(Kiyohime's Room)
Hmm... though she was pretty sure, Gudako still took a moment to casually lean over and double-check that there wasn't a Ruby somewhere out of sight before asking the Ruler who was accompanying her on this particular visit to Kiyohime's room. "I was wondering something... has anything changed since becoming a magical girl, do you think?"
"Oh," this immediately caught the Berserker's attention. "Now that's something interesting, Osakabehime seemed to know about them and she said it was odd they don't come up more in, say, the Caster class."
"Chloe is an Archer though," Sasaku commented just to be contrarian. "Oh and I don't count since Caster-class-me was before Ruby and by the time she was summoned with me, I was already fixed in a Ruler vessel."
"That's true, isn't it."
"Um, isn't our Chloe an Archer because the Heroic Spirit Chloe is an Archer? If it had been her un-Installed form, I'm sure she'd be a Caster. Assuming she had Ruby, which would have to be the case for her to have enough power to be summoned."
"Anyway... despite what some of those other Rulers were saying, it seems that magical girls' romance conventions are-" Kiyohime started to warm to the topic. But of course...
"What exactly did she show you?" Gudako asked half curiosity and the other half apprehension.
"Lyrical something, has a few seasons," Kiyohime replied off-handedly.
"Huh, I would've expected Prisma Phantasm, it seems to be oddly well-represented in different Chaldea libraries," Sasaku mused. "Granted, any communication between us seems oddly restricted."
"How so? You didn't mention this before," her homunculus Master frowned. "Restricted in what ways?"
"Messages are essentially broadcast like with the Support List requests," the Ruler began explaining. "Messages go missing or at least are only selectively received somehow, as though they're filtered out. Unsurprisingly, it's not possible to pass any Chaldea a timely warning about Lev Lainur, since we probably only start communicating after being attacked. But it doesn't seem ever possible to learn or give anything new about the mastermind from anyone else. It's impossible that somehow every Chaldea in range, across multiple attempts only knows exactly as much as we do."
"Could it have to do with the fact that you're communicating via Rubys' ability to pass information?"
"That's not it," Kiyohime interjected abruptly. "We have the same issue when chatting or posting on FateBook. Trivial conversation is no problem, but it's almost like, how did she put it... there's a 'no spoilers' rule that prevents useful collaboration."
"I highly doubt I'm the only version of me to think to try that, but we can't ever get any decent question across. Or at least: I never get any reply to one, and I've never received one." Sasaku sighed. "It would be so very handy to be able to quiz all the other mes."
"Hm. Hmm?" the Berserker seemed to have caught a whiff of something from that. "Is this about Gilgamesh?"
This immediately caught Gudako's attention. "Wait, the King of Heroes?" It seemed that Kiyohime knew a bit more about that story than the Masters had a clue about.
"It doesn't have to do with... him." Sasaku said in a deliberate manner. Gudako glanced over at Kiyohime who didn't raise any protest at that. About the time that the Master was realizing that there was something sneaky going on with pronoun use, something more important came to her via the System.
"Something on your mind?" Kiyohime asked.
"I think you'll find out in just a moment -"
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(Shirou and Sakura's Room)
"Hmm, that's not good."
"Huh... what is it now?" Sakura asked hazily, slowly and with great annoyance coming down off a height of ecstasy.
"Chaldea is under attack," her husband explained calmly over the sound from the outside corridor sirens which, brought to mind, now entered her consciousness.
That line pulled her back all the way. "If Lainur is here, I'm going to demolish him."
"Unlikely, Chaldea wouldn't be able to detect something as small as him. Come on, let's head out and get a status report from one of the homunculi."
Nodding quickly, Sakura got to her feet and seeing Shirou Project a pair of swords, pulled out one of the iron spears inhabiting her Inventory.
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Kiyohime grumbled as the trio quickly made their way to the projected entrance coordinates Gudako had received through the System. Although Chaldea didn't exist in the most regularly shaped bubble of reality, the 'boundary' as one might call it were not just the areas one could directly walk or dig to, but essentially existed everywhere as Chaldea floated in higher dimensional Void Space.
