isshikis shot off to find newer prey. Kallen sneered as she watched them depart. They're good at fighting and that's all that's needed. she thought, before turning back to the battle.
Suddenly her sensors picked up three more Sutherlands incoming toward her direction. They were apparently armed with missile packs because at the same time a target lock warning appeared on Kallen's monitor as the Sutherlands unleashed a torrent of missiles. Kicking the Guren back to full burn, Kallen flicked her knightmare around the missiles and then zoomed in on the nearest Sutherland. As she got closer she fired her surger into her target and boiled the entire upper half of the knightmare, causing it to remain stationary for a few moments before finally exploding. She then changed her vector toward the second Sutherland but did not reduce her speed, thus slamming her machine's right foot into the torso of the enemy knightmare, knocking it back. With her opponent incapacitated, she had no problem bring about her fork knife and cutting a deep wound across its metal hide, allowing the machine to collapse to the ground from its wounds. She did not see if the enemy pilot ejected and once more she did not care; as far as she was concerned, this was war and she would show no mercy to the Britannians.
Whether out of fear or reflexive action, the third Sutherland of the group launched the remainder of its missiles at the Guren at near point blank range in a haphazard attempt to destroy it. The endeavor, naturally, was doomed to failure from the start, as Kallen simply raised her radiant wave shield and allowed the guided projectiles to explode harmlessly before they could even touch her knightmare. She then put the Guren back up to speed and charged through the explosion, forced her way up to the now defenseless Sutherland and ensnared it in her surger claw. A few moments later the blue knightmare had become a glowing red hue with every portion of its frame bulging from the induced radiation; it was such a familiar sight to Kallen now that she did not even think twice about it. Instead she let go of the knightmare and withdrew a few meters away, allowing it to give into its wounds and detonate.
Suddenly a larger missile zoomed past, barely missing the Guren by a few meters. Realizing that the missile was not the same type normally utilized by a knightmare, Kallen turned to see where it had come from while executing evasive maneuvers. To her great surprise she saw an incoming group of Viper VTOL gunships flying into the battle. Kallen looked with an arched eyebrow.
Gunships huh? Kallen thought as two of them opened fire with their chin-mounted guns, naturally failing to strike anything as whatever knightmares they were targeting simply banked away. The Britannians must be truly desperate.
And so Kallen threw the Guren into a sideways dash that effectively evaded another burst of missile fire and alongside the aforementioned machine guns. In turn she shot a surger blast right through the front of the gunship, incinerating everything in that quater and causing the rest of the VTOL to explode in little more than milliseconds. Quickly targeting another Viper, one moving to swoop at her, Kallen switched over to her grenades and fired off two. The grenades sailed through the air and then hammered into the Viper's nose, exploding like a firecracker. Unfortunately from the explosion came a third Viper, which immediately fired a hail of bullets right into the face of the Guren Nishiki.
"Like hell! I'm not getting done in this early!" Kallen blurted out as she threw up her shield again to deflect the bullets. She then had the Guren leap into the air just as the gunship was about to move at her, from which she slammed her claw against the cockpit area. Right after contact the Viper went into a spin and twirled toward the water, its pilot's remains firmly embedded against the sharpened digits of the radiant wave surger as the Guren fell back on solid ground.
Kallen felt a little sickened at that. Yes, she had literally boiled humans alive in their cockpits with the device, and she had even had an enemy's blood splatter across her face from firing a pistol shot at point blank range. But she had never actually crushed another human being with her knightmare before. But once more she chose to ignore those feelings, instead concentrating on the objective of breaking through the enemy lines…
Things are certainly off to a good start. Chigusa thought to herself as she maneuvered her own Gekka through the onslaught. Though the enemy had thrown up a hardened defensive screen of knightmares and VTOLs, it was not as bad as it could have been. As far as she could tell, there weren't any landships stationed on Crusoe, nor were there any knightmares beyond the fifth generation present. In fact, there weren't even any Gloucesters, just Sutherlands. But Chigusa knew it wouldn't be like that for long, and so she was determined to break through the Britannian defenses with the rest of her squadron as soon as possible.
