"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

The Defense of the SAZ

Kallen watched with curiosity as the forced flying over the palace rushed through the hail of fire. The palace was a wall of guns, and she did not envy those that wished to attack it. 'I wonder what's going on internally.' It was hard to see in detail, even zoomed in, but frames and helicopters fell from the sky, with pods ejecting, most likely landing onto the leadup to the palace. 'I'll have to ask what Lelouch did after this.'

Units on open comms were marveling at the event, saying Zero caused another miracle. Her own men's spirits were rising, and the odds got a little bit better. She internally cheered, but even from this distance, it was clear that a good number were making it through the barrage. But she couldn't ignore the fact the odds were still against them as one of the command staff spoke to her, "It looks like around one hundred frames are approaching you. I can't tell exactly what their makeup is, but they have a squadron of Vincent flyers."

"Understood. Keep me updated." She spoke into her unit's channel, "Don't fire until I say so. Stay in cover and don't charge them. Long range units, stick to regular shells till they get close. Then switch to surger ammo."

Men and women confirmed, and Kallen stayed higher in the air. The dust cloud was getting closer, and even her sensors were picking up the first wave of the enemy. Zooming in, she could see a mix of Glousters, Sutherlands and a small number of Vincents, all in the normal Britannian blue. The Vincents were going to be trouble, but thankfully most of the garrison forces approaching them were no fliers.

There was no doubt she had been seen, and she lowered herself to hide in the treetops. She checked her radiant wave surger, and raised it into the air, ready to fire when the enemy got into range. Enemy units began to spread out as they were only a few minutes away, breaking into squads as they crossed onto the flat terrain. That old adrenaline filled her, and a part of her relished the chance to fight against her oppressors once again.

The Vincent squadron was the biggest threat of their enemies, and she called out over the comms, "Fire! All aerial units follow me!" She dashed towards the lead Vincent, arm ready as she tried to grab him. CC and the rest fired their arm mounted cannons as they moved into melee, their blades clashing with the enemy frames. Gunfire and missiles erupted from the trees, slamming into the front wave of the Sutherlands and Glousters. Units fell as legs, arms and head impacted the ground, several suits ejecting.

Return fire hit the ground as the tanks and vehicles joined in, shells hitting the Britannian frames. Explosions and rounds impacted woods and hills, a few Black Knight frames going down as they kept up suppressing fire. Kallen's arm was stopped by the MVS of the Vincent, an arrogant voice leaving the frame, "So the Crimson Storm is here. We trained against simulations of you and know all your moves!"

"Oh, do you?" Kallen reached out to grab the chest of the enemy, but he dodged back, getting a few meters back. She internally smiled at being such a threat she was used in a simulation, "I have few new tricks." She stabbed at the frame with her blade, trying to see what his skill, and he dodged out of the way as she held the momentum of the fight. 'So, they did learn something. Too bad they lack intel.' Her arm extended as he tried to shoot lower to evade, the cable whirring as the claw grabbed the head of the blue suit, her finger going over the button.

A panicked voice left the officer, "Wait!"

Kallen pressed the trigger, cooking the frame as it bubbled and sizzled, the redhead shooting past it as she looked at the situation. CC and the flying frames held their own, CC taking on two at once. The vanguard of the Britannians were taking a beating, but they were nearing the frontlines as the Akatsukis readied their rotating blades.

They were still outnumbered at least three to one, and Kallen took aim at one of the frames engaging CC, hitting it with a long-range blast as CC sliced through the torso of the other one. Her MVS created a deep gash as the machine fell, crashing onto the ground as the pod shot off behind Britannian lines. The one the redhead had hit bubbled as the radiant waves bubbled and boiled, the machine exploding in midair, the shrapnel bouncing off the armor of the Akatsuki.

"You could have at least given me a heads up." CC's voice was even, and Kallen just rolled her eyes.

"Aren't you an immortal?"

"Yes, but I still feel pain." CC had moved on to the next unit in the air, Kallen wincing as she watched one of the flying Akatsukis crash onto the ground. She was about to assist, when a call came over the comms.

