Part 30: Dawn Arc - Sword

Sword



So, we FINALLY have an in-game break in the Dawn Arc. I've wanted to talk about Altera's meta-origins at some point, and I finally have a good chance to do so. So, Altera does not have any history in the series thus far, until the launch of the phone game Fate/Grand Order (it's a phone game, but for all intents and purposes it's a Fate JRPG), where she was one of the starting 5* Saber Servants (SSR in more common phone game parlance), alongside Artoria Pendragon. She was just known as "Attila". Even from what we know so far in this thread, that's the famous Hun who invaded the Western Roman Empire and nearly brought it to ruin. Until extella, released in Japan in October 2016, that was pretty much her entire story.

But she was still weird. She had a multi-colored sword, weird white lines on her body, and just a generally otherworldly kind of appearance. So her appearance was a little strange, among the Servants who have been introduced in Grand Order (which is quite a lot. I don't believe anyone other than Altera technically first appeared in Grand Order and then appeared in another entry in the series, other than I suppose Olga Marie Animusphere in the Lord El-Melloi Case Files spin-off manga thing).

Anyway, now, Grand Order initially launched in Summer 2015, more than a year before extella's release in Japan, much less the overseas releases. So Grand Order marks her introduction into this storied little series. In the third chapter of the plot, which was released alongside the game's launch, the player goes to the Roman Empire in 60 CE, during Nero's reign, in which they have to sort shit out re: a bunch of renegade Servant Roman Emperors trying to bring down Nero's Rome. The final battle of this chapter was against Altera, who was summoned into that era by one of the main antagonists of the overaching plot. But she literally was just a final boss. She didn't do much other than kill said antagonist after summoning, and after a climactic battle, met her end against Nero. In this chapter, she was little more than a raging beast the player had to put down at the end of things.

As a side note, Nasu is the sole script writer for this game with Altera in it, i.e. the only one she's in so far where she has much of a story personality at all. That goes for Titan Altera, Heroic Spirit Altera, and as an interview I'll shortly link, Archimedes. He has the distinction of being the only actual totally original character in this story, but you are a curious fellow indeed if you assigned Altera much personaliy at all in her story appearance in Grand Order. Another Type-Moon script advisor / writer, Hikaru Sakurai, did Altera's dialogue in GO. Based on her prominent appearance in this game's credit rolls, she directly works with Nasu on scripts. She is a prolific visual novel writer in her own right, and the Fate series is stronger with her in such a position.

Getting back to business, this is where the Altera weirdness begins. According to an interview with Takeuchi, Nasu, and a PR / VA dude, Shimazaki,


So it all smacks of a somewhat concurrent production (given how long Nasu works on his scripts, and how much he writes, I presume he was working on something that ended up being extella during GO's early days, if not earlier than that. He didn't have much to do with Grand Order in its first few rocky months), getting its wires very much crossed, and Altera's first appearance ended up not being where she was meant to premiere (i.e. this game). Those wacky guys at Type-Moon / Delight Works.

Incidentally, another interview has more on Altera's origin story. This translation of one of Nasu's blog posts has more details than I'll recount here (and it has an ending spoiler behind the in-post spoiler tags, so beware). This one is more about the thinking that created Altera in the first place, as the main heroine for this game.

Basically, Marvelous got in touch with Nasu in Winter 2015 about creating a new Fate game after the sales of CCC, and he wanted to have a new heroine that wouldn't just end up getting overshadowed by Tamamo and Nero, who already had two games' worth of reputation (Nameless drawing the short straw here, though). In addition, Altera having both a titan form and a regular Heroic Spirit form is basically to have her really stand out and be a credible threat to the two established heroines. This is because extella was envisioned from the very start as Altera's game and Altera's story.

The initial design for her was done by the character artist huke, which, as I mentioned, was inaugurated in Grand Order. But since Arco Wada did all the character portraits in this game, she had to draw for Altera in this game, using the original as the model, of course. In usual Type-Moon silliness, Nasu wanted a certain physical characteristic...enhanced...for Altera's titan version, but although Arco likes that particular physical characteristic, adherence to the original was paramount.

Basically, Nasu and Wada are good folk.


