I do not own Fate/Apocrypha nor any other Servants depicted here.

Split The Party

"People, they are here," Assassin announced as she took her seat on the throne, "Get ready to intercept them."

"Hmm, I see," hummed Miraak, "But what of our leader?"

"He has gone to confer with the Grail," she informed them, "Do focus on the task at hand, Caster."

"Indeed," he muttered as he turned to the rest, "However, it may take a while, o Queen, as the enemy has brought some interesting resources."

"What?" she questioned as she looked at the display, "What is this?"

An entire fleet of passenger planes was seen flying at the fortress.

"They have misdirection with numbers on their side," stated the Red Faction's Caster, "However, one can easily pinpoint where the Servants are."

She frowned as she zoomed in. As the Caster has stated, she could see the enemy Servants, one on each plane.

"Are they trying to make it easy for me?" she grumbled at the perceived slight, "Are they mocking me?"

"I highly doubt it," he stated.

"Explain yourself," she ordered sternly.

"Note that Archer of Black and our Berserker are riding on top of those machines," he explained, "It is clear they expect both our Archer's summons and your flying skeletons to accost them first. The number of machines they have is just to present targets for your magical defenses. I believe their numbers are to mask the absence of their Masters. I believe what we should do is counter for counter. Our Rider takes on their Rider while Archer and I try to take them out as they land."

"That plan offends me," she replied with a scowl, "Are you telling me to do Nothing as they land wherever they please on my Gardens?"

"I-"

"I refuse. Our Rider can go out and deal with their Rider but I shall defend my Gardens," she stated proudly, "If you wish to cower here, you are welcome to do so. Archer, you shall support Rider in the defense."

"No."

"What?" asked the Queen with an irked tone.

"I ain't waistin' my energy making Georges when they can easily be blasted out of the sky," the cheeky Servant said, "You want them taken out, you get them in a room with me. I'll take 'em out like nobody's business. If they land, you can direct them to me. Seeya toots." And with her piece said, she walked out.

"That brat..." she seethed.

"Do as you wish, Assassin, we shall organize the welcoming party," stated Miraak as he moved to leave, "Let us go, Rider. There is work to do."

"I agree," she simply said before both of them left the throne room.

"Those Servants..." she growled out, gravely offended by their behavior. She took a few deep breaths to calm down. It wouldn't do for her to lose control of herself now. She needs to protect her Master at his most vulnerable. Now.

"Very well, it seems it falls to myself to repel these intruders," she uttered grandly, her eyes entirely focused on the display in front of her, "They will not find me wanting."

The fleet of planes flew abreast of each other in a staggered formation. Ruler stood atop the main plane while the other Servants were scattered among the rest. Jack elected to go along with Saber, and so there he was, riding on the plane with the Servant of the Sword. The winds buffet him as if trying to throw him off, but his nanomachine-enhanced nails dug into the alloy skin to prevent his preemptive flight.

"We're coming up to it, so keep hanging on a little longer," Saber suddenly shouted out. True enough, the magical glow of the Hanging Gardens came into full view as the enhanced homunculus looked up. All seemed well for the moment... until a purple glow appeared in front of the Gardens and a blue laser lanced through one of the airplanes, causing it to explode and lose altitude almost immediately.

"Well, shit. Things are about to get spicy," declared the Servant. Jack narrowed his eyes and tried to see where the beam of light came from. He gritted his teeth as his nano-machine enhanced sight spotted three floating stone tablets in a tristar formation.

Suddenly, Rider shot forward, moving to intercept a white figure that grew larger as it came near. Then, both flew off to the side as their fight started

"Damn, is that a dragon?" muttered Saber in surprise. That only lasted for a moment as he smirked, "Well, I think Rider's got her work cut out for her." Far out there, the roar of a great dragon could be heard.

Berserker looked on as the wreckage slowly descended, his gauntleted hand gripping tightly, the material straining to contain his grip. As much as he wanted to let loose on the enemy, he had to get there first. Then, he would rip and tear the opposition. He will win and use the wish to return him to his world. There is unfinished business. Business that involved huge guts and a lot of blood.

It was then he felt it. The feeling of the unnatural. The feeling of death. The feeling of demons. His heart was refueled by this inner rage as he turned around to look in the direction of where this feeling was coming from... The castle. Someone was summoning demons or something that gave off a similar feeling. It was absolutely infuriating. Turning back to face the Gardens, he could see that the problem would be getting back there. He had no Master. Ruler and Archer would certainly not want things to go awry just because he sensed it. But, there was a way.

He materialized the largest gun he had in his arsenal. And stepped to the very front of the plane. He aimed at one of the tablets forming the tristar and pulled the trigger. The gun hummed and hired, bleaching out a glowing green ball of ionized Argent. It was slow-moving and yet moved faster than the airplanes. It slammed into the tablet, the green ball of death detonating and destroying it and the neighboring tablets with ease. He turned around, not caring to look at his handiwork. He had an explosion to anticipate and demons to kill.

