As I can't decide, I'm spoiler-blocking the entire chunk just to be safe. It probably doesn't need it, but...
![[+]](/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Spoiler“…” – Normal Speech
- Radio communications
… […] - Foreign language [Translation]
… – Device Speech
~ … ~ - Thoughts
… – Spell casting
**26**
As she moved through the tunnels in concert with her master, the summoned Heroic Spirit was already debating internally whether or not she preferred the Holy Grail Wars to this. On the plus side she didn’t have to deal with six other Heroes and their masters, with all the plotting and underhandedness that went with most Magi. On the minus, she was apparently dealing with fivescore warriors whom were enough to keep a Magus of her master’s capabilities (someone the Servant would easily place in both the Caster and Saber classes) pinned down.
The Knight’s ruminations on the subject were dismissed as another group came upon her.
Saber found the opponents she was facing an annoying bunch. The warnings from her master had proven correct, in that they could and did ignore the effects of pain and fatigue. On the other hand they seemed to be less organised than suggested in a strategic sense, and downright unruly in a tactical sense although they were trying hard.
Two more of the full plate wearing warriors A.C. had called Silver Sentinels appeared as she parried the staff-like weapon (an Element according to the information given to her, an odd name) from the female attacker called a Pearl Otome. Pointing their palms at her they opened fire.
Round Shield. Vivian spoke.
An arcane circle of light spun into existence between the Servant and the Sentinels, protecting her from the attack. Saber found herself glad of the magical device, before setting herself to smash through the guard of the Otome and cut her down.
That only revealed her to the waiting be-cloaked hulk of a Landmate, causing an instant of horror to the Knight. Normal bullets were a problem, the huge things used in the rifle now pointing at her were deadly.
Flash Move.
The world blurred as Saber found herself flying between the Sentinels. Then something exploded behind her, ripping into the device-enhanced armour of her back. Her flight disrupted, she crumpled to the ground and tumbled to a stop.
The landmate pilot allowed herself a small smile, having got the airburst round successfully into position. Now, all they needed to do was finish the blue clad swordswoman off and they'd be one up on the Scarlet Angel.
That's when she noticed the sword sticking out of her chest.
With Laevatein driven to his hilt into the back of the landmate, A.C. was still not done. Pulling off what seemed to be an active camouflage cloak from the landmate and stuffing it into Laevatein’s storage in a single move, there was a click.
"That was a mistake." The raven-haired cyber growled, reaching her left hand across to her right gauntlet and the revealed ring-pull there. There was a ratcheting sound as she pulled, what appeared to be a striker emerging from the top of the gauntlet. Then there was a clunk as the pull-cable reached its end. Letting go, the ring-pull snapped back to its start, causing the striker to drop.
Ribbons of blue flame-like energy wreathed the gauntlet from the orange cylinder as A.C. took Laevatein's hilt in her right hand.
"Goodbye."
The energy ribbons exploded out to wrap around the Senshi-Priestess of Fire, igniting down the length of Laevatein and incinerating the landmate from the inside out.
The pilot’s screams of terror as she was burned alive stopped the two Sentinels, who turned to watch the living torch collapse in upon itself and reveal a stone-faced and ribbon-aura'd Mage-Knight pointing a flaming sword in their direction.
“Next?” The blue flame-wreathed Martian Knight-Senshi asked.
The increase in the glow from the chest-mounted Arc Reactors told her their answer.
Repulsor blasts smashed small craters into the structure of the corridor as the blue-wreathed white, red and black form of the cyborg super blurred as she dodged all over the walls, floor and roof towards them.
She finally resolved herself partly up the wall to Red-7’s right before the red-enamelled plate of her left armoured high heel hit his helmet with a crashing roundhouse kick, throwing him from his feet and setting his head ringing.
Red-9’s weaponry whined with power and it took a contortion-like dive for her to avoid the point blank blast directly as it blew a metre wide crater into the wall. The shockwave knocked her tumbling and pelted her with debris.
