Peace, calm and serenity.

He inhaled, taking in the fresh clean air and feeling it as they entered his lungs.

After a moment, he exhaled.

Peace, calm and tranquillity.

He inhaled again, this time feeling the movement of the muscles of his chest.

And breathed out again.

And once more he breathed in, feeling even the slightest of shift within his body.

Once more he released.

He opened his eyes.

Crimson flames littered where the greenery once stood. Scraps, burning rubber and metal littered the area.

The flying fortress stood in its terrifying glory protectively over the rest of the island even as its seas and skies were littered with fiery lights.

A line of Atakasukis flew and raised their arm mounted bazookas up as the large orange and green gyrating sphere appeared in the distance.

The chrome knightmares waited until it came within range and fired a devastating volley. The rotating spiked machine came in fast dodging majority of the shells while shrugging off the rest.

The Siegfried smashed through the line, literally turning those it caught within its reach into minced metal and flesh.

Others broke formation and turned their weapons back but a shower of bullets and missiles struck them from behind.

The leading knightmare raised its sword and pointed. The ebony and purple knightmares following it spread out in high speed, shooting and cutting down individual knightmares.

Other squads of knightmares tried to support their allies but with their targeting systems being disrupted by their jamming technology of the advancing black ships, their supporting fire was at best ineffective and at worse a waste of ammunition.

Furthermore, the Plutons kept sweeping in with their hit and run tactics.

When the knightmares tried to face the Plutons, a flight of white winged figures swept in from their unprotected side.

"Pluton 5, swing back on Sector 9. Gamma-One, the battle group on your right is completely exposed. Hit their engines and you'll have an entire ship on your shoulder plate."

He was following a flight of Pluton Wards when an emerald light swept through them. A white and gold almost angelic figure appeared from it and even with Pluton's superior technology and skill, all the ebony knightmares nearest to it collapsed down to the sea in severed pieces.

Three white armoured winged Alphas Angelos chased after him clashing blades as they vanished from view. The Alpha Vēnātors tried to snipe it with their Hadron rifles but somehow the Lancelot was able to avoid them at the very last minute.

On the other far end, he witnessed a different light. This one was violet and if the other one seemed bright, this one was dark.

The crimson aura that followed it was like wrath incarnate and Rai had a moment of alarm when the violet light literally smashed through the Blaze Luminous of a black ship. The figure from the light, red as its aura, shot out its right arm like a slash harken at the black ship.

He immediately directed a whole unit of Pluton and a Siegfried at it but the arm was already returning and the black ship shuddered as its engine core bubbled and exploded.

Rai struggled to keep calm as the crimson knightmare avoided the volley fires and Siegfried lance-harkens.

It seemed even without their targeting systems, the Lancelot Albion and Guren SEITEN were proving to be a great threat.

Fortunately, their opening moves had been extremely successful and thus allowed them to shift their reserves to keep the Lancelot and Guren contained.

"Stay calm, Rai." Charles zi Britannia's voice called. "Your signatures are reacting."

"But those two…The Siegfrieds pilots have complete mental control! How are mere human pilots able to move like that?!"

"The wonders of human evolution, my dear boy. It matters not. They are not important. Look to your other defences."

Even as he directed the forces on the flanks against the Lancelot and Guren, Rai noticed the forces in the centre moving.

The Black Knights, the Glinda Knights and Lelouch's own household division were advancing in attack order.

The Geass order had the bulk of their forces the conventional elements of the former Chinese High Eunuchs' guards, the European special Gendarmerie units and Britannia's OSI and Emperor Charles' royal guard.

Although outnumbered, their ships, knightmares and vehicles were all customised and superior to the standard ones.

They were the elite who would hit hard then move out before anyone else could see them.

Like a scalpel, extremely sharp and precise.

And inside his GX 01 Alpha Oculus and with the Geass Conductor along with the system based on the Siegfried's piloting system, Rai now had the power to completely battlefield awareness which allowed him to direct the forces of the Order to dissect and prick the attacking forces at their most vulnerable part.

Just like a scalpel.

And so the doctor will work on the main tumour that belonged to the accursed Lelouch vi Britannia.

The Alphas Angloes and Alpha Vēnātors lined up at the tip of his forces. They were more an exoskeleton than knightmare frame using a modified nervous system from the Siegfried, allowing the pilots to move the machines as if they were their own bodies.

Even the lowest of the Alpha pilot could fight like Suzaku Kururugi with it.

He aligned the forces according to their strength. The Britannian OSI's Special Action Division including the infamous Special Operations Group (SOG) made up the bulk of the centre.

The Chinese Federation's Jinyiwei units floated along the right flank while the European SSE's Service Action held the left.

Lelouch's forces came at him with three traditional wedge-like formations with the capital ships at the spear tips and light cruisers flanking them.

The knightmare and aircraft were positioned in support formation.

It was not dissimilar to the formation he had used against Schneizel earlier and unlike the White Prince who had to look through only the monitor screen, Rai could see every movement.

Every movement of the knightmares, the engine burn, the glow of the FLOAT systems, the half-blooded former prince could see the entire enemy army moving at real time.

Lelouch's left the Black Knights began to extend stretching their battle line with their reserves joining in to form one long flank.

It would allow them to surround the smaller force they were facing but it also left them vulnerable for a direct attack.

With Rai's elite and quick reaction forces, he could easily penetrate that line and outflank them. However, through his Geass he could also see that the Atakasukis of that made up of the line were of elite Black Knight squadrons that could pull of difficult manoeuvres.

Furthermore, if Rai did nothing these squadrons would also flank him.

It was a bait and he would not fall for it. Instead, Rai moved several Alphas to his flanks. The Alphas were strong enough to engage any elite knightmare pilots and now threaten the other flank.

Lelouch, however, withdrew for a distance and it looked like he did nothing but Rai saw that the reserves from the centre and right were forming up behind the right flank for a concentrated attack.

It left his centre weakened but Rai too did not press that and checked his flanks.

Lelouch's centre continued moved up closer but Rai ignored it as though they were made up of the royal guard, they lacked any specific weapons to threaten the black ship line that protected them.

Instead, Rai moved several of the European elite fighter squadrons to elevate to bombarding positions.

Lelouch countered the move.

After several frustrating moves and counter moves, Rai realise he was beginning to be cornered and surrounded by Lelouch's superior numbers who were gaining ground somehow despite observing with his Geass.

Despite his hatred, Rai felt a surge of admiration for Lelouch. He was like a painter, focusing on the little details to make the whole picture. He was fighting a master strategist and tactician. Rai also admired the Black Knights who were able to complete Lelouch's complex commands so well.

But it was what Rai was hoping for too. For with less numerous but elite troops, victory was only possible by defeating Lelouch in detail.

The weakness lies with the Glinda Knights who were possibly unused to Lelouch s commands were slow to react well.

Rai would isolate the Glindas away from the rest and destroy them.

He brought the Siegfrieds up and would batter the Glinda Knights.

With the Lancelot Albion, the Guren, the Tristan and Shen Hu busy on the flanks, the remaining threats were the Lancelot HighGrail, Lancelot's red armoured cousin, the Bradford and the Mordred prototype the Zetland and the Zangetsu, General Todoh's personal knightmare.

