Stand and follow command, our blood for the homeland
Heed the motherland's call, and brace for the storm
Moscow will never give in, there is no surrender
Force them into retreat, and into defeat
- "Defence of Moscow" by Sabaton

Chapter LV: The Battle of Moscow

The Kremlin
Moscow, State of Moskva, Eurasian Union
December 31, 2080 ATB

Even through the walls of the Kremlin, itself a literal fortress, Zhukov could almost literally feel the thunder occurring a fair distance from the city gates. The Britannians were well into their southern and eastern advance now, though they had yet to reach the city proper, while the city's defenders were doing their damnedest to make sure that they never so much as reached the outer boundaries. Unfortunately, in this age of knightmare warfare, where landspinner-equipped machines could achieve speeds and maneuvers that would have confounded the great Georgy Zhukov back in his day, his grandson knew that it was only a matter of time before the Britannians indeed entered Moscow and began making their way toward the Kremlin, though he had more than enough cards to play yet at that stage. Regardless, this was only the opening of this particular game between him and Marrybell, and he intended to bleed her as much as he could before the first Sutherland crossed into Razvilka.

For all accounts and purposes, the end of the 2080th year of After Throne Britannia, or the 235th year of the Revolution Calendar, was nigh, as was the final battle for Moscow and the Far Eastern Front. Dusk had now fully set, with the sun descending into the west per usual, though the twilight was massively offset by the telltale muzzle flashes and explosions as Sutherland and Gloucester did battle with Ritter and Baer. Not that Zhukov could witness it all directly of course. Settled well within his command post deep within the Kremlin, his accounts of the battle were taken from overhead drones monitoring the action on the outside and transmitting all of their accumulated data to the various monitors, especially the big one at the far end, on the inside. Thus, in almost stereotypical fashion, the battle was but Britannian blue dots engaging Eurasian yellow dots in a proverbial cauldron, constantly swirling and churning of bullet, blade, and death. The "VERLONEN" indicators were almost constant as a result, each signaling a knightmare or support vehicle that was shot down, if not the deaths of their devicers.

The worst part of it, at least on a personal level, was that Zhukov also knew that his son and daughter-in-law were out there, deep within that cauldron and dealing their own unique forms of death. He couldn't identify them on the central monitor from the mass of Eurasian armor, but he knew they were there. His son, piloting the Eurasian Army's latest weapon and the very first eighth-generation knightmare frame to be utilized in Eastern Eurasia, and his daughter-in-law, helming her own beloved "Teddy Baer," deep within the slaughter, leading their respective squadrons and taking down Britannian after Britannian in the hope of stemming the tide. Any moment now one of them, or both, could catch a stray bullet or be caught in a nearby explosion if not shot directly down. Just as Zhukov knew that, while the ejection systems of their Loewe and Baer remained operational, they could easily be destroyed up front with the rest of their respective machines if not killed by some blood-crazed Britannian that had little regard for those out of the action. The feeling was harrowing to Zhukov, and though he was professional enough not to concentrate on it, it remained with him in the back of his psyche. He dared not even consider how he would react to such events.

Then again, Zhukov mused that it could always have been worse. At least Andrei and Louise were fighting in modern wheeled armor on snowy plains and solid hills instead of on foot or horseback over a frozen Lake Peipus. Likewise, they, and the men and women they fought alongside, were warriors hardened by years of constant battle across the better part of Siberia as opposed to peasant conscripts set against elite Northern Crusaders. In point of fact, the only similarity Zhukov found between this present battle and the one so immortalized by Sergei Eisenstein was that Marrybell made the perfect analog to the crazed "Prince-Bishop" Hermann of Dorpat, who had encroached on Russian lands with similar aims those centuries before. And just like Alexander Nevsky himself had done to the latter, Zhukov intended to utterly and completely prevent Marrybell's reign of terror before it could ever hope to start.

Indeed, it would all end there. No more retreating, no more hopping from city to city, no more bleeding but in no way stemming the Britannian advance. Either Marrybell's minions entered the Kremlin and forced Zhukov's surrender, or they would fall and leave their princess open to a counterassault in Perm. There would be no more fighting in the Rodina thereafter. So swore the Bear of the Far East as he observed the opening stages, the chatter and reports from the surrounding operators continuing well into the background.

