(Chaldea)
"So, about your apprentice," Nobunaga started after the meeting was officially adjourned.
"No, in the first place Hagane is just someone I taught incidentally. After all, I actually work on Mystic Codes, not guns," Shirou corrected the Archer. "Obviously da Vinci thinks Mystic Code guns are better, but are they really guns or just gun-shaped wands?"
"I wasn't asking about that specifically, but what do Mystic Code guns do differently?"
"Bypass a number of physical requirements, cast certain spells, it all works by using magical energy so they're fairly useless without magical circuits. They're not that revolutionary when you remember that spells exist in the first place."
"But if you were going to use a wand, why not make it a gun-wand? I mean it isn't as though humans weren't attaching guns or lanterns to everything in the first place."
"... you know I hadn't thought of it that way."
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(Detroit, Michigan)
"Halt ! The town is closed to entry without military identification." The sentry's affiliation as one of the Celtic Redshirts was made clear by the prominent red armband and obviously Celtic clothes.
"But I live here," Marie tried insisting boldfacedly.
"I'm sure you did, but this town has been designated as a Fortress by order of Queen Medb herself, so civilians are not allowed in." The soldier sounded somewhat apologetic, probably assuming Marie to have been one of those who evacuated the town around the time it had been taken by the Celts.
"But there are no fortifications in sight beyond the palisade behind you," Artoria pointed out.
"Uh, well that's because Fort Detroit is... look, just return to wherever you left to. Word is that the Americans are marching up and the town will soon become a battlefield."
"We don't want to cause any trouble. Come on, let's just return like he said," d'Eon quickly acted as it seemed several other soldiers were coming out of the nearby makeshift guardhouse. Probably just to spectate, but anything could happen.
"Right. Well I hope my house will still be here," Marie pouted.
"We'll try to take good care of it."
(Campsite)
"I suppose they are using the town as a logistics and maybe communications node," d'Eon shared his thoughts on the town they had been chased away from. "Though it wouldn't be surprising if they had to choose where to dig in and are currently focusing such work on the fort he mentioned."
"Hmm, the famous Fort Detroit, is it?" Sasaku replied when Gudao asked her for a historical comparison. "Well, it normally would have been lost to the British, yes. But in this case, apparently Medb deliberately chose to leave Redshirts to defend the area. I suppose it's like the Dictator thought."
"You might be wrong there," d'Eon shook his head. "Recall that the areas north of here are part of the Queendom proper, so if anything these Redshirts are probably locals who were assigned to defend these new holdings, rather than expeditionary groups from across the ocean."
"Aren't Redshirts regular military though? The soldiers coming out didn't look like militia to me," Jeanne asked.
"Yes they are, but they are drawn from all over the Queendom. Thus, you can see why regulars drawn from these areas were never sent overseas because they were already conveniently located 'overseas' so to speak. Hmm, it seems they were anticipating a major counterattack that never arrived. Still, nothing really prevents us from going around the town and fort, then continuing until we can meet some civilians who will be more talkative."
"Hmm." Gudao studied a map of the local area. "We should be able to set out early tomorrow and reach this town with a good amount of light left. How about it?"
Artoria gauged the distance mentally. "Seems doable."
(Amherstburg, Ontario)
"Why, ever since the Queen's intervention, our trade has never been disrupted," the merchant said cheerily in response to Marie's question. "In fact, I hear there's good money to be made if one can win a supply contract for the military but alas I'm too small-time for that. Here's your flour."
"The prices sure are more reasonable than in the south," Elizabeth commented blithely.
"South? Ah, so you left the land of the separatists. Word is that the shortages there are of their own making; after all, they're preparing another invasion force, you know? Still, areas with water between us and them are safe, thanks to the Queen's navy."
"Wouldn't they be more concerned with what is happening down near Washington?" Jeanne asked, taking the small sack of flour that they were buying. Of course it was necessary to pay for it in a more universal currency than American dollars. Which is to say, gold by weight.
"I'm not particularly current on those events. All I know is that shipping back to the mainland is more expensive since all the hauling contracts are being taken up by the government. Ah, but we're not dependent on that trade for necessities, in fact some food items are probably cheaper since we can't send them over as easily."
(Evening Camp)
"So Medb was talking up the threat of a counterattack, but she's recently been pulling all her non-local forces back towards the coastal garrisons," Gudao frowned. "That and the merchant shipping situation suggests she intends to strike. Presumably Washington."
