I Am Honkai

As more and more Honorary Britannian soldiers (11th-District locals loyal to the Britannian Empire, akin to collaborator forces), regular Britannian troops, and severely damaged Knightmare Frames retreated, everyone within the Tokyo Settlement felt a growing sense of dread. Anxiety and fear of the imminent massacre hung thickly over the entire city.

Boom!

Inside the Tokyo Settlement, an artillery shell struck a high-rise building, tearing away a large neon screen that plummeted to the ground below, sparking a violent panic among the crowds of evacuees.

A metal twisting sound creaked ominously from the building as it began to buckle under the strain, its structure rapidly collapsing and tilting. Chunks of steel-reinforced concrete, weighing hundreds to thousands of pounds, rained down, crushing countless citizens and their vehicles in pools of blood and mangled debris.

The jam-packed highway erupted with the piercing sound of screams, as the terrified crowd abandoned their cars, scattering like headless flies, frantically trying to flee.

The falling building felt like a signal. Before it even hit the ground, the ominous shriek of artillery shells, beam clusters, and plasma rounds tore through the air.

Blinding flashes of deadly light streaked across the sky, and fiery explosions surged throughout the city, punctuated by booming, thunderous echoes that shook the earth.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The shockwaves of the blasts seemed like an invisible giant's hands, causing buildings to sway and groan helplessly under the immense strain.

Destruction was far easier than creation.

The colossal structures, built over years through the labor of countless people, succumbed quickly to the inferno of battle, crumbling in waves and disintegrating into clouds of dust and smoke. Buildings fell one after another, steel and concrete fragments flying outward like shrapnel from an exploding bomb, mercilessly striking the desperate masses fleeing below.

Thud! Thud!

And this was only the beginning. Looking toward the perimeter of the Settlement, one could make out the damaged, flaming breaches in the protective walls, which glowed with an ominous purple-red light as shadows of titanic forms slowly emerged from beyond.

These were colossal, unfamiliar machines — semi-humanoid mechas, their bodies in iron-gray plating with uneven, jagged armor in a style blending gothic and punk aesthetics, exuding a brutal and cold mechanical beauty.

Nine enormous steel giants advanced, each far larger than even Britannia's largest Knightmare command centers!

Their most striking feature was the towering, castle-like structure on each of their upper halves, adorned with massive cannon mounts and plasma artillery systems glowing with purple-red Honkai energy.

Like mountainous behemoths, they loomed over the Tokyo Settlement's horizon, their gargantuan steel frames blocking out the entire field of view.

Clang.

The rifle slipped from one soldier's hand, clattering onto the asphalt road with a crisp sound.

"This... this has to be a joke…"

"What are we supposed to do against that!?"

"There's no way we can win against something like that…"

In a critical traffic control area within the Settlement, several hundred Britannian military police, stationed to monitor the roads, felt a collective sense of despair. Even their lead officer, despite his rank, knew in that moment that victory was becoming increasingly unlikely.

The next moment, clank, clank, clank!

One of the largest metal beasts, towering over a hundred meters tall, raised its massive plasma cannon, glowing ominously with purple-red light.

Bzzzzzzzzzz!

Honkai energy fluctuations spiked intensely, filling the sky with blinding purple-red light that dimmed the sun and bathed the entire landscape.

Finally stirred from their horrified trance, the onlookers' faces twisted in terror as they screamed in desperation, no longer daring to linger.

"Aaaaaaahhh!"

"Run!"

"Help us!"

BOOMMMMMMMM!!!

A brilliant flash streaked across the sky, descending upon the Tokyo Settlement's Governor's Palace. An unprecedented roar echoed, reminiscent of a nuclear explosion, shaking the heavens and resounding across the entire Tokyo Settlement.

...

Ashford Academy

Ashford Academy was an elite institution established by the Ashford family, formerly a prominent noble family of the Holy Britannian Empire. Seven years prior, following their defeat in the royal power struggle, the Ashfords had paid a steep price, barely managing to retain their noble status thanks to strong ties within Britannian society.

For the sake of survival, the Ashford family relocated from Britannian America to Britannia's newly colonized territory, the 11th District, where they established an academy in Tokyo for the nobility.

Thus, Ashford Academy came into being.

Situated in the city center of the Tokyo Settlement, it was surrounded by bustling commercial districts. The area was both secure and prestigious, boasting a scenic European-style campus with lush, picturesque gardens and renowned faculty. The Ashford family's noble status also served as a golden seal of prestige, attracting many of Britannia's 11th-District aristocrats to enroll their children there.

But that was then. With the advent of war, the campus — once brimming with life and laughter — now lay eerily silent under the iron heel of destruction.

Boom! Boom, boom!

Though Ashford Academy wasn't in the Empire's primary artillery target zone, stray shells had still managed to hit the campus, tainting its once-sacred halls of learning with blood and smoke.

At the time, in the basement beneath the academy's main administrative building, a group of students, all dressed in their academy uniforms, huddled together, watching the live news broadcast on a television mounted to the wall.

Suddenly, BOOM!

A shockwave reverberated through the room, sending the chandelier swinging wildly from the ceiling.

The next second, a crackling zap filled the room as sparks scattered everywhere. The basement went dark as the power supply failed, plunging everyone into blackness. Terrified screams filled the space as students scrambled in panic.

"Don't worry! This basement was built to wartime bomb shelter standards — it won't collapse so easily."