Andrei glowered as he put his landspinners into full charge, sending his Loewe barreling after the next enemy formation while firing his blitz rifle. Up front, he struck a Sutherland straight through the torso, the entire frame obliterating before the devicer within had a chance to eject. At the same time, its comrades broke away and scattered, attempting to surround and ensnare him. Moving much faster than he would have with a Baer, albeit on "basic" landspinners as opposed to ground effect jets, Andrei zigzagged and maneuvered around the coordinated assault rifle fire and grenade shots, to which he immediately retaliated with its his left arm vulcan, striking down two more enemy Sutherlands with the ion beam spray. And then he took down the fourth and final by firing off his right slash harken, smashing the Sutherland's head in and causing the cockpit block to eject rather than continue fighting. Four knightmare frames in barely a minute, with many, many more to go.

Andrei's threat indicators soon sounded as a pair of Gloucesters charged in, lances poised to impale. To that, the great-grandson of Georgy Zhukov reversed and then banked right as the Gloucesters intersected where he had previously been, one of them recovering fast enough to launch both of its chest-mounted slash harkens after him. Andrei dodged both and retaliated with another blitz vulcan spray, but the Gloucesters were piloted by more skilled devicers than the previous Sutherlands, and were themselves fast enough to break away from each other, dodging the ion pulses, and then move into a pincer attack while returning fire with their rifles. As he himself evaded the bullets and grenades, Andrei decided to swap his own rifle out for a blitz sword, the ion-charged blade activating with a blue flash, before he launched the Loewe straight at the two higher-end fifth-generation units. One Gloucester fell through a diagonal strike from shoulder to lower torso, which cleaved the cockpit block and the pilot as well. The second managed to reverse in time, instead throwing its lance out like a javelin. Andrei simply banked left to evade the polearm, and then circled about to slash down that Gloucester as well.

More bullets flew after him as more Britannian knightmares entered his vicinity, all grouping their fire in an attempt to take him down. Fortunately, however, it wasn't long before Unsullied Two, Three, and Four came up to support, the latter pair firing their assault rifles while Unsullied Two launched a shell from his bazooka to break the Imperial formation apart. His blitz sword still in hand, Andrei surged on, cleaving another pair of Sutherlands as he passed, and then firing his vulcans in tandem to remove the left arm of another and the head of one more. Yet another Gloucester came after him through the onslaught, its own MVS drawn to meet his sword. Once more moving faster than he would have with a Baer, and especially a Ritter, Andrei twisted his eighth-generation machine around and intercepted the intended strike, his blue blade crackling against the Gloucester's intense red. In the middle of that intersection, the Gloucester's faceplate opened to deploy its factsphere, a traditional Britannian attempt at intimidation. Something that Andrei was well used to by that point.

"This is no Ritter, Britannian!" Andrei bellowed at his opponent, the Loewe's mono-eye flaring as though in response. "NO RITTER!"

With that, Andrei reversed, narrowly dodging the Gloucester's slash harkens in the process, before circling about and slashing it at the waistline. The cockpit ejected before the bifurcated top touched snow, but there still remained more where that came from as more bullets and explosives fell around the Loewe. Falling back into formation with his squadmates, Andrei returned his sword to its scabbard and withdrew his rifle once more, firing additional energized blue shots into the Britannian mass. Killing more Sutherlands and one or two Gloucesters alongside his wingmen, yet doing little to hinder the Britannian advance toward the city.

The ground effect jets of Louise's Baer roared as they went into high burn, the knightmare frame charging with the rest of Whirlwind Squadron into the Britannians' midst, assault rifles and bazookas firing in tandem. The oncoming Sutherlands naturally responded in kind, forcing the Baers to go into evasion, Louise herself zigzagging around the fire with her wingman as she continued firing shell after shell. She didn't know how many enemy knightmares she managed to strike before the formations closed, though she did see the cockpit block of one of the Sutherlands eject after its entire left side had been blown away. Regardless, more than enough of its wingmates remained for her to contend with, and so she dropped her spent bazooka right after the last shell had been fired and replaced it with her assault rifle, firing a spray of bullets into another passing Sutherland as she literally jetted by. That one fell and slid flat into the snow, its cockpit never ejecting.

