Lancelot trailer

"Suzakuuu!" Lloyd called out cheerfully "We can launch!"

"What are our orders?" asked Cecile

Lloyd smiled brightly like Christmas came early "They want us to smash through the defenses by ourselves and clear the way for the rest."

Cecile's eyes widened "What!" she exclaimed "That's practically suicide, the Blaze Luminous was designed for normal battle perimeters. Not to withstand a barrage from an entire army! The energy filler will give out before he gets back."

Lloyd waved off her concern "The regulars will overtake his position, making retrieval unnecessary. No if anything, this is the perfect debut for my Lancelot! It will single-handedly achieve victory and silence all those who doubted me!"

Cecile glared at his carelessness but Suzaku had similar thoughts. If he could make a difference in this battle then he might get another promotion. He couldn't be denied one if he was inarguably the most valuable pilot on the field.

Besides he didn't believe in this Sawasaki's humanitarian intervention. He was just throwing away more people's lives for the sake of his own ego. The bastard wanted to rule Japan so badly that he even allowed himself to become a puppet for the Chinese in exchange for power.

"I'll do it" He said resolutely and broke up the fight between the two scientists. "I know it's risky but I want to end this meaningless fight as soon as possible."

Lloyd deadpanned "Well it's not as if we had a choice," suddenly he smiled and said cheerfully "Unless we wanted to get court-martialed."

Cecile glared at him again but didn't reply. Instead she prepared the Lancelot for launch. Suzaku sighed in relief and got into the knightmare and studied the terrain from the available maps as much as possible. Both to prepare himself and to distract him from Cecile biting her lips and palming her ears in the background.

Luckily it didn't take long before he got the order to launch. He revved the gas and took off full throttle. He was hoping to close the distance before the Chinese even realized he was coming.

He supposed he could use the rolling hills in the area as cover but his white and gold knightmare was too easily spotted. He really should talk to Lloyd about the paintjob, it was only suited for snowy environments as appropriate camouflage.

It started with just a few pitter patters but then it intensified to an all out storm. He crouched to lower his profile and to better cover himself with the Blaze Luminous.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he watched the shield energy rapidly draining despite his evasive maneuvers. It was like they were just laying suppressive fire in his general area rather than trying for pinpoint accuracy. It was already down to 94%

His suspicion was confirmed when Lloyd said over the radio "The Chinese divided their fire into sectors around your position Suzaku. There's no point in dodging, the bullets are spread out evenly! They can turn the barrel of their guns faster than the Lancelot can move."

Suzaku nodded at the grim news and abandoned his zigzagging. He made a straight beeline towards the trenches. The blaze luminous only covered one direction and was already at 87% so he couldn't stop even for a second.

But he wasn't about to recklessly enter the bottlenecks left purposefully open either. Instead he drew his Varis rifle and charged a scatter shot. BOOM, BOOM. It took a few rounds but his barrage covered the entire pathway through the Y shaped trenches and set off the explosives buried underneath. BOOM. BOOM.

The Gun ru's nearby seemed to panic and started retreating. He raced down his path and barely jumped away in time when suddenly every Gun Ru turned around in unison and targeted the area he would've been in in two seconds. As he side flipped through the air he charged up another scatter shot and frantically cleared the spot he was going to land in from booby traps. Boom, BOOM, boom.

He couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut as he landed. If he even missed a single landmine then it would blow off his legs at worst and his land spinners at best. Either way, he would be stuck and surrounded on all sides. He silently cursed Lloyd for not installing a ejection system.

For one surreal moment nothing happened. He faintly wondered if he'd died and just hadn't realized it yet. The faint pitter patter that quickly built up in ferocity reassured him in a odd way. If they were still trying to kill him then obviously he wasn't dead yet.

He snapped his eyes open and launched another barrage of scatter shots to clear the way. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM BOOM,. This time though he didn't try to clear a single path, instead he cleared patches and jumped in between them with frog like grace. BOOM, BOOM. Woosh, kersplunk.