This meant unlike mundane attackers from the 'real world', an incident might originate from anywhere inside Chaldea if someone Rayshifted though the Separation Order. Or crashed into it from Void Space.
"It doesn't seem like they have any plans besides crashing right into us," Gudako explained as they turned a corner towards where most of the humans were quartered. It was one of the most important defense areas due to the population.
"What's going on?" Shirou and Sakura were standing at the main intersection as homunculi around directed people to return to their rooms which were safest in such events due to the factors of having Reinforcements, not having magical equipment around, as well as being a priority defense zone.
"Something is about to hit us," the Master replied quickly. "Best I was told is they aren't all that large, but with a serious signature blooming, something like a shockwave front which is highly visible due to their 'direct intercept course' as da Vinci put it."
"What? Is it a suicide attack?" Sakura asked in surprise at the prognosis.
"Unless they have something very good, chances are they will just splash against the Separation Order, actually" Gudako responded. "At least from the exterior, that's like running straight into a massive bunker wall. Being able to Rayshift out or take sensor readings from inside are completely different, conceptually speaking. But ! Shrapnel or fragment penetration, or the equivalent of interior spalling are not a great outcomes for us either."
"There you are !" An arriving Georgios, Scathach in tow, arrived not long after. "Not a great start to a new year, I'd say."
"Plot thickens," Gudako updated her group. "They're slowing down and changing course, but unfortunately - for them almost certainly - they're not going to be able to avoid some sort of collision."
"Ugh, interrupted us for this?" Kiyohime, holding onto Sasaku's hand, had moved on from a pre-battle mindset to annoyance at losing her special time.
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(Du Stallion II)
*PULL UP* *PULL UP*
"There's no 'up' in Void Space," a certain Mysterious Heroine grumbled, sweating while trying to restart her ship's engines off the fumes-equivalent of its Artorium supply. As was its wont, the fuel supply was always just a little short no matter how much one tried to hedge their bets, filling up the tank and having some spare jerry can-equivalents.
*PULL UP*
"Here it comes !" As if it was an incantation of engine restarting, one of the craft's two side engines spluttered to life. Quickly eying the readout from her sensors, the pilot realized that not only could she probably not avoid a collision with the rapidly approaching Chaldea under her ship's own power... if she pulled it off anyway, Du Stallion II would shoot off into Void Space never to be seen again.
"Easy QP, she said," she bit a lip in annoyance at Manager M who had set her up with this job. It seemed like her only option was to hit the edge of Chaldea's reality bubble; even though her craft could transition from Void Space into most bubbles safely, doing so at such speed and against what was probably a reinforced boundary layer would be threading the needle at best. Provided that it was even actually possible, she had to avoid disintegrating on impact on one extreme and bouncing off into the Void to perish on the other.
... "Ok, switch to reverse thrust, let's check what that looks like..." Using her knowledge from her Caliburn Space Program days, X quickly hit upon the idea of using her remaining delta-V to both slow down her ship and adjust its trajectory sideways to slide into the bubble at a shallower angle. It would then hopefully produce enough drag that her ship would materialize just inside. Obviously the automatic alarm system was still warning her that they were about to crash into Chaldea, but that was essentially inevitable even in the best case scenario.
"Entry shielding, looking good... landing gear, deployed." Detecting her landing procedure, the system quickly changed to its *GLIDESLOPE* warning, showing a projected path that was far too steep as her engine finally gave out again.
It wasn't like there were any more useful options available. Other than bracing for the impact.
"Huh."
A bizarre sort of quiet fell over Chaldea, though it was still abuzz with activity.
"It worked," a surprised Gudao told his assembled fireteam of pirates, Greek goddesses, a Cat and an idol. "Let's get going to the entry point."