Mono-eye swiveling to her left, just in time to see another Sutherland charge in with a silver lance set to impale, Louise side jetted out of the charging line and retaliated with her right hip-mounted slash harken, managing to strike that knightmare in the cockpit block as well. Just like her previous victim, the fifth generation type crumpled and fell into the snowbank, the pilot's blood quite apparent as the harken ripped itself free and withdrew back to her hip. A gruesome way to die, the Eurasian admitted, but she had seen worse past the Urals already and so concentrated more into the battle. It seemed like the Britannians coming from all directions now, especially as she ducked and maneuvered around the oncoming purple tracers, returning fire as much as she could while maintaining her evasive pattern. Not far from her, Whirlwinds Two and Three moved to support with their own bazooka and rifle fire, both managing to score another Sutherland that had attempted to move against their commander's back. Louise made sure to flare her machine's mono-eye toward both to signal her appreciation, after which the three Eurasian knightmares drove further against the enemy ranks, zigzagging around the oncoming fire as they went.

It was then that Louise's sensors picked a more prominent target than she expected at that point. A lone Exeter, albeit one colored in standard blue rather than Ceridwen red, almost plowing through a line of Ritter IIs as it sped across the field. Smirking, Louise commanded over the push. "Whirlwinds Two and Three, setup for Jetstream Attack on my mark."

Knowing full well that her wingmen were now sharing the same smirk, the three Baers immediately fell into line, setting up for the ubiquitous Jetstream Attack. Nobody knew who in the Heer had invented that particularly excessive but spectacular attack, but it was a great favorite among Eurasian devicers, and Whirlwind Squadron had it all but perfected with their Baers. By the time the Exeter turned to face them, its head was easily blown off by Whirlwind Two's bazooka while Louise fired her assault rifle into its torso. For a brief moment, the eighth-generation knightmare spasmed as it was riddled with bullets, losing its right arm at the elbow and its left at the shoulder, from which the three Baers passed by, Whirlwind Three delivering the killing stroke with his heat saber. The Exeter detonated soon after, cockpit block and all.

The exceedingly grandiose destruction of one of Britannia's eighth-generation knightmare frames was an effective display, as Louise's sensors picked up several other Britannian signals moving away from the three passing Baers. Not enough unfortunately, as their remained additional Sutherlands that chose to engage en masse, forcing Louise and her wingmen to break formation and come about, all returning fire in earnest. Even as Whirlwind Three fell to the fire, his cockpit block's ejection unclear, Louise and Whirlwind Two remained stalwart, maintaining their drive through the various enemy ranks. Leaving more than enough downed Britannians in their wake.

Imperial Army Headquarters Perm
Perm, Volga, Britannian Empire

It would have been the grossest of understatements to say that Princess and General Marrybell mel Britannia had been looking forward to this day. After five long years and a march across the largest continent on Earth, she was at last at the final step to her end goal. No, she corrected herself, that particular "final" step would be following a march on an entirely different continent, but as far as Euro Britannia was concerned, this was the grand finale. The final Eurasian fortress to be conquered, the final keep to raise her flag above. Needless to say, Marrybell felt quite exhilarated as she sat in command chair and watched the action play out.

With General Blackman by her side per usual, the operators all working their stations and the main monitor showing the opening moves of the last game she would play with the Bear of the Far East, things were already off to a spectacular start. For the moment, the Eurasians were doing well in holding back her troops from entering Moscow, but she, as well as Zhukov from the other side, knew that it was but a matter of time before the city was breached. Marrybell had concentrated her vanguard in too many key places, too many points which the Eurasians had been forced to defend with whatever lesser numbered armaments they had at their disposal. Helping things even less for them was the fact the entirety of the Ceridwen Knights, with her knight leading them directly, were out there, supplementing several of those points, a good portion of them in eighth-generation knightmares no less. Eventually enough of the Eurasians would be vanquished and Marrybell's forces would be the first foreign invaders to enter Moscow since Erwin Rommel's forces at the end of the Soviet War. Which consequently made Marrybell and her legions the first Britannian forces to enter this particular city at that.

That being said, Marrybell wasn't entirely unbothered through her progress. To begin with, she knew Sergei Zhukov was a skilled enough tactician that, understanding there was no way he could keep the enemy from breaking through the city gates, he would not have deployed the entirety of his forces at the forefront. No doubt there greater share of Eurasian knightmare frames and support units were well within Moscow at different points of interest, beginning with Hannibal's Ghost and his fellow Eleven-turned-exiled mongrels, which had been previously encountered at Yekaterinburg. Their participation in the Far Eastern Front had been a most unwelcome one, though Marrybell suspected that it had been some kind of grand coincidence; there was no way Eurasian Central Command would have sent special forces like that to reinforce Zhukov, at least not at the beginning. And then there were the Stormtroopers, who had been oddly silent since their wonderweapon in Volgograd had debuted. Would they show up at some point? Would they deploy said wonderweapon again at that juncture? Marrybell wouldn't put it past any of them, regardless of any damage or the potentially complete destruction they could inflict on Moscow.

