Chapter 28: Guren Dances

“General, we’ve received a message from the Britannian forces demanding our surrender." One of Katase's commanders informed him, but the old soldier hardly cared.

“Imbecile, if we go down, that's one last force to fight for Japan." One didn't need to be reminded that even if he was as spinless as their former Prime Minister and tried to surrender, most of his men would still be killed or locked away in the sterile hells Britannia called prisons.

“What of the Black Knights? Can they be trusted?” Another brought up, as Zero’s last transmission was fresh on all their minds.

Katase frowned, but he defended his choice. “I'm not sure, but Zero is right on one thing: if either of us falls, then Cornelia will focus on the survivor. So, we’ll play by his game as long as he fights for Japan.” By going along with this, he gave himself some route to influence the Black Knights, keeping them from being Zero's personal army.

“And Tohdoh?” Another of his men asked.

“He and the four holy swords went to pick up their new custom Burai from Kyoto; we haven't been able to contact them.” Was the response, Katase grimacing at the terrible luck. He was sure that the Britannians hadn’t known that Tohdoh would be gone, but it didn’t matter at the moment as they couldn’t hope for his aide to save them.

“He's on his way, but we can't wait till he gets here to make our move. We'll take to the field with what forces we have. Deploy all forces but give orders to fight a retreat, lure the Britannians close. Also, have our weakest units posted to the right flank.” Katase ordered.

“Yes, sir!”

“The Japan Liberation Front may die today, but the Japanese spirit and pride will live on; this is our moment to demonstrate that!” He encouraged his men, as they might change their uniforms, but they would never give up the fight.

Line break

Now that Cornelia had ordered the attack to commence, Euphemia followed their plans and had the G-1 slowly retreat to keep them out of immediate danger. With the JLF thus far not responding to their calls for their surrender or sending whatever forces they had out to confront them, she felt like it was the best play to keep their distance as they could have some sort of trap.

"We suspect that the Japan Liberation Front's main base is somewhere in the mountains here, but we haven't located it yet, " one of the commanders explained to Euphemia, their attention on the screen showcasing the battle area and their forces as they slowly made their way up the mountain. "Until we locate and acquire a list of their collaborators and sympathizers, we can't burn down everything with our aerial bombing."

"The enemy hasn't made any moves, but they can't afford to wait much longer. Their best option, if the Elevens are capable of such, would be to try to create a breakthrough to evacuate. Still, we're expecting that, and depending on where they make an attempt, we'll know where the entrance to their main base is." Euphemia remained silent, as she needed to present a reasonable and mature front to ensure these men didn’t just see her as Cornelia’s little sister.

"Our forces have been deployed on 3 fronts. The right flank is led by General Dalton, Viceroy Cornelia leads those on the left flank, and General Alex leads our central forces. As for our flanking forces-" As they pointed out their forces and who led what, the screens started to glow fuzzy, the map and its icons fading in and out of clarity.

“What is this?” Euphemia asked.

“Enemy ECM, it seems that the Elevens are finally making their move.” One replied though he sounded eager. The Elevens sticking their heads out meant that they were one step closer to wiping them out.

Line Break

On their right flank, climbing up the rocky mountainside, Dalton received word of the ECM, feeling its effects within his own unit. "The main enemy force will be coming out any moment now; switch to ECCCM mode and link up on channel alpha-4. The enemy units, what are they called again?" Dalton asked the man in a pretty good mood.

“Burai, sir.”

"Right, they're pseudo Glasgows, so watch out for them," Dalton replied. However, he would ensure that anyone who got taken out by a knock-off Glasgow piloted by these inexperienced pilots would get some much-deserved mockery.

His words proved right, as it hadn't even been two minutes since the order was given before the JLF moved into position around the mountain. Their men appeared out of hidden doors and hatches, these former soldiers equipped with the very same weapons they had been trained with when Japan was still a free nation, from assault rifles and grenade launchers to mortars and anti-armor rockets.

It wasn't just infantry that came out in form, as panels designed to appear as foliage rapidly shifted, exposing tracks allowed small custom-built rail turrets to roll into position, most armed with modifications of old short-range anti-air canons as they were more than capable of killing a knightmare. Out from other openings, the JLF deployed their older armored vehicles, which might not be able to match a knightmare. Still, the area had been carefully cultivated to create as many kill zones as possible where, if only slightly, it would delay and limit the mobility of their much more agile enemies.

Cornelia was getting up-to-date details on all of them and even saw one such installation in action. From the forest ground, a hidden elevator was noted, one which carried on it 3 Burai, presumably painted in the JLF's colors. "How clever! They've turned the entire mountain into their fortress." Cornelia told these Elevens this: They were good at digging their own graves.

"Your Highness, please fall back," Guilford advised, but she merely smiled.

“Guilford, please don’t treat me like another one of your women.” With a glint of excitement, she took off ahead, leaving her royal guard to play catch up.

"Princess Cornelia!" Guilford called out but didn't slow down, even when the enemy spotted her.

"I-it's Cornelia!" One of them called out.

"Don't panic, take out the leader!" one yelled back as they fired on her, most likely thinking that the three could do what others had failed to do. But just because she preferred close quarters didn't mean she had no means of defense against this. And really, with her years of experience and superior training, dodging their attempts to shoot her was laughable easy.