He slipped and fell into a trench. Okay maybe not so graceful. He cursed the recently tilled soil and fired off a Slash Harken to pull him out. It bit deeply into the ground but it popped loose as soon as he turned on his wench. The sudden release had him tumbling backwards into the trench, covering his pristine white frame with more muddy water.

His concealed and prone position limited the pitter patter but he was still stuck and his Slash Harken seemed useless. He gouged out handful of dirt from the dirt walls surrounding him and it crumbled away like sand. He cursed and gritted his teeth in annoyance as his gaze darted about to find a solution.

It was obvious though. There was only one exit to this trench. The same exit the Gun Ru had taken when they retreated.

The same exit that was undoubtedly in the bull's eye of every Gun Ru in firing distance. "Ahm a little help guys?"

With the adrenaline no longer surging in his ears he dimly realized that Cecile had been shouting something in his ear for a while judging from her half finished sentence. He heard a distinctly unfeminine grunt as Cecile cleared her throat before she spoke again in her typical gentle fashion.

"Switch the VARIS rifle to normal mode and carve a path to the trench next to you. Then get out quickly before they notice and switch their aim to that exit."

Suzaku smiled at the logic and did as the lady said. BOOOOOM. One overpowered VARIS shot later and he had blown a crater that covered half the distance to the next trench. He gritted his teeth in frustration and fired another three shots in rapid succession, hoping that they hadn't caught on yet. BOOM, BOOM,BOOM. It worked and cleared a rough path for him. He jumped over the debris and raced through the trench and sprinted out the exit with his Blaze Luminous out in front.

He wasn't met with a deluge of slugs as he had grimly expected though. He looked around and realized that not just the immediate area but the entire horizontal stretch of trenches seemed to be deserted. Taking the moment of rest he quickly checked his energy, 61% left, and if anything was damaged. Cosmetics only.

He popped out his fact spheres and quickly found out that the Gun ru's were still nearby. Judging from their heat signatures they were just over the hill up ahead and moving away from him.

He felt indecision, should he pursue a fleeing enemy who hadn't even hurt anyone?

"Suzaku!" yelled Lloyd over the radio "Stop dawdling, they're getting away!"

The realization that he was in a military hierarchy and that he still had to obey standing orders slammed into him. "Right, pursuing now!" He replied quickly

The Lancelot took off at full speed again. He soon crested the hill and was greeted by another hailstorm. Suzaku's eyes flicked towards his shield energy and saw it diminishing rapidly. 53% and dropping.

It was difficult to see through all the deflected bullets, he had to forcibly repress his urge to flinch. But he realized they were already on the other hill that was a good three hundred meters away from him.

He also spotted strange metal contraptions at the bottom of the second hill. They looked like two H's crossed together or better yet a large version of a caltrop.

It was tall too, about two meters judging from the Gun ru's standing nearby. This meant that only his Lancelot could jump over it leaving the rest of the army stranded. And the number 42% told him that he wasn't going to survive by himself for much longer.

But he had his orders so he charged on.

Cecile's panicked voice came over the radio "Suzaku stand down and retreat you can't pass that Czech hedgerow!"

Suzaku immediately countered "The Maser Vibration Sword will cut through it easily enough."

Lloyd's whimsical voice joined her though it sounded slightly panicked "The Blaze Luminous is already failing with just dispersed fire, if they can concentrate it, then you'll die in one minute. That's solid steel, the Maser vibration swords will take too long to cut a big enough hole in them."

"Suzaku! We still haven't installed a ejection system yet" Cecile warned unnecessarily.

There was no way he could forget such a crucial detail, while taking suicidal level risks. "Can't I just blast it with the VARIS rifle?"

"No it was originally designed to stop tanks."

"Then what do I do?" asked Suzaku in frustration as he watched his shield energy encroaching upon the red zone.

He noticed a squad coming up behind him with several holding a energy filler in their off hand. He also saw a few lucky shots hitting those motorcycle sized targets turning them into explosive fireballs with a knightmare attached. He winced at the thought of them dying to resupply him mid-mission.

