ROUGH DAY
From a slightly elevated ground outside the Naval Intelligence's Staging Dock in Vaizen, Subaru watches the huge dimensional gate wobbling and pulsating, biting her nails. Her battalion has pulled back and dug in about a kilometer away from the gate, armored vehicles dotted around squad positions.
With a heart-thumping 'whoomp' sound, Helios appears, shooting out of the gate at full speed.
"Battalion, get ready!" Subaru orders.
Helios explodes. The shock wave destroys the Naval Intelligence facility, sending a million pieces of burning debris to all directions.
The gate erupts in brilliant flames and smoke as Punchkid battalion pours heavy fire on it, but it remains open. Subaru cusses, glaring at the gate. She calls Zafira.
"Rapid Recon, report." No answer. "Rapid Recon, report!"
Suddenly Zafira's voice rushes through Rapid Response division's communication magic.
"Recon company reporting from the designated teleport beacon. Mission is a failure."
Subaru looks at the burning wreckage that moments ago was Helios.
"I repeat; mission failed. Objective is still on board Helios." Zafira reports with a grim tone. Subaru cusses again. The captain of the recon company continues.
"Wolfram is down, too."
Subaru is stunned by the news. A warship that big can tank a hideous amount of damage. What the hell is coming her way?
"Hayate-san used to command Wolfram…" Subaru remembers. "What about the Helios crew?"
"Helios crew are safe with us." Zafira reports. At least that is a relief albeit small. Subaru has arranged vehicles at the teleport beacon for this.
"They are yours. Escort the crew to Caledfwlch Factory. We've set up a quarantine area there. Shamal is setting up a hospital so leave the wounded there if any."
"Roger…and sorry…" Zafira trails off.
Subaru ends the comm and pulls her hair out, fuming with anger. She isn't mad at Zafira. If something powerful enough to take down Wolfram is in the way of his mission, there isn't much Zafira can do about it except getting the hell out of the way, salvaging what he can. That he did; he saved the Helios crew. Subaru is generally angry about the whole situation. Fate is presumed dead. News so impossible to believe Subaru does not know how to react to it. She glares at the still open gate, only to witness a hundred or so invaders swarming out.
Her battalion is now firing on the invaders, who immediately take covers behind the burning wreckage scattered around.
.
As soon as the first swarm of the invaders exits the gate they are met with a hail of ranged attacks. They soon discover their barriers are strong enough to mitigate quite a number of direct hits. Nevertheless, it is an unpleasant experience and unnecessary risk so they try dodging incoming attacks, taking covers.
"Where is the ship?" The person with a cracked mask asks.
A nearby sister points at the burning wreckage and is disintegrated by an attack that came from above. The person looks up and sees a group of gray-clad mages ascending, trailing long ribbon-like tails.
The person turns to Helios' wreckage again. There among burning debris and metallic rib cage is a child-like corpse burnt to crisp. Her chest heaves up and down as she starts breathing heavily.
She looks around. Her sisters are trying to push inland away from the gate; some to find better covers, some to find an enemy to slice open, some just moving about with no clue what to do. Many are hit by the incoming fire, but most of them survive unharmed thanks to their strong barriers. Some, though, are unlucky and are hit by a particularly strong attack or a coincidental focus fire, and either disintegrate or burn to death. More importantly, the attacks coming from the flying soldiers are deadly. Clearly, the flying ones are the strongest foes.
She looks again at the burnt corpse of the little one. She needs to kill the person who did this to her little sister. Somebody. Anybody. Preferably someone important. And preferably right now. She scans far ahead using optics magic and spots a uniformed female adult on a slightly raised hill behind the enemy front line. This particular person seems to be very angry about something, yelling at the men and women around her.
The person motions to nearby sisters to follow her. She takes a deep breath and launches herself at full speed. A couple of masked girls follow her.
.
She is about a hundred meters up in the air, speeding towards the intended target when a smudge of pink and gray zips past her. The person quickly turns around and finds the two sisters who followed her have turned into bits and pieces of bloody gore raining down on the burning Dock. The pink and gray smudge ascends high, then turns. It is a person. A flying soldier. Three other similarly clad flying soldiers join the first one. The four soldiers spot another group of sisters in the air and speed towards them, leaving the frustrated girl alone in the air. The person grits her teeth and resumes her flight.
.
Subaru surveys the battlefield. Whoever, or whatever these invaders are, they are not dying easily. A considerable amount of firepower has to be committed to killing just one. Subaru herself would have no problem fighting an invader one on one and deal a fatal blow, but the majority of the Bureau armed soldiers, save for the flight mages, are not as powerful as the Punchkid. Making do with what she has; that is her job as the commanding officer.
"Those bastards are tough nuts to crack. Why aren't they dying?" She turns to her staff. "Guys, let's see some focus firing. Tell the captains-"
"Major, look out!" somebody shouts, pointing at something behind Subaru.
Subaru quickly turns, sees an enemy about to cut her head off with a scythe, evades, jumps, and swats the person down by punching the masked face with all her might. The attacker falls flat on the ground, dead. The crack on the mask has finally yielded and the mask has been shattered, leaving only a clean-cut piece covering the top left of the face.
Subaru is mad. Not because she nearly lost her life, but the act was a foolish attempt. Whoever trained this soldier should be shot on the spot.
"What the hell were you thinking! Charging in alone like that! Where's your covering fire? Where're your buddies? Why throw your life away like this!"
She kicks the dead body in anger. Then she sees the very dead face revealed by the broken mask. A look of horror dawns on Subaru's own face.
"Holy shit, what the fuck have I done?"
#
.
Back in Midchilda, Hayate is sitting at her desk, talking to somebody over voice communication.
"-yeah, he can do that, didn't you know? Anyway glad to hear everyone is OK. Get to the factory, and let Shamal have a look."
She ends the comm, but another one comes in immediately. This time, a video call. Signum's pale face pops up.
"Commander, I have bad news."
Lieutenant general Yagami raises her eyebrows.
"What's wrong? You look like you are dying."
"I have a report from Subaru. There was friendly fire, and...she killed Fate." Signum's face has gone even paler.
Shocked Reinforce pops out next to Hayate's head.
"Wait, what?"
"Subaru did what?" Hayate is also confused.
Signum wipes the sweat off her forehead. Apparently, Fate was still on board Helios when it blew up. She survived somehow and found Subaru.
"But Subaru thought it was an enemy trying to kill her, and...Subaru killed Fate."
Hayate and Reinforce look at each other's faces. 'What is she saying?' Hayate, confused, turns back to Signum's face.
"Signum, what the hell are you talking about? Fate-chan is alive."
.
"What the hell are you talking about? Fate-san is dead. I have one dead Fate T. Harlaown in front of me, right here!" Subaru yells at Signum's hologram face floating in front of her.
"No, Subaru, you are mistaken. Fate is with her brother right now." Signum relays what she has heard from Hayate. Subaru cannot believe it.
"That's impossible!"
.
"That's impossible!" Hayate yells at Signum's hologram face floating in front of her.
.
"God damn it!" Signum shows her anger, which she does rarely. After hearing more detail she ends the communication with Hayate and immediately calls Subaru again.
"Listen, Subaru. Princess says she was in a direct comm with Chrono just before I called her. Apparently, Professor Ferret Boy teleported all of them out, and that's including Fate." Signum explains.
"Yeah, sure, she got out. OK. But then she came to me, and I punched her to death. Does anyone care how terrible I feel right now?" Subaru is sobbing, distressed.
