008 - Strike Team Red

Tohsaka Rin

"Wait, you've taken me to your workshop!?" The fluffy-haired girl demands with shrill incredulity, making a fond smile appear on Rin's lips. "What's wrong with you?"

It feels like it was only yesterday that she was the one saying these words, while Emiya-kun got a good laugh at her expense. She never did see the humor back then, but things certainly look different from the other side.

"The world is what's wrong, girl. Desperate times call for desperate measures." She answers seriously, keeping her amusement to herself. "Besides, this is just a shoddy, provisional workshop designed for practicality over research. Feel free to browse at your leisure, there are no wards beyond what's required for basic safety. All the good stuff was lost back then, so there's no point in getting overzealous."

Making a sweeping gesture, Rin silently invites Olga to explore around at her leisure. The girl hesitates, the deep-seated taboo of nosing around another magi's research rearing its ugly head, but she soon gets over it and starts walking around the place.

Rin finds it noteworthy that the taboo exists at all. Having been born within a technomagical organization like Chaldea, discarding magi tradition in favor of using all means available to achieve their goals, Olga's upbringing couldn't have been exactly traditional. Then again, sometimes the odd one out is also the one who tries the hardest to fit, the one holding herself to a high standard others don't even acknowledge.

… Or maybe Rin is just projecting. She does that sometimes.

Whatever the case, she still has to keep herself from openly smiling as she watches the younger girl examine everything with poorly-concealed wonder in her eyes. From that sweet alchemical bonsai that was Illya's gift a couple birthdays ago to the mystic code laser printer she uses to automate the production of low-quality jewels, the expression in Olga's eyes becomes more and more strained as she tries to cover her enthusiasm with a mask of indifferent superiority.

Did Rin act like that adorably herself, back when she was sixteen and Emiya-kun seemed to take a sick pleasure in blowing her mind every other day?

"Alright… Assuming I can understand how showing me a tree made out of gold that seems to grow jewels would be considered harmless, that still leaves–" Olga's attempt at saving face gets ruined when her eyes land on a half-engraved gold band Rin forgot to put away last time she was working on. "Is that ring engraved with Divine Words!? You call this shoddy!?"

Yeah… that one shouldn't have been out in the open. In Rin's defense, it's hard to keep track of time here in this delightfully charming view of hell they have no choice but to call Fuyuki. She was feeling stressed and wanted to do something relaxing and the Rayshift warning came out of nowhere and—

Well… nothing to it but applying Emiya-kun's lessons. There's many things she's learnt from the infuriating man over the years, but one of the most infuriating has also turned out to be one of the most useful -which in turn makes it even more infuriating, but that's not the point- and with that she means the fine art of bullshitting one's way out of any situation.

"Just an old hobby I've been taking up now and then for the last couple years, when I had some free time." Rin shrugs, putting her considerable acting skills to the task of making it seem like what she just said actually made sense. "What, you don't drill your Caster Servants for lost knowledge in your world-line?"

Olga's incredulous amber eyes stare right into Rin's, as if trying to see right through them, but the Tohsaka Head is an old hand at sticking to her guns by this point. The only effect the younger girl's gaze has is to cause a perfectly manicured black eyebrow to slowly climb up in challenge while the rest of Rin's body remains perfectly calm and relaxed.

Finally, it's the younger girl who (blinks) accepts defeat first, throwing her arms up and turning around.

"That is— This is– I can't even… Gah!" Olga stammers, trying and failing to find the right words before she realizes what she's doing and smacks her own cheeks with both hands. "No, this isn't the time! We have more pressing matters!"

"Indeed, we should get ready for the sortie." Rin agrees calmly while allowing herself an inward smirk. She's still got it. "There's more basic gems that I know what to do with, so you can start there. Grab one of the expanded bags and get your favored loadout."

"Favored loadout? How am I supposed to know?" Olga huffs, doing her best to sound testy and irritated while stealing side glances at Rin. "There's far too many options and we don't have all day."

Oh, look at the baby tsundere trying to ask for help without losing face! So much effort to try and hide her blossoming respect or… does Rin dare say it, amiration? It's so cute! She wants to hug this soft and fluffy-looking girl and squeal how adorable she finds her and eat her whole! Or maybe push her down on her bed and eat her whole!

Is this how Medea saw Rin, back in the day?

"We're fighting masses of cannon fodder and elite combatants you cannot hope to match in a direct confrontation so prepare accordingly." She explains seriously, slightly straining her non-inconsiderable willpower to bottle up these unsightly impulses and bury them somewhere deep down. "Powerful, single-target effects will be mostly wasted here, so focus on delaying or avoiding for the Servants. Preferably through physical effects that won't be affected by their Magic Resistance. For the cannon fodder… Wide area damage is your best option, with maybe some crowd control thrown on top. Just remember they're undead and thus immune to various mortal weaknesses."

