I do not own Code Geass. I only own any original characters created by me.

~ ~ ~ AVE IMPERATOR ~ ~ ~

~ Chapter 6: Twelve Swords ~

[Sankt Petersburg (Caesar's Palace) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]

Augusta Henry Highland, also known as Grand Duke Velaines, was awakened with a start by the deafening noise of countless explosions that shook the whole building. The man threw the covers aside and ran to the nearest window, pulling the curtains with both arms, then remaining speechless at the sight that greeted him.

The sun was rising from behind the horizon, illuminating his city as it was razed to the ground by hundreds of black Knightmares. Columns of smoke rose into the heavens as those machines continued their assault without stopping, moving like vultures in the sky, destroying the few Sutherland and Gloucester who had had time to respond to the assault.

A red flash caught Augusta's attention and he turned his gaze to the Catherine Palace, before much of the building was consumed in a violent explosion that shook the window he was leaning against. His eyes immediately moved to the machine responsible for that attack and the suzerain of Euro Britannia did not know what to think in seeing a Knightmare similar to the infamous Gawain circling in the air with the barrel of one of its Hadron Cannons still pointing towards the palace.

"My God..."

His thoughts were brutally interrupted by several soldiers who entered his room, opening the door urgently, before running towards him. Two of them moved the curtains again to block the view, while the others grabbed Augusta and pushed him towards the door.

"Your Highness, this is terrible! We're under attack but we don't know who the attackers are!" said one of the soldiers, running along a corridor with the others "We have lost contact with checkpoints and we are unable to communicate with other cities!"

"Where did those Nightmares come from? Is it possible that nobody has spotted them?" asked Augusta while feeling the building trembling again due to more explosions on the outside. The Caesar's Palace was the most fortified building in all of Euro Britannia, but if the enemies could count on units equipped with Hadron Cannons, then even that fortress would not have lasted long.

'Only Britannia and the Black Knights could count on such technology...and that particular unit looked like the Gawain...is it possible that the Black Knights are attacking us?' thought Augusta with a frown in his face, but then one of the soldiers caught his attention.

"An alarm was triggered a few seconds before the assault! In addition to an unknown unit, we have managed to recognize countless Vincent and Gloucester among the enemies!"

'And the Black Knights don't use those units...nor could they have gotten so many without anyone noticing...' a sudden thought made Augusta's eyes widen in shock 'Don't tell me that the new Emperor is trying to get rid of me so he can put someone else in my place...but then why attack the city and not send a simple assassin? Damn you, Julius!'

Augusta was unaware of the true link between Lelouch vi Britannia and Julius Kingsley. Of course, he had immediately noticed the almost perfect similarity between the two, ruined only by their way of acting and the light in their eyes (eye in the case of Kingsley), but he had never had the opportunity to investigate the matter. Furthermore, the idea of contacting the Emperor and asking him if he knew of a possible evil twin did not seem very clever to Augusta.

Therefore the idea that they were two separate people was still very strong in his mind, which was why he still hadn't ruled out the possibility that it was all a plan conceived by Julius, after all that man would never hesitate to kill civilians for his personal gain.

"We need to get you to the Transcontinental Railroad right away!" shouted a soldier as the building shook more than before. The deafening noise of firearms drowned all the other sounds and for a moment only, through the large windows of the corridor, Augusta could see some Vincent Wards flying towards the enemy. There were at least two hundred Knightmare pilots in Sankt Petersburg, but a simple glance was enough for the sovereign to understand that the enemy was in clear numerical superiority.

"What about Andrea? He should be here with the Order!" asked Augusta looking at the soldiers at his side while running down the stairs of the palace.

After Shin Hyuga's failed coup, all the Chivalric Orders remained in a state of turmoil, but thanks to Andrea Farnese, the only Grand Master left alive, the situation had improved and all the Orders had been assimilated within the Holy Order of Michael, thus forming a single Chivalric Order.

"We have been told that he has already started a counterattack near the city with his Order." said the soldier to his right before handing him a radio "External communications are blocked, but we can still contact the units left in the area."

Augusta nodded before taking the radio, while leaving the palace and heading towards an APC surrounded by four Gloucester with the colors of the Order of Michael.

"This is Augusta Henry Highland. Andrea, can you hear me?"

The radio croaked for a few seconds before a calm male voice reached his ears "Glad to hear you're still alive. We have seen many enemy units heading for Caesar's Palace, are you okay?"

"Yes, for now at least." said Augusta but then, not far from them, a Vincent Ward crashed to the ground before exploding into a pink fireball, while the four Gloucester turned towards the threat posed by some Vincent painted black and purple, starting to shoot at them with their rifles. The man quickly got on the APC which started to move at full speed, followed by two of the four Knightmares, while the other fought against the enemy.

"The situation is very serious, where are you?"

"I'm currently moving to your location. We have to get you on the Transcontinental Railroad quickly and get you to the Motherland before these bastards can destroy it." said Andrea before pausing for a few seconds "Me and my men will stay here to cover you."

Augusta's eyes widened in shock "I can not do that! I can't abandon my citizens and soldiers here!"

"Think about it! You're our leader! We may even be a tributary-empire, but that does not mean that this is our home! If you were to die, the morale of the troops would go underground." replied Andrea while the sounds of a hard fight could be heard on his side "We don't know what the situation is like elsewhere, so you have to reach the Motherland, there is no other way."

"You are asking me a lot, Andrea..." hissed Augusta while clenching his fist. He couldn't abandon all those people in times of need, but he also knew that his friend was right and he could not deny it.

He could almost feel the smile on Andrea's face "I know, but you can reproach me properly the next time we meet."

After those words, the radio went silent and the APC's engine noise was the only thing Augusta could hear for several minutes, together with the occasional explosions, until the armored vehicle seemed to be skidding on the asphalt. The man, and the soldiers who went up with him, slammed violently against the internal side of the vehicle when the APC braked sharply. One of them swore loudly before opening a small door to the driver's side "Oscar! What the hell is going on?!"

"See for yourself! That unit almost destroyed us in one fell swoop!" shouted back the driver while pointing at where there was once the road, now turned into a fuming crater.

Before the first soldier could tell him more, a huge unit landed on the other side, as large as a Gareth and with a similar design, but much more intimidating.

"Good morning, my name is Wizard. Desolate having to jump straight to the point, but I need you to give me the good old Augusta." said an amused male voice, through the speakers of the Knightmare "Obviously it would be much better to recover him alive, but you know what they say...the war reaps victims every day."

Augusta and the other soldiers inside the APC remained silent, having sensed the veiled threat. The Grand Duke was to be captured, but it was not mandatory. However, before any of them could react, the Gloucester who were escorting the armored vehicle raised their rifles to fire, only to be annihilated by the Hadron Cannon of the enemy unit, which completely erased the upper parts of the two machines, thus detonating what was left of them.

"Did you like my magic trick? I made two Knightmare disappear with just one shot!" said Wizard, sounding almost relaxed inside his unit "Now, are you going to come with me, Augusta Henry Highland?"

"No, I don't think he will come."

Wizard barely had time to move his Knightmare to the side before an MVS cut it in half from above. Without hesitating, he fired a shot with his left Hadron Cannon, but the unit that attacked him easily avoided the shot and pounced on him with two MVS, forcing Wizard to fly up to avoid the attack. Now that he had distanced himself from the attacker, he could better observe the opposing unit and, behind his mask, he narrowed his eyes upon see that it was a blue and white Vincent, with a Float System equipped with six wings, slender limbs and, much to his annoyance, what appeared to be a Blaze Luminous System installed on its arms.

When he saw the coat of arms painted on the Vincent's shoulders, Wizard knew immediately who was is opponent "Andrea Farnese, Grand Master of the Seraphim Knights...what a surprise. Are you here to die like your brothers?"

Andrea said nothing and opened a private channel with the APC "Take the Grand Duke to the Transcontinental Railroad Station. Now!"

"Y-Yes, My Lord!" said the driver, hitting the gas before making a sharp U-turn to find another way.

Wizard watched the scene with a small grin "Do you really think you can stop me?"

"Does it make a difference? My duty is to protect the Grand Duke, and eliminate Euro Britannia's enemies." said Andrea while crossing both MVS in front of his Vincent "And you are an enemy."

"Feel free to try it, Grand Master." replied Wizard before pointing both Hadron Cannons at his opponent "But you will soon realize how neither I nor my Agravain are opponents to be underestimated."

Without waiting any longer, Andrea rushed forward before avoiding two rays of red energy, then managing to approach Wizard, but the masked man started firing using the two shoulder-mounted machine cannons of his Agravain, forcing his opponent to activate the shield left to defend himself, managing to push Andrea back. Pressing further on his advantage, Wizard activated another weapon of his machine and the six chest-mounted missile launchers opened simultaneously before firing as many missiles that exploded in contact with Andrea's energy shield.

A large cloud of black smoke formed due to the violent explosions but, before Wizard could ascertain the damage suffered by his opponent, Andrea surprised him by popping out of the smoke screen with a speed much higher than a normal Vincent. Acting instinctively, the masked man fired again with his Hadron Cannons but both shots missed the target, thus giving him time to operate a switch and, before Andrea was on him, both weapons seemed to open before slipping backward. Both Hadron Cannons barrels closed at the elbows, becoming almost extensions of the limb, leaving the arms uncovered and equipped with two hands that went to grab two protrusions positioned one for each forearm.

When Andrea dropped a slash from above, Wizard unsheathed what were actually two retractable MVS without guard, which instantly activated, thus blocking the enemy attack. Andrea was shocked to see that change, while the golden and black faceplate of the Agravain slipped upwards, showing the white one below with two bright red eyes. Using the size of his Knightmare, Wizard managed to push his opponent away before two parts of the black armor, which served to hold up the two red cloaks of the machine, detached themselves, falling on the roofs below.

"Well, ready for round two?" asked Wizard with a grin on his face, before moving toward his opponent and start a deadly dance of swords. Andrea had to admit it, his opponent was very skilled, at the level of a Grand Master like him, but Wizard's machine, despite being bigger, was much slower. Parrying yet another blow, Andrea moved his Knightmare to the right before going behind the Agravain and attempting to hit it with a lunge, but to his surprise, a green shield materialized around the enemy unit, managing to repel his sword.

Taking advantage of that brief stalemate, Wizard rotated his Knightmare on its axis, managing to hit Andrea, but the Grand Master had the quick reflexes necessary to avoid a fatal blow, losing only one of his hip-mounted Slash Harkens. Wizard then tried to defeat him again in a quick exchange of blows, but Andrea managed to hold his ground blow by blow, until the masked man managed to hit him with a kick, sending the knight back several meters before he could regain control.

When Andrea started to move forward again, he was momentarily surprised to see Wizard move away quickly, completely ignoring him.

'Where is he going? His energy levels are already so low...?' thought the Grand Master before realization hit him like a truck 'The Transcontinental Railroad Station!'

Pushing his Knightmare Frame to the maximum, Andrea launched in pursuit and managed to reach his opponent in a few seconds, but when only a few meters were between them, the Agravain turned and fired a new volley of missiles, also using the eight leg-mounted launchers. Acting quickly, Andrea moved to the side to avoid all the missiles, but when he was about to attack the enemy with his MVS, Wizard's voice reached the sure ears.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to avoid all those missiles?"

Andrea narrowed his gaze for a moment before looking in the direction where the missiles were aiming and he could only curse to see that they were about to hit a hospital still not evacuated. In that split second, he made a decision and swooped down to those explosives, managing to surpass them thanks to the speed of his Knightmare, before activating both energy shields and blocking all explosions. However, his victory was short-lived because Wizard took advantage of it to hit him with a shot from one of his Hadron Cannons and, despite his Blaze Luminous managed to block that death ray, his energy reserves were drastically drained.

When he managed to bring the view back to the Agravain, the huge gray-white Knightmare was long gone and was close to reaching the station. Looking at the remaining autonomy, Andrea frowned, knowing that he would have to finish everything in a few minutes if he wanted to survive.

By deactivating all non-priority systems, he converted the residual energy into his Float System and set off in pursuit of the enemy unit. It only took him thirty seconds to reach his target, but when he did, the Agravain had already re-equipped both Hadron Cannons and was aiming them at the APC from which the Grand Duke had just come down together with his escort.

"Augusta!"

"Farewell, my dear Grand Duke!" shouted Wizard with the satisfaction almost palpable in his voice but then, at the last second, his Blaze Luminous System came to life, protecting his Knightmare from a huge volley of bullets, which forced him to stop his attack.

"You really have a couple of nice big weapons..."

The masked man turned to the origin of that female voice, identifying a Vincent Commander Model on a nearby roof.

"But...you know..."

The Vincent raised a couple of Anti-Knightmare machine guns and Wizard could only grind his teeth, already knowing what was going to happen.

"...mine are bigger!"

With a deafening noise, the two weapons roared in unison unloading hundreds of bullets against the shield of the Agravain, which was literally closed in defense since the Blaze Luminous System did not allow to attack from the inside. The titanic Knightmare trembled under the rain of bullets but just when Wizard was starting to think that woman would run out of bullets, about thirty Vincent Ward joined her, starting to attack him with missiles, grenades and even chaos mines!

"Attention. Decreasing energy levels. Deactivation of the Blaze Luminous System is recommended. Remaining time of the Energy Filler: eight minutes and thirty seconds."

Hearing that message, Wizard further gritted his teeth before retreating to a safe distance, while several Vincent painted black and purple came to his rescue, starting to fight with the units that had ambushed him. As the two factions began that clash, Andrea approached the unit that had just dropped the two machine guns before opening a private channel with that machine "Soldier, identify yourself!"

The female pilot moved her Knightmare to look at him "Sergeant Maria Faraday, Commander of the 'Storm Riders' unit! At your service, My Lord!"