Another transmission came in as he kneeled down behind the Blaze luminous allowing one of the Glasgows to pop in a energy filler right underneath his cockpit. This forced him to stand still on the battlefield and his heartbeat raced as he watched his energy level plummet from 35% all the way to 7% before... "Suzaku new orders came in, the viceroy wants you to provide covering fire while the glasgows try to clear a path!"

He was jostled around as his knightmare received a pounding in the few seconds that the Blaze Luminous was down despite the suppressive fire the Glassgows had been providing. He absently noted the lost frames of those who recklessly charged forward to draw attention away from him as he sighed in relief as his energy percentage skyrocketed back up to 97%. He was safe. Guilt immediately assailed him as he realized the price that had been paid for this.

"Why can't I help them, the Lancelot has more power than those glasgows?" He wanted them nowhere near the front lines. He had the Blaze Luminous he could soak up far more punishment than they ever could.

"Those iron crosses weigh 240 kilograms and are staked into the dirt. The Lancelot won't make a difference there. If you try, you'll just make yourself a sitting duck and get them all killed." answered Lloyd reluctantly

Suzaku briefly wondered if it pained the man to admit the Lancelot wasn't sheer perfection. He gritted his teeth in frustration and fired off a barrage of shots while strafing back and forth. In the meantime, the glasgows had latched their slash harkens onto the Czech hedgerow's crosses and were attempting to pull them out of the dirt. This however, meant that they were anchored to a fixed point and could only move back and forth in a very limited fashion. They were no different from targets in a shooting gallery.

He tried to keep those Gun ru's heads down as best he could but whenever he focused on one area another would pop back up. But if he distributed his shots evenly then none of them felt pressured enough to duck for cover.

He also noticed they weren't afraid of random shots causing craters in their vicinity. Unless he actually hit some of them, they wouldn't duck either.

His calls for their surrender went unanswered forcing him into taking lives in order to save lives. He cursed his powerlessness. If he had been faster, if he hadn't hesitated then he could have caught them before they retreated behind the Czech hedgerow. He could have prevented this!

"Princess casualties are rising dramatically, perhaps we should ease off and soften them up with artillery first."

Cornelia frowned as she looked at the digital map that showed that the britannian navy was nearly in range for a coastal bombardment. It was tempting but time consuming, she'd have to wait twenty minutes. "No we'll lose our momentum if we do that. I won't give general Cao time to regroup and prepare more traps for us."

"But princess, sending so many men into…" The man couldn't finish his sentence because it tread into dangerous territory.

"I agree" said Cornelia, thoroughly shocking the man in the process. "Order two companies to withdraw back to the perimeter and stand by as a reserve."

If the man was shocked before than he was even more confused that Cornelia would actually lessen the intensity of her attack while claiming that she needed to keep the initiative.

Princess Cornelia decided to have Darlton do a background check on all the command staff commissioned by Clovis. If these men didn't even understand that compressing too many soldiers into a small area made them sitting ducks. No, it was like shooting fish in a barrel where the barrel was stuffed to the brim with fish and they could barely move.

The lesson of Agincourt still held true to this day even if tactics and equipment were radically different.

"Perhaps we should open a second front your highness. If we attack the vertical line just behind the Czech hedgerow then it will force them to split their attention."

Cornelia sighed "Didn't we agree that luring us into the center was their aim to begin with."

"Yes," agreed Darlton and then added "But even you have to admit that it's awfully tempting."

"Which begs the question, is it really a trap?" replied Cornelia "Those ditches and that Czech hedgerow had to have taken a lot of time to set up. So it's doubtful he had time to hide more surprises in the center."

General Darlton frowned "Are you saying that the center is a bluff, designed to lure our forces to the flanks instead?"

"It's possible, but I've only seen Schneizel do something like that before."

