Chapter 5
Alpharius waited patiently for his Master. Emiya had been stubbornly insistent on entering the church alone with Rin. Thus, the trio of Servants were left at the gate like dogs. Correction, Alpharius was not waiting but rather meditating with reams of data scrolling across his HUD as he tapped away at a tablet to dictate orders, threats and blackmail. His writing style was entirely unique for this era. Entire sentences were constructed around the angle and pressure his stylus induced onto the screen. Thus, every possible word had its own combination to make a compact writing cryptogram. Alpharius was nothing if not efficient.
Whilst other Legions were chosen to safe-guard certain technologies, the Alpha Legion was the Emperor's final contingency and therefore had the most heretical pieces. Alpharius' machine-spirit was one of those as well as his spear. He believed it to be enslaved AI that was digitally imprisoned to the Pythian Scales' functions. Despite disassembling the armour many times and studying its functions, the works of the Emperor continued to elude him. Nonetheless, it was trustworthy enough for Alpharius to put the lightest of supervision on its systems as it scraped away the encryption on classified files that could ruin nations and corporations.
"So, what are you then? Assassin?" Archer interrupted his work. "Definitely not Caster or Berserker nor Rider. An Assassin would not fight so brazenly yet you can't be Lancer."
Alpharius allowed himself a short break as he thought about his predicament. Personally, he had an idea what class he was but that was not one of the seven major arcanas. What could he say? Not much at all.
"I specialise in subterfuge." Alpharius said, "However, I am willing to use more direct methods to achieve my goals."
Archer snorted, "Yep, the Assassin is a 3-metre tall, walking tank that sneaks around stealthily, clad in shiny turquoise."
Alpharius laughed as he held Archer's shoulder in a comradely fashion. "That is a fine jest, Archer. Hilarious, truly."
Saber scowled under her yellow coat. She did not appear to enjoy Alpharius fraternising with the enemy. But life was dull if one could not talk to a foe occasionally.
"So, what should I call you?" Archer said. "If aren't willing to disclose your class, I am going to have to refer to you as big blue shiny knight."
"You may call me, Aleph Null."
"Aleph Null? Isn't that some maths sequence for an infinite set?" Archer shook his head, "How about a proper name?"
"Very well, address me as Alpharius."
"Alpharius, is it wise to give your true name to your foe?" Saber said, "Isn't the point of addressing Servants by their class name is to hide our weaknesses?"
"Do you know me, at all?" Alpharius released Archer and opened his arms. "Do you know anything of my history."
"Yes," Archer chimed, "You're an egotistical mastermind that has access to mythical weaponry."
Alpharius dramatically gripped his hearts in a pained tone. "You would me greatly, Archer. I believed we were friends, but you deceived me so terribly, my hearts are shattered by your betrayal of my sincere trust."
"Narcissistic fool, shut up!" Saber growled as she placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. The primarch raised his hands in defeat before resuming his meditations.
The hardest part of cryptology was to prevent the enemy knowing that their ciphers had been broken. Even with the primitive technology, Alpharius carefully filtered the data for anything that could trip off alarms or give away his location. The information was fascinating to a being used to conqueror solar systems. Last year, several notable events occurred. A set back in the development of human space travel, an invasion of a sovereign state by a coalition of nation and the Human Genome Project's completion, the first tender steps to biological augmentation that would lead to the Primarchs.
Earth was unstable, many states were less than a thousand years old with constantly changing borders due to war and politics. The largest nation had been the British Empire that dominated the globe whilst interestingly names those nations of Pre-Unification Terra had their roots here. Teuton, for example, had dominated Europe for a few Terran years whilst Mercia was the world's dominant power. The foundation of the Emperor's palace was akin to a primitive agriworld compared to the hive city of Hong Kong. The Emperor must have had His own reasons that Alpharius simply couldn't imagine. Perhaps it was the mountains that made it suitable, Alpharius was not Dorn and failed to see the benefits of a mountain fortress that spanned the Tibetan plateau. It would rely heavily on void shields and orbital weaponry to prevent the bombardment of the location. To be entirely honest, Alpharius was against the idea of having such a visible seat of power and had proved its weaknesses during the Siege of Terra by his Legion's successful infiltration. Perhaps he was biased. He would visit Kathmandu after the war to see the city before it became the ruins that it had been during Unification.