[Sankt Petersburg (Military Main Base) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b. (15 minutes ago)]

Maria Faraday knew something was wrong. The sun was about to rise, the first rays of light were already visible on the horizon, and she had just returned from her morning run, yet she felt a strange tension in the air, like a calm before the storm. She was already inside the military base, her green eyes fixed on the countryside surrounding the city, ignoring the few soldiers who had the courage to greet her. If she had noticed them, she would not have blamed them for being intimidated, since she was much taller than them, with a height that reached almost two meters and almost one hundred kilos of muscles.

Her platinum blonde hair, which reached her shoulder blades, was always tied in a high ponytail and many of the soldiers called her 'Amazon' or 'Female Bear', although she didn't pay much attention to it. Many of them spoke out of jealousy or envy and it was more than enough of a reason to ignore them, but at that moment she would also have ignored the Emperor himself, because she was sure that something was going to happen.

"Hey Sarge, how was your run?" asked a male soldier with spiky black hair while approaching Maria with three more soldiers, all sporting a strange badge depicting a diving hawk.

When the woman did not answer, the four soldiers looked at each other "Sarge?"

"Something is coming."

"Something...? What are you talking about, Sarge?" asked one of the soldier before looking out of the window with the others "I don't see anything..."

Maria kept her gaze fixed on the horizon, just when the sun was rising and then, at that precise moment, she saw hundreds of black dots rise in flight with the light of the sun behind them. Her vision was pretty good, so it took her a few moments to understand that those dots were actually Knightmares and that they were approaching Sankt Petersburg, and it took her even less to understand their true intentions. With a speed that also left the soldiers momentarily surprised, Maria ran down the corridor and struck one of the many emergency buttons scattered around the base, triggering a loud siren that echoed throughout the building.

"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"

Shocked by her words, the four soldiers, along with the closest ones, looked out the window just in time to see a red flash in the sky, before a beam of energy destroyed something on the edge of the city. Without hesitation, everyone started running down the corridor, heading for the base hangar, while other soldiers joined them. In less than thirty seconds, they had already arrived in the huge Knightmare depot, while the technicians were already completing the preparations.

"Several hundred enemy units confirmed east of the city!" shouted a male voice and, looking up, Maria saw the commander of the base wearing only pants and a white T-shirt, a clear sign that he too had just woken up "Moxley, take your team and form a defensive line between us and the attackers! Refran, you and your men will go to the Caesar's Palace to protect the Grand Duke! Faraday, I want you and your Storm Raiders to welcome those bastards with all you got, don't take prisoners!"

"Yes, My Lord!" shouted the three leaders before jumping inside their machines.

"Okay guys, you heard him! We need to make sure that the attackers don't get past us!" said Maria while starting the engine of her Vincent, whose eyes flashed green before moving toward the hangar exit, with the Float System ready to be deployed.

"He said several hundred units, and only sends us to engage them? There will be barely twenty Gloucester patrols where we are headed, how do they hope we can resist?" asked one of her soldier inside his Vincent Ward.

"Don't know and don't care, our goal is to defend the city and its inhabitants!" replied Maria with her machine raising from the ground "Now, let's give them hell! All Hail Britannia!"

"All Hail Lelouch!"

Together with her soldiers, Maria left the base in flight, whose defenses had already started shooting at the assailants, and at that moment she really realized what a very difficult battle that would be. The sky was full of units painted black and purple; most of them were Gloucester, but there were also several Vincent, all equipped with a Float System and armed to the teeth.

'The Black Knights? No, the color scheme may suggest that, but in reality it is different from the one used by them, moreover they are all units used by Britannia.' thought Maria with a growl 'They must be traitors, one more reason to eliminate them all!'

With a mighty roar, she hurled herself against the nearest enemy unit before cutting it in half with her dual-bladed lance-type MVS, then aimed the rifle held in her left hand and hit two other units, managing to destroy their Float System, thus dropping both Knightmares towards their death. In the next few minutes, Maria and her team pushed further and further, managing to destroy at least three dozen enemies, but losing four of her soldiers. When they managed to reach the defense line made up of just twelve Gloucester, she opened a private channel with them.

"This is Sergeant Maria Faraday, Commander of the 'Storm Riders'! Who's in charge here?!"

"No one, My Lady! Our team leader was killed as soon as they arrived!" answered one of the soldiers while taking cover behind a building.

"Then I'll take over! We have to keep the line and push the attackers back as long as we can! Never move alone, be careful in the sky and shoot only when you are sure! We don't have the luxury of wasting shots!" ordered Maria before engaging another enemy, but after killing that pilot, she heard a powerful explosion behind her.

Looking in that direction, she was shocked to see the Catherine Palace consumed by the flames 'The enemy has already reached that point? What the hell are Refran and his soldiers doing?'

Opening a channel, she called for her comrade "Refran, this is Faraday! The Catherine Palace has been badly damaged, where are you?"

"The Sergeant is dead, My Lady!" screamed an unknown soldier "There's a huge Knightmare, similar to a Gareth! It's killing everyo-GAH!"

Maria frowned. The enemy also had something similar to a Gareth? Who the hell were these bastards? She tried to contact the allied unit again, but nobody answered her and she understood that there was no longer anyone who could answer her. Now the biggest problem was that the Grand Duke was virtually defenseless since she didn't know what kind of defenses the Caesar's Palace had. Having to act quickly, she contacted the military base from which she left and the commander replied in a clearly agitated voice "Faraday, what do you want? We're busy here, the enemy is pushing Moxley back!"

'Yes, you are busy trying to save your asses.' thought Maria, having no problem imagining the commander as he was looking for a way to leave the city in order to save himself "Commander, Refran's team has been intercepted, and most likely eliminated, by a single Gareth-like unit. I request orders."

She distinctly heard a noisy blasphemy on the other side before the commander asked her "What about the Grand Duke?!"

"Status unknown."

More blasphemies on the other side, but then someone seemed to speak to the commander who then immediately reported to Maria "We have received a communication that the Grand Duke is reaching the Transcontinental Railroad Station with an APC, but he has only two Gloucester guarding him!"

Maria considered for a moment the idea of insulting those soldiers of Euro Britannia. She was the daughter of a Britannian nobleman and had always fought on the front of Britannia; only recently had she been sent to the tributary-empire, yet her impression of those soldiers was not the best. The Grand Duke was practically the equivalent of the Emperor, how could he not be surrounded by armed guards? Using the zoom of her Factsphere Sensor, while her soldiers kept the enemies away from her, she looked in the direction of the station and noticed a large black Knightmare flying in the area nearby.

'That must be the wanna-be-Gareth.' she thought with narrowed eyes "Commander, I have a view on the mysterious unit. It is flying near the station and it is very likely that it will intercept the Grand Duke's APC. I request permission to reach him and join the escort."

"Andrea Farnese, the Grand Master of the Holy Order of Raphael is moving to intercept the enemy unit. Hold your position and fend off the enemy!" shouted the commander before ending the communication.

Maria frowned again, the fact that a Grand Master was with them was a good thing but there were too many enemies, even for someone like Andrea Farnese. Shaking her head, she looked back at the enemy unit, who was probably the commander of the assault forces, and saw him fighting with a strange blue and white Vincent.

'That must be Andrea...but it doesn't look good.' she may not have been an expert observer, but she had fought alongside the former Knight of Seven, Suzaku Kururugi, during the war in Europia and knew that both of those fighters were on the same level, but the enemy unit had more powerful weapons and numerical superiority. Looking towards her soldiers, Maria saw that the enemy was slowly advancing and, even if one of them died, three machines immediately took its place.

"At this rate we will not go anywhere and die before the Grand Duke can leave the city..." she said before opening the channel with the surrounding soldiers "To all the troops, retreat! Half will give cover, the other half will step back and so on! We have to get to the Transcontinental Railroad Station before it's too late!"

"What about holding the line?" asked a soldier while moving back with his Gloucester.

"The city is lost, soldier." said Maria with a grim voice "We don't have enough Knightmares to deal with such an invasion, and the best we can do is get the Grand Duke out of the city!"

The soldiers could only accept her reasoning before advancing into the city center, with the Gloucester on the ground blocking the enemy units in the middle of the streets while the Storm Riders eliminated the threats too close from above. Looking momentarily at the clash between Andrea and the enemy commander, Maria saw that the huge black Knightmare was literally full of tricks and she wasn't sure that they would arrive at the station in time.

"Oliver, take command and reach me at the station as soon as possible. I will go ahead and intercept any hostiles!"

"Yes, My Lady!"

Turning her Knightmare, Maria left for the station while keeping a glance on the clash between Andrea and that black unit, when however she noticed a small destroyed military base. She observed what remained of the building with a dark expression, recognizing the work of a Hadron Cannon, but in the midst of those rubble, she saw some weapons still in good condition and, among them, a couple of Anti-Knightmare machine guns.

Quickly sheathing her MVS and the rifle, Maria lowered herself to grab those two weapons and after equipping them, she started advancing towards the station, without encountering any enemy, until she landed on a building next to the large building. She had just the time to observe the surroundings that an APC arrived from which Augusta Henry Highland came down with several soldiers and, one second later, the black unit appeared above them, pointing both of them at the armored vehicle.

"Farewell, my dear Grand Duke!" shouted the pilot of that Knightmare with the satisfaction almost palpable in his voice but then, Maria pulled the trigger of her weapons and the Blaze Luminous System of the enemy came to life, protecting the Knightmare from a huge volley of bullets.

"You really have a couple of nice big weapons..." said Maria with a grin on her face as the machine turned to look at her.

"But...you know..."

She raised both Anti-Knightmare machine guns, aiming them again against her enemy.

"...mine are bigger!"

Continuing to fire without letting go of the triggers, Maria noticed that the number of ammunition was rapidly decreasing, but then her IFF informed her of the arrival of reinforcements and, an instant later, the rest of the Storm Riders appeared behind her to support their commander. Each of them used all the explosives available to attack the green shield that was protecting the enemy unit, then forcing it to move away as several enemy Vincent joined the fight.

"Defend the Grand Duke, they must not pass!" she shouted on the radio while the Gloucester she had saved earlier joined the defense forces.

"Soldier, identify yourself!"

She was momentarily surprised by the voice, which she recognized as Andrea Farnese's, and turned her Vincent towards his machine, replying on the private channel opened by him "Sergeant Maria Faraday, Commander of the 'Storm Riders' unit! At your service, My Lord!"

"Sergeant Faraday, I need you to assist me in protecting this station while the Grand Duke gets on the Transcontinental Railroad, but there are several civilians inside and knowing him he will want to save them all, so it may take a while." said Andrea before moving to destroy an enemy Gloucester.

"Copy that." she nodded before shooting with her machine guns, managing to destroy at least ten enemies before running out of bullets. Dropping the weapons on the ground, she drew her swords and began to fight melee with her opponents. Around them, the battle continued unending until a ray of red energy wiped out two of her men, shocking the whole team.

"Matthew! Lucas!" one of the soldiers looked at the form of the Agravain as it was standing on a roof with both arms pointing at them "That bastard is dead!"

"Don't move! He has a Blaze Luminous System and too many close allies! Shoot from here and have him keep his defense active!" ordered Maria with the soldiers following her orders, but then, Andrea contacted her once more.

"Sergeant Faraday, how much energy do you have left?"

"About forty percent. I can fight for a little while longer." said Maria, wondering why he was asking her that question.

"Good, then please land a moment behind that building." said Andrea before landing near a huge school, using it as a cover, with Maria who landed at his side. The woman understood what the Grand Master wanted to do. He probably had little energy and wanted to swap their Energy Fillers to continue fighting. She didn't like the idea very much, because it would have meant to remain with an almost discharged unit, but in that situation she couldn't say no to him.

"Now, give me that Vincent. The controls of my Knightmare are very similar, with only a few differences."

She looked at him with confused eyes as he opened the cockpit, showing his serious face "Beg pardon, sir...?"

"We need to exchange Knightmares. Mine has only fifteen minutes of autonomy but if I want to fight until the Grand Duke is safe, I can't risk it." said Andrea without missing a beat, gesturing for her to get out of her cockpit.

She opened it as requested, still looking at him with confused eyes "But sir, you can have my Energy Filler!"

"That wouldn't work. Despite being a Knightmare based on the Vincent, it's very different on the inside; it has three Energy Fillers instead of one, and they are made differently." explained Andrea with a very small smile on his face "And now I entrust it to you."

She looked completely floored by his words "My Lord...?"

"As soon as the Grand Duke informs me that he can leave, you and your unit will go with him and escort the train until you are out of danger, after which you will continue with him until you reach the Motherland." ordered Andrea while jumping on the shoulder of her Knightmare "I'll stay here and cover you."

"But sir, why? You may be a Grand Master, but if you were to stay here..."

"I know, and I also know that I could just ask you and your team to stay here and cover our retreat...but it's not my style to send soldiers to death." said Andrea while gesturing to his Vincent with one hand "I watched you for a few seconds, and I understand that you are an excellent pilot...however in a simple Vincent like yours you wouldn't last long against that huge Knightmare."

Maria looked at him for a moment before jumping on the other cockpit "So are you asking me to leave...?"

"Yes. You also must protect the Grand Duke, he's the symbol of Euro Britannia." Andrea went to sit inside his new Knightmare before checking the Frame's controls.

"We could always protect the moving train to the safe zone...they couldn't have occupied all of Russia." said Maria looking at the Grand Master who merely shook his head.

"It would only take one lucky hit from that Hadron Cannon to destroy the train and only my Knightmare has a Blaze Luminous System, but it has too little energy to block more than one shot. The best solution is to block him here, while you run away. With the autonomy of your Knightmare I should be able to keep it at bay." Andrea looked at the pilot who was staring at the inside of her new Knightmare with a frown "One last thing."

Maria looked back at him and the Grand Master pulled his sword from his belt, before tossing it at the woman who caught it with ease, staring at that weapon so finely worked, with black scabbard and hilt and the guard in the shape of golden eagle wings.

"That is the sword as Grand Master of my Order. Show it to Augusta, he will understand." he said before closing the cockpit. With a sudden gust of wind, the Vincent was again in the sky, shooting at the enemies who were getting too close.