For a moment Signum is confused again. 'Did Subaru really do it?' She shakes her head to focus.
"No offense, Subaru, but do you seriously think you could one punch kill Fate?"
The sobbing on the other end of the comm stops. Subaru is thinking.
"Maybe if I tried really really hard...I might-"
"That's not the bloody point!" Signum has had enough. "Chrono is literally carrying Fate in his arms right now! They are on their way to the Factory as we speak, do you get it?"
"But-"
Signum cuts Subaru off. This is getting ridiculous and there is a war to fight.
"You know what? I'm gonna have to pull the rank on this one." Says Signum. If their top boss AND deputy director of Naval Intelligence insist Fate is alive, Fate is alive.
"Now get back to the war!"
After a brief hesitation, Subaru acknowledges reluctantly.
"…and Subaru? Keep that body safe…just in case." Signum immediately regrets adding that sentence. Now Subaru is going to be confused again.
#
.
Nanoha is circling high in the air, leading her 1st Squadron of sixteen flight mages dispersed in four flights of four.
Ever since Helios exploded she has been calling Punchkid and the division repeatedly, demanding to know what happened to Fate, but nobody has given her a definitive reply nor put in the efforts to get back to her on the topic. She is anxious and on the verge of breaking down, but tries to suppress it by focusing on the job. Her squadron, however, can sense their leader is mad.
She is wearing the modern issue standard flight combat uniform; gray-white insulated windbreaker half coat with a visored hood that automatically extends over the head from the nape, two long silk ribbon-like drag-reducing tails trailing behind from the waist, worn over plain insulation pants and solid boots. Nanoha does prefer her old trusted barrier jacket, but the Wing Command is not having it.
"I'm not having my ace flight mage stick out like a sore thumb." said the commander, and that was it. Nanoha is stuck with the new uniform. Besides, the pockets are sort of useful storing snacks for long flight missions.
By using optics magic, Nanoha observes the battle taking place far below: the invaders are trying to advance towards the dug in Rapid Response soldiers. Although they could withstand considerable beatings they seem not so eager to take hits in the first place. Hence the advance is slowed down, as those who ventured into open are met with hails of ranged attacks and are quickly forced back to take cover behind the wrecks and debris of the explosion. Those who somehow reach a Rapid Response's position manage to cut down several soldiers before disintegrating under intense focus fire by the defenders.
The flight mages of Vaizen Air are making it worse for the invaders, as they provide low altitude air support, making strafe runs again and again.
Subaru's voice reaches everyone on the battlefield.
"All units, be advised; observation indicates the enemy is strictly melee only. Exploit accordingly. You have my permission to give ground."
Nanoha watches the foremost platoon mount on their armored vehicles, pulling back to put some distance. Its sister platoons also adjust their positions. The Vaizen flight mages rain down fires to discourage the enemies from filling the gap left behind too quickly.
The invaders finally have had enough of the attacks coming from above. A dozen rises up and tries to engage the Vaizen flight mages, who quickly evade and fly high up, with the masked mages in pursuit. Nanoha leads her squadron and dives to intercept, firing volleys. The invaders in the air shift their attention to this new immediate threat, changing their course towards Midchilda's squadron. The Vaizen flight mages descend back to their anti-ground missions.
.
Observing the battle from her command post, Subaru, having calmed herself down after the Fate-incident, shakes her head.
"This isn't an army, it's a mob. What a mess."
"But they aren't dying either." Her assistant, a young lieutenant gentleman, points out. Subaru nods to this fact. It looks like Punchkid will run out of steam before the invaders run out of bodies. Her thought is interrupted by a call from Signum.
"Punchkid, Sail Force says more enemies arriving in an hour or so. I'd like you to pull back before you get overrun."
Subaru gestures to her assistant to relay the message.
.
Up in the air, Nanoha is yet again engaged in a dogfight against another group of airborne hostiles when the message from Punchkid comes.
"Punchkid to White Devil, we will be peeling back shortly." The voice of Subaru's assistant rings as if he is talking from right next to Nanoha. "Would appreciate you join Vaizen people and cover our back."
Nanoha chases and lands a hit on an enemy mage who explodes to bloody mist. Irritated, she responds.
"Oh, for the love of-"
She parries a swing by an enemy, who closed in too fast for Nanoha's comfort and kicks the masked person off to aside. Her wingman finishes off the disorientated attacker.
"White WING!" Nanoha emphasizes. "White Wing will come down as soon as we clear the air."
"Roger, White Devil." The rude man ends the call.
Annoyed, Nanoha maneuvers and shoots an enemy from behind.
#
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Professor Scrya and Deputy Director Harlaown, carrying his sister in his arms, arrive at Caledfwlch Factory in a pickup truck they have appropriated. Zafira and Alph have been waiting, the latter rushes and takes unconscious Fate from Chrono's arms.
"I really thought we lost you." Zafira admits, relieved. Alph wipes the sweat off Fate's face, worried.
"What's wrong with her? Is she hurt?"
Chrono shakes his head.
"I don't know. I found her like this. Where is Shamal?"
Zafira informs Shamal is inside the main office building, which has been turned into a makeshift field hospital. As he speaks the first batch of ambulances starts to arrive, carrying the wounded and dead soldiers from the Staging Dock. Yuuno turns pale at the sight of the bloody cuts and chops and severed limbs.
"Let's go." Chrono proceeds to lead Alph into the building, but Zafira stops him.
"Sorry, not you two." He motions to Chrono and Yuuno. "Professor, Deputy Director, you know the drill. Quarantine area is that way." He points to a sealed hangar across the parking lot. "Helios crew is already there, too."
"Fine." Chrono drags reluctant Yuuno towards the hangar. "Just tell Shamal to keep me posted, alright?"
Zafira watches the two walk across the parking lot to process themselves into the quarantine hangar. Alph carries unconscious Fate into the building, whispering soothing voices to her old friend.
Zafira makes a call to the division HQ. Agito's small face appears in front of him.
"Agito, We've just received Fate at Caledfwlch. Shamal is going to have a look. Can you fill me in what's happening? Where do you want us?"
Agito looks relieved to hear the news. The little fairy girl welcomes back Zafira.
"Punchkid is pulling back, but Subaru wants you behind the line. Talk to her ASAP."
"OK, I will." Zafira nods. "Where is Vita?" he adds the question. According to Agito, Vita's Anvil battalion has just finished assembling at a Sail Force dock in Midchilda.
"But the Staging Dock going kaboom brought down the teleportation network in the entire east coast area." Agito informs. "Vita will have to go through Vaizen's Interworld Terminal."
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Back in Midchilda, Reinforce floats over Hayate's desk and gets in the commander's face.
"Agito says Zafira dropped off the Helios crew at Caledfwlch. All three VIPs are received safely."
"Thank god. So Fate is indeed alive." Says Hayate, relived. She leans back to put some distance between Reinforce and her face. "Anything else?"
Reinforce hovers closer.
"She's unconscious for some reason. Shamal is going to have a look…and Agito says Signum wants to know why you started smoking again?" Reinforce slips in a question. Before Hayate can say anything she is interrupted by a video call from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Hayate shoos Reinforce away from her face and salutes the Chairwoman of the JCS.
"Madam Chairwoman, I am happy to report that both your kids are safe." She feels warm in heart seeing the worried mother's face brightening up. She continues.
"Another good news is Signum is holding up pretty good in Vaizen. Things aren't looking too bad, madam."
Lindy nods in approval.
