Hours prior

Heavy footfalls shook the narrow corridors beneath Kokonoe's lab, as they had for the past hour. As he came to a halt, Tager sighed. All this time searching, and no sign of Voivod. He had searched almost every inch of the lab. Every inch except... Hoping that his hunch was incorrect, Tager thundered down toward the very lowest levels, eyes peeled for any trace of the former Air Corps officer. As he stepped foot inside an elevator, a tingle tickled his neck like wind ghosting over it. He paid it no mind as the lift descended.

The ride took only seconds. As Tager stepped back out, the tingling sensation returned. He grimaced; was it even natural for one like him to experience such sensations? He doubted it. Magnetic energy crackled through his gauntlets as he marched, the fact that he could squeeze through the halls a minor miracle. He stepped around another corner; a gale blew, freezing him in his tracks. After a moment of deliberation, Tager drew out a radio and dialed in. "Kokonoe, this is Tager. Do you copy?"

Silence, save for the buzz of static. With an unnerved sigh, Tager continued further into the lab. At this point, however, where he was could hardly be considered a laboratory, but more of a weapons storage. After one more turn leading to a catwalk suspended near a plethora of warheads, Tager came to a dead stop. A dark figure leveled its absence of a face at him for a moment before vanishing into thin air. He only had a moment to take the specter in, but it was all he needed. The Librarium had found the nuclear stockpile. He had to...

The door to the control room was open. The door to the control room should not be open. He lumbered inside, bending the door frame with his girth as he did so. Green and red lights blinked at him as he approached a control panel and eyed it. Had he still been human, he would have gone snow white at what he saw. Time to launch: one hour. He growled; what was the meaning of this? Had that figure done this? Kokonoe? Either way, he had to shut it down. As clumsy fingers stretched for the keypad, footsteps sounded behind him and he swiveled around. "Voivod. Kokonoe's looking for you."

"Figured as much. Nice to know, though."

It took a moment for it to register in Tager's mind that those words had come from Voivod. "What the...?"

"Yes, I can talk. Could since we left for Naobi, actually, thanks to a certain ghost. You can stop gaping now." Gray eyes replete of their usual madness and thus a world away from what Tager had grown to know, although the rest of him appeared no different than usual, Voivod stepped toward Tager, crackles of green energy sparking along his hands. "Oh, and step away from the console, please."

Tager growled, building up more magnetic energy. "What is the meaning of this? You're with the Library?"

"Yeah. And really, you might want to step away from the console. Before your magnetic stuff fries it. I mean, yeah, it might shut down the launch sequence. Or it might lock it in. Or it might just detonate the nukes right now. Wouldn't that be fun?"

With a curse under his breath, Tager shut down his electromagnets. Cornered and unable to fight at full strength; he had to commend Voivod for the setup. "Very well. But I'm still shutting the launch down, even if it means fighting you. Or was this just a trap for me?"

Voivod snorted and leaned against a wall. "Sorry, but picking a fight against the Red Devil isn't quite the pinnacle of intelligence. Look, I have nothing against you. At all. Even got an escape vessel a bit away if you wanna use it, even if you're not going to join the NOL. So what do you say?"

"I will not allow you annihilate entire cities! And why would you give me a chance to escape, but not Kokonoe?"

"Because fuck her, that's why." Voivod snarled at the name, grotesque scars twisting into a nightmarish visage. "There's a debt I need to settle with Koko."

"...So it's about revenge and not the Librarium. Is that it?" Tager braced himself; the look on Voivod's face told him that a battle could start at any moment. "Why? She gave you new life."

"Hmm... no. She sure asked nicely, though." Voivod crossed his arms, the pale fire in his eyes simmering. "And what about you? You know what she's done; better than anyone, I'd imagine. And hey, we're in about the same boat, right? People who should be very dead right now, but were turned into cyborgs instead? Against our will?"

