Chương 29: ARC 2 - Prologue : Thickening Hail
"So, your plan to escape is through underground?"
"Precisely. Our adversary has yet to occupy the underground hanger. There, we will find a shipping container in which we can take shelter. As it happens, I've rescued four other staff members along the way and have instructed them to head there as well."
"But Mr.Holmes, these hallways are filled with enemies and Goredolf's soldiers. How are we supposed to make it there?"
"I will act as your guide and take us down the pathway filled with the least enemies."
"In other words, the places with the least excitement."
"...Yes, I suppose that is true."
"Hey, hey! Why do you sound so bored anyway? Do you want to die?"
"Hmm~. I won't die if I kill them first."
"You-", Meuniere gave the man an exasperated look before sighing and saying, "Holmes, out of all the types of people you could have chosen to summon, you summoned a battle-hungry warrior."
"That is correct."
"May I ask why?"
"Because I'm sure Gudako has other plans at the moment."
"Gudako? You better not be thinking of going to the Command Room! Holmes JUST told us earlier that the enemies' attention appears to be directed towards the Command Room."
"..."
"Oh, COME ON."
"Senpai, you have the same idea right? This is our best chance, but..."
"We can't leave Da Vinci behind."
"Fou, fou."
Holmes nodded before motioning towards the two newcomers in the room, both of them being summons from another world.
"In that case, a word of advice. Take the one who hungers for battle with you. The other one can protect us as we travel towards the hanger. After all, my baritsu is unable to protect anyone other than myself and is used solely for the purpose of self-defense. Are you two in agreement."
The blonde girl dressed in all purple nodded, her single eye fixing itself upon Holmes' face.
"This arrangement does not displease me. Beings who travel this other world, I, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, grant you the permission to traverse this land by my side. And I will uphold my portion of this agreement."
The violet bird next to her then spoke.
"She means "Yes this plan is alright and yes I will protect you.""
"Good then."
"Curious. Why does the one who peers through veils not ask for our titles and our ranks?"
"If it pleases you Your Highness, you may tell us your name as we travel to the hanger. We don't have time otherwise."
"Heh, he basically just told you that your introduction is too long so shorten it."
The girl whirled around, facing the orange-haired man who only smirked back at her.
"Silence! You wretched fool who knows not of-"
"Sorry girlie, but like the guy said, we don't have time for that. Anyway, the plan's fine with me. As long as I can get some fighting done."
"Very well then. A word of advice, Gudako. Go around to the Command Room by way of the L2 stairs. That will send you in the opposite direction of those black-garbed soldiers. I expect you will find Ms. Da Vinci inside her workshop, but you will need to make your way through the Command Room regardless. Once you have met up with her, come straight to the hangar. "
"Thank you Holmes."
Smiling back, Holmes then walked out the room with both Meuniere and the girl following him.
"Alright, let's get moving. Oh, and tell me your name along the way. I need something to call you."
Gudako then stepped out the room and began running towards the location Holmes mentioned with both the guy and Mash following closely behind her.
"Sure~. My name's Tartaglia, but you can call me Childe."
"Oh, Tartaglia? The one Emiya fought?"
"Correct. Say, when can I fight him again?"
"I don't know. Right now, every Servant, save for Da Vinci and Holmes, has been unsummoned and sent back to the Throne. You'll have to wait and see after we escape from here."
"Hm, hm. Alright."
...
Skidding to a stop, the team found themselves right outside the backdoor of the Command Room. Huffing, Mash made her way towards the door and opened it.
"...Good, we made it to the back of the Command Room without those soldiers spotting us... Unfortunately, it looks like they've taken control of it, just as Holmes said... I don't see Da Vinci anywhere. If she escaped to her workshop, then–Wait, is that...?"
"Fooouuu...!"
"!"
Tartaglia, having the fastest reflexes out of all of them, proceeded to push the two out of the doorway.
"Shhh..."
Peering in, Gudako could see a person dressed in a familiar pale clothing and a signature pink tail.
"Koyanskaya!"
Inside the Command Room, Koyanskaya was pacing around watching the black crow-masked soldiers walk around looking for something. She seemed impatient and ready to kick down anyone that defied her.
"Ugh, don't tell me you STILL haven't found that graph? If it's not on the main server, it must be hidden somewhere else. Remember, our primary mission may be to take control of Chaldea, but our secondary objective is to seize that data at any cost. You may be satisfied as long as you can keep killing, but I told you that data is more important, didn't I?...I swear, this is what happens when you just go around slaughtering without a moment's thought. Oprichniki are supposed to be the best of the best, but you guys are completely useless. You can't even capture a lone Servant."
She huffed, her hands on her hips before tossing her hair and walking towards the far end of the room.
"Oh well, at least we gained control of the Command Room. You all, remain on standby. The Grand Duchess will be here any moment now. I trust you at least know how to welcome royalty properly?"
Outside the Command Room
"So she's working with those soldiers..."
"...So it would seem. Although, she called them "Oprichniki"...They are Russian aren't they?...No, never mind that now. Saving Da Vinci comes first. Let's stay out of sight and make our way to the workshop, Master. It doesn't look like the soldiers are going to leave the Command Room anytime soon...That is probably what's stopping Da Vinci from leaving."
"Can't I just go in a kill them all?"
