Chapter 59

---3rd Person POV---

Watching the chaos unfolding outside, the Black Knight Vandel Him Zenden pondered how to proceed from here. Having lost their main force to the viscount's secret weapon, the vanguard was all alone now, and their numbers were rapidly dwindling. Understanding that retreat was not an option, as they were all that stood between the viscount and their capital, they had to make a stand here or all would be lost. Ordering all their mechanized units into the air, Vandel commanded them to fly straight into the enemy vessels. Wanting to take out as many of the kingdom's troops as possible, Vandel refused to die without a fight.

"My apologies, I believe I misheard you over the explosions out here. Did you say you want us to crash into the enemy vessels with our mechs?", one of the pilots asked, believing they had misheard what was said.

"That is correct, fly your units straight into the enemy ships…preferably the bridge, if possible.", Vandel acknowledged.

"Haha…FUCK YOU!!!", a pilot screamed over the radio, "I have a wife, five children, and a sixth on the way back home. There is no way I am going to throw my life away and leave them all alone. No one else is going to take care of them, but me!"

"Yeah, I got married hours before we deployed on this suicide mission!! I have not even had my first night with my wife yet!!", another pilot spat, "How about you come out here, and show us how it is done?!"

"I may have it rough back home, but I would take that life any day over being dead!", a third pilot scoffed, "This battle is already lost, we should be surrendering!!"

"Absolutely not!! We are fighting to the last man!!", Vandel roared, enraged his men were refusing direct orders, "Either do as you are told, or be branded as deserters!!"

"I am taking my chance with the viscount, fuck you, old fossil!!", a fourth pilot retorted, "Who is with me!!"

Watching dozens of mechanized units throwing their weapons away from her window vantage point, First Princess Hertrude knew they had to yield. Even though she despised the kingdom, she did not want to send her fellow countrymen for a lost cause. Walking over to the radio console, Hertrude took the microphone from Vandel and began ordering the men to surrender. Getting only a few words out before Vandel drew his blade, the princess jumped out of the way as he split the instrument cluster in half.

"As I said, there is no surrender or retreat!!", Vandel scolded her, "Why are you defying my orders?!"

"We have no backup anymore, our men are being torn apart out there, and after witnessing the viscount's secret weapon, our spirits are broken. There is no reason to draw this fight out anymore, we should surrender while we still can.", she said, trying to reason with the man she saw as a grandfather.

"You are not seeing the big picture; we are all that stands between the kingdom's watchdog and the capital! If we surrender, he will fly there unimpeded killing everything in his path!!", Vandel remarked, disappointed in her, "Our only option is to hold our ground, or push him back at the very least."

"We can very easily negotiate for another ceasefire like we did decades ago. You know as well as I do that the kingdom's nobles are pushovers. Our goal should be to return home, figure out how to counter that weapon, and then plan another invasion.", Hertrude stated, assuming they would agree like they always had in the past.

"No, I refuse to surrender to those bastards! I have lost far too much to give up now!", Vandel seethed, striking fear in everyone on the bridge, "I am the commander of this operation, and my decision is final. One more word out of anyone, and I will personally execute you for treason!"

Having destroyed his only method of communication with troops from the bridge, Vandel promptly sheathed his blade and headed down to the hanger to lead from there. Once he was gone, Hertrude curled up into a ball and began to sob softly. Having been threatened with execution by one of the few people she trusted, she regretted having agreed to come here. After a few moments of sobbing though, thoughts of her younger sister began to creep into her mind.

'No…I cannot give up and let Vandel kill us all. If I die here, no one will be left to protect my sister Hertrauda!', Hertrude thought, pulling herself together, "If we do nothing, Vandel will get us all killed. We must stop him and sue for a ceasefire with the kingdom, but I cannot do it alone. Is anyone here willing to assist me?"

Looking at one another for a moment, those on the bridge began standing up one by one volunteering to aid her. Patting her mistress on the back, even her personal maid was willing to do whatever was needed to stop the Black Knight's madness. Telling everyone to grab weapons and chase after him, the crew nodded their heads and ran off to collect what weapons they could find. Following suit, Hertrude and her maid joined them hoping to make it time before it was too late.

---Victor POV---

Having slaughtered several thousand enemy units and monsters, the Black Knight had not graced me with his presence yet. Wondering if Vandel was a coward, and not the brave knight the kingdom thought he was, I began to think the only way I would get to fight him is if I hunted him down on the flagship. Deciding that it was my best option at this point, I began making my way toward the flagship's hanger when Jarvis alerted me to a developing matter.

<Sir, several captains are reporting that enemy mech pilots attempting to surrender. They want know if they can take them hostage, or should be killed.>

"What is their radio chatter saying?", I asked, having disconnected from their coms as their terrified screams were giving me a headache, "Is this perhaps an attempt to lower our guard?"

<The Black Knight ordered the pilots to crash their mechs into our vessels, but many are refusing do so. They would rather take chances with us over needlessly throwing lives away, sir.>

'Seriously…he wanted to make them kamikaze pilots?! Vandel must be incredibly desperate to win this fight if he is going to that extreme.' , I thought, "My goal is to focus all our resources on preparing for space travel once this farce is over with. Sparing the pilots and having them spread the word that we are not the monsters their government says we are will further that goal. Go ahead and capture any enemy soldiers who surrender themselves to us. The only one that we cannot allow to surrender is the Black Knight himself."