Devourer of life

Ah... Um... *ahem* I don't mind. As a Master, you have every right to seek knowledge. But...I'm sorry to say I'm rather limited in what I can and can't explain. Is that all right with you...?

Of course. I have no memories at all right now, so I'll take what I can get. Besides, I feel like a few things have already gone over my head, and I'm kind of curious about them.

This leads into another "Three choices, have to select all three to proceed" thing. We haven't seen one of these in a while, have we? Hakuno's one line questions will indicate where a choice is made.

What's that body paint you have?

My...body paint? This is...uh, the mark of the Umbral Star... It's a kind of symbol, part of what transforms me into Sephyr... Please don't stare at me like that. You're...making my cheeks hot somehow...

How'd you get to be so big?

..."So big"...? That's... N-No, you're right. It's true... I am big. This form is my natural state, regardless of where I am. On my home planet, there are many like me. We pride ourselves on standing at least 10 times taller than ordinary beings. But even among my own kind, I was special. In your terms, I would be called "royalty". They considered my body the greatest and strongest, and so they enhanced it even further and crowned me a "titan". The power to become a walking apocalypse is woven into my basic design. All that I destroyed with my hands... This passive skill of mine allowed me to absorb the idea of cultures as spiritron information, and grow to titanic size.

I didn't know such a terrifying passive skill existed... The more she destroys, the bigger she grows? Just how big will she get? I kind of want to imagine it...but at the same time I don't.

I always presumed that this, and Archimdes / Elizabeth's lines at the climax as the previous arcs implied, is why Sephyr is even has a chance of losing to a Heroic Spirit. The more she eats, the more she gains in size and power, to the point where once she's eaten enough, she's unstoppable. We were basically fighting Sephyr in her larval form, which the only time a Heroic Spirit would stand a chance.

Except *maybe* Gilgamesh. We've never seen Gil really go all-out against someone, except for possibly one battle in Grand Order. Given his arsenal, going "all-out" would involve tearing open a hole in reality.

As a side effect, my skill transmits that same growth phenomenon to any prehistoric lifeforms in the area, so they grow titanic as well. During my original attack, I affected the prehistoric lifeforms on Earth with this ability, and they acted as my Forces of Destruction.

Kind of like the dinosaurs? Except they predated humanity, and presumably Altera's attack, by millions of years. But it's not too far from the truth. 12000 BCE mankind probably didn't have too many dinosaur repellents kicking around.

So...since I'm close to you now, would that affect me?

No. *giggle* It has no effect on sentient life. That would strengthen a civilization, not destroy it, and that goes against my priorities. Though I should also mention...my passive skill is viral in more ways than one. Infected creatures can't sustain their bodies at that size. One by one, they crumble and die. Distorting their life force shortens their lifespan.

What's Sephyr?

Sephyr is... To put it simply, it's me. The White Titan. The Vanguard of the Umbral Star. I'm very much like any other Moon Servant in that I have a digital body, but in certain critical respects, I'm very different. For example, I don't think other Moon Servants can send their avatars onto the surface of the Earth... My abilities - what you might define as skills - function differently as well. For example, my mana absorption skill. When I destroy man-made things, this skill lets me absorb their spiritrons and grow larger.

"Man-made things"? So she absorbs spiritrons from buildings and machines?

Yes, among other kinds of objects. I can freely absorb mana that's been processed in any ritual format. And by "ritual", I mean through sentient beings' skills, knowledge, and culture. Whatever sentient beings use their minds to create, I use my power to absorb. In a way, civilization is my source of sustenance.

So she feeds on civilization. And she explained it so casually, like describing what's for dinner?

The same goes for the avatar I sent to Earth. As Sephyr, I have the same mana absorption skill. The Sephyr who appeared on Earth was a material body, constructed from Earth's spiritrons and based on the data of myself I'd sent from the Moon Cell. I came, I saw, I consumed. *phew* I'm the one who wanted to talk, but now it's made me so tired. Maybe it's because I've never had to answer so many questions before. Or could it be...? ...It's the first time anyone's been so interested in who I am. *giggle* You're filled with curiosity today. But we should leave it here for now. We can resume later. Maybe after the next battle...

Later that night...