Although they were closer than Gudako and her unit, a number of the other Servants organized into formations around Chaldea had been redirected to the same spot and arrived before them. As a result, he arrived to see what looked like a spacecraft crammed awkwardly into the large main entrance area of Chaldea, designed to accept large deliveries if not spaceships, and several sword-brandishing Servants staring down... someone who looked like a more lively Artoria, if that version of her had also been going to highschool prior to crashing into their home.
"What's going on here?" he asked Kojirou, seeing that the Saber seemed to have had the situation contained by the time the Master arrived.
"Her ship lost power and crashed into us instead of being able to land properly," Kojirou answered succinctly. "I think she's the instructor Merlin mentioned to Artoria a while ago."
"That's right..." X coughed up some blood in a dramatic fashion. "I'm here about the job. Also I might inquire about your health plan."
"You can leave that to my Runes," Scathach announced as she arrived on the scene with the other Servants Gudako had following her. Still, before attending to her unexpected patient, the Caster cast her eyes around the immediate area analytically. "The boundary seems secure, but we should probably move away just to be safe."
X tried to protest, but was grabbed by a couple of Servants and pulled away for treatment.
Gudao looked around and saw Shirou with Gudako's group. "Just the man for the job, can you give that ship a look over? It's also important you let us know if there's any damage to Chaldea's main structure."
Gudako meanwhile was occupied tasking Sasaku, and of course Kiyohime who wouldn't leave her, to check the local condition of the Separation Order for potential weak spots of concern.
(Scathach's Workshop)
"Like I said, Merlin headhunted me about the job," X explained after Scathach's Water-based primordial rune had Healed her enough to, as the Mysterious Heroine put it, remove her Dying condition. Of course she was still under (medical) observation and (security) guard. "Um, well she said my fuel load would be sufficient but... oh I guess it was in a twisted sort of way."
"A familiar story," Artoria nodded, easily able to bring her not-distant memories of youthly adventures into perspective. "Wait, she? You mean Merlin right? Well, I guess he's good at Illusion magecraft but still..."
"Ahem." Chloe spoke up from nearby, surprising everyone by inserting herself into the puzzle. "There's another Merlin who isn't trapped in Avalon, but unfortunately she doesn't belong in 'our' branch. I take it that means X here is from that different place."
"I think the spacecraft, able to travel through Void Space, was a bit of a hint," Gudao remarked. "By the way, your engines being shot means you're stuck here until you've compensated us for the damage your stunt did."
"...It was an emergency landing," X protested. "You weren't listening to the Space Emergency Broadcast Channel, were you?"
Gudako, after having heard the results of the full Chaldea sweeps nodded to herself and tapped Gudao on the shoulder. The two of them exchanged a brief look taking the System's state off of alert.
"First, I believe that da Vinci will have to certify your fitness, and then we'll inspect your craft for repairs," Scathach said firmly. "Of course, like the Masters said, that won't be for free."
Since she had first started off with the pair, Gudako was quick to notice Kiyohime trying to pull Sasaku away. Of course the latter's report had already been relayed to her, so her physical presence that wasn't critical. But still -
"Before I forget, please declare to us if there's anything dangerous on that ship we should be worried about. You know, unstable dark matter fusion reactors, hair-trigger self-destruct sequences, insane Artificial Intelligence controllers, anything like that. I should remind you that we're on the same metaphorical boat and if anything happens you'll likely find yourself in Void Space with nothing."
"... were there any alarms going off?"
Gudao quickly sent a message to some of da Vinci's assistants who were accompanying the Rider who had taken over after the Ruler's initial inspection of the craft. "Some warning lights but nothing like an alarm."
"Then it should be safe. I was basically out of fuel after all."
"I doubt that runs on rocket fuel, does it need condensed magical energy or something?" Scathach asked.
"In a way, yes. Specifically it uses Artorium, you could call it a form of mana."
"I've never heard of that," Gudako quickly looked around to confirm that everyone else present spared her puzzlement. Not that the possibility of a new energy source was a bad thing by any means.