Alpharius cut that line of thought, he was getting ahead of himself. Time was a premium that dictated his every move. In an alternative timeline with less temporal pressure, he would have used Shinji Matou as an operative, taking full advantage of his selfish, perverted behaviour. Yet, Alpharius was forced to eliminate him to appease his Master. A waste of potential assets as even another of the seven Servants in the war would have provided a boon to his efforts.
He never felt so suppressed. For him, the galaxy turned over a thousand times, schemes within schemes that took entire civilisations and xenos races as mere pawns in the Great Game. In less than sixty Terran minutes, he could start a nuclear winter at his Master's command, trap humanity on Earth with the debris of their own satellites or instigate a global economic crash unlike any before. Yet his Master was an idealist like Guillman, who believed that the Great Crusade could end. Alpharius mocked Guillman for that but who didn't hope that the entirety of Humanity could be united under the Emperor with the Imperial Truth to crush the threat of Chaos.
Alpharius noted his Master leaving the church with Rin Tohsaka and ceased his musings. He nodded to Emiya, grounding his Third Legion glaive in an amicable salute. Interestingly, Archer was the only Servant that wasn't armed. Instead, he adopted a bored posture with arms crossed. Either he was a fool or simply believed he could conjure his weapons in time to stop any attack. Alpharius was inclined to believe the latter.
"Finished Master?" Archer said, "We have unresolved issues to address that have a higher priority that welcoming a novice to the Holy Grail War."
Alpharius grinned, "Give me a standard Terran day and I could make you a leader of a nation of your choosing. In the same time period, I could provide enough blackmail information to bring all the Masters to heel, including Rin Tohsaka. "
"Hey! Don't talk about me as if I am not here!"
"No, Alpharius, that would be wrong. We have a duty to protect the innocents from the excess of the Holy Grail War. If we are going to participate, we are going to fight to save everyone."
Saber beamed under the yellow coat as she took up an escort's position behind Emiya. Alpharius, however, waited for the tail end of the group, exchanging glances with Archer as-
The last stand of yellow Legionnaires in a pattern of armour Alpharius had never seen before. Civilians were evacuating in the face of the greenskins. Only a century of Astartes held a thin line. Right Shoulder pads bearing an unusual marking of black and white cheques surrounding a bleeding heart. Blood Angel Successor Chapter perhaps? Only they wore the red tear so brazenly.
Alpharius knew that they could not beat the enemy but that wasn't the objective. It was the civilians. The Centurion wore the familiar plough grille of Mark III with plenty of superfluous ornaments. Alpharius noticed the oath of moments. They spoke of humility and sacrifice. To absolve the shame of the Cursed Founding and the Red Thirst.
His viewpoint was of a common Legionary. A Tactical Marine according to Guillman's treatise, armed with a bolter and chainsword. He noted the pride the swelled in the Legionary's hearts. This was the right course of action. Even if they all died, a waste of equipment and gene-seed in Alpharius' opinion, they would have bought the vital time for the civilians.
"For those we cherish!"
"We Die In Glory!" The Legionaries roared in defiance to the odds. Heavy Weapons hammered the horde, causing the brutes to trample over their own dead. Soon, the barks of bolter fire joined the cacophony that echoed in the valley. The Orks still came. For a few minutes, the sheer weight of gunfire was enough to hold back the tide but one by one, magazines ran dry, and guns clicked empty. The Lamenters were not content to be hit by the fury of the storm. Instead, they began a forlorn charge, backs to the walls of the airfield. Their brothers continued their barrage until their own weapons were useless and joined in the war-cry.
"For Sanguinius!"
Alpharius focused on his own view. The Legionary was far better than the common Astarte of the Legions, better trained and focused. The bolter was discarded in favour of a bolt pistol to break the stalemates of duels. An ugly hulk howled in bestial fury as it swung down with a cleaver blade. Darting forth, the chainsword ended the Ork in two blows, once to disrupt the fall, the second to tear out its throat.