The Glinda elite were spread out to reinforce the main battle lines and he was watching them carefully for a potentially sudden attack.

Then he saw a new figure moving out of one of the Glinda carriers.

It was faster than a normal knightmare but its movement pattern was that of a fighter jet.

He was forced to push his Geass powers to focus on the target with all other tasks occupied.

The figure was white, gold trimmed and blue. And he recognised its shape.

The Tristan? Rai thought for a moment but he saw the Tristan fighting one of the Siegfrieds on the other extreme flank.

The Bradford!? In Gino Weinburg s Tristan colours!

In that brief moment of confusion, the transformable knightmare flew ahead on full speed and headed towards the black ship line and the small gap that was created.

Rai saw the ploy and ordered line to be closed but then another knightmare joined its path. It was the Lancelot High Grail in all its red and gold glory.

It went in and docked with the Bradford like a makeshift float system and with their combined boost shot their way to the gap and made it just passed the Blaze Luminous.

"No!"

But the red Lancelot had already punctured the black ship's engines with the prototype Hardon Spear.

Lelouch's forces immediately poured in the gap spearheaded by the Zangetsu and the Zetland.

Rai ordered the Alphas and the Siegfrieds to plunge the gap but the Zangetsu and the knights closed in to engage them while the other squadrons moved further pass their centre and began tearing them apart from the inside.

Some OSI Gloucesters were firing triple barrelled gatling cannons at the waves of Black Knights and Glinda Sutherlands, downing many. A radiant rocket struck the leading one boiling its armour while another was cut in two by the Zangetsu.

Another a custom black ops Gekka lay about if with a pair of scimitars but two dying knightmares held on the swords allowing a third to avenge them.

The fight was surprisingly quick. The Special Forces teams were elite fighters but many of them had grown unaccustomed to battlefield combat after years of special operations and the small opening proved to be fatal against a very determined foe.

Knowing they could not hold, Rai's units melted away from the field allowing Lelouch's forces to dominate it.

Rai gritted his teeth at his defeat but as their forces took the field, the Damocles was moving closer to the frontline.

Lelouch's forces immediately withdraw and the majority of the units managed to pull out of the blast radius.

The Damocles fired anyway.

For a moment, Rai thought the shot was fired too early and into no man's land. The blast did not catch anyone but it threw a massive body of water up and the FLEIJA made tsunami was so high it caught many unfortunate knightmares in its waves.

The waves also struck the island filling in the crater and gaps the FLIEA created.

The Geass order forces rallied in the gap created and reformed their battle lines although many of their own ships and knightmares were caught up in the blast.

Charles had not expected to use the FLEIJA so early but his upstart son managed to overwhelm Rai a lot faster than he expected.

He watched as the surviving forces reformed under cover of the FLEIJA and knew that the moment had come.

Allied Left Flank

7th and Silverite Fleet

The Tristan and the Lancelot Albion were more than capable of destroying it if they could fight it fully but it was a chore to fight it and protect the fleet. Whenever they engage the Siegfrieds, the winged white knightmares would assault the fleet. And when they engage the white knightmares, the Siegfrieds would return.

Their coordination was almost perfect and it was wearing both the fleet and the two knights.

But the moment that disappeared, there was a pause, as if you had been broken from a trance. And both Knights of the Round took full advantage.

"It's our turn now!" He cried out as he avoided the lance harkens from a Siegfried and returned fire with his rail gun at a squadron of Pluton attacking a cruiser.

He saw the Lancelot flying in the distance as it left a line of explosions and raining knightmare parts. Gino Weinburg grinned and took joined in the fun. He flew straight into the nearest black ship and swung around its rear. He raked the hull with his linear cannons and finished the engine with his Megiddo Slash Harkens.

The destruction of that black ship almost immediately the tide in the area as with the targeting systems returned the regular forces turned on the Plutons.

In an almost comedic manner, the black and purple knightmares stood dumbstruck as they were slaughtered.

They rallied quickly enough but the damage was done and the battered Britannian forces started to push back.

A white bird like knightmare, the Aquila started to rally all those white angel units against the Lancelot Albion who after destroying another black ship and was engaging a Siegfried with its full strength.

"Oh no, you don't!" Gino took the Tristan and shot after the angels firing his rail gun.

They avoided the blue beam with reflexes that were almost human like.

"Sorry!" He called out. "Suzaku is busy. Can I take your call?" The Knight of Three positioned himself between them.

"Insolent pup!" The Aquila fired a volley of feather like missiles at him which Gino daftly avoided.

"Only my dad can call me insolent, bird brain!" He replied with a slash harken shot.

"Gino!" Suzaku called out.

"Take care of those floating wrecking balls, man! You're the only one who could! I need to teach the feathers on how to fly!"

After a moment of hesitation, the Knight of Zero nodded. "Be careful! Those Knightmares are using some nervous system. They can move their machines like their own body!"

"That's cheating!" Gino cried out as he drew his double bladed lance to deflect a sword strike from one of the angels.

Several broke off to try and engage the Lancelot but Gino pushed the one in front of him and transformed to fortress mode and shot his slash harkens at them.

"Do you people understand how difficult it is to control this knightmare?!" He cried out. "It's like a jet and knightmare! A jet and a knightmare!"

He swung one of his slash harkens like a flail around the group. "Not to mention controlling these bad boys!"

Several angels fired a few Hadron beam at him. He avoided some then brought the harkens together to shoot the rail gun.

"They're like children! Took a lot of spanking and shouting to get it right."

Several came at him with swords and he kept them at bay swinging the harkens around. One waited studied the timing and lunged at him.

The sword was reaching Gino's cockpit but the Tristan side stepped it at the last minute and then brought the full swing of the slash harken down on it sending it dropping.

"Though since they're made of metal, the only thing that hurt was my hand!"

"Gods, would you just SHUT UP!" Someone screamed and Gino laughed as the angels descended on him while Suzaku chased a smoking Siegfried.

Allied Centre Right

Grandberry

Glinda Fleet

Marrybell watched as the Lancelot Grail and the Tristan coloured Bradford laid waste to the enemy forces. She smiled proudly as it had been them that had turned the tide.

"Send in the 8th Chapter and push into their left! 5th Squadron, hold your position and fire for effect on your left flank!"

The Britannian princess watched as her red and gold troops began to overwhelm the enemy lines. One of her Vincents lunged into a Pluton Gloucester and blasted its chest with its needle blazer while its comrade skewers another with its lance.

Marrybell watched as a line of her Gareths followed the gap the Lancelot Grail created with the Zetland at their head.

After the beating that the Geass Order took, the heavy artillery unit would finish them off.

They lined up with their Hadron Cannons raised.

Tink Lockhart charged his Mega-Hadron cannon to full power.

"Fire on my mark." The Knight Commander of the Heavy Artillery Unit called.

The launchers glowed bright ruby as Hadron particles heated up.

"Fi…" The command never came out as the cannon barrel was suddenly spraying wild Hadron beams all over the place. Some of the beams were spilling over their neighbours melting through their red and gold painted armour.