Acknowledging my order, Jarvis began transmitting the information to all my vessels. With that taken care of, I continued onward toward the hangar. Flying inside unimpeded, I found Vandel slaughtering his own troops who were presumably refusing to continue the fight. Shouting incomprehensible words at them like a madman, he had clearly lost his marbles and was hellbent dragging everyone down in his vendetta against the kingdom. Hitting him with a blast from a sonic cannon, the old man slammed into one of the mechanized units and fell to the ground.

"Come, Black Knight, if it is a fight you want, I will gladly be your opponent!", I declared, touching down a few yards from him, "As for the rest of you, if you lay down your arms in surrender I will spare your lives. The one that must die here is this rabid dog!"

"You were fool for coming here alone, Holfort Prodigy. All of you, take aim and kill the kingdom's watchdog!!", Vandel howled, as he picked himself up off the floor.

"I suggest all of you think carefully about what you do next. The Black Knight does not care about any of your lives, he ordered you and your comrades to sacrifice yourselves to further his own agenda. This is no longer about protecting your country and families, he is continuing to fight because he has a vendetta against the kingdom.", I proclaimed, "I am giving you a way out of this so you can return to your loved ones and continue living. If you continue to side with him, all that awaits you is certain death."

"He is lying, the kingdom will enslave all you and your loved ones!! Kill him now!!", Vandel demanded, pointing his blade toward me.

Taking a moment to look at both of us, the troops were unsure who to side with. Fearing death at the hands of my forces, they wondered if slavery was a better option than death. Gathering the courage to speak up, one of the commanders looked at me and asked a question.

"Is it true, will all of us and our families become slaves if we surrender to you?", he inquired.

"No, I have no intention to enslave any civilians in the principality.", I replied, retracting my helmet, "King Roland commanded me to reclaim all the ducal territory for the kingdom. Once it is back under the kingdom's control, I will be instated as the new lord of these lands. Under my supervision, there will be no steep tax hikes, no retribution against the civilian populace, or no form of reparation will be expected from any of you. The full burden of the principality's crimes will fall solely on the nobility of your country, they will be dealt with accordingly by the Royal Court."

Staring into my eyes intently, those who were close by looked for any signs of deceit or falsehood. Satisfied that I was being honest with them, one by one the crew and troops began to disarm themselves. Furious that his men were surrendering to me, Vandel's reasoning left him as he blindly charged at the nearest man. Swinging his blade at the man's neck, I used the Force to hold Vandel in place and spare his life. Telling the men to vacate the area so I could deal with him, everyone immediately fled the immediate vicinity.

"Alright, old fossil, it is time to put you down permanently!", I said, redeploying my helmet.

Releasing my grip on him, Vandel cracked his neck and turned to face me. Letting out a battle cry, the old man charged at me with every ounce of strength he possessed. Drawing my red lightsaber, I ran at him as well fully intending to destroy his blade and take his head off in one swing. Exchanging blows once we were within range, our blades clashed and glanced off one another. Startled by this unforeseen outcome, I immediately had Jarvis analyze the swords composition.

<Sir, I believe your armor's scanners may be damaged. The composition of his armor and weapon shows a mixture beskar mithril.>

"Beskar huh…this is an interesting development!", I remarked, exchanging a flurry of blows with Vandel, "That means either his equipment is from a dungeon, or there is a Mandalorian Iron Ore deposit in the principality that we are unaware of. Today is starting to look up for us, Jarvis!"

Wanting the Black Knight's equipment for further analysis and testing, my desire to kill him was even greater now. Pressing my advantages against the aged knight, Vandel's strength began to waver after a few heavy blows from me. Softening up the metal with each strike, it would only be a few minutes before I would cut through it and take his head.

"Grandfather, please stop this immediately. We still have a chance to sue for peace!!", Hertrude said, as she and her backup arrived in the hanger.

"Stay out of this, Hertrude!", Vandel panted, as his arms grew heavy.

"Princess Hertrude, unfortunately there will be no ceasefire or negotiations this time. The Principality of Fanoss will no longer exist in two days' time, the rogue ducal territory will be brought back under the Holfort Kingdom's dominion. His head and all the nobles of your country will be brought before the Royal Court, and justice will be carried out on all of you.", I said, as my lightsaber finally cut through Vandel's blade, "Our game is now over, old man!"

"I do not think so!!", Vandel spat, pressing a button on his wrist.

Hearing a mech unit fire up from somewhere in the hanger, I watched his mech suddenly come flying out of the back. Opening fire on everything in front of it, the principality soldiers dove for cover while my energy shield protected me. Believing I would let him suit up, I snapped my fingers and summoned my own mech.

"Rise, Nova Gundam!!", I shouted, as its giant glowing hand came flying out of the hanger floor.

As my Gundam's glowing hand melted right through Vandel's mech, the ship began to list as the monster the fortress was built on began to die. Caught off guard by my mechs sudden arrival, Vandel left himself wide open and I jumped on the opportunity. Whipping my blade around, I swiftly took his head off just as he looked back at me in disbelief.

Stowing him and all his belongings in my storage, I gave the order to abandon ship. Quickly hitting the emergency evacuation alarm, everyone began scrambling for an airship or mech to fly away. Seizing Hertrude and her maid, I spirited the two of them back to Yamato and handed them off to the androids.

"Alright Jarvis, time to wrap things up here and proceed as planned!", I said, wearing a devious smile, "Time to begin the fastest invasion in world history. Send in the Helldivers!"