xirons20 & nyanmato: I answer you together even though your comments are opposite. One liked, the other hated... It is impossible to write a story that everyone likes. I am not stupid enough to try. But I still want to write a story. This one requires construction and development. I'm trying to change the styles as the story unfolds and for the sake of the story.
Akasha Bloodriver : Thank. I really love Altera a cute and sweet... juggernaut of destruction!
Old Friends, New Alliance
The MN Surcouf sailed on the surface off Wright Island. The waves of the bow broke into foam as the submarine swung eastward. The waters of the English Channel were free of ships and the sky covered with grey clouds did not indicate the presence of planes... except that two stealth drones followed the rebel submersible. One of them had been following the warship since the day before. The second came from the north, before taking off from any land belonging to the Royal Navy.
The command post of the Surcouf was installed in a dome-shaped room. Three horseshoe-shaped workstations followed the circular contour of the room. In the center of each of them, surrounded by consoles and screens, there was a chair waiting for a crew member... In fact, only the helmsman's post was occupied
With his boots crossed on the console, Drake looked away from the main screen, covering most of the dome. There were two patrols of the Fog within radar range. One seemed to open the road to the Surcouf, while the second followed them while maintaining the distance.
The battle against MN Algérie and MN Colbert had seriously impressed the Fog. Since the day before, all the warships of this strange entity have been kept at bay.
Rider stretched like a cat before flipping his head to consider his Master:
- So, have you decided what to do with our prisoners?
Francis Drake spoke of course of the Mental Model Colbert and Algérie. Both girls were kept for now in an empty room. Hakuno Kishinami had already answered the question several times... simply wanting to return them to the Fog. But Drake pretended not to hear... the idea seemed crazy to him. His Master had some strange ideas. For her, the war stopped when people could no longer fight. Obviously, she didn't understand anything... The most interesting stage (looting) began once the last shot was fired. And the prisoners were booty like any other. The pirates had always held officers and passengers in ransom. Drake was saddened that his Master broke this well-established tradition... She felt very traditionalist on some issues. Weird, isn't it?
In the middle of the command post, there was a simple chair on a circular platform. There were no consoles or screens. The commander of the Surcouf was one with his ship. At first glance, however, she was not impressive. She was a frail young teen-girl with a brown schoolgirl outfit on top of a black turtleneck and black pantyhose. Her long brown hair was cut in fringe above her similarly brown eyes.
However, around her appeared and disappeared screens showing movies or still images, graphs, and calculations. She was Hakuno Kishinami, the sovereign of the Moon Cell, inheritor of the moon, victor of the Moon Cell's Holy Grail War.
Drake's question made her blink. Hakuno leaned her head to the side and looked at her Servant with bright eyes:
- We land them in England.
Drake sighed... Turning her Master into a true pirate would still require a lot of effort! Fortunately, Rider had at least managed to convince Hakuno that the French had as much brain as the snails they loved (yuck!).
Rider was about to speak again when she realized that several virtual screens around Hakuno had turned red.
The Master appeared troubled, pinning on her heart the hand decorated with Regalia. As Hakuno's expression showed a strong concern, Drake found himself by his side... without remembering to have stood:
- Master, what's going on?
Hakuno concentrated and pointed to the central screen of the hand. The British Channel map was gone. In its place, one could see the last twitches of a row battle...
Attila the Hun vs Iskandar and Darius III, nothing but that!
Drake watched the confrontation and saw Velber's envoy crush the two heroes with an ease that spoke volumes about her power.
- What am I to do? Say Hakuno turning her limpid eyes to her Servant.
Francis Drake felt something move in her chest and looked away. How the hell did her Master look so innocent? She coughed into her fist to make herself look good and turned around:
- First, we need to call for reinforcements. Regalia can allow you to invoke help without even having to trace a pentacle or recite a formula.
Hakuno turned his head towards Drake. As often happened, his face had returned to an almost total lack of emotion. The winner of the Holy Grail War would make a fortune as a poker player. She seemed incapable of showing her emotions... except during brief impulses as brutal as a mountain torrent inflated by the collapse of a glacier.
- Can I summon whoever I want? Asked Hakuno.
- I guess you can only summon a hero from the Moon Cell... a hero you know.
Hakuno meditated on the answer and then nodded his head. Leaving his chair, the Master gained a free space. As she raised her hand, the Regalia shone on her finger, drawing a pentacle of blue light on the metal floor.
It was a landscape of sand, with waves. Mineral ocean formed of dunes softly stirred by a tired wind that shattered its grains under a veiled sky of fumes. Everywhere swords, swordfish, cemeteries, katanas, rapiers and a thousand other kinds of sharp weapons emerged from the gangue of sand.
There was no sun or moon in this strange universe, but huge, rusty gears kept spinning.
A mechanical, mineral, dead world.
A Reality Marble who embodies the internal world of a Magus and imprint him upon the world as a Bonded Field. It's name? Unlimited Blade Works: Infinite Creations of Swords, the Noble Phantasm of a tragic Heroic Spirit...