"Insolent worms!" She called out as she bashed two of the cheap Glasgow knock-offs to the side with her unit's golden lance, pulling back just enough to then thrust it clean through the 3rd, the pilot screaming as his cockpit couldn’t eject in time, his unit exploding upon her lance, freeing her to continue onward for search of targets.

Guilford, following behind, finished off the two she had knocked over before using his slash harkens to take out a turret before it could get a bead on his Princess.

“Right,” Guilford just dropped the issue. “I’ll cover you from the rear.”

Cornelia did feel a little bad for him, but he should know by now that she wasn't like her older sister Guinevere or most women of high birth. She was a soldier, and this was where she thrived. After weeks of agonizing bureaucratic hell that came with investigating Code-R cleaning up the government, she needed a fight like this, a means to do what she was best at.

Cornelia, with her royal guard at her back, posed her unit with its arm on its waist, looking forward as if the mountain itself was her challenger. “Well, Cornelia is here! Is there no one who can challenge me?”

Line Break

Away from the fighting, a small town sat in the shadow of the mountain. A place so removed from the engagement that even the booms of cannon fire were but distinct noises that could be ignored. But it wasn't let alone as Britannian armored vehicles rolled through, not carrying men and weapons, but broadcasting instructions. “An evacuation order has been issued for this area. All civilians are to evacuate at once! I repeat, an evacuation order…”

The citizens all heard this, but one among them turned away from the vehicles and calmly walked towards a building close to the edge of town. It was a three-story complex that looked no different from others, with the security guard posted at its entrance merely marking it as private property. However, on its inside sat another of Code-R's research teams, along with their equipment, as their man came in with bad news.

“Why did they choose this place? If the military were to find the experimental data on Code-R, it's all over," one of the researchers said in fear. They had little reason to think that Cornelia would be accommodating, even if they repeated that all they did was under royal order from her deceased brother.

"As if they haven't already. Site Charlie was hit without warning, and we lost contact with everyone. She's no doubt been forcing them to talk." Another sat at his desk, his foot tapping away in trepidation as they recalled that day, which went like any other. Their sites were kept in contact through secure lines explicitly designed to ensure that they couldn't be traced or turned against.

He had been on the line with the site's supervisor when she informed him of an attack and that they'd talk when she relocated, but neither he nor any of the other four teams heard from her again.

Another crossed his arms, though his eyes lit up a deeper sense of fear. “It might be preferable if Cornelia is the one who ordered the attack, as it could have just as easily been…him.”

The rest paled as they thought about the man who had haunted their nightmares and made the jump at every dark spot in the corner of their eyes since news of Shinjuku broke. "Don't be insane; there's no way he would have even known about the place, much less get there without being seen!" The one seated shot back.

The first, however, gulped as he thought it over. "He killed Prince Clovis without leaving a trace and had access to the G-1's audio recordings. Who knows what the prince and Bartley were discussing that day or what he made the prince reveal before killing him." Yes, they heard of the autopsy from Bartley, but one wouldn’t need to physically torture Clovis to get him to talk.

The site supervisor, a middle-aged man with dark purple hair, spoke up before fear could spread among his scientists. "That's why he moved here. Bartley set us up here with new assignments, papers, and everything because Prince Clovis could have been compromised." That alone was why he was confident that this assault was a fluke, as Cornelia would have nothing leading her to even suspect they were in the area, much less this town.

"And yet, we escaped one problem and landed in another. Being so close to a terrorist stronghold was meant to shield us from any possible attack, and now this happens.” The youngest of them groaned, rubbing at his face.

“Then should we move?”

The supervisor thought about it but nodded. "As dangerous as that would be, we're in the evacuation order. Staying in place will only draw unwanted attention, defeating the entire purpose. Start packing everything. We'll make our way to our facility up north in Kōriyama.”

Unknown to them, on the rooftop of a nearby building, they were being watched by a team of Black Knights via some binoculars. Their location was known to the Britannians and to the force they feared most.

“So that’s the spot? Doesn’t look all that important.” One of the uniformed Black Knights wrote off the sight as he lowered his binoculars.

His teammate for this raid didn’t share his opinion. “Well, if this is meant to be a secret, then it’s doing a pretty good job.” She reminded him, as it wasn’t like they were raiding a clearly marked military outpost.

Minami, the one in charge of this operation by Zero, kept his attention on the place, trying to spot anything that could work against them, like additional security, fortifications, or somewhere they could house knightmares. ‘Just as Zero predicted.’ Minami thought as he recalled how Zero had explained things to him shortly after they had gone over the rest of their plans for Narita.

“Your role is simple, Minami. You're to attack another Code-R facility. This will differ from our last strike, as it's in a populated area far from where we can reinforce you. However, with all attention on the battle and Cornelia no doubt ordering an evacuation, you'll have a prime window to strike without fear of Britannia sending aid, especially when we strike.”

'Sometimes I wonder how he does it, but then I bet his mind would be a terrifying place.' Lowering his binoculars, he looked down at the alley, where they had managed to hide a Burai, which, worse come to worse, would be their only reinforcements. “Check your weapons. We move in 5. Remember, kill any guards you find, but leave the scientists and other staff alive.”

