End of the Line pt. 2 [plot thread]

music
Sword of Promised Victory - Fate/Zero OST (Yuki Kajiura ver.)
words
1753
notes
e.e sorry, but had to GM a little in order to incorporate Auldrant into the post. e.e sorry if it offends anyone. If there's any issues lemme know.

artes
none.

So not only did this boy have strength, but he had speed to go behind it. Nevertheless, his tactics were easily seen by the General, whose experience with the sword was clearly no match for him. There was no way in the slightest that he would be capable of keeping up with her for much longer. She could go all day in a fight like this; it was merely reading and watching, a strike here or there, not a battle where she would come out both physically and mentally exhausted. After all, exhaustion was mostly a mental game; she could easily outlast him in mental fortitude. Hell, she could outlast most of her own men in that regard. It was a trait borne simply of experience and natural skill with a sword.

As her back was turned, the boy decided to pull the same maneuver she had; attacking from behind, while the target was vulnerable. What, was he merely using what opening she created? This, to her, was merely child's play. He could see opportunities, but he had not the skill to utilize those opportunities to their fullest extent. Many soldiers were taught that taking your opponent from their flank was the most effective way to strike; however, such a strike was not simply coming from their flank. It also involved utilizing your opponent's blind spots, something Lucas was incapable of seeing at this point. Cass had almost no blind spots, because she hid them so effectively. Every slight movement was enough to trick her opponent... And her ability to stay calm and patient, and wait to learn her opponent's fighting style without revealing much of her own was what made her the most dangerous of soldiers to fight.

Patience, after all, is a virtue.

As the sword came down, her own sword was hefted over her head with both hands, blocking the strike angularly. It was an awkward angle to block at; however, it would be enough for her to undergo evasive maneuvers. Throwing all of her strength behind her sword, she twisted, throwing the gunblade away from her hard, enough that Lucas would be left staggering from the impact. Not only was it her own strength, but it was a redirection of the momentum built up by the strike; rather than going at him with raw strength, the slight redirection of what speed was left behind the strength of his blow, what power it had, was not absorbed but turned somewhere unexpected.

Zoe was her next issue to deal with. As the gunblade was directed away, the girl's sword was aiming directly for the General's neck; quite a foolish strike, considering the distance. Bringing her sword up, Cass batted the strike away easily, hardly realizing the girl had frozen. If she was smart, then she would be able to block Cass' strike, as it was extremely obvious...

But Zoe was not moving. How Cass' mind processed that detail in less than a second was unfathomable. Carefully, at the very last split-second, she managed to redirect her strike and, instead of a strike that would have killed Zoe on contact, her blade barely managed to evade damage, leaving instead a long, deep gash across the girl's chest. She wasn't supposed to kill Zoe, damn it! What was going on? She looked at the girl's eyes, which were glazed over; she was not with them in the train car. Cass froze, listening to the words she uttered.

“The Empire along with all of Undine’s domain shall be destroyed.” A cold chill went down the General's spine. Gladiolus, destroyed? But how? She could not fathom such a power, such an ability... What could possibly destroy an empire so powerful? It couldn't be the Guilds. But no, she had said all of Undine's domain... That also covered the other sections of Galatea; Cirith, Illeia, even Undine's Grotto... All of it would be destroyed?

"Wh... what.."

The sound of clapping interrupted the General's thoughts. Turning towards the door to the other car, she could see Auldrant... Clapping, with a strange look on his face. He was smiling, and rather darkly at that. His entrance had the general frozen, wondering just what her fellow General was planning...

"My, my, my, what a show indeed. I knew you were good, Cass, but taking on two opponents, both with skill more than a rookie, is quite phenomenal," he said, his voice sounding almost... Maniacal? Sadistic? She couldn't tell. All in all, his behaviour was strange, far different than the quieter general she knew. What had happened to the usually far more reserved nature he carried? Surely... Surely there had to be some mistake. This was most certainly not Auldrant, not the man that she had known, at least.