"Good to hear, indeed." She flashes a smile and holds up a letter-sized document. "I have good news for you, too, lieutenant general, I've just received a document from the Management. You are now officially appointed as the Joint Task Force Command tasked to repel the invasion."
Hayate is puzzled. That big of a position is usually not for a three-star general. She points it out.
"Due to current circumstances we do with what we have, and that's you. You will receive the official doc later." Lindy beams a smile again. "And who knows? Maybe one more star to go with the job."
Hayate salutes the face floating in front of her.
"Thank you, madam, I accept the position. I won't disappoint you."
"Good. Oh, and I hear you started smoking again? Just...don't. OK? It's bad for libido."
.
Lindy ends the call. Reinforce gets in Hayate's face again.
"Four stars, eh?"
"Maybe. She said maybe." Hayate dismisses the idea. "Besides, I'm too young for that." But Reinforce is insistent. If Hayate is the youngest ever to reach a three-star rank, it is inevitable she eventually becomes the youngest ever four-star general, too.
"Come on, Hayate. They will have to add you a star pretty soon...otherwise, things get uncomfortable across the ranks."
Hayate puts her hands on her waist.
"Hey, why does everyone know I'm smoking again?"
Reinforce floats away from Hayate.
"I don't know what you are talking about." The miniature admin of Book of Darkness feigns innocent.
"Never mind." Hayate shakes her head. "Here's my first order; cut off all civilian network between Vaizen and Midchilda. Secure the military channels."
Reinforce nods. It is understandable Hayate is worried about the enemy probing and working up the network to the Capital. That would be a disaster. She silently relays the order to the relevant people.
"We probably add some circular dependencies or roundabouts or something in our channel-" Reinforce thinks aloud.
With an exaggerated motion, Hayate puts a cigarette between her lips. She defiantly lights it.
"Bad for libido?" She scoffs, but then quickly becomes depressed.
#
.
Just outside the Staging Dock is a small circular town built by Sail Force to serve as the home for the dock workers. A large road from the dock runs out the main gate and over the green field for a couple of kilometers then the town's boundary starts. Neat double story houses line up along the small streets branching out of the main one running through the town. There is a large plaza with a fountain in the center, with shops and restaurants and the town's public services surrounding it. The town is, of course, deserted. The dockworkers were among the first ones to be evacuated.
Subaru stands in front of the fountain with her assistant by her side, watching the play of the water. The sun is setting and the redness of the dusk sky eerily reflects on the bubbling water. Her battalion has retreated and is taking defensive positions in the town.
"We dig in here for now, but when things get too hot I expect an order to retreat to that hill far back."
She points at a high hill about five kilometers inland, overlooking the town and the roads running on a rather flat plain.
She surveys the empty plaza.
"This could be a good choke if we set up in the buildings."
"Against normal opponents, yes." The assistant sighs. Subaru agrees. Whoever they are, the invaders are very difficult to kill, requiring more than a dozen direct hits from the standard-issue Strike Rifle to down a single enemy. So it is not surprising the bulk of the confirmed kills earlier that day has come from the vehicle-mounted weapons and the flight mages. Subaru is sure her indirect fires would also cause havoc, but back at the Staging Dock, the enemy was too close to her own soldiers for her to lob artillery rounds. Shelling the town is also not an option as she has received a strict order to minimize damages on private properties.
She glances back at the hill again. There, she can make her stand. The enemy being strictly melee only also works in her favor. Punchkid can decimate the invaders before they even reach the foot of the hill. But that's then. For now, she has to delay the enemy advance as best as she can. Stalling here in the residential area will buy the Bureau precious hours. Maybe even a day, if things work out in Subaru's favor.
"Punchkid, Recon is in position." Zafira's voice whispers out from the communication device. Subaru has asked Zafira to stay behind and keep his eyes on the enemy.
.
Zafira and his men have spread out and are hiding in collapsed buildings around the edge of the dock, watching the invaders. The masked people have not ventured out of the facility, but are now resting leaning onto debris and wreckages. Occasionally one or two would rise into the air to challenge Vaizen's flight mages, but they are instantly dealt with by Midchilda's Squadron.
The larger horde starts to arrive, trickling onto the ruined Dock.
.
From the air, Nanoha spots the signs of exhaustion among her Vaizen counterparts. They have been diving on ground targets all day long.
"White Devil, we are running out of fume. We'd like to head back for now. You coming?" The Vaizen group leader asks over comm. Going by the call sign 'Bug Boy' he is a man of late 30s with a cynic voice. For a flight mage his everything, from his appearance to magical talents, is so ordinary one wonders how he even became the group leader. Nanoha met him a couple of times in the past, mainly during joint exercises and various ceremonies, and precisely because the man is so ordinary she has developed deep respect towards him. Bug Boy has gotten to his position, not because of his talents nor brilliance, but simply by giving his all at whatever he does, and eventually succeeding; a hard-working man who produces the results every time.
The White Devil stops for a moment and surveys her squadron. They look tired but not to the point where they would drop dead immediately.
"Bug Boy, you go ahead. White WING! will stay around a bit." She announces over the comm, much to the dismay of her flight mages. But then again, they loved Nanoha for that demanding side of her because 'I can keep up with the White Devil' is good for self-esteem.
"Roger that, White Devil. Don't hang around for too long." Says the Vaizen leader. Nanoha shakes her head and watches the Vaizen flight mages heading inland. She turns her attention to the ground. Thousands of invaders are flooding out of the gate.
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The newly arrived batch of masked mages is looking around, moving along making space for the still arriving sisters. After talking to the first group who fought the battle a number of seniors gather around to discuss what to do next.
"Where is the ship?" a senior who arrived with the later group asks. Another one answers, gesturing towards the burning surroundings.
"I don't know. When we arrived, everything was burning. I think the ship was destroyed."
"Sisters, what are we to do? If the ship is not here, we've failed mother." A third senior mage chimes in. The first one surveys the world. Yes, they have failed to secure the ship, but this must be a Bureau world.
"Isn't that a half success?" she looks to the others. "Is this Midchilda?"
The other girls shrug. Nobody knows where they are. The second senior shakes her head.
"I don't know...we've been fighting ever since we arrived."
"How was it? Are they strong? Have we lost sisters?" asks the third mage. The second one nods. They have lost quite a few sisters.
"But with all of us together we can break through." She points to the sky. "But watch out for the flying ones. They are strong."
The first senior girl looks up. She spots Midchilda's squadron at high altitude in the evening sky. She calls out to nearby girls and together they rise up.
.
Nanoha sees a group of five enemies flying towards her.
"Let's see how high they can go."
Her squadron follows Nanoha, ascending diagonally at high speed. The invaders follow up. Upon reaching the altitude where lesser flight mages would start to struggle, Nanoha turns her head to check the invaders. She is impressed to find them keeping up.
"Not bad. Now, let's check their speed."
After waiting a bit to allow the invaders to close the distance, 1st squadron dives. The masked mages follow the suit, diving, and still manage to keep up.
Nanoha levels at a few meters above the ground, manages to shoot and hit several enemies while at it, and sharply turns upward, her squadron following closely, dispensing deadly spells as they make the turn.
The senior mage leading the group is furious at the sight of her sisters on the ground dying. She singles out Nanoha.
"That one! Focus on that person!"
The group ascends in pursuit of Nanoha, who turns her head to see the small group of invaders still on her tail. She waves a hand, and a flight of four detaches itself from the squadron formation and makes a wide arc around the incoming masked people. Nanoha turns around, flying backward at a reduced speed, observing how the invaders would handle the situation. They keep flying straight towards her.
