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Post by AU-O on Dec 23, 2015 22:18:47 GMT
Of all the human emotions Gilgamesh could sympathize with, Revenge was among the top. Had he the opportunity to strangle Ishtar for the role she played in Enkidu's death, he would in a heartbeat. He would probably trample over untold number of people just to get said opportunity. But such was not meant to be, and he had long ago accepted that. But the sentiment of vengeance, or as some people liked to stylize it, "justice", was not lost on him. Apparently this mission was motivated by such sentiment, although he was sure there was a practical reason too.
Of course, that's not at all why Gilgamesh accepted the mission. Why should he care about some silly girl who got in over her head, and paid the price for it? To his understand, she'd already had two servants with her and gotten rid of them both to face the threat alone. What a ridiculous notion. Those without power do not have the luxury of bravery, or they cannot complain about what happens to them. No, Gilgamesh only accepted the mission because he hoped whatever beast attacked the girl would provide some entertainment before Gilgamesh killed it.
This was somewhat complicated by the fact that no Master had been chosen to accompany the mission. While Gilgamesh considered the Masters generally useless, and more often then not nothing more than baggage to be protected, the prana they supplied was unfortunately rather helpful at times. Without it, Gilgamesh would have to conserve his prana usage, or even he would end up running dry. He really hated being a spirit sometimes.
"Tch."
His two allies would probably materialize in the deserted landscape shortly after him. Allies was a strong word however, and not one the Berserker would ever use aloud. Apparently, one was an Assassin, although he could barely recall who even told him such a thing, and the other was fanatical Saber. Neither of which would merit his time or his attention. He surveyed the landscape, completely ignoring the presence of his allies as they shifted into the destroyed landscape with him. They should be close to the last known location of the darkened monster they were hunting; It was just a matter of finding it.
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Post by signy on Dec 24, 2015 4:45:54 GMT
Apparently, the Assassin of the group had ‘convinced’ some of the technicians to be Ray-Shifted some time ahead of the others.
Grimhildr glided past the broken houses in the section, stopping slightly on skeletal doors or shattered windows or anything that caught her interest. She was not one suitable for combat, so for the Halfling knowledge of terrain and escape routes was vital for her survival. She has been assigned two quite strong Servants from what information she got. But while she did not doubt their battle capability or their ability to keep whatever danger in bay, she sorely disregarded the chance that they might be trying to save others in their team, more so of the Silencer class like her. Berserkers and Sabers…were not exactly the friendliest team-player in all history of Holy Grail Wars.
So, it was all person for themselves, like the Witch of Spiders had always believed.
Thanks to her elven heritage, Grimhildr was a little more nimble that what her appearance would suggest. The travel went as swiftly as any Servant could hope. She first checked the coordinate from the transmission she got, a rather minimalist two-storey house close to the business district. But there was nothing interesting in there except for the obvious destruction. A quick reconnaisance around the radius of her team’s intended Ray-Shift point revealed nothing but scattered pack of ghouls. No signs of their target. Not even a trace of prana. Another miscalculation in Chaldea’s system, apparently….
Which made the Halfling remembered a classified report that she had ‘borrowed’ which stated miscalculations increasing more and more in recent missions.
Unbelievable, perhaps, but Grimhildr suspected that there really was another group trying to sabotage Chaldea from the inside. She had not gained any clue or information yet on the subject, but she knew that there was at least one classified mission from Chaldea to root-out “sticky-hands” in the Research Organization, so at least Chaldea was aware of the threat.
…wonder how that mission went. The report said nothing of its completion or its failure.
The secret runic work continued...