"We need reinforcements! The left can't hold!" Kallen heard the voice of a lower officer as she looked at her map. Four large squads bared down on around ten friendly frames and eight tanks. At a glance it looked like at least forty to fifty frames. She looked up to see CC handling the Vincents along with the Akatsukis, and Lelouch's voice echoed in her cockpit.

"Break their offensive! More frames are on the way!" Kallen responded affirmatively, and flew up, getting a bird's eye view. It was overwhelming, and she fired down at the Sutherlands and Glousters, catching a group with the blast. She slammed down where those frames exploded, grabbing a Glouster with the Surger while stabbing another one in the chest with her blade. Her adrenaline flowed as shot bounced off her barrier, the Glouster melting in her grasp. She let go of it and moved onto the next target.

She was a reaper as unit after unit fell. Either by blade, arm or slash harken, the enemy fell, a blast from her surger disabling a large swath of the offensive. She dodged and parried blows, her shield blocking the rest. It took a toll on her filler, but watching the enemy helpless in the face of her and the Sword squad that came to help filled her with pride. They were no longer forced to play guerilla and hide, taking potshots. They could face them in battle and win, even if it was a smaller scale one. The Black Knights tore through the disabled enemy, and flares in the distance became obvious to her as Britannian units began to retreat. 'I must seem like a force of nature to these soldiers.'

For every Akatsuki that fell, several Britannians frames were destroyed. Kallen could feel sweat building up as the Britannians fell back, their signals falling away from the Black Knight lines. Her soul called out to chase them, but her boyfriend's orders clung in her mind. With a deep breath and another blast that caught two Sutherlands, she called out to all the units under her, "Regroup and reform the line! Roll call for casualties and get the injured back to base!"

It took a few minutes to reform and discipline to settle in. Units formed up and all in all, she had lost around seven Akatsukis, and around eleven tanks and armored vehicles. Around twenty men and women were dead, the vehicles taking the brunt of it. Only one of the fliers besides her and CC was left. The forest near them was blasted, burn marks and destroyed trees showing a trail of carnage. Frames littered the ground, and Kallen chanted a silent prayer for those that were lost. Some were melted and exploded from Kallen and radiant wave missiles, others full of holes from the shells of assault rifles.

But they didn't have time as the Britannians began approaching them again. The enemy was diminished, but they still outnumbered the Japanese soldiers. Kallen let out a cry, "Let's show them the determination of the Japanese!" Her men cheered and she heard a pleased hum from CC. She shot into the sky charging at the few enemy fliers left, gunfire erupting below her as the two frontlines clashed.

Lelouch

Sitting in the command center, Lelouch could see the two battles raging. The command center was buzzing with voices as intel came in, people helping direct important commands that he needed to do. He kept a hand in directing the battles, ordering larger scale commands as Tohdoh and his lover held off the enemy. The battle was more intense than expected as nearly thirty minutes passed. The battle to the east was a series of charges, Kallen's forces holding as the Britannians failed to break the lines, retreating each time to regroup. More troops were fed to them as they became available, but he also had to feed them to Tohdoh as more of his soldiers came to the base.

Tohdoh was personally dealing with Lord Claremont, who had joined in the assault. Orders had been given to capture him alive if possible. The noble had been very important for his plan. Without the man, he wouldn't have been able to use the Britannian weapons against themselves. Even it had been just using his name.

Lelouch just smirked, and Marshall scowled harder. Lelouch's voice filled with his normal confidence, and he removed the contact in his eye, "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you to follow my order whenever I say liberation!" The man's irises were surrounded by red rings, and his expression became neutral, his words quiet, but powerful.

"Yes, my lord!"

Lelouch smirked as he looked at the man. He had made someone near the top of defense his thrall, and he would use this, "You will send me the codes to the defense mainframe and ability to remote access all commands. Anytime they get updated, you will send it to one of my burner numbers and delete the evidence once you have confirmation."

