“It’s time, Viceroy.”

  An officer reported as elia stood in front of her Gloucester, overlooking the soon to be battlefield for the operation she was eng.

  “Viceroy…?”

  elia’s eyes narrowed. Her hands ched into fists.

  The officer who reported felt his heart thump loudly as he stood in silence, feeling the oppressive aura of the ruling Viceroy with his skin.

  Words to ask if everything was alright were stu his throat as he feared that breaking the silence would cause whatever enmity the Viceroy seemed to be holding to be directed towards him instead.

  Thankfully, after a few moments, she finally gave her orders.

  “...ence operation.”

  “All uer units, unch! Dive, dive, dive!”

  Knightmare frames RMI-13 Portman, equipped with 2 chest-mounted ssh harkens and 4 shoulder-mouorpedo unchers, dove into the water and began making their way to their designated point of attack.

  Meanwhile, on the port, the special suppression team had gotten ready to support the Portmans advahrough the final standing defenses of the Japan Liberation Front.

  “Our units will cover them from the shore. Be careful not to sink the target tanker.”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  “After the torpedoes hit, fire at will. Repeat. After the torpedoes hit, fire at will.”

  La, along with five other suthernds in their squad, began to make their move ao take their positiohe shores and be on standby.

  A few moments ter, a n of water burst he port as torpedoes from the portmaroyed the uer wall, opening the path for their advaowards the tanker.

  “It’s started, Zero. Do we move out?”

  Ohgi reported through his walkie talkie as he stood on a tainer gantry e at the edge of the port to observe the entire area.

  However, receiving no answer from his ander, Ohgi began to feel nervous and worried about the JLF.

  If they don’t go now… Then the Britannians will read snuff out the final embers of the Japan Liberation Force. And if they do… There might be no hope left for Japan to recover and fight the Britannians.

  “Zero! Hey! Do you hear me?! They’re attag the Japan Liberation Force!”

  “It is not time yet, Ohgi. If we move in now, we’ll simply die with them.”

  “Eh…?”

  Meanwhile, on top of the ship decks, a few soldiers from the JLF began notig the presence of Britannian forces uer and at the port.

  “Damn those Britannians! When did they…?!”

  “Enemy units! They’re ing from the wate-!”

  A rain of micro-round bullets from the knightmares stationed on the port peppered the defenseless soldiers of the JLF. Every single one of them fired… Except for one.

  “What are we doing…? This isn’t even a battle anymore…”

  Watg the merciless sughter before him, Suzaku couldn’t pull the light trigger in his La that would immediately shoot tens of hundreds of bullets straight through the flesh of the Japanese Liberation Forces’ soldiers.

  He could not, not only as a Japanese himself, but also as a human.

  But just then, a familiar voice of a gentle woman came and resounded within his cockpit.

  “Warrant Officer Kururugi.”

  “Y-Yes?”

  On the sed sed s above his main s, a live feed of Cecille appeared as she spoke to him.

  “I know this may be hard, but you are a soldier above all else. Uand that this is your duty.”

  “...Yes. Uood.”

  Meanwhile, within the bridge of the ship, the Majeneral was g his fists as he gritted his teeth in frustration.

  “How could they have found out about us?! Where’s Tohdoh?!”

  “W-We ’t locate him nor the Four Holy Swords, Sir!”

  Majeneral Katase smmed his wooden desk in rage and raised his voice.

  “What about Kyoto?! Didn’t they say they’d send help?!”

  “T-They should have, but we have no way of tag them now!”

  “...Are they just going to let us all die?! Die without being able to do anything?!”

  A few moments ter, a decration of surrender from the Japan Liberation Front resounded within the open unication li was a lihat the Britannian could and was hearing. But the assault didn’t stop.

  “Major, they’re issuing a surrender on an open el!”

  Suzaku reported, half desperate and pleading to persuade his current anding officer to order a stop in the assault. However…

  “Ig.”

  “But sir-!”

  Just then, the ship began to move in an attempt to flee.

  “See? It’s just a ploy to buy them time to escape. Now follow your orders without questioning!”

  Ohgi’s nervousness had now turned into panic as he watched as portmans began to board the ship using their chest-mounted ssh harkens.

  “Hey! Zero! Dammit, if we wait any longer, it’ll be too te!!! When is he pnning to move?! The knightmares have grabbed onto the ship and begun b!”

  Just then, a response from Zero finally came through his receiver.

  “I see… Then it is time. Mordred!”

  “Eh…?”

  Ohgi froze and as he turowards the JLF’s ship in the distance, a shadow desded onto the ship. And like the darkness of the night, it swallowed up every single portmans on the deck of the ship in a matter of seds.

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  “Damn savages…! Didn’t they hear our surrender…?!”