“What if they give us trouble?” One of them asked, looking a little worried. They were only an 8-man unit, not what you'll call a force capable of holding down the fort.

Minami recalled the last place they hit and felt his anger rising, but he clamped on it. He wouldn't let himself turn into one of those radicals who killed Britannians for just being Britannians, though part of him wonders if this group would be an exception. No, they needed info, and the more of these bastards they could capture alive, the better. “Then you can handle them, but lethal force isn’t to be your first response, understood?”

Line Break

Cornelia's excitement over being in battle had long faded, even as she drove her lance through another one of these Burai, killing its pilot. "They're too fragile." Cornelia didn't know what she was expecting from the Elevens. Still, it seemed they couldn't even reproduce Glasgows of the same capacity.

Still, while they were making progress, it was too fast. Even Elevens couldn’t be this bad at defending. “Guilford, don’t you think the enemy is acting strange?”

"As far as I can tell, they aren't fighting to create a breakthrough. It seems like they're just trying to slow our advance. Perhaps they already had some sort of secret evacuation route?" Guilford replied as he finished off another Burai, its cockpit managing to eject and carry its pilot to relative safety.

“Possibly, but then why fight us at all. They could have hunkered down and reinforced their entry points to force us into fighting through chokeholds, or did they not consider it?” Cornelia scoffed, though she would lie if she said she didn't feel bad about this.

"Perhaps it was their arrogance that led to their downfall, believing they could defeat you in battle." Guilford guessed, as perhaps his Princess's earlier taunt got to them. These were the same people who thought holding a hotel hostage with no means of escape was a smart play.

Cornelia's gaze narrowed before a smirk formed on her face. “Yes, I’ve heard that these people are the sort that would perform suicidal charges over surrendering.”

Off with Dalton, his forces were making the best headway, as the forces they met were much weaker than expected, mainly consisting of armored vehicles which could never hope to match a knightmare. Charging the mountain, he led the assault, firing his rocket launcher as fast as possible, taking out anything he could and forcing the rest to take cover. "The enemy seems weak along this line; it could be a feint to our forces out of the area, spread out!"

Line Break

Katase watched all this through their tactical screens as the 4 line defense they rapidly set up was starting to break. “The second defense line is buckling and is nearly collapsed on the right flank!”

“Send additional units to reinforce them. We need to delay but, more importantly, keep them engaged." He ordered as they had expected that and thus had organized their lines so that units could quickly pull back. More than that, he was still holding back around a third of their combat strength.

‘Just like the invasion, their sheer might is tearing through our lines,’ He frowned but shook his head. ‘No, it won't be like them. It will be different, all because of him. Zero…I'm putting the lives of my men in your hands; don't make regret be the last thing I feel on this earth.’

Line Break

Wiping out the last tank, one of Dalton’s men made a report. “General Dalton, based on the enemy’s movements, I’ve determined that the entrance to the JLF is that lodge located up on the mountain.” The scarred general looked up and saw a fairly large lodge that could have been owned by a wealthy noble.

It was not a bad disguise; it's a shame it didn't work. "I believe the proper word for this would be bingo," Dalton joked.

“Well, sir, it-”

The scarred man rolled his eyes. "Oh, just call it in, Mr. Literal." He ordered with a chuckle. Really, he needed to get some of these newer pilots on the program.

Following his order, one of his units fired off a signal flare, which Alex, Cornelia, and Zero saw.

“Is that...Dalton?” Cornelia paused in their advance when she spied it and judged that its distance could have only come from the right flank.

“So that’s where the main enemy base is located?” Guilford asked.

“We’ll be securing our position here," Cornelia ordered as she stopped her unit.

Guilford smiled a little, feeling a teasing mode. “Are you sure about that?”

"I don't need to steal the achievements of my subordinates. Send the reserve force to back up Dalton; he will get another medal." Cornelia joked back, wondering if the man would have space on his uniform for such.

Zero sat with his arms crossed, calmly surveying the battlefield through his screens. As he had assumed, the Britannians had pushed hardest at the weakest point, assuming it was feint. And with reinforcements coming in, they would surely pierce through the last of the JLF's defense lines and enter the base proper.

'Impressive as always, Cornelia. It is a very logical deployment, but no matter how wonderful it may be, it's also easy to read and also gives away your location, which is easy to read.' His gaze went to the left flank before he contacted the general. “General Katase, we'll move in 30 seconds.”

“Why haven’t you moved already?” Katase demanded as he had already lost plenty of good men, and the noose around their necks tightened.

“Because the more enemies we catch in the trap, the greater its effect. Make no mistake, things needed to be dragged out this long, but I have every intention to ensure the deaths of your men won't be in vain.”

Katase’s eyes narrowed, but he complied. “Fine.”

“Be ready to strike their central and right flanks; we'll handle their left," Zero advised as he looked to the side where the time counted down. It wasn't much, but Cornelia's forces were known for their speed and were already approaching their right flank. He'll ensure all they'll be running into is their deaths.

Line Break

Far from the battlefield, 2 trucks rammed the first barricade, forcing the soldiers guarding it to run for cover. Inside, Tohdoh set, concerned but keeping his cool as was expected of a soldier. One of his Holy Swords looked at him, confused as to why he had ordered that they just ram through that barricade at full speed. “Sir, don’t you think this is a little extreme?”

