Hey everyone! How are you all doing? I know this hasn't been an easy year for any of us, but I think we're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel!

(Sees riot at Capitol Hill)

...Seriously, what is wrong with people?

Oh well, let's just try to enjoy this chapter.

"Are we ready to go?" Todoh asked as he boarded his Zangetsu.

"All systems are go." Ohgi said. "I must warn you all, even with the safeties on, this will be an uncomfortable ride. Ready, three holy swords?"

"Ready!" They responded as they strapped themselves for a ride better suited for astronauts.

"Launch!"

The pods launched out of the submarine, out of the ocean and into the stratosphere. During their trip between Arabia and India, Rakshata had been hard at work engineering a suborbital lunching system to send knightmares to far off pods arched as they slowly began their descent. "We've passed the peak of the arc!" Chibusa said.

"Brace yourselves!" Todoh warned them.

Gino, his squad and his captives made note of the tremors above. "What's going on?" Gino wondered.

The Indian soldiers stayed where they were. All except for Shaurya. At the next tremor distracted the gunman in front of him, he made his move. Grabbing the Britannian's wrist, he twisted it to one of the other Britannians as he pulled the trigger. The chaos caused the other Indians to attack. Some were knocked back, others got the better of their captors. Shaurya kicked the Britannian closest to him and made a bee-line for the weapons while the chaos went on.

"Stop him!" Gino ordered.

In no time, Shaurya made it to the weapons, snatching a shield and a talwar sword. Unlike what the others the soldiers were using previously, these were real. One soldier tried firing his pistol, but the shield stopped the bullet. The shield had an extra layer of a titanium alloy; it could withstand limited gunfire, especially from a mere pistol. Shaurya advanced on him and cut him down with a diagonal slash across his chest. As he fell, the wound spewed blood.

Shaurya quickly turned to see Gino aiming for him. Once again the Indian soldier blocked with his shield and rushed him. He slashed at the Knight of Three, severing his firearm in two but failing to land anything more significant as Gino stepped away. Gino quickly reached into his left pocket, pulling out a collapsable cane sword and making a slice at Shaurya. He flipped away, pointing his sword at Gino.

"It seems the minister doesn't want his son to grow up a spoiled brat." Gino noted. "That's good. Your father must be proud."

"He's quite disappointed, actually." Shaurya replied. "He didn't want me to join the military in the first place. He was hoping for a more political life-style in my future."

"Shame." Gino said as he adopted a battle stance. "Your father doesn't know how lucky he was to have you."

"Careful." Shaurya replied, catching the past tense in his sentence. "In the West, I believe the saying was 'Don't count your chickens before they hatch.'?"

Gino smirked. "I'm good at predictions."

"We shall see." The two raised their blades, and charged.

Kallen grabbed an Indian Guard's wrist and pinned him to the ground. The others pointed their guns at her.

Then a familiar voice called them out. "Your land is under attack, and your priority is a single woman who came here in piece?" Zero said as he approached them, calm as ever as his cloak covered his body. A knightmare fired at a random building, destroying a tower. "I think you men have bigger priorities. And we can help." Zero told them.

The commander of the squadron held up his hand, making his men back off. "Get to the turrets! Our priority is the parliament!" The soldiers went off.

"Thank you." Kallen nodded.

"We should have help on the way soon. Be ready; you and the others are going to have to defend this area to the best of your ability." Zero ordered.

"And you?" Kallen asked.

"I need to pursue Patayeh."

"You think he'll join us after all this!?" Kallen shouted.

"That's off the table. But I worry he will make a terrible mistake, just to spite the Britannians!" Zero ran off.

"Zero-sama! Be careful!" Kallen called after him.

Suzaku groaned and held his head as he forced himself to stand. "Lelouch could never move like that before!" As Suzaku looked across the yard, an exploding round caused the ground to shake, throwing him further off balance. Suzaku touched his bluetooth. "Skyboard One, come in! What's going on!? Who gave the order to attack!?"

"I don't know, my lord!" The deck commander responded. "Several of our soldiers just went rogue! They damaged our hangar just to get out!"

Suzaku's eyes widened. "What's going on?" Suzaku snapped out of it. "We'll solve that mystery later! Air drop my Lancelot! Get Gino's Tristan ready to go too! We may not be able to solve this problem diplomatically, but it's up to us to contain the damage!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Suzaku looked around him, and found his gun. "Lelouch has changed in more ways then one. I better be on my guard."