Was the center actually thinly defended while the majority of their forces and ambushes were positioned on the flanks? Common military wisdom argued for a strong center to prevent the army from being cut in half, but if it was an organized retreat then Cornelia would end up getting flanked on both sides. A textbook encirclement, which usually lead to catastrophic defeat.

But that was a fluid defensive tactic and the trenches and hedgerow hinted at a strong static approach. Was general Cao combining the two schools or did he share command with Sawasaki?

No that didn't make any sense, not only because Sawasaki was a civilian with no military training but also because of the sheer confusion a dual command would cause. Especially if they had opposing views on how to run their army. The soldiers would be paralyzed with contradicting orders and would sooner flee than try to figure it out.

She noticed Guilford running into the command center with several papers clutched underneath his arm "Guilford good you're back."

Guilford gave her a respectful greeting back before giving his briefing "The state department reports that general Cao is a belligerent man with no sense for diplomacy. He has been in charge of the Indian zone for over a decade and has solved the internal problems with heavy suppression."

He shuffled his notes to the next page "Which has only driven the rebels underground and pursuing different avenues to liberate their country. Most notably by gun running with rebel groups in area Eleven. So it's doubtful that they'll get any support here, and if they do then we can expect a significant drop in Indian support permanently."

Cornelia grinned at the prospect of the Indian knightmare smuggling route shutting down permanently. It was practically impossible to secure the entire coastline and the natives were almost as desperate for second hand frames as they were for refrain.

"Can we egg some groups on to join them?" princess Cornelia asked general Darlton

Darlton shook his head "No your highness, we lost most of our intelligence capability when we aired Kururugi's 'achievement'. The other groups are now wary of newcomers and their opinions aren't valued."

Princess Cornelia frowned "I suppose we were a bit overzealous then, in trying to crush their morale. Oh well, it was necessary to win this guerilla war. " Recruitment for all terrorist groups was down across the board. Every single group had grown isolationist. In other words their numbers had become finite and it was only a matter of time before she could hunt them all down. "But we can still order some honorary Britannians to form a so called 'resistance' group."

Cornelia smiled wickedly as the plan took shape inside her head " We'll frame the Japanese resistance and cut off Indian support. And if we can capture general Cao we can endear ourselves to them by trying him in a international court for crimes committed against the Indian people."

"The Indians don't view us as much better than the Chinese eunuchs princess. So a charm offensive won't work on them."

"I don't intend for them to ask for a referendum to secede from the Chinese federation and join us Darlton" Cornelia corrected ''I merely want to cause some more internal dissent in the Chinese federation. India is one of their richer countries, if unrest increases there, then we can finish off the EU in peace. Before focusing our gaze on them."

Cornelia made a mental note to discuss this latest addition to the divide and conquer strategy with Schneizel and got back on topic " So what else do we know about general Cao?"

"He's a cousin of a eunuch and grew up with the notion that it was his birthright to eventually rule the federation like his uncle. The deep seated corruption after the Emperor's demise made this possible but his aggressive tactics have also made him a lot of enemies."

Cornelia mulled this over for a second "So this is his make it or break it moment huh?"

Guilford nodded "Yes he's invested all his political capital and personal resources into this venture by the looks of it. If he emerges victorious then he becomes the undisputed leader of the eunuchs but if he fails then he is finished. The other eunuchs most likely let him do this because they want to see him fail."

"Though it's annoying to play into the hands of the other eunuchs. We'll.."

" Your highness the Chinese crossed the vertical trenches themselves!" interrupted general Darlton

After turning around Cornelia saw how the Gun rus were now out in the open inside the U shaped trench while stalling the Lancelot with a rearguard. She was tempted to order her reserves forward to wipe them out before they could lead the Lancelot and his back-up on a merry chase along their defensive line. But committing her troops right in front of the center line was probably general Cao's intention.

She looked down at her screen and blinked, the Gun ru's were moving straight towards her while firing diagonally at the Lancelot and his reinforcements. They were effectively flanking him and forcing the Lancelot to stay back to protect them. She had to act before they were completely trapped in a L shaped ambush

"Call off the pursuit and have them fall back to the G1" she commanded.