That was as far as he got as a recovered Saber charged in with a roar and caved his chest in with a tremendous swing of her wind-wreathed invisible blade.
The warning call from her master widened Saber’s green eyes and she leapt to the side, narrowly missing being punched in the head with all the augmented strength Red-7 could put behind his armoured fist.
The cyborg brought her hands together, one on top of the other like a clawed cup, as her Elements materialised and span up into solid golden rings of energy.
“Hölle und Himmel!” [Hell and Heaven!] She cried, disappearing into a blur of motion that the remaining Sentinel had no chance of tracking before something passed through him.
Looking down, the Sentinel saw A.C. step back, pulling her blood soaked hands from inside his torso.
The bloody mass of muscle and tissue twitched three times before the cyber-senshi crushed it with a wince-inducing squelch.
And then it all went black for Red-7.
As the armoured form collapsed, Saber looked in askance towards her Master.
“Yes, I know I’m a heartbreaker.” A.C. shrugged, calling bright flame to her hands to burn them clean. “With a body like mine, I can’t help it.”
Saber had to restrain an aggrieved snort, before turning and setting off again down the corridor.
The raven-haired cyberneticist smirked slightly, letting the flame dissipate from her now-sterilised hands before pulling Laevatein from where she’d thrust him through the knot of her back bow.
***
When Kasumi saw A.C.’s stance she paled, a whispered “Oh-“ forming on her lips before A.C. called her attack and moved.
“Did she…?” Greenpeace trailed off.
“I’d say so lass.” Adonis agreed.
“I thought the Mistress practiced Madam Kasumi’s Ninjutsu style?” Roberta asked.
“We know a variety of Schools.” Kasumi answered. “What A.C. and I train in helps me decide on how to train you in various self-defence techniques. A.C. has been looking at some Panzer Kunst techniques, but I didn’t believe she’d learned anything that high level.” Kasumi fixed her gaze on the projected screen. “Oh my, that wasn’t a pleasant surprise.”
As you can see, A.C. gets a little...nasty in this piece. Hence my um'ing and ah'ing.
- Radio communications
… […] - Foreign language [Translation]
… – Device Speech
~ … ~ - Thoughts
… – Spell casting
**26**
As she moved through the tunnels in concert with her master, the summoned Heroic Spirit was already debating internally whether or not she preferred the Holy Grail Wars to this. On the plus side she didn’t have to deal with six other Heroes and their masters, with all the plotting and underhandedness that went with most Magi. On the minus, she was apparently dealing with fivescore warriors whom were enough to keep a Magus of her master’s capabilities (someone the Servant would easily place in both the Caster and Saber classes) pinned down.
The Knight’s ruminations on the subject were dismissed as another group came upon her.
Saber found the opponents she was facing an annoying bunch. The warnings from her master had proven correct, in that they could and did ignore the effects of pain and fatigue. On the other hand they seemed to be less organised than suggested in a strategic sense, and downright unruly in a tactical sense although they were trying hard.
Two more of the full plate wearing warriors A.C. had called Silver Sentinels appeared as she parried the staff-like weapon (an Element according to the information given to her, an odd name) from the female attacker called a Pearl Otome. Pointing their palms at her they opened fire.
Round Shield. Vivian spoke.
An arcane circle of light spun into existence between the Servant and the Sentinels, protecting her from the attack. Saber found herself glad of the magical device, before setting herself to smash through the guard of the Otome and cut her down.
That only revealed her to the waiting be-cloaked hulk of a Landmate, causing an instant of horror to the Knight. Normal bullets were a problem, the huge things used in the rifle now pointing at her were deadly.
Flash Move.
The world blurred as Saber found herself flying between the Sentinels. Then something exploded behind her, ripping into the device-enhanced armour of her back. Her flight disrupted, she crumpled to the ground and tumbled to a stop.
The landmate pilot allowed herself a small smile, having got the airburst round successfully into position. Now, all they needed to do was finish the blue clad swordswoman off and they'd be one up on the Scarlet Angel.