And then there was quintessential black devil in these matters, which Marrybell once again felt her insides twist at bringing up. The Black Knights would be there soon, and Zero would be leading them. Whatever happened at the Volga had only delayed the inevitable confrontation, not prevented it. And though they were not present in the field, Marrybell remained on watch for the first indications of their arrival. To say that she both dreaded and anticipated said arrival would have been another grossest of understatements, but for the time being, the game was progressing well enough without them. And it wasn't as though the Eurasians themselves weren't presenting enough of a challenge for her, much to her appreciation.

Though she was not quite within Moscow as fast as she would have wanted, it was all but inevitable that boundary line would be crossed in the next few moments, and from multiple vectors no less. Especially as her eyes fell upon the grouped signals that marked the main Ceridwen formation, where her knight was already breaking through much of the defenders.

Moscow, State of Moskva, Eurasian Union

The Urien spun and maneuvered around the enemy fire, schroetter steel swords already in hand as she sped against the defenders with the rest of the Ceridwen formation. Up front, a team of Ritter IIs was brave enough to attempt to halt her advance, or at least hinder her, their assault rifles firing in sequence as she closed upon them. She didn't waste much time on them, slashing each one down as she surged by, causing two to fall into the snow while the other two detonated upon their Yggdrasil drives destabilizing. From that, she spun around and fired four of her sword harkens into three additional Ritter IIs and a Baer, causing them to detonate over the same factor. None of the Eurasians so much as broke Oldrin's stride as she moved forward, the rest of the Ceridwen Knights following in her wake.

"Damn it, you're really hard to keep up with Ceridwen One!" Sokkia called out over the team's push as her custom Exeter all but outright chased after the Urien, firing its VARIS rifle into different Eurasian targets as it went. Though she sounded frustrated, Oldrin knew her friend and wingmate well enough that it was hardly difficult for her, and though she was not butchering the enemy at the same rate as her commander, Crasher Sokkia was getting her own kills all the same. Such was emphasized by several more Ritters exploding from the VARIS' hyper-accelerated warshots blasted into them, one shot after another, while the Exeter launched by with barely any hindrance.

Oldrin probably would have made a snappy comeback to her wingmate, but her warning indicators flared up as a Ritter III came at her with its battle sword raised to cleave the Urien's head down the center. Crossing her blades together, Oldrin easily blocked the intended strike and then threw away the Ritter's sword before charging. For her adversary's part, he or she was a capable devicer, managing to hold off Oldrin's rapid attacks with its sword and shield for a time, but eventually those were cut apart and Oldrin proceeded to viciously slash the Eurasian down. The cockpit pod ejected thereafter, to which Oldrin nodded – as much of a salute as she could give at that time – before pressing forward again, slashing down an additional number of Ritters and Baers as she went. The Muscovite outer boundaries quickly entering reach.

"This is Ceridwen One! I'm about to break into the city!" Oldrin called out over the Britannian broadband. "All units on me!"

Upon her command, the Cerdiwens and regular Britannian forces narrowed in formation and followed their leader's course as fast as their respective knightmares could move. In particular, Sokkia's Exeter, as well as Leonhardt's Preston and Tink's Kirkwall, remained close to their commander, the former having exchanged its VARIS for its own MVS while the latter provided much-appreciated fire support as its three comrades continued to surge through the Eurasian ranks, slashing and cutting down any and all that dared to stand against them. And that was before the rest of the trailing Ceridwens, and regulars moved with them, removing the remainders from the equation at great, lightning-esque speed. All the while the Eurasians fought their best to keep the Britannians at bay, but ultimately were swept away from the Imperial advance.

And then, as Oldrin saw through her tactical read and the Urien's eye cameras, it all came to pass. Dame Oldrin Zevon was now the first Britannian in the history books to enter the city of Moscow under less than diplomatic means. Even she could not help but keep herself from smirking at that accomplishment. However, the effect was subsided somewhat by the additional number of Britannian forces that broke in after her, to say nothing of the Eurasians that were giving chase and the ones yet within the city itself. Regardless, the game remained afoot, and the city yet unconquered still, to which Oldrin selected another target ahead of her, a Baer that was leveling its bazooka after her, and vaulted ahead. That particular enemy knightmare slashed down as well upon her passing.

