14

The enemy unit evaded the lance and reversed on its landspinners, all the while its pilot shot a grin. "I'll be the judge of that, junge." he replied.

"Go down!" he heard a voice yell from the side. Turning, the pilot just caught sight of the Lancelot standing on a nearby rooftop, leveling its VARIS rifle and firing a shot. He dodged it easily enough and countered with another blitzgewehr burst, forcing the Lancelot to evade in turn. At that, the European knightmare launched its right hip mounted slash harken into the building's roof and shot upward, moving to leap at the white and gold knightmare as it came back down.

Unfortunately for the European pilot, the Knight of Seven foresaw the attack, and so reversed the Lancelot just as the hellgrau tinted knightmare fell upon the roof, bringing its knee down where his Britannian foe had once been. There, it was forced to evade again as the Lancelot readied another VARIS shot, rolling to the side of the shot and positioning himself to return fire, only to be forced to move away yet then again when the Elyan also leaped on the roof. The European retaliated with blitzgewehr and blitzvulkan shots of its own, firing at both enemy units simultaneously, but the Knights of the Round were too quick, and none of his shots hit. At the same time however, none of the return attacks struck him either, as his own knightmare was more than able to continue evading them.

Then, all at once, the two Britannian units leaped off the rooftop simultaneously, landing back on the street below. Knowing what was about to happen next, the European pilot jumped away as well. A second later, a great stream of crimson hadrons surged through where he had been, the resultant shockwave causing the building to collapse. A dust cloud exploded into the street as a result, with the European knightmare landing right in the middle of it, mono-eye menacingly shifting back and forth in search of its adversaries.

Red eye shining venomously through the dust, the European soon found himself encircled. Various Sutherlands and Gloucesters had moved up from the streets and nearby rooftops, all training their weapons on him, while a group of Viper attack VTOLs descended from the sky above to track their own weapons on him. Simultaneously, the Lancelot and Elyan moved at the head of the formation, weapons ready and willing to kill if he so much as moved. All guns and blades were trained on him now, but none dare move lest he move as well. Thus caused the standoff, as the Britannians awaited to see if their European adversary would make the first attempt, while the European devicer could only standby and search for an opening to exploit.

Through the resultant pause and silence, Suzaku was quick to identify the enemy knightmare. Although he had never seen it in person before up to this point, its design fit the photographs that Britannian intelligence had obtained some months earlier. The European Union's premiere Eighth Generation knightmare frame, Loewe.

His gaze turned into a frown at that realization. Looks like they've already begun production, and while Britannia is still struggling to put the Exeter into sufficient numbers.

"Identify yourself," Gino spoke up, half to break the silence and half to know who the Loewe's pilot was. It was pretty obvious he was an ace, both from his displayed skills and the fact he managed to obtain such a high end knightmare despite being so far out from Europe.

Just as well, the pilot responded, a vidscreen appearing on all the Britannian frames' monitors, which displayed a handsome blonde haired man in an EU pilot suit with piercing blue eyes. "I am Oberst Erich Hartmann of the 32nd Panzer Battalion. I wish to parley with your commander, dem schwarzen Prinzen."

Before anyone could reply, a velvety smooth voice entered over the radio and was heard by all those gathered. "So the famous Erich Hartmann wishes to speak to me directly? This should be interesting."

At that, the one side of the encirclement parted, with the Lancelot and Elyan stepping aside almost in reverence, to allow a newcomer unit to enter in from the distance. Casually walking up to the area, its landspinners retracted for the time being, it was apparent that the newcomer was not a standard knightmare; in fact, it appeared to be an exact twin of the Lancelot, except with certain differences.

Twin ruby colored eye cameras observed the Loewe as it approached, seemingly reflecting the bemused malevolence of its pilot, while its armor, painted in a fantastic combination of black and gold, retained majesty and grace that one would expect out of a Britannian design. A large black cape calmly swayed off its back as it walked, and while its hands were bereft of weapons, the familiar pair of MVS and a VARIS rifle were both stored in the appropriate back mounts, complementing the slash harkens in the arms and hips and the easily discernable Blaze Luminous shield mounts in its forearms. A knightmare that, just like its twin brother, was easily recognized by both Britannian and European alike, for its devicer was a man of great legend.

Finally coming to a halt directly in front of the Loewe, its cape now billowing from an updraft of wind, the knightmare frame Mordred gazed back toward the singular mono-eye of its apparent adversary, just as the voice of its devicer rang out for all to hear. "This is General Lelouch vi Britannia, His Imperial Majesty's Commander of the African Theater," Lelouch announced. "And I have some demands of my own to make, Herr Oberst."