After Tager said nothing, Voivod's lip curled into a grin. "Let's just look at the two of us for a moment... what she did to us, I mean. I tear my skin whenever my claws come out, my plasma scorches my flesh and.. .well, you saw what happened with the railgun. It's a hell of a painful gift... so I figure use the gift, kill the one who inflicted it on me. Win-win, right? And what about you, hm? That shell is such a wonderful existence, right?"

"I have no issues with what I am. You won't sway me like that. If you think I'm about to allow you to kill so many people for revenge, you're mad."

"Right, right, nuking bad, got it. Not like that's what Kokonoe had in mind for these things or anything. Not to mention that she's a Sin Architect. Or that she saw fit to use a half-dead body as a sandbox for her experiments. At least I'm making use of these things."

".What exactly are you planning to do?"

"Wadatsumi and Akitsu are going to be blown off the map, and Sector Seven's going to take the fall. For this and, with luck, for Yabiko's destruction as well. After all, wasn't 'secret agent stripper squirrel' a Sector Seven agent, hm? And hey, if you'll get out of my way, I'll see if I can't get you pardoned for being with them."

"I fail to see how this benefits anyone."

With a huff, Voivod shook his head. "Of course you don't; it's your organization that's about to dissolve, after all. Consider this, though; the Yabiko incident has severely weakened the power the Librarium holds. As in, riots across all the cities and that kind of thing. Rebellions are building up, with the intent to dethrone the NOL entirely. And at this rate, there'll be another blasted war, just like the Ikaruga war. Fun little period of history, am I right?" His eyes flashed. "Tell me. What happens if society is left to rot in the power vacuum that would ensue, knowing what the hell lies just beyond the safety of the Hierarchical Cities? Yes, people will die. Yes, science will vanish. But if it means keeping humanity-"

"No. You're wrong about that." Tager stood straight, his head nearly scraping the ceiling. "I will not allow this."

A disappointed groan escaped Voivod and he shook his head. "You think you can win without your magnets?"

"We're in tight quarters and the ceiling's too low for your flight. I think that offsets any disadvantage I may have."

"...Ha. Maybe, maybe..." Half-foot blades extended from between Voivod's knuckles as he winced. "This is your choice, then? So be it."

He lunged forward as the skin around his shoulder peeled away and loosed a ball of brilliant green energy. While Tager took the shot on the forearm, Voivod launched into the air and hacked at his face. He tried to step back to brace himself, but his leg met the control panel instead. Tager lunged with a mitt to catch Voivod, but the former Air Corps officer shot to the side and dove down at him. His hands spun at the wrists and his blades acted as drills as he pierced Tager's defenses. Green lightning coursed through Voivod and exploded out from his shoulder cannon. Tager grunted, but this time anticipated Voivod's following dash and snatched him before iridescent blades could cut. He slammed the smaller man against the ceiling and hurled him back out of the chamber, bouncing along the catwalk. Spitting blood, Voivod clambered back to his feet with a snarl. "Gah..."

Tager trudged forward at full speed, desperate to get out of the control room so he could safely use his magnetism. However, Voivod's eternal mobility perplexed him. "How is it that your knee isn't hindering you?"

"Magic." Voivod shrugged. "Literally. A gift repair job from the great magistrate Nine, or her phantom at least. Along with the coordinates for blasting Wadatsumi and Akitsu. Much better present than anything Koko's ever given me."

Well, good to have confirmation on what that figure was. "I see. Spark Bolt!"

Certain that he was far enough away from the console for it to be safe, Tager launched a burst of magnetic energy forward. It came fast enough to catch Voivod off guard and tag him with the magnetic trace. Energy sparked in his gauntlets again and dragged the Air Corps officer towards them, an attempt at a finishing blow. With a snarl, Voivod opened up both indentations in his shoulders and opened fire, a minigun's salvo of yellow shots. They pressed Tager back, erasing much of his progress even if they did minimal damage. "Yeah, no, not happening, you lug."