"Right, right…" Olga pretends to grumble as she starts loading handfuls of gems into her bag. "Solid advice, of course, if a bit unimaginative. But I suppose there's no need to get flashy, we just need it to work."

Rin stands a distance away, doing her own preparation while keeping an eye on Olga. An approving hum escapes her lips as she analyzes the youngest girl's loadout of choice. There's some brute force, of course, alongside a good handful of shield and other single-use protections gem magecraft is so good at, as expected.

But the real kicker is the heavy loadout of transmutation-based effects. Quicksands to mire down the fodder, concrete growths that would slow down even a Servant, some interesting magnetic effects that could be used in a multitude of creative ways… The only choice that makes Rin frown a bit are the smokescreen and mist generators. They won't work at all against skeletons who don't base their perception around sight, nor will they be very effective against heroes of legend unless…

"Gas to solid transmutation?" She asks, glancing at the girl's latest choice in realization. "Surround them by mist and then turn it into a physical barrier once the targets are already caught? Smart and elegant."

"I'm thinking of thick tar or some other strong and elastic adhesive, for extra effect." Olga elaborates smugly, preening under the praise without seemingly noticing. "But you figured the gist of it, yes. As expected of Tohsaka-sen… Of Tohsaka-san."

Rin rolls her eyes fondly, pretending she didn't notice the slip of the tongue. The girl has a good head on her shoulders, if nothing else.

"What about that gem there?" Olga asks after a while, pointing at an ominously glowing ruby kept on a protective case all for itself. "Will Sen– Will you be using it?"

"Indeed, that one is a bit too advanced for you." Rin carefully maneuvers around Olga to reach for the display table, carefully grabbing the gem to make it disappear into her personal folded space with case and all. That one is too dangerous to even take out of its container before it's time to use it. "Keep up your studies and give it five years… no, with your talent it would probably be closer to two. But for now I'll be the one using it."

"What is it?" Olga asks with a frown. "It felt like it was oozing bloodlust and hatred."

"That's because it is." Rin nods. "Noble Phantasms can't be easily replicated, but one can take advantage of the imprint they leave in history to boost the potency of similar effects."

"Right… what did you use as the basis for that abomination?" The younger girl is still frowning, glaring at the stand where the gem used to rest as if it owed her money. "The Aztec heart sacrifice rituals?"

"Not quite." The older girl answers with a teasing smirk. True, that would've probably made for an interesting effect too, but personal affinity is important too. And Rin isn't really compatible with Aztec myths at all. "Think Celtic."

"No, I don't think I will." Olga declines with a small shudder, proving that she has more common sense than 80% of the magi out there. "That's a secret I'll be happy to leave a secret."

"How un-magus of you." Rin chuckles teasingly.

"Hmpf!" Olga huffs, bringing both hands to her hips in a defiant posture. "I may be a magus, but I have standards!"

This girl… she acts so much like a younger Rin that it's almost painful to watch.

The two of them spend a while longer there, digging around the workshop for combat-ready or otherwise useful Mystic codes. All too soon though, Archer comes by to let them know dinner is ready - and practically dragging Rin away- so they have to call it a day.

"Hey, Tohsaka." Olga calls out while they're making their way back. "Do you think… mumble mumble."

"Hmm…?"

"Do you think you could…" Olga tries again, trailing off as her voice seems to become softer and softer on its own accord. "Teach me? Gemcraft, I mean."

"Let's solve the current crisis first, okay?" Rin chuckles, holding back the urge to pat the girl's fluffy head. "I might entertain the idea of taking an apprentice once the world isn't burning around us."

… Yes, sometimes it's painful to watch.

Olga Marie Animusphere

The brief moment of respite at the Emiya Residence has been a very welcome break in the middle of the mess of fire and brimstone that's Singularity F but, at the end of the day, Chaldea is on a timer. Nothing they've seen so far within the Singularity can explain the apparent disappearance of Proper Human History by the end of 2016. They need to get to the bottom of this incident before the damage becomes irreversible.

Compared with her own blind wandering around the city or even with Archer of Red clearing a path on her lonesome, traveling around with a group of Servants is like the difference between day and night. With Archer and Berserker of Red clearing a way, Rider or Red harassing any stragglers and Kyrielight ensuring their safety from any unexpected ambush, one could almost mistake their offensive advance for a luxury stroll as the seemingly-unending swarms of cursed skeletons fail to even become a nuisance.

Seeing such an incredible power in action, Olga is tempted to think they're technically equally matched to the Black Faction but, while most of the Blackened Servants are comparable or even slightly inferior to those of the Red Faction, Tohsaka has made it clear that Saber of Black is an entirely different beast. They are going to need every ounce of power and wit in their reach to stand a chance against her.

