Chapter 72: The Final Battle’s Next Stage
The Wolfen
“That second blast from the Hanging gardens just punched a hole through half our hangars! We just lost most of the un-built mecha units! Decks 5 and 6 are open to air! I repeat, Decks 5 and 6 are open to air!” Scylla’s horrified reaction echoes through the ship’s loudspeakers.
“Any damage to the guns or ammunition stores?” Erik asks over the communications system.
“None, boss! All guns are firing steadily!” Scylla replies.
“Keep aiming for the tower, damn it! It doesn’t have many weaknesses yet!” Erik nods, glancing at the charging railgun’s status.
“Roge- OH SHIT, BRACE FOR IMPACT!” Scylla half screams.
A massive explosion thrums through the Wolfen as large explosions ripple through it, as the Hanging Gardens’ massive prana cannon carves into the bottom of the Wolfen once more.
“Left Side Bottom Railguns have been destroyed outright! Mortar/launcher systems are untouched, as are the missile launchers, but we just lost all the railguns on the left side entirely! We don’t have nearly enough left to repair all that!” Scylla admits, hastily, sounding out of breath.
“Keep firing with everything else, damn it!” Erik snarls back, right before grinning as the railgun shows it’s charged up enough for another shot..
“I’m trying, Boss!” Scylla retorts.
The Hanging Gardens shakes, as another bomb from the railgun carves through a chunk of the outer sections, and sends huge chunks of it flying, as it dangerously starts to lean away from the Hanging Gardens.
“Heavy damage to another one of the outer sections, looks like it’ll fall any moment!” Scylla reports, a sound of cheer from him.
“Good to hear, Scylla!”
“15 seconds until we can fire the main cannon agai- OH SHIT! PRANA CANNON BLAST INCOMING!” Scylla yelps.
The Wolfen outright flinches as more weapons are carved from the underside.
“Scylla! Any ideas how to stop them?!” Erik snarls through the communications, holding on tight to the railgun’s manual controls.
“Lasers are ineffective against the stone of the Hanging Gardens, boss! I just… don’t know! We just lost the rest of the bottom railguns with that last blast from them!” Scylla admits.
“I’ve got one, then. Drop the Wolfen on them, then cut power to the antigravity engines! We’ll slam them into the ground, and turn power back on at the last minute!” Erik’s voice is grim.
“Better than that, we’ve got a mountain right behind them! If we can slam them intoTHAT...!” Scylla retorts.
“DO IT THEN!” Erik snarls.
“RAMMING SPEED, NESTOR! PUSH THEM INTO THE FUCKING MOUNTAIN!” Scylla screams.
The Wolfen’s massive engines rumble, then whine into life, before the massive Aerial Battleship pushes forwards.
“Their Prana Cannon is readying faster than usual, Boss!” Scylla outright yelps in panic.
“We countered most of their first shot with the Plasma Cannon, didn’t we? Fire it now!” Erik retorts, loudly.
“Aye! Firing!” Scylla replies, relief in his voice.
The Wolfen’s Plasma Cannon once more roars to life, firing against the Hanging Gardens Prana Cannon, this time matching and countering it perfectly.
“Prana cannon countered, boss! Impact in 5 seconds!” Scylla’s voice echoes through the Wolfen, quickly followed by a colossal grinding sound, as the Wolfen’s hull impacts the stone of the Hanging gardens.
For one moment, the Hanging Gardens struggles in the air, as the Wolfen slams hard at an angle into it. Then, slowly, it loses, as the massive engines in the Wolfen do their work, slowly, inevitably forcing the Hanging Gardens back towards the nearby mountain.
“Got ‘em, boss! ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT AGAIN!” Scylla’s voice echoes through the ship, once more.
Then a distant, horrible collision sounds through the Wolfen, as the Hanging Gardens are slammed into the mountain.
“Damage report, Scylla?” For a long minute, no sound moves through the Wolfen, as Erik’s eyes narrow. Eventually, though, a crackling static reaches his ears, as Erik slowly sighs in relief.