He rocketed through the air, arms pressed together before him and hands pointed skyward. A series of blades extended from his forearms into a point as he crashed into Tager and drove him even further back. Before Tager could retaliate, Voivod jetted away and then hovered next to his head, slashing with the arm blades. Tager launched a fist up at where he anticipated Voivod would head next; instead, Voivod dropped to the ground and raked him with blades sprouting from between his fingers while green energy pulsed through him. "Geez, you're easy to dodge, you know that?"

Voivod rolled between his legs as Tager slashed with a fist; electric blades raked the Red Devil's back. A spinning blow from the giant caught the side of Voivod's head and sent him rolling away. Clutching his deepest wounds, Tager stalked forward and pointed down at Voivod. "Gadget Finger!"

The magnetic surge lifted Voivod to his feet, but he snarled and tried to roll under Tager's massive frame again. Just as anticipated; the goliath raised a foot and brought it down on Voivod with enough force to bend his metal spine. A shriek of agony echoed in the tiny room. As it died down, Tager reached down and lifted him. "It's over. You're coming with me."

"Nah, I'll pass." Underneath the tattered rags of Voivod's uniform, skin shifted. A moment later, a thick beam surged out, burning Tager's chest and propelling Voivod out of his grip. Although his attempts to rise to his feet failed miserably, Voivod cast himself up to hover, sight blurred with pain. "Try a diet, will ya?"

A laser fired from his shoulder and he launched forward. A slashing motion of Tager's hands ended the attack and bounced him off the ground. Before he could recover, Tager snatched him out of the air and swiveled around to crush him to the floor. And yet, Voivod smirked, his legs coming together. "Nice try."

"What... sh-!" Tager raised both arms before him, knowing what was coming but lacking the mobility to dodge it, even if it took a couple seconds to fire. As the brute shifted around to better protect himself, the railgun sang once, a keen roar that left Tager plastered against the wall. A moment later, his left forearm dropped to the ground, severed by the shot.

As his foe collapsed, Voivod struggled to remain conscious himself. Although his entire left leg was slag and his body was bent, he hovered over to Tager and landed beside him. Short blades extended from his fingertips and he minced one of Tager's gauntlets open. After a couple of minutes, he found what he was looking for, a cylinder that acted as an individual power source for that gauntlet. After pocketing it, Voivod smirked. "Well, I'll just take this. Got a couple ideas for it, should be fine. And..."

He paused. He had no idea whether or not Tager was still alive. And with the timer ticking down to nuclear launch and detonation... He turned and hovered back out, hoping to not encounter a certain scientist.

"...ger? Tager? Wake the hell up, dammit..." A familiar voice greeted Tager is he reawakened, its eternal acid replaced with concern for the moment. A soft grunt escaped his lips to indicate yes, he was coming to, and Kokonoe backed away from him. "The hell happened to you? Where's Voivod? Don't tell me he pulled this shit..."

"He's a mole, Kokonoe." His eyesight returned to him, Tager tried to sit up. "Don't worry about me; your nuclear cache is set to launch at any minute here."

"...What."

"Wadatsumi and Akitsu will be destroyed. I'm sorry; I couldn't stop it."

"...Tager, that was the worst attempt at a first joke ever." Still, Kokonoe scurried over to the control panel. After a few moments of frantic button pressing, she growled her rage and kicked the bottom of the console. "Dammit, it's damaged! Shit..."

She paused as the screech of metal sounded from high above. Any minute now, the launch would begin. Snarling, she turned and raced back to Tager. "Can you move? Dammit, of course you can, we gotta do something!"

In her panic, Kokonoe grabbed Tager's hand, the forearm apparently reattached while he was out, and yanked as hard as she could. An unnecessary move as Tager hefted himself off the ground; however long he'd been out had been adequate for repairs, although he doubted he'd be fighting fit any time soon. Although his first step brought pain, he shrugged it off and followed Kokonoe. "There's no good to be done here. Let's move on"

"God dammit... stop talking like that, you hunk of scrap metal! There's gotta be something we can do here..."

A large hand rested on her shoulder and stalled her. "We need to leave now, Kokonoe. There's nothing we can do. We can't have more than a few minutes before they launch. Let's go."