"No, no, no. One of you should intercept the flanking course." She is disappointed. The flight she dispatched is now behind the invaders, who do not seem to mind the situation at all. Nanoha shakes her head.
"2nd flight, abort. I'll deal with this myself. All flights, disperse."
Her people know what she means. They hurry away from their group leader. Still flying backward, Nanoha summons a magic circle facing the incoming enemies. She stops suddenly and swings her device Raising Heart, now in a staff form, sideway with all her might, slamming the magic circle. The circle emits a massive beam of energy glowing in blinding pink and crimson, which instantly melts the airborne invaders. This angers the sisters down on the ground. About a hundred or so rises in the air to avenge the fallen sisters.
Nanoha is about to lead her squadron against the swarm when Agito's voice enters the communication channel.
"Rapid Response to White Devil. We see you too far forward. We'd like you to fall back and stay above Punchkid, if possible."
Nanoha stops midair. She surveys her squadron once again; their eyes are eager to retreat and fly above the friendlies. Finally, Nanoha gives in. She leads the squadron out of the Staging Dock.
.
The invaders cheer at the sight of the Bureau flight mages 'running away.' The senior girls are congratulating each other for a job well done when a small girl runs up to them.
"There are houses outside the fence, not far from here."
"The word is town. It's a town." The second senior mage thanks the little one. "Thank you for scouting ahead." She turns to other seniors.
"Sisters, if we take that town we will have places to rest and sleep for tonight."
Another senior offers to take the job.
"You girls must be tired. Stay here and rest with the sisters who came first."
The senior girls summon magical ears and shout instructions into them. The first arrived hundred or so girls will stay at the gate and have well-deserved rest. The two thousand who came later will go take the town.
#
.
"Punchkid to all units; Recon reports a large group of enemies moving out of the compound. Keep them at range, give ground if needed."
Subaru announces over the comm. She turns to her assistant, pointing at the distant hill inland.
"Let's move 3rd company there and start digging in. I want cover from the high ground when we do eventually retreat."
From the fountain plaza, Subaru watches the tactical feeds from her men at the edge of the town.
.
A soldier crouches in a hole he has dug on the front yard of a house at the eastern edge of the town. His buddy has gone into the house to refill their water bottles and also to check on the squadmates who are manning the windows. His squad's armored personnel carrier is perched behind the nice two-story house, peeking out onto the street slightly so that its mounted gun can fire at the hostiles coming from the open field laying before the town. Its barrel smoothly moves up and down, left and right, as the gunner makes sure everything works.
The soldier is fondling a small ribbon hairpin in his hand. A gift from his little girl back home, wishing his safe return. He's found it calms his nerves. On the communication channel the squad leader, who has dug in on the driveway of the house across the street, is saying something about syncing their shots on the same target.
His buddy comes back with the bottles fully filled.
"Hey, guys are saying our major killed Chief Enforcer." The buddy relays the gossip he has heard.
"What the fuck? How the-"
He is interrupted by a sudden pressure wave hitting them from above. The two soldiers look up. It's the Midchilda Air's 1st squadron, flying low eastward, their long drag-reducing ribbons trailing behind like tails. The two soldiers follow the formation with their eyes; across the sky is dotted with many tiny specs of airborne invaders. The dots grow bigger as the masked mages close in on the town fast. Below is a patch of writhing blackness flowing on the flatland.
"Here they come." The soldier says to no one in particular. About fifteen, or maybe twenty minutes before the horde reaches the town on foot. He counts his mana cartridges but is interrupted by his buddy nudging him with an elbow.
"Look. White Devil is about to-"
The soldier quickly searches for the tiny dots in the distant sky. The Midchilda mages are hurling deadly magics across the air. The dusk sky lights up with a spectacular fireworks display. Illuminated from behind, several groups of the invaders fly low straight towards the town, ignoring the White Devil and co. The soldier and his buddy hear the anti-air weapons scattered around the town going full power; 'Brrrt!' 'Brrrt!' Unending streams of explosion magic fill the air in an attempt to intercept the incoming airborne hostiles. The two soldiers cheer at the sight of several enemies exploding midair, but the mysterious masked people press on. They scatter and crash land in small groups, diving below the silhouette of the houses. The soldier and his buddy wince as they hear the sounds of the mounted weapons firing. Several units across the town are having uninvited guests.
.
The masked girls advance towards the town. The sun is setting behind the nice-looking houses, casting long shadows.
"Sisters!" a senior girl shouts. The girls draw their staffs, transforming them to scythes or blades glowing electric yellow. The senior masked mage waves her blade, and they start to charge towards the town, screaming.
From the shadows of the houses thick lines of glowing magic shoot out in pulses, 'Vtoom!' 'Vtoom!' 'Vtoom!', flying over the flat grassland. The first rows of the invaders are hit hard, many of them instantly losing their barriers. The edge of the town suddenly erupts in sporadic flashes of small bright lights as the soldiers start firing their Strike Rifles.
But it does not end there. The girls hear whistling sounds, then all of sudden the field is blanketed with explosions, hurling dirt and torn limbs up into the air. The girls immediately throw themselves to the ground, shocked. Back home, they have seen deaths. Sisters falling to illness. Sisters dying in rock blasting accidents. But never deaths in such gruesome fashion, nor in such numbers. They panic.
.
"Keep moving, god damn it. You are sitting ducks staying put like that." Subaru shakes her head, watching the feeds from the edge of the town. "Keep moving for god's sake!"
"Major, are you on their side?" asks the assistant. Subaru blinks a couple of times then realizes what she is doing; rooting for the enemy.
"Sorry…it's just-" she points at a floating holo-display, disappointed. "This isn't right."
.
"Keep going! We can't do anything here laying low!" A senior masked girl shouts to her sisters. She stands up and, hunching low, charges forward. A Strike Rifle fire glances off her barrier, but she keeps going. Others start to follow, moral renewed. When they reach about 300m from the first houses at the edge of the town the small arms fires coming from the windows and yards intensify, pelting the girls' barriers. The outermost house is really throwing everything they got, assisted by an armored vehicle peeking out from behind a corner.
The senior mage stops and thinks for a moment, catching her breath. She motions for the girls to keep going, but takes a group of a hundred or so girls and cuts across the field, trying to swing around and hit the town from the south.
.
"White Wing to Punchkid. I see a group of enemies going around to your south." Nanoha reports from the air. Her squadron is focusing on the airborne targets, staying well above the firing arc of the battalion's light cannon platoon.
"Thank you, White Devil. 2nd company is aware of the movement on their flank."
.
The soldier in the front yard gets a call from his squad leader. They are moving to another position. He and his buddy hear their personnel carrier revving its engine, getting ready to go.
"They are wrapping around to our south." The squad leader shouts, running across the road from the house on the other side.
"LT has given us a new position. Let's go!" The leader taps on the soldier's helmet as he passes. The rest of the squad pours out of the house onto the front yard.
As they start to get in the vehicle, his buddy shouts something, aims to south, and shoots. The soldier can see small hunched figures running across the open field in the distance. The vehicle-mounted gun starts firing in that general direction as the squad members get in. Other units placed along the road have also joined in the shooting.
.
The senior mage kneels and watches the shots coming in. These are the powerful ones that hurt, not the small stings. The stream of deadly magic arcs as the source starts moving.
"Looks like they are moving."