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Post by signy on Dec 24, 2015 4:50:18 GMT
And she returned just in time to make it like she had only been Ray-Shifted a few minutes before. She tidied herself and rested for a while, dispelling any sign that she had exerted any amounts of prana. The team did went into the capsule together, but as of their time and place coordinate, how could the poor Servants know? Chaldea had chosen to transport the team near the coordinate of that last disastrous mission. It was a deserted landscape of broken remains of a housing complex, their skeletal forms standing sadly as if welcoming the arrived Servants to their horrible fate. From what left of the layouts it seemed that it was once a rather nice suburban housing complex, with neat little streets crisscrossing in small boxes and many unbuilt blocks of lands, one of which was where they were standing now. It seemed to had been used as a makeshift soccer field by the children before. There still stood the steel-frame of two goal posts, although their shape were grotesquely bent by rust. Apart from the crumbling walls that closed the three-sides of the empty lot, there was nothing else in there. A streetlight right across the field flickered twice but then fell dead. Half-hidden by the walls shadows, Grimhildr stood watching her other allies appeared. The first one to appear was an arrogant-looking golden king, of which Grimhildr’s first instinct was to inflate his ego until it burst. The other one should appear close enough. After they both had appeared, then Grimhildr dissipated her Presence Concealment and walked out of the shadows to greet them. What was approaching them from the front hardly fits the image of Assassin. A rather petite individual, with short hair and bright intelligent eyes. The robes she wore was neither loose nor snug, but clearly built for travel. In one hand was a slender staff filled with runes. She looked completely unassuming, boosted with the Personal Skill “Information Gathering.” It was impossible to discern whether she was a boy or a girl. “I have been expecting you.” She said as she got closer “It seemed I was sent ahead to do some search first.”There was no trace of condescending or annoyance in the words “I have been expecting you.” There only was a slight reverence as if she was a priest welcoming esteemed guests to her humble abode. The sound, too, was neither sweet nor kindly. Only loyal. She bowed slightly at them with a polite smile. “Unfortunately, I did not pick any presence of our target in around five hundred metres around this area. I could look more, given enough time. But it was all I could manage before you came.”
Instinctively, she glanced at the crusader knight, who radiated much more leadership aura than the other… brute. “There seemed to be more ghouls present to the north, which I believed lead to the area with taller buildings...
“Should we go in that direction?”Grimhildr had long learned that the easiest way to be trusted is to be useful towards the person. And since they seemed to be the sort of person who liked to get things to the point, Grimhildr deduced that they would like to be able to skip the search and went straight to the killing. Hopefully, she did able to give the “useful” impression. *** I took liberty of describing the ray-shift place since its not mentioned. I hope its alright. AU-O godfreya |
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Post by godfreya on Dec 24, 2015 8:43:50 GMT
She heard the news about a certain Master that was critically injured on a mission. For her, everyone Master in this organization is a key ally. Like dukes that led their soldiers and knights to battle in the Crusades, for her, it applied the same idea. Though capable of thaumaturgy and are or may be blasphemers, she'd accept them as allies if they would follow the same path as her, of course, for now. After all, she could just instill her faith into them sooner than later.
After hearing that news, she had rushed to the dispatcher's office and had acquired permission to join this mission. Revenge was something she disliked. It was a mortal sin, wrath, that was against God's words. So, she wasn't in it for vengeance, rather for protecting the Masters and Servants that would take quests. If this "Servant" that had lost itself went on a continuous rampage, it would definitely be disastrous. Thus, she decided that it was up to her to put judgment on this Servant with God's sword.
"I apologize for being late, Berserker and Assassin. God have mercy on his soul."
She said in a sympathetic voice, referring to the mad Servant that was blackened. She received a memo about the participants of this mission: a mad king and a seemingly harmless Assassin. But she learned first hand that one should not judge a book by its cover. What bothered her was the former. He was a rather infamous king. His ego might cause havoc in this mission amongst allies. Hopefully, he could control it, was what he prayed.
"I am Saber. For this mission's sake, I shall introduce myself, I am Godfreya of Jerusalem. While hunting missions aren't my forte, I believe this scenario fits a siege mission instead, don't you agree?" Godfreya asked while pointing at the horde of ghouls up north.
For the purpose of everyone being able to know each other's abilities, Godfreya believed that it would be best for each other to actually know each other.
After listening to Assassin's explanation, Godfreya glanced at Berserker before focusing her gaze on the target path. While she does not have a Military Tactics skill, her experience in siege wars was key to her analysis on confrontation which included such scenarios. She understood that one person here has the Charisma skill, like her, but it may not be that reliable due to him being a Berserker of all possible class.
"I request if the golden king here would agree to this proposal."
She said as an answer to Assassin's question.
"I believe that, with the assumption our enemy is a high hostile threat, then these ghouls would definitely position themselves away from it as much as possible. Most likely, his location is further north. We can simply go around them but they would be bothersome later."