“Got it back on! We’ve had most of the top guns shake out of alignment, a few are still fighting off those Dragon’s-tooth skeletons, but most of the Legion of Coal are fighting off all the enemy forces trying to plow their way in, Boss! Expect repairs to be slow, though doable.” Scylla reports. “On the worse side, the bottom guns are toast, including the laser weaponry. Missile launchers and bomb launchers are likely still functional, but I want to send a crew to check over that ASAP before we fire again. And with how few we can spare right now, I suggest we save it for after the fight.”
“Got it. Keep up the good work!” Erik sighs softly, then cuts his broadcasting.
For a long moment, Erik just sighs softly, leaning back into the chair. “If I continue firing anything but the plasma cannon now, it’ll just damage both my Wolfen and the Hanging Gardens. Damn it.”
With those words, he gets up, leaving the room.
15 Minutes Later
Multiple Railguns fire, as a Basmu rushes against the lines of the Legion of Coal, as well as 40 Metal Gear Rex units. Eventually, it dies, huge holes in it’s skin, though not without dozens of Legion of Coal units shattered, and half the Metal Gear Rex units left destroyed.
Scylla’s eyes narrow, as he watches through the cameras, before sighing. “Chiron, Scathach, head towards the throne room. Looks like Shirou’s staying with Semiramis in there, though, so you might need to work alongside Mash and Siegfried closely while combating them. We have far too many enemy units trying to flood the Wolfen behind you to help out directly at the moment, aside from what we already sent out.”
“Understood.” Scathach’s voice returns over the intercoms. “Chiron’s busy with one of those Basmu that we’ve run into, but we’ll try to lure him away from Semiramis so Siegfried and Mash can finish her off.”
The communications are silent for a long while, as Scathach pushes herself into the enemy lines, fighting expertly with her spear.
Finally, after long bouts in the battle, Scathach speaks up once more, addressing Scylla again. “Of course, that’s if they don’t constantly slow us down, to the point where we can make any headway. This is far too slow for my liking, and with the Greater Grail gone, Chiron and the others have slowed down drastically.”
“I suppose I resemble that remark, right now.” Chiron remarks, half sarcastically. “But we still need to push forwards, irregardless. Our Masters need us to win.”
“We’ll back you up more when we don’t have the Dragon’s-Tooth Warriors constantly trying to get into the holes in the Wolfen that their bosses made. Just do your best, alright?” Scylla retorts.
“Understood.” Chiron and Scathach’s voices ring over the communications network.
“Tamamo, your husband is missing.” Scylla speaks up after a few moments, glancing back towards her.
“I’ve noticed. Status of the troops?” Tamamo replies, frowning as she thinks.
“We’ve lost a lot of the Legion of Coal as well as the Metal Gear Rex lines.” Scylla admits. “They’re throwing Basmu around like water, and there’s no prana limitations.”
Tamamo frowns, her eyes narrowing. “They have a trump card, then.”
Both pause, glancing down at the console showing a message. Then Tamamo glances over at Scylla, as they both quiet down. “Well, shit.” Scylla finally murmurs, quietly, before glancing back at Tamamo with a nod.
Then they resume work, as Tamamo thinks over the message from her husband that was in Norse. “Rin yoinked the grail out of universe, leaving us to deal with the fallout. How nice, hm? MHXX back but using stealth to hide. Have the troops prepare in case Semiramis and Amakusa Shirou Tokisada let them know, and fuck us over.”
For one moment, she almost curses under her breath, as she rubs her forehead, before focusing on the work again.
Meanwhile…
Mordred frowns from her cockpit, glancing over the message on her screen, several Dragon’s-Tooth Warriors falling from the sky to land on the Wolfen and the Hanging Gardens below it.
“Erik? What the hell do you mean?” She sends, as her rifle sends more enemies down, clearing the air around herself for now.