She can picture it in her head. The Bureau soldiers are pulling back a little bit in order to better deal with her coming from the south. At least some progress is being made in terms of grounds gained. She summons a set of magical ears and tells the girls on the main axis of advance to keep pressing forward. Then she stands up, rushes forward, but is hit hard and knocked backward to the ground. She groans in pain but is unhurt. A nearby girl rushes and kneels beside the senior mage.
"Are you alright?"
The senior one grunts with a grimace under her mask. She feels suddenly so tired. It has been a rough day following a long flight in the freezing cold. She shakes her head. Lying on her back her eyes scan the sky, trying to find something to focus on. Her sisters in the air are chasing the Bureau flight mages who are ever so elusive in their maneuvers. They split up and encircle her sisters before finishing off from a distance. Despite having the upper hand in speed, the girls cannot do anything unless within arms reach. And the Bureau soldiers are exploiting the fact they can engage her sisters from afar. Frustrated, she rolls over to a prone position. A shot flies above her and knocks down a sister not too far behind.
"Maybe if I imagine throwing rock blasting magic-" she mumbles. Determined, she gets on her knees and swings her staff. The pole-arm like staff emits a small javelin of golden light, about the length of her arm, which screams across the field and hits a house's upper floor wall. Upon contact, the magical discharge detonates, collapsing that part of the building's upper floor.
"Whoa!" Her sisters look at her in awe.
.
"Whoa!" Nanoha stops midair. She and her squadron look down at the rubble that has once been someone's bedroom. A loud cheer from the invaders erupts that can be heard even from the sky. From the air Nanoha sees numerous small magical mouths appear among the masked people on the field. Even the ones in the air have gathered around in several groups, listening to small blabbering mouths. Then a wave of motion ripples across the ranks of the invaders on the field; staffs and blades and scythes are pointing at her.
"Ascend! Evasive maneuvers!" Nanoha screams into the comm. The squadron clears the area just in time as the air erupts in flames and explosions.
.
Subaru turns to her assistant.
"That explosion!" She demands to know. "It didn't sound like ours. What the hell was-"
Subaru follows the eyes of the assistant to the sky. The flight mages in the sky across the town are being shot at from below; countless streams of golden sparkles hosing the sky.
"White Devil to Punchkid! I'm seeing ranged attacks. They are NOT melee only!" Nanoha's voice booms out of the comm. "White Wing. God damn it. Did I say Devil?" she adds.
More explosion sounds come from the edge of the town, drowning the sounds of Subaru's own battalion's guns.
.
The collapsed roof has fallen onto the soldier's armored vehicle, making loud enough dings to scare the soldiers sitting inside. A shot from the south reflects off the armor and hits a nearby garage, demolishing it. The squad leader screams something to the driver. With a jolt, the personnel carrier starts moving again, its gun still firing.
"We are pulling back." The squad leader relays the order from his boss. "We screen south while 1st company falls back." He shows his tactical display. A map of the town. Dots are slowly moving out of the edge, towards the central plaza and the main road. The squad does not fail to notice they are the southernmost unit of the entire battalion.
.
The senior mage girl leads her group into the southern part of the town. From the intense sound of battle happening on the eastern side, she determines her sisters there, too, have entered the town. Her group spills onto the otherwise quiet suburban area and is immediately met with a stream of heavy fires coming from a vehicle peeking out from behind a house about a hundred meters down the street. She sees a small group of men has taken cover around the vehicle.
.
"We are too close! Too close!" The soldier shouts, banging on the armor plate. The squad leader screams into his comm and gets the permission to give ground from his lieutenant. The driver revs up the engine once again as the squad gets inside. With a jolt, the armored personnel carrier starts moving. Its mounted gun keeps firing and the first row of the masked invaders drop to the ground. The rest takes covers and starts hurling deadly magic across the air.
The squad vehicle is about to make a sharp turn when a rear wheel is hit. The resulting explosion flips the heavy chunk of metal upside down careening across the street.
The squad groans and cusses as they regain senses after the ordeal. The soldier and his buddy push open the back hatch and climb out, coughing and limping. They take cover and start firing at the enemy not too far away. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad climbs out of the vehicle. They are dragging out the screaming gunner, whose right leg is bent in an unnatural way. The squad leader barks an order and a soldier quickly pulls out a foldable stretcher from his backpack.
"One, two, three!" They lift up the injured gunner and lay him down on the stretcher.
"Go, go!" The soldier shouts, firing at the invaders few houses down the street together with his buddy. His squadmates, carrying the stretcher, jog westward as fast as they can.
The soldier feels a tap on his helmet. It's his buddy.
"It's time for us to go, too!"
Hunched low, they start to walk backward, hosing down the street with their Strike Rifles. The invaders keep pressing forward, hurling their explosion magic. A stray shot lands on the vulnerable underbelly of the flipped personnel carrier, and the vehicle explodes, the blast knocking back the soldier and his buddy.
Lying on the ground, breathing heavily, the soldier tries to shake off the ringing in his head. His noses and ears are bleeding and the world is spinning around. He tries to stand up, but he can't move the lower part of his body and there is a burning pain in his chest. He looks down only to find a large piece of the metallic fragment that has pierced into his chest. Defeated, he coughs blood and gives up trying to stand up. He looks sideways and sees his buddy on the ground, bleeding badly, but still conscious.
The masked invaders are closing in fast. Lying on their backs the two soldiers on the ground raise their rifles and begin firing, but the enemy barriers are too thick.
"Hey!" His buddy shouts.
"Yeah?"
"Remember? Sarge said we should sync our shots."
The soldier chuckles, coughing up more blood.
"Oh, yeah."
They see a little person running up to them.
"That one!" The soldier calls out. He and his buddy focus on the little masked person who leaps into the air with a large blade glowing yellow. The two men empty their cartridges on the little one. The barrier finally shatters and the small body is riddled with holes, spraying blood. The little one does not finish the attack. With a thud, her dead body falls down right between the two men.
"Good shot." The soldier turns the head to congratulate his friend. His buddy is motionless, face pale, finger still squeezing the trigger; dead.
"Fuck." He cusses and stares at the sky where the flight mages draw fast lines as they trail colorful mana residues behind their ribbon tails. He sticks his hand inside his jacket and pulls out a small item. It's the polka dot ribbon hairpin, red with white dots, that her little girl back home gave him before his departure. He fondles the ribbon, trying to calm himself down and prepare for the inevitable death.
.
"Sister!" The senior masked mage runs to and kneels over the dead body of the little girl. She sees the mangled body and loses all hope. She just takes the little girl into her arms and softly rocks back and forth, whispering something into the dead ears. She notices the dead eyes are still wide open behind the little mask, frozen in horror. The senior girl takes out a small tool from a side pocket on her overall and unscrews the bolts on the mask. When she has gently removed the mask from the face of the little dead girl and swipes her hand over the eyes to close them, she hears a loud gasp from her side. She turns to see the soldier, eyes wide, face distorted in self-loathing and inner pain.
"Oh god. Fuck, she was a little girl!" The man mutters, trembling. "What the fuck have I done!" he screams in agony and starts crying.
The senior masked mage does not say anything. She silently examines the bleeding soldier. A large piece of metal is sticking in his chest and dark blood pumps out as his heart beats; the man is going to die very soon.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The soldier begs to the dead girl, clawing closer despite his own injury. When he comes close, his shoulder almost touching the little one's, he holds the dead girl's hand.
