The Fourth CV HGW: Operatio Aylesbury - Challenge Thread: Saber and Gatekeeper vs The Twenty-Fifth Fortress

Assault Team:

The Twenty-Fifth Fortress:

Scenario: Free The River

• The Twenty-Fifth Fortress is inhabited by 200 Rank V Demons, 100 Rank VI Demons, and 5 Rank VII Demons (Only Apply to the upper half).
• The Twenty-Fifth Fortress is large, 3x3x3km. It's split into an upper and lower half, each being 1.5km tall. The lower-half is immune to all damage until the upper-half is destroyed, but otherwise it is constructed of regular sandstone. The upper-half is built out of blast-resistant rock (shock absorption) and additionally is enchanted with Magic Resistance B. It possesses the normal 100 Rank VI Turrets, but it also has two larger cannons, which fire the explosive mines as projectiles.
• The Twenty-Fifth Fortress is also defended by two Visages, massive statues that are crafted in the image of a Rank IX Demon. These statues take the form of Golems, and possess the following statistics:
  • Visage 1 - Pralambha: C/A/A Stats, Galvanism B, Guardian A, Presence Concealment C
  • Visage 2 - Tatvayu: C/A/A Stats, Galvanism B, Guardian A, Mana Burst C (Erigor)
• The Fortress is well aware there is an invasion coming, and as such it is properly set up to be defended, the 100 Rank VI turrets will blast down on the invaders, while the Rank V and Tatvayu Visage engage with the invaders. The Rank VIIs are doing their regular hiding schtick, except the Pralambha Visage will also be hiding alongside them, acting like a Rank VII until it is uncovered and then attacking.

There will be one post from every participant who intends to help (or hinder) the actual scenario. Afterwards there will be a verdict and possibly a second phase.

Thunderclap

Gatekeeper and Saber have entered the space together, riding Gatkeeper's flying chariot into battle. Before entering Maria began a chant, one she intends to continue as she traverses the space.

"Seven Stars... no- Eight Stars Leave Their Mark"

She doesn't intend to complete it as fast as she can, rather she will build up to it as she goes, completing the spell only when she is good and ready.

"The First Star Slinks in Shadow"

Gatekeeper doesn't spare a glance at the incoming hail of ballistae fire, being familiar with the sight. Instead, they activate the Noble Phantasm of their Chariot, as a light envelops it and it twists in on itself in an impossible fashion until it is nothing but a hole in the ground. Through that hole, however, the Chariot can still move forward, which it will do at the full speed of its A-rank Agility whilst its true form and its riders hide in the space between dimensions.

"The Second Leaves its Mark"

As they travel, they leave destruction in their wake. Ordinarily, the Chariot's noble phantasm would seek out enemies automatically, but here it's being guided by Gatekeeper to move in a particular pattern through the fortress, destroying some parts of it as it does so whilst still allowing for Saber and Gatekeeper to attack from within it.

"Third is the herald of much to come"

As they travel, they deprive the atmosphere of its energy, as this no-space they inhabit sucks up what little electromagnetic charge exists here. Even outside this space, in a dimension altogether different, a stormcloud forms and cackles with energy, ready to deliver.

"Fourth and Fifth work in unison"

From within, they sense the strongest of the demons and the protection they cast over the fortress, as well as its guardian statues; one hides, but they cannot escape the sight of one who can see the essence of magic itself. And neither will be enough.

"As the Sixth Bares its Fangs"

They do note, however, how the lower half of the fortress does not crumble whilst the upper begins to break. But they do not believe that such a thing could occur without cause, else all fortresses would be invincible. With nothing else registering in their senses, the cause must lie somewhere on the upper half. Which means they need not alter their intent.

"Whilst Seventh Sings a Quiet Song"

The upper fortress debilitated and their pattern almost complete, the Chariot rises from the void and flies into the sky. Whatever remains of its armaments in the few moments between now and what is to come are Saber's to handle, though with the energy of a Chief Deity coursing through its fibres, the Chariot of Gold will not be sunken easily.

"The Eighth Signals the End"

High in the sky they look down on their target, an uncharacteristic sneer on Maria's face. They held many thoughts before, but now, all they can muster at the sight in front of them is contempt.

Lightning gathers with magical energy and builds around the chariot and in their hands, a pot of power ready to boil over. At last, their chant comes to a close as the magic sequence they laid behind them thrums in activation.

"So As The Morning Star Dawns..."