The damage occurred with only several of the Hadron cannons but almost the entire squadron felt it. Several Gareths were badly damaged while others just received just slight scorch marks.

"What the hell? How did that happen?"

"My Hadron cannon's stabilisers…I don't understand. They were fine. I checked them! I checked them twice!"

"Mine too!"

"It doesn't matter! Get out of here! They're coming!" Tink Lockhart turned and switched his target to the incoming squadrons. "Get back to your ships and find out what happened!"

Most of the Gareths fell back while two who were confident with their weapon systems stayed to support the Zetland.

Two Vincents joined them armed with assault rifles and MVSs.

"Technical is going to pay for that!" One of the knights growled. "Of all the times to screw up…"

"Cut the chatter, here they come!"

The incoming enemies were dark blue Vincent Wards and Gekkas armed with customised assault rifles with bayonets on them and were moving in disciplined formation.

They traded fire with the knights and were deftly avoiding the Hadron beams and volleys.

The Vincents waited for them to get closer then charged forward with glowing MVS blades and shot.

One of them avoided the bursts of rounds and managed to close in. The dark blue Ward brought its bayonet out and thrust at the Vincent but the red and gold machine side stepped it and swung its gold bladed MVS.

However, instead of cutting through the dark blue armour it merely dented it hard. The Glinda knight was still surprised to see that the bright MVSs had become grey when the Ward emptied its magazine into the red and gold knightmare.

"What in the…The MVS too?!"

The second Vincent was just activating his needle blazer when it suddenly acted up in a power surge. The pilot quickly detached the dangerous arm when it exploded.

"Damn what the hell is going on?!"

Allied Right

EU-Euro Britannian Fleet

"Push them while they hesitate!"

Akito Hyuga dodged a lance thrust from a Pluton Gloucester and repaid it by smashing its helmet and cockpit into a pulp. He took down another Pluto by thrusting his tonfa spike deep into its cockpit but a slash harken knocked him out of balance.

He adjusted his white and violet the Alexander back remembering it was different in aerial combat. The Vincent in question advanced on him with a needle blazer but the EU officer of Japanese descent managed to shift out of the way and swung his tonfa at the ebony knightmare.

The slim Lancelot type merely slashed its double bladed lance, the crimson MVS blades cut through the tonfa as if it was nothing.

It would have cut through the Alexander and Akito too had he not rolled in the air and even kicking the ebony knight as he did.

Akito lunged forward with his wrist mounted blades but the Vincent had recovered and moved back. The former Wyvern pilot was relentless however and turned into insect mode. The switch mode paused the Pluton pilot even for a brief moment and Akito clung himself on to the Vincent passing his lance and slash harken range. He reached for the Britannian's joints and began to crush them.

A burst of high calibre rounds fired towards him and although none of them touched the Alexander they hit the Vincent home. The Vincent's explosion struck Akito like a frag grenade and its destroyed pieces savaged the Alexander.

A customised Gloucester armed with an intergraded rifle lance charged forward still firing.

However, a bright red figure tackled the ebony knightmare away.

The crimson knightmare was a customised Vincent with Gloucester parts and brandished its sword and dagger.

"Akito! Get back to the ship and restock! Let me have some fun for a change!" Acting Grandmaster Ashley slashed at the Pluton who blocked it with his lance.

"Apologies. I'll return as soon as I can." As he said it, Ashley had split the black Gloucester in two and escorted him back to the command ship.

Akito quickly left the cockpit so that the tech crew could repair the Alexander. They had little time to waste as knightmares were consistently being entered, repaired and sent out again.

"It's going to take a while, Captaine. You can head to the bridge first."

The Japanese officer nodded in gratitude and left the hanger.

At the bridge, Akito witnessed the chaos occurred through all the fleets. Their flank had been hit hard but they were still alive and fighting. It was a relief to see the Shen Hu and Guren. The W-0 members in awe to see the latter especially knew that the Guren was piloted by a fellow Japanese. Still though the damage was done.

His reflection on the monitor showed him in his old EU uniform save for the black arm band with the silver bird of the Black Knights. The former W-0 had re-joined the fight against the Damocles. He had enjoyed the life they had in the forests but since the Britannian invasion of Western Europe, they took limited operations against the invading Imperial forces, mostly to protect the civilians and refugees.

As expected of the corrupted and weak EU Council, it fell after a daring but brutal attack on Paris. Many of the European states had taken up Schnitzel's offer for cooperation and conditional surrender but hardliners continue to fight on.

The W-0 along with the remnants of the St. Michael knights had survived on sheer luck.

When Emperor Lelouch offered a pardon to the former Euro-Britannians, Ashley and his knights took up the offer and parted ways.

As fate has it, they ended up re-joining them for this battle with Ashley being the new Grand Master of the St. Michael Knights.

"Can you believe that? Haha! Lelouch sure is something!" The fiery redhead laughed at the announcement. With that, he requested his knights to fight alongside the EU forces and they were reunited.

But now…

"Damage control, report! Stop all take offs and no one is to take off until we can confirm their functioning. Inform Emperor Lelouch of the situation. "

Lelia reached for his hand and Akito held it tight.

"We can do this, commander." The European born Japanese told her firmly.

Her smile was the most beautiful thing he knew and if they were facing the end of the world. He was glad that he had this woman by his side.

On their IFF screens, energy signatures began to spring up on the island.

"All units prepare to engage. All knightmares and gunship teams prepare to move out. Servitas vitae."

"Servitas vitae!"

"I will get back to my Alexander." Akito Hyuga nodded and had just turned around when he noticed a small sphere before him.

Realising what it was, he turned and leapt towards the woman he loves.

"Grenade!"

Allied Centre-left

Ikaruga

Black Knight Fleet

As the Atakasukis prepared to launch, the leading Atakasuki Commander suddenly crashed.

"What happened?"

"His leg joints came apart!"

"What? How on earth is that even possible? We ran all the diagnostics!"

"Cut the chatter! Focus on your own flights. The engineering bay will handle it!"

They were already shaken by the power of the FLEIJA at Mt. Fuji and with these deceptive tactics used Pluton, the allies were barely keeping themselves from going mad. They had already watched thousands of lives being erased from existence with the press of a button. Professional veterans as they may be they were still human.

And then these mundane problems were suddenly plaguing the fleet.

Some were incredibly deadly as one ship's Air Glide System even burst into flames and crashed into its neighbouring ship.

It was utter chaos as the carefully drilled training was made a mockery of by the sudden and unexpected attack.

Before they could even think of a response, a Black Knight Atakasuki suddenly dropped out of a ship's catapult in free fall as if it was committing suicide.

"Help! My Air Glide System suddenly just shut down!" The chrome knightmare crashed into the depths below in a great splash.

"What the hell is happening?"

It happened as if they were under attack by demons. Knightmares began suffering issues. For one, the Atakasuki Commander's signs were all functioning except for his cameras, rendering him blind.

"Sirs, the Mikasa is reporting technical failures. Wait, the Qin Shihuang reports an accident in the hanger regarding sakuradite cells. The Poltava is warning engine failures."