“Who, exactly do you think they’ll blame if they realize Rin screwed us all over before there was a clear winner? Shirou? Or US?” Erik’s voice retorts, before a slight groan goes over their mental link. “Well, the armor does HEAL me, but I’ll be damned if this doesn’t HURT. Fucking blood requirements.” Erik continues, before going quiet.
Mordred winces, as she realizes what Erik means. “Sorry, Erik. I get the problem now.” She sends back, before flinching as another Basmu slams out of the Hanging Gardens directly towards the Wolfen. It’s a moment’s work to drop and slam her Radiant Wave Surger straight into it, before she’s back into the air, leaving the mostly dead corpse to fall down the mountain.
“There’s no end to the fucking Basmu, though. What the hell is she eating?” Mordred asks, half curious.
“Considering how drained everyone is? Hell if I know.” Erik retorts.
Mordred’s eyes narrow, as she focuses in the cockpit. Then, a brief moment later, her eyes go wide as she spots something through the holes in the ceiling of the throne room far below.
“She’s using the remains of that train as a battery! It’s like the Gem of Power for her, Erik!” Mordred sends.
A wordless growl is her only reply for a moment, before Erik takes a while, thinking. “Can you steal it?”
“There’s no way in hell I can get through that small of a gap with this thing. Perhaps without? Yes, I definitely could. But with this thing, not likely. It’s too bulky to fit through both ways. We’ll have to have your other mecha retrieve it, the production line stuff.” Mordred admits.
“Got it.” Erik’s reply is terse. “Mysterious Heroine XX will be up soon, and she’ll help me with using the blood to augment and upgrade the cosmoreactor. I’ve just gotten started early. After that’s done, I’ll head out and help with my own mech if you want.”
“You’re too tired for that, Erik. Take some time to recover, get some food in you, and let your army handle things for a change! I’m your servant, let me help out, okay?” Mordred retorts, almost furiously so.
A minute passes, as Mordred starts shooting at more skeletons again, half focusing on her Master for any reply.
“...Right. Right. Yeah, I’ll do that. I hit a sore spot, with your father being an idiot that wouldn’t take breaks, huh? Or rely on others to help her properly.” Erik finally admits.
“Exactly! Thank you, Erik. I won’t let you down!” Mordred replies, a wide smile on her face.
Then she’s locked in combat with another Basmu that went for an ambush, furiously trying to shoot grenades down it’s throat before it can eat her new ride.
Down below, a massive shudder in the mountain goes nearly unnoticed, as the Wolfen’s weight keeps the Hanging Gardens pressed against it.
1 Hour Later
Erik sighs as Mysterious Heroine XX comes in, before nodding towards her. “Nice nap?”
“Quite so, sensei. Sorry for taking so long, this isn’t a body made of mana, after all.” MHXX admits, quietly, before looking over Erik’s work. “Great job! Just inscribe the bottles holding that blood with what I’ll be showing you, and then we’ll be able to store what’s left long term!”
Erik nods, glancing over to study her. “About time for the blood donation, then?”
“That, and there’s memetic hazards outside of this universe that may influence it. You always bitched about barely having enough blood to keep the cosmoreactor going until long after I met you, and losing a good chunk due to some “Eldritch Kaiju” or another.
Erik blinks, before slowly nodding, almost lost in thought before he starts working on it.
“That wasn’t so hard. Now we just pull out the reactor, pour in the new blood and add just a couple drops of Dragon Blood in, then we get a nice result!” MHXX smiles at her teacher, quietly. “Just like you taught me how!”
The Wolfen bucks for a moment under their feet, leaving Erik grabbing for the table and hastily catching everything. Moments later, he’s pulling the Cosmoreactor Prototype back into his chest, before turning communications on. “Scylla, what the hell is going on?”
“Glad to hear your voice, boss! The damned Mountain’s been collapsing under the weight of both the Wolfen and the Hanging Gardens. Likely a lot of caves inside or something.” Scylla replies.
“Any damage besides what we’ve taken earlier?” Erik asks.