White Titan

...Today really tired me out. I'm not just fatigued from using Code Casts, but also from channeling mana to Hero Altera. I'll eat a lot to help with mana, and then I'll just have to sleep to give my Mind a rest... Do I technically have a Mind? No, of course, I have to. No human could exist without one. Even a digital shell has a Mind and a Soul. Then again...my amnesia can't possibly be natural. If my Mind and Soul were missing somehow, it wouldn't surprise me. *phew* In any case, I should try to process my thoughts a little bit before I close my eyes. About the Umbral Star as well as Altera. Before today's battle, she said her duty was to conquer the Moon Cell and manifest on Earth, then destroy all civilization. But that's a little different from what Archimedes said. He wanted to interfere with the Moon Cell and call forth the Umbral Star. Yes, he definitely...well, both of them want to control the Moon Cell, but maybe they differ on the details. Hm? Wait. Wait just a minute... Who's Archimedes?



Following up on that thought...

...Are you asking what I was on Earth? 14,000 years ago? As I said earlier, I was a being called Sephyr. The Vanguard of the Umbral Star. The White Titan. Are you saying...you need to know more than that?

She did explain it when we first met. But there's something I'm not getting, or at least it doesn't feel real to me. Because she looks... So much like a human. She's nothing like what I imagined an alien from outer space would look like. Although it could just be that I'm just not that imaginative.

Well then, let's see... I don't know how much I should tell you, but if it helps you understand... I'll try to summarize. If there's something you still don't quite grasp, please ask. First, 14,000 years ago... My true form was constructed of pseudo-spiritrons, and came from the Umbral Star.

So her makeup is the same as a Servant, in principle. Servants are summoned onto SE.RA.PH using data downloaded from the Throne of Heroes, and are built with spiritrons. But she wasn't made on the Moon Cell. It sounds like she was made on the Umbral Star, right?

...Yes. Well, it's not technically corrected to say I was made ON the Umbral Star, but I was born from pseudo-spiritrons at the beginning. My existence is strictly digital, as far as I can explain to you. And as far as humans can perceive me, I'm nothing more than a body of information. So in order to manifest on Earth, I replicated my data into a physical body. That's the reason I came here. I took control of the Moon Cell's functions, and for the sake of destroying the Earth, I created a clone...

In other words...she used the Moon Cell like a 3D printer?

Yes, I would say that's very accurate. Then, on Earth, I became the White Titan and burned everything in my path. Terrain, animal life, and most of all, civilizations. Until finally, my temporary clone gave her last breath and crumbled. That is the meaning of my existence. The reason why Sephyr awakens. The clone and the titan are cut from the same cloth.



Hakunon, always the empathetic sort. Our favorite world-destroyer likes her empathy, though.

...I believe you have the wrong idea. I'm awake now because the Umbral Star has arrived in this galaxy. That being the case, there's only one thing I have to do. As the Vanguard of the Umbral Star, I will exterminate all civilizations in this sector. I will corrupt SE.RA.PH, take control over the Moon Cell...drop down onto the blue planet once again... Any method of descent is fine. I could make a clone, just like 14,000 years ago, or I could use the Ark of the Stars that penetrated the Moon. Regardless of the method, I will destroy all civilization. That's what I was born for.

Scene break...

Yes? Umm... You're asking about the cage...?

Yes, I would like to talk about the cage I'm in, thank you. Did you build it, first off?

Y-Yes, I did build it. Not very well, I'm afraid. I'm sure it's uncomfortable to sleep in... And sitting...most likely isn't very comfortable either. No, I understand. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it so uncomfortable. But... These hands... They weren't made to build or create. It may seem obvious, but building something of a human size is very hard to me... I'm sorry this is so inconvenient for you...

It may have been cramped, mentally and physically, but it wasn't THAT bad. It was actually easier to sleep in than you might think. But no, what I really want to know is why she went out of her way to build it in the first place.

...Are you asking because you want to escape?



Well now, escape would be nice, but I think Hakuno's bright enough to know THAT'S not gonna happen. We might as well be thankful we even have it.

Thank you very much. Just for tonight, please stay in there. I know you're forcing yourself to tolerate it, but just for a bit longer.



