Ultima-Owner: My description of Code Cast is more or less a simple copy of the definition in the Type-Moon Wiki.
Saberfang Orcalodon: Thanks.
0404617: Mas cap? What do you want to say?
Daemon of Crawling Tentacles: A battle between Hakuno and Iona is not very likely. In fact, as an author, I'm telling you quite clearly that there will be no battle between the two. And if that were to happen and Iona took advantage, Drake would resort to her Noble Phantasm.
Akasha Bloodriver: Yes, and in this chapter the European Union will also learn about Hakuno and the moon Cell. The popularity of the little squirrel cannot be stopped!
Boyzilla: Hello, and thank for the compliments Boyzilla. For the gender it's terribly difficult for a Frenchman. In French, we say "un navire" (a ship). The word is masculine. The reflexes of a lifetime push me to use "him" rather than "her".
Author note: In this chapter, Hakuno spent time learning the naval history of France, particularly that of its most famous admirals. It may seem absurd (and it is, by the way) because it does not tell her what the current strength of the country is... however, do not forget that her only experience of conflict is the war of the Holy Grail in the Moon Cell. Where, you had to know the Servant of a Master to know his strength. So her mistake is understandable.
Forgotten Scourge
The day was slowly rising over Brittany. This land of legend was inscribed in a history longer than the writings of men. As the MN Surcouf doubled the cape of Crozon, mysterious alignments of raised stones appeared. The menhirs (from the Britonnic men "stone" and hir "long") of Lagatjar put the men of the present before the mystery of magic architecture. Further inland, one guessed the mountains of Arrées, whose shadows spread in the distance, projected by the scarlet rising sun. Supposedly cursed, there was a door to the underworld. Ironically, the French had built a nuclear power plant there.
The French... the foreigners of France... Because, five centuries after integration to France, the Bretons are always proud of themselves. They are a more ancient people and they speak their own language. Weren't the dukes of Brittany descended from King Arthur?
Standing on the submarine stand, Hakuno Kishinami read the legends and history of the country, as the Regalia delivered them to him. At the same time, she was guiding the mighty ship south, to drop off her "guests" somewhere where there would be a sandy beach... or more likely pebbles... finally something other than the cliffs she saw on all sides.
Since the end of their discussion last night, Colbert and Algérie had remained silent. They watched her hack into the blocks of nanomachines assembled by Rider... terrified of her ability to hack into Fog technology. In retrospect, Hakuno felt a pinch of regret. She had flaunted her abilities without thinking, forgetting that the nanomaterials collected were... part of the body of both Mental Models. Was this hacking like a... rape? Hakuno was very troubled by the thought. The young Master was especially conscious of good and evil. The Holy Grail War of Moon Cell forced her to make difficult, even cruel choices. Above all, an incident made him aware of his lack of understanding of human feelings.
Had she not made Rin cry by preferring the food cooked by Rani? Even Archer then criticized her for her insensitivity... Archer... the cold and sarcastic Archer had found that he had treated Rin harshly. Even though his servant had a soft spot for the quilted wizard, that didn't mean he was wrong.
If what people were doing for another person could have that much value, what they were doing had to have more value.
Only, she stood there contemplating Colbert and Algérie without daring to say a word. Hakuno was wringing his hands, unable to find the courage to go to them.
Rider's "mental voice" cut short his morose thoughts:
"Girlie, have you seen any mechanical birds following us?"
"You mean the drone?"
Hakuno glanced at the miniature plane that had accompanied them since the day before. It looked like a two-tailed, three-meter-wide model. The bow was fitted with various cameras and electronic equipment, while the propulsion was carried out at the rear by a contra-rotating propeller.
Rider immediately contradicts it:
"Look at 120!"
Two combat helicopters flew over the Crozon Peninsula. Hakuno displayed a zoomed view of the aircraft in a virtual window. These were well-armed craft with a turret-mounted high-velocity cannon, rocket baskets and four pylons carrying torpedoes... copies of Fog models. On the tail, the craft was struck by a blue-white-red cockade on which lay a navy anchor. Markings of the French Marine Nationale.
Hakuno's face showed no reaction. However, his hands squeezed tighter the railing around the kiosk. The Fog archives had taught him that since their defeat - ten years earlier- the French had been careful not to attack their enemy's ships. Most of their fleet lay on the bottom of the water and the survivors were a minor nuisance. However... the Marine Nationale had followed the confrontation of the day before. What did they think of her? Did they see her as a possible ally?
She leaned over the railing to address Algérie and Colbert:
- Do you still want a ride?
