The Manhattan Project II

[Five_X]

No Alexander Senki. No.

[Sherrinford]

I can't talk to you anymore, Five_X.

lol.


Anyway, I think I decided. Let's help hannibal. (but don't kill Alex so soon!)

[RR121]

Help the Hannibal. I wish to see moar.

[Five_X]

Well it's just past 10 AM on my side on the world, so voting is done! It's 3-2 in favour of aiding Hannibal and friends, so that's the path. Expect to see a new chapter up tonight.

[Five_X]

New chapter is coming along smoothly~

Expect it tomorrow morning.

See? I don't WANT to surprise you all! :P

[Five_X]

It's time for an update as I tend to do at such times of the day as this. Also, I'm updating the OP with a link to the Servants thread. In this episode you get to see the initial result of your choice!

Now, two challengers approaching!


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CHAPTER VI

From far outside the reality marble an archer, crouched and ready on a rooftop, released his arrow silently into the night. It pierced the walls of the mental structure from beyond it, rushing in and piercing the horse that Alexander rode upon, sending him tumbling to the ground, falling under the weight of his mount and subsequently being trampled by those who followed him. His companions immediately wheeled around to come to his aid, destroying the momentum they had built up charging at the rear of Hannibal's massed infantry.


Curiously, the horse Bucephalus faded, floating away on the sandy wind. Ahead of the fallen king were the mixed corpses of men both his own and Hannibal's, and without any support and a distraught leader, they crumbled under the weight of Hannibal's army.


At least, that's what could have happened, had it not been for yet another interference, coming in from another part of the battlefield, knowingly running into this reality marble. James could see from afar that it was a Servant on a chariot, a woman, whose scarlet hair blew in the wind as she charged Hannibal's line. From the wheels of her chariot came streams of fire, and her two horses made crackling sparks with each of their steps. Soon they were nearly a whole pillar of orange flames descending upon Hannibal's army, tearing through it and destroying his near envelopment of Alexander's troops. However, this woman didn't seem to be aiming for Hannibal himself, or even the rest of his army: her horses of scorching fire flew directly at Saber, aiming to crush her under their hooves. The woman at the reins of the chariot gripped a spear in one hand, holding it ready to impale James' Servant if her horses didn't outright kill her.


All Saber could see was a fierce woman peeking just above the mass of flames with a look of absolute and bloodthirsty determination on her face.


With a sneer, Saber tore a javelin out of the compacted ground of the battlefield and held it firm by her side, slowly bringing it up, her knuckles white. Even she, no, especially she, knew who this woman was, just from her appearance. Saber felt a slight bout of bemusement arise in her, and when the chariot was so close that it the licks of flame burnt at her skin, she tossed the javelin with all her might at the woman in the chariot.


It struck her deep in the chest, and her horses whinnied and screeched, but one of the two was silenced by a single stroke of Saber's blade. Her offence was ruthless and clean, and the chariot, with only one horse to guide it, careened along the ground, eventually coming to a stop as it slid along its side, as the other beast could not go on. The woman's body fell lifelessly from her chariot, coming to rest against its side, her face buried in the dust.


Stepping across the battlefield gradually, Saber made her way to the fallen warrior. Her crown had fallen off and had rolled away, and so Saber picked it off the ground and fixed it on the woman's head, restoring her dignity in death. She hung her head and closed her eyes, showing her own respect for the warrior queen who had fallen so soon in the war, a life brought to waste much too early.


James saw his Servant out of the corner of his eye performing this small ritual. He had made his way to the broken front lines, but saw her, such a small figure far away, standing mournfully as she was. He was curious, but with the charioteer's damage to Hannibal's forces it took all of his effort to try to bring the advantage over to their side. He, and even Hannibal with his elephants, were both unsuccessful. With the possible death of their leader, the Macedonians did not falter, instead they fought even harder, pushing all the way through Hannibal's main line and entirely disrupting his forces so much so that a victory was impossible. With this clear victory on their part, they disappeared as the battlefield itself faded away, returning the land to its natural green gardens and modern roads. The fight was over, finally, and Hannibal recalled his army. He and Nigel joined James and Saber once again, and together they watched Alexander limp away beside his Master. Neither of the surviving Servants moved to stop him.