"All units, this is Andrea Farnese, Grand Master of the Holy Order of Raphael. I took control of Sergeant Faraday's Knightmare. Storm Riders, as soon as you receive the signal, stop fighting and follow the train with the Grand Duke on board. You have to protect it at the cost of your life." said the blonde man while cutting a Vincent in half "Soldiers of Euro Britannia!"

Below him, all the Gloucester still standing stopped fighting for a moment to listen to his words.

What he was about to say was more difficult than he thought, but he could not do otherwise "Our duty is to protect our home, and the Grand Duke is the symbol of Euro Britannia! We can't let him die, so I ask you to stay by my side and protect him as long as you have life in your body!"

For a few moments, none of them answered, but then "I'm with you, My Lord!"

"We'll protect him!"

"For Euro Britannia!"

"Let's kill these bastards!"

"Very well. In that case, All Hail Euro Britannia!" shouted Andrea diving against the enemies while the Gloucester on the ground started to fight again with more ferocity than before.

"All Hail Augusta!"

In the few minutes that followed, the battle became more bloody than ever as both sides lost several soldiers. Maria was back in action, but was forced to stay behind because of the low energy levels of her new Knightmare, furious at having to see her men die without being able to help them. She had just managed to cut a Vincent in half when Andrea contacted her and her squad.

"Storm Raiders, it is time. The train is already leaving the station."

Continuing to fire their rifles, the soldiers remained under Maria's command stepped back to the front and followed the tracks in the distance, but she remained in place for a few seconds before making a brief bow with her Knightmare "Even if it was for a short time, it was an honor to fight alongside you."

Andrea nodded back "The honor was all mine. Now go!"

Maria immediately turned her Knightmare Frame around and reunited with her soldiers, managing to get close to the train easily. It was very large, almost too much for a train, but after more than twelve passenger carriages, there were five uncovered wagons used for freight transport, and they were all empty. Giving directions to her team, she landed on one of them together with another soldier, for a total of ten Knightmares, while the others remained in flight to protect the train.

Back with Andrea, the Grand Master launched his assault on the enemies, destroying as many as possible, while the Gloucester left with him were now only seven. A powerful beam of red energy and several missiles destroyed four more and Andrea immediately looked at Wizard's Knightmare, always at a safe distance.

Narrowing his gaze, Andrea started shooting at him with his rifle to force the masked man to use the Agravain's defenses, getting closer while trying to finish the fight. Behind him, two more Gloucester were eliminated by the enemies, and the last two remaining continued to fight, regardless of the numerical inferiority.

Pushing his machine to the max, the Grand Master managed to avoid several shots before arriving in front of the Agravain which had just raised both Hadron Cannons to try to hit him, but when Wizard fired, Andrea was now too close and the two rays of red energy destroyed only the wings of his Float System. Raising his MVS, Andrea was ready to defeat his opponent, being now too close for the Blaze Luminous to start working, but just when he was about to give him the coup-de-grace, he saw two hip-mounted four tube-launchers pointing towards him and his machine.

In that single instant, the Grand Master wondered if Wizard wanted to risk hitting him with rockets from so close, but then eight Slash Harkens were shot out of the tube-launchers. Four destroyed his Vincent's arms, while the other four hit the chest and waist, knocking the Knightmare down the street. Andrea's Vincent crashed into the wall of a house before collapsing on the ground. Inside its cockpit, the man coughed up some blood as several alarm messages flashed on the screens that remained active.

'So this is the best I can do...' he suppressed a grimace of pain as he felt his left arm bent at a strange angle 'It looks like I will join you sooner than expected, Michele...'

Using his right hand, he pulled a small emergency lever, forcing the cockpit to open, before crawling out of it, falling badly to the ground, while the Agravain landed next to him. A few seconds later, Wizard exited his Knightmare and went down to the ground, calmly approaching the downed knight.

"My compliments, my dear Grand Master." said the masked man, clapping his hands "You managed to slow me down enough and you also killed several of my soldiers. They weren't just terrorists, you know?" he turned his gaze to the last enemy Gloucester as he was destroyed by his troops "Too bad it won't do any good. We came from the east and in which direction does that beautiful train go? East! My soldiers will have already destroyed the railroads and in no time, the Grand Duke will be our prisoner."

A faint laugh attracted Wizard's attention, who looked down at Andrea.

"Do you really think...there was only one rail...available?"

"Obviously not, we destroyed two of them as we approached the city...and a little while ago we discovered that there is also a very large underground line, built in secret..." Wizard smirked at him "That too will be completely destroyed."

Instead of stopping, Andrea laughed again after throwing up some blood.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Didn't it seem strange...to you that...there were so few...knights of my Order during the assault...?" asked the Grand Master, making Wizard frown.

Bringing a hand to his right ear, he pressed the small communication device "Demolition Team, this is Wizard." he got only silence in response "Demolition Team, answer me!"

"They are...all...dead..." hissed Andrea with a grin on his face "When you attacked the city...I sent most of my troops...to defend the accesses to the underground line...my best knights..."

The man in black and white glared at him "So you're telling me you've sacrificed the city just to get Augusta out of here?"

"He's the...symbol of Euro Britannia...he must live..."

Wizard snarled at him before taking out a gun from under his suit, immediately removing the safety catch and pointing the weapon at the Grand Master's head "Any last words, Andrea Farnese?"

Andrea could already feel his body slowly go out, evidently he had suffered more damage than expected in the last crash, but it didn't matter. His mission was accomplished.

Without showing any fear, he smiled at Wizard.

"All Hail...Euro...Britannia..."

Despite the clamor of the battles in the city, a gunshot echoed in the now deserted street.

Sankt Petersburg had now disappeared on the horizon and the sun was high in the sky, but Maria paid no attention to that, keeping her eyes fixed on the Knightmare that belonged to Andrea Farnese. The soldier was seated outside the last passenger wagon, just two meters away from the Vincent, with only a thermal blanket on her shoulders to protect her from the wind.

After leaving the station, the train had traveled almost the entire city before descending into an underground passageway wide enough to allow her soldiers to fly alongside the train. Those had been minutes of extreme tension, with everyone thinking that the enemy would attack them at any moment, but when they were now outside the city limits, they had been joined by about forty Gloucester painted white and blue, knights of the Holy Order of Michael that had protected the passage under orders of the Grand Master. Those equipped with the Float System had joined the Storm Raiders in flight; the others had used the railroads to travel faster behind and in front of the train, while Maria and her fellow soldiers who had landed on the empty freight wagons, had been welcomed by some Euro Britannia soldiers.

The moment when Augusta had set his gaze on her, and on the sword that she had with her, he understood everything and did not need words to express his sadness. For her part, Maria had done nothing to attempt to approach him and had simply stayed close to the Knightmares, after ordering her men to rest for a few hours. The carriages were full of civilians, but there was still some space to make everyone comfortable.

"May I join you?" asked a male voice at her right and, looking in that direction, Maria was surprised to see the Grand Duke with a thermal blanket on his shoulders.

She, an experienced soldier wearing only a jogging suit, running shoes and a blanket on her shoulders. He, the Grand Duke of Euro Britannia wearing only a nightgown, boots taken who knows where and a blanket on his shoulders like her. If the situation had not been so tragic, Maria would have laughed.

Moving a little further, she nodded to the man who sat down beside her.

Augusta was silent for a long time, observing his old friend's Knightmare, until he decided to speak with a small smile on his face "I still remember when Andrea became Grand Master with his friend Michele. They were good soldiers, excellent commanders and great friends...but now that both are dead, it seems to me that I have lost a part of myself." he looked at Maria "You and your men are from Britannia, correct?"

"Yes, Your Highness." nodded the young woman "I was sent here in the short period when there was no Emperor. Next week I should have gone back to the Motherland."

"It seems then that you will have to anticipate your return home." said Augusta with the small smile still on his face, before asking "Was he calm when he entrusted you with his Knightmare?"

Maria nodded "He had a smile on his face. A very small one."

"How typical of him." chuckled Augusta before getting up and turning to get inside the carriage, but then Maria stopped him.

"You should take this."

The Grand Duke looked at her, noting that Maria was offering him the sword received from Andrea.

"Did he tell you to give it to me?" she shook her head and Augusta smiled at her "Then we're good, it's yours. Take care of that blade and his Knightmare, they could serve well you in the future."

Maria lowered the sword, strapping it to her side, before turning to look at the machine entrusted to her by the Grand Master "What is its name?"

Augusta looked at the Knightmare as well with a proud smile "Seraph Vincent." and after those words, he left Maria alone.

The young woman looked at it for several minutes before showing a small smile "Seraph Vincent, huh?"

Despite the movement of the train, she managed to stand up and approach the machine before placing a hand against one of its legs.

"Nice to meet you, partner."

[France (Paris) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]

Akito Hyuga was walking through the deserted streets of Paris when he stopped to look up and admire the Eiffel Tower, one of the few symbols of the city that had not been damaged or destroyed by the fights occurred barely two hours earlier. Everything had been so rapid, in less than thirty minutes the defense forces of Paris had been suppressed and the city regained. Shin and his unit had eliminated most of the enemy Knightmares in the center of the city along with the headquarters, now reduced to a pile of rubble, while the rest of the assault forces had crushed the Britannian soldiers who were defending the perimeter of Paris.

Now the city seemed deserted. There were no celebrations, crowds in jubilation for the battle won or for the arrival of their liberators. When the last soldier in defense of Paris had also been neutralized, even though many soldiers from Britannia had been captured, people had closed themselves in their houses for fear of being arrested, mistreated or worse.

Akito understood why, after all to the citizens of Paris, Emperor Lelouch had seemed as a perfect ruler after all the changes he had made to the empire. Citizens of Britannia and Europia were all considered to be on the same level, the nobles who took advantage of their status had been stripped of their privileges and every single conflict had been stopped, except for any terrorist groups too dangerous to be left alone.

On the other hand, what had Akito, and all the other soldiers who participated in that reconquest mission, done? They had brought the war back, causing who knows how many deaths and damage around the continent. Of course, their mission had proved successful. He had already had occasion to receive news that most of Europe was in their hands again, with the exception of Portugal, part of Spain, most part of Russia; and with the exception of a few hearths of resistance, in all the major cities of the continent the E.U.'s blue flag was flying.

"There you are, Akito! We've been looking for you!" said a female voice behind him, forcing the blue-haired soldier to turn around in order to see his companions approaching him on board their Alexander. When the three blue machines stopped a few meters from him, their respective cockpits opened, allowing the pilots to exit and Akito immediately noticed their happy looks, in addition to the fact that Ayano was eating something on a toothpick.

"Takoyaki!" said the only girl of the group "We went to the Île de la Cité to bring them some supplies and they were delighted to find out that we were Japanese like them. I think they are still celebrating with the rest of the team."

"They would be the only ones." said Akito looking back at the titanic tower.

"Oi, do not be a spoilsport. We won! What's the problem?" growled Ryo with a frown on his face.

"We won a battle impossible to lose and damaged the city. Leila had told me that Paris was a city full of life and beauty. Perhaps you want to tell me that you see that?" asked back their leader with his emotionless voice.

"Are you referring to the fact that the citizens did not welcome us as heroes?" Yukiya shrugged with a small smile "I don't care much about what they think. What I do know is that now that we have won, Smilas will do everything to create perfect areas for the Japanese without keeping them in cages."

"Something that Emperor Lelouch had already done." noted Akito without looking back, and this time, it was Ayano who frowned at him.

"For God's sake, what's wrong with you, Akito? We have taken almost all of Europia from Britannia's hands! We could almost resign and return to Japan to live like normal people."

"In fact, all Britannian soldiers have left Japan and the U.F.N. has officially annexed it." Yukiya said while remembering what he had read in some reports "It would be the best time to go home, and I think the rest of the wZERO Squad would like to come with us too."

Ryo and Ayano seemed to agree with him, but when Akito was about to answer him, he felt the ground tremble slightly and, a few seconds later, a particular red Alexander appeared in front of him, observing the young soldier with its three bright green eyes "Got you! I've been searching for you guys!"

"Ashley." nodded Akito "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing in particular, but I have just received confirmation regarding our assault forces in St. Petersburg. Apparently the Grand Duke managed to escape, but the commander who led the assault killed Andrea Farnese,Grand Master of the Holy Order of Raphael."

Akito and the others seemed surprised by his words until Ryo asked "Oi, if he was a Grand Master does that mean he was on the same level as that bastard of Shin?"

"In terms of rank yes, but from what I've heard around, Andrea was clearly superior in terms of piloting skills. I have never seen him fight in person since we were in two different Holy Orders." the cockpit of his Knightmare opened and an orange-haired young boy came out of it "Oh and besides that, my team won!"

Ryo, Yukiya and Ayano watched him confused, until the latter asked "What do you mean?"

"Before the assault we bet on how many enemies we would have defeated, right? Wyvern Squad vs Asura Strike Force!" said Ashley showing them a huge grin "Well, my team has defeated more enemies than you."

"Bullshit! You are seven, while we are four!"

Ashley waved a finger at Ryo "Yes, but instead of Alexander, the rest of my team is still using Gloucester, which are older than your machines!"

As the four began a heated discussion on that bet with dubious tastes, Akito once again looked back at the Eiffel Tower and, for some reason unknown to him, he felt a shiver run down his back.

Something was about to happen, he was sure of it. Emperor Lelouch would never ignore a declaration of war of that magnitude, yet the soldier known as Hannibal's Ghost had no idea how the White Emperor would react.

And that scared him more than he would have liked.

[Colombia (Poitier Family's Manor) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]

"When I asked you that favor, I don't think I told you to give all of my son's files to the Emperor, Lloyd." said Joseph Poitier, staring at his computer screen with annoyed eyes.

"Oh I know I know, but we desperately need capable people in our ranks, and new pilots for Knightmares!" replied the smiling face of Lloyd, without a note of shame in his voice "Wouldn't that be a big step forward for your son?"