“Asahina, Chiba, prep the custom Burai.” He gave another order over answering, which got Chiba, who was driving, to give him a side-eye. “Tell Urabe and Senba to do the same. Traffic's been blocked all around Narita, and we can't make contact with command. I fear that the attack has already begun.”

The man gripped at his sword, as he had feared this day would come, and it had to be now when they were still 80km from the battlefield. Even at full speed, they wouldn't arrive for a while, and every second they weren't, there were more losses their comrades would suffer.

Line Break

Tohdoh's fears seemed to be already coming true. With the last of their obstacles taken out and support moments from arriving, Dalton had ordered his units to advance. Using their slash harkens, they climbed up the steep rock face. “And with this, any resistance still in Area 11,”

“Will be crushed.” Cornelia finished the thought as she watched how their lines had achieved their objectives. Now, within minutes, this entire mountain would belong to them.

They could have never known that Zero's timer had run out, and with it, the masked man ordered his forces into action. “It's time, all forces to move out. We, the Black Knights, will launch a surprise attack on the Britannians to cripple them and sow chaos among their lines. Our goals are as follows: Provide the JLF with the time and space to escape; eliminate as many enemy units possible; the destruction of Cornelia's royal guard and the capture of the Viceroy!”

His orders were heard loud and clear. Units had already powered up and stood ready to charge, while their infantry was ready to rush through any gaps and harass and eliminate anything their small arms could.

“Our breakthrough route will be created by the Guren Mk II,” Zero ordered, shifting his Nemesis to eye the Guren. “Q-1, use penetrating electrode number 2, set power to 60%, no higher, no lower.”

"Understood," Kallen replied, as she had seen the plans and knew what could happen if she used too much. She moved toward the electrode in question and placed Guren's right hand on the device. Slowly, she raised its power output to the desired output, causing the air around the surger to vibrate and heat up. “Output confirmed, wave surger levels ready and holding.” Seeing nothing on her screens, she pushed the button. “Activating gauntlet now!”

From her gauntlet, crackling red lighting and radiation shot around, but most of it hit its target, funneling it through the electrode whose tip was pieced into that layer of porous rock and water. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the ground started shaking and cracking from the results of tens of thousands of liters of water being superheated to its boiling point and over.

“It worked!” Kallen cheered, along with the rest, as the mountain, acting like a pressure cooker, burst. It slid as the rock and dirt beneath them blew up, spilling thousands of liters of water, which only dislodged more of the mountain's surface.

Right as Zero claimed, when the 30-second mark hit, the entire mountain seemed to rumble to life, Katase and his men needing to hold onto whatever they could just to remain standing. “Dammit!”

“Brace! Remember the plan!”

“But the base…”

“It should hold!”

Katase looked towards the screens, which were replaced with another call from their masked alley, though one he wished to shoot for not informing him of this beforehand! “Zero, what is this? How did you create an earthquake?”

In turn, Zero only chuckled at his demand. “Not an earthquake, a miracle, General.”

Line Break

For the Britannians, there was no such warning. One moment, everything was going according to plan. The next, the ground shook before the mountainside exploded, creating a landslide of death that sped toward them. It destroyed everything in its path, from men to tanks, which found themselves thrown onto their sides and engulfed in the wave of mud, stone, and trees. For many, the last thing they could see was their comrades going down before they, too, were swept up in it.

“What the hell?” Dalton cried out as he instinctively tried to move. Still, their position offered no alternatives other than to hunker down and pray as they took the brunt of the landslide to his side; a unit was immediately taken out when a boulder crashed into its shoulder, severing his slash harkens cable.

Poor bastard only had time to gasp and call for help before he was swept away, his lone line failing under the strain. Another didn’t even get that as a smaller boulder crashed into his Gloucester’s chest, causing an immediate ejection as his unit was dragged under the brown wave of death.

At the G-1, the situation was immediately shown. Alarms went off, and on their map, a purple mass just formed and moved down the mountainside. Anything in its way was eliminated, with units rapidly replaced with 'Lost' messages.

“What’s happening?” Euphemia asked.

“Impossible! How could a landslide come out of nowhere?!” One of the commanders asked, stunned and horrified at what they were seeing. She hurriedly turned to see where her sister's forces would be. Still, mercifully, they should remain out of the landslide’s immediate path.

Another said, "Alex and Dalton's units are getting wiped out, including the reserves as sent in!"

Dalton was barely holding on, his lone slash harkens still secure in the mountainside. Still, the system was already straining due to the weight of the incoming mud and stone, and God knew what else was making his unit feel like it weighed 5 times as much. “Climb, get to higher ground!” If they could get out of this, then they could regroup. Otherwise, they'd all be ejecting, if they were lucky, as they had already lost contact with several units that had been buried.

Cornelia watched in stupefied horror as the ground not even 4 meters ahead of her split and gave way, joining the rest of the landslide as the mountain continued shaking. She half expected to see smoke from a volcanic eruption. “Status report!”

“We’re still trying to confirm!”

“Your Highness, please pull back. It's not safe there!” Guilford pleaded. They had no idea if the area they were in would remain stable, much less for how long, so it was best they pull back.