Apparently, she's never left the cavern of the Greater Grail since she exterminated humanity, so hopefully they won't need to deal with her until the very end.

As the massive bridge that acts as a bottleneck between the two separate halves of Fuyuki City comes into view, Olga can feel (the butterflies on her stomach become restless) Kyrielight's expression becoming more and more anxious. Maybe… Maybe reviewing the plan one last time wouldn't be amiss. To help her subordinate calm down and focus, of course.

"Right, we're about to reach the Fuyuki Bridge, that's our first real hurdle." She says out loud, long practice making her voice come out smooth and authoritative regardless of her actual feelings in the matter. "The point they want to protect is the Cavern under Ryuudou Temple where the Greater Grail rests, but this place is too much of a vantage position to fully ignore, so Archer is playing advance guard."

"Usually, he would be happy to take potshots at us to delay our approach, only to retreat to a fallback position the moment he feels threatened in the slightest." Von Einzbern chimes in, a gleeful smirk on her childish face as she rubs her palms together. "But we have a trump card this time that will ensure he stays behind and fights."

"Right… Our 'trump card'." Olga enunciates slowly and drily. Being honest… This is the part of the plan she feels the least confident about. "Remind me, why are we sure this will work?"

"We aren't." Rider easily slots herself into the conversation, nevermind the fact she was nowhere to be seen a second ago or the fact that she nearly gave Olga a heart attack with that stunt. "But there's a good chance it will and we risk nothing trying."

"You mean." Olga retorts with some annoyance. "Nothing but Fujimaru's–"

"Haku!"

"Fujimaru's safety." Olga insists, refusing to even look in the orangette's direction. She may be grateful the supposedly scrap of the barrel Master Candidate ended up having a lot of hidden potential, but a lie of omission is still a lie and she would've liked to know what she was working with from the very start! "As the officer in charge, I'm still not sold on this part."

"If he retreats, he will become a thorn in our side for the whole operation." Rider makes a point that Olga has no chance but to begrudgingly accept. One additional Servant on the enemy side might be all it takes to ruin their plans, they need to be realistic about their chances. "Have more trust in your subordinates, Haku is stronger than you think."

"I trust my subordinates!" Olga protest indignantly. "But that's a Servant you want to send her against!

"Meh." The aforementioned shrugs uncaringly. "I can take him."

"No, you can't!" Olga is surrounded by idiots! Idiots and combat freaks!

"Actually… I'd rather Haku-senpai didn't fight either." Kyrielight points out hesitantly, causing Olga to momentarily forget all the… baggage that exists between them to throw her a thankful smile. "It should be my duty to fight her battles!"

"Look, I know Archer. He used to be my Servant before the… Blackening." Tohsaka-sen… Tohsaka finally joins the conversation. "He's a cynic bitch, pragmatic and ruthless like few. You won't see him forfeiting the tactically sound option all that often. But even he has his own sense of pride, there are things that can make him competitive and stubborn."

Normally, Olga would acknowledge the point. In a fight between Servants, legends clash and common sense needs to take a second row seat. Victory cannot be achieved without risks and a good strategist needs to be at least a little bit ruthless. To save Human History, some sacrifices need to be done and to be a magus is to walk with death, but…

BUT!

Fujimaru is her (precious) subordinate! (a bright, cheerful and friendly girl that gifted her a perfume bottle in their first meeting!) She won't simply treat her like a pawn to be thrown in the meat grinder!

"You mean, 'things' like Fujimaru?"

"That projection magecraft of hers is very similar to what Archer uses in combat." Tohaska continues undeterred. "So there's a good chance he'll stay behind to try and beat her at her own game."

"And then I'll crush him!" Fujimaru slams her fist against her open palm, making Olga and Kyrielight groan in unison.

"I would feel better if at least we used the chance to jump at him with all our Servants." Olga tries, but even her steely self-control can't keep a hint of resignation from her voice.

"I would feel better too." At least, Tohsaka has the decency to sound sheepish as she puts a (reassuring) hand on Olga's shoulder. "But he's slippery to the point I'd think he has the Disengage skill if I didn't know any better. We won't pin him down if he doesn't want to be pinned down."

"I already knew that." Olga grumbles out, turning her head to the sides so nobody could take a good look at her face. Stupid cursed fire and stupid heat, now it looks like she's blushing!

Conversation dies out after that, but it's not long before the whistling sound of projectiles cutting through the air draws their attention. Looking up, Olga can see various small shapes flying in an arch from one of the skyscrapers on the other side of the river and towards their location. Testing shots, no doubt. According to Tohsaka, Archer can easily go supersonic with his arrows.

"Heads up! Arrows incoming!"

"Right Mashu-chan, we're counting on you!"

"H– hai! Mashu Kyrielight, engaging!"