"Since she hasn't been here for some time, does that mean she returned to the mainland and was just waiting there?" Marie wondered.
"There isn't anything newsworthy here though," d'Eon pointed out. "The troop movements and ship hiring patterns were reported in Washington before we left."
"We should return to Washington, since that seems to be the main quest hub of the Singularity. Or would the more daring option of trying to sail to Britain be a better choice?" Elizabeth suggested.
"Hmm, that's actually a realistic possibility using a ship like the one Blackbeard has," Gudako considered the suggestion seriously. "Let's get a line to Chaldea and ask them to prepare a swap. I'm sure he'll be happy to drop his, uh, whatever it is, to get in on this."
"I can get a magic circle ready, but I'd hold off on the swap unless we're sure that it wouldn't be better to try and get standard ship passage instead, since doing that summon without the leyline support would need a Command Spell," Sasaku said while getting ready for the task.
"The (Queen Anne's Revenge) would be much faster though since it doesn't have to obey the usual rules of sailing," Gudao pointed out. "Though it would burn a lot of magical energy on top of the summoning. Let's see what everyone back home thinks about it."
"... so that's the situation," Scathach summed up the events at Washington after being called. "I've already informed Chaldea, of course. I'll link us up in a moment."
...
"da Vinci here," the Rider was the first to speak up after the connection was established. "I must say, Medb's moves were unexpected."
"Your friendly Dictator must be in quite a quandary," the resident naval expert Blackbeard sounded almost in awe. "His defensive preparations must seem very foolish now that the Celts are blitzing through all the port settlements."
"We must have been traveling northward right as they were taking all this ground," Marie realized. "Word just didn't reach the interior roads we were using before we left it for the Celtic occupation zone."
"Medb must be using her Servants to quickly assault and take over all these places. Even if they weren't fortified like what Maginot had suggested, amphibious operations are far from easy in this era. For humans," Jeanne considered the timeline with a frown.
"Yes, probably just dispatched the Servants to quickly subdue any militia garrison and then dock a ship with regular soldiers to occupy it." Artoria agreed. "That certainly is making the most use of these 'Braves' which everyone seems to fear."
"Trying to take back those ports... probably wouldn't solve anything, would it now?" Gudao voiced and dismissed the most direct response possible.
"It's like a timed quest, shouldn't we try to head southward and catch Medb deploying her Braves and then take them in a Servant-based battle?" Elizabeth eagerly suggested.
"I would agree," Nobunaga, who was present for the call, agreed quickly. "The Queendom's big advantage is the use of Servants, which the American side does not have a response to."
"Obviously this means we'd be taking a side though," Martha pointed out. "Though I do think it is the right move in this scenario, we are still only working off what one side has told us."
"I think Medb has made the critical decision for us," Okita chimed in. "By all accounts she's been preparing to send in the ships and start this takeover for a while now."
"I'd have to agree with that," Georgios shrugged. "We were never in a position to wholly avoid this particular course of events, but it isn't too late to try and block Medb's main thrust. However, all this doesn't help us identify the location of the Grail."
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(Queendom First Fleet Flagship: "Chariot My Love")
"And that's another one down," Medb announced to herself cheerily upon sighting her Queendom's flag being raised in the latest of her port-based victories. It was the sign to dispatch a ship which would deliver troops to relieve her Braves, and then ferry said Servants back to the main fleet.
Of course, she had been watching from her own ship without the need of any optical aids. Not that it was a particularly memorable battle, but still.
"Hmm, I wonder what their response will be to all that?" her friend spoke up while peering over at the flag. "This is not much more than just walking in and raising a banner."
"Well we may have just walked in, but the separatists won't be able to," Medb said, her good mood buoyed like a rising tide. "I'm not going to make the same mistakes the previous rulers did."
"And what would you say those were?" the only other person on the balcony asked with some interest.
"One, expecting the separatists to give up when someone flashes a little red at them. Two, getting impatient for the perfect 'decisive' battle. To start with."
"Uh huh, I see."
"This land has a collection of resources that the French and others can only dream of owning; it's far too large to really take over and utilize in an organized way within a single lifetime. Fortunately, I- well we, are functionally immortal and can take it at our leisure." Medb didn't attempt to hide her growing greed. "We'll re-colonize it with their betters: the deserving, worthy and of course loyal."
