Author's Note

To Anthony Galupo, yeah and I love it. So do every other Shirou fan out there. Many fanfics just became a little more canon lol.


Nearl slowly opened her eyes.

Something wasn't right. She quickly seized on it and forced herself to shake off the shackles of sleep.

Danger.

Her instincts warned her of danger. A sharp suffocating sensation she learned to grasp and use against her opponent during her days as a competition knight in Kazimierz. Margaret Nearl was a talented knight, trained and pushed to the very top of the league. Danger wasn't a threat to her, it was only a warning that her opponent was attacking her. Nearl leaned into the feeling, judging where it spiked and countering the opponent's move with one of her own.

But…it was that effective when you couldn't see your opponent.

A crunch- followed by sharp blades unsheathing were heard. Muffled impacts and thumps registered on Nearl's hearing before steps closed in on her prison.

Stay calm.

Nearl controlled her breath and forced her body to relax. She evened it out, putting on the illusion that she was still asleep. It was night and the interior of the building- her cell much deeper inside- would be dark if not pitch black to most. Unless the person had decent night vision, then they'd have the same disadvantage she had.

Nearl would spring the trap on them once they entered her range.

The person stopped right in front of her cell.

Nearl readied herself…

"Nearl, are you awake?"

-and jerked up.

She opened her eyes to darkness, but the recognizable outline of a person stood outside her bars.

"Shirou? What's going on?" What Nearl heard was definitely a scuffle. Why was Shirou fighting Reunion guards now?

"Nearl, do you trust me?" Shirou quietly asked.

"…not particularly." Nearl admitted. Sure, Shirou helped extract Rhodes Island during the Chernobog invasion. Yes, he delivered her delicious food. But that wasn't enough for Nearl to give him her trust. She knew he was a good person, he wouldn't have saved those children if he wasn't.

But that was the thing. Nearl didn't particularly trust his decisions. Not until he explained why he joined the Reunion.

"I don't have time to explain everything, but will you help me rescue the prisoners?" Shirou wanted to save the civilians, but doing so alone was inefficient. Asking Patriot's forces was an option, though it would pull valuable manpower away from battle. Shirou needed someone else that could protect the civilians aside from him.

Nearl wanted to say yes right away. It was in her character to protect others. "Of course. But can you tell me what's going on first?" She needed to know more. A few hours ago the city came alive. What was the Reunion planning?

"Remember the Draco leader?" Shirou pulled out the key he took from the guards and unlocked her cell.

"Talulah?" Nearl was very well aware of the Reunion's leader. She was the figurehead of the entire Infected movement and was a wanted criminal.

"I'm not sure, but we think she plans to run Chernobog's core into Lungmen."

"What?!"

"It's complicated…" Shirou could try and explain it to her, but it wasn't the best time. He was supposed to be bringing her to meet Patriot and FrostNova. "I'll explain some other time." He started walking to the exit with Nearl following close behind. She noted the dead Sarkaz lying on the floor with a small pool of blood around their necks.

"They aren't your guards if that was your question." Shirou answered before she could ask. "Your guards were killed outside." Talulah was devious. The woman sent Sarkaz mercenaries to overwhelm the guards and kill Nearl before she became a problem. The Kazimierz champion would've been a thorn in her side if she escaped. Talulah wanted to remove wild cards on the battlefield as much as possible.

"Can you fight with this?" Shirou picked up one of the fallen Sarkaz weapons. It was fortunately a sword, a generic weapon one picked up. The other Sarkaz carried a halberd which didn't help him survive the fight in close quarters- not that any of them survived Shirou.

"I can." Nearl took the weapon from Shirou's hand and swung the weapon around a few times to test its weight. It was a bit on the heavy side, more favored for a Sarkaz whose physical strength is greater than that of a Kuranta like her.

"Good, because they're coming." Shirou looked outside to see a group of Sarkaz heading for the entrance. He spotted them scattered around the area earlier. Reinforcements if the first mercs failed to kill Nearl. Shirou traced Nearl's weapons during the Chernobog invasion, but he wasn't going to reveal his ability to materialize them until the situation needed it. For now, he'd just let Nearl rely on her own to adapt.