  “M-Majeneral! Portmans have boarded our ship!”

  “What?!”

  A live feed of the deck appeared on the main s of the bridge, giving the Majeneral and all his officers a look into their end from the fro.

  He ched his hands into a tight fist as he gred with all the hatred, regret, frustration, and unwillingness in the world at the s.

  When suddenly, a jet-bightmare frame appeared from the sky and nded onto the deck of the ship.

  And at the same moment, the arms, torpedo unchers, and heads of two of the six portmans fell along with it onto the debsp;

  His eyes widened in shock as his fists unched.

  “That is…”

  “T-The grim reaper of the Bights…”

  It was a mumble from one of the JLF officers within the bridge… But the silehe grim reaper brought along with its presence caused it to be heard clearly by everyone in the room.

  In the few moments, all six portmao the ground. Their limbs and heads separated from their torso, and their ons, destroyed in but a matter of seds.

  And when the grim reaper turowards them, awe, shock, and fear filled every single heart and body within the bridge.

  No one could decide if they were staring at the face of death, or the bea of hope.

  Meanwhile, the same shock ran through every single Britannian soldiers that saw its dest.

  Suzaku felt a child down his spine and a sense of helplessness filling his heart as he recalled the st enter he had with the jet-bightmare.

  “T-That knightmare… Don’t tell me…”

  elia, who saw the happenings on top of the JLF ship’s deck, simirly froze at the sight of the grim reaper, and what its appearance meant.

  “Viceroy! We’ve received reports of ambushes from the Bights!!!”

  The panicked voice of one of her officers snapped her out of her shock. And after overing her shock, a loud sigh escaped her lips.

  “So they appeared after all…”

  She mumbled under her breath.

  “Viceroy? Your orders please!”

  The stern, sharp look of the rincess who knew not defeat appeared once again on elia’s tenance, along with the dignified aura that immediately filled her surroundings.

  “Prioritize the Japan Liberation Force! Don’t let them escape! I will hahe Bights myself along with the La!”

  ““Yes, yhness!!!””

  With their iven, the Britannian forces began to scramble about and execute the order from their princess and anding officer.

  Battle began on multiple fronts as the Britannian forces were seemingly surrounded from all sides.

  Initial ambushes by the Bights mao destroy some of the Suthernds ht before the battle even began, and tie down the rest as the Britannian forces tried their best troup.

  Meanwhile, he port, the squad of La and Suthernds were simirly ambushed with a peppering of bullets from four Burais that suddenly appeared, immediately f two of the five Suthernds to make their emergency escape by ung their cockpit pod out to safety.

  “Ambush! Threat at 9 o’clock! Be careful!!!”

  The remaining three mao guard themselves in time while La, thanks to Suzaku’s quick reas, deployed its Bze Luminous Shield to protect itself from the high caliber rounds of the Burais’ rifles.

  “Uwaaah!!!”

  “Damn elevens!!!”

  Two out of three of the remaining Suthernds soon followed after their previous rades as a slew of ssh harkens from the Guren and the Burais hit their heads, rifles, and legs.

  “Dammit!”

  La fired off all four of its ssh harkens, two towards the Burais and two towards the crimson knightmare that had defeated him in the mountains of Narita.

  Two of its ssh harkens mao hit the rifle of a Burai and the leg of another. But the other tweting the Guren failed to hit anything as it dodged every single oh a back flip.

  “This is the end for you, white knight!!!”

  “That’s right! We’ll destroy you here and now!!!”

  “Don’t! Follow the pn!!!”

  Karen shouted into her squad's unication line and stopped her rades from engaging La.

  “B-But…!”

  “Follow the pn! Deal with any knightmare frames that would hinder Zero and Mordred’s path towards elia! I will hold this one down!”

  ““U-Uood!””

  The four Burais immediately made their way deeper into the port for their seard destroy mission to clear the path for Zero and Mordred towards elia.

  “Their target is her highness as expected…!”

  Suzaku uhed his Maser Vibration Swords, its color turning from a metallic silver to crimson red as it began to oscilte at high frequencies and its temperature rose. It aimed its arm-mounted ssh harkens to one of the Burais, but just as Suzaku was about to fire, he noticed two crimson red ssh harkens flying towards him.

  “I ’t let them reach- Kuh!!!”

  The La was forced to defend against the ssh harkens, using its MVS bdes to deflect the ining threats. But it was not over, as a third and even more dangerous attack appeared right before him in the form of Guren's knife, f him to use both swords to guard against it.

  “Do you think I would let you do that?”

  Karehe weight of the Guren’s body and momentum of her acceleration to increase the weight of her attack, just like how Mordred taught her, which allowed her to press down on the La, who was defending with both arms, with only one of her own.

