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"That... is relatively easy... I assume you know a lot more than you should about my power... so you should also know that as soon as I leave this Knightmare... I'll be unconscious.... I.. don't know if I should trust you with this... but... I'm going to leave my Knightmare... and seeing on how we're in the air... the drop will kill me... unless you catch me..."

"Niiro! You're not going to....?" Idrial was shocked again.

"We might as well... my first priority is to make sure you live... and this is the best way to do that Idrial.." Niiro sighed before turning back to the communication. "So... you'll catch me... right?"

"I'm not that little..." Niiro laughed, letting Idrial have control again. As soon as Nirro relinquished control, the Hogosha disappeared, And Idrial was left falling through open air, unconscious from the use of Geass while Nirro was in control.

The Gunfalken and Snipelink closed in towards the Damnation, with the Gunfalken taking the huge lead, only firing on targets in its front while the Snipelink covered its flanks. A barrage of chaff missiles were launched over the formerly shielded area, blanketing the area with chaff, effectively covering the Gunfalken's advance.

"Just a quick run Erina," reminded Lance.

"Right," replied Erina, activating her Geass as she skimmed the area right above the shield, targeting every single person within 100 meters. She repeated the activation twice more before clearing the shield. "That should about do it." She blinked and noticed that some shots had glazed a number of a parts of the Gunfalken. Why I outta... She picked up distance from the shield and began making her way back to the Snipelink while Lance continued to provide cover fire.

---

Eternal put the Arkice into a dive at full speed, coming down below Idrial a few seconds after the latter had regained control. He opened the cockpit and let her fall into the knightmare, catching her in his arms. It helped having a co-pilot in these situtations.

Latune closed the cockpit and was temporarily piloting the Arkice as Eternal put Idrial into the case, which seemed to fit the 'playing dead' because it was shaped like a coffin. She relinquished control back to Eternal and shut the case after making adjustments to keep Idrial's body comfortable.

Panic looked at the Jericos getting destroyed. He decided that now was a good time for a tactical retreat. He saw Asura come in and smiled.

"Hello again Panic, deciding to retreat?" he said taking a few steps closer to him "I don't know what you tried to put in my head, but it didn't work." He unsheathed his Katana "Now this is going to go one of two ways you can let me leave, or I can kill you then leave, your choice."

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Leon had just finished off the last KMF that was holding up the shield when the alarm went off. He took out a neutralizer for his compartment and administered it. He also saw the enemies retreating. "What the hell!" he yelled in frustration He opened up a com-link the Eternal "Sir, the shield is down, but it seems the enemy is making a tactical retreat. What would you like me to do?"

((*Evil Laughter* Now with 150% more popular demand for evilness. Oh yes, and super long too.))

With the shields down, the chaff smoke flooded the area, encompassing it inside the chaff, rendering it incapable of detecting hostiles or effectively returning fire upon them. The same change in situtation left the Rephilims and Liliths stranded in the chaff, leaving them easy targets for the EF to pick off.

---

"Damnit, what's going on in there?" wondered Eternal. "Another hostile?" He barely noticed the Hadron Cannon Array attack hit the Icor, but only saw the direction in which the attack came from. We only came for the Black Knights and two terrorist groups show up? "Ri, engage any other enemy forces in the area you can find. Avoid the chaff, something's not right... in there..." He pulled back away from the chaff, with Shishuku and Kanita withdrawing in formation, neither liking the situtation either.

"Just when I was getting started too," muttered Shishuku. Orders where orders, and if Eternal-sama said so, then there was no argument. There was always next time. "Oh well. How's the Shrike holding up?"

"It's performing well," replied Kanita. She tapped several buttons to do a double check while they withdrew. "Everything's normal over here. The improvements from the Shrike's data were rather useful."

"That's good to hear," replied Shishuku. "Then the production model should be rather good when they finalize the details and begin production."

"Ri's neutralizer should be over soon if not already," noted Latune. She mused over the data. Sonia-chan has her work cut out for her. "It's the pilot that makes the knightmare, unless the latter can't keep up or is too much for the pilot."

