Daydreamy Side of the Moon

Eh.
Ehhh.
Ehhhhhhh.

I've been meaning to get this out of my head for awhile. I'll probably edit it with more, but I'm dumping the draft out of my head now. Staying vague enough for it to be interesting if I do decide to do anything with this in the future, but it's not likely, since I have no taste or experience with warfare or Alias-type stuff.

C'est la vie.

(Kindly excuse much Nasu inaccuracy and things I haven't really proof-checked to be sure the proof of concept functions credibly. This is just idle plotbunnying.)

-----

The Holy Grail War had changed.


Of course, that was a well-known fact. After the theft of the Fuyuki Grail on the eve of World War II, the Holy Grail War as anyone knew it had simply ceased to be. There were imitations, encouraged by judicious leaks by an unknown source, but they were just that - crude imitations, unstable or inferior in design, their greatest feature being the sheer number of them. Becoming tools utilized by magi for a number of reasons, whether to make a name for oneself, to cull the herd, or simply to foolishly chase wishes that only the true Grail could have granted...


Whatever the excuse, the "Holy Grail War" had become common and routine. The reduced power of the imitation Grails led to an even more dismissive attitude by the magical community, on the whole, and even the original war had not been regarded as much more than a noteworthy pet project by three great families.


This all changed when the incident in Trifas occurred. Revealing the Greater Grail to the world once more, the Yggdramillenia clan threatened the power and dignity of the Association itself. They responded with crushing force, of course, marshaling perhaps the strongest catalysts for Heroic Spirits ever assembled in one place, and for the first time in history the Holy Grail was fought for not as individual partners, but as a concerted team. Many eyes were on Trifas that month, and many were shaken by the scale of what they witnessed.


Even then, it might have devolved into merely a matter of academic interest. After all, the Grail was again lost, absconded with by a dragon of all things. With the Fuyuki Grail again out of reach, the issue should have been resolved there. However, in the turn of the century, a strange discovery was made - mana was apparently dying off, depleting for unknown reason, and magecraft itself began to slide into remission at a scale never before seen.


Almost overnight, the value of land rich in magical leylines skyrocketed, as they seemed to decline at a much slower rate than the rest of the world. With magecraft swiftly shrinking, Second Owners no longer had the luxury of a system respected by the magical community, and threats to their authority, territory, and even lives became commonplace.


And with the Holy Grail, and its many derivatives, still burned into the public consciousness, a simple solution presented itself - the battles over the Holy Grails of the world became bloodier than ever, but this time the Grails were the goal, not the means. Many groups and splinter associations fought to obtain their own counterfeit Grails, and new organizations, akin to private military companies, began to coalesce around each one. While teams of seven Servants were impossible even for the strongest fakes to maintain, it was highly possible for a false Grail, with the aid of enough magi working in concert, to maintain a small number, perhaps as many as two or three, Servants for an indefinite period of time.


Thus began the rise of a new industry in the world of magic, unconsidered before in its audacity - the Heroic Spirits of the past raised not in noble exhibition, but in actual war, a conflict of countries, of landed territory, and of resources in a rapidly decaying world where the number of Grails a land possesses dictates the strength of its remaining mages. Fighting covert war for their own livelihood, magi soldiers have industrialized the Holy Grail War into a private, global conflict.

FATE

TOTAL WAR

Essentially, a combination of F/SN with MGS4, and what I thought Grand Order was going to be when the "Chaldea Security Organization" was namedropped. It probably won't be anything like this, but it's amusing for me to get out of my head and onto paper.

Basically each fake Grail is repurposed around a private military company, with a Ghost in the Shell-size squad of Masters acting as the batteries for their Servants. In mood, something like the early half of the Black Rock Shooter game, when she had an attache of mercenary men.

A couple, but not all, of the PMCs I have in mind:

Canopy Company
The focal PMC in the story, rare for operating despite the lack of a Second Owner's support or any land to call their own. Having initially planned to support a single Archer-class servant of exceptionally high tier, the resulting disappointment they actually summoned led to their company becoming a laughingstock, kicked out of the region they planned to support in favor of stronger PMCs. Forced to repurpose themselves, they chose an unusual path, deliberately aiming to summon 3 weaker Servants rather than supporting 1 or 2 heavyweights. Flexible and without a land of their own, they have become a covert ops team with no particular allegiance to any one country - making them surprisingly useful to a number of countries wishing to distance themselves from their activities.


Saber:

A showboating young woman who seems capable of anything. Slender and graceful, she moves through her surroundings as comfortable as a snake through brush, no matter how chaotic the situation becomes. Cheerful, quick-witted, and more or less completely untrustworthy, she nevertheless has a knack for charm and improvisation that has proven incredibly useful in modern espionage. Her parameters are difficult to grasp, even for her Master, and she seems to delight in pulling new skills out of thin air on a improbably consistent basis.