Joseph scoffed at him "As if you care. You just want to build more machines, but if my son ever accepts the offer, just know that I already have something for him."

"Oooh?" Lloyd's smile was bigger than before "So you kept the blueprints?"

"Of course I did, that project was just a bridge between two inventions, like your Lancelot, but it didn't make sense to get rid of it." said Joseph with another scoff "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Nothing in particular, although I guess you noticed the state of unrest in those areas, right?"

Joseph hardened his gaze "Hard not to notice it..."

The last two hours had been a succession of bad news. First of all, an alarm signal was sent from almost all major cities in Europe under Britannian rule and the maximum alert code was used, which meant that everyone, who had at least one member of their family in the army, would receive the signal of that alarm. The E.U. had decided to declare war on Britannia, just when Lelouch had done everything to stop the conflicts around the globe; however, to make matters worse, the same signal had been sent by several military bases scattered throughout the area south of the Motherland. It was unthinkable that what remained of the E.U. was able to get to the Motherland and attack so many bases at the same time, so Joseph had immediately contacted some old friends who lived in those parts, and what he had discovered had left him speechless.

The Knights of the Round, or rather the former Knights of the Round, all considered traitors by the current Emperor, along with many other members of the imperial family, had returned and attacked the main bases of the army. But what really left him stunned was the fact that most of the soldiers present in those bases had joined them and had easily overpowered the few men who remained loyal to Lelouch, before moving on to eliminate other threats in the area.

In less than two hours, Britannia had lost all contact with the southern states of the Motherland, except Venezuela and Colombia, and with all the states in Europe, except for Portugal, part of Spain and a large slice of Russia, too large for be reconquered in no time. Now, all the soldiers present in Colombia were in a state of frenzy, and unfortunately also the civilians, who had received news of the coup by simpler and more common means. A clear sign that the traitors had not even blocked the simplest ways of communication like telephone lines.

Joseph had no idea what would happen in a few hours but, as a joke of fate, he received his answer when, in the distance, he heard the distinctive sound of an explosion. His head whirled around to his bedroom window, drawing Lloyd's attention.

"Mh? Something's wrong?"

"They are here." Joseph quickly walked over to the window and saw them. There, in the sky, several kilometers away, he could distinctly see the shots of anti-aircraft weapons as they flew across the air, trying to hit countless black dots. In Europia the sun may have already risen, but there the first rays of light had just appeared from behind the horizon and the light was not enough to guarantee him a better view, moreover the manor of his family was very isolated, therefore perhaps it would not have been attacked immediately.

"Lloyd, warn His Majesty immediately! The traitors are invading Colombia!"

The scientist lost his smile, looking at the older man with a serious look "I will, but what about you?"

"I will evacuate my home and head to the Panama border, hoping they haven't completely surrounded us." explained Joseph before ending the call, just when the door of his room was suddenly opened and a boy in his late twenties entered quickly, observing the man with his blue eyes. He was slightly taller than Joseph, with a pretty lean, and unassuming physique, short black hair and two longer strands to frame his face, which created a contrast with the white T-shirt he had worn with the trousers of a black tracksuit, an evident sign that he had just woken up.

"Father, did you see them?"

Joseph nodded "Yes, Claudin, the traitors are trying to conquer the last areas of southern Britannia. I don't know how they managed to be here already, but we have to hurry up and leave. Order all servants to pack their bags and head to the garage. We have three freight truck, they will be enough for everyone."

"It is possible that they will see us. They will never let go of such a convoy." noted Claudin with a cold voice.

"I know, but we can't do otherwise. We will travel as fast as possible to the Panama border avoiding the main roads...also I think they will see the Knightmares all the same." said Joseph while searching for something in his desk.

"The Knightmares?" asked his son with an arched eyebrow "What are you talking about? We don't have Knightmares here. My Vincent Ward is at the military base and if they haven't destroyed it yet, another pilot will have taken it." but his words were soon contradicted when his father threw him a black and blue ignition key.

"The lift in my study on the ground floor. You know where it is, enter it and type four, four, eight, two, five. It will take you to your new Knightmare." said Joseph while typing something on his laptop "Now move, we don't have much time!"

Claudin wanted to ask him several things at the time, but he knew that their lives and those of all their servants were at risk, so he nodded and ran out of the room. After a few steps he saw that some people had already woken up and hurried to explain the situation to them, before telling them to spread the word. He knew that chaos would soon break out, but he didn't have time to handle the situation. During his time in the army it happened that his base was assaulted during the night, but there were always soldiers ready to defend it, while now they were completely uncovered and with only a Knightmare on their side.

Without taking even a minute, he reached his father's office and pressed a button hidden under his desk. Behind him, a library slid forward before moving to the right, revealing a small open elevator. Claudin entered that small cabin and used the code provided by his father, thus starting the lift which began to descend for several meters. The young boy looked at the concrete wall before moving his gaze to the key in his right hand "Whatever it is, I hope it is powerful enough to allow me to defend the others."

When the elevator stopped, Claudin got out quickly and several lights came on when he arrived, showing him a large black Knightmare with blue details, which must have been about seven meters high. Claudin was able to immediately notice the similarities of that machine with the famous Gawain, such as the integrated Float System, equipped with four wings instead of six, what must have been Hadron cannons mounted on the shoulders and the iconic 'ears' with which the head was provided. But there were also differences, such as the thicker arms and the right arm a little longer than the left, with a strange accessory installed on the forearm.

He was visibly surprised to see that titanic machine when his father's voice came from a loudspeaker mounted above the elevator exit.

"I see you have reached the hangar. Good. The Knightmare in front of you is the Gaheris, it was developed after the Gawain and is the predecessor of the Gareth, but nobody knows that this machine has been completed. There were two other plans for the bridge between Gawain and Gareth: one called Graveth and the other Agravain, but while the former was canceled, I don't know what happened to the latter." his father paused for a moment "Enter inside while I start the elevation process of the platform that will make you emerge behind our manor."

Recovering from his amazement, Claudin reached a small ladder and climbed up to the height of the Knightmare's chest, before entering the open cockpit and inserting the key as he used to do with his Vincent. The machine came to life and all the screens inside the cockpit came on as the large platform on which the Knightmare was positioned began to move upward. Taking advantage of that moment, Claudin took a look at the armaments and was not disappointed, although in some respects he was decidedly at a disadvantage. The lack of a Landspinner Propulsion System implied that on the ground it would have been much slower than a normal unit, also the absence of MVS made it practically unsuitable for close combat.

'I will simply have to eliminate every enemy before it gets too close.' thought Claudin before arriving outside. Preferring not to activate his Float System immediately, he walked around the manor until he reached the garage, from which the three trucks his father had talked about came out and, speaking of his father, he saw him sitting on the passenger side of the first truck. The man saw him and nodded before showing him a radio.

"Claudin, can you hear me?"

"Yes, father. The radio works properly and the rest of the controls too." replied Claudin while kneeling on the ground "Is everyone here? Even my dogs?"

He could distinctly see his father roll his eyes "Yes, they are in second truck. Now, we need to move. Try to fly low, we will travel with the lights off. If someone gets too close, get away from us and then get their attention, do you understand?"

Claudin made his Knightmare nod before hovering in flight a few meters above the ground while the three trucks left with the lights off along the main avenue that would have led them away from their home. Looking around with the simple 'eyes' of his Knightmare, Claudin noticed how the antiaircraft blows had ended and the explosions were no longer audible.

'Nothing surprising, there were barely forty Knightmare pilots in that city. With the surprise attack they will have had no chance if the enemy can count on more units.' thought Claudin before tightening the grip around the Knightmare controls. The fact that he had to abandon those soldiers without being able to do anything was driving him mad, however he knew that throwing himself against the enemy alone would only lead him to death. Shaking his head, he returned to focus on the road and did so for the duration of that seemingly eternal journey, but which actually only lasted a handful of hours. Fortunately for them, it seemed that the enemies were proceeding with a sort of united front, without trying to surround their targets.

They were being pushed out, Claudin noted by looking at a topographic map on one of the displays inside the cockpit. Apparently the traitors' invasion forces had taken a V-formation, and were pushing anyone who could escape toward Panama, but why? Were they trying to block ground access? It made no sense since Britannia had a hundred aircrafts and a fleet of more than two hundred ships.

"Maybe they are trying to guarantee an access to the rest of the Motherland? Apart from Pendragon and other isolated cities, there are no real fortresses here, since we have never suffered attacks such as to consider them necessary." said Claudin typing something on a keyboard to his right "But do they really have the necessary forces to do this...moreover this coup took place just when our forces in Europia were attacked...this is not a coincidence..."

An acoustic signal distracted Claudin from his monologue, bringing his attention to another monitor that showed him the surrounding area within several kilometers and in those screens he saw a flashing red dot. Looking carefully at the scale shown in one corner of the monitor, he deduced that that signal came from at least fifty kilometers away.

"An emergency sign?" typing something on the keyboard, he tried to contact the convoy below its machine "Father, I just got an emergency signal about fifty kilometers from here. The map does not show that there are military bases in the area."

"And in fact there are none...besides the military, the only ones who could send such a signal would be nobles." said Joseph after a brief silence.

"I'll go check it out. We cannot abandon them." said Claudin, already moving his Gaheris toward the location.

"It's too dangerous! What will you do if there are too many enemies?" asked his father and Claudin slowed down just for a moment.

"I'll see what I can do. Despite not having a Factsphere Sensor, this Knightmare has a very powerful zoom and I will be able to understand the situation immediately, besides..." the Gaheris pointed at something on the left "The border with Panama is near, you can reach it within twenty minutes."

His father said nothing, but then Claudin heard him snort on the radio "Do what you want. Just try not to get caught. I spent a lot of time and money on that Knightmare and would like to avoid losing it so soon."

The young pilot nodded before leaving with the Gaheris, not at all disturbed by his father's words. He knew what kind of person Joseph was, just as his father knew he wouldn't be able to change Claudin's mind. Pushing on the accelerator, he managed to cover several kilometers in a few minutes when he finally managed to see something, so he decided to stop on top of a mound, using several trees as a cover.

'Let's see...' he used the zoom of his Knightmare's eyes and raised an eyebrow as he saw several Vincent flying, busy shooting at something on the ground. Looking towards where they were shooting, Claudin arched his other eyebrow when he saw a Gloucester avoiding all the bullets but without returning fire. From what he could see, that Knightmare had a rocket launcher and a Jousting Lance with him, but the pilot didn't seem willing to use them.

"Whoever is piloting that Gloucester knows that it wouldn't make sense to try hitting those Vincent while they are flying. It would be just a waste of ammunition." said Claudin with narrowed eyes "If this goes on, sooner or later the energy of that Gloucester will run out and then it will be over."

Deciding to help that isolated machine, he typed something on a small keyboard while raising the Gaheris's right arm. A detail he had only noticed after getting on board of that Knightmare was that it only possessed the left hand, while the right arm didn't have it, like the Gareth. After checking the armaments of that Knightmare, he finally understood why and it was time to use one of the special weapons of the Gaheris.

In a few seconds, the barrel of the Hadron Cannon, which made up the right arm, stretched several centimeters, showing air vents at the base. Within seconds, the barrel of the Hadron Cannon, which made up the right arm, stretched several centimeters, showing air vents at the base. Making the Gaheris kneel, Claudin then used its left hand to support the entire right arm while he watched the clash that was still going on.

"Five enemies. Judging by their armament I should be at a more than optimal safety distance, however I do not yet know the timing of this weapon." said Claudin before aiming at one of those white Vincent. Evidently they had chosen that color to make it clear that they belonged to Schneizel's faction. Well Claudin didn't care, that color simply made them more visible.

Pulling the trigger, he fired a beam of red energy from his Hadron Cannon, although it was labeled as Hadron Rifle in the list of weapons as the energy beam was faster, thinner and more compact. In an instant, he hit a Vincent's cockpit, destroying it a few seconds later in a cloud of smoke and flames.

The other enemies stopped momentarily, shocked by the sudden death of their comrade, but that moment of stalemate was their ruin because it gave Claudin time to fire two more shots, destroying as many Vincent. The last two remaining tried to recover to face the new threat, but a rocket hit the one closest to the ground, destroying it. The only survivor didn't even have time to turn around to understand what had happened that Claudin killed him with a well-aimed blow to the cockpit.

'The precision and power of this weapon are of the highest level, but the shot is linear and, even moving the arm, I cannot change its trajectory.' thought Claudin while deactivating the Hadron Rifle 'Now I have had the advantage of the surprise effect, but against prepared enemies I don't know how useful it will be.'

Rising in the air with his Float System, he reached in a few moments the Gloucester which still had the rocket launcher pointed towards the sky and, approaching that machine, he noticed a particular emblem on its shoulders.

"That is the coat of arms of the Odetene family. If I remember correctly, there is only one family member alive." said Claudin before reaching the other machine on a private channel "Are you by chance Shanoa Odetene?"

After a few moments, a screen inside his cockpit came on, showing him the face of a boy, even if he had very feminine features, with brown eyes and short reddish brown hair. Despite his features, Claudin's eyes immediately fell on the large scar that covered most of the boy's throat, who nodded with some hesitation "Yes, I am...thank you for helping me, Lord Poitier."

"Don't call me like that. I am not your superior, we are on the same level." said Claudin before asking "Why are you still here? Your family's castle is located not far from here, but you should have gotten away by now."

"O-Oh...that...well..." Shanoa looked away from the screen but, at the same time, the Gloucester looked back and, at that moment, Claudin noticed a group of people hidden behind a huge boulder. From what he could see they were all foreigners, and some of them were dressed as butlers or maids.

"Are those your servants?" asked the black haired boy with a raised eyebrow "Why are they here? Didn't you evacuate them?"

"Unfortunately I did not have a vehicle large enough for all of them and I did not have time to go and get one...so we decided to proceed on foot since the border with Panama is close..." said Shanoa still looking away from the monitor "But that patrol saw us and immediately tried to eliminate me..."