"I don't care; forget about me! Find out about Dalton, and where's Alex?" She ordered as she could only see that damned ‘lost’ message on her screens, with there being too much radio chatter to confirm who was still alive, much less in any condition to fight.

Lloyd and Cecile also saw the results of Zero's opening move, though the former was much more relaxed about it. “How my, at this rate, they’ll be swept all the way to the bottom.” Lloyd commended. Pity, and after all that work to climb it.

"These heat readings are unnatural. Do you think a hydrovolcanic eruption was artificially induced?" Cecile asked, to which he waved it off.

“Impossible, not unless someone got their hands on Rakshata’s Radiant Wave Surger.”

“Has something happened?” Both looked up to Lancelot's cockpit, which lay open with Suzaku sticking his head out.

"Nothing that concerns us; we remain on stand-by," Lloyd told him, as even if he had informed him of the potential mass casualty event, it wasn’t as if they could do anything about it. So, he’ll let the lad have some piece of mind.

Line Break

The landslide continued, taking out most of the reserves that had been making their way to Dalton's positions. Most of them were slower armored units. The landslide left their crews trapped under meters of debris or tossed about, as some had been hit side-on, flipping them over.

Mercifully, the landslide lost steam as it neared the mountain's foot, slowing further once it hit more level ground. It continued onward, but by the time it hit the outskirts of the town, it had lost nearly all its force. The sight of this led Zero to sigh as he could only see minimal damage to the town. Maybe a couple of buildings had been hit, but none seemed to have been uprooted or badly damaged.

"It seems that Tamaki was right, but even then, you still need to work on your math, boyo," C.C. told him.

“Yes, it would be wise to have Nina tutor me on probability when this is over. Though I would need to work on getting Tamaki some reward for this and his support earlier.” Zero replied before he contacted their second strike force. “Minami, you’re good to go. Good hunting.”

“You got it. Minami replied before cutting the line to start with their mission. If all went well, they'd have those researchers and Cornelia in their grasp by nightfall, which brought a smile to Lelouch's face. Finally, he can pay his beloved sister back for her sins at Saitama and make sure she never forgets them.

Line Break

Once the shaking stopped, Cornelia quickly moved their lines away from the worst of it, taking cover amongst some trees. “A New enemy force has been confirmed to be moving in from the summit. The Carias unit is moving to engage.”

“Hoping to take advantage of the confusion, are they?” Cornelia mused, as it wasn't a bad play, but how much did the JLF have to throw at them? They had been cutting through them before, and that landslide surely hurt them as much as it did them, if not more so.

“Emergency message from Carias unit!” The same person came back through the radio, sounding frantic.

“What is it?”

“It's not the Japan Liberation Front; they think it's the Black Knights!” Cornelia and the rest of her forces heard that and were shocked. Many also felt fear as they were still trying to get their bearings. And now this?

“What? When did they get here?” Cornelia looked towards the part of the mountain where Carius's unit should be. They were mainly armor, but if Zero was bringing knightmares, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Line Break

“Zero?” Near the bottom, to Cornelia's rear, Jeremiah and the Purebloods heard the order as well. "But it's where-!" Jeremiah quickly entered his cockpit and looked through the screens of their troop deployment, along with Zero's expected path; if Carius was accurate, he felt his blood turn to ice.

He didn’t hesitate to call command. “Command, this is Margrave Jeremiah! Requesting to immediately move to assist Viceroy Cornelia.”

On his screens, Cornelia's commanders' faces and those of the sub-viceroy appeared, and none of them looked happy to see him. “Denied, you’re to remain at your post.”

Maybe he would have backed down then, especially as his position was already on thin ice, but he would sooner drink acid than do nothing when harm threatened a royal. He refused to fail a third time. "But my Lord, the Viceroy's rear is exposed, and Zero's close to her location. If we don't act now, she'll be cornered."

“Are you saying she can’t handle some masked terrorist?” one of them accused him. Viletta worriedly listened in, unsure if she should interject.

“Request granted,” Euphemia said, surprising the rest of the command staff. She ignored them and focused on the Margrave. She didn't like him, not after his stunt with Suzaku, but if he could offer aid, she'd take it.

“Margrave Jeremiah, you are to reinforce Carias's unit and maintain the Viceroy's rear while we get a better idea of the situation. When we do, we'll try to send what's left of our reserves.”

Jeremiah nodded, “Yes, my lord!” He quickly cut the line and ordered his unit into action, rushing off into the fray before some could even get back into their cockpits. They'll need to play catch-up, as with Zero on the move, they didn't have time to waste.

Back on the G-1’s bridge, the commanders were still stunned that Euphemia had made that call. “Sub-Viceroy-!”

“Enough!” She silenced them, the men gulping as they had forgotten that she was Cornelia's sister and had just as much will as her sister. "We don't know what's happening or why, but if Zero was here the entire time, why did he only strike now? He was waiting for this; he caused that landslide, and now my sister's isolated by who knows how many others have been killed or buried."

She couldn't prove that, but with all the oddities that could be tied to Zero's name, was it that much of a stretch that he found a means to cause an eruption? It certainly seemed to be the case as the commanders didn't immediately refute her, looking amongst themselves, seemingly trying to will a retort into being. Still, she wouldn't be having any of it.