"As you command. What numbers do you want me to send them to?" Lelouch gave him a handful of numbers he was ok burning. He typed out one and sent the current password to one of the numbers, which Lelouch saw ping on his current phone. He sent an affirmative response, and watched the man delete the info. He smiled as he put his phone away, ready to feed that to the Black Knights cyber-hacking division.

He put his contact back in, and smiled, the ring around the man's eyes disappearing, "Lord Claremont wants an update on the improvements to the automated security of the palace."

Marshall just sneered, "Well he can wait till we have the report done. If you have nothing else to say, then get out of my way, commoner." He turned on his heels and walked away, not knowing Lelouch had gotten exactly what he wanted.

The palace defenses being upgraded since the attack on it three years ago had been a major boon to him, though he wasn't sure how long he would have any access to the backdoor that had been placed deep into the system. 'If I can count on one thing, Britannian arrogance means no one will check.' Research had been taken, and schematics copied to learn the weaknesses of frames and other weapons designed by companies in Area 11.

And it was paying off as the defense had whittled down the vanguard of the invasion fleet to a more manageable number. Still not enough for his comfort, and those Vincent Wards being deployed had been out of his reach, as they had been developed back in the homeland. But the Akatsukis were enough of a match for them, so he wasn't too worried.

He watched as Tohdoh took out another small squad of frames, and turned to look at Ohgi, who was standing a few feet from him, "Status on the evacuation?"

Ohgi swallowed nervously, "It's going well. The boats are running people as well, and we should be able to get out most of the people in a few days. A few people refuse to leave, and we've had to force some people to leave their homes. But don't we need Nagoya to fall to bring these people there?"

"Yes, but I have reports that the forces there have captured the Governor's palace and are dealing with the garrison. And we have gotten our hands on several armories worth of Britannian frames." More weapons to use, and they could easily be repainted and used by the Black Knights. 'Replacing Akatsukis will not be easy, especially if the Britannian Fleet gets involved. As powerful as we are, we lack the naval power they have. And production still needs to come from India.' They had several smaller flying carriers and submarines, but those had to arrive from China, and that meant that Britannia ruled the seas. The only real counter right now was a large handful of torpedo boats.

Ohgi looked at him hopefully, "Does that mean Nagoya will help with the evacuation?"

"Yes. They should have many large vessels we can use. But focus on getting them to the designated point."

The officer saluted, "Yes sir!" Ohgi was watching the display as suddenly an alarm blared. Lelouch's attention was thrown to where the alert was, and the city display showed five signatures approaching from the north, going through the outskirts along Mt. Fuji.

Lelouch called to one of the women, "What is that?"

"Unknown enemies! I don't know how they got around our sensors!"

Zero looked as they moved closer to the settlement and furrowed his brows. 'They must have climbed around Mt. Fuji. We should have put sensors up there.' This seems like something he would do. A small team can get past sensors and other observers if you strike where people don't suspect.

Ohgi gasped, "He's headed to evacuation point Alpha! We only have a few units there!" He looked to Zero, "Can we pull away anyone? Kallen, Tohdoh? Any of the Holy Swords?"

Lelouch hummed under his breath, but shook his head, "No. They are needed where they are." Their resources were stretched thin right now. 'If we only had a few more days.' He growled and stood up straight, looking to Ohgi, "Keep control here. I'll deal with them myself. Send combat data to the Shinkiro and keep me updated." With the swish of his cape, he strode out the control room, headed down to the hanger.

People were packing up what wasn't necessary, and more soldiers moved in and out of the base, though most of them had left to go to the SAZ, either to guard it or help with the evacuation. He wasn't opposed to staying here, but it would effectively be a siege and he would rather fight in a place he had more control over. 'If Nagoya goes as planned, then I should be able to set up a defense line.'

He walked past people with a purpose as he walked through the hanger. Two-thirds of the frames had been taken out, and many were getting checks. But he ignored that as he got to the Shinkiro. The cockpit opened as he sat down, removing his cloak and mask, both objects pulled into compartments. Now free of the mask, the display lit up and his keyboard unfolded in his lap. The eyes of the frame lit up, and the factsphere on top shone.