Shaurya's talwar and Gino's cane sword clashed. Despite its thinness, Gino's sword was much stronger than expected and resisted the foreign sword. The knight parried, and dragged Sharyua close for a stab. The Indian blocked the blade with his shield and jumped up to kick Gino in the stomach. Gino stumbled, and Shaurya went on the attack.

The first thrust cut his cheek, but Gino managed to dodge the rest. He then closed the distance, putting his hip on Shaurya's wrist and jamming his weapon. The knight took the opportunity to punch him hard across the face. It hurt, but Shaurya was accustomed to pain. He kiyupped back up and slammed his shield into Gino's face.

Gino fell to his knees, and quickly blocked Sharyua's slash from above. "This is fun!" Gino shouted.

"I'm glad for you." Shaurya said as he pushed him further. "For me, this won't be fun until you and the Britannians leave!"

"Not until we get Zero!" Gino gave a sudden push and head-butted Shaurya in the face.

"Uh!" Now Shaurya was on the defensive, raising his shield to block Gino's sword. Gino found the opening he was looking for, bypassing Shaurya's shield and tearing a cut into his shoulder. "AHH!" Shaurya slammed his shield on Gino's arm, locking him in close and hitting him in the face again. Making a stabbing motion, he managed to hit Gino's shoulder.

"Nngh!" Gino rolled back, and suddenly a large piece of debris fell in between them. "Normally, I wouldn't run from a fight." Gino said as he got back up. "But this is looking bad. We should resume this duel at another time!" Gino got up and called to his soldiers. "Fall back, men!"

Shaurya tried to run after him, but one of his comrades grabbed his arm. "The floor is collapsing! We need to leave, or else you won't have an enemyto hunt down!" Shaurya growled, but ultimately relented. Throwing down his weapons, he followed his fellow soldiers up the stairs.

Fadah axe kicked a man in the chin as everything went to hell. "Stay behind me!" She warned Rakshata. "We can hold out until help arrives!" It was then she noticed Rakshata on her knees. "Are you alright?" Fadah asked as she ran over to her. "Were you shot?"

"This is all my fault!" Rakshata cried, tears streaming down. "If only I never returned…if I never got into engineering-!"

"Stop it!" Fadah shook her. "Maybe this is your fault, maybe it isn't! It doesn't matter! We're in the middle of a firefight with knightmares! And right now, we need you! Your people need you! If you want to die afterwards, that's your business!" Rakshata just looked at her in shock.

"She's right, Rakshata." Zero came up to her, flanked by CC. "If anything, the responsibility lies with me. But neither of us have the time nor luxury to lament our failings. We must control the damage and escape. If anything, this proves your land is not safe from Britannia, nor will China protect you. We must forge ahead."

Zero was interrupted when Shaurya came running up. He stopped upon finding Zero. "You!" He growled. He walked up to him, and pinned him against a column still standing. "This is your fault! None of this would have happened if you never came here!"

"Shaurya, stop!" Rakshata shouted as she pulled down on his arm. "It's not his fault. It's mine."

"Rakshata, don't cover for this terrorist! He brought the Britannians to our door!"

"No, Shaurya." Rakshata said as she eased his hand off of Zero. "Whoever caused this, it no longer matters. The Britannians are out of control, and if we isolate ourselves and stay subservient to the Federation, we will never be safe."

Shaurya looked at his sister, then back at Zero. "Damn it!" He suddenly struck his hand towards Zero, but instead hit the column with a powerful punch rivaling Kallen's. "What would you propose then?"

"Our knightmares will be here momentarily. We can fight them off. For now, you need to secure your father's weapon, and destroy it if possible!"

"You don't wish to use it for yourself?" Shaurya asked venomously.

"I know practically speaking it will be difficult to fight an enemy who would not hesitate to use weapons of mass destruction. But if we stoop to their level, we will only perpetuate this cycle of conquest."

Shaurya looked to the ground. "His beliefs match my own…" Clenching his fists, he said "Fine. I will make sure they don't take the weapon. But after this, I make no promises about what will happen afterwards!"

"We'll worry about that later! Rakshata!" The Indian woman looked to him in surprise. "I need you to find a radio or any other public broadcast system!"

"With all due respect, Zero, I think the people can clearly see we're under attack!"

"I don't intend to warn them, Rakshata! I need to address them!"

Just then, a knightmare landed beside them. They recognized it as the Zangetsu, Todoh's own knightmare. "We've arrived, Zero!"

"Excellent, Todoh! Tell your swords to contain the enemy within parliament, and minimize collateral damage!"

"Understood!"

I know this chapter is a little bit shorter than usual, but I felt this would be enough for now. We'll see how things unfold next time.