Chapter 21 - 2

Shirou silently watched from the rear while Talulah gave the Reunion officers a speech. He wasn't one for speeches, but watching her raise cheers from them made him frown. Patriot and FrostNova lined up behind her, which Shirou assumed was to show support.

It was all a cover to keep the officers unaware of the true schism between the leaders.

Everyone split once the gathering was over. Their spirits high except for the trio of commanders.

"Meet us in an hour near our camp." FrostNova quietly whispered to Shirou before she and Patriot left. Shirou glanced at Talulah. The Draco was looking at their group, certainly aware of what their next move would be. Shirou stuck around as Talulah watched Patriot and FrostNova leave.

"Consider your next options carefully. It is unwise for the Reunion to be fragmented at this critical time." Talulah glanced at Shirou.

He stayed silent as the grey-haired leader walked off, leaving him as the only person remaining.

...

An hour later, Shirou entered a nondescript room Patriot and FrostNova were waiting in. The hulking figure of the Wendigo general and the small figure of the Cautus stood inside, waiting for Shirou to arrive.

"We don't have...time." Patriot grunted when he arrived.

"The core city will finish disconnecting with the other plates in a day. It will take another day for us to reach Lungmen." FrostNova explained. "We...don't have many options left with such a small window."

"How do you plan to move forwards?" Shirou asked. Patriot's plan to take over Talulah's influence would take weeks- if not months. He didn't expect the Reunion to attack another city after Chernobog. Usually, weeks were needed to recover for such a large force before they were prepared to move again. "Taking over Talulah would take time."

"We stationed Shieldguards and Yetis to guard the captured Chernobog engineers." FrostNova explained. "We didn't receive news from them when the city engines started. Talulah must've had them killed." That way they wouldn't have known until it was too late. It was clear that Talulah was done caring about keeping up appearances.

"She's...close." Patriot's low voice reached them. "Talulah is...near her goal." It was a reasonable assumption. The Reunion was easily the most important resource for her. If she was willing to sabotage relations with Patriot and his people, then it must've been worth it in her eyes.

"What should we do now?" FrostNova asked.

"We...fight." Patriot coughed. His outburst at Talulah harmed his throat. Shirou's medicine had been taken over two weeks before the invasion of Chernobog. The severity of his Oripathy remained the same, but the antidote helped alleviate the pain. A short heavenly relief for the Wendigo Commander who suffered years of body-aching pain. "Stop her...here."

Shirou could see that the former Ursus general was struggling to speak. He was tempted to pull out one of his so-called "Oripathy potions" , actually just some elixirs prepared to help cool his overused circuits- mana pathways- when he overheated during missions.

...screw it.

Shirou sighed and opened his reality marble. Unlike using Unlimited Blade Works into reality, pulling out an object was significantly easier. Patriot and FrostNova zeroed in on his action and froze when a bottle appeared.

"I'll give you this medicine so you can speak properly." Shirou placed the container on the table. "Explain everything properly and I'll give you more." He didn't specify how much, but it should motivate the commander.

The room was silent for a few moments, Patriot and FrostNova stunned at Shirou casually producing what they assumed was a medicine that was difficult to manufacture.

"You should take it..." FrostNova pushed the medicine to Patriot.

"No...we share." He pushed it back insistently. The young rabbit commander hesitated for a bit before opening the medicine. FrostNova knew that she couldn't change Patriot's mind when it came to things that involved the wellbeing of others. The old Wendigo placed the importance of others above himself many many times. She drank half of the medicine, feeling a warm soothing sensation slowly bloom inside her as the ache of Oripathy was alleviated. FrostNova handed the bottle back and it was Patriot's turn to take some of the medicine.

Shirou saw the small visible signs of their bodies relaxing and assumed that the medicine was doing its job properly.

"Good, can you speak clearly now?"

"Haaa...thank you. Your medicine does wonders for us." Patriot admitted. "Yes...my throat feels better now." It was still a struggle to talk so much, but the medicine was helping alleviate the pain to more tolerable levels. Patriot didn't ask about the Arts Shirou used to summon a medicine because it would be rude. It was clear the so-called "doctor" wanted to keep his cards hidden. FrostNova looked like she wanted to ask a question, but pushed it aside.