The two Mental Models had also seen the helicopters and suspected that they could no longer quietly reach the shore. They got together for a while, and then Colbert shook her head.
- No, I think we will stay on board until things have calmed down.
This clear point, Hakuno looked once again in the direction of the coast to discover a column of vehicles circulating on a road overlooking the near cliff. There were V.A.B. (troop carriers) covered with beautiful camouflage paintings, P-4 jeeps and some heavy mechas quite similar to four-legged crabs. On their backs, they carried high-caliber cannon. According to the sensors, there was no breathing or heat source at 37°C in these machines. Either they were remotely controlled, or they were equipped with a real A.I.!
Rider who perceived everything she perceived, called it by their mental bond:
"You think they'll attack us?"
Hakuno was astonished:
"Why would they attack us?"
"They're French" insisted Drake "They're cowards"
Hakuno blinked in disbelief. Rider did not contradict herself? As the latter felt her doubts, she continued:
"In any case, the French will never help an Englishwoman like me, they are our sworn enemies! Eh, kiddo! You really think French people would do better on the sea than English? Britannia rules the waves!"
Although Hakuno knew nothing of the old rivalry between these two peoples, she was far from convinced. Were the English really better sailors than the French? To ask the question to herself, it was to ask the question to the Moon Cell. The Regalia lit up on her finger before projecting several virtual windows with character lists, dates, and even movies.
Unlike England, which had a navy since the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, France owed the creation of its navy to Cardinal de Richelieu... nearly a millennium after the English.
However, the fame of the great admirals that the French had left to world history did not fade before that of the English. Jean duke of Estrées had conquered part of Dutch Guiana in only two months and with only ten ships. Abraham Duquesne, the greatest admiral in the history of France, defeated the Dutchman Ruyter (previously considered the greatest admiral of his time). As for the Marquis de Château-Renault was owed a great British defeat at the Battle of Bantry Bay, off the coast of Ireland. The knight of Tourville, contemporary of the previous, had done even better. Under his command the French fleet completely dominated the seas. The British admirals no longer dared to leave the port, inventing in passing the principle "of the fleet alive". The latter said that as long as a fleet could not win against an opponent, it had to avoid the fight until the situation was favorable to it... Principle still applied by the human marines against the Fog.
Hakuno quickly passed over the rest of the list: the Count of Toulouse; De Court; La Galissonnière; d'Orvilliers; d'Estaing; de Guiche; de Grasse; Suffren; Villaret de Joyeuse; Brueys; de Rigny...
Rider's master sighed while shaking her head. Why did her Servant despise the French? She didn't understand this kind of behavior. It reminded him of Shinji Matou... All the time demeaning others. No wonder he also got along with Drake. The fact remains that the a priori of her Servant rested on nothing.
The MN Surcouf had progressed well during this time, passing between the island of Sein and the point of the Raz, it was now advancing in Baie d'Audierne. Since the coast was less deep, the place was ideal for meeting the French. Finally, if she decided to go to them... Because this is the question: Should she contact these people? They seemed to be in desperate need of help, as all humans in this world were. However, what did Hakuno Kishinami really want?
Since waking up to the "first day" of her life a little over seven weeks ago, Hakuno had only reacted to circumstances. Her opponents, the places where she had fought, everything had been chosen by the Moon Cell.
She could run away from those shores.
Yes, she could have...
...
... ...
... ... ...
However, it was stupid. Hakuno Kishinami could not hope to face the Fog on his own.
She closed her eyes to focus on her mental bond:
"Rider, get us closer to the coast."
Hakuno almost heard Francis Drake's sigh of discontent:
"On your way to frog-eating country... Girlie, I can't believe you would want to talk to such barbarians!" "Barbarians?" said Hakuno. "Yes, they ride on the right side of the road, eat snails, and use the metric system instead of miles. This is barbaric!" Replied Rider.
Hakuno reflects for a moment, looking at some files displayed by the Regalia.
"But the only country that fits your definition of civilization is the United Kingdom!" "Yes!" Drake's answer was immediate and radiant.
Why did Hakuno expect anything else?
From his observatory, on top of a hill, the amiral Le Bihan could see the entire bay of Audierne. The blue water of the sea met the grey sand of the bank in a vast circular arc bounded to the south by the small town of Saint-Guénolé and to the north by the village of Audierne. Seagulls turned over the fusiliers marins that had just been deployed by the V.A.B. Some had assault rifles, others had light machine guns. Farther away from the front line, snipers hid in the fields surrounding the bay. As for the accompanying troop transports, they turned their remote machine guns and their grenade launchers towards a figure that slowly advanced towards them... as if walking on the surface of the waves.