"What on earth?" Rakshata cried out and she quickly sent out a private transmission. "Oi! Earl Pudding, what the hell is wrong with your ships? Did your standards get even lower than they usually do?"

"Of course not, you dang hag! I made sure even the dumbest grease monkey knew what he had to do!"

"Then find out! The ships here were copied from your damn Logres!"

Another knightmare frame overloaded and exploded.

"Oi! Ohgi, there's a fire in the hanger!" Tamaki shouted to the bridge.

Ohgi and the other Black Knight commanders were too busy dealing with logistics that normally could be left to the individual commanders the rest of the fleet who were suffering strange defects that should not occur during battle.

Did they really suffer that much during the battle of Mt. Fuji or was this something else?

Or was this the work of Geass?

"We've lost contact with the Liberty I repeat. We've lost contact…"

"The Liberty? That's the EU flagship! Try contacting them again!"

"Keep it together!" Todoh shouted through the chatter. "If we panic now, they will overwhelm us! Calm down and find out what's happening!"

A unit of Gekkas in dark green armed with Chinese style armaments paint clashed with Todoh's unit.

"Hold the line!" The Japanese general called out as he deflected a cut. "They're trying to break our formation!"

They were custom built as they were able to meet the performance of the Atakasuki Commanders with equal force and outperform the mass produced ones.

One Gekka appeared armed with a flail similar to that of the Shen Hu and caved an Atakasuki's chest in and then smashed its cockpit in the second one.

The third knocked it out of the sky.

Another three enemy Gekkas targeted the Zangetsu coming at the ebony knightmare from all sides.

Todoh activated his shoulder mounted auto cannons and sprayed a wide arc.

Its rounds were of high calibre than those of the other units and they pounded hard on the enemy radiant shields.

The Black Knight General pushed the Zangetsu forward together. The trio moved to meet him their weapons raised but the weapons bit air as the ebony knightmare was no longer there. Todoh had lowered the output on his Air Glide system while pushing the thruster from his brake sword. The Japanese general let the thruster guide him down and then arced up.

The Brake sword bit through the torso of one, the chest of another and the head of the final one.

Todoh brought the sword back and buried its tip into the headless one.

Following their general, the other Black Knights pushed forward fighting together and using their superior numbers to overwhelm the enemy one by one.

A second unit this one was made up of Gloucesters with Blaze Luminous and lances attacked Todoh's flank in support of the green Gekkas. One Black Knight squadron moved to meet them firing in close with their arm-mounted machine guns in tight formation. However, the Gloucesters' customised lances had inbuilt rifles in them and they activated them when the Black Knights reached them. In their tight formation, almost half Black Knight squadron were filled with holes and the survivors were skewered in the follow up charge.

Todoh pushed the Zangetsu to that flank to stabilise their entire formation. The former Japanese officer cut one unsuspecting Gloucester in two from behind and fired his shoulder mounted cannons at the others.

Some of the Gloucesters faced Todoh and formed a tight shieldwall with their Blaze Luminous blocking the incoming volley then returned fire from their rifle lances.

The Black Knight General banked to avoid and incoming fire and charged in. The Gloucesters dove forward to meet him. The brake sword met the emerald energy shields in a shower of sparks, the revolving blades grinding hard on the Blaze Luminous.

They fought in conjunction with each other. Whenever one had clashed with Todoh's sword, the other would thrust or fire his lance from his flank.

Todoh managed to chop through one lance but its rifle kept firing and he had to fly out of range. They tried to corner him from all sides but a volley of rockets and rounds forced them back.

The Black Knight General found a squadron of Atakasukis supporting him armed with bazookas and machine guns.

"Circle around and hit their flank!" Todoh ordered and had thrown his thrusters forward.

But then his alarm systems rang and the Black Knight General found a shower of missiles flying towards him.

He activated his Brake Sword's thrusts and cutting down half and dodging the others. One of the Gloucesters lunged at him at the same time and Todoh barely had time to fire his hilt slash harken into the Britannian then brought his sword down to cut the knightmare in two pieces.

A second Gloucester attacked him but a bazooka shot took half its body off.

"Keep it up!" Todoh called out in encouragement as another bazooka hit on the Gloucester's Blaze Luminous sent it reeling enough for the Black Knight General to cut it down.

And then something struck the Zangetsu. For a moment, he thought it was a maintenance issue that has been plaguing everyone at random but he felt the impact and saw several other rockets and shells flew past him.

"Watch your fire!" He cried out but then a volley of bullets came directly at him. He activated his Radiant Wave Shield which melted the majority of the bullets but several struck his right leg, destroying it completely.

"Squadron! What is wrong with you!?" Todoh demanded but the Atakasukis did not reply and instead raised their weapons at their general and fired.

Allied Centre Right

Grandberry

Glinda Fleet

Freak accidents were common in war but Marrybell was shocked at the damage they were causing.

"Are we being attacked by anyway?" She asked her crew who stared back at mutely. Marrybell activated real time communication with her half-brother. "Lelouch, please tell me you know anything about this."

"Protect your bridge, Mary! The only thing I can tell you is that there are sleeper agents all across our forces. We have no idea who or where they are except that they are targeting commanders and sowing chaos. The Liberty's gone dark and many of our aces are dead or disabled. We need to…"

The Grandberry shuddered as explosions tore at its hull. Their main communications were suddenly offline and the ship was slightly off balance.

"Status repo…" Marrybell then could only stare as a single red and gold Gareth faced the bridge.

With smoke still trailing from its missile tubes, the traitorous Gareth raised its Hadron cannon.

Before the princess could mutter a prayer for forgiveness, a sword suddenly skewered the large knightmare and the familiar sight of the Lancelot Grail with the Bradford on its back appeared.

"Mary, are you alright?! There are enemy forces are amongst us in our own colours!"

On another screen, Marrybell saw a Vincent gunning down its own squad then killed its co-commander with a thrust through the cockpit.

"We're alright, Oldrin! Keep to the plan and be careful! They will be targeting for you!"

"We already met a few of them." The head knight replied grimly. "We will watch your back."

Marrybell felt the need to tell her childhood friend that she loves her but forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

"Oiaguro," She called out. "What is going on?!"

The former Pluton leader shook his head. "The other fleets are also reporting their own men turning on each other. We have lost contact with several of our own ships. The hanger is experiencing difficulties. The tech crews and the knights are about to murder each other!"

The Britannian princess cursed. "Put a list and send a squad to stop them! Find out any patterns on these attacks! Tell all ships to guard their bridges!"

Even as she said the order, Marrybell heard gun fire down the hallway.

"Arm yourselves." She commanded her CIC officers who drew swords and pistols.

Allied Right

EU and Euro-Britannian Fleet

"Shimatta!" Kallen cursed as banked to avoid a volley of missiles. She quickly raised her shields to stop a barrage of auto-cannon rounds and was about to return fire when a high velocity round shot past her.

"Snipers?" She tried to get a lock on them but her cross hair and HUD were suddenly acting strangely. Kallen knew that the next shot was coming so she launched a short radiant bust around her and the round melted on the shield. Still, from the size of the round, the former Black knight knew that it was one of high calibre.

