Shirou POV
He was in pain, his circuits burned, he had a fever and again, he was unconscious inside his own mind. The young Emiya found himself again inside his reality marble, walking on the endless green plains with swords, suddenly, he looked again at the hill, there he found again, his most precious blades, and an empty space on the top.
Suddenly the landscape changed, he saw four giants, four shadows on the horizon, his swords started to rust, the eternal day started to reach twilight, it was starting to get dark, in front of him, a shadow of corruption, a shadow of carnage, a shadow of lust, a shadow of pestilence, they surrounded him, suddenly he did see a gate behind him, a gate to a vast beautiful garden, beyond the hill of swords. He was what was standing between utopia and the shadows, but he was small, and suddenly he did see the body of countless beings, he somehow knew, they were fallen gods that fell to the shadows, their children now defenseless and abandoned.
A single being emerged from the bodies, a giant with tanned skin and long black hair, with a stone look on his eyes, clad in golden armor, lifting into the sky a sword of fire, like a small candle in a vast dark room, a single beacon of light into darkness, with a swing of his sword, he made the giants step back. The giant turned to Shirou, he looked at him.
Suddenly, the landscape changes, he is not watching his usual hill again, his swords are impaling countless people, humans with carapace armor and an aquila symbol, green men, men that look like elves, countless species. The sky now was at night, and the moon got red, leaking blood, that started to flood. The giant in golden armor sit on top of a throne of skulls, his eyes crying blood, his right hand point it´s finger at Shirou, and a giant parchment floating into the air appear between them, the parchment is a source of light, but suddenly, blood start to leak from the words. And mixed with the blood tears of the giant and the blood from the parchment start to drown Shirou.
"No… There must be another way, NOOOOOOO!" Shirou screams, and hears a familiar voice.
"...That's why I wanted to change the past Shirou... I could not stand the blood…" Saber says.
The image of the emperor suddenly is replaced with Kiritsugu, on the same throne, crying blood tears, he starts to rot, the curse of the grail is killing him. The emperor and kiritsugu swap places, each time one of them seems more and more rotten, in the throne of death.
"Can you look forward to Shirou? Can you let the past go too?" Saber asks with a sad voice.
Shirou wakes up, he is on some sort of medical bay, a very futuristic one,over a medical bed, he sees the mercenary commander, and Burk, both wave at him.
"You gave us a big scare kiddo." Says Burk
"That was something amazing about the battle kid. Your own world? I never heard about someone doing something like that… Even the most scary psykers, not even in stories. Anyway"" Says the commander with a suspicious look towards Shirou.
"How do you feel?" Asks Burk
"I feel hungry, tired… And I think it will take a while for me to be able to use my reality marble like that again… I almost fried my magical circuits, and it will take a while to repair and heal them. Even my magecraft will be limited for a while." Shirou says apologetically
"I already found the room with the stasis pods, it's huge, we need to find my Son and awake him. Besides that, the warp drive… It needs to be fixed, it will eventually blow up if it's not, it would take a few years through, probably if i had not met you, the ship would be gone and i would arrive too late to meet my son, if i were to fix my transporter by myself, thank you, but i still will need your help. The rescue of my son is assured but these people's hopes of a better future outside Terra depend on the big ships being fixed." Burke says.
"...I will see what I can do, old man. Just can´t make promises. Well i´m happy that your son might be rescued in time. " Says Shirou.
"We found the worm that the monster used to board here, we filled it with melta bombs and plasma bombs, the thing swallowed all, then we detached it from the hull cutting it with lasgun fire, and detonated it on space, it was assuring see the thing turn to kept a few specimens and tissue to dissect and study, but put the rest on the flamer, just for safety." The mercenary commander says.
"I hope this is not the start of a war with aliens…" Shirou says, and cringe.
"I would not hold my breath…" Says Burk
After a few hours, Shirou rest, using the time to meditate and repair his circuits, rest and eventually, help with the repairs and exploration of the ship again, when in a meeting on the now discovered, command bridge, something happened when Burk tried to contact Mara vox and tell her he is alive.
"Honey, it's me, we are almost reaching our son, how are things down there?" Burke asks
"...T-The empire… They are here, they kno…" Mara says but it´s interrupted by a giant armored man that appear on the screen, it's impossible to not recognize, it's a adeptus custodes, by his side, a man wearing noble outfit, seemingly a aristocrat from the current ruling body of the empire, he speaks.
"Sorry for interrupting the private talk, but I will be short. Deliver the psyker to the Imperial Authorities as soon as possible, we already tracked the location of this… Fleet, we want a peaceful resolution to that right? I'm sure you want to make a proper family reunion when this is over." The noble left the message in the air, but it's obvious, Mara it´s a unofficial hostage, he just don´t make it obvious.