Lucky for them, a new report came in that drew their attention. "We're getting reports of enemy units—it's the JLF. They're striking at our right and central flanks!" one of the controllers relayed.

“Of course, they were holding units in reserve,” They dropped the Pureblood issue with a groan. "Bring up their positions on the screen; how many units are still in play?"

"We're still trying to confirm, but at least 40% have been removed." Another controller reported, which had Euphemia gripping the table. 40% How many had just been killed? How long till they could dig out those who hadn't been killed? How many more would need to die today?

“That many? With just one move?” One of the commanders growled before biting his tongue and getting back into focus. The faster they got a handle on things, the faster they could reinforce their Princess and pull out.

Line Break

Watching an armored column race up the mountain road, Inoue kept her cool. "You know the deal: Our job's to watch their backs! Get ready," she called out as their rocket team aimed down range.

“Fire!" At her word, several anti-tank rockets were launched. Some missed, but others found their marks, disabling, if not destroying their targets. Moments later, the vehicles to the rear tried to reverse only to come under fire as well, their guns shooting into the brush as they tried to track heat signatures, but the Black Knights had positioned on both sides of the path, firing from above and below.

Jeremiah saw the unit being attacked before, and in what felt like mere moments, the entire thing—all 6 tanks and 8 IFVs—was destroyed. "Carius unit's been taken out? That only leaves us between Zero and the Viceroy…" Jeremiah gripped on his controls. As for Zero, he smiled as he saw the JLF units, many of which he assumed the general kept in reserve and thus were fresh, enter the battlefield.

It seemed that they were following his orders and keeping pressure on the center and right, hammering away at the Britannians who had just survived a surprise mudslide, one that had the added bonus of rendering their land spinners near useless.

That was a fact that Katase had just realized and was making ample use of as their Burai engaged the enemy from stable ground, leaving closer engagements to their tanks, which rumbled onto the unstable mud with ease, their cannons picking off enemy units like it was a turkey shoot. General Alex trying to keep order amongst his forces as they were being pummelled by an enemy that held the high ground. Most of their weapons are useless against them, and the range is too great to try and jam their turrets with their slash harkens.

“Send Eguchi and Okamoto’s units to attack the right flank. The enemy was amassing there, so if we take them out, we take out the bulk of their forces.” Katase ordered.

"Yes, sir!" His men confirmed as they redirected the platoon of knights and 6 Burai towards Dalton's weakened and disorganized position. The man still pulling his unit from the muck.

“Send out Egashira and Rikimaru in the meantime; order the rest to give them cover as they recover any injuries they can," Katase added as he hoped that he hadn't lost as many as they had feared and with evacuation already underway, he could at least try and get those who had fought their hardest and couldn't any longer out rather than leaving them for dead.

But his morbid perception couldn't last long. Along with the rest of his men, he felt something that had been foreign to them for years, but it was only growing in strength as more of them entered the fray and beat back the Britannians.

They wouldn't just escape to fight another day; they'd do so after witnessing another miracle, a second great victory against their occupiers.

Line Break

“Take cover!” Dalton ordered as he and several others hid behind large boulders; it was their only defense against the knightmares and tanks pouring fire on their heads.

“But sir,” One soldier didn't listen as she rushed out of cover to try and recover one of their comrades, still too deep in the muck to eject or free themselves.

"Leave him, or you'll die with him!" Dalton’s words proved prophetic when the would-be rescuer was shot, the shell causing an explosion before the cockpit could eject, the same explosion taking out the downed unit. “Dammit, where’s our reinforcements?”

“I can’t contact them, but if they were close to us when that happened…” one of his men replied. The woman sounded strained as she worked to try and get a picture of things while under heavy fire.

“And Alex? Can’t he provide assistance?” If Dalton recalls things correctly, the man shouldn't be too far from them. Though there was the terrain issue, with no cover, their slowed movements would make them ideal targets for the JLF and Black Knights.

“I can’t contact him either.” The scarred man growled, his hands tightening around his controls.

"He better not have been killed, else our central thrust would be leaderless…" He muttered.

Line Break

“Buring the bridges behind you can force the beast out of anyone, a classical strategy." Zero mused as he saw on one of his screens how their forces had bounced back hard, smashing into an unprepared enemy force like a tidal wave, halting Cornelia's advance at worst and pushing them back at best, both serving their goals as their own forces organized to increase the heat.

Zero's unit picked up movement that others might have missed, but he had been sure to ensure that his fact spheres were top-of-the-line. "We have enemies approaching; be ready, " he warned his people, C.C. shifting her controls to load a shell into their cannon and release the safeties on all but the anti-air missiles.

Moments later, streams of gunfire broke through the tree line as Jeremiah’s Sutherland came into view, but his shots went wide, failing to hit a single one. “Zero!” The man yelled, identifying the multi-legged monster as Zero’s unit and firing on it again, but Zero shifted the controls and easily dodged around the fire.

Locking onto him, C.C. refrained from using their main cannon, instead relying on the Nemesis dual autocannon, chambered to the same firepower as Jeremiah’s. “Is that you, Zero? If it is, face me, face the wrath of Jeremiah Gottwald!” Jeremiah evaded their return fire well enough, the man watching how the contraption seemed to move and fight well enough. However, such a shoddy construction would surely fall against superior Britannian engineering.