"I don't think that, even in the original generation, anything more than a small minority actually fought for independence though."
"Separatism, you mean," Medb corrected her absentmindedly. "But even a small fraction was enough, after all only a small minority of the Celts serve me in the army, too. But don't worry, I said I wouldn't make the same mistakes so I suppose one action item would be to make sure that small minority doesn't exist. Since it worked just fine on the mainland, there's no reason my charms won't work here."
"But your royal power must be stretched thin as it is."
"Hmm, I know that. But oh well, the Americans were just begging for accelerated reunification so I couldn't well wait a few generations to see what the druids came up with. After all, it's called low-hanging fruit for a reason. Speaking of which, welcome back my favorite-"
"Yes, yes, we trampled more small fry," the largest and most powerful Servant in the group sighed in open exasperation as Medb eagerly came over towards her victorious Braves. "Overrunning a jumble of peace officers is hardly real war."
"Don't be too upset about it, my royal Cu," Medb purred while being nudged out of the way with a spiked Gae Bolg. "I know the difficulty is far too low to be engaging but we need to clear the chaff before Chaldea shows up."
"Chaldea, huh." The Druid Servant in the rear who had followed the others in sighed while looking at the various Gae Bolgs in attendance with envy. "That'll be a fight worth remembering."
"But there's been no news of them, right?" the youngest one who was carrying a sword complained. "You constantly said they'd be at Bladensburg, but nope."
"They must be late," the only woman, besides Medb herself, in the room shrugged. "It happens."
"That's right; they're late and I've waited long enough. Anyway, the decisive battle won't be between the humans in the first place, so spreading ours out just makes it harder for the Chaldeans to wipe out."
"Harder how exactly?" a green Gae Bolg wielder retorted. "Not that I doubt you've trained them well, but still, they're only human."
"Well they'd have to travel all along the coast, which is a larger task than showing up to one battlefield and dropping an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, is what you're thinking, I expect." Another imposing king with an equally imposingly-sized spiral sword mused.
"That's right ! And they don't have our supplies in terms of magical energy either. Well of course we would need to parry their opening punches but I'm sure you're capable enough of managing that."
"Of course we wouldn't fall for a cheap first shot," the one carrying the signature red Gae Bolg scoffed at the idea. "Though we do lack Archers..."
"Right. Well just remember that if- no, when we encounter Chaldea, do not kill the Masters by mistake. Getting hold of a Chaldean one would perfectly cement our position."
"Ah that's right," Medb recalled what her friend had mentioned to her. "No running them through with your spears. Hehe, you're all so powerful even a scratch might be fatal so take care."
"No I don't think that would happen, but it's a fair warning," the kingly spearman agreed, or more like grumbled. "Anyway, let's drink."
"Alright, let's drink ! First round: come in, my neo-druids !"
The Servants made way for a number of Celts who quickly made their entrance upon being called in. One might even think they were impatiently waiting to get the job done with...
The individually hand-crafted druid staves held in the left hand showed their profession clearly enough, but it was the stylized hood and cape that marked them out as being special - the ones selected by the Caster Servant who taught them as being the "best" which modern Celtic spellcasters should aspire to match. However, the more mundane looking mug carried by each druid was the focus of attention. Each one of these utilitarian drinking vessels was filled with spirits that no human could drink and survive. More potent than the already-dangerous food and drink of the Chaldean Servants, this liquor had an even higher concentration of magical energy - all necessary to support Medb and her companions who did not have a stable Grail-granted energy flow.
While extracting, refining and then storing the mana from Celtic England's leylines was surely a task both tedious and hazardous (the latter less so once Medb's Caster took over the system and instituted what he called 'basic process safety') the final 'stabilized' mixture was still volatile and could not be simply transported in an exposed state without a skilled druid working to keep the energies contained in solution. The Einzbern of Chaldea have doubtless been dumbstruck by the skilled use of alcohol in such a manner, since the related magecrafts had been lost in the Founding Conflict.
"Let's get this party started !" The young one eagerly relieved the nearest druid of their burden.
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Notes:
If you are bored, you can look up things like 'lantern shield', 'lantern pistol' (check Images, in particular). Unsurprisingly, Chaldean Nobunaga finds these things hilarious.
Are the regular magi/druids of the time able to become Masters, you might wonder. Yes, they can but ...