"I see." Claudin scratched his chin 'My father should be close to crossing the border by now, so I could ask him to send a truck here once it's emptied...but how long would it take?' shaking his head, he looked back at the Gloucester "For now, make them move, I will join you to protect them but we have to be quick because I don't know how-!"

A huge column of red energy seemed to spring from the sky, hitting the road that led to the Panama border. Shanoa's servants were knocked to the ground by the shock wave and both Knightmares felt the movement of air against their bodies, with Shanoa who stuck his spear on the ground to prevent his Gloucester from being pushed backwards.

It only lasted a few moments, but when it was over, a huge smoking crater was all that remained of the road and nearby trees. Claudin and Shanoa felt a shiver run down their backs as they made their Knightmare look towards the origin of that attack.

"Ah! Seems like you missed."

"I didn't miss. I wasn't aiming at them."

Two machines were flying several meters high, surrounded by at least thirty Vincent. The first, the most massive one, was of a particular violet color, while the second one, more slender and tall, was golden, red, white and blue.

Claudin squeezed the controls of his Knightmare tightly, having easily recognized the two new enemies, while Shanoa looked with surprise at the violet unit.

"Is that so? Than should we introduce ourselves?" asked the male pilot of the second unit, pointing a double-edged scythe at Claudin and Shanoa.

"I don't care." replied a bored female voice from the first unit.

Former Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg, and former Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim, had joined the battle.

Honestly, that wasn't the kind of mission he liked. Attacking military bases at night? Sure, he had done it several times but they had always been enemy military bases. Yet there he was, in the skies of Colombia, intent on blocking two Knightmares and a group of fugitives who were trying to reach the border with Panama.

If it weren't for the Vincent destroyed a few minutes earlier, Gino would have let those people go, even if that strange Knightmare similar to the Gawain was decidedly unusual.

"Hey Anya, why did you target the road and not them?"

"There are civilians behind that rock. The two Knightmare will not move from there, also the black and blue unit looks like a clone of the Gawain. We must capture it and bring it to His Highness." replied Anya from her Mordred with her usual emotionless voice.

"Mh...you may have a point." having said that, Gino lowered his Tristan towards the ground, keeping an eye on the black and blue unit. Judging by its appearance, it was equipped with at least three Hadron Cannons, but there were no MVS visible on the body, it was also much larger than the other Knightmare. When he was a few meters above the ground, but still at a safe distance from the two enemies, he switched to the open channel "Hi! Could you please tell us who you are? And while we're there...you in the black and blue unity, come out and with your hands up!"

When no one answered, Gino chuckled cheerfully "Come on, I'm sure you've recognized my Knightmare by now if you're Britannian soldiers." as the Tristan's feet touched the ground, he again showed them his double scythe "And so you already know that resisting would be a waste of time, but if you think you can do it...that could be interesting."

After a few moments of tense silence, the black and blue unity turned entirely towards him and a cold male voice said "Claudin Poitier." and shortly after, following the example of the larger Knightmare, the Gloucester pilot also spoke, but his voice was decidedly more feeble "Shanoa Odetene..."

"Great! Now, regarding the issue of surrendering..." said Gino with the Vincent above him already aiming with their rifles at the two enemy units, with Anya doing the same. However, after several seconds of absolute silence, the Gawain-like unit seemed to come back to life.

"I have a proposal."

"Ooh? What kind of proposal?" asked Gino with clear curiosity in his voice.

The black and blue Knightmare pointed at his Tristan with its only hand.

"I challenge you to a duel."

It was a stupid idea, he was aware of it, yet it was the only idea that could give him any chance of survival. During that small exchange of words, Claudin had thought of all the possible solutions to be able to get out of the situation in which he had found himself, but they all gave negative results. Shanoa and his servants were still there and he could not abandon them, but even in the possibility that he was left alone, he couldn't have done much against Tristan and his speed.

"A duel? Now?"

Good, the former Knight of Three seemed interested in the proposal, judging by his tone of voice. Claudin took a short breath, knowing that he had to be very firm in his words if he wanted to make those behind him survive.

"Yes. Judging by that Knightmare's firepower..." his Gaheris pointed at the Mordred "You could have killed us in an instant, but you didn't. That means that you are interested in my Knightmare or prefer to take us prisoners. Am I right?"

A soft chuckle was heard in the air "Yeah, you're correct!"

"Then, fight me in a duel. If you win, I will surrender and no longer resist, but if I win, you will let me and the others leave without following us." said Claudin, knowing perfectly well that this was the moment of truth. If Gino accepted, they had a chance of survival, but if he refused, the situation would worsen within a few seconds.

"You know what? I accept! This could be fun!"

'Perfect! Now, for the last part...' thought Claudin before speaking again "One last thing. Those civilians behind me are innocent, let them go now, before the duel."

The Tristan waved his empty hand "Sure sure, they can go away but..." Gino pointed his scythe at Shanoa's Gloucester "He can't leave."

Claudin said nothing and momentarily looked at the monitor where Shanoa's face was still present. Ever since those new opponents had appeared, he seemed to be in a panic attack or something because, judging from the angle of his Knightmare's head, he had never stopped watching the Mordred. Maybe he had been blown away by its destructive power?

"Shanoa, talk to your servants and send them away. This is their only chance to escape."

His words managed to bring back the younger boy who, after a few moments of apparent bewilderment, nodded and turned to his servants before approaching them. When he was close enough, he opened the cockpit of Knightmare and started talking to him to make them go away, while Claudin returned to focus on his opponent.

'We both have seventh generation Knightmares...but while my Gaheris has more firepower, the Tristan is faster, can transform and also has at least one melee weapon...' thought Claudin with a frown on his face before noticing Shanoa's Gloucester approaching him "Lend me your lance please."

However, instead of obeying, Shanoa looked at his opponent for a few seconds "This is a bad match-up for you..."

Claudin was not surprised by his words. It had taken him a few minutes to remember, but months ago he had learned of Shanoa and his victories in duels between nobles, so the younger boy had to know what he was doing with a Knightmare, but the disparity between a simple Gloucester and the monsters that were their enemies was too obvious.

"I know." Claudin opened his Knightmare's hand "But I don't have other choices."

Having no way to stop him, Shanoa handed Claudin his Jousting Lance and, after grabbing it, the older boy approached his opponent.

"So, are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Good!" as soon as he had said that word, the Tristan sprinted forward with an impressive speed and Claudin had just enough time to raise the lance so as to block the opponent's scythe that would otherwise have taken away his Knightmare's left arm. Taking advantage of the size of his Gaheris, he managed to push his opponent away, but Gino tried again to hit him with a rapid series of attacks that Claudin struggled to parry using only the spear.

After yet another blocked blow, Claudin tried to attack in turn but the Tristan was too fast and managed to avoid his lunge, then trying to cut off the Gaheris' right arm, but Claudin activated the shield of his machine and Gino's scythe could not penetrate it, surprising the former Knight of the Round.

"Blaze Luminous too?! You sure got a big surprise there!"

Claudin paid no attention to his words and tried another lunge, but Gino avoided the blow by moving to the left and that was precisely the moment that Claudin was waiting because, after blocking the last attack of his opponent, he had deactivated the shield by moving in the meantime his right arm, which was now perfectly aligned with the Tristan, and a dark red light was already visible inside the muzzle.

Inside his Knightmare, Gino's eyes widened in surprise "Oh shi-!"

A huge beam of red energy was shot from the Gaheris' right arm, destroying countless trees and rocks in its path. The attack lasted a few seconds, but was more than enough to create a devastated expanse in front of that huge machine. Observing the result of his attack for a few moments, Claudin wondered if that move had been enough, but at that moment an alarm sounded inside the cockpit and, before he could react, two huge blue metal blocks hit the side of his Knightmare, causing it to fall to the ground.

Shaking his head due to the collision, Claudin immediately raised the Gaheris, just in time to see what were actually two huge Slash Harkens reattach onto the arms of the Tristan, who seemed unharmed except for the absence of his weapon.

"Well, I'll give you that! You managed to surprise me!" said Gino before diving toward him while firing again his Slash Harkens "But it's time to end this show!"

Claudin prepared himself to block the two attacks using the spear and the shield, but was surprised when his Knightmare staggered backwards while also losing the spear due to the impact. Noticing a detail of those Slash Harkens, he narrowed his gaze 'Harken Boosters...they have given enough power to stagger even a large unit like the Gaheris, however...' looking ahead, he saw that the Tristan was already rewinding its weapons but the machine was still distant and Claudin had time to bring his Knightmare's right arm forward, however he was confused when the Tristan raised its hands as if it wanted to grab something.

In that split second, Shanoa's voice rang out inside his cockpit "Above you!"

Following his words, Claudin made the Gaheris look up and was again surprised when he saw the Tristan's scythe falling towards him.

'I haven't destroyed his weapon. When he avoided my Hadron Cannon he threw it high and then he hit me to make me fall right under his scythe!' thought Claudin before refocusing on the Tristan which was now really close to his machine, and ready to catch his weapon.

"Wrong move."

Switching weapons at the last second, Claudin activated the two Hadron Cannons installed in the shoulders of his Gaheris and fired with both of them to be sure to hit his opponent, but Gino proved to be an extremely skilled pilot because he managed to transform his Tristan, making it change in its Fortress Mode, before rotating it ninety degrees on its axis, thus avoiding the two rays of red energy that passed to the sides.

Claudin barely had time to widen his eyes in surprise that Gino shot his Slash Harkens again, managing to hit the Gaheris in the chest, making it fall to the ground again. This time, however, it was unable to get up because the Tristan transformed back in its Humanoid Form and, after having grasped its scythe on the fly, landed on the Knightmare still on the ground.

"So, ready to give up?" asked Gino with a jovial tone while pointing his weapon at the head of the Gaheris. For his part, Claudin managed to remain calm by activating another weapon of his Knightmare: the four hip-mounted Slash Harkens which hit the Tristan, surprising Gino, but they were unable to destroy it. However, they managed to wrap its arms and chest and, taking advantage of the opportunity, Claudin pushed forward the Gaheris also using the Float System to get up in flight and start to slam his enemy in every direction before he could free himself.

With one last movement of his Knightmare, Claudin crashed his opponent on the ground, creating a large cloud of dust, but when he tried to rewind his Slash Harkens he found them blocked by something. When the cloud of dust began to dissipate, Claudin could see the Tristan with one knee on the ground and several scratches and dents on its frame, however both hands were tight around the cables of his Slash Harkens and it was clear that Gino was doing everything to keep it still.

'If you want them, you can have them.' thought Claudin while already bringing out the right arm to use the Hadron Cannon, but a sudden warning signal brought his attention to the left just in time to see two white Vincent ready to pierce his Knightmare with their MVS. No longer having a weapon, he prepared to sacrifice the Gaheris' left arm, but at the last second a silver spear pierced the cockpit of the left-most Vincent and Claudin could see Shanoa's Gloucester push even more to hit the second enemy too, which however managed to fly to avoid the attack, only to be hit at zero distance by a missile fired by the Gloucester's rocket launcher.

"This is a duel!" said Shanoa on the open channel "You can't interfere!"

Mentally thanking the younger boy, Claudin returned to focus on his opponent who had remained perfectly still during that small intermission. However when he tried to use his Hadron Cannon again, Gino fired his Slash Harkens and Claudin managed to grab one with the left hand of his Gaheris and block the other with his Blaze Luminous but, thanks to the Harken Booster, that Slash Harkens was not losing power and two were in a stalemate.

A new alarm rang out inside his cockpit and, suppressing a curse for those constant interruptions, Claudin looked upwards where a high level of energy had been detected, only to see the Mordred ready to fire with its Hadron Cannon.

"This is taking us nowhere. I'll end it now."

"Wait! Anya, stop it!" surprisingly it was not Gino who screamed, but Shanoa, catching the attention of the two duelists and the pink haired girl who barely turned her sight to observe the Gloucester.

"You want to die first? Okay."

"Stop it! It's me, Shanoa! Don't you remember me?" shouted Shanoa, staring with wide open eyes at the enemy unit as it aimed its Hadron Cannon at him.

"I remember no Shanoa." was the cold reply of Anya and, even if couldn't see him, Claudin could almost feel the look of horror on his face "So, just die. We have work to do."

Anya started to pull the trigger so as to eliminate that old Knightmare, but a sudden beam of red energy destroyed three of the Vincent at her side before moving towards her, completely obscuring her Knightmare from the sight of the others, much to everyone's surprise.

"ANYA!"

The beam moved again to destroy another Vincent while the others had already moved away to avoid the attack and, despite being in two opposing factions, Shanoa could not hold a sigh of relief when he saw the Mordred unharmed, surrounded by a construct of green energy. The remaining Knightmares in the sky turned to face the new threat, as did Anya and Gino, with the latter being surprised to see an airship approaching them. It was still a long way off, but the former Knight of Three could very well recognize the shape of a Caerleon-class Battleship and, using the integrated zoom of his Tristan, he could notice the red and white colors of the ship, along with a Knightmare currently standing above it.

"That's the Grandberry...the flagship of the Glinda Knights...which means that..." muttered Gino before finally freeing himself from the Slash Harkens of Claudin. Activating the Float System of the Tristan, he quickly joined Anya in the air, while his former opponent simply stood at Shanoa's side.

"That unit is a Zetland." said Anya on the private channel.

"Yes, I know." nodded Gino with the eyes still on the battleship "And if the Zetland is here..."

A sudden alarm signal caught the attention of Gino who, reacting instinctively, activated his Slash Harkens and then combined them. Using his Tristan's special weapon, the Energy Cannon, he fired an energy beam upwards which was thwarted by another energy beam. The two attacks collided for a few seconds and in the end, when he had rewound his Slash Harkens, Gino showed a small grin upon seeing a unit painted orange, yellow and red.

"The Bradford is here too."