Despite years of service, and his participation in the Great Battle against the Fog, Le Bihan had to fight against a strange unease.
The MN Surcouf floating in the middle of the bay as carefree 120mm guns pointed at him by the ten Clovis combat robots, or by the two helicopters that continued to watch him.
And there was the Mental Model of the Surcouf. She had just touched the ground right in front of him, without paying attention to the ten fusillers marins around her, wearing helmets in kevlar and gas masks. The humans pointed assault rifles at her, they had grenades, but they were the most nervous.
The most terrifying thing about the Fog Mental Models was... they were not scary.
Who would have been afraid of this teenager with long brown hair, dressed in a brown Japanese schoolgirl uniform?
Yet, during the night, it had swept away a fleet of war.
The senior officer took off his hat and reached out to the girl:
- I am admiral Le Bihan from the French's national navy.
She took his hand.
- Hakuno Kishinami.
The Bihan was surprised. The Mental Models always presented themselves under the name of the ship of which they were... what in fact? The central processor?
- You are the Mental Model of Surcouf ?
The teenager bowed her head sideways... The Bihan blinked surprised by this very cute gesture. Around him, the fusillers marins forgot to breathe. Some lowered their weapons, as if ashamed to aim her.
-... Yes?
The teen girl had just answered with the intonation of a question... as if she wasn't sure of the answer. Besides, Hakuno seemed uncomfortable, watching the sailors in arms around her.
The Bihan changed method:
- You are in command of the Surcouf?
Nod of the head.
- Are you a Mental Model?
The girl hesitated...
- Yes... but no...
The amiral Le Bihan sighed. Undoubtedly, he was moving forward, he had managed to get a three-word answer! The longest so far!
- And what are you apart of a Mental Model?
- An A.I. created by the Moon Cell.
The amiral Le Bihan sighed... again. Discussing with Hakuno Kishinami put his patience to the test. Not that the Mental Model refuses to answer but... its answers were usually limited to "yes" or "no" or even to a simple head movement. The Bihan massaged his temples:
- Let's sum up! You are an Artificial Intelligence program created by a supercomputer made up of photonic crystals from the recordings of two humans - a brother and a sister- who would have lived around 2030 on Earth. The computer, of extraterrestrial manufacture, would have been left on the Moon by unknown persons, several billion years ago... right?
- Yes... but on an alternative Earth...
The Bihan looked at the girl in disbelief.
- A... alternative earth?
- A parallel world, Hakuno said.
The admiral had to make an effort not to laugh at this series of ridiculous stories. Could the Mental Models be delirious?
- Let us suppose, Hakuno Kishinami, if you really call it that... what are you doing here?
The question was received with a new head tilt.
- I... don't know?
Le Bihan felt melted. She had told her story in a monotonous voice, without showing any emotion. Strangely, her behaviour did not seem "mechanical"... but rather like a person with sore sensibility through too many trials.
- You don't know?
- The Grail War had just come to an end. I was in the Moon Cell Main Core... and suddenly I became the Mental Model of the Surcouf.
- The Grail War?
When Hakuno finished explaining Master, Servant, Magecraft, Spiritron Hacker, Chimeric Lunar Seas and Grail War the majority of those present thought she was crazy. Of the few who were of a different opinion, most felt that she was simply making fun of them. The most open-minded people got dizzy when they realized... that they no longer understood anything about the world in which they were born. The presence of the Fog on Earth had been a shock to humans. Not only were they not alone in the universe, but they were far from being the most advanced... Nevertheless, compared to the Moon Cell, even the Fog Mental Models were only ants.
Le Bihan shortened the discussion, wishing Hakuno a good journey, and immediately undertook to leave with his escort. He was not far from sharing the opinion of the majority of his men, at least intellectually. Only his gut led him to believe the Mental Model... and that frightened him far more than her supposed madness. Magrecraft? Alien's supercomputer that can bend space and time? What sane human would want to approach something so terrifying, so foreign, so vast, so incomprehensible... that makes man feel so small?
North of Austrian Tirol is the Hohe Tauern Nationalpark, a national park committed to the preservation of wildlife. With the war ravaging Europe, the Fog blockade, no one cared more about this national park that was growing.
However, things had changed.