Nearl blinked as Shirou grabbed the halberd from the fallen Sarkaz and rushed outside on his own. "Wait! We should ambush them here…" Her hand reached out before she watched as Shirou launched himself at the half-dozen strong platoon.

They weren't prepared for the speed Shirou rushed at them at.

So fast! Nearl blinked when Shirou cut down the distance between him and the Sarkaz mercenaries in the span of two seconds. Even the Sarkaz were surprised. The two in front of the group only managed to draw their weapons halfway before two heads flew off the bodies. Nearl and the remaining Sarkaz momentarily paused while watching Shirou draw the halberd back in a spin around him. The way he carried the weapon was more like a balanced staff rather than a heavy two-handed axe.

That…that wasn't how you used halberds.

The four instantly backed off while spreading themselves. Despite the surprising deaths of the first two, they were veterans. Shock wasn't an emotion one brought to the battlefield. They eyed Shirou between them until one of them talked.

"Aren't you a doctor?"

"Not really." Shirou answered before leaping forwards with another decapitating blow. He used the range of the halberd's shaft to strike at the Sarkaz, but the attack was dodged when the mercenary threw his body completely on the floor. The rest took the opportunity to close the gap behind him.

Nearl ran forwards. Her speed wasn't the same, slower than usual with the heavy Sarkaz sword she carried. Not fast enough! She hissed when the Sarkaz closed the distance to Shirou faster than she did.

There was no other choice.

She swung the scavenged sword and threw it at the closest Sarkaz. It reached him faster and the mercenary angled his shield to block the flying weapon. Nearl grabbed a sword from one of the fallen mercenaries mid-sprint but it was too late. One Sarkaz leapt in the air behind Shirou while swinging a dagger on his head. The other dashed sideways and swung his sword for his body.

Blood splattered on the ground and two more bodies fell on the floor. The figure midair was cut in half while the one dashing to the side fell forwards with momentum, his head bouncing once and rolling on the ground for a moment.

"Sorry. I tried to make it quick."

The halved Sarkaz coughed blood while patting his hand over his lost torso. He didn't last a second longer as the halberd crushed his head instantly.

Nearl slowed to a stop as she watched the cause of the bloody scene in front of her raise the bloody halberd. Just like earlier, Shirou used a single attack to eliminate two enemies. Powerful enemies. Sarkaz weren't just any race. They were known to be one of the stronger races in Terra, if not some of the strongest. Few races could compete with them on strength and durability. A Kuranta like her could train all her life at the gym and her strength would still fall short compared to the average Sarkaz warrior. That was why the Kuranta relied on charging together in groups. Their speed and numbers made their momentum near unstoppable.

Yet, the man in front of her just eliminated them with ease- with a weapon she would've had some trouble using in normal circumstances in addition to its heavy weight. The way Shirou used the weapon screamed experience, if not mastery. He was using it in ways Nearl would struggle to replicate. Spinning it around the shaft like a staff should've been extremely physically demanding with how the weight was distributed, yet Shirou wielded it smoothly.

Nearl knew that the man in front of her was a stranger despite the few exchanges they've had. She knew that he was good- really wanted to believe in it, but seeing him cut down those men without hesitation made her realize just how much she didn't know about him.

Nearl had seen death. Nearl had seen destruction. Nearl had seen sickness.

But she had never seen someone with so much contrast as the man in front of her.

A doctor? With the combat ability she had seen? An archer?! What kind of archer masterfully fought with a halberd?!

The last two Sarkaz shuffled on their feet while looking at Shirou and the four corpses. It hadn't even been a quarter of a minute and they were down to the last two of their number.

Mercenaries. They were mercenaries.

The one in front of Shirou dropped his weapon and raised his arms in surrender.

"Fuck this. We're not paid enough for this bullshit."

Shirou looked at the one between him and Nearl. The masked Sarkaz also dropped his weapon and shrugged.

"We're not going to give up our lives for a hopeless mission. Better to just take another job."

"Aren't you afraid of failing Talulah?" Shirou asked.

"Not if she doesn't find us."

"We're not allowing you to go back and report." Shirou hefted his halberd.

"…"

"…"

The two Sarkaz looked at each other.

"Don't worry. I won't harm you. Just follow me." Shirou motioned his head towards the closest building.

Well if that wasn't suspicious.