She bit her lip and placed her thumb to her chin as she closed her eyes as she entered in deep thought.
After a second, she spoke as if Eureka struck her.
"Berserker, would you like to warm ourselves up by us clearing this wave? Assassin, can you do more reconnaissance further north to locate the target? We shall clear a path for you."
While putting into consideration Berserker's ego and pride, who would most likely not accept someone else ordering him, Godfreya continued, "This is merely a suggestion."
As she stared at Berserker with eyes similar to what a commander would give to her General.
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Post by AU-O on Dec 27, 2015 22:44:30 GMT
"Of course, I absolutely refuse."
It was as polite as the Berserker could be, given what he was asked. Him, sully his hands clearing out a pack of ghouls? Ridiculous. They did not even deserve to gaze upon his form, much less defile his blades with the presence of their blood. It was an incredulous thought. If his two companions wished to resolve the matter of the ghouls, they would do so without his assistance. Still, their information at least was useful, if not particularly valuable. Their prey lay northwards... probably. Crippled as he was in this class, he could only rely on their information gathering to supply him with what he needed to know.
"The likes of ghouls aren't even fit to gaze upon my weapons. If you wish them destroyed, do it yourself, woman."
Of course, if attacked Gilgamesh would obviously destroy the upstart undead without a second thought. But to be commanded to do so? He tooks orders from nobody, least of all a Saber who fashioned herself a leader of men. It was almost sickening, how she gazed at him as if expecting his compliance, despite the "choice" offered in her words. If she had tried to take charge as a King, Gilgamesh would have at least respected her intent before disregarding it completely. Lacking even that resolve behind her words, he dismissed them entirely.
"Still however, we will press Northwards, if that is where the prey lays."
He gave the Assassin class among them a hard stare, as if laying the blame upon her in advance should she be wrong and the beast they sought not lie there. Gilgamesh was in no mood for wild goose chases, and if she was inept, or worse, attempted to play games with them, he would be extremely cross. Granted, she did not seem the type. No, in fact, she almost seemed too non threatening to be a servant, although that was to be expected from a class as useless as the Assassin class. Some small part of him, guided only by his instincts, felt a twinge of suspicion towards her, but was brushed aside immediately. After all, what was there to be suspicious of?
Undeterred, the Berserker began to move Northwards.
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Post by signy on Dec 28, 2015 15:34:23 GMT
"I am Saber. For this mission's sake, I shall introduce myself, I am Godfreya of Jerusalem. While hunting missions aren't my forte, I believe this scenario fits a siege mission instead, don't you agree?"The Saber was polite enough to introduce herself. Signy was taken aback a little by this casual revelation. Her mind was always on actual War. On the Heaven’s Feel rituals and its rules and how to best subvert those rules. She had never considered the lack of precaution in part of the Servants due to their mass summoning by Chaldea. So, what Saber said surprised her somewhat. “I have little experience in sieges…” She admitted, looking rather shy, “But if it is about many surrounding a few, then we are the ones being besieged. Please call me Signy, of the Nordlands. I’ll do what little I can to support you in this mission.”
She looked honest and earnest, with the two bright eyes that stared not level but slightly below the other two. Every general need a lowly soldier they can command, right? Even if in this case, there were more generals than there were soldiers… And she cleverly sidelined herself as the first argument began, looking a little worried. It was rather expected actually, given that Signy had got perhaps far more information about the other two than them of her through clever usage of her NP far before the actual mission started. The Saber, Godfreya of Jerusalem, was apparently a rather gifted Leader of later centuries. Self-righteous, charismatic, and accustomed to lead. Such personality would of course clashed with the Golden King, Gilgamesh, whom they said defied even Gods on his hardheaded stubbornness. Both were capable and willing to lead. And with no one to be led, it was not surprising that they would clash sooner or later. So, she wisely positioned herself in the center and supported no one. Although behind the worried look, Grimhildr was jumping in joy. One less chance of them cooperating to thwart her plans. Another surprise was when they moved according to her information so easily. However, Signy understood that they did not have much choice. She herself would do the same if being put in the position. Thankfully for them, Signy did not lie when giving reconnaissance report. "Still however, we will press Northwards, if that is where the prey lays."The Golden King gave the final words and started the move. Signy braved his gaze undeterred, like a sentry who knew that they had truthfully told all they knew and so had nothing to be afraid of. There was however, respect in her eyes. But whether it was faked or not, none could know. “Please note that I did not yet know where our target is. There are merely more ghouls in the general direction. I trust we all will be careful.”Of course, saying “please be careful” to the walking ego would only inflame him more. And that was not needed. Not yet. Signy turned to Saber.