The Kremlin
Moscow, State of Moskva, Eurasian Union

Well, that didn't take very long, Zhukov dryly thought as he watched the Britannians at last breach the city's outer boundaries. No, it had nothing to do with the diligence of the defenders. There were just too many Britannians, as well as too many skilled Britannians, to contain and repel, thus it was only a matter of time before Marrybell's forces entered the city proper. And though Zhukov had hoped it would have taken longer, as well as dwindled more of Bloody Marry's forces along the way, it seemed that the time had come to pass. Thus, with a snap of his fingers, the operators carried out the next stages of his stratagem, and innumerable signals from within the various city districts became active. The opening had ended, and the middlegame had begun.

As dire as the situation was, at least Zhukov's opponent made the battle interesting. Had it been any other time or place, Zhukov would have actually enjoyed a simulated battle against his Britannian adversary, her inclination for pillage and genocide notwithstanding. Indeed, as the Britannian signals began to flow into Moscow's immediate southern and eastern sectors, those Eurasian units held in reserve were quick to meet them, as well as draw first blood upon the invaders' approach. But the Britannians would be dissuaded from their prize so easily, and so a fair amount of "VERLONEN" indicators also began to appear on the Eurasian side. Zhukov again frowned as he saw more Eurasian knightmares fall to the Britannian offensive, knowing that several of those men and women had not been so fortunate to eject their cockpit pods. If there was any silver lining to those unfortunates, it was that they died fighting for the Rodina, whether or not they were ethnically tied to that land or not. As far as Zhukov was concerned, they fought and died as Russians, and would be honored as such when the battle was over.

In the meantime, however, there was the objective of winning the battle and vanquishing Bloody Marry and her armies of the darkness once and for all, which at the very least remained a possibility. Victory remained far and away from either side now, and so it came down to Zhukov and Marrybell to make the proper moves and ensure it for their forces. Thus, Zhukov continued to give command after command, order after order, maneuvering each portion of the defending army against the invaders at various junctures, just as Marrybell did much the same for the opposite end. Through this, troop movements and actions, already rapid through the advent of knightmare frame combat, began to heighten. Britannians were repelled from different parts of Moscow just as they advanced deeper into the city. And the Eurasians began to falter in certain areas while remaining vigilant in others.

Whether Moscow would remain in Eurasia or transfer to Britannia that day, the outcome was approaching faster and faster now. Not that either Zhukov or Marrybell allowed that to weigh in on their command performances, as they remained equally focused on defending/conquering the city, such that the desire for victory was not even an afterthought. All that mattered was that their commands were carried out, and that the enemy suffered for each and every one brought to fruition. No matter the cost or what would be lost in the maelstrom.

More Britannian warshots came flying at his direction, forcing Akito and his fellows, who knew their Wolfens were not designed to take heavy damage, to immediately enter evasion while returning for with their rifles and bazookas. Fortunately, what the Wolfen lacked in defensive power, it more than made up for in blistering speed and agility, and so it was all too easy for the Werwolfs to close in on their would-be aggressors, with those Britannians that were not immediately shot down easily slashed or impaled as the kampfgruppe surged by. Akito himself managed to bag two Sutherlands in this particular formation, one through an assault rifle burst at medium range and the other by outmaneuvering the intended stun tonfa attack and then spinning about to slash the exposed cockpit block. The former exploded in true fashion while the latter toppled and fell into a nearby building, which looked like some kind of apartment complex.

Naturally, there remained more Britannians where the latter had come from, those Sutherlands equipped with gunnery weapons immediately opening fire against the wolves while those equipped with lances, which included two or three Gloucesters among the horde, charged on. As the rest of the Werwolfs reentered evasion, Akito launched his slash harken into the top floor of one of the larger nearby buildings and pulled himself up, from which he began to "skate" across the face of the building while returning fire with his assault rifle. As half-expected, the unconventional maneuver caught the Britannians very much off guard, with three more Sutherlands falling before the rest turned their guns after the lone Wolfen, trying to at least clip one of its landspinners if not sever the harken cable. At the end of his run, Akito unhooked the harken from the building side and leaped forward, effectively putting him behind the enemy formation. Taking full advantage, he twisted about while unlimbering his bazooka and fired rockets into the horde, effectively catching the Britannians in a vice with the other Werwolfs. It took only a few seconds to decimate the whole, with quite a few cockpit pods ejecting straight out rather than attempt any further conflict.

