10

The blow never connected however, as a great blur suddenly placed itself between Ashley and his target, the MVS striking a green energy shield as a result. Eyes widening at the intervention, Ashley instinctively threw his Gloucester back, with Rene and Jan's own units moving into to flank him. "What is this!?" he growled angrily.

Blaze Luminous shields dissipating, the Lancelot stood back up to its full height as the European pilot quickly ran away. "Disgraceful," a new voice called out over the radio. "Is this how the great Auriga Squadron operates? Slaughtering the helpless?"

White hot anger began to emerge within Ashley as the words struck. "Stay out of this Whitey!" he bellowed. "We don't need your kind to watch over us!"

I suppose that could have been a worse remark. Sir Suzaku Kururugi, Knight of Seven and White Knight of Britannia, thought as he stared back toward the red Gloucester through his center monitor. He had certainly heard worse over his lifetime, even after he had been inducted into the Rounds. Such was life.

"Regardless, there is more than enough fighting happening. I suggest you focus on that rather than killing downed devicers, Auriga," Suzaku admonished, then turning away before Ashra could respond. It wasn't his best dressing down, but he was sure it, when coupled with his status as the Knight of Seven, would be enough to keep the unruly Captain Ashra and his ilk in line. And if not, then there were those further up the chain than he who could do it. As had been stated, he had more than enough to do now without worrying about the Imperial Army's less honorable knights.

By all account and purposes, Tobruk was now a city on fire. All throughout its streets, the blue knights of Britannia fought hard battles against the mighty grey knights of Europe, while equally blue landships continued to shell the city and fighters and VTOLs went about their own dances above. In another life, Suzaku would have felt regret and sorrow over such wanton destruction – the youth he had been seven years ago certainly would have – but not now. Now, while he felt remorse for the innocents caught in the fire as well as hope for those who managed to make it out, he knew that the destruction was necessary. Only through the fire of battle could Britannia conquer and unite the world. Only through the fire could peace, the peace that she had envisioned, at last be obtained.

As he sped down the streets, Suzaku gazed over his sensors, finding that, as he had mostly expected, the battle was quickly turning toward their victory. As he looked over the tactical data, he saw the European numbers dwindling, with many units withdrawing deeper into the city to guard more strategically relevant points, all the while Britannian forces were in full, if slow, advance. Nearby, a Typhoon multi-role fighter dove from the sky and dropped its payload on a nearby barricade, obliterating it and its defenders in one strike, allowing Britannian knightmares in proximity to move through. Not far from that, Suzaku also saw a European Hornisse attack VTOL fire a spray of missiles toward another group of Sutherlands, only for them to evade and have one of their number strike the Hornisse down with its slash harken.

It's almost over. Suzaku thought with some relief. Of course, 'almost' was not the same as it being actually over, and the Knight of Seven did well to keep that in mind. Thus, it was not long before he found more fighting to be had: friendly knightmares were now making a push into the enemy headquarters, and the Europeans were effectively holding the line around it.

Much to Suzaku's surprise as he read over the data, the European force wasn't just made up of Panther IIs and Panther IIIs; unless the Lancelot's sensors or the Britannian ELINT systems were malfunctioning, there appeared to be Panther Is mixed in as well. The Japanese born knight raised an eyebrow at that; he had heard the Europeans were having logistical problems, but even he didn't expect the elite 1st Panzer Army to be forced into using fourth generation leftovers. Not that the Panther I was a weak design; quite the contrary, it was just as well armed and armored as Europe's later generation units.

But not for long. Suzaku thought as he jetted across the street toward the engagement area. Once he entered range, he drew his VARIS and targeted the closest enemy knightmares, a pair of Panther IIs, and fired off dual green shots. Both struck straight on, obliterating both enemy knightmares and opening up a way for Suzaku to pass, from which he entered into melee. Naturally his presence was far from missed, with fearful cries of the Lancelot's and/or the White Knight's presence being cried out by the enemy, while their fire focused more upon the Lancelot.

Maneuvering around the bullets and shells, Suzaku continued to fire off his VARIS, striking down more and more Panther IIs and at least one or two Panther IIIs during his initial assault, all the while the Sutherlands and Gloucesters around him either took advantage by pressing their own attacks or providing covering fire for him. In the midst of this, Suzaku once again reflected how much easier the assault would be if the Lancelot had retained its float system, but he knew that was seven years of water under the bridge. Float technology just wasn't feasible, as he himself had demonstrated during the attack on Kyushu long ago, when usage of the unit had left the Lancelot severely depowered. As such, unless supported by VTOLs, knightmares remained entirely ground or sea based, while the dream of the floatship ultimately ended with the Avalon alone.

Even so, it wasn't like Suzaku needed a glorified jetpack to take the objective at hand, as his blowing off the head of another Panther III best showed. However, by doing so, one of the Panther Is moved in to where its comrade had been standing and fired its assault rifle at the white knightmare. As such, Suzaku was forced to reverse his landspinners as well as engage his Blaze Luminous, either maneuvering around or actively deflecting the bullets while attempting to find an opening.