The lack of armour was fortunate as even a few precious moments to push the teeth through the scrap metal that Orks favoured would have prevented him blocking a wild swing of a power klaw. Typical of Ork society, the Ork was larger than the others, using its size to bully its way through the mass.
Even when the spinning edges gouged out a chunk of its arms, the Ork was mainly enraged to greater heights. The ensuing frenzy of blows were punctured by the bark of a bolt pistol, two rounds to punch through a knee and weaken the beast whilst the chainsword tore off its head.
Gretchin leapt in their jabbering primitive language. More than few were crushed to death by backhand blows or fists, but it was too many. The Legionary over-compensated and toppled. Alpharius knew he would never get up. Crude knifes punctured through soft seals and stabbed into the flesh.
Heat washed over the fallen Legionary, scorching the yellow paint off the ceramite.
Free of the Gretchin, the Legionary pushed himself up. A brother with a flamer nodded before continuing the Emperor's ceaseless work. Picking up his chainsword, the Legionary gasped his thanks through the vox before heading back into the fray.
Alpharius lost interest. The more pressing issue was why he had suddenly developed visions. Primarchs should not dream. Their post-human minds meant that they could process memories unparalleled. Only Custodes dreamed by the will of the Emperor. Primarchs were different than the Guardians of the Palace yet the Emperor was entirely unique. Perhaps his Creator was delivering a message?
Alpharius frowned. Why could he not remember the appearance of the Emperor? A primarch could recall their every waking moment, Alpharius remembered the chemical composition of the air the moment he died to Guillman, yet his memories of the Emperor were a blurry pict-capture. Was He as tall as the primarchs? Shorter? Alpharius could not say and that troubled him greatly. So many questions, so few answers. The truth was elusive as ever.
"Alpharius, Rin asked you a question."
Alpharius looked at his Master's concerned expression as he pushed away his thoughts. The entire party was staring at him awkwardly.
"My apologies," Alpharius said, "I was distracted. Would it be possible to repeat the question again?"
"So, the egotistical mastermind is also deaf. We have such wonderful allies, Master."
"They aren't allies!" Tohsaka yelled before coughing, "Anyway, Alpharius how can Shirou sustain both of you? I mean, you're quite powerful and Shirou can't supply Saber's astral form so why can he provide for you? Don't tell me. The only two ways to transfer prana is bodily fluids… wait are you a womaniser or a rapist?"
Alpharius was tempted to copy the human expression of "face-palming". At least it would have obscured his vision of a flushed Rin Tohsaka pointing a shaky finger of accusation at him. Alas, he was a primarch and certain standards had to be held.
"No, I wonder what made you think in such a manner?"
"Well…" Tohsaka stuttered, "You don't take off your helmet so how can you eat or drink?"
In that instance, Alpharius decided to humour them.
"Then how do you expect me to have intercourse if I am clad in such armour? In fact, how do you know I don't swing that way, in a manner of speaking."
Rin growled at Alpharius' laughter.
"Besides, I believe the idea of a vampiric knight would be far more attractive than a male whore who seeks interaction with any fair maiden he lays hand upon. At least give me some respect Rin Tohsaka. I consume blood of those who willing give it. I am not a monster."
That was a lie. He had other motives to rescue Sakura. One of them was to supply himself with prana. After all, Magus tended to build their properties over leylines that he was more than willing to take advantage of. The whole blood business was temporary until the device was set up, until then, he had to conserve prana as a miser would.
Alpharius paused. Something different hit his nose. It was artificial, biological and tainted with prana. Instinctively, he pulled back his Master as he flourished with the glaive. Saber began to protest but Alpharius raised a figure to his lips. The chem-sweat was different to human, more potent. There were two. Most likely a Servant, male and female homunculi.
"We have company. Laboratory bred counterfeit humans and a Servant. Berzerker class most likely judging from the scent."
"What," Tohaska cried, "How can you judge that from mere smell?"
Interestingly, Archer immediately fled. Most likely seeking an advantage over the melee focused Servant. Alpharius privately wondered why there would be two humans for a single Servant. Maybe he was reading the situation wrong. A bodyguard for the Master?