"Well, it's renewable in the sense of appearing when you really need it. By which of course that means being in a pinch. So I think if we just wander about and attack enemies some will show up."
"Not much of a lead, but I suppose we can stumble on some while farming the usual Free Quests," Chloe suggested. "With a skilled Holy Sword wielder this isn't be too taxing."
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(An Event Free Quest)
"Somehow I'm not surprised," Gudao remarked wryly after realizing that their Mysterious Heroine had a pair of swords that were clad in beams but did not actually shoot beams. "Georgios, what do you make of this 'Secret-Caliber'?"
The Martial Saint look a moment to eye X's two-weapon form before focusing on the weapons themselves. "True Name: (X-Calibur) with a single letter X, not E-then-X. Powerful against Sabers."
Gudao raised an eyebrow at this evaluation. "Merlin arranged for someone to teach two-sword fighting? We already have Chloe and Scathach."
"Usually using two full-sized swords like she does is more of a tournament gimmick or fencing exhibition of skill," Georgios shrugged. "Unless one of the Merlins involved basically set us up for disappointment."
...
Artoria had no issues cutting through some of London's usual fauna, both of the rolling mechanical and floating ghostly types. Though a Holy Sword was certainly a formidable melee weapon, it wasn't exactly the battlefield role the Masters had been hoping Merlin's gift would fulfill.
"Being a Saber must be really important to you," X took a moment to strike up some conversation while they were between waves.
"Hm?" Artoria was using the breathing time to check her armor, just in case. "I'm told that the Holy Spear I had as a Lancer with my previous Master might be even more powerful, though as my current... self I can't wield it to anywhere near its potential."
That wasn't exactly the response that X had been expecting, which took her back somewhat. "I could try to teach you my (Saber Ninja Arts) but they only really show their power when 'one is alone' and that doesn't seem like your place in things."
"As odd as it might be for me to say this, I don't think either Merlin involved would have simply messed it up that bad. Let's keep going and see what happens. Kiritsugu said sometimes it isn't about creating or even finding opportunity, but just being ready for it to appear unexpectedly."
"Sounds like a man who knows how to operate solo."
...
"What is Artorium anyway?" Artoria couldn't shake the impression that the naming was not simply coincidental while looking at the shimmering crescent-shaped filaments that they had gathered.
"It is foreign to your Universe, but in the end this whole place feels dry, you know? There's such a lack of ether here that it's almost like comparing a land of steel to the sea."
"No, that's wrong," Gudao spoke up. "To us, your World would be chokingly dense in magical energy. With a contract Servants can still survive here, but it wouldn't work the other way around if one of us was to go there."
"I'd believe so, yes." X took this evaluation in stride. "The old histories suggest that humans were largely gone after the Universe Update. I suppose that means that to you, our normal people would seem much more powerful."
...
"Are there any important containment requirements for this Artorium?" Georgios eyed the growing pile of glowing strands as though wondering when it might decide to explode.
"It only reacts under specific conditions," X said carelessly. "That's one reason why it caught on so well on the smaller scale reactor niche. Safety..." As though realizing something, she looked over at Artoria who was preparing for another gathering sortie. "You know, that's actually a good point Mr Knight."
Stepping over to the Saber, X asked to see her sword to check on its progress. Upon receiving permission to examine the Holy Sword, she did so briefly before suddenly throwing it into the heap of Artorium.
*WHOOSH* *KA-BOOM*
There was something like an explosion.
Georgios reacted the quickest, being in the right position to see the sword in flight, and tackled Gudao to the ground to keep the Master safe. However, the reaction was in fact directed inward, an implosion rather than an explosion, to everyone's surprise except for X.
"Hmph." Seeing that no harm was apparent, Gudao got to his feet behind a very upset Saint who looked about to slap the cause of the commotion. "You better explain, quickly."
"Simple." Boldly walking up to the now much smaller pile of Artorium, X picked up the trigger: Excalibur and, after shaking off some unreacted Artorium, returned it to its owner. "That Excalibur isn't actually from here. I don't know how you got one from elsewhere, but in any case it's the sort of thing that..."