"One little two little three little Britannians!" Ryo sang over the unit push right as more bullets and shells began to fly from the opposite avenue. Indeed, compared to Yekaterinburg, there seemed to be a far greater concentration of enemies there in Moscow. Not that that gave Akito or the others any kind of pause, as that only meant more targets of opportunity.

To emphasize that latter point, if the expression allowed, Akito withdrew his bazooka and extended both of his hidden blades as he put his Wolfen's landspinners back into full torque. Once more, his sixth-generation knightmare's superior speed and maneuverability came into play as none of the enemy frames could so much as gain a bead on him, their warshots missing wide as the Hannibal's Ghost zigzagged and swept around them like a particularly violent cyclone. The first Sutherland was cut down before its devicer ever realized the Wolfen had closed on him, while the second was bifurcated at such a high velocity that it seemed its upper torso outright flew back from its lower, the cockpit pod ejecting almost automatically. Two more Sutherlands fell to the Ghost as the rest were cut down by the other wolves, whether shot apart or cut down. And still there remained additional Britannians to kill, as the Wolfens' collective sensors detected not far off, hindering the regular Eurasian forces.

Gritting his teeth slightly, Akito turned his Wolfen about and charged again, its brethren following close behind. One way or the other, the Werwolfs were doing what they did best: fighting Eurasia's real enemies, no matter where they dared show themselves or how many. The streets of Moscow would all but run with blut und eisen as a result.

Goddammit are they everywhere! Leonhardt thought as he swerved around another corner to find another formation of Ritters waiting for him and Tink, the Eurasians immediately opening fire upon visual. He wasn't surprised, of course, but it was a truly frustrating development for the Ceridwen, as though he still wasn't used to so many enemies gathered in one place despite his previous battles. Regardless, Leonhardt wasn't a Ceridwen, much less a member of Dame Oldrin's personal team, for nothing, and so sped his Preston through the center as missiles rained from Tink's Kirkwall. The latter forced the Eurasians to break formation easily enough, which gave Leonhardt ample room to charge after them individually, alternating between his combined maser vibration lances and needle blazers to strike them down. Barely a minute passed by before the last Ritter II was impaled through the chest, Leonhardt ripping the lance tip away and moving passed while hardly giving any attention to the resultant explosion.

Of course, it was just after that Leonhardt's warning indicators lit up. No less than a team of Baers were moving at him, two drawing their heat sabers while the remaining pair held up their assault rifle and bazooka respectively. Putting the Preston into a rather flamboyant spin to avoid the latter pair's warshots, Leonhardt again went to full revolutions and closed the distance on the enemy team, switching to his left needle blazer upon approach. To the Eurasian devicer's credit, the first Baer was quick enough to see the attack coming and attempt to dodge right, but the Preston was just too quick for the fifth-generation machine, hover jets be damned, and so the latter was finished instantly with a concentrated blast through the torso. Following that, Leonhardt executed yet another spin to parry the second Baer's saber, throwing it to the side and proceeding to slash the frame down with the opposite lance tip. As soon as that one fell did the Ceridwen launch his harken into a nearby building and vault upward, narrowly avoiding the assault rifle fire of the third. Upon landing again, the Baer attempted to twist around to face him, but only managed to present its left side to Leonhardt's right elbow needle blazer.

That left the final Baer, which threw away its bazooka for its own heat saber and charged on. Its offensive was skillful, Leonhardt admitted as he expertly dodged and maneuvered around its saber slashes, not even bothering to parry or redirect any of them with his lance. It would have been fun actually to fight this particular Eurasian in a more formalized match, but the Ceridwen Knight knew he had a schedule to keep and so, at the last second, spun his lance to knock aside the heat saber wide. After that, it was all too simple to slash the Baer at the midrift, from which the cockpit pod ejected before the entire frame immolated. Four down, still many more Eurasians to go. Perhaps it was even the beginning, Leonhardt mused right as his ears picked up something from audio systems.

"What is that?" he heard Tink, who had been savaging another Ritter formation nearby, call out as the signal grew, fast becoming recognizable as music. An opening consisting of an electric guitar, drums, and a keyboard soon emerged, in turn followed by a digitally altered singing voice. And though the language of the lyrics was easily identifiable as Britannian, Leonhardt knew all too well what the true origin was.