A simple gravimetric detector had measured a strange phenomenon. The aircraft was not complicated. A series of corridors dug into the rock over kilometres were covered by a laser beam continuously measuring the distance from one end to the other. As soon as a deformation of the space occurred - compressing or dilating by a few millimetres these long corridors - the comparison of the deformations between each corridor made it possible to triangulate the coordonates of the phenomenon.
Until then, only distant spatial phenomena (black holes, novae) or Fog technology had caused this detector to react. Only, the Fog's warships had never been seen in the Austrian Alps!
Ralph Steiner, a middle-aged Austrian archaeologist, shook hands with his Italian colleague, Pietro di Romelo. The latter had just got off a military vehicle and was looking at the prefabricated base built in record time. Greater than his endowment and the brown skin, di Romelo seemed like burning coals. He immediately spoke:
- So what did you find?
The Austrian is smiling.
- The soldiers who called us have located the origin of the signal here at the end of the Gschlöss valley. They used georadar to search for a cavity under the Grössvenediger massif.
Steiner handed his laptop to his colleague, leaning behind him he showed something on the screen.
- They found a cavity and you see here...
The Italian inspected what a non-specialist would not have identified as anything other than an impressionist painting.
- A differential settlement?
- Right. A tunnel filled, that was my opinion and it was confirmed, di Romelo. But before I go under the mountain, I would like you to give me your impression of what we found in the debris that was evacuated into the tunnel.
Steiner led his colleague to a tent. By the way, they crossed a perimeter where young archaeologists worked. They were sifting through the earth, searching for vestiges of the past.
Inside the canvas building, a succession of iron tables carried various objects: pottery fragments, wicker hoods, tools damaged by centuries of stays underground.
Di Romelo looked like a child on Christmas morning. He went from one table to another looking without touching but frequently nodding his head.
- This oil lamp is medieval. I would say 8th or 9th century.
Steiner approved the following:
- Based on carbon 14 dating, it is between 1200 and 1250 years old.
- So the corridor was filled in the Carolingian era?
- That is also my opinion, di Romelo. But you have not seen the most impressive.
The two archaeologists passed into the next tent, not without having been controlled by armed soldiers to the teeth.
On the floor was a double door, three meters high and two wide... smashed... The two parts door were made of a kind of black metal... or maybe a rock like obsidian... with gold motifs in diamond shapes. The whole thing looked scary.
- It was the doors that closed the top end of the access corridor. The military found it under the debris, Steiner said.
- In what material are they made?
- I asked the same question well... none on the periodic table of elements.
- Are you kidding, Steiner?
The Austrian archaeologist, annoyed:
- Do you think this is a joke? It is a material that changes the propagation of electromagnetic waves. In other words, a photonic crystal. What is more interesting is that the military tried to take a sample and did not even get rid of it.
The Italian looked for a moment at a big fish that had just been caught, opening and desperately closing his mouth to try to breathe. With his finger, he pointed to the door of black and gold crystal... in its center was a hole of the size of a human head. Around this point radiated fractures.
- Yes, men of the Middle Ages opened it. And you saw the traces of fusion around the hole? According to the military, only an energy weapon could do this kind of damage. Pietro di Romelo was swimming in science fiction... It may have been Daniel Jackson's daily in Stargate, but the Italian was not a television show's archaeologist, or Indiana Jones, let alone Lara Croft.
The two archaeologists descended the long tunnel dug by unknown means that was sinking far under the Grössvenediger. The military had installed electric headlamps powered by cables, providing enough light to see in front of them. After having passed a second door similar to the one above, Pietro di Romelo opened his mouth wide by discovering a landscape... extraterrestrial!
The vast cavern was invaded by monoliths, usually leaning, built in the same material as the doors. They wore gold patterns similar to printed circuit boards. Soldiers and scientists were walking over an elevated passage that zigzagged between the monoliths.
- What the hell is that?
Steiner shrugged his shoulders when he heard the Italian question.
- A machine... in operation. Maybe some kind of computer or detector. All we know is that the signal we received yesterday... the one that brought us here... was its activation.
- When did all this start?
- We cannot date the crystal, di Romelo, but we have found some organic debris. The oldest sample dates are around -10,000 BC. Humans have come before us twice. Oil lamps and torches were found. Some were from around the year 800 and others from the end of the fourth century. But look at this.
As they spoke, they had continued on their way and had just passed the technicians who had installed measuring devices between the crystal monoliths. Coming out of the forest of sinister black and gold crystal twinning, di Romelo discovered a wall sculpted in relief, covering the entire wall of the back, perhaps ten meters high.