"But I believe now is time for the final show. We cannot allow these two to continue on their journey to destroy our home land, now can we? Surely the King and Queen will not mind in the slightest if there is a small... 'accident' on the train, now will they?" He then broke into chuckles, evolving into a maniacal, almost homicidal bout of laughter. Cass could only stare.

"You bastard. What the hell did you do, Auldrant?!" Her voice was raised (or, at least, louder than usual, considering her usually calm demeanour), almost fearful as she said it. There was no toying around now. Something serious was about to happen. She stared her fellow general, unsure of what to expect. He continued laughing, sending chills down her spine. She glanced back at both Zoe and Lucas. They, too, had their eyes trained on the General, whose presence could not be ignored. Cass' stance remained defensive, watching what Auldrant might try next.

"Ah, my dear Cassiondra. Simply getting rid of the vermin in my way to position as Lead General, of course. Sad to say those other two... Did not last long against a master of the sword," he said, gesturing to the other car, where no sound could be heard. That meant the other two had fallen to Auldrant's skills. "I may or may not have done some.... Modifications to the train's engine," he finished with a smile.

...Shit. He's rigged the train to explode. That was the only possible explanation. Auldrant moved towards the door, smiling maniacally as they crossed just over a rather large lake. Jumping from the train now... No, the impact wouldn't kill him, not if he landed in the water right. He began to pry the door open, the loud sounds of the train now clearly audible in the car.

Like hell she was letting him get away. She was more than just livid. Sheathing her sword in one fluid motion, she darted forward, grabbing Auldrant by the collar of his armour and yanking him backwards. He stumbled, not expecting to be grabbed so harshly and powerfully by such a small woman. Once he was turned to face her, she reached up and socked him one in the face, hard. It would have been one thing for her to punch him in the face bare-fisted... But wearing a gauntlet left him not only with a clearly broken nose that soon began bleeding profusely all over the place, but a number of cuts and scrapes around his face.

Her anger was evident in the strength and power behind her strikes, particularly so as she aimed a kick directly to his gut, sending him careening backwards into the original car, slamming hard into one of the seats and dazed for a few moments. She knew he'd modded the back engine rather than the front engine, which was what had taken him so long to appear. While the front engine was what was pulling the train forward, the rear engine was also powering it forward. She knew there were approximately two, maybe three cars between their current one and the rear engine, and only two between them and the front engine. With him dealt with for now, she turned towards both Zoe and Lucas.

"Unless you want to lose your life in a grand explosion, Lucas, I suggest you shut up and quit pointing that gunblade at me. I don't have time to deal with a foolish boy like you trying to get us all killed." Her words lashed like a whip, sharp and cracking, enough to frighten any soldier in to submission. This was exactly the kind of general Cass was -- the one who was kind-hearted and a good soul, yet could scare the living piss out of her men if they pissed her off. Darting forward, she yanked the shield off of Zoe's arm and tossed it to the side, using what strength she had to lift the girl onto one of the seats, lying down. She couldn't care less about the blood on her uniform; she was used to it. Sprinting the length of the car to the other door, she opened it, having to use her shoulder to bust the other door open. There was one man left in the car she entered; one she'd left there on purpose, should they need him.

"Medical attention. Immediately."

She returned with the man, who quickly set to work dealing with Zoe's wounds. She told him to do what he could for her; he wasn't the greatest of healers, but he was far better than the General herself would be. It would be enough to keep Zoe alive, at least. She looked at Lucas.

"I need you to keep Auldrant distracted for me. Can you do that, boy?" There was only one possible way for them all to survive this... And that would be severing the train. She knew there was a chain in the car they were located in, with a hook on it that she could use to slow the rear half of the train down, since the engine would have to be disabled. The harder part would be severing the cars and making sure that all parties were on the safe half of the train before it exploded. Time was of the essence, and she hardly waited for Lucas' answer. If he was smart, he'd listen to her. If he was an idiot, she'd just have to knock him out and figure something else out. She could see Auldrant moving in the other car, stumbling as he tried to staunch the blood pouring from his nose. The faintest of smiles crossed Cass' face. That would take a lot of reconstruction to fix...