"But... this is..." Kokonoe's head whipped back and forth between the control room and the hallway leading to her small cluster of airships. She visibly shook where she stood. "If we don't do something..."

"I'm sorry, Kokonoe. There's nothing to accomplish staying here. We can't shut down the launch, and it won't do for us to die trying."

"...Goddammit..." With a defeated sigh, Kokonoe marched onward toward the nearest hangar. "You're right... let's get out of here..."

As apocalyptic fire consumed Wadatsumi, a two-man vessel streaked away from the blast, unscathed. Tager sat at the controls, face as neutral as always, and dead silent. Behind him, Kokonoe sat pitched forward, clasping her forehead as she tried to come to terms with the atrocity. Fingernails dug into her skin as anger surged through her, overwhelming the helplessness that had left her mute until that point. "...That son of a bitch... why the hell did he do this?"

"As I said, Voivod was a Library mole. He wanted to dissolve Sector Seven by pinning this attack on us." As much as he wanted to calm the scientist down, Tager refused to look anywhere but his flight path. "He also bears a grudge against you for what you turned him into."

"The hell?" Kokonoe's head shot up. "I saved his goddamn life!"

"Not in his eyes. According to him, all you did was place him in an agonizing hell." Tager paused a moment. "Also... the phantom was there."

"The..." Kokonoe's eyes wavered at the words. "...Right. Did she...?"

"As far as I know, all she did was repair Voivod and give him the coordinates for the cities."

"Understood. Still, if mo... Nine's phantom was involved, Terumi..." Kokonoe trailed off. Terumi. The bastard those nukes were meant for had exploited them for his own gain...and in doing so had damned her, should word get out that she had prepared them. With a sigh, she leaned over again, both hands over her face. When she spoke, her words shook with emotion. "...Goddammit... everything I did just screwed shit up..."

"Autopilot engage."

A moment later, Tager rose and went to kneel beside Kokonoe, a gentle hand on her shoulder. His mitt clenched the slightest bit to quell her shaking and comfort her. After a minute, Kokonoe looked up, sparks in her eyes. "That bastard is gonna pay for this. Both of them, in fact. Terumi and Voivod. If they think they're gonna pin this shit on us, they got another thing coming."

With a nod, Tager rose and started to turn. "Agreed..."

He trailed off as a blaze ignited in the distance, a mushroom cloud rising over a mountain. The blinding flash left both him and Kokonoe stunned for a moment. Finally, Tager spoke. "...That was not Akitsu."

"...That goddamn psycho!" Kokonoe jumped to her feet, misery erased in an instant. "And no shit that wasn't Akitsu. Coming from that direction, that had to have been either Ookoto or Torifune!"

"Torifune." Or at least, so Tager's internal sensors told him. "The academy. What better way to turn the public against us than by framing us for annihilating their children?"

Kokonoe said nothing, pale faced and heavy of breath. After realizing she was not about to speak, Tager returned to the controls. "Where should we land?"

"...Take us to Kagutsuchi." Kokonoe sighed and took a seat again. "Might as well meet with Hakumen."

"...If he knows that those missiles were yours..."

"Oh, he's gonna want to kill me here; he's already made it god damn clear that he hates nukes. But we ain't got a choice; just gotta follow what we had planned. And if he tries to kill me, you'll be there to kick his ass again."

"...Very well then." With a sigh, Tager pressed several keys. "Course set for Kagutsuchi."

A/N: And with this, At Fate's Hands is halfway done. There will probably be a bit of a gap between this chapter for two reasons. One, I'd like to take some time and replan a few things a bit later in this fic for better flow and a bit more focus on certain characters. Two, Confinement and Cloudburst are in desperate need of updates, so my focus will shift to them, along with A Pleasant Shade Of Gray.

Also, since I've been asked whether or not Chrono Phantasma's newcomers will appear: Azrael's pretty much a lock, Amane is fairly likely, haven't thought up anything for Bullet.

Finally, new poll, although it's nothing major.