"I'm sorry." He says again, sobbing. With a trembling hand, he gently caresses the little face and smooths the matted hair. Then he clips the small polka dot ribbon pin on the girl's head. The soldier sighs his last breath and dies still holding the hand of the dead girl.
The senior masked mage does not know what to feel about this. This man and her sisters were trying to kill each other just a minute ago, yet she feels no anger towards the man who killed her little sister. She does, however, feel the general sadness of the whole situation.
"Come on! Let's go!" Another sister taps on her shoulder before rushing off westward. The senior girl looks at the dead sister's face one last time, and without thinking takes the hairpin and puts it in her pocket. She stands up and runs off to join her sisters. From the eastern edge of the town, the sound of the battle moves towards the central plaza.
#
.
Subaru has relocated to the western edge of the town. She stands outside her command vehicle, watching the tactical feeds from the units under her command. So far Subaru is in good mood. Her troops are doing well and the casualties are minimum. She motions for her assistant to come over.
"2nd company is falling back from the south." She shows the holo-display. "Have 1st company hold here. 2nd runs straight to the hill."
"Understood, major." The assistant acknowledges and yells into his comm. Subaru proceeds to call Nanoha.
"White Devil, we are retreating, but we will be crossing about five kilometers of an open field."
"OK. We will cover you." Says Nanoha from the sky.
A call from the division HQ comes in. Agito relays the order for Punchkid to relocate to the hill exactly as Subaru has anticipated. Vaizen Air is also returning from their short rest upon Signum's request.
"That hill controls a rather important road junction and the surrounding flatlands, so we gotta give a bit more effort in holding it." Says Agito. Subaru turns to her assistant with a gleeful face and mouths 'See, I told you.'
.
The sun has already set, but the town is brightly lit by the continuous streams of offensive magic flying across the streets and into the air. The flashes and deafening sounds of explosions fill the town like a massive firework.
A group of armored vehicles passes through Subaru's position and quickly moves out onto the open field outside the town. 2nd company is making its way to the hill. The soldiers from 1st company have taken defensive positions at the western edge and are shooting into the town. From the hill far away, a flare signal goes up in the sky to guide the destination. The eerie light of the flare briefly illuminates the passing Vaizen Air mages flying out from inland.
#
.
Hayate paces around in her office, talking to Signum over the video comm while Reinforce watches silently.
"I'm all packed and ready since forever. When can I go?" Hayate demands.
Signum sighs and scowls.
"I told you; I'm not gonna have you come over until I have a solid defense line. I can't allow the possibility of your command post being overrun."
Hayate throws her hands up in defeat. She changes the topic to the situation at the Interworld Terminal.
"This place is packed with people trying to leave." Says Signum. She has gotten a large empty hangar in the Terminal complex for her to use as her division HQ. She has enough room to share so has generously set up a corner for the flight mages. Signum continues. "They are OK with me here, but the locals aren't very happy about a three-star Midchilda running the show in Vaizen."
Hayate turns sharply and snaps.
"Not my fault they didn't have their own rapid response, is it?" She sighs and goes on, annoyed. "I got a call from Vaizen Management. They want minimum destruction of properties."
Signum protests to this. It's the enemy who is blowing up the houses in Vaizen, not her. Speaking of which…
"Actually I was going to ask for a carpet run on the town-"
"Yeah…that's a no." Hayate shuts down the idea immediately.
Signum grimaces but accepts the constraints on her job.
"By the way, didn't you quit a long time ago? Why start again? It's bad for your growth." Says Signum nonchalantly.
Hayate glares at Reinforce, who suddenly finds the ceiling very interesting. The young commander of the Joint Task Force stomps on the carpeted floor.
"I'm already fully grown up!"
#
.
Subaru is a half foot in the vehicle for what feels like an eternity, watching her men and women of the remaining company gradually being pushed back out of the town. When the assistant delivers the news that 2nd company has reached the hill, she orders everyone to mount up and get the hell out.
As she and the rest of the battalion retreat in a quick yet orderly fashion across the open, Subaru pushes her head out the top hatch of her command vehicle to have a look behind. Midchilda's 1st squadron is on the anti-ground duty this time, weaving through the streams of shots coming up from below, erecting a wall of fire at the edge of the town. Vaizen Air squadron is engaged in a fierce air to air battle against the enemies who have come up in the sky to challenge the flight mages. Then something catches Subaru's eyes. A small group of soldiers is running out of the town, carrying and struggling with a stretcher. Subaru bangs on the vehicle's roof, shouting. Her assistant pokes his head and checks the soldiers left behind.
"Those are men from 2nd company." The assistant informs his boss.
"What? They should be on the hill!"
About a dozen invaders are in hot pursuit of the struggling soldiers. Without thinking, Subaru gets on the roof through the top hatch and jumps off.
"Major! God damn it!" The assistant gets back inside the vehicle, and soon it turns around to chase the commanding officer.
"Major, get back now!" The assistant screams into comm, but Subaru is too busy running. The invaders are closing on the soldier too fast. Gritting her teeth, she summons a half opaque fast-track on the field ahead, glowing transparent blue, about 2m wide and extending all the way to the struggling soldiers. She jumps on it and her boots transform into a set of high-speed skates. Subaru accelerates and zips towards her men like an angry locomotive.
.
The squad sees their battalion CO running their way, followed by her own command vehicle, and a bit behind it the entire 1st company that has turned around. They clench teeth and keep running.
Subaru makes it just in time to crash into a masked invader leaping on her men. The impact pulverizes the poor soul, but Subaru does not stop. She glides and pivots and round kicks another masked head which flies away leaving its body behind. The next one suffers a caved-in chest after being punched in the heart.
"Keep going!" She orders the squad from 2nd company. The gladly comply, but do not need to go far. The command vehicle comes to a full stop about thirty meters ahead and flings open its back hatch. The assistant is yelling the soldiers to get in, but his voice is drowned by the vehicle's mounted gun firing close range. The squad climbs in anyway and now the assistant is yelling at Subaru to get in.
Subaru quickly moves towards her vehicle, but an explosion knocks her down face first. The small group of masked invaders is not making it easier for her. They jump on the Punchkid face down on the ground with their blades ready to swing. Subaru tries to pull herself up when a strong hand grabs the back of her collar and pulls. She almost chokes but is bewildered at the sight of two masked mages careening across the field as if they have been hit by a car. Subaru feels the sensation of being lifted by the collar and the massive force of the forward momentum, but even before she has had time to realize what is happening to her, she is tossed forward at an incredible speed towards the open back hatch of her own command vehicle, like a bowling ball. Midair, Subaru spins around in her trajectory and she finally sees Nanoha. The White Devil herself has come down, scooped so low a mere meter above the ground, grabbed and threw Subaru like trash while passing by, and is ascending again. Subaru crashes into the compartment and lands hard on the soldiers inside. The injured soldier on the stretcher yelps in pain.
"Fuck, major! You broke my other leg!"
The command vehicle jolts into motion again. The soldiers close the back hatch just before the remaining invaders are blown to pieces by Nanoha's attack from above. With that, 1st company turns around and once again makes it towards the hill far ahead.
The assistant slams on Subaru's helmet with his fist, face pale.
"Major, don't you ever do that again! Please!"
"Sorry." Subaru apologizes. The man is furious.
"Without the commanding officer, the men are just a bunch of headless chickens. Please remember that!" says the assistant, letting Subaru digest that.
.
As her command vehicle runs across the field, Subaru once again pokes her head out the top hatch. She is relieved to see no more hostiles are in pursuit.