"It's your fault. Now we're outnumbered." said Anya in her usual monotone voice as several red Vincent, equipped with Float Systems, quickly reached them with the Grandberry behind them.

Gino let out a small chuckle "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Gino Weinberg, surrender now and you will be granted an impartial judgment." said the pilot of the Bradford while lowering his machine so that it was near the red Vincent.

"You know I can't do that, Leonhardt!" replied Gino with a smile "Would you give up in my place?"

"No, I guess not." said Leonhardt with a more friendly voice "But that doesn't change the fact that both you and Anya are traitors to the Empire."

"By order of the Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia..." a strong female voice rang in the air and both Gino and Anya instantly recognized that voice, watching the Grandberry as it stopped in midair "All traitors must surrender and lay down their arms. If you resist, you will be executed on the spot!"

The two former Knights of the Round silently watched as a new unit approached the Zetland, still positioned above the Grandberry, and they could immediately notice the similarities with the famous Lancelot piloted by their comrade Suzaku, only that this model was red and golden.

"Your answer?" asked the pilot of said unit and Gino would have whistled impressed upon seeing the 88th princess Marrybell mel Britannia piloting such a machine, if only she had not been their enemy.

A drop of sweat ran down Gino's cheek as he watched all their new opponents. Not only did the number of Vincent of the Glinda Knights exceed theirs, but they also had two units almost equal to his Tristan and Anya's Mordred, plus two variants of the Lancelot and one of the Gawain. Things didn't look promising, so he did the only thing that could have saved him and the others. By opening a private channel with Anya and the rest of their allies, he ordered them to withdraw.

"My Lord? But we-!"

"I know that! But we can't win right now." said Gino before slowly moving away with the Mordred as Anya was still aiming with the Stark Hadron Cannon at their enemies who, strangely enough, said nothing about their moves.

"They are letting us go."

"Yes, but I'm not gonna complain. Let's go!" said Gino and, when they were far enough, all the Knightmares turned around and left the zone, leaving the Glinda Knights alone.

During this last exchange, Claudin and Shanoa had remained silent within their respective Knightmare, watching the Glinda Knights as they faced their enemies. Claudin had to admit that Gino was definitely strong with his Tristan, but apparently there were other pilots at his level within the army.

"Are you two okay?" asked a new female voice on their channel and, after turning around, they saw another variant of the Lancelot, painted red and golden, with twelve swords attached to a cape-like appendage.

After a brief silence, Claudin was the first to answer "Yes, we're fine. Thanks for saving us."

"I'm really glad to hear that." said Marrybell before appearing on their screen, surprising both of them "My brother sent us here as soon as news of this rebellion reached him."

"Rebellion?" asked Claudin with surprised eyes.

Marrybell nodded with a grim face "Our brother, Schneizel el Britannia, triggered this rebellion. Many of our soldiers have sided with him and it seems that all the former Knights of the Round are at his side along with other members of our family. As far as we can tell, the whole south of the Motherland has fallen into their hands."

"What? But how...? There are several military bases across the Motherland, how could they have conquered all those in the south?" asked Claudin while gripping with more strength the controls of the Knightmare. He had served in war with many soldiers who had then been moved to the Motherland and all of them were loyal soldiers of Britannia, they would never have betrayed the Empire and its citizens.

"This only serves to make you understand how deep the roots of Schneizel's corruption were." said Marrybell after a brief sigh "Now we must return to Pendragon. Two of our best generals are reaching Panama to create a defense front."

"A defense front...?" asked Shanoa, confused by her words "We...won't try to counterattack?"

The princess shook her head "The emperor is currently rearranging troops. We have suffered a heavy blow today and cannot simply send the soldiers into disarray. For now we will just leave these territories to him, but sooner or later we will reconquer them." she then showed a small smile "By the way, some of my soldiers rescued a small group of butlers and waitresses along the way. They are escorting them to Panama."

Shanoa sighed "Thank you...I was worried for them."

"Don't worry, it was my duty to help them. Now it's better to go, the trip to Pendragon will last at least a couple of hours." said the princess before looking at them with calm eyes. One of her soldiers had already entered the list of possible candidates for the new Knights of the Round, and Lelouch had asked her to be careful of any noteworthy recruits. When they were still too far away to attack, she had observed the duel between Gino and Claudin, as well as Shanoa's intervention to destroy those two Vincent despite using an old Gloucester.

"Maybe I found two possible Knights, Lelouch." said Marrybell with a small giggle before turning toward her airship.

It was time to go home and prepare for the counterattack.

[Pendragon (Royal Palace) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]

Lelouch was tired. No, tired wasn't even a shred of how he felt at the moment. He was completely exhausted. He had been awakened when the sun had not even risen, much to his wife's annoyance, just to be informed that the E.U. had chosen that day to declare war on Britannia and, as if that wasn't enough, a few hours later his brother Schneizel had decided to add his own weight and had triggered a revolution/rebellion in the south of the Motherland.

Fortunately, thanks to Ash's Geass, he had managed to move most of the soldiers loyal to him and return them to their homeland. That part of the plan had been successful, although the idea of abandoning some soldiers had left a bad taste in his mouth. Now, Lelouch was trying to organize his troops in such a way that he could manage a war on multiple fronts and, once again, thanked his mind for the idea of removing the soldiers from Japan, otherwise it would have become impossible to manage everything.

"Your Majesty." said Sebas at his side "I know you are tremendously tired, but I wanted to warn you that the Grand Duke Velaines is here."

"Send him in." nodded Lelouch while adjusting himself in the armchair of his private study. Such a meeting should have taken place in the throne room or some important room, but Lelouch did not have the strength to sit on that throne and, in that modest room, he had all the necessary data to devise a good attack plan. After a few minutes, Sebas knocked on the door before opening it and announcing the arrival of the most important man in Euro Britannia.

The man who was the equivalent of Lelouch in the tributary-empire, entered wearing royal clothes offered to him on his arrival in Pendragon and, when he got up to shake his hand, Lelouch could notice his tired look, very similar to his own.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." said Augusta while shacking Lelouch's hand "I would have preferred that we could meet in better circumstances, but it seems this won't be the case."

The young Emperor showed him a small smile "I'm afraid that you're right, and please call me Lelouch. I may be the Emperor, but you're on my level in Euro Britannia, so drop the formalities, please."

Augusta seemed surprised by his words, but nodded the same before sitting down in front of the Emperor, sighing heavily "I admit that I haven't been updated on the latest events here in the Motherland so...how bad is it?"

"Very bad. We lost most of our territories in Europia, and thanks to my brother's rebellion, the south area of the Motherland is lost to us." said Lelouch with sigh of his own "We have a large number of soldiers and the Sakuradite is not lacking, but regaining all those lands will not be easy."

Augusta nodded with a grim face before looking at the Emperor in the eyes "Speaking of brothers...can I ask you something?"

"Is it about someone called Julius Kingsley, perhaps?" asked Lelouch and, when she saw him nod, the Emperor showed him a smile so cold that Augusta stiffened instinctively, having recognized that smile.

"Yes, me and Julius are the same person...or rather we are two different people who have shared the same body." said Lelouch, confusing Augusta "All thanks to that bastard of my father..."

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I'm not following you..."

The Emperor chuckled for bit "Of course, forgive me. Please, make yourself comfortable, this will take a while..." and with those words, he began to tell Augusta his story. It took him an hour and more to talk to the Grand Duke about his life, the power he gained with the Geass and many other things and, at the end of his story, Augusta was looking at him with eyes full of bewilderment and surprise.

"I must admit that this is a somewhat...incredible story." said the man with a drop of sweat on the forehead "To think that such powers exist..."

"Yes, I know. It is difficult to believe to such simple words, but unfortunately now I cannot prove anything to you because my wife is still sleeping and Jeremiah has already left to gather troops." said Lelouch with a chuckle before adding "However, I hope that this story of mine can be seen as an auspicious gesture towards our collaboration. I managed to review what you did during your reign and I am of the opinion that you are one of the few nobles worthy of existing in this world."

"Such words are wasted on a person like me...especially after I have left a dear friend of mine to die." said Augusta while looking down with a grim face "Euro Britannia has lost its last Grand Master."

"Andrea Farnese is dead?" asked Lelouch with shocked eyes before sighing "Such a shame...he was a good man and soldier."

"That he was." nodded Augusta before showing a small smile "But it seems that, before he died, he got to pass the torch."

"What do you mean?"

"When they were fighting to defend the Transcontinental Railroad station, Andrea fought together with a young commander and her team and, in the end, entrusted her with his personal Knightmare as well as his sword." explained Augusta with the smile still on his face.

"Really? Then she must have impressed Andrea for making him make such a decision." said Lelouch while scratching his chin "And what's her name?"

"Maria Faraday, she's currently with her unit in the section of the building that you left to them and to the soldiers who came with me." Augusta then added "Are you also interested in her?"

"You can say that." smirked Lelouch before looking at Sebas who quickly handed to him a small tablet and the young Emperor began to read what was actually the file of the girl named by Augusta. After a few minutes, Lelouch nodded satisfied and passed the tablet back to Sebas "Please, find this Maria and lead her to the others. I'm sure she'll have questions, but tell her everything will be explained to her in due course." after a brief pause, he added "Oh and could you please bring us some tea? We may have to talk a lot."

"At once, Your Majesty." nodded his loyal before bowing and leaving the room.

"Good, now that we're done with the simpler things...shall we move on to more serious things?" asked the Emperor with a cold smile and Augusta, for once, matched his smile.

"Do you have a plan for a counterattack?"

"Oh, I've more than that."

Listening to his words, Augusta realized one thing: he was happy that the boy was his ally this time, and he almost felt sorry for their enemies.

Almost.

While Lelouch was busy talking to Augusta, Sebas was heading towards a wing of the building where the soldiers who had arrived together with Augusta had been made to rest, however after turning a corner, he found himself face to face with princess Marrybell, followed by Oldrin and two guys he had never seen.

"Oh good morning Sebas." said Marrybell nodding at him "Sorry for coming here suddenly but I have to talk to Lelouch about something important."

"Good morning to you as well, Lady Marrybell." replied Sebas with a bow before adding "I'm sorry to inform you that His Majesty is currently having a private meeting with the Grand Duke Velaines who has just arrived from Euro Britannia."

"Augusta is here?" asked Marrybell with surprised eyes "Is he okay?"

"Yes, apparently when the troops of the E.U. attacked Sankt Petersburg, he managed to reach the Transcontinental Railroad that brought him here to Pendragon." explained Sebas with a calm voice before looking at the two boys "May I know who are they?"

Marrybell stepped aside "Oh yes, they are Claudin Poitier and Shanoa Odetene. My Glinda Knights and I rescued them in Colombia while they were fighting some rebels, including the former Knight of Three and Six."

Sebas noticed Shanoa's change of gaze at Anya's mention, but said nothing about it and simply nodded "I see, then both must be skilled pilots if they have managed to resist against opponents of that magnitude."

"Yes, they are." nodded Marrybell with a smile "That's why I wanted to talk about them with Lelouch, since they may be good enough for the Rounds."

This time, both Shanoa and Claudin exchanged a surprised look, a clear sign that the princess had not warned them of her idea. However, now that he was aware of her intentions, Sebas said "If that's the case, then please follow me. I was just going to meet a young soldier who came here with the Grand Duke; she seems to have caught His Majesty's attention and wants me to accompany her to the others."

"Is that so?" Marrybell arched an eyebrow before smiling again "Then she must be really interesting. Would you mind if we join you?"

"Of course not." Sebas shook his head before walking past her. The small group of people walked for about ten minutes before reaching a large wooden door which Sebas, after knocking a few times, opened with just one hand. Entering the large room, they saw it full of soldiers seated at a long table or on armchairs, all with tired and depressed faces. Many of them had bandages or patches in sight and there were two large groups that stood out: the soldiers who wore Britannia uniforms but blue in color with the Euro Britannia coat of arms on their arms, and a less large group with classic Britannia military uniforms but one strange badge on the shoulders.

"Good morning, gentlemen." said Sebas with a short bow, catching their attention. All the soldiers immediately recognized Marrybell's face and hurried to get up and then bow in front of her, but the young princess stopped them with one hand.

"Please don't." said Marrybell with a small smile "You're all tired and can rest as much as you want, however we're here for a particular soldier." she looked at Sebas, who merely nodded before looking back at the soldiers.

"May one Maria Faraday step forward, please?"

After a few seconds of silence, Sebas and the others saw someone advancing from the back of the room and they could hardly not have seen her, because the woman who was approaching them was easily the tallest person in the whole room. When she was a few meters from them, Maria made a short bow, firmly holding the sword received by Andrea Farnese in her left hand.

"That would be me. How can I help you?"

"The Emperor has requested your presence in a special guest room. He will most likely want to meet you later, and will be happy to answer any questions you may have." explained Sebas, surprising Maria and her soldiers, before motioning toward the hallway behind him "Shall we go?"

Maria seemed to hesitate, looking back at her soldiers, but Sebas spoke to her again "Worry not, you'll see them again. Once the Emperor has had the opportunity to speak to you, you'll be able to return to your comrades who in the meantime will be made to rest properly."

Those words seemed to calm her and, turning back to the butler, she nodded before following him out of the room with the others. They walked in silence for a few seconds, until Oldrin turned to Maria "I was wondering...are you by chance a commander, a captain or something like that? You have the rank of sergeant, but I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"I'm the commander of the Storm Riders." explained Maria with a calm voice "You are part of the Glinda Knights, correct? We are part of two completely different worlds, which is why we never met."

Shanoa looked at them for a moment with slightly confused eyes "Different worlds?"

"The Storm Riders are famous for completing a large number of extremely dangerous missions beyond enemy lines. Many generals and army commanders know them by reputation, but do not have a high esteem for them." explained Marrybell, catching the collective attention, except that of Sebas, since he already knew everything about it "On the other hand, the Glinda Knights are an anti-terrorist unit, so we carry out different missions and, unlike the Storm Riders, we can count on the full support of the Emperor since the beginning."