After a week or two back in Ryukyu, Chigusa felt strangely refreshed at fighting in an actual battle again. While she did value her peaceful life and hoped to return to it soon enough, she was still a soldier at heart and felt at place when fighting against an enemy, whether be it the "savage Elevens" or an evil empire hell bent on world domination. As a bonus, this battle was on the offensive scale for her side, as it was the Britannians that had to defend their fortress against the Black Knights' advance. And, as she knew from many a past experience, there was a certain satisfaction in laying an enemy fortress to waste. Especially in a knightmare frame.
"They're holding strong Kyosha Lead," one of the Kyosha pilots stated as he evaded fire from a group of Sutherlands.
"Of course they are Kyosha Seven. They're our former countrymen," Chigusa replied back sharply as she weaved through the enemy attacks. "All units maintain the offensive. We have to break through at all costs!"
Upon the sighting of incoming Sutherlands in the distance, Chigusa brought about her hand gun and then carefully targeted the weapon. When her reticule went red, she fired off a burst and watched it rip through the torso of one Sutherland, causing it to crumple over and detonate. Just after that attack her sensors warned her about another Sutherland coming at her from the side; reacting fast, she twisted her Gekka and slashed out with her katen yaibatou, bifurcating the unit at the waist and sending both halves skittering across the ground, the cockpit pod ejecting just before the upper torso hit.
Her sensors quickly beeped off a warning, forcing her to evade the incoming fire. Two more Sutherlands, these equipped with bazookas, were now firing shells at her. Growling in annoyance, she put her Gekka into a right bank, bringing her out of either knightmares' sights long enough to return fire at the light blue colored knightmares. Both frames quickly abandoned their firing positions to execute evasive maneuvers, and that was when Chigusa went on the offensive, taking one down with her hand gun and then closing the gap on the other and slashing it across with her chainsword. The Britannian machine crumpled as a result, though Chigusa decided to move on before seeing whether the cockpit pod ejected this time.
It did not take very long at all for her computer to pick up five more incoming Sutherlands, all raining machine gun fire at her direction. That made her arch an eyebrow in surprise as she began executing maneuvers to avoid their fire; how had she attracted the attention of five enemy units to gang up on her? This could be problematic.
Having no option but to fight, she took aim with her hand gun and squeezed off a few bursts that ripped into the Sutherland she suspected was the leader of the small group. Not wanting to end up like their comrade, the other four scattered and moved to attack her at different angles. At that point she realized two of them had missile packs because they fired a combined spray of missiles at her, causing her to reverse and let loose with her hand gun again. The shells easily ripped through the missile swarm, destroying them; unfortunately, the Sutherlands used the resulting flares as cover so that they could close in and attack her with their stun tonfas. It was obvious that they were attempting to overwhelm her, as she only had one sword.
Swearing loudly, Chigusa slashed back with her sword, but the enemy pilots were able to evade her attacks and move around her all the same. Knowing that her four Britannian opponents were coming at her from all directions, Chigusa took advantage of her knightmare's superior mobility and shot off into a straight dash. She then twisted around and fired off a bullet spray, managing to catch one in the cockpit block and kill the pilot inside as evidenced by the machine tumbling over after, but the other three were able to evade and chase after her. Now starting to become angered over the fact she was being hounded by three antiquated Sutherlands, she kept up her maneuvering and attacking, either firing back with her hand gun or moving in close to use her katen yaibatou. But even as she slashed off limbs and broke armored plates, the three Sutherlands kept trying to close the gap and attack her at once
I am NOT going to be held up here! Chigusa's mind roared at her enemies. At that, she pulled a maneuver that surprised even her. Putting her Gekka into overdrive, Chigusa shot at the middle Sutherland and upon reaching it, slammed the twin barrels of her hand gun right into the enemy machine's chest with a great 'boom'. At point blank range, she wasted no time in pulling the trigger and ripping apart the entire upper portion of the knightmare, including the cockpit block.
The shock of her attack was so great that the other two knightmares, for the briefest of moments, ceased in their movements. At that, Chigusa brandished her sword and moved against one machine, slicing off its head and then spinning around to cleave its torso, causing it to fall over dead, and then just as quickly fired another bullet spray into the opposite Sutherland, which detonated just as it was about to redraw its machine gun. With that completed, Chigusa set off once more as the Black Knights began to break through the defensive lines and assault the harbor itself.