Her men immediately obeyed without question and squeezed back into the hole they'd made in the Czech row. They didn't grumble about the fact that they were missing the chance to shoot the enemy in the back as they fled or why they didn't push forward to charge the group of Gun ru's that were cut in half while traversing the trenches, leaving them wide open.

She smiled at their obedience even when their orders didn't make sense to them.

"Move our reserves up to take the place of our front line troops. We'll perform emergency repairs and let them get some rest. While we'll continue advancing and go around their center line and attack them in their left flank."

General Darlton commented "They'll probably have a secondary defense line waiting for us or at least something to protect their flank if they were planning to retreat from the start."

"True but it should be weaker than the primary one." her eye was drawn by the Gun ru's floating in no man's land. They weren't retreating now that their ambush failed. Instead they were moving up and taking pot shots at her screening forces, taking advantage of their range. She gritted her teeth "Even if we tried catching them they'd be back behind their defensive line before we could force an engagement."

It wasn't a feint or a diversion but a lure. She still wasn't sure about how strong the center really was but she wasn't about to smash through it, when she had already pierced its flank. She'd have to suffer the casualties for now.

Lelouch pov

Beach house

Lelouch frowned as he realized Cornelia wasn't taking the bait. "Hmm she saw through it" he mused

"You have another trick in your bag don't you?" said CC absently while watching the molten cheese slowly drip from her slice of heaven.

"Naturally " nodded Lelouch "It would have made drawing her in for my next gambit easier. But oh well, I can't have everything."

C.C barely heard him as she rolled a molten chunk of cheese across her tongue, trying to savor the hint of fresh basil within.

Seven minutes ago

Suzaku gritted his teeth as he fired another scatter shot at the retreating Gun ru. The Gun ru zigzagged in an unusual pattern but Suzaku already knew why. The entire field was littered with anti tank mines and only the Chinese knew where they were buried.

He tried remembering their path so he could follow it as well but it was too confusing. It was as if they followed dead end paths on purpose to throw him off. Only the high structural integrity of the Lancelot had saved him when he had made his first mistake.

"Suzaku slow down! You're getting too far ahead of the rest" ordered Cecile over the radio.

Suzaku grudgingly eased his foot of the throttle and let the Gun ru get away. But he didn't stay idle, instead he fired scatter shots rapidly to clear a path for him and his comrades.

The impact set off the anti tank mines by chance and caused several explosions that would have ripped a normal car to nearly unidentifiable shreds. He absentmindedly checked his ammo and realized he was running low.

He knew he shouldn't waste his high grade ammunition on this, but he couldn't wait for his Glasgow backup to arrive and do it for him. The most vital resource in this battle didn't seem to be land or even manpower. No time was the deciding factor as far as he could tell.

Even now that Gun ru had formed up with the rest and now formed a defense on the other side of the trench despite it opening their backs to the britannian reserves. If Suzaku pressed on with just clearing the troops on this side of the trench then they would run into a L shaped ambush but if they waited for the reserves to show up. Then the Gun Rus would just retreat to the center and form another defensive line there.

And from there they could move to reinforce the flanks once more. Suzaku glanced at the setting sun as he thought about the hours of feints and counterattacks he was going to be suffering through as he penetrated their defensive lines until he reached the centre. It would then be their final stand but with all their troops concentrated in one spot, it would make breaking through impossible even for the Lancelot by itself. Dozens of lives would be lost by those forced to run the gauntlet.

"Hmm they certainly like straddling the line don't they" mused Lloyd in mirror to his own thoughts.

"Yes but perhaps a air strike will convince them to surrender" replied Suzaku

"I doubt it, there are several long range anti air guns at Shizuoka base. So princess Cornelia won't risk an air strike while that base is in enemy hands."

"Then why don't we charge straight through and destroy their anti-air guns. If we can capture their base then they'll have no choice but to surrender."

Cecile sighed in commiseration "I know but this general Cao has been leading us by the nose so far. I suppose the generals aren't sure whether or not there is another trap waiting for us if we take the bait."