So this next stage is gonna be another brawl. Tamamo's forces are going all out. You can see how much territory they control, and Medusa's icon, and Tamamo's. Have a feeling this is gonna be a tough one, but thankfully, there are no Sector Traps here on Hard. So, prepare an all-out offensive Mystic Code, or a supportive one.



The Mystic Code we've been (technically) using in Dawn up until now is actually a thing in gameplay, even though it's basically useless. It's the second and last one the game automatically gives you (along with the default one). However, I think we can do better. Oh, and if Altera is bond level 3, as mine was by this point, you can add two more nodes in the Install Skills menu. Once you're ready, clicking to begin battle will instead lead you to... Shooting Star

...I see a dream. ...A dream that feels like it should be a memory. But I don't know if I have anything left to remember. My experiences, my memory, pretty much everything that makes up Hakunon is gone. But even with that, I'm looking back into the past. ...So maybe it's Altera's dream, not mine.



I see a single vessel traveling through countless glimmering lights in a boundless sea. No, not lights, and not a sea. They're stars in space. I don't know whose vessel it is, but I know that she's inside it. A lone traveler amongst the stars. She flies faster than light, for a length of time beyond all human measurement. ...Could that vessel be the Umbral Star itself? It doesn't look the way I imagined it. Not like a vessel of destruction at all. It looks...majestic. Beautiful, almost like a jewel. Of course, I'm seeing it from a distance, and I have no way to calculate its size. I wonder how big it is, and whether I could even comprehend that kind of scale. It continues on its long, long...LONG voyage. Its journey seems endless. It simply sails along through space, illuminated by glistening stars in the blackness. And inside, she waits. Not only to physically arrive at her next destination, far off as it is...but to reach the right time, when the civilizations within that destination achieve their pinnacle, ripe for the harvest. ...Eventually, the Umbral Star finds something. Its brother, one might say. A pure, photonic crystal, one sixth the size of the planet it orbits. The Seventh Heaven Artgraph, created by an unknown race. The Moon. Also known as the Moon Cell.



The Umbral Star then sheds a fragment of itself, aiming it toward the Moon Cell, to raid its treasure trove of information about the Earth. The fragment resembles a single teardrop. Or perhaps a comet. And she's likely riding in it. Now it begins. Could this be the end of life on Earth? The harvester has arrived, ready for the reaping. It aims to take the Moon Cell, with all its recordings of all events on Earth. Even the records of the Earthlings' souls are engraved in its code. And at the same time...it will destroy the lives that inspired them.



I can only imagine that all of this took place just before the White Titan's rampage, just before the burning of the Earth. The messenger from the stars. The embodiment of destruction. The Titan of Tears. Then I see the cancerous invasion spread across the Earth. Extinction seems inevitable. She crushes all civilizations and accepts no surrender. The beasts of nature suffer horrible mutations, run amok, and ultimately fall to ash. She leaves no trace of life behind. Everything. Everything on Earth and the Moon is doomed to annihilation by her hands.



Simple and calm. Almost like a machine. The titan smashes everything by order of the Umbral Star. Converting life and civilization into her own mana, she grows, transforms, and transcends all limits. ...And all the while, she thinks.

"...What am I doing...? ...Why am I doing this...? ...Destruction. Destruction. Destruction. This is the end of my journey, and only death awaits those I've come to... Civilization, and life......Break. Break. Break, break, break, and let your pieces break again......What is this...?"

I can sense her feelings. Hesitation, bewilderment, regret. The doubts she held as she marched across the scorching Earth.

"...What am I...? I'm just destroying for the sake of destruction...... This isn't right. Not right. Not right. Not right.....Because I've never even once..."



The White Titan can't stop herself. Most of the land is in ashes now. Ancient civilizations have been erased. The galaxy's original organisms have already begun to die out. They've been shattered, burned, and exterminated. Our Earth and Moon are no different to her than the other planets she's been to. She's only fulfilling her duty. She'll wipe everything out, upload all the information she's gathered back into her starship, and then, as per her programming, she'll self-destruct. Her journey will finally end...at least, that's the plan.