The sand sprayed under the black boots reinforced with metal parts.
A pan of red clothing snapped in the wind.
He had never known defeat.
Standing on top of a dune covered in swords.
Yet his hands had never held a blade.
The tall, tanned figure turned a silver gaze to the sky. A strange smile appeared on her lips. One read mockery and affection in his eyes:
- Would I ever get rid of you, Master?
- Come to me, Nameless!
There was an explosion of light above the pentacle. A spectral silhouette appeared to emerge from the ground, gradually taking on a material form: A tall man with white hair and silver eyes, and tanned skin color. He wears a black body armor (a Mystical Code) with white accents, made from a high tech Kevlar-like material. His signature red coat is a holy shroud tied with an agemaki knot covered by a silver plate.
Nameless smashed Rider with a sardonic smile before his expression softened at the sight of the little girl who looked at him with her huge brown eyes:
- Are you my Master?
Hakuno stood up; tears filled her eyes and she shouted in a voice cracked by emotion:
- Yes I am!
Namless reached out one hand, wiping Hakuno's tears in a gentle gesture:
- I am the Servant Archer. Once again, I will lead you to victory, Master!
10 Downing Street is one of the most known addresses in the word. Most Englishmen simply says "Number 10" when speaking of the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His famous black door appeared in many government speeches, since - traditionally, the government spokesman responded to journalists with his back to it.
Number 10 is near Buckingham Palace, London residence of the British Monarch, and the Palace of Westminster meeting place of both English parliament (The House of Lords and the House of Commons).
The meeting was relatively quiet.
Crossing the roadblocks of policemen who filtered the visitors, two individuals were introduced into the residence of the Prime Minister. They couldn't seem any different from each other. The first was a Japanese man of high height and heavily robust silhouette, wrapped in a top. His bearded, rough face was stricken with a scar. He also wore dark glasses that completely obscured his eyes.
The man was escorting a lovely little girl. Protected by an umbrella, her blond hair carefully concealed by a capelin, she dressed in a Victorian dress embellished with ribbons and embroidery.
They were taken to a small living room on the second floor. English furniture, sofa and armchairs, covered with a canvas with floral motifs, surrounded a coffee table in waxed wood. The fine red striped blue wallpaper saw a comfortable gallery of painted portraits and photographs. An ancient clock tickled with the gravity of a long tradition.
At their entrance a young man stood up. His hair was blond, squared, and his eyes as green as emerald. He smiled at them and took a few steps to meet them. Behind him, a man with a pale face and long black hair, dressed in a dark coat with a neck covered with feathers, followed him like a sinister shadow.
The blond man shook the Japanese's hand:
- Welcome, Shozo Chihaya, co-commander of the Scarlet Fleet.
Shozo Shihaya had been the best officer in the Japanese Fleet, took over the I-401 and... disappeared. The vessel had returned to Japan without her crew. Two years earlier, a drone had filmed Shozo Chihaya alive and well on the deck of a Fog ship, surrounded by his men. Since then he was considered a traitor.
While the co-commander of the Scarlet Fleet - the Fog fleet in charge of controlling the coasts of Europe- sat in the chair he was presented with, the blond man smiled at the little girl.
- And welcome flagship Musashi, also co-commander of the Scarlet Fleet.
The little girl smiles, slightly lifting her dress in reverence.
- We are pleased to respond to your invitation, Prime Minister Harvey.
Leonardo Bistario Harwey smiled and turned to point with one hand to the man standing behind him:
- Allow me to introduce my half-brother Julius Belkisk Harwey.
As the quartet sat around the round table, Shozo Chihaya and Leonardo B. Harwey discussed unimportant matters while silent servants served tea. When the latter withdrew, Leo smiled:
- So let's really start. You're here to make a proposal. Do, I'm prepared to listen to it.
Shozo Chihaya stood up and took a look at Musashi. The Mental Model was fondling a cat who had come to join her with a purr. She answered the implicit question with a simple chin movement. The Japanese officer turned to Leo:
- Mr Prime Minister, first of all I would like to thank you for having us.
Leo smiles:
- A statesman must listen, even to his enemies, to command. Perhaps even especially to his enemies. Quite often the opposition is born of misunderstanding. Talking to each other is the first step toward resolving any dispute.
- A wise remark, Prime Minister. The first thing I want you to understand is that the Fog is not the enemy of humanity.
Leo's eyes hugged:
- I accept what you have to say, Mr Chihaya. Nevertheless, the fact is that the Fog has not been friendly at the moment. Is it too much to ask to explain this contradiction?
Shozo Chihaya remained impassive, seeming to fix the young blond man behind his dark glasses:
- The Fog is made up of warships. Violence is its normal reaction. Nevertheless, the primary aggression is man: pollution; global warming; overpopulation... this kind of thing endangers the survival of the planet. The Fog decided to react in accordance with the Admiralty Code, removing the cause of the imbalance.