Alpharius walked steadily to the source, ignoring the fool . Data pulses were sent to the relevant operatives. They would not be disturbed for this encounter. The primarch saluted the opposition. The Servant was a muscular beast that towered over the petite girl in purple. By her side stood a black paladin of old Europa, a longsword dangling in its sheath and a heater.
"Greetings, I come in peace."
"No, we don't." Saber scowled, "Your lives are forfeit by your participation."
The paladin bowed, "My sincere apologies, my lady but I cannot allow that. My mistress here intends to take the head of a certain Emiya Shirou and I am honour-bound to support her."
"Yes!" The petite girl chimed, "Berserker! Kill them."
The Berserker rushed towards them, faster than anything that Alpharius was used to. Fast but blessedly predictable. The primarch weaved through the furious blows, taking advantage of the extra reach that the glaive afforded to slam thrusts into the Berserker's grip. Each one was not aimed to wound but to disrupt the momentum. This provided the extra time for Alpharius to cogitate and evade the incoming attacks. Without it, the primarch would feel the full wrath of the enemy servant. Unenviable for anyone, even with the endurance of a primarch.
Alpharius offered a brief glance at Saber and was privately stunned.
The male homunculus was duelling her by himself. The magic circuit limitations of Emiya as a Master weakened Saber or Saber was a puny Hero. Alpharius believed the former. Saber was strong but simply lacking the prana to make full use her swift bladework. It was the same as Alpharius. Alpharius could use a prana boost to dash into Berzerker's guard, but their Master was a hinderance until the moment came.
Using the heater to great effect, the paladin broke Saber's defence repeatedly, forcing the Servant to pull back. The infinite potential of the sword was no match for the balance of a defensive and offensive weaponry. Still, there was plenty of credit for male. Servants were powerful beings that were supposed to be the pinnacle of normal mortals, yet the paladin was equal to them.
Alpharius would have loved to analyse the paladin further to break down his combat style, but Berzerker was fast. Annoyingly so. Alpharius grinned under the helmet. This was a challenge but no primarch would back down from an attempt on their martial pride, not even Alpharius was immune to such things.
The glaive was replaced by Hydra's spite. The plasma pistol fired twice at the knees, rending flesh from bones. Forced by the limitations of his body, Berzerker's posture weakened, allowing Alpharius to slip in and pushed back Berzerker's body with a thunder hammer to the chest. Irritatingly, the weapon was jammed in body's chest cavity, the time to pull it free was too much in Alpharius' eyes. Instead, the primarch stayed the death blow with his raw might, holding the oversized blade aloft.
His muscles burnt with the exertion, stressing themselves to death as Alpharius wrestled Berzerker. The primarch could barely keep up with the brute. Veins bulged before bursting open. Wetness coated his skin, yet he could not relent. Berzerker was wrathful, roaring his annoyance at a pest that defied his will and devoted more prana to crush the snake. Alpharius' sharp vision blurred as the human weakness of tiredness stole away his strength. Slowly, Alpharius was buckled, lowing his posture whilst the Pythian Scales groaned under the pressure. The vents belched hot, crackling smoke as the fusion reactor gave up.
A red light, rapidly approaching him, made itself known. Alpharius processed it as a crimson deformed sword, shaped akin to a drill for better aerodynamics. He reacted accordingly.
Giving away suddenly, Alpharius rolled Berzerker's body into the path of the projectile before releasing his grip. Unfortunately, the dimwit refused the same courtesy, instead throwing the primarch across the road. Blood violently ejected itself from Alpharius' mouth, leaking through the fractures of his war suit. He pulled himself out of the packed soil. The Pythian Scales were ruined, greaves compressed painfully into his limbs, its state would have made any Martian weep over the defilement of the Omnissah's work. Wiring was melted to useless slag and plates shattered beyond repair. It would have taken Alpharius at least a Terran Week to fully repair the armour in the Alpha or Beta. He did not have that time. His instincts were to heal immediately himself from his Master's prana reserves but the amount needed would have drained Shirou into an unacceptable state. For now he would have to rely on the gene-crafted abilities that the Emperor gifted him.
At least Berzerker was wounded. The project punctured the Servant's hide, embedding itself uncomfortably in his body.