"I promise you, my Master. For today, and perhaps tomorrow, I remain your gorgeous, brave, charming, and incomparably unchaste Servant."


Archer:

A "legendary" archer who failed to live up to his rumored prowess. While his feats were sublimated into powerful abilities, he is largely incapable of using them to their full potential, if at all, and lacks the parameters his summoners expected him. Inwardly seething at his own inadequacy, he tries to bury his temper beneath a pleasant, charming demeanor as bright as the sun. Unable to take the front lines, he is forced to serve as support to a flamboyant, obscure Saber.


"Tch. I'd have no regrets when I pass on, if I died achieving even one thing I could supposedly do."


Caster:

An eccentric Caster by any standard, the final Servant summoned by Canopy is perhaps the least suited to her class. Possessing only the slightest remnants of a dying magus clan, Caster qualified for her class not through her own prowess, but through the artifice and technology she pioneered to harvest and multiply it. A creator whose skill with Item Creation outstrips logic and even the rules of physics, given enough time to study and improve her theories. Rather than a front-line combatant, she serves as a source of logistics and equipment for her team.


"You know, I never am really satisfied that I've finished anything, because build it as well as I may, the solid-state battery can output only an infinitesimal fraction of what I want in my death ray."




Camelot Code Conglomerate
Maintaining its status as one of the richest magical lands in the world, even in decline, the United Kingdom has protected its reputation by coming to a swift accord when the magical world transitioned to its new state of conflict. Wealthy landowners pooled together their resources upon acquiring their Grails, creating a series of single PMCs who soon joined together in an alliance and used the same catalyst in six consecutive Servant summons. While Avalon itself was unable to be found, quickly hidden away by the king's own descendant(s) when the tide of the world became clear, a fragment of the Round Table was sufficient to call upon no less than six of the greatest knights of Camelot, each supported by a team of magi allowing them to reach their full potential. There is little question that the Conglomerate has a dominant claim in the new world, and that their young head is little less than a true king.


Ducat International
Operating nominally out of Germany, Ducat is famous for selling the services of their single Servant to the highest bidder against anyone but their patron nation. Supporting a single Caster, their prowess lies not in the power of their Servant, but in the hordes of revenants at his beck and call. An army that grows larger with every payment to Ducat and every battlefield left in their wake, the only thing preventing them from being a threat worth uniting against is the promise you can always - always - tender a better offer if you can.

Caster:
A gentleman and consummate noble, Caster appreciates the finest things, whether it be wine, gold, or the arts, and he shares them freely with others. His personality is magnetic, making it easy to see how he achieved the short-term popularity he relied upon in life. However, as a commanders, he is brutal and pragmatic in combat; he may give freely to his followers, but he spends their lives as freely. With the aid of Ducat's financial riches and the many battlegrounds that blossom in the new world, Caster is a Servant especially suited to the current form of the Holy Grail War. From the slain on each battlefield, his peculiar Noble Phantasm constantly recovers a new supply of revenants, pulled to the modern era by their contract hundreds of years in the past. Having sold him their bodies and souls, Caster resurrects more of his forces as each conflict drags on.

"War nourishes war. No matter the star a man is born under, the battlefield rises to claim them all."

Owari Defense Services
Ostensibly a private military company, it is an open fact that Owari is in fact one of the few Holy Grail operations supported by its own national government. Recognizing the nationalistic force of arms their Archer represented, and seeking to bolster their long handicapped military power in secret, Japan effectively combined forces to spark a revival of the nation's military power. With Tokyo's support, Owari not only benefited from the spiritually rich land of Fuyuki, but actually wrested control of it from its owner, allowing their single Servant to reach her full potential and making them an exceptionally powerful PMC in the world community.


Genji Security
Officially an independent security firm that offers powerful protection to magi, politicians, and other figures of note, hinged on the illustrious reputation of their summoned Saber as a loyal bodyguard and the fact that his Noble Phantasm literally protects them with his own life. In reality, while their Saber is the public face of the corporation, this PMC in fact operates a second black ops mission with the aid of its unknown second Servant, a female Assassin also closely tied to Japan's prized Servant.


Blood Diamonds
Displaced by the government of their own country, the Tohsaka family became landless wanderers, unable to accept a lower position in the country they had previously thrived in. Disappearing for a time, they eventually resurfaced in the Middle East, having bought and charmed their way into the graces of an emirate with powerful land, but few worthy magi. While not openly supported by the government as with Owari, there is little doubt they are funded by it, and the revolutionaries have been able to support two Servants of mixed quality: a powerful, combative Lancer and a tricky, underhanded Archer who work surprisingly well together despite their differing personalities.