Subaru looks up to check how the flight mages are doing. She spots Nanoha diving, making a run just outside the town to discourage anyone from venturing out into the open. But something is wrong with the White Devil's wingman. Subaru can tell the flight mage is struggling to keep up with the leader as they ascend again.
#
.
Nanoha glances at her wingman.
"Stay focused! You are wobbling."
Her wingman nods and shakes his head, trying to focus.
"We are all tired, but hang in there." Having said that, Nanoha herself feels the fatigue of daylong combat. Initially, it was just a duck hunt where she and her flight mages just needed to keep the distance and shoot from afar. But then the enemy has started to throwing stuff that exploded. Thereafter the fact that the Bureau flights are considerably outnumbered started to play a significant role. So far they have managed the situation purely by their superior skills, experiences, and the teamwork, but they can do only so much against the enemy who outnumbers them overwhelmingly.
Nanoha swings around and surveys her squadron, who all look very tired. She checks below.
"Alright. Looks like they aren't going after Punchkid. Let's fall back a bit."
Her decision is met with a loud cheer from the squadron. She calls Bug Boy.
"Bug Boy, we are moving inland a bit."
"Roger, White Devil. We will be behind you." Comes the response from the Vaizen Air's group leader.
As soon as the comm ends, Nanoha senses another volley of deadly shots coming from below. She dodges instinctively. However, her wingman can't get out in time. A fraction of a second before the impact, he strengthens his barrier and shields his face with the arms. The hit produces an explosion that blows the barrier and his both arms off. Screaming in pain, the wingman falls.
Cussing, Nanoha dives and catches her wingman in her arms. She heads inland at high speed with the rest of her squadron following in formation.
"Argh, it hurts!" the man screams in pain, looking at the wriggling stumps where his arms used to be. Bloods splash out each time his heart beasts, spraying all over the White Devil's uniform.
"Hold on tight!" Nanoha orders through clenched teeth.
"That's not funny! I got no hands!" The man tries to joke in an attempt to distract himself from the pain but fails.
Two flight mages come close side by side with the group leader. They examine the man bleeding all over Nanoha, dressing the bloody stumps. One of them manages to inject a tranquilizer shot.
"He's gonna live, but we gotta take him to the hospital right now." One of them reports.
Midair, Nanoha hands over her wingman to the two mages.
"Take him out of here. Stay with him."
They take the man inland while Nanoha and the squadron turn around and take up a station in the sky above the hill. Vaizen Air joins them and they circle around; ready to fight again.
.
Subaru is on top of the hill, watching the open plain in the darkness of the early night. The soldiers are busy digging in.
"This isn't right. They should have pressed on."
"You rooting for them again, major?" says her assistant.
"But this is wrong." Subaru shakes her head. "They had us on the run. They have the initiative. Any sane commander would want this hill."
The assistant does not answer. The two soldiers just silently look at the faraway town smoking in darkness.
#
.
The masked girls are overjoyed by capturing the town. They go around the streets joyfully, exploring the still-standing houses, delighted at discovering beds and sofas, excited upon opening the fridges, fascinated by the clothes left in the closets. The town's plaza has instantly become everyone's favorite place; what with the stores and restaurants packed with things they have never seen. Series of cries of excitement echoes around the town.
Several senior sisters gather at the fountain, each munching on some foods and snacks they've found.
"I'd say today was a victory." Says a senior.
"Are we in Midchilda?" asks another girl. The others look at each other. Nobody knows.
"Let's rest for tonight, We call mother first thing in the morning about the time she wakes up. She will know for sure." A senior girl suggests. They hope mother would be pleased with their achievement today.
"You girls go ahead and rest." Says a senior masked mage with a red and white polka dot ribbon clipped on her head. "I will take some girls and change places with the sisters at the portal."
The others nod. One of them motions for Red Ribbon to wait a bit. She rushes to a nearby store and after a while comes out with a big box full of hams and bread.
"Take this to the sisters. I'm sure they are really hungry."
The red ribbon girl nods and smiles in appreciation and takes the box in her arms.
#
.
In her office, Hayate swivels in her expensive chair, talking to Signum over a video call. Reinforce is sleeping cuddled up on the large desk.
The enemy has stopped at the residential area built for the Dockworkers. Subaru has set herself up on a high hill about 5km inland from the town across rather flat terrain. After all the fighting throughout the day, the night is relatively calm and peaceful.
"We have some casualties, but it's manageable." Reports Signum. "Overall, although Sail Force lost two ships today, we've managed to contain the invaders without giving too much ground."
Hayate smiles.
"Well done. Truly well done, Signum." She is pleased.
"I'd still like to have Nanoha carpet bomb the town tonight, but I guess that's a no?" Signum asks sheepishly, already knowing the answer. Hayate feels almost sorry to disappoint Signum, but she shakes her head.
"Sorry, no. No carpet bombing the town." She lights up a bit and adds. "But Vita will be there tomorrow. And the Raptors… Things are looking up for you."
With that said, Hayate sits up and stops swiveling. She pokes and wakes up Reinforce.
"OK, here's my order. Our enemy has willingly given up the initiative." Hayate delivers her wish in a firm tone. "I want to exploit this. I want to dictate the rest of the war to my liking."
Signum knows what's coming.
"Prepare an attack."
Signum raises an eyebrow.
"That will be my Vita and Subaru plus the Raptors, which gives me three battalions. You want me to attack with these?" It is a legitimate concern.
Hayate pulls out several reports onto the holo-displays floating on the desk.
"All the reports I received today indicate we are dealing with an amateur." She looks at Signum's hologram face for an agreement. The face nods. Hayate continues. "Go teach the noob punks they shouldn't fuck with me."
Reinforce gasps and quickly looks at Signum's face. The leader of the Wolkenritters scowls, hands on her waist.
"Language, Hayate! Language! What's wrong with you recently? Smoking and swearing...It's like you are back to being a teenager."
"I've always been seventeen." Hayate shrugs.
"And a virg-" Reinforce gets a smack on the head.
.
They end the comm. Signum will come up with an offensive plan by the morning. Reinforce logs the order in silence while Hayate leans back and swivels her chair again. Her peace is interrupted by a private call coming in. It's Teana.
"Finally I got through!" Teana is excited. She has been calling Commander of the Joint Task Force all day, but given the position and the current task at hand, Hayate has been extremely difficult to reach through private channels.
"Could you help me get to Vaizen?" Teana begs, her hologram face mouthing 'pretty please'.
"Vaizen? Why? It's a war zone." Hayate asks. She keeps swiveling. "Military traffic only."
"But my boss is there…or is she?" Come to think of it, Teana still doesn't know. "Has she come back?"
Hayate stops swiveling. She takes out a cigarette from her pouch and puts it between her lips.
"Oh, she's alright. She made it back."
"Great! Excellent!" Teana sees Hayate lighting it up. "Are you smoking again? Come on, it's bad for your skin."
Hayate doesn't answer but blows smoke to Teana's floating face. The Enforcer grimaces as if she can smell it.
"Anyway…so…could you authorize me going to Vaizen?" asks Teana.
"Nope." Hayate ends the call.
#
.
Nanoha's squadron flies westward across the pitch-black sky. She spots down below a well-lit complex that is Caledfwlch factory. She gestures to the squadron to go ahead.
"You guys get some rest. I have some people down here I'd like to check on." Nanoha detaches herself from the squadron. "Call me when something is up."