"Childe, this is an undercover ops mission whose main focus is rescuing a target. You'll get your fight later."
"All right."
The four then moved around the Command Room, carefully dodging all the soldiers, and quickly found themselves right next to the workshop entrance. They entered quietly, shutting the door behind them as softly as the could.
"Hey there, Gudako! Thanks for stopping by! I THOUGHT you might show up! I had no REASON to think that, but now I'm glad I did!"
"Da Vinci! Thank goodness you're all right!"
"Fou!"
"Of course, we'd come back for you. You should know me pretty well now."
"Haha, of course! And I see that the items Holmes and I created were pretty handy. Nice to meet you, I'm Da Vinci, a renowned genius of this world."
"Greetings, miss. I'm Tartaglia, but you can just call me Childe."
"Ooo, manners. That's not something you see in a servant all the time."
"Wait, Da Vinci, you knew that he's not from this world? Like not even in our history?"
"Of course! You can get Holmes to explain it later. Anyway yup, I'm doing okay. Things were looking pretty dicey for a while there, but I made it here intact. Those things are awful, you know? No matter how many times you kill them, they just keep getting back up and swarming all over you. Now I know how it feels to be a lump of sugar getting mobbed by ants. Or maybe a piece of meat getting attacked by piranhas? Something like that. Anyway...So you went and transformed, Mash. Just when you had a chance to get your body back to normal, too. Now we'll have to start your treatment all over again."
"...I'm sorry. I know you've all been so considerate of me..."
"Eh, don't worry about it. Can't really complain when Gudako and I are alive now thanks to that decision. Plus, we've got another two people on our side now. Now then, Fujimaru. I think we'd better save the long-winded explanations until later. Since you ran into Holmes, I don't have to waste my breath telling you that you need to escape to the hangar. I was planning to head there myself once I'd met up with you, but there's something I left behind."
Turning around, Da Vinci began rummaging through the Workshop before suddenly standing up with a metallic suitcase-looking item.
"This is the one thing we can't let them get their hands on. It contains a copy of the graph made up of the data patterns for the Spirit Origins of all the Heroic Spirits you've formed contracts with to date. In short, it contains your bonds with them. As long as you have this and Mash with you, you'll be able to summon Heroic Spirits again. Though you WILL need access to a good leyline and a ton of energy to activate it, of course. Chaldea may not be able to get it up and running right now, but as long as we can make it through this predicament, we should be able to figure something out. I bet this Spirit Origin graph is what they're looking for, too. I originally moved it to this briefcase to keep it out of Goredolf's hands. Either way, good thing I did. Anyway, now that you and Mash are here, Fujimaru, we can slip out through the Command Room. Mash, I know that your body isn't operating at its peak, but do you think you can hang in there for just a few more battles? Childe here might be able to fight them, but you can never be too sure.
"Of course. It'd be my honor to accompany you, Acting Director Da Vinci."
"Great. Then I'll be counting on you three to back me up. We'll need to take out the soldiers in the hallway to make it to the hangar. We have no choice but to cut through the Command Room along the way, but I do NOT want to fight in there if we can possibly avoid it. As I'm sure you saw for yourselves, something is attacking Chaldeas. Ordinarily, Chaldeas should be protected by a powerful force field, making it impossible to touch. I'm still not sure exactly what's going on, but it looks like they've somehow managed to seal Chaldeas away. And that means there's a chance that Chaldeas could be physically destroyed. Even a single stray shot or ricochet could damage it. We have to avoid that at all costs. If Chaldeas ends up broken, fixing it would be impossible.
"Understood. Let's go then. Childe, Mash, get ready."
"Finally! I've been waiting!"
"Haah! I'm ready, Master!"
"That's the spirit! This takes me back to our battle in the Holy Land.... You've grown so much since then. Really now, you didn't have to come back for me. You would've been just fine even if I was gone. But, thanks for coming all the same. Which isn't to say I couldn't take care of myself! Now let's get out of here and head to the hangar!"
The group slipped out of the room, making their way across the Command Room. As per Da Vinci's instructions, the group made their way to a side door of the Command Room with Childe assassinating any enemies that were too close for comfort.
Once they managed to slip out, the group broke into a full sprint towards the hanger. Any enemies they met along the way either met their fate via a watery blade, a blast of energy, or a hard smack from an equally tough shield.
In no time at all, the group made it to the hanger where Holmes, and the rest of the staff, were waiting.
The girl from earlier was also standing guard near the entrance. She was holding an intricate looking bow and nearly fired upon them if it wasn't for the bird that followed her around alerting her that they were not enemies.
"What's your name?"
"Normally, I'd grace you with a full introduction, but that seeker of hidden truth urged speed for the delivery. As such, I will simply say that I am Fischl, a princess from a foreign land."
"And I am Oz, her most loyal retainer."
"Nice to meet you both. Say, since Childe here has a connection to Chaldea via a fight with someone we know, what's your connection?"
"...Once in a time long ago, I traversed the land looking for shards of a fading dream. By my side was an astrologist who could gleen the stars' secrets, a witch whose very fires could burn the world, and a queen-no, king- who had decided to leave the path of a benevolent ruler."
"So Jalter and Maid Alter. I see. Must've been tough."
"Perhaps it was so in the beginning. But, tensions ease through the unending flow of time and as such, the connections that intertwined us grew more lenient."
"Mm."
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