"It was Merlin and Chloe," Artoria realized suddenly.
"That checks out, yeah." Gudao shook his head ruefully. "I'm not sure why this couldn't have been more straightforward but it seems we just need to do an Ascension-equivalent with Artorium as the material and power-source. Still, how did you know it would do that, X ?"
"...uh. Well I did say that Artorium is very safe, Artoria's comment about Merlin inspired me to try an experiment, is all."
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(A Tower of Avalon)
"... Ah. Hahaha !" Watching the whole thing with her powerful Clairvoyance which, due to being restricted to the Present was like staying up to watch episodes of a broadcast-only series, had finally allowed Merlin to put together the series of events her male counterpart had woven together. Though unsurprisingly for her proclivities, she generally preferred the male Arthurs, the sort of content Chaldea produced was definitely worth keeping on the quick-select channel list, as it were. But better yet, there must be some that have Athurs, right?
Even though one could hardly even conceive of the pathway needed, Merlin's magecraft easily created a connection to another Tower of Avalon.
"That was pretty good, right?" The Merlin who answered immediately had doubtless been watching the same events unfold.
"But why go all the way to the Shining Blue Galaxy to get the Sword?" was her first probing question.
"Aha, you say that but obviously I didn't go anywhere. You'll have to ask Chloe what she was doing there, I'm sure it's a great story. Chit-chat for later though, what did you think about Chaldea? Interesting right? Fun, right?"
She couldn't help but chuckle at his obvious attempt to lead the conversation. "Fine, I'll sign up to your merry gang."
Back in his utopian prison, Merlin turned serious. "I hoped you'd find it worthwhile. Alright, as you might have guessed, it will be Chloe who will show up with a Summoning Ticket. Keep it on you and when the Wise King Gilgamesh is ready to make his move you should be able to send through a Servant-level projection. I don't know what he's been working on, but I'm sure you'll have fun !"
"By the way, was it safe to send that 'Fou' over to Chaldea? While I get that it is mostly homunculi, there are still humans around."
"Not an issue with such a small number. Besides, for a shut-in like me, it's handy to have someone on the ground, wouldn't you say?"
"Hmm, you sure you don't want me to at least take a crack at breaking you out?"
"Now's not the time for that discussion. In any case," Merlin's smile turned slightly predatory, "There's still quite a bit of time they'll be outside of Chaldea's Separation Order, so enjoy. Just remember to answer the door whenever Chloe arrives."
"Oh, I thought they already solved the riddle of strengthening Excalibur?" Indeed, it seemed like Gudao was preparing to return to Chaldea, discussing the need for the next group to have Artoria and X along.
"Sure, but the amount of Artorium they're going to have to grind will be ... well I don't know how much it'll take, so I hope that X is right about it showing up when needed because I suspect they'll need to stretch that clause as far as it'll go. I reckon maybe a million pieces?"
"Oh... oh I see how it is. They have to do all the work to fill out that Noble Phantasm's level."
"Pretty much," Merlin admitted openly. "I mean it was quite a piece of work to get the World to confuse Chloe's rather... sketchy Projection of Excalibur with the actual thing. Which she could have done better with this," at this point pulling out the blade with him. "But of course she couldn't get in here to examine it, so the one from elsewhere will have to do."
"Hey, if that is a copy of the weapon that 'Mysterious Heroine' uses, it shouldn't be able to actually shoot beams though, right? Not all Excalibur variants necessarily have the full Anti-Army configuration, and X's doesn't."
"That's the other big complication, yes. It's not just a copy but a modified copy which can be shot. Suffice it to say repairing and refuelling X's ship will be trivial after everything else that needs to be done."
"Well I suppose they're both the type that performs best when there's something to work hard at..."
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Notes:
1 million Artorium was what you needed to get on the point ladder for Saber Wars (FGO) to get your NP5 Saber Lily.