Leaning forward, Shozo Chihaya put his hands on the table:
- But as you must have noticed, there have been major changes in the last 48 hours.
- Of course, Leo replied calmly.
The young man turned to take the cardboard shirt that Julius- standing behind his chair- handed him. He drew photographs which he displayed in front of his interlocutor:
- Hakuno Kishinami, from the "Moon Cell", Altera... or shall I say Attila, the king of the Huns? The envoy of "Velber". Unknown alien entities have just invited themselves to Earth. If the Moon Cell has been portrayed as harmless by Miss Kishinami... if we can rely on her, at least, Velber would be a monstrosity that plunders the worlds and has already ravaged the Earth, twelve thousand years ago. Let us add Alexander the Great (or "Iskandar") and Darius III, two great kings... it seems he brought back to life by the Moon Cell to fight Altera and defeated by her. Are these the changes you're talking about, commander?
Insensitive to the bitter irony of the young blond man, Shozo Chihaya merely nodded slowly:
- We do not have much time to discuss this, Prime Minister. As we speak, the world is shaken by successive shocks that threaten its stability and very survival. So I'll get to the point. The United Kingdom is an archipelago. Cut off from the mainland by the Fog blockade, the economy was devastated. Unemployment, industrial collapse, malnutrition are the lot of the population. The Fog proposes an alliance. We cannot do without humans. You need industrial and food assistance that we will provide in return.
Leo squared himself in his chair, taking a thoughtful look. He was not surprised; in fact he was expecting this proposal.
- Okay, I'm personally in favor. I'm in charge of convincing both houses of the parliament and the king.
Hakuno Kishinami looked around with surprise. A moment earlier, she was talking with Archer and Rider and... now she was there. An empty and white space extending to infinity that seemed to be a virtual reconstruction... Hakuno was used enough to the digital spaces to recognize it at first glance. Especially since the quality of this cyberspace could not be compared to the Seraph. It looked like an old picture with thick grain and bright colors.
As she turned her head to spot herself, Hakuno saw a sort of kiosk. A wrought iron garden table was set up in the centre with two fitted chairs. A young woman with long black hair, decorated with a ribbon as white as her dress, sat there, drinking tea. She raised beautiful purple eyes to Hakuno and smiled:
- Come here, I want to talk to you.
Hakuno hesitated slightly, then displayed a determined face before pulling the chair and sitting. She had not let go of the one on the other side of the table. The face of her hostess was not unknown to her... No, Kishinami had never met her but the Victor of Grail War had inherited all the memory banks of the Surcouf.
- You are the Suprem Flagship Yamato.
- Yes I am, Hakuno Kishinami. We're in a virtual space hosted by one of the Fog ships... It's a private chat room. With a little practice, you can imagine tea, coffee, cupcakes to brighten up the discussions. Try it!
The teenage girl in the brown uniform focused on the memory of the tea that Archer used to serve her in "My Room" when they returned from training at the Arena. The teapot given to them by Taiga Fujimura appeared as if by magic, filled with a steaming liquid, next to one of the cups that accompanied it. She served herself, and acquiesced... Kishinami did not doubt that the tea was reconstituted according to her memories, because the taste was identical to that which her Servant had brewed.
- Good!
Hakuno looked at Yamato, who smiled softly:
- Hakuno Kishinami what do you know about Velber?
Making a gesture of the hand, she brought up a virtual screen which displayed a film shot by archaeologists who had opened the ancient crypt in the Austrian Alps. One could see a fresco whose central element was a radiant star with a single eye.
Hakuno looked at the Regalia on her finger. The Moon Cell reacted to the question by creating a series of virtual screens. Some showed images, others texts.
As a superior A.I. Yamato could divide her attention among many topics of attention, she looked and read, understanding the real danger represented by the entity faster than a human could have done. Her beautiful face froze under the effect of worry.
The Moon cell gave precise and detailed information about the plague that had just appeared on Earth.
Velber or Umbral Star, also known as Harvest Star is a predatory entity. It travels the galaxy and when it detects sentient life, it creates Anti-Cells (self-made invasion weapons like Altera) for destroy them and devour their knowledge. Velber have a central core surrounded by layers of armor and numerous "Ark of the stars", individual space vessels for the transportation of the Anti-Cells.
- Hakuno Kishinami, do you understand that Altera has come after you? That she is trying to seize the Regalia?
The Inheritor of the Moon nodded with a sad look. Yamato was annoyed by her guest's lack of responsiveness. Hakuno restrained herself to hold her ring-adorned hand against her chest, seeming to reflect... and doubt. She eventually raised her head. The face showed uncertainty, but a flame burned in her large brown eyes:
- Sorry?
Yamato has sighed:
- I don't need your apologies. I'm asking what you're willing to do to protect this world that you put in danger.
The victor of the Moon Grail War knew the right answer:
- I fight.