“I cannot promise I can move much further north than you both…. I think it will be a waste to look at the same direction.” She said in a respectful tone, stating the true fact that she could not run much faster than the two stronger Spirits. And with perhaps a single swing from their swords able to clear all the ghouls, even her Presence Concealment would not give much advantage. “Perhaps it would be better if I move to the other direction? I will come to you when I find more clue about our target.”
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Post by godfreya on Dec 30, 2015 2:21:27 GMT
It was to be expected. With a sigh, Godfreya erased the first plan from her thoughts. After all, Berserker just nonchalantly threw out the ideas that should have been efficiently effective in this mission. This was why working with people who have experienced monarchy was such a drag. Regardless of the success rate of a convenient plan, even a small inch of dissatisfaction can ruin or remove it from play. While she may have been a king for at least 3 days, she had never acted like one, thus, acting like one would only give a sour taste to her mouth. Like a general of an army, she simply approved of the dissatisfaction of Berserker and proposed Plan B.
"Well that's that then."
She said in a shrug. Nothing to do about it after all. True that the AUO's strength was very formidable as someone who violated the heretic gods of Babylon. That was something Godfreya would acknowledge. But there was a bit of contradiction to his answer.
"Golden King, are you proposing to be the vanguard?"
She voiced out not with an air of disobedience of a commander to her superior but more of an equal warrior asking for elaboration. Though she asked, it appeared it wasn't finished, and continuing on without letting the Golden King respond.
"You are powerful. I won't have any qualms if you would do so."
With that said, Godfreya also began moving forward as she followed the Golden King's advance before putting into a halt by Assassin's suggestion. While it was true that both she and Berserker could simply storm their way onwards like a bulldozer, it was not something an Assassin could follow simply. Her suggestion would allow more coverage of information gathering and perception. Yet. . .
Sadly, Godfreya disliked the suggestion.
"Unfortunately, Assassin, I do not approve of that plan."
Godfreya slightly unsheathed her blessed sword. She was glaring at Assassin on the corner of her eye while being wary of her response.
"I do not trust Assassins. I'd rather watch your back than you doing mine. It'd be better if you are in eyes length than in the shadow of our trails."
There were animosities in the words used by Godfreya. It was not personal hatred towards Assassin, rather, it was in general to all who were or had been Assassins. For what reason? Probably because she was Godfreya of Jerusalem, the knight who felled by a poison from the Hassasshins of Persia.
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Post by Dr. Roman on Dec 30, 2015 16:09:26 GMT
This power had to be released, he had to release it but for what? ▅▅▅▅.
Yes he had to fight against ▅▅▅ or was it ▅▅▅▅?
But the power burned through him. He needed to release it. Suddenly the ground shook, it furiously rumbled as the unmistakable sound of a structure crumbled to the ground. The roar of concrete, bricks and wood being crushed under their own weight. Dust covered his vision. But he felt good. A weight was off his shoulders but that felt wrong. It was wrong. The feeling began to build up soon after. Yes, that was it.
This suffering it has purpose.
He clutched at his face, he couldn't remember.
But he smiled. That was... Important.
He couldn't remember why.
But it was. The mass of muscles was smiling, even as his surroundings were destroyed. He firmly held to his gladius, he stood up clearing the fallen debris off his back and removing himself from the ruined block. He was after something, he couldn't think yet, this cloud fogged his mind. It irked him, but at his core he was the man that lived under ▅▅▅▅ he was the unshackler of ▅▅▅▅, the man who won by losing. --- The explosion and ground shaking shock wave would have been felt to the distant party of hunters. There was also the unmistakable and unmasked presence of a Servant felt from the origin of the far off explosion. A mass of magical energy unrestrained and unstable. The distance was several blocks to the east of their current location. --- They clawed at him. They swarmed at him. Yet he bore it with a smile. They were his ▅▅▅▅. Yet why was he breaking them? Ah, they weren't his ▅▅▅▅ they were what? what was he fighting? But he was feeling the right thing, yet something was wrong, there was something missing. And so dozen Ghouls were blown away by the thundering of his fist and the swing of his sword. |
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Post by AU-O on Jan 3, 2016 6:28:42 GMT
"Do whatever you wish, it is beneath my concern."