The glow of a phone light cut through the darkness, illuminating the pale face of Milly Ashford as she tried to reassure the Ashford Academy Student Council members.

Switching the phone's light to her side, she directed it toward a boy nearby with slicked-back blue hair that almost looked like two parted melon slices.

"Rivalz, there should be a backup generator in the small room to your left. Go and get it started. I think the shelling must have damaged the main power supply."

"Huh? Oh… right, I'm on it!" replied the boy called Rivalz. At first, he seemed startled by Milly's instructions, but after a moment, he quickly got up and moved to comply.

With the loud metallic clang, the generator started up, filling the basement with light again.

Yet, despite the restored power, every channel on the television remained blank, broadcasting only static. No matter how many channels Milly cycled through, nothing came through but an ominous gray screen.

Her heart sank with a sense of foreboding as her thoughts turned to the last image they had seen—a squad of those massive war machines advancing. Could Britannia have… lost?

None of the students in Ashford Academy were naïve. Milly knew this and understood she could no longer offer them comfort without it sounding like empty words.

"President, Pauline didn't make it inside... she…" a student's voice trailed off, realizing the fate her friend might have met in the chaos outside.

Milly remained silent, knowing that this basement, as spacious as it was, could never have fit everyone.

"....."

Gradually, in the confines of the dimly lit basement, a few students began to cry softly.

"What… what do we do now, Lelouch? Did Britannia lose? Are we… are we going to die?"

In the middle of the room sat a girl with long, auburn hair. She hugged herself, a mixture of fear and dread etched across her face. Her gaze fell on the boy across from her, who everyone addressed as Lelouch. With his shoulder-length, jet-black hair, striking violet eyes, tall and slender build, and impeccable academy uniform, he looked more like a figure from a painting than a student.

"Yeah, Lelouch, what should we do?"

Rivalz, who had just finished reactivating the generator, sat beside Lelouch, visibly shaken. Even he, ever the optimist, seemed on the verge of despair.

"It… it'll be alright," Lelouch said quietly, though even he could barely believe his own words. He clutched his sister Nunnally's hands, worry etched into his features.

But even with his intellect and knack for strategy, there was little he could do in this situation. He was merely a student now, without influence or authority. Venturing outside was a risk he couldn't afford to take, especially with his sister beside him. Nunnally, after all, was blind and bound to a wheelchair.

So they waited, the silence swallowing them up again as the minutes passed by.

...

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Suddenly, the ground shook, heavy footsteps and the booming sound of gunfire echoing down from above. Even with the basement walls muffling the noise, the distant explosions and rhythmic thuds were unmistakable.

The sounds grew closer, and when they reached the basement entrance, fear spread among the students, all of whom paled, their hearts racing wildly.

The next second, the grinding whirr of a chainsaw met their ears, as metal screeched and tore, filling the room with its shrill, unbearable noise. And then, with a loud crash, the door shattered inward.

A towering figure in a gray power armor suit, scarred and bloodstained, stepped into the room. Wielding a chainsword, the Astartes soldier's mere presence exuded an air of raw brutality and power.

Terror swept through the students as they screamed.

"Civilians? Students?" The soldier's voice was filtered through his helmet, and after a quick scan, he sighed with faint disappointment.

Without another word, he aimed his boltgun at the ground and fired a shot that resounded throughout the basement. His amplified, metallic voice rang out, "You—out. Now."

He waved them forward and turned to leave, as a squad of Auxiliary Troopers flooded in, herding the students out of the basement.

"..."

Lelouch silently helped his sister into her wheelchair, guiding her out alongside the others. A complex set of emotions churned within him. He had longed to see the merciless Britannian Empire topple, yet now that someone else was doing it, what could he do to protect Nunnally in captivity?

Nunnally, after all, was both blind and paralyzed…

They were escorted out into the school's grand courtyard, where a makeshift holding area had been set up.

"Stay inside the line! No funny business!"

The last student was shoved into the designated area, nothing more than a simple chalk circle on the pavement, by a burly soldier clad in a matte-black uniform. With a scarred face beneath his broad-brimmed helmet, he barked orders and then turned to his comrades, giving orders in a curt voice.

"Clear out the buildings. The Empress will be inspecting the area soon… we need it secured."

Leaving two guards to monitor the students, the rest of the troopers fanned out, sweeping through other parts of the academy. None of them showed any concern for what the students might overhear.

Boom!

A sudden explosion rocked the area nearby, sending tremors through the ground. The Imperial soldiers remained stoic, but the students flinched in fear.

Looking up, they saw a massive fireball erupt over the D Wing of the academy, blowing off most of the roof and sending heat waves across the campus.

Gunfire followed—a few sharp bursts, echoing through the academy grounds—and then there was silence again.

Moments later, the towering gray-armored soldiers strode back into view. One of them dragged a Britannian soldier in uniform by the head, holding him like a rag doll. The soldier's limp body left a dark, bloodied trail on the ground.

"Hmm? Did you find something?"

A higher-ranking Astartes, also in iron-gray armor but with a small, bloodstained cape on his right pauldron, approached the squad.

"Captain, look…" The Astartes tossed the soldier aside and pulled out a standard adorned with a complex insignia: a blue backdrop with a red cross, green laurels, and a gold-embroidered eagle gripping a serpent, all framing a royal crown.

"A battle standard?" The Captain took it, inspecting the intricate emblem.

"It seems so. With Her Majesty coming to inspect, it would make an excellent trophy for our squad."

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