The air glide system activated, and he was guided to the northern launch area, where he loaded onto a catapult in fortress mode. A low hum left the frame as he was launched in the air, taking flight as he watched his tactical display. All comm channels were on a lower display, and he followed the trail as he focused on this squadron.

The evacuation was going well, but he could see several old Japanese people resisting the soldiers, who almost had to throw them onto trucks. It was certainly a sudden event, but these people would understand when this is all done. 'None of them would enjoy what Britannia would do to them.' He knew that there was no way everyone would get out, but if he could get ninety percent or more, then he would be satisfied. 'Though guerilla units will certainly tie them down.'

If Britannia thought he would just leave the SAZ and Tokyo Settlement alone, then they had another thing coming. Sayoko would be very useful in this field. But as he neared the location of the enemy team, an explosion rocked the street, a short bark from the comms, "Go to hell you-" There was the sound of gunfire and the collapsing of tons of metal.

The two friendly units had disappeared, and rubble strewing the road as a team of modified Vincents aimed their guns at a collection of trucks and vehicles, a façade having collapsed. Hundreds of people huddled for cover, fear etched on their faces.

"Now we finally get a chance to kill you beasts like you deserve." An arrogant man's voice echoed from the lead frame, a white cape with gold trim flowing off the back of it. He was pointing a sword at the trucks and vehicles, "Please scream for me." Lelouch scowled as he gripped his controls tight, and just as the Britannian units opened fire, he soared down in front of the trucks, kicking up a dust cloud as he transformed into mech mode.

A wide smirk crossed his face as his absolute defense barrier glowed purple. Every shot impacted the impenetrable barrier, all the citizens looking up at him in wonder. He hadn't declared who he was, and as the dust cleared, the metallic face taunted the soldiers as he was untouched. The barrier had disappeared, and the lead frame took a few steps back, "How did you survive that? Who are you?"

His voice was nakedly shaking, and Lelouch couldn't help but grin, "You face the wrath of Zero!" The enemy paused, clearly soaking in his words, "And I show no mercy to those that attack the innocent!"

The leader pointed at him, "If we kill Zero, we will earn honor for the White Dragon Squadron!" Shots rained on him as he raised the barrier again, once again blocking any harm. Lelouch let them shoot until they stopped.

"You think simple gunfire can bring me down? I'll show you real power!" He dropped the barrier and the chest of his frame opened, a cyan crystal resting in the center of it. It glowed with power, and a beam shot out, slamming into the chest of the lead frame, slicing through the cockpit as the man let out a last cry.

Another unit spoke out in anguish, "Commander!" She pointed her sword at him, "You'll die today!" Lelouch just casually raised his arms as the soldiers began to charge, shooting two Hadron blasts that impacted center mass on two Vincents, causing them to erupt.

The last two frames paused, and Lelouch grinned, "Fight Zero, if you dare!"

Suzaku

The truck rumbled as they started to close in on the SAZ. Even though they were awhile away, they could hear the rumbling of artillery and heavy weapons. The sky flashed occasionally as he collected his thoughts. He hadn't had any chance to really think, but in his heart, he knew he would follow wherever his wife did.

Euphie sat in the front seat next to Lloyd, who drove the truck over the patchy highway that led into the SAZ and Tokyo settlement. His eyes traced her, wondering how she could be so determined after something so devastating happened. Cecile looked at him with concern, putting a comforting hand on his knee, which he couldn't help but give her a warm smile at.

She smiled back, "It'll be fine Suzaku. We just must believe in the princess."

"I know. Thanks." Cecile pulled away her hand, and Euphemia clicked something on a display, "I think we are getting footage from the frontlines." She had access to exclusive channels, and what Suzaku saw left him speechless. There was an improved looking Guren charging through Britannian frames, appearing to almost dance around the battlefield. Frame after frame fell, and while he couldn't hear the comms, he knew Kallen could create fear in any Britannian unit. It was worrying that the Black Knights had this unit despite supposedly losing it. 'How long has Zero been prepared for this?'