The central pattern looked like a comet crossing the sky. The artist who had sculpted it had given it the appearance of a crystal star radiating with a single, vertical eye that radiated literally evil. While the whole wall was of yellow stone, only the eye was colored with a red and green iris, surrounded by white.
On the left was a humanoid character, his hands had long fingers and a hole in the palm where a cube appeared. Similarly, the center of the chest was empty, occupied by a larger cube.
The face of the creature reflected a pathetic despair. The mouth was opened on a cry or a supplication, the hands extended in a gesture of supplication towards the evil comet.
The last character in the fresco was on the far right. Much smaller than the other two, it stood on top of a rocky ridge that allowed it to be at the height of the titan. It was a woman wearing armor over a dress, the face showed great nobility, and the hair was gathered in a mat wrapped around the back of the head and held by a ribbon. She held with both hands a sword whose blade shone.
Under the evil comet, between the two characters, they could see a text. Archaeologists were putting together a scaffold so they could look at it more closely.
- Fantastic, murmured di Romelo, how old is this fresco?
- Around twelve thousand years old, it is contemporary with the photonic crystal machine.
Di Romelo was a specialist in pictorial interpretation. He was obviously very impressed.
- Steiner, do you know that etymologically the word "disaster" comes from astra the Latin for "star"? When the men of the past saw comets, they fell, believing in the end of the world. Myths of this kind can be found in all ancient civilizations. The Celts feared only that "the sky would fall on their heads". The ancient Greeks told the story of Phaeton, a body of fire that had come too close to the Earth, burning it and then causing the biblical Flood. All these legends have a common origin.
With his finger, di Romelo pointed to the central figure of the evil star.
- And I think that's it!
Steiner nodded his head and spoke again:
- Do you know the Drona Parva? It is part of this long Indian epic poem know as the Mahâbhârata. There is a description that reminds me of this evil star:" Once he was attacked by Valadeva, Jarasandha, caught in wrath, threw upon us, to destroy us, a projectile capable of killing all the creatures of the Earth. Casting a bright light, this mass of fire split the firmament in two; as a line separates the hair on the head. When he saw the flamboyant object, the Son of Rohimi threw the weapon called Sthunakarma against it; and this weapon destroyed the power of the opposing projectile, which fell to the earth and split it causing the mountains to tremble." According to some, these writings recount a conflict between the gods and date back thousands of years before our era. Maybe we just found some evidence...
Di Romelo had a worried smile.
- I remind you that we discovered this place because the machines that had been asleep for twelve thousand years had woken up.
They say that some words call unhappiness...
Steiner wanted to replicate, but the monoliths of black crystal around them began to pulsate. The technicians recoiled and stunned. However, the worst was yet to come. On a corner of the archaeologist observation platform appeared a complicated pentacle: a double circle enclosing a six-pointed star and many symbols. He began to emit some light. Black photonic crystal cubes and purple particles agglomerated to form a translucent human silhouette that quickly acquired the appearance of a thin young woman.
She has red eyes and white, veil-like hair, under an actual white veil. Her body is carved with lines of white tattoos which stood out on her brown skin.
Steiner and di Romelo opened wide eyes. The latter resumed as quickly as possible. He turned to the representation of the titan, on the fresco... the same tattoos, the same veil... worse... the same face!
Without showing any emotion, the strange woman with brown skin reached out and an object appeared in her palm... a kind of sword whose blade resembled a rainbow. She pointed it at the two researchers.
- I am Altera, Velber's envoy. I seek the inheritor of the Moon, Hakuno Kishinami. Tell me where to find her if you want to live.
Di Romelo opened his mouth but without being able to say anything, his mind was still trying to understand what was happening. Ralph Steiner could only balk:
- Velber?
Altera showed the central figure of the fresco:
- Velber, the star of destruction that returns every twelve thousand years to the solar system.
The Austrian soldiers, recovered from the shock, converged on the intruder and Altera confronted them:
- Bad civilization!
It wasn't a fight... are we fighting the ants? No, even that comparison could not make us understand the difference in the forces present.
In less than two minutes, all the soldiers were lying on the ground. None had managed to touch Altera.
- Hakuno Kishinami, the Sovereign of the Moon Cell? Where is she?
Author note: Yet another chapter longer and more complicated than the previous ones... and yet, each time, I tell myself that I will write more simply in order to avoid spending an entire day on translation.
Those who know the Extraverse well must have understood where the last scene takes place; I wouldn't want to deprive you of the pleasure of speculating. Note however that the Altera of this universe has a slightly different past than the one you know. We're in another universe after all, so the places have been modified to take that into account.