...But it doesn't happen that way. ...That light... The light, the light! So big and bright, it nearly swallows the titan whole. Her body, tougher than any stone on Earth, strong enough to resist the heat of the stars, cracks before it. The impossible has happened. No one could have beaten the titan. Not even the very personifications of the world's concepts, those who were worshiped as gods. She'd have crushed them alongside their followers. None of them could have stood between her and her duty. But after she struck down one particular god, the "Concept of Conflict", later known as the God of War, IT appeared. ...A single sword, forged and refined in the depths of the Earth. Whatever man or god lived to witness its birth called it...the Holy Sword. ...The Ultimate Phantasm, created by the stars and humanity's deepest wishes. The embodiment of world-saving hope.

If it's what you're thinking of, you're right. The sword that blasted Sephyr to pieces was none other than Excalibur, which would later end up in the hands of Artoria Pendragon via the Lady of the Lake. A weapon forged by the desire of the Earth to continue living, it is without peer. Even Artoria, who mastered the sword, could draw out but a fraction of its power. Unlike the plethora of weapons in Gil's Gate of Babylon, Excalibur has no prototype or equal, and any attempt to replicate it and use would vaporize the user from the recoil.

I also like how Excalibur was brought out when Mars himself fell in battle, and the planet's defense mechanisms were like "Oh shit, this might actually be it".

"...What is this...? ...This. I know this. This is the 'Sword'... It looks like it belonged to the god I destroyed... But it's so much smaller... Small enough for a person to wield, but so...hot..." The white, massive figure splits in two. All the spiritrons it had absorbed from the planet fall onto the Earth's surface like powdery snow. There, in a faraway land, the titan completes its collapse. It falls by the light of the stars, to whom humanity had sent its most desperate wishes. After that... With the titan having fallen on Earth, its memories are transmitted back to Altera's main body. Her digital form absorbs the records of Earth's destruction. She has failed to perform her duty. She could neither finish off the Earth nor conquer the Moon Cell. The backlash from the titan's death shuts down Altera's real body on the Moon, at least for a few minutes. With that opening, the Moon Cell seals Altera's body away in an unknown darkness not connected to anything else...the Zero Dark.

...Something about all that doesn't seem to fit. The Umbral Star's supposed purpose is to harvest, but the titan seemed hellbent on destruction. It's like a farmer burning all his crops. In any case, that particular harvest came to an end. The Umbral Star, having passed through this solar system, sailed on through the sea of stars, leaving its shard behind in the Zero Dark. And in the center of that unknown land, there was only Altera. All alone. With nothing in her way and nowhere to go. Surrounded by nothingness. At least during her journey, she could look out and see the stars, not just the blackness. Not just herself. Endlessly replaying her own memories of death and destruction. ...But about 13,000 years later, Altera received a new memory, sent from Earth.



She saw a rolling, green field, with a cool breeze sweeping through it. No matter which way she turned her head, the field seemed endless. That memory, that feeling, stuck with her. Like a precious moment from her own life, submerged in a dream. That image had a surprising origin. When the titan fell, its body became a ruin - and in that ruin, humans found a sliver of its essence intact, in the form of a small child. The tribe in Central Asia who made that discovery raised that child to be a champion for their people, a born warrior. She became their leader, all without knowing her own true name or origin. And so, still imprisoned alone on the Moon, Altera experienced life as a single human. She rode freely through the plains. She headed west with her many allies. She fought against all the people of the west as an unparalleled lord of conquest. She was given a name, one very different from "Sephyr". She hated the sound of it, and always aid she wanted something "cuter", but her elders would only smile and shake their heads. And then.. How cruel is this? Altera, trained and engineered to destroy all humans, gained the experience of being one. And by living as a human, she learned human emotions. Which she then retained after that mortal body's death, and continued to experience as she lived on, alone in that cavern. Loneliness. Emptiness. Nostalgia. And the lingering guilt of all the lives she'd taken.

And though the long, long dream has passed now...your emotions are seeping into me. Into this empty Body, with no memories of its own. I realize once again how unstable my existence is. What it really means not to have any memories. Like I wouldn't be surprised if I disappeared. But I'm not afraid. Who am I? My existence isn't natural, that's for sure. In fact, I think even Altera's existence is more natural than mine.