"Shirou, I won't let you kill them after they surrender." Nearl glowered. She tapped her sword menacingly to warn him. She wasn't beyond fighting if it meant stopping him. Though Nearl didn't know how she'd fare against the crazy halberd-wielding archer. "If you kill them-" She'd what? Threaten to leave? It was too dangerous now that she'd considered it. There wasn't much she could do but stick to him until they were somewhere safer. Even then, there was no place in Chernobog she would consider safe.

"Fine, I'll leave the halberd here." Shirou lowered the weapon. Nearl narrowed her eyes then slowly nodded. The two Sarkaz walked in front of Shirou until they entered the building.

A few moments later, Shirou walked out without the two mercs.

Nearl looked at Shirou quizzically. "What did you do to them?" It was too fast. Shirou just walked in with the two and left in a span of two seconds. That wasn't even enough time to tie and gag the two. He didn't even have any rope on him to secure the mercenaries.

"I made sure they wouldn't be able to move anywhere." He answered while picking up the halberd and grabbing a sword off the ground.

Nearl looked at him suspiciously. His answer nudged her wrongly. Whatever Shirou did, she needed to see. She headed over and popped her head into the building.

Lo and behold, two unconscious bodies slumped against the wall. They weren't dead because Nearl could see their chests breathing. Seeing that her fears were wrong, she admitted that Shirou's method wasn't bad. By the time the Sarkaz woke up, they'd be long gone.

"Happy?" Shirou asked when she returned.

"Satisfied." Nearl wasn't going to mention Shirou's mysterious skill and strength. That topic could be dealt with another time…if she could draw out an answer from him. Shirou began walking in a direction with the blonde horse knight following behind him.

Inside the building Nearl left, two souls were screaming for her to return. Not a single sound left them. They couldn't move. They couldn't speak. They couldn't do anything despite nothing holding them down. Struggle as with all their might, but their bodies refused to bulge.

Nothing except for two unusual blades stabbed into the floor beside them.


"How are the preparations coming along?" Rin didn't need to explain. Kal'tsit knew exactly what she wanted. Just a little before the attack on the city, Rhodes Island failed to negotiate with Lungmen's Chief Executive. After the meeting, the two Fuyuki doctors approached Kal'tsit for a meeting. There, they explained to the Rhodes Island leader that they wanted to hire the organization's paramilitary branch for a rescue operation on their third member.

Stupid idiot. Rin was pissed. Worse, Sakura was worried. That was enough for Rin's older sister instincts to kick in and take action.

It wasn't the best time to hold such an operation. Chernobog was swamped with Reunion fighters. The infamous Patriot and his vice commander were also stationed back in the city. Infiltrating against such odds was unlikely, but Rin and Sakura assured her that they were bringing a trump card with them.

"Most of the preparations are finished. It will take us a few hours to debrief our operators before we head over to Chernobog." Kal'tsit answered. She will be part of the operation herself due to other objectives. The elite operators will be in charge of heading the rescue mission for both the missing Fuyuki doctor and their captured comrade.

Amiya and the Doctor stood off to the side while watching the conversation play out. They didn't take part because they lacked information about the arrangement. It was Kal'tsit who the sisters initiated contact with, not them.

"A-ah…Kal'tsit can I talk to them?" Amiya perked up in the middle of the conversation. She looked determined, a different look compared to the one she carried throughout the previous day.

Technically it was just an hour ago, it was one in the morning and none of them had slept since the Reunion retreated. Kal'tsit ordered the operators to rest while she, Amiya, and the doctor continued to work.

She'd be damned if she didn't at least use the brain behind the amnesiac that caused the greatest betrayal in her life.

Kal'tsit glanced at Amiya before looking at the two doctors in front of her. Rin didn't answer whereas Sakura smiled and nodded at the young girl.

"Of course. What is it?" Her gentle voice gave off waves of warmth and comfort. Amiya leaned forwards until her body was a straight ninety-degree angle bow.

"T-thank you! Thank you so much for funding the rescue mission!" Kal'tsit had been against Amiya's plan to rescue Nearl. It was a surprise to the young Cautus when the older feline informed her and the Doctor about the rescue operation that was being put together with the funds and resources that the Fuyuki Clinic duo forwarded to Rhodes Island.