---

"Trace the origin of the blast! Status report on the targeted region!" Kinata paused and gasped for a breath of air. It had been a while since the Nightingale itself had been a direct target.

"Target origin unknown, there's too much chaff interference. Targeted region... seems to have been a structure or something. The chaff or something is interfering with the sensors. The said region is being blanketed by the chaff," reported Sonia. She was working her rather hard pulling and compiling information from the rest of the bridge crew. "Hadron Cannon Array fully charged."

"Target the last known location of the EU air cruiser," ordered Aldan. "No, adjust angle for vertical launch vector."

Kinata blinked and breathed out, a moment after the adjustments had been made. "And fire!" The Nightingale's Hadron Cannon Array let loose in the direction of the space above the Damnation, or if it had began ascent, the exact location it was.

"At least they're not allied," mused Aldan. "Right girls?" He got a chorus of 'yes's. He smiled. If Alaska and Ri die it'll work out real well as things stand. Oh well, I shouldn't be too hopeful, or greedy.

---

The Black Knights originally Geassed by Panic, and then Geassed again by Erina, turned their attention upon and against the Nephilim's forces, with any Black Knights in or around the Damnation turning on the ship. They had been freed by the second Geass, and took having been used by Panic in a very offended manner.

---

The Rephilims and Liliths, caught between EF forces on one end and Black Knights to their back, were quickly decimated without being able to do any damage, as they lacked direction from any tactical or commanding officer while being placed in a unfamiliar battle circumstance.

"That's the last of them," reported Lance. He grinned at the havoc caused by the chaff in combination with the Black Knights against the Nephilim.

"Leave that ship to them. Engage the other one. It's worth taking for its capabilities," replied Erina. She broke off for the Icor. The Snipelink, Mk. Lance, Mk. Gun, Black Valkyrie, and Valiant followed suit, all of which staying in their previous pair formations. "The Mark 00 will break through the hull. Mk. Lance, Mk. Gun, perimeter. The Snipelink and Gunfalken will take out the defenses. The Black Valkyrie and the Valiant will strike from the heavens." All members acted on their assigned orders the moment they were given, leaving little time wasted.

Lance locked on and began opening fire with both CAD SR in long range mode, making full use of its hadron rounds' piercing ability in tandem with its semi-automatic capability. Erina did the same in turn, picking out different targets from Lance. Both kept advancing while they opened fire.

---

Esther struck forth with the Mark 00's edge rapiers, both activated, and began cutting an opening in the hull of the Icor. Let's see how tough you are on the inside She had finished changing her attire, again. Annoying pests.

---

The Ascendant held back from opening fire again as to build up enough power to to fire both Hadron Cannon Arrays simultaneously. It kept its aim and lock on the Damnination, while keeping a secondary lock on the Icor. The latter would require a angle adjustment to fire upon with the Hadron Cannon Array. But it didn't mean that its missiles wouldn't reach.

---

"Let's go, Onee-chan." The Valiant struck downwards with its Valiant Lance, wielding it with both hands, making full use of its powerful downward slash. The VES blade of the Valiant Lance clawed away at the upper hull of the Icor.

"Of course Takane." The Black Valkyrie struck in full synchronization through the use of its Harbinger Halberd, VES blade activated as well, cracking down on the turtle's shell. "Isn't that right, sister?"

"Yes yes, Kannagi-Onee-Chan," replied Takane. "Eclair, Lumiere, don't slack."

---

"We won't!" replied the twins in unison. "Just don't fire on the other two if they don't first right Erina?"

"Yes. But if it's that one, don't go easy," replied Erina. She mused to herself for a moment before informing the others of her thought. "Seems like their commander's expecting everything to hold together after contact with the enemy." It was a joke idea. They never held together unless they were broken up into tiny pieces that could be pieced together in any way, even by the pilots themselves, which of course was something that was too complex and difficult to do without a close knit group.