Gordes and Roche were busy overseeing the transformation of those who accepted to offer to become golems. So engrossed were they in the work that they didn't notice the door to the dungeon opening. The homunculus that came in went down the stairs to where the mana batteries used to be and made his way to the two magi. The more rotund of the two heard the slow shuffle and turned around.

"Hmm? I never ordered anyone here," he muttered when he spotted the homunculus, "You. What are you doing here? I never-"

His grumpy disposition quickly turned to horror when the homunculus' body arched backward at an unnatural angle and a flesh spike burst out of his stomach.

"Transmute! Arms of Steel!"

He barely blocked it. The spike knocked and pushed him away, sending him head over heels to the dank cold floor. The commotion caused the younger magus to turn around. The limbs of the homunculus then bulged and enlarged into tentacles, grabbing onto young Roche and wrapping around him.

"Help!" he was able to yell out before getting engulfed by the flesh and drawn into the ground.

Gordes hurriedly got to his feet and ran over. There wasn't a trace left remaining of Roche and the attacker.

"What nonsense is this!?" the Yggdmillenia magus shouted before running out of the dungeon in search of the others.

While all that was going on, Celenike and Sagara were relaxing in the tea room. One was busy sipping on sweet-smelling tea while the other nursed a large glass of beer. They sat there in unnerving silence.

"Do you think they can win?" asked the female magus suddenly.

"Oh, small talk?" muttered the man in surprise, "I'd say... even chance. I doubt the Red Faction can survive if our side actually lands on that fortress." He then pulled out a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket.

"I rather you don't," she admonished him.

"Huh, I never... hmm, did you ask for service?" he started to reply but the door to the room and two homunculi entered, one female and one male.

"I did no such thing, Sagara," she retorted as she set her tea down and stood up. Glaring at them, she asked, "Who sent you here?"

They did not reply as their bodies suddenly shuddered and their chests burst open. Fleshy tentacles wrapped around their bodies and drew them in, the limbs of the homunculi securing them firmly. Celenike let loose an uncharacteristic shriek while Sagara struggled and tried to escape. Then, a wave of flesh engulfed both of them and drew them into the ground. When all that was done, not a trace of them remained save an unfinished cup of tea on the table and a fallen glass on the carpet, the wet patch of beer slowly increasing in size.

The former Masters of the Red Faction were still in the ballroom when a female homunculus, a maid, entered the room. The occupants looked at her with suspicion as she headed straight for them.

"Stop!" ordered Feend von Sembren. She stopped, her head shaking a little with a twitch.

"What are you doing here?" he asked imperiously, "Dinner was over long ago and we have yet to be visited by the others of the Black Faction since this morning." At this, the Pentel brothers nodded to each other and moved to the opposite sides of the room. The maid just stared at them, glassy-eyed.

"Something's wrong," stated Jean Rum as she tensed up, preparing for a fight.

"Seems like it," Rottweil Berzinsky agreed as he pulled the Clock Tower representative by the shoulder as he stepped forward, "Time to earn our keep, why don't we?"

The maid then started making strange, throaty sounds, unnerving everyone and putting them on guard. Slowly, it bent over and without warning, she sprang forward with unnatural speed. At the same time, Rottweil raised his Reinforced leg and pushed, her head crashing into his shoe, and he sent her back to the middle of the room. She landed on all fours and tried to scurry forward but found her limbs stuck to the floor. Lifting her head, she noticed that the brothers had their hands on the ground and the entire center had lit up with faintly glowing characters. With more guttural growls, she turned to the elder brother and opened her mouth. A flesh spike extended out, aimed at his head. It suddenly fell apart as Jean motioned with her hands, sending blades of wind shearing through the flesh. The pieces that weren't too shredded fell to the floor, wriggling actively while sprouting smaller tentacles that tried to bring it back to the main body. It shrieked in anger as it struggled to get out of the glue trap.

The main doors were then flung open and a squad of homunculi charged in, led by Toole. "Kill it!" she ordered loudly. Arrows flew and the spear users charged the mutated maid. The Gum Brothers pulled back the moment they stepped in, and the steel points were plunged into the writhing mass of flesh before it could lunge forward. The stabbing continued until the thrashing stopped. Toole then cast a fire spell and burned the body while a few from the squad hurried to open the windows. Then, Gordes came in, looking quite furious. He looked at the burning corpse and nodded.

"Toole. Check up on Celenike and Sagara. Make sure they and everyone else is accounted for. GO!" he barked out.

She saluted and led the squad out of the room, leaving the door open.

"What is going on, Yggdmillenia?" demanded the Clock Tower lecturer as he stepped nearer to the rotund magus, "What is the meaning of this?"

"We were under attack," he growled out as he turned his angry eyes to the man, "One of us have been captured and brought to who knows where. You lot were about to face the same fate as they have if I didn't hurry over to check on you, so SHUT UP!"

"Truly a short temper, Mister Gordes."

"Caster of Black!" he shouted as he looked around the room, every magus in the room doing the same, "This was you wasn't it!?"