Amiya understood that the plan wouldn't have pushed through if they were any other customer. Kal'tsit wouldn't risk more lives to rescue one operator. It was the importance of the target that made the Rhodes Island leader reconsider.

Having one Oripathy doctor in the Reunion's hands was too dangerous.

"Miss Amiya, right?" Sakura asked out of courtesy. The young Rhodes Island leader returned to her standing position and nodded. "It was nothing, really. We were doing it for our friend."

Friend.

Rin wanted to smack herself. For all of Sakura's brilliance when it came to magecraft, the girl was still too shy to call Shirou her boyfriend out in public. After everything they've been through, after all the work Rin did to push the girl out of her shell. When it came to love, Sakura was just as much a wreck like the boy they both loved.

Seriously, why is she the guidance counselor of the group?

Rin sighed.

"Be that as it may, this operation cannot fail. To increase the chances of success, Sakura and I will be participating with your rescue teams." The older Tohsaka sister announced.

Kal'tsit inwardly frowned. The sisters had their fair share of secrets. They seemed confident in their abilities to fight in a warzone. Still, Kal'tsit didn't want them anywhere near danger despite what they have shown.

"That is too dangerous. We cannot allow you to be within range of the Reunion."

"We will bring support. A trump card, if you will. Enough to face anything the Reunion can throw at us." Rin answered.

Years of researching the Holy Grail after the deconstruction of the ritual in Fuyuki allowed Rin to tap into the Minor Grail within Sakura's body. The Holy Grail with Shirou was out of their hands right now so they had to work with what they had.

Kal'tsit looked at Rin and Sakura. They didn't seem bothered by her warning. Considering how they secured Misha before Lungmen did, Kal'tsit knew that they had a few cards up their sleeves.

"That depends on what you show to us before we deploy our teams to Chernobog." Kal'tsit would have to see it first.

Rin and Sakura looked at each other. It was time to use that.


Ch'en wasn't officially meant to be here. She didn't have the clearance after getting fired. But that didn't mean there weren't other ways to gain entry.

No, she didn't break in.

She was allowed in.

Perks of friends in higher places. Said place being her former position, and said friend being her former subordinate.

The wall of screens across the former Chief Superintendent showed a map of Lungmen and the surrounding landscape. A few hundred kilometers away, the red blip moving across the blue screen sent out signals as it raced towards Yan's border.

"Why is it sending out signals identifying itself as Chernobog?" Ch'en demanded the closest officer.

"We're not sure ma'am. It was one of the first things it did before it started moving." He answered out of impulse, used to being ordered by Ch'en back when she was the Superintendent of the LGD. Not anymore. It didn't register in his mind that he was responding to someone who wasn't supposed to have clearance. Still, his new boss was standing behind him as well.

"Even after being fired, you still pretty much belong in here…" Swire shot Ch'en a smug look. "Maybe I should have you work under me as my secretary." The same way you did to me once.

Ch'en shot her a glare then looked back at the screen. This was probably her last time being in this position for the foreseeable future. She needed to make the most of the opportunity.

"We had some teams watching Rhodes Island. I need to talk to them." Ch'en toldSwire.

"A moment." Swire pulled out her phone and dug through her new contacts. Her new position opened up a lot of departments that she could tap into. "I haven't actually seen the orders, you'll have to find it yourself." She handed over the phone to the Draco. Ch'en took the device and navigated not to the department head's contact, but straight to the leaders handling the teams.

"Meeting in 10 minutes. I want a summarized report of all your findings." Ch'en ordered the very instant the officer on the other end answered. They didn't even get to answer before she ended the call and moved on to the next team leader.

.

.

.

10 minutes later, Swire and Ch'en were alone in a room with a few other people- surveillance team leaders Ch'en picked for the operation before she was sacked.

The officers looked between the former and current Superintendents and came to the conclusion they were working together despite the announcement that Ch'en Huichieh was no longer a member of the LGD.

"Reports?" Ch'en demanded.

The five team leaders in front of them gave quick rundowns of their investigations. The orders were given out early in the week back when Ch'en attended the meeting between Rhodes Island's leadership and her uncle.

"Your base was attacked?" Ch'en repeated after the officer of D team.

"By Sarkaz, ma'am. They halted our operations and made us track the Fuyuki doctors."