It was clear that the Pluton and the Siegfrieds had identified her as a serious threat after she had destroyed a few of the black ships. The scale of their attack had increased twofold on her.

She raised her MVS blade to block a curved sword. The knightmare, a customised Gekka with Britannian armaments withdrew and thrust at her again.

Another, a heavily customised Gloucester came in firing from its intergraded rifle lance.

The former Black Knight brought her wings together and burst her way out of the dead lock and launched a wide radiant burst down on her attackers.

The wave caught most of the knightmares but the Siegfried flew out of the way. The other Plutons were returning to face her while sniper rounds flew about her.

Although she was able to avoid most of the rounds, some of them came far too close for comfort. But at least, Kallen was keeping them at bay as it kept the majority of the Plutons away from the others.

Meanwhile, Xingke and two entire squadrons of Euro-Britannians were engaging the Siegfried Kallen had damaged.

They were now staying out of reach from the Siegfrieds whose electric waves could fry the pilots brains if they get close. An entire EU squadron bought that fact to them with their lives.

However, Xingke knew that it was an opportunity.

"Get in close! Force it to bring out its electric generators!"

A Vincent Ward and an Atakasuki flew raking their swords along with the Siegfried's tough armour, the heated chain blades and vibrating particles showering a line of sparks from the contact.

The Vincent commander was heading in to use its needle blazer to deliver a potential coup 'de grace but the lance struck its chest and tore it into ribbons.

Xingke flew through the dead Vincent dodging the lance slash harkens that seeked to skewer him and took his vengeance on the troublesome monster.

He forewent his sword and particle cannon and chose to rake the machine with his electrified slash harkens like flails. The Siegfried was moving fast but with the Shen Hu he was catching up with it and kept battering its armour.

One of his flails dug deep into the Siegfried and there was a loud groaning from the Knight Giga Fortress as if it was crying out in pain.

The Siegfried suddenly turned and rammed into the Shen Hu with force. Xingke managed to brace the impact but it still rattled him hard.

As he still held on to the Knight Giga Fortress, the Chinese commander noted its generators appearing to use the electric shockwave.

Just as he planned. He aimed with his wrist and launched his slash harken into the generator and the entire Knight Giga Fortress shook from the small explosion.

"Finish it off!" Xingke cried out as he lunged forward. The Siegfried was moving and shooting out its slash harkens though it was not stable.

Xingke punched into it and wanted to fire his Baryon cannon at point blank range into the grey and gold behemoth when he saw a blue lance shooting out from his camera.

It would have killed a lesser man but Li Xingke was a man who could rival Suzaku Kururugi in martial prowess and Lelouch vi Britannia on tactical aptitude.

He had not pushed the Shen Hu this far before but his instincts cried out and he kicked off the Siegfried to avoid the lance strike but a sniper round pierced through the blue and red machine's shoulder.

Xingke cursed and coughed out some blood. He had stood still for far too long attacking the Siegfried and paid the price.

The Divine Tiger was smoking from the damage and he himself felt too weak to move. He saw on his screen a multitude of enemies surrounding him.

"Xingke!"

As the volley of missiles and other rounds descended, a wide crimson wave suddenly washed over the battlefield.

Missiles detonated midway. Bullets were melted. And the Pluton operatives barely realised what happened as the wave swallowed them too, boiling their sakuradite cores and internal organs.

The dying Siegfried sought to limp away from the field but a metallic hand had latched on to it.

"There's no escape," Kallen told it and pushed the trigger.

The Siegfried shuddered as radiant energy entered its grey body, bubbling through the metal, wires and its main sakurdite core.

Kallen was already reaching for the Shen Hu when the Siegfried exploded in a fiery death.

Two Britannian Wards came to support his side.

"You need to find a ship to land and get repairs," Kallen told him.

"We need every knightmare in the field now, Kouzki. I can't afford that."

"Exactly, pull back and do some quick repairs and get back here. I'll hold the line."

A barrage of enemy fire was heading towards them and Kallen threw up a wide radiant screen to block them.

"Go!"

As two of the Euro-Britannians took the Shen Hu away, the newly crowned empress turned to face two squadrons of Plutons. Behind the squadrons, she knew that there were snipers hiding almost the ships and blind spots stalking her and moving.

She turned to the remaining Euro-Britannians.

"Form up on me! I need to get past those squadrons! Engage them the moment I pass them."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Kallen would never get used to that address but she had little time to think and thrust the Guren SEITEN forward in a blinding light.

The Plutons brought their full arsenal on her with a few of them armed with heavy Gatling cannons. She was able to avoid the barrage at easy but it was the precise sniper shots that proved to be difficult and she had to throw up a radiant screen to melt those rounds.

As she closed into the squadron who were falling back, Kallen pushed her Radiant Surger to wide burst and fired at it the Plutons.

The Plutons avoided the blast deftly and were about to counter-attack when they were struck by the Euro-Britannian volley fire.

Leaving the Plutons to them, Kallen turned to face the snipers that had been plaguing her.

There was an almost six seconds interval between the shots and Kallen knew that there were at least three of them.

They were good as after each shot, the shooter would displace while its teammate to take the shot.

That way they were able to keep the Guren out of their reach while draining down its radiant energy tank.

It was a good strategy.

Except for the fact that they were too reliant on their sniping as Kallen without the regular Plutons to interfere was able to get her bearings right and when the next shot came, she blocked and charged forward with full speed melting the round and flying straight towards the shooter.

The sniper, a black and dark blue Vincent Ward switched to its side arm, a shotgun and showered electromagnetic pallets down on her.

Kallen was able to dodge the shots and shot her slash harkens into its head and torso. She then grabbed the remaining body surged a wave of radiation into it letting it explode at the moment she felt the sniper would fire.

Under the cover of the blast, Kallen flew out of the area in full speed hoping that the snipers did not spot her flying out.

It worked better as she planned as the shot came after the explosion took place and she saw the direction of the shot and charged towards it.

The remaining Pluton snipers knew that they were in trouble and had to pull back. As by doctrine, one would move while the other provided it cover.

However with something as fast as the Guren SEITEN it was difficult to both keep an eye on it and its crimson colour being the only thing that allowed them to spot it.

In a matter of moments, the second team's signals disappeared. The remaining duo began to retreat.

The Pluton providing overwatch thought he spotted the red monster and in panic, he turned to aim but it had already moved on.

At that moment, he realised he had lost sight of his partner as well.

Realising that he was alone, the Pluton sniper began to head towards the nearest Pluto squadron which was heading up for another assault.

As he reached them a tide of crimson energy suddenly surrounded them and boiled the entire lot into a crisp.

"SHIT!" The Pluton sniper turned to see a red shape and blue eyes staring at him. In horror, the ebony knightmare brought up its needle blazer but something latched on him.

The Guren SEITEN did not bother looking back at the exploding Vincent.

Kallen wiped the sweat off her head and checking her energy levels. They had gone down rather significantly and she knew that the Guren was needed in the later part of the battle.

"Man! That was such a pain." She grumbled.

There was very little special about these snipers yet they gave Kallen more trouble than she'd like to admit and almost killed Xingke if the shot had just been a bit higher.

Kallen blinked.