Alpharius' eyes widened. The Servant tore out the sword and crushed in a display of raw aggression. The Thunder hammer suffered a similar fate, its emitter exploded in a shower of sparks. Already, the wounds were healing. Flesh coated the bones once more; Hydra's Spite was but a distant memory and the crater that occupied the torso was filled with steely muscles.
This was honestly ridiculous. He had nearly died from a toss from the beast, organs ruptures and shattered bones. In fact, he had almost perished twice in a single day. Unacceptable. He should be far more cautious but the idea that these beings could kill primarchs with Noble Phantasms sent his head reeling from the possibilities. Seven of them participated in the Holy Grail War with the possibility for more theoretical classes. Truly this task was daunting.
The homunculus disengaged from his duel with Saber in a jovial tone that irritated the primarch.
"That was a truly fantastical experience, simply unforgettable, my lady. However, for you to resort to such underhand methods to battle Berserker is unacceptable. It pains me to do this, but the subterfuge of another Servant is needed here."
A bullet slammed into Alpharius' soft neck seal, piercing the plastik-laminated rubber with its steel tip before digging into his collar bone. The damaged fused ribcage had fragments puncturing the surface skin. Either through sheer luck or skill, the sniper managed to hit the precise location. Alpharius snarled. The wound would be irritating for him, causing friction whilst the tissue tore apart. Compliments to the sniper to shoot through the gorget's small gap, as well as the homunculus to distract him with petty talk for the bullet to travel.
The primarch brought up a boarding shield to crouch behind to pull out the metal fragments. Berzerker was charging him again. There would be precious few moments for Alpharius to conduct emergency field surgery, but it would be necessary, utterly unavoidable. Using a power gladius, he carved out the flesh and bone quickly. The wound cauterised under the energy field as shards of bone trapped in cooked flesh splattered onto the floor. He hissed at the pain, but Berzerker was already on him.
Alpharius counter-charged him, slamming the shield into the Berzerker but the momentum was enough to lift Alpharius off his feet. Mid-air, a bullet slammed into his left eye piece, shattering the arma-glass. The sniper was good, worthy of praise to hit a helmet lens four kilometres away.
The shadows rose to embrace Alpharius as he was slammed against the ground, the Pythian Scale flowed, writhing into a new shape. As Berzerker reached him, a grim Deathwing Companion braced himself. A sudden surge of prana introduced itself to his body. The ruinous wreckage that was his chest reformed, reversing the lingering damage that not even his body could repair in such a short time. The operatives had succeeded then their operation then, Alpharius mused wryly. This changed everything.
Alpharius blocked the downward blow with the shield, shards of ornaments exploding outwards as the Berzerker's obsidian blade carved through the monobonded ceramite and plasteel. Its edge cut effortlessly but the time was enough for Alpharius.
As the sword was swung in its mighty arc, Alpharius drove his own at the right knee, severing tendons. The brute was either too dumb or wrathful to realise his precarious posture and slammed its shoulder into Alpharius, who turned to avoid the brunt of that attack. The force was still enough for Alpharius to experience a spike of pain from the impact. Alpharius dismissed it, focused entirely on using a chainaxe to carve an opening in Berzerker's chest. Truth be told, he was too close for the optimal cut and would have to rely on raw tearing power of the motor. That as well as both primarch's hands.
The howl of a chain weapon echoed. It spoke of bestiality and primitive violence, an evolutionary step back compared to the fine sword with limitless potential and forms. Some said that chain weaponry was as old as human civilisation itself but alas, the precise records were lost to history. Alpharius wasn't immune to the savage, ape-like joy that came with destruction, instead he was far more constraint about expressing it.
"For the Emperor!"
Alpharius laughed out as the weapon tore apart Berzerker, muscle and blood were reduced to offal that slickened the ground. Berzerker tried to stop him, hammering his helmet that blurred his vision and fresh agony swam in his mind but he pressued There was no artistry that graced his actions, only a butcher's glee at his latest work. The teeth feast greedily and gave an unhappy whine when Alpharius took it off his prey but sang once more as he smoothly decapitated Berzerker.
He was dimly aware that the homunculus was pulling back but bloodlust clouded him. Unclasping his ruined helmet, he patted the corpse in a comradely fashion before leaning in conspiratorially.