Suzaku could almost feel Lloyd's smirk, "Quite an impressive frame. Even if it was created by her." The hint of disdain couldn't be missed, and Euphemia bit her lip as she looked at the display. This was like watching the destruction of her dream. 'I hope Lelouch is safe in the settlement. No one should know who he is. Though if Kallen is with the Black Knights, he might be with them.'

An anxious feeling sat in his gut. The people he cared about were in danger, and all he was doing was sitting back and following orders. He didn't want to fight Britannia or against his own people. There could be peace. Should have been peace. Yet the country was now engulfed in war, and he didn't know how big a fleet was coming. 'This is only a vanguard.'

And to their surprise, in the distance they could see a large convoy of trucks, cars and other vehicles full of people. There was a Gekka looking frame in front of them, but they were far enough away to avoid drawing any attention.

Cecile looked out the window, "Where are they going?"

His wife choked a bit, "Zero is evacuating them." She swallowed heavily, a tear running down her cheek as she looked at Suzaku, "He's trying to keep them safe."

Suzaku smiled at her, "Then we should thank him for that."

Kallen

The battle had been tiring, the enemy charging against their lines at least six times. The defenders had been a bit worn down, but the enemy had received limited reinforcements, and they hadn't been attacked in over five minutes. Her energy filler was low, and her filters for the radiant wave surger was also low. Sweat poured down her face as she wiped it with her elbows. She wished she could see what was going on with Tohdoh, but pride filled her chest as she had driven away the Britannian dogs.

Reinforcements had arrived, but it hadn't been more than a large squad, though they had been instrumental in holding the line. And now that she was able to catch her breath, she looked around and could feel the rush of victory going through her. They hadn't won yet, but they knew they couldn't just bully the Black Knights like they did during the first invasion.

She was checking with all the unit leaders, when comms came in from the command center, "Major Kozuki, you have flying squadron approaching from 3 o'clock. We read five Vincent Commanders and three unknowns." Kallen looked in the direction indicated and rose to see exactly what was mentioned. The Vincents in the center of the formation were in the color of the Imperial banner, blue as the primary color and red as highlights along the limbs and torso. Their helmets were custom, looking like armet helms of old.

On the wings of the formation were two larger units, partially resembling the Gawain, though they were also in the same color as the Vincents, the primary difference being that on the shoulders were two large Golden V-shaped pauldrons. And on the head, going under the factsphere with four eyes, was a V-shaded object that started thick just over the top of the head and narrowed as it reached the top. Each of them appeared to have two large blasters on their arms, machine guns in their chests and two large boxes on their legs. A two-winged float unit stuck out on the sides.

All these units had cloaks of the Imperial banner flowing behind them, and in front of all of them was a unit she had never seen before. It stood out as one given to an ace. The body was all white, with a black shoulder mount, two banner-like cloths hanging from it with gold trim at the bottom. It was lankier than any Britannian frame she had seen before and looked surprisingly unarmored, though she wasn't going to make assumptions. A band of gold ran along the bottom of the shoulder mounts. Gull-like float devices were attached to the pod, and two wing-like devices hung from the pod as well. On the head was a green helm, a large golden horn poking out of it. The arms had two green gauntlets around the lower hands and up to the wrists.

Something about the machine bothered her. 'That one is the biggest threat.' Kallen collected herself and saw that CC and three Akatsukis had joined them. They fell behind her in formation, and a young, rather soft, yet commanding, voice came through on open comms from the unique unit, "I am the Knight of Twelve, Monica Krushevsky, leading the royal guard. Please surrender, so I don't have to destroy you."

Author Note

Welcome back! Getting back into mech combat was a bit of a challenge, and I hope you enjoyed what I have so far. And if the description wasn't enough, the units of the royal guard are two Gareths and the rest Vincent Commanders. For those who don't know, the armet helmet is the classic knight helmet, or the one Dark Souls tends to use on its covers. And for a fun twist, we have Monica invading Japan with a slightly modified Florence! I have fun plans with her, and describing how Alexander's fight will be interesting. I hope you all enjoy it, and I'll see you guys' next time!