Fuyuki doctors.

Ch'en remembered seeing them arrive with the LGD's target. She tried to arrest the target with them but was rebuffed by Kal'tsit. Ch'en couldn't do anything at the time because most of the LGD's manpower was devoted to protecting Lungmen. She could force some to detain the Chernobog scientist's daughter, but that meant drawing away precious support from other more important roles at the time.

So, Ch'en was forced to let Misha go.

"These Sarkaz, Reunion I'm guessing?" Ch'en asked. The officer nodded. "So they set aside a group to hunt down Fuyuki doctors." Obviously an objective. Two more Oripathy doctors would grow the Reunion more than any other recruiting campaign they could pull off.

Swire stood beside Ch'en organizing her own timeline of events. She wasn't aware of the operation on Rhodes Island until her recent promotion so she was doing her best to catch up.

"Wait." She interrupted Ch'en. "It says here that you called for help after escaping. But then another team reported that it was Rhodes Island who apprehended the leader of the Sarkaz team who attacked your base."

Since everyone was reporting at the same time, they were slowly learning more details from one another, connecting puzzle pieces together.

"This happened a little past 1400 hours yesterday, then E team reported watching one of Rhodes Island escorting the captured Sarkaz leader a few minutes after at 1405. How did they know about the attack before we did?" Swire asked.

Ch'en paused.

"Didn't the Sarkaz leader contact the Fuyuki doctors around 1300? They arrived at the walls at 1330." That was when Ch'en found out the Fuyuki doctors somehow had Misha. The surprises didn't end there when she learned that they also were working with Rhodes Island.

Rhodes Island was working behind Lungmen's back.

Not that it was shocking. Many companies did. It was just that they were clearly trying to force her uncle's hand into accepting their request…whatever it was. Something important enough to use the Reunion as a bargaining tool.

"The Sarkaz girl was clearly against the Fuyuki doctors heading in the direction of the main force from the record." Swire swiped through the logs on the screen in front of her. "Nothing was mentioned about their location. I don't think the Fuyuki doctors had any way of knowing where she was. Yet Rhodes Island was informed beforehand, leading to her capture. Either way, knowing how they did it can be done another time. The question now is why?"

Why were the Fuyuki doctors with Rhodes Island?

"They're not the only party involved. The Laterano ambassadors met up with Rhodes Island too." Ch'en informed. "I was there when they met up, though nothing really happened."

"We still have some transcripts here." Swire opened up a sound file. "B team grabbed this audio recording of the surrounding areas of your bunker."

"Alright, let's hear-"

"Ma'am, I think you might want to hear this." One team leader quickly interrupted while sharing his feed. "There's no video, but audio is clear."

The feed was black, but everyone could hear the conversation going on.

"Most of the preparations are finished. It will take us a few hours to debrief our operators before we head over to Chernobog."


Nearl shuffled behind Shirou.

When he asked for her help, she wasn't expecting this.

Nearl looked up at the large hulking commander that captured her following the disastrous fall out of VTOL aircraft that was supposed to evacuate the Rhodes Island rescue team. Beside him was a smaller girl probably a few years younger than herself. The two of them looked at her, then at Shirou.

"This was your plan?" The younger girl asked.

"She can help with the prisoners. Make it easier for us to handle Talulah." Shirou nodded.

"Very well. Miss…Nearl, right?" Patriot asked the blonde Kuranta. He overheard whispers about the Kazimierz Champion from the Reunion. She was obviously famous, but Patriot was never one to give celebrity news attention. He was more focused on keeping track of threats. "I know that we are…enemies." For a lack of a better term. "But are you willing to cooperate with us? I shall explain the situation if it helps settle your concerns."

"That would be preferable." Nearl looked at the map including what seems to be hastily drawn troop movements and notes. Arrows scattered around the map, but their general directions led towards a few focal points.

One of which was Chernobog's control tower.

"We have reason to believe that Talulah intends to crash the city core into Lungmen." Patriot went straight to the point. "Not only will it cause countless deaths of both Lungmen citizens and Reunion members, but will likely ignite war between Ursus and Yan."

That was all she needed to hear.

"What?!" Nearl slammed her hands on desk in horror. "Why?!"

