Chapter 103 ~ The Black Knight’s Resolve

"It's time, Viceroy."

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

"Viceroy…?"

Cornelia's eyes narrowed. Her hands clenched 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 stuck in 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. 

"...Commence operation."

"All underwater units, launch! Dive, dive, dive!"

Knightmare frames RMI-13 Portman, equipped with 2 chest-mounted slash harkens and 4 shoulder-mounted torpedo launchers, 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 advance through 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."

Lancelot, along with five other sutherlands in their squad, began to make their move and head to take their position near the shores and be on standby. 

A few moments later, a column of water burst near the port as torpedoes from the portman destroyed the underwater wall, opening the path for their advance towards the tanker. 

"It's started, Zero. Do we move out?"

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

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

If they don't go now… Then the Britannians will reach and 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 attacking 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 noticing the presence of Britannian forces underwater and at the port.

"Damn those Britannians! When did they…?!"

"Enemy units! They're coming 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…"

Watching the merciless slaughter before him, Suzaku couldn't pull the light trigger in his Lancelot 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 second second screen above his main screen, 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. Understand that this is your duty."

"...Yes. Understood."

Meanwhile, within the bridge of the ship, the Major General was clenching his fists as he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"How could they have found out about us?! Where's Tohdoh?!"

"W-We can't locate him nor the Four Holy Swords, Sir!"

Major General Katase slammed 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 contacting them now!"

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

A few moments later, a declaration of surrender from the Japan Liberation Front resounded within the open communication line. It was a line that the Britannian could and was hearing. But the assault didn't stop. 

"Major, they're issuing a surrender on an open channel!"

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

"Ignore it."

"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 slash harkens. 

"Hey! Zero! Dammit, if we wait any longer, it'll be too late!!! When is he planning to move?! The knightmares have grabbed onto the ship and begun boarding!"

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

"I see… Then it is time. Mordred!"

"Eh…?"

Ohgi froze and as he turned towards the JLF's ship in the distance, a shadow descended 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 seconds.

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

"Damn savages…! Didn't they hear our surrender…?!"

"M-Major General! Portmans have boarded our ship!"

"What?!"

A live feed of the deck appeared on the main screen of the bridge, giving the Major General and all his officers a look into their end from the front seat.

He clenched his hands into a tight fist as he glared with all the hatred, regret, frustration, and unwillingness in the world at the screen. 

When suddenly, a jet-black knightmare frame appeared from the sky and landed onto the deck of the ship. 

And at the same moment, the arms, torpedo launchers, and heads of two of the six portmans fell along with it onto the deck. 

His eyes widened in shock as his fists unclenched. 

"That is…"

"T-The grim reaper of the Black Knights…"

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

In the next few moments, all six portmans fell to the ground. Their limbs and heads separated from their torso, and their weapons, destroyed in but a matter of seconds. 

And when the grim reaper turned towards 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 beacon of hope.

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

Suzaku felt a child down his spine and a sense of helplessness filling his heart as he recalled the last encounter he had with the jet-black knightmare. 

"T-That knightmare… Don't tell me…"

Cornelia, who saw the happenings on top of the JLF ship's deck, similarly froze at the sight of the grim reaper, and what its appearance meant.

"Viceroy! We've received reports of ambushes from the Black Knights!!!"

The panicked voice of one of her officers snapped her out of her shock. And after overcoming 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 war princess who knew not defeat appeared once again on Cornelia's countenance, along with the dignified aura that immediately filled her surroundings.

"Prioritize the Japan Liberation Force! Don't let them escape! I will handle the Black Knights myself along with the Lancelot!"

""Yes, your highness!!!""

With their orders given, the Britannian forces began to scramble about and execute the order from their princess and commanding officer. 

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

Initial ambushes by the Black Knights managed to destroy some of the Sutherlands outright before the battle even began, and tie down the rest as the Britannian forces tried their best to regroup. 

Meanwhile, near the port, the squad of Lancelot and Sutherlands were similarly ambushed with a peppering of bullets from four Burais that suddenly appeared, immediately forcing two of the five Sutherlands to make their emergency escape by launching their cockpit pod out to safety. 

"Ambush! Threat at 9 o'clock! Be careful!!!"

The remaining three managed to guard themselves in time while Lancelot, thanks to Suzaku's quick reactions, deployed its Blaze Luminous Shield to protect itself from the high caliber rounds of the Burais' rifles. 

"Uwaaah!!!"

"Damn elevens!!!"

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

"Dammit!"

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

Two of its slash harkens managed to hit the rifle of a Burai and the leg of another. But the other two targeting the Guren failed to hit anything as it dodged every single one with 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 plan!!!"

Karen shouted into her squad's communication line and stopped her comrades from engaging Lancelot.

"B-But…!"

"Follow the plan! Deal with any knightmare frames that would hinder Zero and Mordred's path towards Cornelia! I will hold this one down!"

""U-Understood!""

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

"Their target is her highness as expected…!"

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

"I can't let them reach- Kuh!!!"

The Lancelot was forced to defend against the slash harkens, using its MVS blades to deflect the incoming 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, forcing him to use both swords to guard against it. 

"Do you think I would let you do that?"

Karen used the 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 Lancelot, who was defending with both arms, with only one of her own. 

Then, with her clawed right hand, she attempted to grab onto Lancelot's head. 

"Dammit!"

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

But although he managed to dodge the initial lunge, the left arm of Lancelot was caught by the metallic clawed 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 explosion erupted, creating a cloud of dust, soot, and ash.

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

She knew that 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 blades as he stood on the deck of the JLF's ship, facing 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 lay 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 been neutralized before they even knew what had happened. 

"Major General Katase."

A deep, magnetic, dulcet voice of a man came through the open channel, resounding within the bridge of the Japan Liberation Force's ship. And the man addressed by the voice narrowed his eyes and waited for the words that would come from the grim reaper of the Black Knights next. 

"We have come not as reinforcements from Kyoto, nor as a reinforcement for the Japan Liberation Force. We, the Black Knights, have only one wish; to return peace to this nation, and then, the world. And in pursuit of that goal, the Black Knights 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 moment felt a lot longer for the Major General and the soldiers of the Japan Liberation Front as they processed his words.

"Major General Katase, if we share the same goal, then let us help each other and return peace to this nation that had been wrought and exhausted by war for so long.

Seek no vengeance. For it would simply plunge the nation back into war once more. And its people, into suffering."

The jet-black knightmare leaped up into the air, over the bridge, and landed on the rear deck of the ship, causing it to tilt back before slamming back down onto the water. 

Then, it leaped once more towards the port, firing off its slash harkens perfectly at the heads of the Sutherlands 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 sutherlands sent to sink the ship had fell onto the ground. Its pilots had activated their emergency escape system and retreated from the one-sided annihilation. 

The Major General, who had heard the words of the grim reaper and saw what he was capable of, sat in the silence that spread across the room with his hands clenched into fists. 

"Peace…"

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

But after decades of loss, suffering, and death, his wish for peace for his nation turned into a wish for the survival of his homeland. 

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

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

It was the most logical and correct decision he could make as a major general. But the fact that he had surrendered still 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 Cornelia.

But the Black Knights… They had the power.

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

But…

Has this nation fallen low enough to cling 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 column of explosion. 

"What happened?!"

"R-Reporting! 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 screen before him that displayed a live feed of the site where the most recent explosion had happened. Chunks 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 Black Knights as well…?"

Another officer mumbled in disbelief as he stared at the screen, just like every single soldier within the room. And in the utter 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 planned. Then… We'll contact Kyoto and discuss our partnership with the Black Knights."

""Y-Yes!!!""