“Nothing so far, just lots of losses to the Mecha and Legion of Coal to hold the enemy at bay. How’s that reactor working out Boss? Upgrades you’ve been working on all helping out?” Scylla changes the subject, sounding distracted.
“I can feel a bit more power flowing from it, I’ll admit.” Erik thinks. “Not sure how much more, though.”
“It takes time to adjust, Sensei. Usually comes from when you need it most, or are acting most like a protagonist, as well.” MHXX pipes up.
“Hah! Little wonder it’s such a pain for you, Boss! You never want to get in and get your hands dirty, after all!” Scylla admits with a laugh.
“Anything else?” Erik asks, sounding playfully grumpy.
“Only in that Semiramis has been using that maglev train prototype as a legend battery to keep her shit up. At this rate, we’re going to see her dead around 3 AM, or so.” Scylla trails off, thinking. “That, and I can see an odd fog in the distance? Not sure what that’s about, since the moon is still bright.”
“Maybe it’s evaporated snow from the damage to the mountain? Keep watch over it anyways.” Erik orders, thinking. “I’ll be hard at work.”
“Understood, boss! I’ll handle things just fine. You keep getting things handled, okay?” Scylla half asks, as he works.
2:30 AM
Trifas’s Ruins
Mecha Fafnir Mark 3 frowns, as it’s colossal size lets it look over the city. All but one person has left the city already, leaving only them in a car, and the colossal war machine staring at things.
The steadily growing fog in the distance was starting to worry it, near it’s father’s battlefield.
It knew that it was it’s father’s creation. Not a “Son” per-say. But a “child” and “creation” even still. One that it’s father would happily ride if it simply asked him to.
Scanning systems go to work, as it studies the fog in the distance, half lost in thought. Something was wrong about that fog.
Steadily, the new scanning systems go through, one at a time. All the newer ones developed just by father for the Wolfen.
No results.
Mecha Fafnir’s frown grows deeper as it’s intuition insists that something’s wrong with the scenario, and works older, damaged scanning systems instead of the new stuff added in from the production line units.
Mecha Fafnir MK2’s scanning system shows nothing whatsoever. No issues, nothing.
The massive head tilts, as it stares, massive computers going to full power as the massive mechanical dragon thinks over it’s individual memories. SOMETHING about that fog was giving it a bad feeling.
Mecha Fafnir MK1’s systems turn on, the oldest designs pulling up data as they do so. Unlike the newer designs, the very first one was built to register Titans and titanspawn with pre-programmed energy signatures from the mages of Svartalfheim.
The energy of something akin to a Titan is producing the fog. Registering as Gaia.
Mecha Fafnir MK3 bolts for the fog, desperately attempting to contact the Wolfen as it does so. Even as it’s massive computer banks run full speed, trying to remember where it had seen fog like that before.
It had to warn it’s father about what looked to be a fog barrier made by Gaia wrapping around the battlefield!
Almost unnoticed in the town, a small car takes off, following the massive war machine.
3:30 AM
The Hanging Gardens
“It looks like I’ve failed to stall them anymore.” Semiramis admits, quietly, before pulling up a shield weakly, the exhaustion on her face evident.
Shirou quietly hugs her close. “You’ve done the best you could, Semiramis. Even with things stacked so far against us, you’ve held up admirably, more than anyone else I could have ever worked with.”
“You flatterer, you.” Semiramis smiles weakly at her Master, before pulling him in for a kiss. “Perhaps we’ll be summoned together in the future?”
A shudder ripples through the Hanging Gardens, as the mountain below cracks and shudders, more of it grinding away below them.
Semiramis flinches outright, before bracing herself weakly with her chair, forcing herself to look regal, calm and composed at the doorway. The one she knew would be forced open at any moment.
Four Servants push through the doors, and look up at her with anger and violence in her eyes, barely paying attention to Shirou beside her.
“So, you poor misguided souls have come, not even realizing the-” Shirou speaks, before a loud cracking sound from underneath them interrupts, as a massive earthquake shakes the mountain.
