The night sky loomed heavy over the abandoned outskirts of the Settlement.
The stolen supply trucks of the Black Knights crept silently across cracked asphalt roads, headlights dark, engines muffled by rigged silencers. The base lay ahead: an old fortress, ringed by low fencing and scattered guard towers. From a distance, it looked almost deserted.
The security wasn't heavy. It was a perfect base to capture.
Lelouch, cloaked once again as Zero, stood at the head of the lead truck. His cape billowed in the cold night breeze as he surveyed the Britannian military station with cold eyes. Through his binoculars, he saw the rotation of guards. He noticed they seemed lazy and bored. They hadn't been warned of any potential danger. They didn't expect danger this deep into "secured" territory.
Perfect.
"Positions," Zero ordered through his comms unit, voice calm as steel.
The Black Knights spread out like shadows, slipping into their designated flanking zones. Kallen led the forward masked assault team. Ohgi took the second line, with Tamaki and the veterans set up fallback points. Zero gave the final nod.
"Move."
The attack began like a ghost passing through a graveyard.
Silenced weapons. Quick strikes to the back of the neck. Tasers hidden under jackets.
In less than ten minutes, the outer perimeter was neutralized. Guards slumped unconscious along the fences, their radios quietly ripped from their belts before they could call for backup.
Inside the base, Lelouch moved swiftly. Every step was planned, every move anticipated. They infiltrated the central command building, disabling the communications tower manually. Black Knights technicians moved to hack into the mainframe, securing files and disabling internal alarms.
Kallen's team stormed the Knightmare Frame hangar.
Twelve older-model Knightmares stood inside. They were a little battered, but intact. They would still prove useful. Already Kallen was issuing orders to the engineers, barking commands to prep them for immediate transport. Meanwhile, Zero stood at the center of the base, surrounded by the bound and gagged Britannian soldiers they'd captured.
They were tied to the main support pillars of the base, their weapons stripped, their pride bleeding from their wide, humiliated eyes. Zero walked slowly past them, his presence suffocating. He squatted down to his knees for a moment to look at them through his mask.
"You should be grateful," he said, his voice carrying easily over the night air. "We could have killed you. We still may decide to, if you aren't careful. I suggest you don't try to pull any tricks around here."
He paused, letting the words settle into their trembling bodies.
"But your shame will serve us better than your deaths."
He turned toward Ohgi. "Once the Knightmares are secured, we move the hostages into the convoy. They will be… insurance."
Ohgi nodded grimly. "Understood."
Lelouch knew this victory would sting Britannia deeply.
Not just because they lost a strategic outpost, but because they would be mocked for letting rebels overtake them so easily. It would breed distrust among the Britannian command. It would breed fear among them. At the same time, it would prove the Black Knights' power.
Exactly what Lelouch wanted.
Everything was going according to plan.
Until it wasn't.
A scream broke out across the yard.
One of the tied soldiers had managed to slip his restraints just enough to activate his emergency beacon. A small hidden device was embedded into his uniform. Zero spun immediately, hand clenching into a fist.
"Jam that signal!" he barked.
The Black Knights' techs swarmed the location, but it was too late.
The beacon had already pulsed out its message.
Help was coming.
Zero gritted his teeth under the mask.
"Load everything faster," he snapped. "We're on borrowed time."
The Black Knights redoubled their efforts, dragging equipment into the trucks, prepping the Knightmares for rapid launch. Kallen's red-painted Knightmare revved to life, standing tall against the night sky.
Before they could finish everything, the ground trembled beneath them.
In the distance, lights flared on the horizon moving at a fast pace closer and closer. Knightmare Frames. Modern ones. That wasn't the worst part though. The one leading the charge, gleaming like a white demon in the dark, was none other than the infamous Lancelot.
Zero's heart twisted sharply.
He recognized the machine instantly. It had humiliated entire squads before. No other Frame moved like that. Lelouch knew about the power of Suzaku Kururugi. The white knight of Britannia. He knew what he was capable of doing to everyone.
"Get into defensive positions!" Zero barked into the comms. "Priority: Protect the Knightmares and supplies! Prepare for engagement!"
Kallen's voice crackled back immediately. "Understood!"
The Black Knights scrambled, quickly getting into stolen Knightmares, readying weapons, bracing for the clash they all knew would come. They had to protect the base no matter what happened. They had come too far. Zero stared into the darkness where the Lancelot streaked closer, faster than anything else on the battlefield.
A former friend. A pawn turned weapon.
He felt bad because, in this moment, he was an enemy.
For the first time that night, Lelouch's blood burned hotter than his calculated mind could cool. He didn't understand Suzaku and his way of thinking. He wanted justice, but believed he could do it from inside the system. In Lelouch's head, that was absurd.
You're mine, Suzaku, he thought savagely. You'll learn that no amount of loyalty to Britannia can save you now. You will see why you should join us instead. They are simply using you without a care in the world.
The first shell exploded against the wall of the base.
Zero and the other Black Knights within the command center braced against the building as it shook. The real battle was just about to begin and Zero didn't know if they were fully ready for it. It was now or never. The stolen Knightframes were going against more modern Knightframes, not to mention up against the nightmare Lancelot himself.
Zero gave Ohgi command over the control center and walked outside the room.
He walked to the hangar and got into one of the sleek Knightframe's the Black Knights had transported with them to the military base. The best piece of weaponry they currently had with them.
He was going to confront Suzaku himself.