"Shirou believes that Talulah is being controlled. Or is working with the Ursus forces." The Cautus commander answered. She looked at Shirou blankly, hiding her real thoughts on the topic.

Nearl looked at the archer behind her. "How did you reach that conclusion? Charging Chernobog's core into Lungmen is dangerous. Not even she can escape the blast radius." It sounded crazy from a logical standpoint. Nearl couldn't understand why the Reunion's leader would do such a thing.

To push forward the Infected movement? She'd sacrifice herself for that cause? Unless one was insane, or was out of options, such a move would hurt the strongest Infected movement on Terra.

It was just…inconceivable.

Leaders were smart. They weren't suicidal.

Shirou steeled himself. It would be hard to prove his point without evidence. But Terra was different. The world had its own magic and it was a part of everyday life. Here, he could be more open. Exposing a little bit of what he could do was not a problem.

"I can read the history of objects."

The looked at him weirdly.

"I can tell you who made them, when, what they're made of, and everything they've been through." Shirou paused before looking at Patriot. "That includes places, events, names, and everything that is part of the weapon's history."

"I know Grrovae'zzeal. I know Angelina. And I know Maria." Shirou ended while watching them perk at the names. Each one drew a different reaction from the three as he uttered each one individually.

"I can tell more, but I believe that's enough to prove my words."

FrostNova looked stunned, Nearl was stared at him as if he crossed a line, and Patriot looked distant.

"I can't explain how Talulah is being controlled, but there are clues." Not enough to prove his point though. Shirou was looking at an incomplete puzzle. He had to make do with what he had.

"This is your best chance at taking over Talulah." He faced Patriot. "Once Chernobog reaches Lungmen, the rest of the Reunion will be here to help her." That was if they even got on the speeding city plate. If Talulah was really aiming to ram the Chernobog core into Lungmen, then everyone would be dead anyway.

The Reunion would be in shambles, stuck between two nations who would rip them apart in their war.

"…you can read an object's history, right?" Patriot grabbed a small trinket within his chest pocket. He showed the jewelry to Shirou. "Then…who did this belong to?" He needed to confirm again.

"Your wife." Shirou answered instantly. "Helen."

That was enough for him.

"Then let us begin." He pocketed the wedding ring. "Here are the prisoner camps…" Patriot began circling areas for Nearl to see. "You'd want to start from the center and work your way outwards. The fights will be everywhere, but the intensity will be focused on towards the center of the plate. By then, the prisoners would be in the thick of it."

Meaning they couldn't escape. Nearl understood why the senior Reunion commander prioritized them. "Head east afterward. Free the camps there and make the prisoners flee south before heading west."

"How will we get them off the plate?" Nearl asked.

Patriot was silent.

"They'll have to head below the decks to the lowest part on their own." FrostNova answered. "Jump off the exit hatches at the bottom."

But that meant…

"The exit hatches for the service are several floors off the ground! You're going to get half of them killed just getting out of Chernobog!" Nearl raised her voice.

"What else can we do? Have them wait on the west side of Chernobog without a plan?" FrostNova glared at Nearl. She had lost many friends over the years. Yetis and Shieldguards alike killed in the middle of combat. Loss was expected. Even the best plans didn't assure the survival of everyone. It just reduced the chances of losing lives.

"If we fail, the west side will be the safest when Chernobog rams into Lungmen. That's if the core doesn't explode from the impact…" which it likely would. FrostNova didn't need to say.

"Enough." Patriot's voiced thrummed with finality. It stopped Nearl and FrostNova from arguing further when they heard his tone. "We will provide rescue teams. Scavenge rope and whatever we can use to make the drop safer. Have the people climb down the rope close to the ground before they jump."

It's the best we can do.

Still, a lot of people will still be jumping off Chernobog at speeds beyond 30kph several floors above ground level. Many will die if they succeed, or everyone dies if they fail.


Author's Note

This chapter (and next couple) has been specially brought to you by Unoriginal Name. Thank you to Dovar for another donation too!

Sigh, this chapter was supposed to be done last week but I didn't manage to finish it. Even now it feels half-assed after looking at it for the third week. The stories were true. When you write, everything looks like shit after you finish it.

Each little donation helps me out and motivates me to finish chapters earlier, so it would mean a lot to me to have your support!

ko - fi .com (slash) w1nterf0x