"It's them," Leonhardt frowned in resignation as an entirely new line of signals were detected. Sure enough, deliberately accompanying the music, the oncoming signals were quickly identified as Gekkas, several of which were already speeding after he and Tink, their handguns blazing in full.

At long last, the Black Knights had arrived.

I'm glad we didn't miss the party, Lelouch mused as he observed the data coming in over his Druid System, all the while trying hard not to let "Running In My Head" by MIYAVI, as exhilarating a track as it was, to distract him too much. Though the battle was well in full motion now, it seemed the Black Knights' timing had been perfect. Marrybell may have breached the city boundaries, but Zhukov's forces were far from set toward defeat, and there remained a large number of Eurasians about the city to contend with the Britannians. That suited Lelouch just fine, as the Black Knights themselves lacked the numbers, if one pardoned the expression, to fight the entire battle on their own. And it also helped that the Eurasians were also not so interested in engaging the Black Knights, as they remained concentrated on the Britannians and nothing else. Thus the stage for the final act was set.

"All units engage at will!" Lelouch commanded as the Mordred sped down the avenue with Zero Squadron in formation around it, already drawing its VARIS and targeting the nearest Sutherland. "We shall liberate this city in the name of Justice!"

"As you command, Zero!" came the united response, beginning from the Guren Nishiki at his immediate right to the Gekka squadron that was most distant from his position. Grinning in his usual manner, Lelouch drove his personal knightmare onward, immediately pulling back the trigger and firing the first Black Knight warshot into the targeted Sutherland. The other Britannians in that formation immediately turned to face the oncoming Demon King and his personal vanguard, and though several of them were immediately vanquished by Lelouch's VARIS and the Gurens' surgers, more than enough remained to charge in return. Thus did Lelouch bring up his left Blaze Luminous to deflect the oncoming fire while replacing his rifle back in its rack. From that, he drew both of his MVS while the Guren Nishiki noticeably brandished its fork knife. Which was precisely when the two formations intersected and merged, the melee breaking out in full.

As he slashed down another Sutherland, and then reversed and circled around the assault rifle fire of its teammate, Lelouch saw straight away that Marrybell's Geass command was not in effect. Indeed, though the Britannians were pressing forward, both in that part of Moscow and elsewhere, they were doing so consciously, their imminent mortality and survival instincts in full form. Clearly Marrybell did not want to use her ace in the hole until the most critical juncture, which Lelouch supposed was characteristic of his sister. In the meantime, there was more than enough to do before dealing with that particular stage, and so Lelouch shifted his attention to the battle in full, deflecting another assault rifle barrage as he closed in on another pair of Sutherlands. Both were cut down easily as he passed, one cockpit pod ejecting and the other not. From which Lelouch launched his right arm slash harken into the ground and, in a technique he learned from Suzaku, pole vault into the air above the next line of enemy knightmares. Landing directly behind them and driving his swords against their exposed backs, adding further Britannian numbers to his tally.

This is certainly one way to spend New Year's Eve, Lelouch thought sardonically as he struck down the last Sutherland in that group, only to leap away as a Gloucester surged forward with its lance set. Both the Mordred's two slash harkens launched out at that, one removing the enemy knightmare's left arm at the shoulder and the other the right leg at the knee, causing it to topple to the street. By the time that cockpit pod ejected, the former Black Prince turned Demon King was already engaged with another enemy team, with the Guren Nishiki moving in not far from his position to deflect enemy fire.

As she dropped her barrier and launched a grenade shot into an offending Britannian, Kallen could already tell that this would be the slog to end all slogs. Though she didn't know how many of Marrybell's minions Zhukov and his minions had killed to this point, they clearly had not removed enough from the battlefield, as her sensors were all but filled with hostile signals across the city. It was rather frustrating having to deal with so many bad guys at once, but then Kallen Kouzuki was well used to that kind of scenario. And it wasn't like Lelouch's latest "miracle" was not already set and waiting.