"Most of the Reunion loyal to Talulah are at Lungmen. Right now, we are stronger than Talulah here." Patriot pulled out a map from inside his cloak and unrolled it on the table. He tapped on a specific point. "It would take us a day to reach Lungmen. If we want to stop Talulah, then we must take over Chernobog before we arrive."

"It takes us a few hours to spread the order. We'll be ready to fight before morning comes." FrostNova added to help Shirou understand. "Most of the Reunion here are neutral or recruits. It would be chaotic and will take some time, but we can capture key areas of the city."

"We need to capture the engines and the control tower of Chernobog's core." Patriot pulled out another map. This time, it was one of the current plate. "The engines will have the engineers. They can slow down the city or cut the power. The control tower is the bigger problem. Talulah will be there."

That made sense. Talulah would be somewhere she could direct the city core. Shirou had explored Chernobog extensively in the past few months because the city was supposed to be their base of operations for some time. One of his early objectives was to figure out the vital components of the mobile city. The control tower could command all city plates with the access controls.

"Killing Talulah is not an option. She has the last master key to controlling Chernobog. That is the only way for us to stop Chernobog outside of blowing up the city."

"So we're splitting up." Shirou concluded.

Patriot nodded. "FrostNova will head for the engines with the Yetis. She could slow down the city by freezing the engines. We will head for the control tower and face Talulah."

"If we don't find the key?" If the key was a physical object, then Shirou just needed to see it once and create a copy. He didn't know how to shut down Chernobog using it, but he'd cross that problem later.

"We torture Talulah if we have to."

"And if that fails too?"

Patriot released a heavy breath. "Then pray we have enough momentum to stop the city core."

Stop the city core...

"Wait, is there no other way to stop the city? Talulah intends to ram Chernobog's core into Lungmen?"

"I...considered it. It is highly unlikely, but I wouldn't put it past her to blow up Lungmen if the Reunion fails to capture it. It made sense considering the consequences of her recent actions."

Shirou's body grew rigid as steel.

"Explain. Now."

"The Reunion does not stand a chance against the Ursus 4th Army. Attacking Chernobog was out of our control. Talulah rallied the Reunion and captured the city. Right now, the 4th Army would be marching for us." Patriot pointed to a section of the map some distance away from where he marked Chernobog and Lungmen. "Our best chance to avoid the 4th Army would be to enter Yan's borders. We cannot reach Yan in time if the Reunion marches on foot. The only way we enter deep enough into Yan before the 4th Army reaches us would be to capture Lungmen and head deeper."

"Why would she risk..." Shirou trailed off.

He traced Talulah's sword. It wasn't obvious, but some signs clicked.

Talulah's sword wasn't originally hers. It was from a Ursus duke names Kaschey- the man never had a child from what the sword's memory recalled. Talulah only appeared a few years before she killed the man.

Did Talulah hate Ursus?

That was where the memories grew conflicting. The sword remembered Talulah's time after escaping from Kaschey's murder. Her time meeting friends and infected villagers in the Ursus wilderness.

Meeting Patriot, FrostNova, Mephisto, Faust. Shirou saw Talulah lose friends and villagers alike on her journey to help the people.

Then one day, she lost the first friend she ever had. That was where the sword's memories took a drastic turn. Talulah changed. She started massacres. Killed hundreds. The Reunion changed from a peaceful group to a revolutionary movement.

Somewhere along the way, Shirou found a disrepancy.

"Why does Talulah know how to control Chernobog?"

FrostNova blinked. Patriot narrowed his eyes.

"You knew how an Ursus City works because you were a general of Ursus before." Shirou masked the randomness of the question. "Who did she learn from?"

Shirou knew the answer to that question. Kaschey was a duke of Ursus based from the sword's memories. The man would've had the position to know about how cities operated.

"..."

"..."

The question drew blanks from the two Reunion commanders.

Based on the sword's memory, Kaschey never taught Talulah about cities, much less the control towers and how to manage them. What Kaschey taught her was education and politics to become his heir.