That's when she noticed the sword sticking out of her chest.
With Laevatein driven to his hilt into the back of the landmate, A.C. was still not done. Pulling off what seemed to be an active camouflage cloak from the landmate and stuffing it into Laevatein’s storage in a single move, there was a click.
"That was a mistake." The raven-haired cyber growled, reaching her left hand across to her right gauntlet and the revealed ring-pull there. There was a ratcheting sound as she pulled, what appeared to be a striker emerging from the top of the gauntlet. Then there was a clunk as the pull-cable reached its end. Letting go, the ring-pull snapped back to its start, causing the striker to drop.
Ribbons of blue flame-like energy wreathed the gauntlet from the orange cylinder as A.C. took Laevatein's hilt in her right hand.
"Goodbye."
The energy ribbons exploded out to wrap around the Senshi-Priestess of Fire, igniting down the length of Laevatein and incinerating the landmate from the inside out.
The pilot’s screams of terror as she was burned alive stopped the two Sentinels, who turned to watch the living torch collapse in upon itself and reveal a stone-faced and ribbon-aura'd Mage-Knight pointing a flaming sword in their direction.
“Next?” The blue flame-wreathed Martian Knight-Senshi asked.
The increase in the glow from the chest-mounted Arc Reactors told her their answer.
Repulsor blasts smashed small craters into the structure of the corridor as the blue-wreathed white, red and black form of the cyborg super blurred as she dodged all over the walls, floor and roof towards them.
She finally resolved herself partly up the wall to Red-7’s right before the red-enamelled plate of her left armoured high heel hit his helmet with a crashing roundhouse kick, throwing him from his feet and setting his head ringing.
Red-9’s weaponry whined with power and it took a contortion-like dive for her to avoid the point blank blast directly as it blew a metre wide crater into the wall. The shockwave knocked her tumbling and pelted her with debris.
That was as far as he got as a recovered Saber charged in with a roar and caved his chest in with a tremendous swing of her wind-wreathed invisible blade.
The warning call from her master widened Saber’s green eyes and she leapt to the side, narrowly missing being punched in the head with all the augmented strength Red-7 could put behind his armoured fist.
The cyborg brought her hands together, one on top of the other like a clawed cup, as her Elements materialised and span up into solid golden rings of energy.
“Hölle und Himmel!” [Hell and Heaven!] She cried, disappearing into a blur of motion that the remaining Sentinel had no chance of tracking before something passed through him.
Looking down, the Sentinel saw A.C. step back, pulling her blood soaked hands from inside his torso.
The bloody mass of muscle and tissue twitched three times before the cyber-senshi crushed it with a wince-inducing squelch.
And then it all went black for Red-7.
As the armoured form collapsed, Saber looked in askance towards her Master.
“Yes, I know I’m a heartbreaker.” A.C. shrugged, calling bright flame to her hands to burn them clean. “With a body like mine, I can’t help it.”
Saber had to restrain an aggrieved snort, before turning and setting off again down the corridor.
The raven-haired cyberneticist smirked slightly, letting the flame dissipate from her now-sterilised hands before pulling Laevatein from where she’d thrust him through the knot of her back bow.
***
When Kasumi saw A.C.’s stance she paled, a whispered “Oh-“ forming on her lips before A.C. called her attack and moved.
“Did she…?” Greenpeace trailed off.
“I’d say so lass.” Adonis agreed.
“I thought the Mistress practiced Madam Kasumi’s Ninjutsu style?” Roberta asked.
“We know a variety of Schools.” Kasumi answered. “What A.C. and I train in helps me decide on how to train you in various self-defence techniques. A.C. has been looking at some Panzer Kunst techniques, but I didn’t believe she’d learned anything that high level.” Kasumi fixed her gaze on the projected screen. “Oh my, that wasn’t a pleasant surprise.”
As you can see, A.C. gets a little...nasty in this piece. Hence my um'ing and ah'ing.