"I see..." not knowing what else to say, Shanoa looked back and the group continued to walk in silence, but after a few steps, Oldrin stopped and the others looked at her confused as she seemed intent on sniffing the air.

"This scent...it's smoke." she then looked at the empty hallway ahead of her "Casval..."

"Bingo!"

Shanoa, Maria and Claudin turned quickly, having heard no one behind them, while Oldrin, Sebas and Marrybell turned more slowly, with the young blonde glaring at the older boy with a cigarette between his lips.

"Yo, nice to see you again, Your Highness." said Casval waving a hand at the princess before looking at Oldrin "You too, shorty!"

"You..." hissed Oldrin with narrowed eyes "You can't smoke inside!"

Casval raised his hands in surrender "Calm down, Oldrin. We have all been awakened with a start only to find that we have lost territories in Europia and also here in the Motherland, not to mention that you and the others have had to deal with the former Knights of the Round. I needed this cigarette."

"Bullshit." growled the blonde girl, folding her arms over the chest "You just wanted to fight against them."

He grinned at her "Can't say you're wrong." then moved his eyes toward the three newcomers "Who are they?"

Marrybell gestured toward the two boys "They are Claudin Poitier and Shanoa Odetene. We found them in the south of the Motherland while they were fighting a group of traitors led by two former Knights of the Round and after helping them, we brought them here."

"Two of those traitors were there?" asked Casval looking at her with a raised eyebrow before showing a small grin "And you're still alive after fighting those monsters?"

"Oh no..." murmured Oldrin, already pressing one hand against her face as her comrade put his arm around Shanoa's shoulders.

"That means you're strong, right?"

Shanoa seemed surprised by his reaction but was unable to respond consistently, preferring to look at the floor "Um...not really...I...I just helped Claudin and..."

"He was just using a simple Gloucester, but he was pretty good with it." added the princess with an innocent smile, getting an exasperated sigh from Oldrin.

'You're not helping him!'

"So this is where you were, Casval." said a new female voice, making said boy turn around just to see the calm face of Angelique.

"Oh Angy!" he said waving at the girl, while also ignoring the "Don't call me like that" from her, before asking "Were you looking for me? Also...wasn't your hair purple?"

"I had dyed them for a mission. This is my natural color." she showed him a lock of her now white blonde hair "And yes, there's something you need to see." Angelique then looked at the others and bowed toward the princess "It's a pleasure to see you again, Your Highness. Maybe you should come and see it too."

Intrigued by her words, Marrybell followed her together with all the others and in a short time they found themselves inside a large living room where other people were present and, at a first glance, Claudin, Shanoa and Maria immediately understood that they were soldiers, even if the fact that a child was in that room with them was somewhat strange.

"My dear compatriots..." their collective attention was soon drawn to the huge television hanging on a wall, where Schneizel el Britannia's smiling face was clearly visible "As many of you will know by now, this morning the southern area of our Motherland has been attacked and occupied by hostile forces. I am the instigator of these attacks, and I will not try in any way to deny it, however I want it to be made clear that this series of attacks are not mere terrorist acts."

Schneizel paused briefly and some images were shown next to his face. White-painted Knightmares were intent on patrolling the streets and skies of several cities, while many soldiers were helping injured civilians. In some short films the Knightmares of the former Knights of the Round were also shown, while some defeated soldiers were helped in the same way as the civilians.

"This is a revolution. My little brother, Lelouch vi Britannia, took over the throne after assassinating the previous Emperor. My father always thought that the strong should rule over the weak. I don't think he was right, but ask yourself...do you really want to be governed by someone so young and who would do anything, even assassinate his own father, in order to gain power?" his smile seemed to become sharper and colder "I know that inside you already know the answer and I, together with all those who have decided not to follow a murderer like Lelouch, will ensure that this farce is short-lived."

The transmission was then suddenly interrupted and only static was visible before being replaced by a visibly shaken journalist who began to summarize what happened in the last few hours.

"Nothing like 'I will conquer the world'?" wondered the kid with brown hair.

"It almost seems that he wanted to pretend to be a liberator...but I don't think he will have the desired effect." added an albino while sitting on a sofa.

On his right, a boy with a strange hairstyle chuckled "Especially after Emperor Lelouch has done everything to put an end to the conflicts in the world."

"This is strange, Schneizel would never have done something like announcing his intentions." said Marrybell, catching the collective attention "He must be up to something...but I don't know what."

"Your Highness!" a girl with long ash-brown hair quickly got up to bow her head "I hadn't noticed you."

"Oh don't worry, it's nothing." the princess showed them a small smile before gesturing toward the others "Everyone, these are Claudin Poitier, Shanoa Odetene and Maria Faraday. If my intuition is correct, you will work together from now on."

"I guess a round of presentations is a must! My name is Casval Branstein, but you already knew it. I hope to see you in action soon." said the young man with a grin on his face.

"Angelique De Villepin." she nodded toward them with a smile "A pleasure to meet you."

The small kid waved at them "Azalen Kazen."

Next was the albino who waved at them as well, but with a mechanical hand "I'm Ash Collenor, hope we will get along."

"Yo, name's Rohose Hanbreak! If you want to train or you need poisons, I'm your man!" said the young boy with the strange hairstyle, smiling at them.

"Hello, I'm Charlotte Barentheim." she bowed again with a smile "If you need help, ask me."

"Bianca Frost." said a girl with orange hair before focusing back on her warm tea.

"Sorry about her, she's not a sociable person." chuckled Casval before noticing something "Where are Lucifer and Yami?"

"Lucifer remained in his room even after being notified." said Ash with a light shrug before pointing upward "And as for Yami..."

Looking up, the new arrivals were slightly surprised to see a dark-skinned boy lying on his side above a very tall bookcase that almost touched the ceiling.

Casval laughed for a moment "Well I'll be...! How did he get there without breaking anything?"

"You may be surprised to see how agile that boy is." replied Rohose before looking up as well "Hey Yami, you could at least say hi!"

Said boy looked at them with bored eyes "Hi."

"Talking about bad manners..." grumbled Oldrin with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't mind." Claudin commented before bowing the head to his new companions "A pleasure to meet you all."

Maria nodded at them "Likewise."

"S-Same here." added Shanoa looking away from the group before shifting his gaze toward Azalen "Um...aren't you too young for this...?"

The kid, for his part, slightly narrowed his eyes "I am young, but not too much."

"Sorry..."

"It seems that you will get to know each other rather quickly." said Sebas before looking at the newcomers "I will go and prepare tea for you too, and will inform when the Emperor wishes to speak with you." and with that, he left the room with Marrybell and her loyal knight at her side.

Now alone, the eleven young boys and girls remained silent for a few seconds, until Casval patted Shanoa on the shoulder "So, since you survived the attack of those traitors, would you like to tell us how it went? We haven't received a detailed report yet since we learned what happened."

"You fought against them?" asked Charlotte looking at them with curios eyes, but then Maria shook her eyes.

"I was in Euro Britannia. We were attacked by some black machines."

"Black Knights?" wondered Bianca looking up at her "They attacked you?"

"No, the color scheme was different and they were using mostly Vincent and Gloucester." explained the taller soldier.

Ash arched an eyebrow "Mostly?"

"Their leader was using a huge machine, similar to a Gareth."

"Well, isn't this interesting?" said Casval with a grin "There are so many enemies right now!"

Bianca glared at him "And why would it be interesting? If it weren't for the actions of His Majesty in Japan, we will have enemies on all fronts."

"Well it's interesting for me. More strong enemies to fight!"

"Those like you are the first to die on the battlefield."

"We'll see that, Ice Princess." grinned Casval, ignoring the glare from Bianca.

Before the situation could degenerate, the door of the room was opened again and Lloyd's smiling face peeked inside, observing everyone present with eyes full of joy "Oh! How splendid! So many wonderful devices, all in the same place!"

"Lloyd?" despite being grateful to the mad scientist, Ash couldn't suppress a shiver upon seeing his bespectacled face "What are you doing here?"

"What a silly question! I came to retrieve the fundamental components for my new creations!" said the scientist before opening the door completely, showing to the others a red-eyed boy who looked as if he didn't want to be there.

"Hey there Lucifer!" Rohose waved at him "He got you too, huh?"

"Unfortunately..." hissed Lucifer while looking at Lloyd who merely smiled at him, before turning back to the others.

"Since you're all here, please follow me! I've already warned Sebas about this!"

They looked at each other for a few seconds before leaving the room and following the scientist along the corridors of the building, towards the research area managed by Lloyd.

'So this is my father's friend.' thought Claudin looking at the back of the Earl of Pudding with calm eyes. He had heard of him on several occasions, especially from his father, but that was the first time Claudin had met him and it was difficult for him to believe that such an...eccentric person could create something like the infamous Lancelot.

His thoughts were interrupted when, together with the others, he seemed to notice something particular in the people they met. They were mostly soldiers, with the occasional servants in the middle, and although the air was full of tension, their faces became full of surprise and awe as they passed by.

'We are attracting a lot of attention.' he looked at Maria and Azalen 'I doubt it's just because of them...if what the princess said is true...then this group will become the new generation of Knights of the Round, the swords of the Empire.'

Being able to join such an important and prestigious group seemed to him almost a dream, yet the idea of being able to protect the Empire in this way made him hope wholeheartedly that that possibility was not a simple illusion.

After a few minutes, the small group of people finally came to two huge metal doors that slowly opened when Lloyd entered a code on a small control panel and, once opened, everyone was surprised to see the technological world that extended beyond that threshold, with technicians and scientists moving from one side to the other, while mechanics and machinery proceeded to assemble several Knightmare.

"Welcome to my kingdom!" said Lloyd looking a them with the smile still on his face "Now please, take these!" he handed to each one of them a small tablet, except for Shanoa "I'm sorry, but I'm still creating the base for your machine since I just received your data from princess Marrybell, while for those two..." he pointed at Claudin and Maria "We're already working on their machines!"

"Oh...um...it's okay! I don't mind, really!" said Shanoa, looking away from the scientist but then he felt a hand on his shoulder and, turning slightly, he saw the disturbing reflection of a light bulb on Lloyd's glasses.

"You don't have to worry, in fact we will collect a lot of data right now with a simulator to prepare a worthy machine as soon as possible!" he then walked away, dragging Shanoa with him.

Shanoa, for his part, looked back with worried eyes and all he saw were some signs of prayer from his new comrades and some blank looks.

'Am I going to die...?!'

"Better that way, even if I don't see how someone so shy can become a Knight of the Round." said Bianca while looking at the own tablet, before feeling a dark aura right in front of her.

"Oh I almost forgot!"

A slender hand was placed on her shoulder and, despite her calmness, she could distinctly feel the shiver run down her back when, looking up, she saw Lloyd's smile "You're the one who's afraid of flying, right?"

Slightly surprised by the direct way he had said that, she could only nod with a light tinge of rose on her cheeks. It was a fear she was not proud of, but there was nothing she could do to deny the evidence.

"Perfect!" said Lloyd, surprising her once again "Then you'll love your machine! Allow me!" and with that, he dragged her away with Shanoa.

"Um...should we worry about them?" asked Charlotte looking at the others and, while those like Lucifer and Yami simply stared at her in silence, the others shrugged.

"If you want you could go with Lloyd too...he always wants to collect data." said Rohose with a strained smile.

"I...uh...I think I'll go and look at my personal machine..."

Meanwhile, on the other side of that huge hangar-laboratory, Lloyd stopped in front of a big marquee and looked at Bianca with his usual smile "So, are you ready for this?" she nodded, even if with a little anxiety "Good! It took us a long time to recover it! We thought it was destroyed forever, but we recovered enough parts to be able to recreate it! This is your personal machine!"

With a snap of his fingers, the marquee was dropped to the ground and, while Shanoa looked at that Knightmare with eyes full of awe, Bianca's face was a mask of shock. She knew that machine, since she had seen one almost identical only a few days before, and it was so famous that she could never forget it.

"The Guren?!"

Lelouch closed his eyes, releasing a long sigh. The last two hours had been quite tiring for him, since he had had to devise an ideal counterattack for his troops together with Augusta, his sister Marrybell and Jeremiah once he returned from his mission. The plan was to his liking even if not definitive, at least until he had a clearer idea of the enemy forces, but for the moment he had to be satisfied.

His sister had also told him about two possible candidates for the position of Knight of the Round and, just now, he had concluded a brief meeting with Claudin. He was a capable and reliable soldier, Lelouch was sure of it, and the Emperor knew that he would become an excellent knight with Maria, who had had a meeting with Lelouch before Claudin.

'Now, for the last one.' he nodded toward Sebas who went to retrieve Shanoa. Said boy quickly bowed in front of Lelouch, with the look firm on the floor.

"It's an honor to meet you, Your Majesty." said Shanoa with a small voice, and Lelouch immediately understood that the soldier was decidedly shy.

"Raise your head, Shanoa Odetene." ordered Lelouch looking at the young boy "We have much to talk."

Shanoa did as requested but he still could not look Lelouch in the eyes.

Dear God, it was Shirley all over again.

"My sister told me about you and how you fought the rebels, moreover, if the data I received from Lloyd are not wrong, you are also an excellent pilot." said the Emperor, making Shanoa blush a little "Your servants are all former Numbers, but you treat them like normal people and you have decided to protect them instead of abandoning them to their destiny. These actions describe you as an honorable person who can look beyond futile idiocies like racism. I'm pleased to meet someone like you."

"I...I am honored by your words, Your Majesty." said Shanoa bowing again "I just wish other people thought like me regarding foreigners..."

"You're not the only one who wants it, but we'll have time to discuss things like that. Now we must think of more urgent things, and that is, the tragic situation in which our Empire finds itself." the young Emperor looked at Shanoa with sharp eyes "Do you know why are you here?"

"To...to serve you, Your Majesty."