“Wh-why aren't you doing anything?” James asked Saber angrily, glaring at her.


She bowed her head. “This was not my victory, nor was it Hannibal's. We do not deserve to defeat him, as such would be completely dishonourable.”


James wasn't convinced by her softly spoken words. “He's still an enemy Servant! Go and kill that Servant, like you killed that chariot woman!”


“Is that... an order, Master?” Saber looked over at James with mournful eyes.


From this Servant, who had seemed to be so cold before, such sad sentiments were completely strange. James simply couldn't bring himself to use his command spell to force her against her will, it just seemed inhumane.


Even Nigel was shaking his head. “You don't understand history, lad. Even though this is a war between magi, that's still the flesh and blood and mind of Alexander the Great. Among those who came after him, especially leaders like Hannibal, he was a source of inspiration, and a man who was greatly respected. It seems that your own Servant, too, understands honour in battle. She may have been a pragmatist in life, but maybe she was someone who respected Alexander, or someone like him. You're lucky to have someone like her, you know.” He smiled at James and at Saber, acting surprisingly pleasant despite the overall loss that was suffered.


Still, there was one less Servant to deal with and Alexander the Great was incapacitated for some time, though there was still the Archer, whoever or wherever he was.


As if on cue, a bright arrow shot up into the sky and lit up the area like a flare, revealing the approach of a Servant. He had a confident stride as he approached the four from their left, and on sighting him Saber and Hannibal readied their respective weapons. His face was wrinkled and his beard was long and scraggly, and he wore an old, faded tunic that at one time may have been much more colourful and vibrant This man didn't seem to be nearly as threatening as Alexander was, and though they were still exhausted from their battle the two Servants felt that they could defeat this Archer with relative ease.


“Hold, hold, friends. I wish not to interrupt your peace. Indeed, it was I who loosed the very arrow that brought down that great general, and I come offering terms of an alliance.” He spoke in this antiquated way, and held a bow lightly at his side, close enough to be killed by Saber and Hannibal before he could even bring his weapon to bear.


Indeed, they had no reason not to trust him. After all, he was the one who stopped Alexander, and unless he had an especially clever plan, he was completely open to attack. Even the strongest of Servants would be vulnerable if they held themselves so vulnerable as he.


“Don't worry.” Nigel assured James, “Servants have a tendency not to lie. Unless they are Assassin, such deception would be below them. I'd say we should trust this man, though his Master appears to not be here.”


The Archer nodded. “It is in the wishes of my Master that I come to you in this hour, for he has taken note of your presence, and has deemed you most fit to join him in an alliance. As he says, your perceived goals are most similar to his, and there are many more Servants yet to be summoned this eve, and the next still. Come, follow me and you all shall understand.” He turned his back to the four and began walking back in the direction he had come. Above, the bright arrow he had shot was fading, slowly letting the darkness swallow the Archer's form.


Without any complaints Nigel followed him, as did Hannibal afterwards. James and Saber, however, looked at each other with looks of mutual suspicion, and kept a slower pace, making a large distance between them and this new Servant.


“How powerful do you think he is, Saber?” James asked, hoping to be able to talk once more with the woman's nicer side.


“Hmph.” She huffed, her arms crossed. “He has a powerful aura, that I can tell, but otherwise... there's nothing. I cannot determine his age or who he is. I know that there are Servants like that, ones who have appearances and Noble Phantasms that are either impossibly obscure or cannot possibly reveal their owner's identity. I fear that this Archer may be one of those unknown Servants. Personally, though, I have no interest in him. I wish we would find stronger enemies to test ourselves against in this war, Master. These alliances are becoming hardly tactical as of late.”


James laughed, certainly amused by her. “Personally, I wish you'd be a bit nicer sometimes. You're my Servant, so you do what I ask. We're going to form alliances, just as long as they're helping us. You've got to remember that we don't know much about the other magi out here.”