"That was a good fight."
The primarch grinned as he showed off a heart.
"I pray to whatever gods you believe in that you will make a good meal."
Alpharius bit the meat, worrying its tough tissue before tearing it. Chewing, Alpharius indulged in the memories of the Berzerker, sampling them as one would sample fine spirits. Normally, Legionnaires would require a section of the target's brain, preferably the cortex to gain the experience but Primarchs were different. Berzerker's had been exquisite and had fine-
Immediately, Alpharius launched himself backwards, just in time for Berzerker to start reforming. The primarch cursed the Holy Grail. Things that died should remain died but no, apparently that was too boring for a magical device.
He glanced at Saber. The Servant suffered glancing blows; her armour protected her with fresh lines of silver. The homunculus must have been a magus then, reinforcement magic to go up against a Servant or well versed to go against Saber. From the primarch's earlier observances, the homunculus knew Saber's every action and relied on it to match her every move. That was noteworthy.
"Berserker, retreat. Remember your Master's commands. You have died once to many."
Incredibly, the brute grunted at the homoculus' words and complied, fading away into the astral plane. All that remained of their encounter was the damage and the paladin.
"I salute you! You have fought honourable, Saber. It is one thing to watch you and another to duel you. I am supposed to introduce myself under the alias of the Black Prince, but I find that name distasteful. After all, my armour is polished to a suitable metallic silver. As such, I name myself as Kurier. I look forward to our next meeting."
Rammstein bowed, a gesture mirrored by Saber.
"You have fought well, Kurier. Had this been Camelot, I would have invited you as a knight of the Round Table but I do not have that ability anymore. Would you like to be an honourable member instead?"
Kurier nodded eagerly. "It would be my pleasure, King of Knights."
Alpharius cocked a brow. Was this the same Saber that had lectured him about revealing identity yet shameless showed hers to an opponent? He watched as Kurier walked away before daring to voice his thoughts.
"May I ask why, Saber?"
"He fought without magic, a worthy foe."
"I don't believe that lie."
"Of course, you don't," Saber sighed, "I am not supposed to remember the last Grail War, yet I do anyways. It is my belief that the Einzberns had analysed my fighting style and incorporated it in their homunculi. After all, I was their last Servant. Where is Master anyways?"
"With Rin Tohasaka," Alpharius replied smoothly, leading Saber away from the battlefield. The sudden change of topic was notable, clumsy and crude for even mortals, but Saber was determined not to talk anymore of the Einzberns. He did not mention that at no point the foe gave away their surname, the other Servant most likely knew much more than he did. Information that he would kill to acquire and use against their opponents. Honour was fine until it obstructed pragmatism, then Alpharius reached for ruthless efficiency.
Judging that the sniper didn't shoot him when he was unhelmed, Archer was dealing with the sniper. Alpharius issued a directive to a certain operative to retrieve data about the Einzberns whilst he walked. This would be interesting. If only he had more time to infiltrate the other contestants, the war could end bloodlessly. Everyone wanted something and hid something else. All that was needed to find it. Despite his reservations, open warfare would attract the other Servants and end the war quicker. Preferably ending the war in the Emperor's favour and saving mankind. Simple yet so complex.
Alpharius opened his palm and examined the bullet. Seven point Nine Two. He crushed it. His Master had asked him to save everyone. How could he? When did the ratio become too much? One for tens, tens for hundreds, hundreds for thousands, thousands for millions. It was cold mathematics that opposed the impossible ideals. Yet what did Alpharius have left to live for? The very same ideals that conflicted with his method of waging war without emotion. Loyalty was an ideal and Alpharius was utterly loyal even with his revelations.
That was not a lie. It was the vulnerable truth that caused Alpharius avert his gaze. The shadows did not judge him as harshly as the light, it only accepted.
I'd freely admit that this could be written better but it wouldn't be my work if it was corrected by another. I don't have any beta-readers so I apologise for any errors in my work.
Probably going to receive some hate for the fact Alpharius beat Berzerker but Alpharius is a Primarch and has stats to reflect it. You are probably thinking about the canon Assassin but don't worry! Someone interesting will replace him.
Hydra Dominatus!