[center][h2]A Proposal from The Devil?[/h2][i][h3]Strategist, Miyama Harbor[/h3][/i] 
[@Argonaut] [@Seirei No Hai] [@Paradox Witch][/center]

After her early morning briefing with her officers, Strategist had taken a short recon of the harbor area in her immaterial form, both to save on Mana and to avoid being spotted. To the Servant, knowing her abilities and what she did best, this was prime real estate to her. While her mighty [i]'Dreadnought'[/i] can see off conventional ships and - at distance - any potential threat, she knew she'd need additional ships to add to her might. She had noted as such to CTN Bacon during the meeting, who also noted that the harbor could serve as a limited foothold for land forays, a resupply area (if it came to that) and, if necessary, a possible area to launch a blockade of Miyama.

For now, Strategist had been focusing her thoughts of trying to draw up a coherent plan and timetable. That is, until she 'overheard' her Master note an incoming craft, followed shortly by the pinging of a stream of [i]'dits'[/i] and [i]'dahs'[/i] - a Morse code signal from [i]'Dreadnought'[/i]:

[center][b]URGENT. UNIDENTIFIED SHIP SIGHTED; CLOSING ON OUR POSITION. LATITUDE XXXXX BY LONGITUDE XXXX.

NO SIGN OF HOSTILE INTENT - YET. WILL STAND READY TO ENGAGE, IF NEEDED.

END.[/b][/center]

That did it; Strategist's present stream of thought had been derailed. Fuming and filing her scratched together plans for later elaboration, Strategist dematerialised and raced back to her ship, hoping that the new arrival would not be an imminent threat. 

Day 3 would simply be far too soon for both her and her Master to be cast out, or otherwise be destroyed, now...
[hr]

[center][h2]Main Deck, HMS [i]'Dreadnought'[/i][/h2][/center]
 
Arriving onto the main deck of her battleship, Strategist was pleased to note that her crew had not been idle. 'Dreadnought's' main and swivel guns were trained where the unknown contact had been sighted, while the ship's compliment of Marines were, even now, holding at gunpoint-

[i]What on Earth was [b]that[/b] thing?![/i] 

Strategist materialised, her Webley sidearm out and held at her side as the rat-thing - seemingly made from a mass of chittering rats and mice - 'spoke', relaying its master's message to her:

[quote][color=00aeef]"Greetings, little girl"[/color] Rat face spoke without warning. [color=00aeef]"forgive my intrusion, but I've been watching you err....*cough* I mean me and my master have been observing you and has taken interest in what you do and would like to personally meet you, all expense paid of course under my master's generosity."[/color] The shadowy figure offered.

[color=00aeef]"We can always use an ally on the sea, allow me to disclose my real name, in signs of good trust, My name is Pied Piper, Caster class,"[/color] Rat-face said and takes a curtsy.[/quote]

Strategist frowned at the rat-thing's proposal, while a few of the armsmen twitched, their rifles gripped tighter.

"Servant Strategist, of His Britannic Majesty's Royal Navy." she replied, extending the same courtesy but still keeping her real name and identity secure. Even if the Servant's 'courier' had been able to sight anything of particular note about the Servant or the deck of the beast of iron they stood on, Strategist had no intention of divulging anything of use to this Servant or their Master. Not until any form of trust has been proven.

After all, as the old maxim went: 'Knowledge is power; guard it well'. And in a conflict like the Holy Grail War, where one slip of a clue, or a divulgence of a name, could literally mean the difference between life and death, Strategist had no intention of allowing anyone to take her by surprise or off-guard.

"Stand your weapons down, men!" she gruffly ordered the crewmen, which they (reluctantly) complied with, despite the dirty glaes they gave the 'courier'. Holstering her sidearm, Strategist's yellow eyes bore into Rat Face's absent sockets.

"Tell your master that I would be open to discussions on a ... potential agreement, should my Master agree." she replied, her boot heels clicking as she paced the wooden deck. "But understand that I must impose key conditions on this, for the safety of my crew and my Master. First, that if any meeting is agreed to, that all parties are to arrive disarmed. No weapons, no magic, [b][i]no tricks[/i][/b]. Second, that it would be my Master who will convey the location for any such meeting at a mutually-agreed on time." 

She paused, rounding on her heels and gritting her jaw slightly, to make the following point clear, as she concluded, "And last, that if I or my Master so much as [i]smell[/i] any hint of perfidy or deception on your part, I will [b]crater[/b] the ground you stand on and the surrounding five miles until you and your Master are [i][b]ashes[/b][/i] on the wind."

She arched an eyebrow to Rat Face. "I will, of course, invite further input from my Master on your proposal, but will these conditions be satisfactory? Or do you, Multicoloured Piper of Hamelin, desire to seek aid elsewhere?"