"Talulah couldn't have learned it."

"What are you suggesting?" Patriot stared at Shirou.

It was unlikely that there were manuals about Ursus cities lying around. Much less when Talulah made sure to burn Kashchey's estate after she ran.

...Kaschey.

Shirou blinked.

The person that appeared in his reality marble looked like the same person in the sword's memory.

Before Kaschey's death, he was plotting with army officials to ignite war.

"You said Talulah could be aiming to ram the Chernobog core into Lungmen. Wouldn't that trigger war between Ursus and Yan?" Shirou had to make sure. He read about the history of both nations as much as possible, but didn't have any clue about the political landscape. In front of him was a former Ursus general, Patriot would know more about the consequences.

"It is likely. Such a catastrophic event could trigger war if mishandled by both sides." Patriot admitted grimly.

Talulah couldn't have learned to control Ursus on her own. Too many pieces were perfectly in place for Chernobog, the 4th Army, and Lungmen to be close to each other. Why would Talulah attack Chernobog knowing there was an Ursus army nearby?

Not if she wasn't scared about drawing their attention.

The 4th Army wouldn't have a reason to move closer to Yan if Chernobog wasn't attacked.

What kind of reason could the 4th Army use to instigate a war and cross Yan's borders...?

How could Ursus lay the blame on Yan for Chernobog's fall?

"Talulah...where did she come from?" Shirou looked at the two. He needed to know. There were too many missing pieces, but the rest could be ignored. Shirou just needed the history of the Reunion's leader.

"Talulah? She was kidnapped from Lungmen." FrostNova answered.

Talulah was from Lungmen.

Under her, the Reunion attacked Chernobog.

That was enough reason for Ursus to escalate for war.

For Kaschey to win.

"I think...Talulah's not working alone."

=== LUNGMEN ===

"The board has decided to release you."

Ch'en Huichieh stared down at the notice the Chief Executive of Lungmen slipped towards her. It was a formal acknowledgement of her contributions and her dismissal from the position of Chief Superintendent of the Lungmen Guard Department.

Her face was blank but the emotion behind it was all too real.

She was fired.

"I'm sorry."

Her uncle intertwined his hands together and looked down at the table. His eyes slowly moved up to look at his daughter's reaction. No doubt, he could see through the turmoil going on behind her eyes.

"Ch'en...I tried to explain to them that it was out of your control. The LGD never had jurisdiction over the slums. We were never prepared for them to launch a large assault from there."

Earlier into her career, Ch'en attempted to expand the LGD's sphere into the Lungmen slums. It was costly and many of their attempts to establish a foothold in the wild territory failed. After some time, Ch'en succumbed from the public pressure to abandon the venture. The only comfort she had was the discovery of the Rat King and his underworld empire that protected the slums in place of the LGD. Ever since then, Ch'en had left the slums to their own.

"..." Ch'en's silent figure slowly picked up the letter on Wei Yenwu's desk.

"The board...is promoting Beatrix Swire to your position." Her uncle informed her just as Ch'en held the notice to her chest. "Effective immediately."

"...where do I transfer to?" Ch'en didn't see her new position in the letter. "It's not stated here."

"The board...believes that your oversight might cause more problems for Lungmen just like it did during the attack." Wei Yenwu looked out the window. Watching his niece cling to some hope that she still retained some position in the LGD hurt him.

It wasn't even her fault that the slums were overlooked. Lungmen neglected the slums as a whole. Only a few people like Ch'en and his friend the Rat King did anything about it. Now, the board was slamming on Ch'en and using their power to lay the blame on her. It was too easy not to. Ch'en was the face of the LGD. For the Reunion to get inside Lungmen? It was easy to point it out as a shortcoming on her part. A mistake that was never supposed to happen.

"...I understand." Ch'en's head lowered a tiny bit more, enough for Wei Yenwu to sigh. He knew how much it hurt the girl to be fired. It would be like if he lost his position as the Chief Executive of Lungmen. Ch'en took after him in that regard when it came to loving her home.

