[h1][center][b][color=0054a6]Reiki Matou[/color][/b][/center][/h1] [h3][center]Matou Manor Mk. II, Foreigners' Lowlands[/center][/h3] [center][@Phonic][/center] [hr] [color=0054a6]"Here they are. Please take your time and tell me what you can figure out."[/color] Reiki showed to Lancer the three people she had restrained in the small but cozy living room using manacles of worms. Two had fallen into fitful sleeps after their hard days, but the third was unbending in his murderous rage. "Dead! I'll see you all [i]gutted[/i] like [i]animals[/i]! You think this little hut won't [i]burn[/i]?!" A few worms crawled over his face, returning to their positions and form as a gag in his mouth. [color=0054a6]"I can purge him of it like the others at any time, of course, but I thought you might be able to learn more from-"[/color] Was that a penguin? There was a tense moment as the thing descended towards the house, but some primal instinct told Reiki that this creature shouldn't be attacked, and Scáthach seemingly got the same impression. Once it reached the ground, she noticed the small message it was holding. [color=0054a6]"Whatever it is, it deserves respect, so I'll go get its note in person."[/color] She decided, speaking more to the air than to her Servant. She stepped out onto the lawn and passed outside the bounded field around the property. There, she gave the penguin her best smile and took the message from it. [quote]GREETINGS MASTER AND/OR SERVANTS OF THE SECOND HOLY GRAIL WAR IN FUYUKI. DUE TO RECENT ISSUES REGARDING THE MAGES ASSOCIATION, I WOULD LIKE TO HOLD AN EMERGENCY MEETING IN ORDER TO RECTIFY THIS ISSUE. THE LOCATION SHALL BE IN THE DIVINE DESCENDING DENOUEMENT (DDD )HOTSPRINGS. I WOULD ASK THAT YOU ATTEND IN PERSON, HOWEVER INPUT REGARDLESS OF SOURCE WILL BE IMPORTANT. THIS MEETING WILL BE HELD AT SUNDOWN. BRING YOUR OWN BEER. [right] -Benita Garibaldi & Lancer [/right][/quote] [color=0054a6]"Oh! I see."[/color] Nervously, Reiki still smiled. How dangerous [i]was[/i] this thing? [color=0054a6]"Have a nice day!"[/color] She hurried back inside. She would need to find some beer. It was clear that Benita had made the right decision in calling this meeting. Moreover, it implied that she might finally be able to enter that mysterious construction site and have a proper discussion with the girl who was meant to be her greatest ally in this war. In fact, a number of people had seemingly gathered there already, for reasons unclear. That being the case... [hr] [h1][center][b][color=598527]Ground Platoon Fourteen[/color][/b][/center][/h1] [h3][center]Main Lobby of 'DDD' Hot Spring, Foreigner’s Lowlands[/center][/h3] [center][@Phonic][@addamas][@Cu Chulainn][@SSW][/center] [hr] Again, they donned the appearance of the controller. Again, they made their way towards the building. They had been shooed away last time, but the controller had advised them not to expect the same response this time around, and the place did indeed seem different. The group that entered the lobby was, by all appearances, a young woman. It took in the scene and the individuals present. That Master, as other units had reported, now held a very different [i]energy[/i] about him compared to his state when they had observed him at the beginning of the war. The reason was unclear, but since a Servant was already present, any power this Master held hardly changed its likelihood of dying if things devolved into combat. [color=0054a6]"Good morning, everybody."[/color] It made a bow to the room as it entered, and a smile to the Servant, who seemed to be quite a young boy. With that done, it headed straight for the two it was familiar with. Garibaldi and Whitehall. [color=0054a6]"Last night was rough, wasn't it? Or rather, this whole thing has been pretty rocky. There are so many things I'd like to discuss, and that's not even getting into the points I'd like to bring up during tonight's meeting. I suppose the first thing to mention is-"[/color] Its train of thought was disrupted as its eyes shifted to focus on Sofia's hand. A mark was missing. When it spoke up again, its voice was more hushed. [color=0054a6]"What happened [i]there[/i]? Can I assume it relates to the Servant I detected leaving this place without ever having entered?"[/color] It could detect the controller's feelings on the subject. Relief, but also sadness. If things were as they seemed, then the Whitehalls would be able to continue participating in the war. On the other hand, it meant that killing Masters was now much more necessary. [hr] [h1][center][b][color=9e0b0f]Air Squadron Forty-Five[/color][/b][/center][/h1] [h3][center]Above the Site of the Spear, The Woods[/center][/h3] [center][@Yukitamas][@Breo][/center] [hr] The battle below was one between Servants, and so it was only common sense that these lesser familiars had no hope of following its events. However, they had been dispatched with specific orders. Moreover, they themselves had a Servant advising their movements. Once she had been allowed by the controller to share their senses through the karmic link, it became possible for directions to be given that would allow for the operation to go off precisely. These bugs had no grasp of what was transpiring on the ground, but they had a vague understanding that having entered the airspace of the battle, some of the Persian Emperor's soldiers would find it more productive to attempt to shoot them down than to focus on the living comet. Well, even if they were destroyed, their payloads would fall. [center][color=9e0039][i][b]Now.[/b][/i][/color][/center] The blade-winged insects dropped the stones they had been clutching. In addition to being unable to clearly perceive the fight, they now had no way to affect it. Therefore, they scattered into the wind. Perhaps the armies of Persia could make an effort to strike them from the sky, even spread out as they were, not that it would be helpful to them now. With that, the runestones fell from above the skeleton warriors. Of course, no matter what great power they contained, if they fell on this rabble it would be of no great consequence to the overwhelming numbers of Persia. Thus, when the runes sprang to life, a single rune of Clairvoyance, linked back to Scáthach herself guided the rest. Indeed, smashing even a large number of skeletons was like running a plastic bucket through a lake. An inconsequential space that would instantly be filled. However, for the world's fastest hero, even that tiny opening could be a gateway to victory. The King raised up giants and turned the ground against Achilles in an effort to slow and restrain him, but in the moment those things came to be, waves of radiant light and fire rained down onto them. It was not an all-consuming destruction, and it was surely not a great drain on the King's manpower, but in that moment, a narrow, quickly closing pathway had been opened between Achilles and Darius. "Quickly closing," of course, being a phrase that would be used by one who did not run like a comet.