She waves to the squadron and descends onto the facility. Despite the late hour, there are a lot of activities going on. Groups of Raptor combat droids are walking out of a storage depot to assemble in rows and columns outside the factory gate. Cargo carriers are unloading equipment and supplies to be carried into the large office building. Ambulances from the front line unload wounded soldiers; Subaru's men and women, who are then carried into the office building, which now acts as the field hospital.
All-day she has begged and threatened and cursed in the Rapid Response's division channel for the news about Fate. Finally, somebody was fed up with it and told her Chief Enforcer is at Shamal's hospital.
Nanoha follows a wounded soldier being carried inside and finds the spacious lobby has turned into a makeshift emergency room filled with groaning soldiers and running nurses. She wades through, going from patient to patient, looking for someone, when a hand grabs her elbow from behind. She turns around to find a tall blonde woman in a white doctor's coat. It's Capital Defense's in-house surgeon Shamal, one of the four Wolkenritters serving Princess. Her eyes quickly run up and down the blood-smeared flight mage.
"Nanoha, are you hurt?"
"No? I'm fine?" Nanoha looks slightly confused, but in general, her eyes are rather blank. She looks around. "Hey, Shamal, I heard Fate-chan is here?"
"Fate? Oh, yes, she's here." Shamal answers. She runs her hand down on Nanoha's body, trying to verify the blood indeed is not Nanoha's. Satisfied, Shamal looks up again. "Up on the fifth floor; QA Director's office."
"Is she alright?" Nanoha asks, honestly concerned.
Shamal pulls out a chart and points at numbers and graphs.
"As far as her physical health is concerned she's alright, you see here...and here. Ah, ignore this spike -" The doctor realizes she's not talking to a medically trained person. She puts the chart away. "I think she's exhausted which is to be expected, but…she's been sleeping ever since."
"Is something wrong with her?"
Shamal pouts a bit.
"I don't know what happened, but I suspect it's something psychological. A mental shock, perhaps? Trauma? I'm not sure." She blinks a couple of times in search of a definitive diagnosis. "But I can tell she's having some kind of a nightmare. A very long one." Shamal adds.
A nurse calls out for Shamal. The doctor apologetically gestures she has to go. Nanoha thanks the doctor.
"Thanks, Shamal. Where are Yuuno and Chrono?"
"They are in the quarantine hangar, across the parking lot...hey, are you sure you are OK? You look terrible." Asks Shamal, running her eyes once again all over Nanoha, trying to find if something is wrong. The nurse calls again. Shamal reluctantly walks away, taking backward steps. She points at a hallway.
"There's a canteen down that way. Eat something!"
Nanoha waves goodbye to the busy doctor.
.
Nanoha wades through the beds and nurses and finds her wingman who is asleep under heavy medication. His arm stumps and torso are bandaged. The two flight mages who brought the man in are also sleeping perched on small portable stools next to the bed, leaning onto each other. She checks her wingman's chart, but can't make any sense out of it. She looks around, finds a spare blanket, and puts it over the two sleeping buddies.
A heavily bandaged female patient on the next bed speaks to her.
"Wow, the fabled White Devil herself."
Nanoha does not answer but gives a weak smile. The patient nods.
"Captain Doe, Vaizen Air. Sorry, I can't sit up and salute...really, I wish I could." The patient chuckles and continues. "Who'd have thought a day would come I fly with the White Devil."
Nanoha gives the woman a little smile and a polite nod. After that, she walks out of the building into the parking lot.
.
Nanoha walks across the busy parking lot to the quarantine hangar. An armed soldier stops her.
"Halt! You can't-" The man sees the bloody uniform. "Whoa, are you hurt?" He then spots the rank. The soldier snaps a clean salute.
"Lieutenant colonel, this place is a quarantine area. Pardon me, but I have to ask you to turn back."
Nanoha silently returns the salute but stays on the spot, which makes the soldier uneasy. The man shuffles a bit.
"I…I assume you are here for the Helios people, yes?" he inquires. The Helios crew have returned from an unknown world. The Bureau has to make sure they brought nothing nasty back.
"If all is well they will be out in three days. Please have patience, madam." The soldier fidgets and hesitates before adding. "…you are…you are the White-"
"Wing" Nanoha cuts him off with a single word. The soldier snaps upright and stands in even more attention.
"Yes, lieutenant colonel. Honored to meet you in person, madam! But please, I have to ask you to turn back. Good night, madam!" He salutes again, indicating this will be the end of their interaction for today. Nanoha sighs, returns the salute, and turns back. She walks across the parking lot and reenters the building.
.
Nanoha finds the canteen. She puts some foods and a bottle of water on a tray and sits down alone at a small table. She silently, methodically, and absentmindedly goes through what's on the tray. Occasionally someone walking past would do a double-take, whispering to other 'Isn't she the White Devil?'
After returning the tray, she walks up flights of stairs to the fifth floor, locates a door labeled 'Quality Assurance Director', and enters the dimly lit room, where Fate is sleeping on a single bed, wired to monitors checking her vitals.
Nanoha finds an armchair at a corner of the makeshift patient room, moves it closer to the bed, sits, leans forward, and silently watches the sleeping figure. Her hands start shaking, and soon she trembles. Nanoha hugs herself. All the worries and bad thoughts and dreads and fear she has had the entire day rush through her mind in one big sweep and the feeling is too much for her.
"Oh, god, Fate-chan. When I saw Helios blow up I was mad. So mad. I thought I lost you." She rocks back and forth. "So mad…"
#
.
It's dawn, still a couple of hours before the sunrise. In the dimly lit hospital room, Fate thrashes around, sweating, long blond hair getting tangled, having a nightmare. With a gasp, she opens her eyes. Calming herself down slowly, she notices faint snoring coming from a side. Turning her head she finds under the dim light Nanoha slumped in an armchair, sleeping with the head hung low, dried up blood all over her flight combat uniform. With a gasp Fate jumps out of the bed, kneeling before the sleeping woman.
"Oh my god, are you hurt?"
She examines the body and lets out a sigh of relief after realizing her friend is not hurt. She gently caresses a hand that's clutching the armrest tightly even in the sleep.
"Rough day?" Fate whispers.
A beeping noise comes from Nanoha's chest area. Raising Heart, now in a necklace form, is receiving a call from someone. The beeping continues.
Fate suddenly has an idea, of surprising her friend, and gets on her bed again, closes her eyes, and pretends to be asleep.
With a jerky motion, Nanoha wakes up. Yawning, she brings up the face of Agito on the video call.
.
"Nanoha, I heard from the squadron you are at the hospital. Have you checked on Fate? Is she OK?" asks Agito sincerely. Nanoha thanks her and says Fate is OK. She glances at the figure on the bed.
"She's sleeping."
Agito sighs in relief. She continues.
"Anyway, Princess has ordered an attack."
This surprises Nanoha.
"An attack? But we are so few?" She notices Agito does not seem to be worried at all.
"Yes. Signum plans to draw them out into the open and dissect them with Vita and Subaru." Agito informs nonchalantly.
"She thinks we can pull it off?" asks Nanoha. Agito shrugs.
"You know Signum...If she thinks we can do it, we can do it."
Nanoha considers it for a second, then nods in agreement. Agito continues.
"We are going to kill a whole lot of them today, but we need you up in the air. Get back to the Terminal and we talk in more detail."
Ending the call, Nanoha stands up. She gently gives a light kiss on Fate's forehead before leaving the room.
Upon hearing the door closing, Fate Testarossa opens her eyes wide - terrified.