Burk freezes, he and everyone on the command bridge look at Shirou, it becomes obvious that even with the kid weakened, the chances of them getting him, even more now that he heard all talk and is aware, are low, the noble look at Shirou through the screen and smirk.
"So… This is the psyker kid? Not sure why Malcador bothered with him, it's a runt." The noble speaks, the Custodes put the hand on his shoulder and look at the noble in silence, clearly not satisfied with the noble "diplomatic skills".
The noble freezes, Shirou goes to the center of the screen, so he can talk properly with the imperials, as everyone opens a path to him.
"...I´m not to be executed, vivissected or worse, but I want this situation to end on good terms for everyone. What about a deal?" Shirou proposes.
"...A deal? Don´t you get the upper hand here? We have the woman, we have your location and we have Adeptus Custodes on the way, there´s no negotiation, we will just take what we demand, and you decide if it will be the easy way, or the hard way." The noble says, the Custodes facepalm, regretting letting the man be the empire representative.
"So your custodes might find the ship missing, and the capital of the empire suddenly becomes a nice testing range for the weapons for the age of technology. We still have not tested all the arsenal on this small fleet, they seem to have an amazing range and precision… I´m sure your custodes are equipped to intercept that, right?" Shirou bluffs, the ship is almost fully repaired, it was in good condition even before they arrived, but no way they can already operate the weapons, or they would do something like that, Shirou was not that ruthless, but the noble didn't need to know that.
The noble freezes, suddenly he gets red with rage, but before he can lash out at Shirou, he is knocked out by the custodes that backhand him, sending him flying, he takes out his helmet, and signs.
"...Are you sure you want to play like that kid? We are talking about genocide here…" Says the bald man.
"...Are you sure you want to play like that? You are talking about taking civilians hostage and vivisect a child." Jabs Shirou back.
There's silence, then suddenly the man bursts laughing loudly, he even starts to form tears on his eyes, the gall of the kid and his thought process, it amuses the Custodes.
"...Alright, I like you kid, the name is Constantin Valdor, i´m the Captain General of the Adeptus Custodes, the personal guard of the Emperor of Mankind. I will entertain you, what can you offer us that would sweeten the deal and make it viable?" Says the Custodes
"Once I repair this ship,I can make it work like it was in the age of technology, or close enough, with my own resources. You will spare decades, maybe centuries of research, and will get a better result on the repair. You will get one of the battleships, fully operational, and one of the grand cruisers. On top of that, if you give me some time… I will deal with the Udug Hul by myself, by my own means. I heard some rumors about them, that i need to confirm, if they are right, i might be able to deal with the entire situation, and spare you resources, lives and time." Shirou says confidently, more than half of it was bullshit bluff, he could try, but had no guarantee it would work.
"I still can't have you fall into enemy hands, and I still need to access the threat you represent, you know that?" Says Constantin.
"You can let some of your guys with me, i´d appreciate the help, and I will meet you guys personally, just give me your word I won´t be a prisoner, or a guinea pig." Says Shirou.
"Guinea Pig… Not many people remember what pigs are, let alone that slang… And you seem to be very trusting? What stops me from turning on you?" Says Constantin
"I'm a brat from the second millenia…" Says Shirou, everyone gasps, including Valdor, the kid continues. "...I wonder if your Immortal Emperor guy still remembers the times? Fun times..." Constantin eyes squint and Shirou continues again. "...And I believe to be a good judge of character, or at least that you care about your military order reputation."
"...I see… The terms are… Acceptable. I will inform my strike team, they will stay with you, and I will send some specialists to help you on your endeavors. Some members of Terawatt Clan will be delighted to inspect a "sacred ship" from the age of technology." Says Constantin.
"...Ask them to be polite, we will be coworkers, nothing else." Says Shirou, which prompts Constantin to burst laughing again.
"Alright, alright… Are you sure you don't want to join us? The training is gruesome, but it's an important duty. Your life and actions would really the big scheme"" Says Valdor
"Sorry, I already have a dream I want to fulfill." Says Shirou.
"What would that dream be?" Asks Valdor.
"Become a hero of justice." Says Shirou, with a straight face, obviously, Constantin Valdor burst laughing again, but he nods, it's a very childish dream, at least the kid has not lost all his innocence, he tought.
The golden drop ships arrive and land on the hangar, the custodes, tech priests and navy personnel disembark and meet with Burk and Shirou.
"My name is Diocletian Coros, prefect of hykanatoi, of the Custodian Guard." Says the Custodes.
"Shirou… Alright, can I call you Dio?" Says Shirou, trying not to laugh at his reference.
"...No." Says the man, feeling that there was a joke inbound.
Author's note: Reference to Tenacious D - Dio
They introduce everyone and start the work on the ship, eventually, Shirou and the tech priests, who looked to him like creepy cyborgs, a mix of and edgy cultists, but he would not voice that, yet. The day would still be long and stressful he feels, as they approach the Warp drive.
