Fate/Laoch Gan Finsceal

Chapter 9: Southeastern United Front

FATE/LAOCH GAN FINSCEAL

"Hero Without Legend"

Chapter 9: Southeastern United Front

Similar to Amargosa Valley, another town named Luning was situated between Hawthorne and Mina, just southeast of Carson City. Unlike Amargosa however, Luning had declined so much that many people mistook it for a ghost town. It wasn't, technically speaking, but the very few people who lived here had already fled from the infamous alien hordes that ransacked the state's two largest cities. That didn't mean the town was quiet – it was the stage for another confrontation between the rebel Servants and Xerxes' forces.

"Damn it... There's too many of them," a moustached, tanned man in traditional cowboy attire grumbled. He hid behind the small post office and returned fire with his pistol whenever the flurry of enemy bullets calmed down.

"Good grief," a brown-haired Lancer wearing black armor and a green tunic complained while scratching his shaggy hair. "This sort of excitement is too much for an old man like me."

"How long d'ya plan on sittin' 'round an' complainin', Hektor?"

"Well even you would know that we're seriously outmatched here, Sheriff. They've whipped out the big guns for us. I doubt even a Trojan Horse offering will fool them at this point."

"So yer just gonna sit there an' give up? Didn't think the hero of the Trojan War would be so lackin' in gusto."

"No, no, I haven't given up anything. I'm just being painfully aware of our circumstances."

"So what d'ya plan on doin'? As an Archer, I can't do much else than take cover an' snipe them freaks t'kingdom come."

"Of course. No one would expect the hero of the O.K. Corral shootout to do other than that. You just leave the infantry to me, Mr. Earp."

"If only this were as simple as a bloomin' feud b'tween lawmen an' cowboys," Wyatt Earp, the infamous deputy sheriff representing the Wild West's most tumultuous days, growled. "I sure hope Sanson'll git his butt back 'ere with reinforcements."

"Oh? Now you're the one complaining," Hektor grinned.

"Shut yer trap an' git yer ass out there!"

"Right, right."

Hektor shuffled to his feet and ran as fast as he could through Luning, leaving Earp behind to fend for himself. He loaded a few more bullets into his gun, then fired more rounds that hit their marks. Although the battle looked hopeless, he was well-known for having extremely high luck since he was the only one who came out unscathed in the gunfight that marked his name on the Throne of Heroes. He didn't feel like he belonged in such an outrageous war, but he would do his job nonetheless.

Nothin' like a good canteen o'ale and Mata Hari's company t'look forward to after this hullabaloo is over.

While he was preoccupied with thoughts about booze and women, he heard something shuffling behind him. He turned his head around to see what it was. Something large and dark obscured his vision of the stifling bright Nevada sun.

"Yer-!?"

Earp didn't get to finish what he was saying before a familiar red lance shot through his chest and pierced his heart, killing him instantly. His death expression was wide-eyed and horrified as he burned the image of his killer milliseconds before dying. His body disintegrated in golden light particles as he returned to the Throne.

"That was too easy," Cuchulainn grumbled monotonously. "To think such a weak man could stifle Xerxes for so long goes to show how pathetic his strategies are."