The Golden Hero responded casually to the Assassin's suggestion, ignoring the bickering that was bound to develop as Saber confronted the Assassin. What a ridiculous concern. The tiny girl was practically harmless; The fact that Saber was anxious of her at all only spoke to her weakness. Why should they care what an insignificant assassin do? Even if she was untrustworthy, Gilgamesh could not see how she posed a threat to him. That the Saber was bothering to concern herself with so insignificant a worry was laughable. He continued his trek northwards, leaving them to converse.
The Golden King had only just caught the first glimpse of ghouls, foul beings he had planned on simply ignoring, when he felt a presence within his very bones. Just as the first group to encounter the beast had felt a sense of foreboding, of impending destruction as the blackened servant appeared, so did Gilgamesh feel an exuberant joy run through him. Exhilaration, thrill, the prospect of a challenge that might pose some challenge. Unable to contain his mirth, he roared with open laughter, turning eastward.
"HAHAHA! PERHAPS MY BLOOD SHALL PUMP ONCE MORE, ENKIDU!"
Remarking to the specter of a friend who was not with him, Gilgamesh disregarded his actual companions entirely as he stormed towards the presence that had emerged. Without a second thought he drew his twin blades, desperate for the challenge he had so long craved. Ghouls, either blown across the streets by the rampaging enemy or simply shambling across it, were swept out of his way as he found himself caught up in his own excitement. There would be time to consider the disgrace he did to his blades, staining them with unworthy blood after he had sated them with a combat of far more glory. Perhaps there would even be time to reprimand the Assassin who had come with them for being incorrect in her assessment, and leading him in the wrong direction. But that was a discussion for later.
For now, he found himself face to face with the black servant himself, having left his comrades far behind.
He aimed one golden sword at the tainted spirit, roaring a challenge.
"COME THEN BEAST, I SHALL SATE MY HONORED FRIENDSHIP WITH YOUR LIFE."
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Post by signy on Jan 7, 2016 15:23:55 GMT
There were no disdain in Assassin’s eyes for such blatant distrust displayed by Saber. She only looked up towards Godfreya for a moment and then turned her gaze down, resigning to her maljudgment. There was no anger. No vehement denial. Only hurt. Like the face a loyal retainer might give to their liege who mistrusted them despite having given all their lives for him. “…I understand. I will do as I am required to do, for your trust.”She made movements towards the north, following the order precisely. Nimble she was; With one movement she was almost ahead of the Golden King who had walked first. Then, as if remembering something, she turned on her heels and called at Godfreya, who was a little behind them. “I just want to make sure,” she said in an inquiring tone, “I don’t know how I can help in fights but if-“*CRUMBLE*The sentence was interrupted with an obvious sound of destruction somewhere to their east. Sounds of explosion and ground shaking shock wave reverberated throughout the forgotten town. The Assassin turned quickly towards the location, looking somewhat surprised as she should be. It took but a moment for the intelligent eyes to translate the occurrence to an understandable assumption. “To the east? This presence might just be our target.” She shifted her steps to the east, just as the Golden King blindingly rushed past them and disappeared in the distance. But instead of following him, she stood for a moment, thinking, before approaching the Saber with a polite expression of deference in her face. Clearly, unlike the rabid Berserker this Assassin was more into careful plans, and thus she naturally turned towards the only reasonable commander in the area. “The target is in the east, Commander,” she said, as the echo of 'COME THEN BEAST, I SHALL SATE MY HONORED FRIENDSHIP WITH YOUR LIFE.' reached the two. “Would you prefer me to join in battle or should I search around the perimeter for any other possible dangers? I am not suited for battle at all and much more useful in reconnaissance, but I will trust your orders.”Already, she had a tone of a soldier hailing his general. If that sweet delicate voice could be imagined as a soldier. Perhaps it would be more suited to imagine the tone as an advisor to his king. |
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