"Exactly, and in a way you never could have thought of. You, along with those you have already met, will become one of my new Knights of the Round." this time, Shanoa looked at him with shocked eyes. He had already known about that possibility, but hearing it from the Emperor himself was still surprising.

"You will be a sword in my possession and a shield for the Empire and all its inhabitants, therefore I expect great things from you. Before taking your deserved rest, do you want to ask me something?"

"I..." Shanoa looked at the floor again, with an undecided face, before shacking his head and shift his gaze back to the Emperor "I'd like to know if you've ever heard of Geass..."

This time it was Lelouch who was shocked and, by his side, Sebas was also surprised by the request, but the Emperor quickly narrowed his gaze and Shanoa felt a shiver run down his back "How do you know that word?"

"I...I heard it from my father...years ago..." answered Shanoa, swallowing quietly his own saliva under the cold glare of Lelouch.

"Sebas."

"At once, Your Majesty." his loyal butler nodded before typing something on a tablet, then handing it to Lelouch.

Quickly reading Shanoa's file, Lelouch raised an eyebrow 'Mh...his family has apparently always oppressed those who were not Britannian nobles and were quite discriminating against Numbers, almost as much as that bastard of my father. His brother thought like him and for this he was sent into exile where he then mysteriously died from an illness...' judging from the profile of Shanoa's father, the causes of his death were probably not natural, but it was too late to investigate thoroughly 'Shanoa's mother was also on his side and filed for divorce but she was killed because of her choice...later Shanoa killed his father in a duel but was injured in the throat and that's why it is difficult for him to speak...besides the fact that he's shy.'

Shanoa's profile was clean, indeed it was far too clean, but Lelouch already knew that such a boy could not have any connection with the Geass. The story, on the other hand, was different for his father, as thanks to the data they had managed to recover before they were erased, the Odetene family was one of the patron families of the Geass Order. Apparently the economic funds did not come only from the imperial family, but also from many families corrupted to the bone and, who could not contribute with money, contributed in other ways, for example by sending orphaned children for the experiments of that damned V.V.

"It looks like you don't know anything in the end, but I'll answer your question." said Lelouch after passing the tablet back to Sebas "Geass is a power that is found in this world, but at the same time it does not belong to us. Not many people are aware of it and I would appreciate that you didn't go around asking inappropriate questions. When the situation in the world has calmed down, I will explain everything in detail."

"Y-Yes, of course, Your Majesty!" Shanoa bowed once again his head "Sorry for my question..." he then remained silent for a few seconds before asking "Um...may I ask a...a...a favor, Your Majesty?"

Lelouch looked at him with calm eyes. He was shy, yes, but at least he had the courage to go all the way when he wanted.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Anya Alstreim..." said Shanoa with a pained expression on his face "I knew her...we are childhood friends and...something is wrong with her..."

"What do you mean?"

"I...don't really know, but when I met her in Colombia, she seemed like another person...she is not like that!" Shanoa looked, for the first time, at Lelouch right in the eyes "So please, Your Majesty, if the situation arises...send me to deal with Anya. I don't want to kill her, I want to save her."

A strange silence descended on the throne room, while Lelouch watched with disbelief the kneeling form of Shanoa. After a few minutes, despite his self-control, the Emperor burst out laughing and could not stop for several seconds, until, after a deep breath, he returned to look at Shanoa with an amused smile "You're really an interesting person, Shanoa Odetene! Very well, I'll accept your request. If Anya Alstreim is spotted in a war zone, I will send you to face her, however..." his face turned deadly serious in a split second "I hope that your desire to save her will not compromise the soldiers who will fight with you."

"I will not allow them to die from my desire. I sweat it on my mother's grave, Your Majesty."

"Then we're good, you may go now." said Lelouch with a small smile "Once out of here you will find a waitress who will accompany you to my personal tailor and then to the blacksmith."

"The...blacksmith, Your Majesty?" asked Shanoa with confused eyes.

"But of course..." Lelouch's smile was still on his face "After all...what is a knight without a sword?"

[Toromo Agency's Base (Argentine) – 24th August 2018 a.t.b.]

"Glad to see that you are all well." said Schneizel looking at a big screen, where the faces of his knights and siblings were shown "Have you had any problems?"

"Not really, Your Highness." said Gino before adding "Just a little encounter with the Glinda Knights near the border between Colombia and Panama."

"Yes, I read the report. You also mentioned a unit similar to the Gawain." replied the White King, surprising some of the knights.

"A Gawain?" asked Suzaku.

"Yes, or at least it was similar to it." explained Gino while thinking back at that machine "It was black and blue, very big and it was similar to the Gawain, but with some details taken from a Gareth."

"A hybrid maybe?" wondered Monica but Cornelia shook her head.

"A prototype. Maybe for the Gareth itself."

"You may be right, dear sister." nodded Schneizel with a smile "After the Gawain, three projects were created in order to devise a mass production model. One was closed almost immediately, while the other two were left unfinished...or at least that's the official version."

His half-sister arched an eyebrow "And the unofficial version?"

"Project Agravain and Project Gaheris were completed, but both units were too powerful for a simple soldier, however the two prototypes disappeared and nobody saw them anymore." the blonde prince looked at Gino and Anya "Until now."

"So they were hiding a prototype unit? It was very strong, why would they do that?"

"Who knows? What matters is knowing that Lelouch can now count on such a unit and will likely entrust it to the Glinda Knights or one of his royal guard." Schneizel leaned back on his armchair "We will proceed as planned, get ready for a possible transfer. If things go wrong in Europia, you will be sent there to help."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

In a few seconds, only Cornelia's face remained visible on the screen "That speech of yours, was it really necessary?"

"Yes and no. I could have stayed in the shadows, but Lelouch could have taken advantage of it to paint me like a super villain who came out of some comic book." replied Schneizel with a light chuckle "While, telling the people what I intend to do, I planted a small seed of doubt in their minds. It probably won't have any effect, but now Lelouch has fewer options to maneuver with me, especially if his subjects are divided between regaining the Motherland or wiping out the E.U. once and for all."

"I see, what about Damocles?"

"It will be ready by the scheduled date, so hold on a little longer." the White King then added "Oh but if you think your soldiers can stand alone, feel free to come back here. Nunnally refuses to eat if you're not there."

A pained look was visible on Cornelia's face for a split second, but she nodded eventually "I'll see what I can do. If all goes well, I'll be back there tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow then." nodded Schneizel before ending the call. After a brief pause, he looked back at his desk, where several documents were waiting for him.

"Ah paperwork, even for someone like me, it's still a bane..."

As the White King resumed signing those papers, a small meeting was taking place in an isolated area of his base.

"So, everything is ready?" asked a female voice from a radio.

"Yes, we know were Nunnally is." replied an amused male voice "At your signal, we will detonate the charges and take her away with us."

"Very good." she seemed pleased "Be ready. The moment is near."

Putting the radio away, the man walked away.

A red Geass symbol shining in his red eye.

"And now..." he showed a sick grin "We wait."

[Pendragon (Royal Palace) – 25th August 2018 a.t.b.]

Dark clouds covered the sky that morning, while a light wind blew from the east. The sky probably mirrored the mood of many soldiers, all gathered there to be able to hear the words of the Emperor.

Lelouch was there, standing on a small stage, wearing a particular golden and white pilot suit to which a cloak was attached and, behind him, the Mahoroba Type-0 was kneeling dormant, ready to be activated. On his right, Augusta was wearing royal clothes, looking ahead of him with firm eyes, while on his left was his wife, for once serious and with the attitude of an Empress, also wearing a pilot suit similar to that of Lelouch and, behind Cera, her trusty Lancelot Frontier was ready to get up in flight.

The vision ahead of them was breathtaking. Hundreds of soldiers, all ready for war, aligned more than perfectly, with several dozen of Vincent Ward and Gareth in the rear, all kneeling on the ground. Above them, several airships were floating in mid-air and, first of all, there were the Avalon and the Grandberry, the Glinda Knights battleship.

Speaking of that ground, in front of the imperial couple, on the right, Marrybell was with all her soldiers, all ready to move with her. They were not many, but they were easily recognizable by their red uniforms and, despite the limited number, they were among the most determined in the whole army. At their side, there were all the soldiers returned from Euro Britannia, or at least those who had been attacked by enemy forces; in fact even at that time, Portugal and Russia were the last bastions of Britain in the Old World, still fighting against their enemies.

Moving his gaze to the left, Lelouch looked satisfied at all the members of his royal guard, ready to execute his orders down to the letter, led by Jeremiah, perhaps the most determined person among all the soldiers gathered there, and his second in command, Clementine.

Despite that huge pool of forces, there was not even a journalist; no camera present for an event of such importance. Lelouch had made that decision after his brother's speech. If Schneizel wanted to change his rules and show his cards, then Lelouch would have acted in reverse, discreetly and obscurely. Since all those present were all soldiers extremely loyal to him, the odds that his words could be heard even by his enemies were non-existent.

Taking a deep breath, Lelouch looked again at the soldiers in front of him. It was time.

"Our Empire is no stranger to war. Under the rule of my predecessors, this Empire has known only war. In the past, we fought for Sakuradite. We fought to conquer lands. We fought for the rotten desire to oppress others. Those days are now over, because an Empire that knows only war will never know peace! My desire was to end all conflicts, to be able to create a free world, with no wars...a world long desired by my sister. But it is clear that in this world there are people who yearn for war, and yesterday they made it clear to us. They made us understand that, as long as people like them exist, this Empire...no, this world will always and only know war!"

He threw his arm out theatrically, keeping the attention of all the soldiers on himself.

"The E.U. attacked our cities, killed our compatriots and took back its lands with the mere force of weapons and death, without even attempting a peaceful approach! My brother, Schneizel el Britannia, and all the traitors who decided to follow him, attacked their own Motherland to bring the war back to this Empire! They don't yearn for peace, they want chaos! Do you believe that, once conquered Portugal and Russia, the E.U. will consider themselves satisfied? No! They will also march on African territories and perhaps even extend eastward!"

Lowering his arm, Lelouch let his gaze wander over each soldier present and it was evident that he felt not only anger at the moment, but also sadness.

"Soldiers, what I ask of you now is not an easy thing, but it is necessary. If we are to create a peaceful world, free from any war. If we are to live long enough to see the seasons change, our children grow and experience a time of real peace that we have never known...then there's only one option left for us: attack."

With the tension that was now palpable in the air, the Emperor began to walk slowly on the stage, feeling everyone's eyes fixed on him.

"We will march on our own Motherland, we'll fly to the Old World, where the roots of corruption and war are deep...and we will eradicate them! This is the day we will forever erase the shadow of war from our minds! This is the day that we correct the course of this world history!"

Stopping again in the center of the stage, Lelouch looked at the crowd ahead of him, but specifically he kept his eyes focused on the end of the corridor that divided the two huge groups of soldiers. In the silence that followed his words, everyone could hear various sounds, rhythmic and precise. Slowly, the assembled soldiers understood that someone was advancing along that corridor and the few men who had the courage to look in that direction, immediately looked back ahead, intimidated by the pressure that hovered around a small group of hooded people.

They were all different from each other, made similar only by the large hooded cloak that hid their bodies. Some were tall, while some were shorter, with one in particular who looked as tall as a child, yet the tension in the air seemed to increase exponentially as they passed. Advancing in total silence, those twelve figures arrived in front of the stage and lined up side by side, forming a perfect line. As one, they moved their cloak with their left arm, showing the sword hanging from their belt and, with their right arm, those hooded figures drew their weapons.

The first was dark gray, with a black cross guard and a handle of the same color.

A rapier was the second blade, silvery and with an intricate golden guard.

Green gems adorned the cross guard of the third sword, the blade of which was sprinkled with thin incisions.

A red and golden grip under a red guard was the base of the fourth blade, wider than the others.

The head of a dragon was the pommel of the fifth sword, whose bone was blood red.

The sixth sword had a particular cross guard formed by the wings of a crow, with a silver blade.

A golden circular guard was visible on the seventh sword, as well as a long and sharp blade.

The eight was the shortest blade, yet it was the sharpest, without guard and with a black handle.

Golden ribbons were tied to the pommel of the ninth sword, whose guard was the head of a lion.

A katana was the tenth sword, with a gray handle and a wolf engraved along the blade.

A sapphire shone in the center of the guard of the eleventh sword, with a blue and black handle.

Golden eagle wings were the guard the last sword, the blade of which appeared to be made of crystal rather than steel.

Observing with firm eyes those twelve figures, as they knelt with the blades pointed downward and both hands on the grips, Lelouch started talking again.

"This Empire would not have lasted long without its army, without its knights, and today you are all called to protect your home once again. My Knights of the Round, you are the swords in my hands to defeat Britannia's enemies. You are the shield of the Empire, which protects its citizens from this corrupted world!"

Spreading his arms outward, Lelouch put all the emotions he was capable of into his words.

"Soldiers of the Holy Britannian Empire, my loyal Knights of the Round...go forth and bring back the hope for a peaceful world!"

Like one man, all the soldiers in front of him came to attention and their voices, combined with those of the new Knights of the Round, made the earth tremble like powerful thunders.

"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!"

~ Next Chapter: D-Day ~

A.N: Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed this new chapter! It took me a while to finish it (my job took me a long time) but I think you can understand it easily, since it is forty-five pages. Nothing absurd, but it is something. We got to see the last OCs that have joined the Knights of the Round and now the war can finally begin! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! The twelve swords at the end, I "created" all of them, but if any of the OC owners wanted to change it, let me know, I will immediately modify the file!

I don't know when I will be able to publish a new chapter, also because other ideas for new stories have come to my mind and I must try to contain myself! I still hope to know what you think of this chapter in your reviews, plus a cookie goes to Lordban and Doomajor for guessing who I was inspired by for the Smilas speech in the last chapter but...can you guess the Lelouch speech from what was partially inspired ?

Having said that, I salute you and see you next time! I also hope you will forgive any typos, but in 45 pages, I may have missed something!

That's all for now, may your day be perfect!