“Oh, is that you? I'm surprised you're still in the military." Zero asked him, pulling back on his controls to dance around a tree that had several holes blasted into it, causing it to snap at the holes and fall over.

“You won't take another step further; here and now, I shall wipe clean the stain on my name.” Jeremiah declared, refraining from openly stating Cornelia's position in case the terrorist didn't know.

Zero chuckled, a lull falling over the two as they ceased shooting. “Stain? Oh, you foolish man, whatever failures on your record are yours and yours alone. I merely used them, but as fun as it would be to test out this unit against it, I have better things to do with my time, Eden Boy.”

Something snapped in Jeremiah at hearing that name, something that had become an insult, and he couldn't go what seemed like 5 minutes without hearing. For it to come from the man who caused his career and fell his lord only to boast about it, he refused to let that stand. “E-e-Eden boy?! You’ll die for that!” He charged him, ready to dodge should the terrorist make use of that tank cannon, but he never got the chance as from the treeline, the Guren leaped into action, landing between the two machines and knocking his rifle out of his hands.

Jeremiah quickly retreated, deploying his unit’s stun tonfas as his weapon landed too far from him to be of help.

“Lord Jeremiah!” Viletta called out, but she and the rest had to take evasive actions when the two other Sutherlands at Zero’s side opened fire on them, Zero himself pulling back to cover.

“Q-1, you handle Eden Boy; we'll take care of the rest.” Zero ordered Kallen, taunting his enemies by using the speakers as he turned to handle another threat as their position, while not intended, would give him an excellent view of the faltering Britannian center.

“Understood!” Kallen stood at the ready for anything Jeremiah could throw her, leaving Tamaki and Sugiyama to handle the rest.

“I’ll handle this one, Viletta.” Jeremiah narrowed his gaze on the unknown machine, one much more than Zero's, which seemed unique in a way he could only describe as akin to the Lancelot. However, that must surely be cosmetic; there was just no way.

“But sir, I've never seen a knightmare like it before. Is it possible that the Elevens have?” Viletta called back to him, exchanging fire with the enemy Sutherlands, both sides taking to rapid movements and using cover to try and one-up the other, leading to sporadic bursts of fire flying either way.

“You think Elevens are capable of such technology?" Jeremiah called back as he went on the offensive, swinging his stun tonfa at the Guren. Kallen shifted her unit, grabbing the weapon with her right hand. Jeremiah, quick on his feet, moved when Kallen did, freeing himself and going for a swipe at her unit's legs, but she jumped over it, taking to the air in a way that he could never match.

‘It’s fast!’ He surmised as she came in for her attack, which Jeremiah blocked, but found she had much more power. She pushed him even as he put his land spinners into full power. “Is the thing that destroyed Carius's unit?”

Kallen wanted to take credit for that, but that was all Inoue's doing, not that this pompous prick would ever know. “Oh, it's so much more, you Britannian pig! We can finally fight back on equal footing, and our counter-attack begins with this: the Guren Mk II!” She swung her right hand towards him, Jeremiah seeing it and quickly pulling back.

“Oh hell, there’s something on its right hand, but if I just avoid-!” Jeremiah thought he was safe, but even with the distance between them, Kallen's arm, with a push of a button, extended her Guren's, allowing its giant steel hand to clamp onto Jeremiah's Sutherland's head. “What’s this?” Again, he tried to retreat, but the Guren's grip was too strong, the distance between them too great for him to strike with his stun tonfas, and right as he was moved to fire his slash harkens directly at her-

“Sorry.” Kallen didn't take joy in what would come next. Still, she pressed the button exactly like during the radiant wave surgery, sending untold amounts of radiation and heat into the Sutherland, causing its metal body to start to bubble as its materials started to boil and buckle.

Immediately, Jeremiah felt the temperature in his cockpit rising, its design incapable of keeping the radiation out. “Dammit, I’ve been bested again!” The heat was getting too intense, and even if it wasn't, his unit was a lost cause, so he reached for his ejection. “Zero, I swear that I won’t forget this!” As he pulled the levers, he saw, just behind the enemy Sutherlands, Zero's unit lay, its back turned to him as he focused on something else.

As Jeremiah vanished over the treeline and his unit burst into flames, Kallen smiled at her victory. Her first victory in this 7th gen machine. “I won’t lose…not with this.”

“She defeated Lord Jeremiah. Who are they? Just who are these warriors?” Viletta asked herself, as this… wasn't possible, but she saw it with her own eyes, and now she had to pull their forces into check even against something like that. How?

Zero glanced at his screen as Jeremiah's dot went out, replaced with 'destroyed.' The masked man smiled, having no doubt that Kallen would handle things. All that waited now was to handle the rest of the delayers. "All tasks at hand have been cleared; the only thing left to make our advance on the enemy stronghold."

C.C. remained silent as she locked onto a struggling Gloucester around 700ms away from them before she pulled the trigger, and less than a second later, it went up in flames as the shell found its mark. The rest froze, unsure of what happened as their enemy, at least the one they could see, couldn't have done that. She hardly cared to give them time as another shell was cycled in, and she fired, another's leg blown out from under it, the harsh impact with the ground triggering its ejection.