Imperial Air Force Hickam
County of Crusoe, Area 7 (Sandwich Islands), Britannian Empire
It had been minutes into the battle and Short still could not believe what was happening. Just when it seemed like they had the enemy cornered, the infamous Black Battleship came right out of nowhere and had launched an assault force at them. Yes, Short had believed that in spite of Admiral Kimmel's reassurances that there was more to the enemy's plan than met the eye, but even he had not expected such a daring direct attack on Area 7, and now his side was paying for it with their defenses greatly deprived and both Pearl Harbor and Hickham open for attack. And to compound the matter, the battleship had destroyed the long-range radio transmitters on the island, and thus there was no way for Short to recall his forces chasing the cloud.
"All lines have been broken through!" a sensor operator shouted in near hysteria. Sure enough, the main monitor displayed the enemy in red dots beginning to make their way past the remaining Britannian blue dots, now advancing at full speed around the harbor, practically unabated.
"Send out the second wave! Now!" Short commanded, pushing aside his inner dread to maintain the commanding image necessary to hold everything together. No matter what he was feeling on the inside, he would be damned before losing his composure, especially in the face of an incoming threat. "Reinforcements will arrive from the homeland soon, we just have to hold them here long enough!"
"Marshal, I'm picking up additional signals launching from the Black Battleship, moving toward us at great speed…" another operator reported, looking over his screen to verify what was heading toward them now. When the data finally came in, his expression turned to horror. "They're cruise missiles!"
"Shoot them down, damn it!" Short roared the command, but upon seeing their number on the screen, he knew it would do little good. "SHOOT THEM DOWN!"
Sure enough, one such missile came plowing into Hickham's command center only moments later, breaking through every defensive layer the building possessed until it drove all the way through to the nerve center and detonated. The very last thing Short saw before the world went white was enemy knightmares advancing toward Hickam as well.
The explosions from the Izumo's cruise missile attack played on Lelouch's screens like the fireworks of Crown Day not too long ago. Even within the protected shell of his cockpit, he could almost feel the vibrations reach through the Mordred and touch his skin, the same way they would have had he been right in the midst of them. The fortress gates were now broken, and the island's main defenses had been put out of commission, thereby opening the way for the Black Knights to attack the very heart of the Britannian basins. It had not taken out the entirety of the enemy's defensive power, but it would be enough to stage a direct assault.
"Gyoku One to all units. Advance," he called out over the Black Knights' main frequency. Upon his command, the Black Knight units spread throughout the island, their black frames cast against the setting sun like shadows. One after another, they began their assaults, striking random buildings and ships in the harbor with much furor, whatever enemy force coming out to meet them being all but effortlessly dispatched. For a moment, Lelouch simply watched as the main portion of his grand strategy began to play out, much like an artist judging his own work. He only felt pride at seeing it all play out, a pride similar to how he felt upon witnessing the beginning of the Black Rebellion, in spite of what had preceded that event. It was a satisfying feeling to him, one that he was conscious enough not to let himself get drowned on, but at the same time allowed to play out through his heart and mind if only temporarily.
And yet he also knew that victory was not assured just yet. There were still many unknowns that could play out, namely toward the eventual reinforcements that would arrive from Britannia. Lelouch was properly prepared to deal with any other units of the pacific fleet should they arrive, but he had absolutely no idea what would come from across the east; the best scenario would simply be additional ships, aircraft and fifth generation knightmares, but he doubted that. If anything, Lelouch wouldn't have been surprised if they sent newer generation knightmares like the one Kallen fought before, or far worse, Knights of the Round.
That last thought inadvertently made Lelouch's stomach cringe as he wondered: would Suzaku be among the forces sent? The possibility was quite likely, as his one-time friend and comrade would easily deduce who was attacking Pearl and would immediately realize Zero had returned, thus necessitating his presence here. At that, Lelouch wondered if he would be able to face him in battle with clear focus, as well as Gino and Anya should they join the fray. Certainly he had come a long way in terms of fighting skills, and he had handled himself well against either of those three in past sparring, but would he be able to do so now without his emotions getting in the way?
Lelouch wasn't sure to any of it, but he had a feeling he would find out soon enough, whether here at Pearl or elsewhere. For the moment however, he would choose to continue the battle until victory was achieved, as his path was now set and his war now in full swing.
With that, the Mordred charged into the chaos that had befallen the island of Crusoe. Just as the sun finally disappeared entirely into the horizon and darkness reigned supreme.