It didn't take long for Suzaku to realize that charging towards Shizuoka base would leave their backs open to an attack from the Gun rus. "Can't we leave behind a rear guard to prevent that?"

"We already are Suzaku. Why do you think princess Cornelia hasn't moved up her reserves?"

Suzaku frowned as he tried to figure out what Lloyd was talking about.

Cecile took pity on him "She's keeping them back to protect our own base of operations. She could send them into the center of the U but that would put her at a disadvantage. We're only working our way down one side of the U, there's still another army ready to charge forward if the princess commits too many forces on one side."

"What but a force large enough to threaten the G1 mobile base would leave them defenseless against us!" blurted out Suzaku. Without them there to guard the other flank Suzaku could abandon this offensive, move across the center and pierce right through the other flank. It would become a question of which army could kill the general first. And his money was on the Lancelot if he had to throw all caution to the wind. Assuming of course that he wasn't ordered to hit those Gun rus from behind as they attacked the G1 mobile base to rescue princess Cornelia. Without their clever tricks and positioning they'd melt like snow on a summer's day.

"True but killing princess Cornelia is a strategic victory while keeping their beach head is only a tactical one. The only thing keeping general Cao from doing so, is his own cowardice. Once princess Cornelia is gone area 11 will fall, unless prince Schneizel steps in. So the question is: What does he value more? His life or a victory for the Chinese federation?"

Suzaku remembered that general Cao was partnered with Sawasaki who abandoned Japan when it was invaded. So even if general Cao was brave enough, he couldn't risk his pretext for being here and Sawasaki would never condone such a risky move.

But they were stuck nonetheless. Both princess Cornelia and general Cao had a proverbial sword at their throat. If princess Cornelia bypassed his forces then he would counterattack with a suicidal stab at her throat. And if he attacked then it would be deflected by Cornelia's shield and she would immediately strike back.

Neither could finish it in one blow, only whittle each other down.

"Suzaku we've received orders, You're to fall back to your launch point while acting as the rear guard. The reserves will take over afterwards."

He wanted to protest those orders but before he could marshall any arguments they were smothered in their crib. He'd been staying behind as ordered to lay down covering fire, which meant he was the first to see the flock of Gun Rus moving along the opposite of the vertical trenches. They'd be hit from the left and the front if they had stayed. Even the lancelot would be at risk since the Blaze Luminous could only cover one direction.

Suzaku grudgingly fell back and his mood only got worse as he saw the Gun Ru tide flow back with him. They were retaking their old positions, forcing the reserves to once more run the gauntlet through the minefields. Suzaku knew full well, that not all of the mines had been cleared and now he wouldn't be there as a shield to clear the way.

His energy was at 73%. He could be out there making a difference. He could make it count. Instead his eyes lingered on a few smoking wrecks in particular as he laid down suppressive fire for his retreat. He snarled in frustration as the Gun Rus to his left side kept pestering him. It wasn't until the reserves guarding the G1 sortied for a charge that they scurried back to their lines.

Author note

This chapter is the undisputed king of rewrites. I have lost track of how many times I rewrote the battle scenes trying to make it easier to understand while still retaining some complicated troop movements. Countless times i would think i'd managed only to reread it after a break and realize i had no clue what past-me was getting at. It has taken me years i guess and double digit writing sessions but i am finally happy with it.

So let me know how many of you eye rolled at the simplicity of it all and how you could write it in your sleep. :P

P.S. Yes the maser vibration swords should be able to slice through the Czech hedgerow like butter. The problem with the experimental frames is that they are unstoppable juggernauts. Without a Guren to keep them at bay every battle scene is just a repeat of Shinjuku. It's cool the first time but people running away from the Lancelot gets old. Only a massive numerical superiority could overwhelm it by wearing it down. It was why i kept the Glasgows around. They are more limited and thus i have more options in storytelling.

Sidenote: Are you also seeing ads in the middle of fanfics suddenly?