If the shot had been a bit higher? The Plutons were firing from an elevated position. Xingke was hit from a lower angle and the direction came not from the Plutons but…

Instincts kicked in and Kallen turned and raised her radiant shield. She saw the round coming right at her and although the radiant blast melted most of it the remaining molten slug came in and struck.

The Guren shook and electric sparks and radiations were raging on her surger arm.

"Damn!" She pushed out and kept moving, knowing that the sniper was waiting for a second shot.

It had come from their own side.

Someone from their own forces shot and disabled Xingke and almost killed her too.

And then Kallen saw the pandemonium.

Allied Centre

Avalon

Lelouch watched the horror raging around the fleet and the madness that was gripping everyone. He like everyone else was so startled by the random acts of madness that they froze.

Shaken by some of the violence, Lelouch expected his own royal guard to turn on him sealing the bridge.

Cecile and Lloyd covered the door way with a drawn pistol.

"Nina, are you alright?" He called to his former classmate and scientist.

"I'm alright. I have two guards with me too."

"How is the nullifier? Are you done?"

"I just need to make the final calculations."

"That's fine. I will do them myself. Follow the guards and get to the bridge."

Lelouch drew a deep breath and touched his weapon belt where a sword and pistol hung although should the enemy storm in he knew he stood little chance with either weapon.

Lloyd caught his look and grinned. "Well, Your Majesty, with just two guardsman and us, I doubt we can do anything about a storming party. Do you want to just make it quick?" He mimicked shooting himself.

"Lloyd!" Cecile chastised her superior and smacked his head.

"I'm afraid he's not wrong, Cecile." Lelouch agreed and laughed. "In that situation, I'm afraid you are the only one who would survive this. If you do, please tell Kallen…I…"

The hallway suddenly had activity and they heard boots rushing up.

Preparing for battle, Lelouch drew his pistol and found cover.

Several royal guards appeared armed with assault rifles.

"Open fire!" They fired a volley of rounds at the guards who expertly took cover.

"Save your shots. Make them count." Lelouch called as he counted how many rounds he had.

However, the guards did not fire back and instead were waving at them.

"Cease fire! Friendlies!" One of them shouted.

Lelouch and the others exchanged looks. "If you are who you say you are, throw down all your weapons and come forward."

The guards did so without protest and quickly line up in front of them with their hands raised completely unarmed.

"Do you require anything else, Your Majesty?" The lead guard asked almost robotically.

Lelouch blinked. These were the guards who he Geassed into slavery. They showed no sign of attempting to assassinate him or any of the knights and officers in the ship.

"Nina, do you read? Is there anything unusual aboard the Avalon?"

"Negative. We are still heading to the bridge but it's all quiet."

"Cecile?" He asked the extremely competent scientist who was already back at her station.

"Nothing, Your Majesty. Our forces are not experiencing any technical failure or friendly fire."

"Lloyd?"

"All systems green! Not even a single thing out of order."

Lelouch blinked. His entire division was not being affected at all. There were no sleeper agent attacks or technical failures on his own men.

And his men were all Geassed into submission.

That means…

The emperor rushed to his throne. "Open all channels!"

"All channels, open!"

"This is Emperor Lelouch! Report status!"

It was chaos erupting everywhere. Several turrets on a Logres battleship began shooting down its escort knights while on others its own escorts were raining fire down their motherships.

A Black Knight CIS officer suddenly took out her pistol and blasted the brains of her captain while an Atakasuki suddenly stomped its repair crewman to death.

Several EU troopers stormed the bridge of their ship and rained death down on its entire command.

In another, a cook entered the mess hall with a bundle of grenades.

"What the hell is going on?"

"The crew! Everyone's murdering each other!"

"I can't tell who's a friend or foe!"

A Britannian crew cried out as the knight they were serving rush them with a sword, chopping heads and severing limbs.

One of the dying engineers witnessed the opposite in his dying breath where two technicians were beating their knight to death with their tools.

"This is the Grandberry. We're under heavy attack by our own crew! Repeat!"

In another hanger, an Atakasuki wreaked havoc on the docked knightmare frames and killing the crew.

"We're alright. We're got the bridge secured but there are still hostiles on board." Ohgi replied with gun fire still continuing behind. "What the hell is going on? Is it Geass?"

"The enemy are sleeper agents focused in sabotaging maintenance and disrupting command. It is likely the Geass Order implemented them ages ago for this very scenario so it is impossible to find out on this battlefield itself. But it also means their actual numbers are low! Keep your bridges protected and retake the hangers! They are on the verge of breaking. If we can just..."

"The Damocles is an attack vector! I repeat, the Damocles in an attack vector!"

Lelouch turned to look at the sky fortress in its terrifying glory was moving along with all the escorts it had.

He saw the proof of his theory there as they completely ignored both the Glinda and the Black Knights and seemed solely bent on reaching the Avalon and its escorts.

Allied Left Flank

7th and Silverite Fleet

The Siegfried roared and charged into the Lancelot Albion spinning. Suzaku pulled back to avoid being grinded firing as he did but even his Hadron cannon or energy bolts merely deflected off.

When the Knight Giga Fortress stopped spinning, it launched its lance harkens at Suzaku with deadly accuracy.

Suzaku dodged the first one and then slashed at its wire. The wire was thicker and stronger than most but the Albion's MVSs had been upgraded and the blood red blades cut through it like a hot knife through butter.

The Siegfried reeled back at the damage and it was beginning to retreat.

The Knight of Zero attempted to pursue it when he saw the Tristan falling back in full retreat.

"Gino!" He wheeled about and flew towards his friend.

The Tristan still in one piece but its armour was dented everywhere and only one part of his MVS remained.

It exchanged blows with the Aquila while being cornered by the angel like knightmares.

The dark blue trimmed angels took aim at the Tristan but Suzaku aimed with one of his VARIS in both hands and fired a high powered Hadron beam.

The shot took down two angels which strangely enough did not explode but burned and sent the others back.

He withdrew the VARIS and lunged at the nearest one and decapitated it with a spinning kick and fired several more rounds at the others scattering them.

The red trimmed swordsmen, however, were already attacking Gino who used his Megiddo slash harken as a shield and a shortened MVS lance to deflect them.

By the time Suzaku was flying towards his friend, the Aquila had used its spear to disarm the Tristan and the other angels charged it with levelled swords.

Suzaku moved in and activated all his slash harkens at them. Several were struck home while others disarmed them.

A fifth angel closed in and was reaching the Tristan.

"NO!" Suzaku cried out but the Tristan side-stepped it and used its own sword to skewer it from behind.

"One good thing about these guys is that they don't have a humpback," Gino commented. "Otherwise that hump would have smacked me good." His voice was heavy but humour was intact.

"I shouldn't have left you on your own," Suzaku muttered.

"And not give me the chance to annoy them? Come on, buddy. That was my moment!" He laughed.

The Aquila and its escorts were rallying about.

"I realise they're not really knightmares. Well not like ours anyway. It's like a giant suit of armour. They got some gel thing in their joints and some muscle framing system."

Suzaku was surprised by the new information Gino gathered from fighting them. His surprise must have shown for the Knight of Three laughed again.