A spell of ten chants, calling radiant destruction down from the heavens, fused with the almighty lightning of the storm-caller, Perun; his is the gift they borrow, and his is the lightning that is ever-reaching. There is nowhere it cannot go, no prey it cannot reach, and no obstacle it cannot overcome. Combining the strength of their magecraft with the power inherited through their treasury, this attack is backed by the full force of their will and all the lethality of their techniques. They recall the sensation of the 11th's destruction, of a dimensional space fading away, and paint that feeling onto the world in front of them. Maria weaves her own purifying lightning, her silent thunder, into the mix; to weaken the fortress further in part, but primarily to weaken the space itself, the grander construct they reside within.

Gatekeeper's two minds working in unison, all of this comes together in the end. Their spell, Perun's lightning, the sheer force of their will, Maria's purifying lightning, their divinity which begs acquiesence from the world itself; all are combined and layered on top of one another to create a single devastating attack with a singular purpose. They are no chief god, they know they cannot strike this obstacle down in a single stroke as Indra once did. But all the same, the power of his contemporary is what fuels them now. So their intention is not to simply destroy this fortress, but to strike a blow, perhaps the first, against the grander structure at work against them. To pierce through the veil separating this dimension from others and deal damage to them directly, to take the first real step in dragging the Dragon of Drought out into the light. And so they speak, one final time.

"Shatter."

The sound is deafening.

But the look on Maria's face is sorrowful and lonely.

@naronu: @maestromage:

Saber recognized the look on Maria's face too well, on some level he could relate, a face of sadness and dissatisfaction. Saber loved combat, he thrived in it, on some level it defined his values and who he was and currently is, but he hated the current threat that the servants faced, and based off what little he remembers of Gatekeeper's origins, the current threat hits close to home for the Halfling Warrior.

"Well halfing? We got cleanup duty to do. Let me do my part." Saber activates his scanning to survey their surroundings as they approach the fortress.

Saber's role is simple, as you all already know, despite him being a close quarters fighter, the chariot Gatekeeper sets up allows him to abuse his powerful ranged attacks. Saber will do what he does best and throw out ranged slashes like the ones he used in his sparring match with Gatekeeper and his last attack on the fortress with Caster.

Blah Blah Blah, you guys mostly know about Saber's senses so, if you want to read it over again,you can check that out here.

-------------------

Saber is at A Rank and his offense and defense will be supplemented by the following factors that I will go over step by ste

• Haki and Gut Instinct
• Applications of Ranged attacks
• Bakusaiga

First we will start with armament haki, and what it means for Saber to have it. First we will cover defense, for one, it makes such an outstanding difference, its the difference between being one shot and borderline no-selling an attack like what we see when Zoro triggers King's explosions but defends at the last second with his haki. As for offense, to give you an idea, it took the entire crew to even damage a pacifista, and then the heaviest hitters going all out with their strongest techniques in a combined effort to put it down. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji all one shot Pacifistas after their training with haki.

I'd argue that Saber's strength would tough to survive, Haki should naturally amp that as well. Especially if he takes it up a notch and uses conqueror's haki to further bolster the force of his attacks, and add another component to his assault overall, Conqueror's haki mental/spiritual damage to its opponents.

Even when its infused in the body for the sake of amping, it would still have the necessary properties to not only attack you physically, but mentally and spiritually as well, making for an incredibly stacked offense. The difference between regular armament haki and Conqueror's Coating is night and day on top of that esoteric mental aspect to it.

Even without his noble phantasms, he has the benefit of abusing range to tag his opponents.Even attacks that persist after being launched.Saber can even propel himself around by using his slashes to produce gusts of wind.Even without a swordSaber can do something to this effect.

On top of all this raw power, Saber will also be busting out his Mana Burst at Rank A to combine with his ranged slashes,to make an encompassing AOE technique with arcing lightning blasts that would engulf the area creating a storm of bakusaiga's electricityand Zoro's CoC's amped whirlwind of blades that will be maintaining its momentum, Saber will spam those kinds of attacks as they touch down on the battlefield, meaning after a few slashes Saber won't have to do anything else between those attacks and the assault that the Chariot is raining down on the fortress and the battlefield and the Guardians will be forced to constantly defend themselves from bombardment while also being ragdolled by massive tornadoes that take forever to disappear. Saber will also use his Mana Burst to intercept any projectiles coming towards the Chariot. He will be multitasking defending the chariot from ranged attacks and assisting in taking down the golems.

Saber and Gatekeeper will wipe the fortress and battlefield clean with their combined assault within a matter of seconds.

Results:

Gatekeeper begins to chant, her voice ringing out across the sands.

"Seven Stars... no- Eight Stars Leave Their Mark"

"The First Star Slinks in Shadow"

"Well halfing? We got cleanup duty to do. Let me do my part."

Saber's eyes stare forwards as the ship pierces forwards through the sky, with a flash of lightning the chariot begins to twist in on itself, disappearing from view. Several moments pass, and it does not reappear.