Most of the journey was conducted in silence, Rider taking the time to mentally compose himself for the battle to come. At the same time, however, he couldn’t help but marvel at the vehicle his Master was driving; civilization had surely come a long way from the days of riding horses and elephants, he would need to try out some of this era’s machines for himself before this war was over. As a Rider he had to skills to push them to the limits of what they were capable of.

As they approached their destination his Master began to inform him of their enemy’s position; Rider listened to the information carefully before turning to face the Magus in the driver’s seat. [color=ed1c24]“Perhaps this young girl does not possess the means to detect your familiar, but we should not assume the same is true of Assassin; we should avoid assuming anything at all. Underestimating your opponent is a dangerous folly, but overestimating them can be just as disastrous; given out lack of information however, it is perhaps best that we err on the side of caution.”[/color] Glancing towards the steering wheel Rider spotted the way his Master’s hands were tensed around the object, but mistook it for nervousness rather than excitement. [color=ed1c24]“You seem tense Master. There is no need; despite my earlier words I do believe we can win this war, even if our opponents are stronger, so long as my strategy is superior to theirs.”[/color]

Opening the door to the car Rider stepped out and onto the street. At this time of night the area was empty, so no passers-by saw the strange spectacle that was a fully armoured Carthaginian stepping out of a vehicle in modern day Redrock. Placing a hand on top of the car Rider leant down and looked back into the car. [color=ed1c24]“I will engage Assassin directly; if possible I will kill her or her Master, but if I am not able to I will retreat. If any other Servants approach our fight I will retreat. I will not come back to the car if that is the case, lest I lead them to you; watch my fight with your familiar and leave if I do. I will find you later.”[/color]

Closing the door Rider stepped away from the car and looked to the familiar that his Master had said would lead him to Assassin’s location. “Lead the way.” The reanimated bird took flight and Rider followed it with haste, the familiar leading him into the park and towards the bench that Assassin and her Master were sitting on. As soon as the pair were in sight Rider stopped, certain that they were indeed the pair he was looking for by the way the familiar continued towards them and perched itself on a tree above their heads.

Taking deep, calming breaths Rider simply observed them in silence for the moment. The girl was young indeed, still wearing what he recognised as a school uniform from his knowledge of this era, though he couldn’t help but notice the sword at her waist. The woman sitting next to her in the brightly coloured robe must then be Assassin. Neither seemed to have noticed his presence yet, which was unusual, so he stepped out from the trees and onto the main path some fifty feet from their location.

He began to walk in their direction, a round shield of bronze and a scimitar appearing in his hands as he did so. A direct approach was perhaps unexpected coming from one renowned as a master strategist, but given his lack of resources and his opponent it was for the best. He did not have an army to flank their position, or to organise into an ambush. He did not have the ability to sneakily approach even a Berserker, let alone one summoned into the Assassin-class. If he had one advantage in this it would be his superior martial prowess in a straight forward duel and even that was something he couldn’t be certain of until he saw this hero in action.

This was, perhaps, the most irrational plan of battle he had ever come up with in all his years as a military leader. [color=ed1c24]“I must be growing foolish with time.”[/color] He mused as he approached his opponent. For all he knew his opponent could be stronger than he in battle or they could possess some Noble Phantasm that would foil him. If that was the case he would have only his strength and his wits to rely on; thankfully, his wits were quite good and he was capable of bringing to bear and absurd amount of power if needs must.

He stopped again thirty feet from them and called out his challenge. [color=ed1c24]“Assassin! I, Rider, challenge you!”[/color] 

[@Anza][@Raineh Daze][@VitaVitaAR]