"I have impressed the great White Knight. What has the world come to?"

"I was always impressed by you, Gino," Suzaku answered honestly.

"Great. Now I know the world is ending! Shall we make it memorable to these fellas?"

The Aquila pointed its spear and the angels charged for the two knights.

"We have to end them quickly." Suzaku drew his second MVS. "Here." He tossed it to Gino who threw the angel's longsword aside and brandished the MVS.

"I go left. You go right."

Suzaku nodded and the two knights charged forward.

The blue trimmed angels were firing their Hadron cannons now but Suzaku and Gino were able to avoid them well and engaged the others close.

Their numbers had been smaller now that the other fronts have been pushed. A large number of the angels had moved to reinforce those lines. Those that remained were still significant though.

"Gino! Take out their gunners! I'll deal with the swords!"

"You got it!" The Tristan transformed and flew off. Suzaku brandished his sword in challenge dodging the hadron beams and dove in to meet the sword armed angels and let him get surrounded.

Blades sawed at him from all sides. He blocked them with his sword, Blaze Luminous and energy wings. Suzaku blocked and parried. They fought with human like reflexes so fighting an extended duel would take too long so Suzaku relied on the armour of the Lancelot and his sword.

He was frustrating them and when he felt that he had baited them enough, the Japanese knight attacked.

His first swing split one's chest open. He blocked and slashed scattering one sword with his MVS and continued to cut through the body of that one.

Blocking another sword strike with his Blaze Luminous, Suzaku launched his slash harken at its head then swung the harken back like a flail into another.

The MVS's red blade stabbed through the chest of an angel and whipped free splattering human blood and sparks across the battlefield.

He caught hold of a wing from an angel and threw it into a second angel and stabbed through them both.

Suzaku caught sight of the main battlefield.

Thank god he thought that the black ships had been nullified or at least crippled to the point of not affecting the battlefield. The Britannian forces of the 7th and Silverite Fleet were pushing the Plutons back now.

He turned and split an angel in two and fired his energy bolts in a wide volley through his immediate area.

Several angels were taken down while the others backed off and were in full retreat.

Meanwhile, the Tristan used its fortress mode to dog fight the blue trimmed gunners whose lag time between each shot made it easy for him to take out.

He managed to cut one in two with the MVS and blasted the other with his rail gun.

The final one fell back but before Gino could close the distance the Aquila came to engage him.

"We are the messengers of Heaven! And you are not worthy of the gift our father is giving us!"

"I hope not! Because if you're from heaven, I'd hate to know what your hell is like!" Gino exchanged blows with the spear. The Aquila fired a volley of missiles at him which the Tristan quickly transformed to avoid them.

The avian knightmare followed him closely hoping to skewer him as he wheeled around.

Gino activated his knightmare's transformation and swung the sword.

The spear broke into two pieces.

The Tristan turned about and thrust but the Aquila had already pulled itself out and flew back to its lines.

A squadron of Sutherlands chased after it.

Gino was about to make a smart comment when he noticed a Gloucester aiming its sniper rifle at the Lancelot.

"SUZAKU WATCH YOUR BACK!"

The Japanese knight turned and blocked the shot with his Blaze Luminous. However, in that momentary distraction, the Siegfried had returned and it was spinning in an almost impossible speed and caught the Lancelot in its charge.

For a moment, Gino thought the Lancelot Albion had been shredded but then he saw the white and gold knightmare holding on to the massive thing with its Blaze Luminous Shields activated on all limbs and they were barely keeping it from shredding the Lancelot apart.

Suzaku felt his whole body shaking and it was taking a lot of effort to even keep his hands from holding the shields up.

He was grinding his teeth so hard that he thought he would break his jaw.

When the Siegfried's speed began to slow, Suzaku raised his sword and buried the red MVS blade into the behemoth's head and split its face open.

Gino had disarmed the Gloucester who had shot at him but the Japanese knight turned to see a FLEIJA warhead going off in the middle of the battlefield.

Allied Centre

Avalon

Lelouch had already thrown his Household division in full retreat but he underestimated the speed of the Damocles and lost around a quarter of the division to the FLEIJA including his entire vanguard.

"How does it look?"

"We are at 60 per cent of our fighting strength, Your Majesty," Cecile reported.

That meant that they barely had enough force to storm the Damocles.

There was nothing for it then. He had to do it. Schneizel had criticised him for it but it looks like he had no choice.

"Establish a link to all our remaining commanders."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Lloyd, you have the bridge."

"Say what?"

Lelouch ignored the scientist's surprise and left for the hanger.

"Connection established."

"This is Lelouch. Kallen, Suzaku, Xingke, Todoh, Gino. I want you all to cease all current actions and form up on me by the Avalon."

"Come again?" Todoh asked.

"The Glinda Knights and the Wyverns will remain to guard our ships but I want all our effective squadrons to form up in the centre."

"Lelouch," Suzaku said. "Are you suggesting we abandon our men?"

"The men's morale is all time low! If we move our aces now, the fleets will collapse."

"More will die if we do at this pace!" Lelouch snapped. "The Damocles is guarded by several Siegfrieds and the bulk of their forces. I need time to open the gap so we can get past the FLEIJA."

"And how are we even supposed to do that?!"

Suzaku blinked. "You mean the FLEIJA Eliminator?"

"Will that even work?" Ohgi asked.

"We don't have much of a choice at this point."

"No. We don't." Lelouch wore his pilot suit and headed to the hanger. "Form up on me."

Nina waited for him at the Aurelius before presenting the device.

"Is this it?"

"It is. The final program was not complete at Mt. Fuji unless you input the environmental data. I managed to put in an AI so that it would adjust to the surrounding accordingly but you will still need to add the base data." The bespectacled girl stood at attention. "Take me with you. In the chance it goes wrong, I can add on to it."

Lelouch, however, shook his head. "You have done enough, Nina. I understand your intent through your words right now. I know this is not the Zero Requiem I promised you but…"

"But it is still Princess Euphemia's wish is it not?" She spaced out, looking into the distance. "I won't forgive Zero. Probably not ever in my life. But I have to find that answer out for myself."

With that, she turned her back and left the hanger.

"You are admirable," Lelouch commented and entered the Aurelius.

The black and gold knightmare flew at the head of its bodyguard.

The Aurelius positioned itself at the head of his forces.

Around sixty-seven royal guard knightmares formed up behind him.

His factsphere caught sight of the others. They were all battered and damaged, some more so than others.

Xingke arrived first with a patched-up torso nodding to Lelouch as he arrived.

Todoh in his battered and one legged Zangetsu reached next on his left.

Gino and Suzaku arrived afterwards forming up in front of Todoh.

Finally, Kallen arrived on his right and gave him an encouraging smile.

The Damocles stood right in front of them bearing itself down.

"I need to reach the Damocles. I need everything around it clear."

His companions responded with their knightmares' eye slits glowing.

The emperor readied the Aurelius golden wings and he drew Excalibur and raised it up.

The Guren and the Lancelot's energy wings lit up.

Lelouch lowered Excalibur. "Attack!"

They charged ahead spearheaded by the Lancelot and Guren who unleashed their full power on the Geass front lines.