So long as the tower remains standing, Kallen thought as she switched back to her surger and swept it around the immediate space, burning through at least two Sutherlands and a Gloucester, which detonated directly after. That caused more than one Britannian to identify her as the Red Dragoness, with some of them deliberately choosing to engage the "lesser" Guren Isshikis of Zero Squadron while others immediately grouped together to concentrate their fire. Smirking at that reaction, Kallen reversed her red steed and then spun low before maneuvering forward again, her fork knife ready to slash and strike. A particularly daring Gloucester moved forward at that, MVS in hand, from which it executed an overhead chop that would have split the Guren Nishiki down the middle if it had landed. Instead, Kallen simply maneuvered to her right and dodged the attack entirely, then proceeding to jab the cockpit block with her knife. Pilotless, the Gloucester fell over in standard fashion as she continued forward, planting another well-placed grenade into another nearby Sutherland.

It wasn't long before the Mordred, as well as its escorts, were identified across the Britannian ranks, and so additional numbers, which included a fair amount of Ceridwen Knights, began to converge as Lelouch led Zero Squadron deeper into the city proper. More and more Sutherlands and Gloucesters, to say nothing of Exeters, began to encroach from the streets and the building tops above, forcing the Gurens to burn them away before they could hope to reach their king. Not that Lelouch was in any way helpless, to which Kallen couldn't help but grin as she kept close to her black king. No sooner than when the oncoming Britannians, which numbered into two squadrons, entered sensor range, the Mordred sped forward with the Guren Nishiki at its side, both firing their harkens in tandem as they closed in. That knocked at least four Sutherlands out of commission from the getgo, while triplet MVS and fork knife slashes removed another three. Kallen even managed to ensnare a Ceridwen Gloucester with her surger as Lelouch shielded her with his Blaze Luminous, the opposite red knightmare brightening and bubbling before it exploded within the Nishiki's grip.

It was a spectacular finish, as usual, but still only one. And Kallen wasn't foolish enough to believe that the Britannians were in any way close to faltering, no matter the losses they had already accumulated from the Eurasians. Even so, as Lelouch signaled Zero Squadron to press further in, Kallen immediately followed up that command and fell into line with the Mordred. The intensifying fire, which seemed to come from every possible direction now, be damned.

Black Knights mobile battleship Izumo
State of Moskva, Eurasian Union

It was all or nothing now, which was an all too familiar scenario for Ohgi. One that he had repeatedly dealt with as far back as when the Order of the Black Knights had been first founded in fact, when their "flagship" had been some recreational vehicle that Zero had "obtained" from a random nobleman as opposed to an amphibious battleship. Even so, the fundamentals remained the same, complete with Ohgi watching much of the action from a tacscreen instead of directly participating in the fighting. And somehow his getting used to it only caused him additional concern, not relieved him of it.

Regardless, Operation Fuyukaze was truly on now. As Zero led his counterattack within the city-turned-battleground, the bridge operators continued to relay information to and from the operation, such that the data converged into its usual web of anxious human voices and operating equipment. If anything, the "noise" was probably heightened that much more because this was the final, most pivotal battle of the Far Eastern Front. As Zero had best emphasized to the Black Knights High Command, this would be the largest single engagement the Order would face up to this point. Even Operation Akatsuki, the grand liberation of China, paled in comparison to the man and material that had been so concentrated within that one city in Eastern Eurasia, to say nothing of the stakes involved. Such was testament to Ohgi's battle experience that he had not yet gulped from the pressure.

So far… Ohgi thought as he watched the various tactical feeds, whether they displayed a realtime map of Moscow, with the Black Knight, Peace Mark, Britannian and Eurasian units all marked by colored dots and lines, or active depictions of the fighting in play. Gekka moved against Sutherland across the city, while elsewhere, specialized knightmares like Tohdoh's Zangetsu, C.C.'s Hanazuki, or Orpheus Zevon's Byakuen could be depicted taking on regular Britannian forces as well as Ceridwens. And of course, there was footage of the Mordred and Zero Squadron at the near heart of the city, storming past as the lion's share of Britannians converged to their position. Ohgi almost visibly cringed as he saw a distinctly red Exeter cross blades with the Guren Nishiki, but it was all too easy for Kallen to knock that sword aside and proceed to immolate the enemy knightmare with her surger. The General could not keep from exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding when the Guren continued onward, now maneuvering with the Mordred as they closed in on another enemy force.

Indeed, the battle was progressing, and all sides were making their respective gains and losses. And yet it was still some time yet before anyone could claim proverbial check. Some time yet, Ohgi knew, before that stage of the game would come about, where the final, most essential moves were made. Potentially well into the oncoming year, in fact, as the final vestiges of the Sun fell deeper and deeper into the west…