"They're wising up," She called out as the Britannian units managed to trace their location and fired on them. Zero chuckled as he shifted their unit to crouch, spreading its legs out till its underbelly contacted the dirt.

"They'll need to have some good luck to be worth a damn at this range," Zero replied; despite the range of their weapons being well over 1km, knightmares were designed for much closer range engagements, their targeting rapidly dropping in accuracy from ranged 600m and above unless using specialized equipment.

And considering he went out of his way to ensure his sensors had no such issues, C.C. could reliably take them out from twice this range if they so choose. All points were proven by how the streams of gunfire coming from below missed them, striking at the trees, rocks, and dirt, kicking up splinters and dust, but Nemesis remained in touch.

Line Break

General Alex found himself in a terrible position with no cover and unreliable ground. First, they had been caught off guard by that damned landslide, then the JLF had sprung out like weeds after a rainy week, and now they had to worry about some new weapon taking potshots at them. “Dammit, they caught us in the open,” Alex cursed as another of his Sutherlands went up in flames, its cockpit not ejecting. “Can you get command on the line?”

His second in command, Sir Alfred Pinwood, replied. “I just got through, but they can't send any reinforcements our way.” Pinewood sounded strained and frustrated with the situation.

“What about our reserves?” Alex asked, turning away from their sniper and focusing his fire on the Burai attacking from the ground. Their shots weren't nearly as dangerous, making it hard to move around. Another boom sounded right as the arm of one of his Gloucesters exploded, the machine thrown onto its side.

"And can someone tell me when the JLF got something like that? I thought their linear cannons were glorified shotguns!" He yelled as someone rushed out to drag the damaged unit out from the line of fire, though with the arm lost being the one holding its weapon, that meant that while alive, his machine was useless in an engagement like this. Best he retreated while he could.

As he gave the order for the damaged unit to do just that, Pinewood filled him in on how dire things were. “The reserves were also hit on their way to reinforce General Dalton; whatever remains are scattered and confused!” Of course, they were. Even if they had been closer to him, they would have surely been hit by the landslide as well and would have taken time moving up such unfriendly terrain.

“Alex, what’s your situation?” At last, he finally got contact with command.

"Over half my forces were wiped out, and we're currently engaging with the JLF's counter-attack, but we won't last long in these conditions. They're also fielding some new kind of tank. It's sniping us from an estimated range of 710m, from the right flank!” he relayed to them. Spotting a chance, he fired on a Burai, managing to destroy the unit. Still, its pilot ejected before he could finish them off.

“Right flank?” Alex was too busy reloading his rifle to wonder why command asked that, only for them to return online. “General Alex, that lines up with where the Purebloods are engaging with the Black Knights.”

Wait, if they were on the right…that meant they were close to Princess Cornelia’s position! With the reserves in chaos and the battlefield like this, she would only have the forces in her immediate area! “You mean to tell me that those damned wannabe be knights are-!”

Alex couldn't finish his sentence as he had turned his unit slightly side-on to the sniper, and C.C. made him regret it in the moments of life he still had. Having landed a direct hit to his cockpit block. Much like the rest, the shot had been designed to take out stronger targets from much greater ranges.

The result? It tore through the terrible comparison armor of his cockpit block, ripping him to pieces before exiting the other side; only then did it explode, the force sending his now pilotless machine tumbling in the opposite direction.

Inside the blood and gore-stained cockpit, crimson droplets covered the controls, its radio still in operation. “General Alex? General Alex, respond!”

“General Alex is dead; he was just hit. This is Sir Pinwood, I'm assuming command.” The young knight spoke up, swallowing his fear as he saw his commander, a true soldier and veteran, just…die so easily; ducking behind cover, his instincts saved his life as another shot flew where his unit's head just was, striking a tree and exploding to their rear.

"Command, we can't keep this up; we're down to just 8 machines, and the enemy is advancing with at least 18 and covering fire from the Black Knights! Requesting permission to retreat and link up with General Dalton!" Pinewood was nearly begging, as they couldn't win in such conditions. They couldn't even hold their ground much longer as God knew how many shots that tank…thing still had, as the upturned earth and rocks around them wouldn't last forever under sustained fire.

“Granted, pull out of there!" He didn't even care that it was Princess Euphemia who gave them permission; he'll take it over watching the rest of his fellow soldiers dying to these damned animals.

"You heard them, fall back! I repeat, fall back!" He called out to them, getting two of them to work with him to provide cover fire as the rest pulled out. However, it seemed like the Elevens picked up on that and increased the pressure of the attack.

Line Break

It hasn't been that long since the last chapter, as on a whim, really, I decided to work on this chapter instead of chapter 2 of my first WIP. Part of why was that I really wanted to get to the combat of the Narita operation, and I had some fresh ideas that I wanted to experiment with now that I've given myself a few days extra to work on this. That way, if they don't fit, they'll be cut.

When I finish, I'll finish watching episodes 3 and 4 of that new Gundam series as I already finished season 1 of 100 Girlfriends(it was as trashy as I was promised, and I enjoyed it; they knew what it was and just went balls to the wall in the writing and animation)