Saber, though, was hardly finding the situation entertaining. In her thoughts, she had believed she would be granted a better Master than this. Even that mad buffoon Nigel had his moments of clarity. Still, though, she had no choice. Perhaps there was still a chance that this Master could salvage himself from being completely dull.


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I hope this gives you all more to discuss and enjoy!

[SeiKeo]

So, woman with a chariot... Boudica, most likely, which would make Saber Roman... not sure which one though.

[Five_X]

Yep, Boudicca! Poor Rider got destroyed on the first day.

Of course, there are so many Romans that would work as Servants. At least a couple appear in this fic.

[Sherrinford]

So, the woman is Boudicca... never heard of her.

Wait... red armor, blond hairs... Saber isn't Nero, right?! RIGHT?!


Ehm, not to nitpick, but I didn't like the first paragraph. How did the Archer shot from outside the RM? It should be impossible to aim in that condition, unless his arrows have some kind of "always hitting" skill...

... and no, come on, you can't make Alexander fall off from the horse, no matter how realistic it may be. That's just too Fail for a servant, especially servant Alexander.

What a battle royale, I had trouble following who was against who... but that's ok, such are battle royales. So... unless "Boudicca" has Battle Continuation... the servant count is already lowered to 27?

[Five_X]

You'll eventually get to see that this Archer is a little different from the norm. :P

And Alex fell from his horse 'cause it died, not because of fail riding skills. Again, awesome enough Archer.

Yes, Boudicca is dead.

[Spinach]

Assuming Boudica knew Saber, I guess that kills my Hervor theory. Oh well. Will we be seeing a status update in the WISEUP thread soon?

[Sherrinford]

And Alex fell from his horse 'cause it died, not because of fail riding skills. Again, awesome enough Archer.

Yes, I know it died but still, what the hell. It's still Fail Hard. Not cool.

Yes, Boudicca is dead.

A chapter of fail, mh? Poor Boudicca, she doesn't even start invoking her NP...

... so, 21 servants until the "dawn"?


... wait, you still haven't answered me: she isn't genderbended Nero, RIGHT?!

[Five_X]

She isn't genderbent Nero, no. However, there ARE plenty of other emperors that are definitely interesting targets, and even some people from before the Roman Empire. A certain Republican general I'm thinking of would make an excellent contrast to another character that's already showed up, ehehehehehe.

[RR121]

At this rate, we're going to learn every major historical figure who used a famous sword was a woman who hid her gender. :P

[Five_X]

This Saber does not use a famous sword. In fact, her sword is incredibly obscure and mentioned in only one book ever, and I came across it by fluke and decided to throw it in. Seriously.

[Sherrinford]

every major historical figure who used a famous sword was a woman who hid her gender.

D'Eon is in this? :P (edit: no, wait, she/he didn't have a "famous" sword)

She isn't genderbent Nero, no.

Oh god, thank you.

A certain Republican general I'm thinking of would make an excellent contrast to another character that's already showed up, ehehehehehe.

Scipio? Nah, too easy... Fabius Maximus?... too easy again...

However, there ARE plenty of other emperors that are definitely interesting targets, and even some people from before the Roman Empire.

yes, but I think that emperor servants are too difficult to deal with. The cases are: either you fall every time in a "Ionian Basilikoi () Hetairoi" NP, or... well, look at what they did to Nero in extra... *raises an eyebrow*

[Five_X]

No guess is too easy, Sherrin. sometimes the truth is right under your nose!

As a possible hint, Saber isn't necessarily someone from the Western Roman Empire. Keep in mind all the awesome stuff the Eastern Emperors did.

[Sherrinford]

As a possible hint, Saber isn't necessarily someone from the Western Roman Empire. Keep in mind all the awesome stuff the Eastern Emperors did.

... eastern, as in, chinese, japanese, persian?

I thought this saber was roman because

Even she, no, especially she, knew who this woman was, just from her appearance.

[Five_X]

Eastern Roman Emperors, from 476-1453.

[Sherrinford]

Eastern Roman Emperors, from 476-1453.

there's only one way to deal with this...

... TO WIKIPEDIA!


... it isn't genderbent Constantine, right?