  Then, with her cwed right hand, she attempted to grab onto La's head.

  “Dammit!”

  Suzaku quickly retreated back as fast as he could to dodge the lethally dangerht hand of the Guren.

  But although he mao dodge the initial luhe left arm of La was caught by the metallic cwed hand of the Guren.

  Crimson red shock waves and light began to color the area around the shoreline of the port of Yokosuka, before an explosioed, creating a cloud of dust, soot, and ash.

  A used up energy filler box was ejected from Guren’s silver right arm as Kare her guard and waited until the cloud of dust from the explosion caused by her radiant wave surger attack subsided.

  She khat the battle was not done.

  And as she expected, the figure of the white knight still stood before her, with only its left arm lost.

  “I didn’t expect that to defeat you. But, that will be enough to keep you here and not disturb Zero and Mordred.”

  “...This is bad.”

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  Yuuji lowered his twin crimson bdes as he stood on the deck of the JLF’s ship, fag directly at the bridge, where the final remnants of the Japan Liberation Force remained.

  Around him, cut off limbs, heads, parts, and the torso of the Britannian portmans that he had just cut before y about, unmoving.

  The pilots were safe, but their knightmare no longer had the ability to even stand on their own, much less fight. They’ve beeralized before they even knew what had happened.

  “Majeneral Katase.”

  A deep, magic, dulcet voice of a man came through the open el, resounding within the bridge of the Japan Liberation Force’s ship. And the man addressed by the voiarrowed his eyes and waited for the words that would e from the grim reaper of the Bights .

  “We have e not as reinforts from Kyoto, nor as a reinfort for the Japan Liberation Force. We, the Bights, have only one wish; to return peace to this nation, and then, the world. And in pursuit of that goal, the Bights have decided to save the final embers of the Japan Liberation Force, for we have the power to do so.”

  The grim reaper paused for but a moment. Yet, that mome a lot longer for the Majeneral and the soldiers of the Japan Liberation Front as they processed his words.

  “Majeneral Katase, if we share the same goal, the us help each other aurn peace to this nation that had been wrought and exhausted by war for so long.

  Seek no vengeance. For it would simply pluhe nation bato war once more. And its people, into suffering.”

  The jet-bightmare leaped up into the air, over the bridge, and nded on the rear deck of the ship, causing it to tilt back before smming back down onto the water.

  Then, it leaped once more towards the port, firing off its ssh harkens perfectly at the heads of the Suthernds that had just arrived at the port to try and skin the JLF’s ship and use them to pull itself towards the shores.

  In just a few swings of its crimson swords, all suthernds sent to sink the ship had fell onto the ground. Its pilots had activated their emergency escape system areated from the one-sided annihition.

  The Majeneral, who had heard the words of the grim reaper and saw what he was capable of, sat in the silehat spread across the room with his hands ched into fists.

  “Peace…”

  As a man who had devoted his life for this try, there was nothing that he wanted more than peace for it. But war came and tore the try into shreds of its previous glory. And as a soldier, he fought to return the nd he had devoted himself to back to peace.

  But after decades of loss, suffering, ah, his wish for peace for his nation turned into a wish for the survival of his homend.

  And even then, he was too powerless to achieve it…

  Just a moment ago, he had surreo the Britannians in an attempt to buy time and flee. To preserve the st, remaining ember of the Japan Liberation Ford prepare to battle another day.

  It was the most logical and correct decision he could make as a majeneral. But the fact that he had surreill pained him greatly. It was the greatest shame and disgrace he had ever made in his life.

  He was too powerless to fight against Britannia. He was too powerless to fight against elia.

  But the Bights… They had the power.

  If it was them… then they might be able to turides in their favor. They might be able to return peace to the nd if they could truly work together.

  But…

  Has this nation fallen low enough to g onto the hands of a rebel group…?

  Katase didn’t want to admit it… He couldn’t admit it; that the once great nation had been reduced to such a state.

  Just then, a massive explosion from below the surface of the water erupted, creating a massive n of explosion.

  “What happened?!”

  “R-Rep! There were two additional portmans that came to our radar in pursuit of this ship. But we lost their signal when the explosion happened!”

  “...”

  Katase looked at the main monitor s before him that dispyed a live feed of the site where the most ret explosion had happened. ks of metal and parts of what had once made up the portmans floating about the surface of the water.

  “This is… Could this be the Bights as well…?”

  Another officer mumbled in disbelief as he stared at the s, just like every single soldier within the room. And ier silence, his low mutterings were heard.

  Katase let out a deep sigh and broke the silence, snapping all of his officers out of their daze.

  “...Head to the hidden base as phen… We’ll tact Kyoto and discuss our partnership with the Bights.”

  ““Y-Yes!!!””

  VergsX