"...but it's not over. Ch'en, raise your head." Wei Yenwu commanded. The girl paused for a bit before looking up at him. "This is off the record. I want you to get in contact with Rhodes Island. They seem to know more than they should." about what's going on. The serious expression on his face nudged Ch'en out of her trance. "Work together while we settle things down here. Use your connections. Help me protect Lungmen."

It didn't matter if she was fired. Wei Yenwu still wanted her to protect Lungmen.

"Yes...uncle."

Ch'en turned around and ambled out of his office. Wei Yenwu couldn't blame his niece. Losing her beloved position was painful, but to power through and continue working? It would take a lot of strength to keep going.

But he knew Ch'en. She wouldn't let herself stay down that long.

.

.

.

Ch'en was packing up her things when the door to her office barged open.

"Those fuckers!" A certain orange-haired cat growled while stomping in, followed by a green-haired Oni. "Ch'en, you can't let them do this to you!"

"...oh it's you." The blue-haired Lung dragon girl glumly took notice. She was too distracted thinking over her recent dismissal. She didn't even have the energy to keep up appearances.

"Ch'en..." Hoshiguma placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's not your fault."

"Of course it's never my fault." Ch'en murmured. "Hindsight is always 20/20 as they say."

"Ch'en." Hoshiguma steeled her voice. "We did our best. If we didn't give up before and worked with the slums, then we could've been better prepared today."

Ch'en turned around and glared at Hoshiguma. "But we didn't. That's the problem, right? We didn't fight hard enough. Now hundreds of the LGD are dead and wounded, with civilian casualties in the thousands! All because we-"

A stinging pain bloomed on her right cheek, stunning Ch'en.

...a slap?

"Shut up. Everyone here is just as responsible as you for that failure." Swire pulled back her hand. "I should be fired like you, but those fuckers were only looking out for themselves. They weren't at the front defending Lungmen like you!"

"But-"

"No buts! You were busy holding back Talulah remember? You were focusing on the bigger threat! What could you have done in that situation? Focus on the slums?!" Swire growled. Ch'en flinched and folded in on herself. "Right, you couldn't do much from your position. You still tried to help."

"Swire is right. You focused on Talulah which was the right thing to do. If you didn't stop her attacks, the wall would've been overrun." Hoshiguma pointed out. "Then everything would've been far worse."

A conflicted expression emerged on Ch'en's face. "I could've done better..."

"If you want to do better, then you should start now." Swire crossed her arms. "The Reunion is still outside the walls. If you're sulking in front of me, then that time could be used planning how to deal with them instead."

"I-I'm fired." Ch'en looked away.

"Yeah? And? I'm the Chief Superintendent now and I'm asking you for ideas. Who are you going to listen to? A board of executives who aren't handling Lungmen's defense or me?" Swire stepped in front of her friend. "People are going to die, Ch'en. The council has ordered me to cull the Infected after what happened. They don't want a repeat of the Reunion infiltrating the city."

"What?!" Ch'en gasped.

"Lin is helping me evacuate the Infected out of Lungmen before the city council finalizes the decision. If we can't deal with the Reunion, then all those people will be targets. The Reunion certainly didn't care about collateral damage when the Infected were in front of them."

"I..." Ch'en was conflicted.

Wait, uncle told me to get in contact with Rhodes Island.

"...have we tried contacting Rhodes Island for help? They have-"

"CHIEF!" Someone's shout interrupted Ch'en. She looked out the door on instinct, still not registering that she was no longer the Chief Superintendent of the LGD.

"What? We're busy!" Ch'en nearly growled at the messenger at the door.

"Chernobog...Chernobog's core city is rushing towards Lungmen!"

===

Author's Note (Mostly for FFN)

...

Plans for Shirou in Another World? It's on hiatus but I might drop a surprise chapter here and there. I'm sorry for the slow updates on stories, it's a struggle to write when my mind runs into a wall.

Special thanks to Unoriginal Name's donation!

To the many gacha addicts bugging me the last few days, you can all kindly whale on my donations.

Each little donation helps me out and motivates me to finish chapters earlier, so it would mean a lot to me to have your support!

ko - fi .com (slash) w1nterf0x