"How perceptive. Yes, this is my doing. While your Servants are away, it would be my turn to play. You had best man the defenses. I will bring ruin to you, anyone, and anything left in that castle. Do try and fight back. The unending tide of flesh needs obstacles to overcome."

Gordes gritted his teeth and yelled, "CASTER!"

Archer of Black clenched his fists as he watched as the green ball of death destroyed the three stone tablets. There were eight remaining and three more were moving to form another tristar. He got up and headed to the cockpit.

"Maximum speed," he ordered the non-combat golem. It nodded in response but he turned away without acknowledging it. He shifted to spirit form and went on top of the airplane.

Materializing, he took a moment to steady himself against the buffeting winds. Then, he looked around to assess the situation. One of the planes had been destroyed while the plane with the Masters was thankfully still safe. Then, he noticed Berserker moving towards the back of his plane.

"What are you doing, Berserker?" he asked calmly, bringing the walkie-talkie to the side of his head.

No response.

Before he could hail the Servant again, a beam of energy lanced through the aircraft the Servant of Madness was on. Taken aback, he could only watch in shock as Berserker leaped off just before the craft exploded, sending the armored Servant flying off into the air behind them. A few seconds later, he turned back to the flying fortress and glared. This will not do at all.

A jetpack materialized on his back as the tristar unleashed another beam, and he kicked off immediately as his transport was destroyed. Now being a lot more agile, he headed straight for the tristar.

"Archer of Black, are you alright?" he heard on his walkie-talkie.

"I am fine," he replied calmly, "I shall attempt to fly ahead and personally take care of the defenses."

"Fly safe, Archer of Black."

He scoffed after putting away the radio and jetted off towards the flying fortress, materializing a boltgun in his hand.

"What is he doing?" questioned Assassin as she peered at the display, following Archer of Black's movements.

He flew straight for her defenses and she smirked, "Really, Archer? You think my magical defense unguarded?"

With that, she sent out a group of winged dragon teeth. Much to her ire, explosions began to deplete their numbers almost immediately as they neared each other. As the final one exploded, she observed him getting near one of the enchanted tablets and placing something on it. She then looked on in surprise when another explosion succeeded in shattering it into large chunks of useless stone.

"Why that-" she started but calmed down almost immediately, "He is quite adept in this. More than capable of taking on my dragon teeth."

"Archer. Your rival is here," she then messaged mentally to the Servant on their side.

"What!? Let's go, boys! Time to show him who's boss!"

Cutting the connection as she leaned back on her throne, she didn't have to wait long before she could spot a flight of Archer of Red's miniaturized biplanes flying in formation. She smiled as they started to harass the other Servant with gusto. Yet, that didn't stop him from making use of his speed. He then destroyed another two tablets by just sticking the explosive to it as he flew by and then shooting it with his gun. The resulting explosion also took out a few of the planes. While they were easily replaced, that didn't refute the fact that Archer of Black was being successful in taking out her defenses. Thus, she decided to maneuver the tablets around to take potshots at him in tandem with the biplane harassment.

One by one, the tablets were blown up. Yet, he did not escape unscathed. Her defenses were down to three tablets when he suddenly veered off course and flew away. She smiled when she realized that he had somehow run out of explosives. She continued to watch as he backed off with his flying contraption sparking quite a bit.

"Oh, I believe it is my turn to show you the futility of your actions," she declared as she manipulated the stone tablets.

"Hey, Archer. Can I get a lift?" asked Saber of Black, "Failing that, got another one of those jetpacks?"

"The product of Helghan engineering is not a toy," he replied gruffly as he turned around and shot several explosive bolts at the flying skeletons.

Thankful that the fleet of planes decided to back off, he only needed to contend with the skeletons. That the planes can't travel too far away from Archer of Red was a reasonable assumption. From far off, he could see the remaining stone tablets realigning themselves.

"Most unfortunate that I cannot simply conjure up plastic explosives from nothing," he muttered as his jetpack lurched to the side a little, "Hmph, I will have to think of some other way..."

As he observed the tablet's alignment, he predicted that they were aiming at Ruler's plan.

"...I rather not be down another Servant... but we may need a Ruler to fight a Ruler," he mused as he flew over to interpose himself in between the target and the future shot.

"Archer of Black, what are you doing!?" the Maid of Orleans' voice echoed in his head.

"Queen sacrifice."

"...what?"

"To secure victory, sometimes sacrifices are necessary," he intoned calmly as he watched the magical energy gather at the center of the tablets, "Sometimes, even the head of an advisor or its leader."

"Wait! Stop!"

He immediately locked her out of his mind. He stared down on the tablets as the beam of blue energy sparked out and shot straight at Ruler's plane. As it came nearer and nearer, he began to recite.

"My duty is to a free Helghan."

A pistol materialized in his hand.

"My obedience is for Helghan's survival."

His personal armament. One that he favored using with his combat knife.

"My loyalty is to the Helghan people."

The one he used in his final battle.

"My honor is on the battlefield."

It had one final round in it.

"My death belongs to no one."

He raised it to his head as the beam came nearer and nearer.

"Glory to Helghan."

He pulled the trigger.

Commentary:-

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