Kallen charged her surger and blasted a wide radius into the enemy lines burning and boiling entire squadrons.

Those who escaped were shot down by Suzaku with his VARIS and energy bolts.

"Through the gap now!"

Xingke, Todoh and Gino followed by the royal guards entered through the opening shooting and slashing at anything in their path.

The Tristan charged in from the centre launching his Megiddo slash harkens to disrupt formations while the Zangetsu and the Shen Hu lay about them with lead and particle cannon fire.

Several knightmares ignored the attacks and shifted their focus on the black and gold knightmare that held back.

They fired a shower of missiles and rifles at him but they struck a purple energy shield around him.

Lelouch flicked a few switches and the Fireflies fired their Hadron beams at the knightmare squadrons.

Several were shot down but others avoided the fire and closed in. The emperor let them enter the range and then fired out his chest prism and shot his main chest mounted laser into it.

The lasers dispersed through the prism and with it and the Fireflies they turned the ground Lelouch faced into a death trap, severing limbs and chopping off heads.

A particularly resilient customised Atakasuki almost reached for him but lasers shredded it completely.

Lelouch activated his Druid System. While it allowed him to control the Fireflies it also provided him with an advanced scanner to monitor his forces.

"Kallen, lower your energy output but spread your radius. Focus on disabling their formations. Suzaku, use your slash harkens to take them out. Save primary arms for the Siegfrieds!"

Although their spearhead was breaking through, Lelouch saw that the fleets on both his flanks were melting away.

The Glinda Division and the Black Knights were holding up. But the Silverite and 7th Fleet had completely collapsed while the EU and Euro-Britannians were being pushed back.

And formations from those fronts were diverting themselves into the centre.

"So Father, you know there's cause to be alarmed." Lelouch thought. "Keep pushing! Bring me to the Damocles!"

The five knightmares and the royal guard faced wave after wave of enemy knightmares descending on Lelouch's position.

Kallen and Suzaku tried to thin the herd while letting the others cut down the rest.

Their numbers were not that great but now it seemed like they were legion for they seemed to come at Lelouch relentlessly.

Even with the Guren's and Lancelot's massive firepower, they were able to break through to the point Lelouch was forced to use his sword.

His swarm of Fireflies were taking out many but they kept coming for him.

A white, gold and green Gloucester already with missing limbs and punctured holes reached for the Aurelius.

"HERETIC!" Lelouch recognised the colours of the Knights of St. Darwin, the fanatics he had battled earlier when he took the throne.

"Gods, don't you people stay dead!?" Lelouch shoved the knight off and slashed down with the Excalibur cutting its remaining limbs and tossed it aside.

"Siegfrieds!"

The momentary distraction saw three monsters bearing down on them.

"Don't stop now! We have this!"

Xingke, Kallen and Gino fired their main beam weaponry at one of them. While the other two avoided the shot, the third was struck by the Shen Hu's particle beam head on followed by the Guren's radiant beam.

The other two Siegfrieds were already spinning and Lelouch was forced to pull the Aurelius back.

They wheeled back and came for him again.

Lelouch sent his Fireflies forward to trap the Siegfrieds in a prism of the Absolute Defence System but only one was caught in.

The second Siegfried stopped spinning and fired one of its lance harkens at him. He managed to side stepped it but the Knight Giga Fortress slammed hard on to him sending the black and gold knightmare and dragging it deep back into his own lines.

Lelouch managed to use his modified energy wing system control himself.

However, a volley of shells struck the Siegfried before it could pursue him and Lelouch saw the Avalon and the rest of the ships flying up to support him.

"Your Majesty, the Damocles! We're within range!" It was now or never.

"Cover me!" Lelouch began to input the data into the device.

The volley did not damage the Siegfried as much as it could but the pause it gave brought a dozen royal guards bearing down on it hacking and needle blazing it.

The massive thing tried to spin but it could only manage to shake a few of the guards off. It shot all its lance harkens to strike down the knightmares surrounding it.

"The beast is mine!" Todoh cried out as the battered Zangetsu flew forward and raised its Brake Sword up. Shooting both the sword's thrusters and that of the knightmare's, the Black Knight general brought his weapon down and carved a canyon in the Siegfried's body.

"The Blaze Luminous is opening up!"

Lelouch saw it too and knew the opening was coming. He was too far away from the frontline but the Lancelot Albion was just within the range for it.

"How will this even work?" Tamaki asked.

"The FLEIJA changes its composition constantly," Rakshata explained. "If the composition is hit with a matching response, the FLEIJA's critical condition can be halted."

"However," Lloyd added. "The location's environmental data has to be inputted into the program before it explodes which is approximately 19 seconds. With Nina's AI program, we only need the base program thankfully."

"But even if that program is completed," Cecile sighed. "The timeframe for execution is only 0.04 seconds. We need some superhuman reflexes for it."

There was only one person who could do it.

"Suzaku!" Lelouch called out when the program finished.

Then the St. Darwin knightmare somehow still alive flew towards him again.

Lelouch was surprised that the fool even without limbs was heading for him again but then he finally saw it.

The Gloucester was glowing.

Glowing pink.

"It can't be…"

Charles zi Britannia smiled. "You are all so focused on the idea that the FLEIJA needed to be fired from the Damocles that you forget it could be carried to you!"

"ALL HAAAAIL OLD BRIIIT….!" The St. Darwin Knight's scream was cut off as the pink light consumed him.

"Here Suzaku take it!" Lelouch shot out the FLEIJA Eliminator from the missile pod it had towards the Lancelot Albion who caught it. "Use it to get an opening at the Damocles!"

"What?! Lelouch! What do you think you are doing?!" Kallen cried out even as she struggled with one of the remaining Siegfrieds.

"I am too close to the radius! Go! Everyone, go! NOW!"

"NO! LELOUCH!"

Lelouch turned to face the FLEIJA and brought down his Fireflies and form a prism around it to somewhat contain it.

The pink-purple and white hue just ignored it.

Lelouch saw the Guren in his factsphere trying to reach out for him but the Siegfried was holding her back. He thanked the gods for small mercies.

The FLEIJA's light washed over him.

And that's all for now folks! I apologise for taking a long time but god this was probably the most difficult battle I have ever written having to cross reference actual battles, rewatch the series and writing all that to make it entertaining. It's not perfect so I apologise for any major mistakes and continuities that I might have missed out and will appreciate those being pointed out.

And speaking of continuity, the hardest task I had was trying to make fighting Charles pretty terrifying without making him overpowered like in most Gundam series or the Death Star battles so what I generally did was to throw what could be done with his limited forces and give Lelouch a run for his money.

The thing was, I forgot a pretty important detail regarding the FLEIJA bit that I had to adjust. (Hardcore fans will notice this.) The thing about it is that FLEIJA Eliminator needs precise environmental data input. That means at the end of this chapter without the AI program I added, the FLEIJA anywhere would fuck up everyone at this point of the story.

Yes, the story technically ended at this chapter and Charles won and I almost didn't see that coming.

If I'm following canon. But this is a fanfiction so there is Divine Intervention.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I had writing it.

As always, Read and Review!