Desperately, Shirou grabs his Servant, shielding her with his own body, as the room shakes and tilts. Across the room, Mash slams her shield into the floor and uses it to brace herself, grabbing onto Siegfried to keep him from being thrown across the room.
“Hang on!” Mash shouts, as the Hanging Gardens suddenly falls for a long moment.
Semiramis flinches as she slams into her chair hard, before looking up to stare at the foes across from her.
No damage to them, though they all look shook up.
“Not even realizing?” Mash asks, carefully.
“Not even realizing Erik betrayed you, with that twin tailed brunette stealing the Greater Grail under our noses.” Shirou finishes, arms opening widely. “We don’t have it.”
The four Servants across from him all pause to look at each other. Repeated blinking for one moment. Then Mash looks back at him. “THAT’S why she disappeared? We wondered why she suddenly did so.” Mash asks, hesitantly.
Shirou nods, breathing out. “So you’ve come here on false pretenses, attacked for no prize at all. Will you still continue to fight, knowing we thought you were the ones that cut US off somehow?”
Scathach frowns, glancing at the others. “Does it look like they’ll be a threat?”
“I’d perfectly prefer to be able to retire with my Master somewhere warm and sunny, to be fair.” Semiramis admits, looking just exhausted. “Between holding this up and fighting you for the past while? Fighting Erik’s Wolfen? I’m about done. I’m ready to throw in the towel, say they’ve won, and go off to a sunny beach with him.”
Shirou looks over at his Servant. Semiramis smiles back at him, quietly. “You see me as a woman and a partner, not as a prize, after all...”
GRRRRK
Everyone in the room flinches, as a grinding sound from the floor hits their ears, much like nails on a chalkboard.
“What’s that sound?!” Mash yelps, holding her ears, as Siegfried brings himself to the ready. “I can’t tell what it is at all!”
“Something’s ripping apart the bottom of my throne room!” Semiramis yelps in terror, trying to focus through the exhaustion to get results. “I can’t tell what, but it’s massive! One of those war machines of Erik’s?”
“The only thing I know of that big would be in Trifas!” Scathach calls out.
The room shakes further, before Mash growls, slamming her shield down. “LORD CAMELOT!”
Power ripples around her, as an image of the legendary castle and it’s gates forms around her, struggling against whatever is coming.
Then, Mash can only watch in horror, as two massive hands slam up through the floor, adjust themselves, and push further up, showing two elbows.
“SIKERA USUM!” Semiramis screams, as she puts every drop of prana she has left into her Noble Phantasm, turning the water and humidity in the around them, her master included, into the deadliest poison she can make.
The same Blessed Hydra Venom that her Master had used on Jeanne D'Arc previously.
Tokisada Shirou Amakusa screams, as he carves off his arm with a black key, before unleashing a noble phantasm of his own, a massive black hole forming that starts sucking in one arm of the two near them.
One arm plows through the poison, carving through the throne and splattering both Semiramis and Shirou into nothingness as they instantly die, soaking in massive amounts of the poison as it does so. The other arm simply is unmade completely, vaporized so that not even atoms or particles remain as it impacts the black hole like Noble Phantasm.
Semiramis, Mash, Siegfried, and Chiron all stare at the arm and ruins of another, before looking at each other and bolting for the exit, running as fast as they can.
Author’s Notes: This chapter has loathed and hated me. Every step of the way, I step back, thinking I’m doing great, then take a long look, before second guessing myself. Or I’d rethink things and try to work more on it. Or the writing simply would not go down, no matter how good the idea was in my head.
I’d had a lot of plans for the showdown between Siegfried and Semiramis, letting him get the fight he genuinely deserved in this.
Nothing I wrote did them justice. More than that? Nothing I wrote WORKED to do them justice, either. No matter how much I worked to make things just work just right? Nothing worked.
So instead? You get something more realistic. Fuckery’s going on, and everyone’s about to be knee deep in it.
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Originally Posted by Xamusel
