CHAINED BY THE RULES

The Alicia clones are returning to the town. Quite many of them turn around every few steps to see the fiery lady knight still floating in the air far back.

"Who was that woman, and why are we even listening to her?" One of them says to no one in particular.

"I don't know about you, but when she said 'Go' my feet just moved themselves." Says another girl.

At the edge of the town, they stop and turn around. The three Bureau mages in the distance start flying inland.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we had someone like her." Says a senior mage with a red ribbon on her head. Another senior nods in agreement. They sigh and continue into the town.

.

"Vita, I leave the Raptors in your care." Signum tells over the division's communication. "Subaru sit back behind and get some rest but swing around the hill if Vita needs help. Got it?"

"Understood." Punchkid and Anvil acknowledge.

Vita and Subaru are setting up their soldiers on and behind the hill. They stop and watch as their division commander leads the Takamachi households over their heads, flying towards the Terminal deep inland. Midchilda's 1st squadron, which has been circling above the hill, follows behind, leaving the Vaizen flight mages alone in the sky.

Bug Boy lands next to Vita.

"What was with all that theatrics?" he asks.

"It worked though." Vita shrugs. She waves to Subaru walking up the hill.

"Still can't believe she bullshitted our way out of that clusterfuck." Subaru comments, joining in. Vita slaps Subaru's behind.

"Language, little girl. Language."

Subaru and the Vaizen squadron leader look down at the little childish figure reaching their chest height.

"Well, she did establish herself as the big boss here." Rubbing her bottom Subaru continues. "I think they were kinda...in awe?"

"Does anyone know why Princess canceled the show?" Vita looks around. The officers shrug. "What was Fate doing out here anyway?"

The other two officers shake their heads. Nobody has a clue what is going on.

"What now?" Bug Boy asks.

"Signum did offer a 48 hours ceasefire, so let's hope they stick to it." Subaru suggests and changes the topic in a rather serious tone.

"You know I've been fighting them since hour zero, right?"

The other two nod. Subaru goes on.

"Initially they were strictly melee only. Then at the end of the day, they were shooting explosion magic. And today when I was assaulting, they were digging in and showing some very crude fire-team maneuvers."

"Yeah, I've noticed that, too." Bug Boy agrees.

Vita raises her eyebrows.

"You mean they are learning?"

"It felt rather..." Subaru searches for the right words. "As if they were mimicking my defense from yesterday."

Vita puts her hands at her waist angrily.

"Oh great." She scoffs. "Thank you very much, Subaru. You always go ahead and make things hard for me- ow ow ow! Stop! It hurts!"

Subaru releases Vita's ear.

"I'm saying...just be prepared for anything, alright? Things gonna get worse." Says the Punchkid, concerned.

"Worse? I just exchanged casual friendly fire with the White Devil lunatics. Nothing can get worse." Bug Boy comments. While speaking he absentmindedly produces a candy from his pocket and offers it to Vita, who takes it albeit being annoyed by the treatment. Subaru looks at him expectedly but is disappointed no candies are offered to her. She turns to Vita.

"Hey Vita-san, can I have half the Raptors?"

"Screw you. They are mine."

#

.

Major General Signum leads Fate and Nanoha into the hangar used as her HQ. She offers the two to be seated and sits down on her swivel chair placed behind her portable desk. Agito, who has disengaged from Unison with Signum, orders the HQ staff to bring out some tea.

Signum remains silent for a while, thinking. She just had the biggest fuck up in her career. She suddenly feels so tired and depressed, and the day hasn't even started in full, still hours away from noon. Signum has gone from cheerfully optimistic to doomed pessimistic within a short span of couple hours, and this swing of the mood is showing in her demeanors. She notices her staff officers trying to avoid the gaze of the gloomy general. Agito is dutifully sticking around, which Signum appreciates.

.

The two culprits sit there in silence, but clearly, there is a lot of stuff going on in their minds.

"Anything to say?" Signum finally breaks the silence. As if on cue, Nanoha and Fate jump up like school kids.

"You can't kill them!"

"We have to kill them all!"

Signum raises her hand to quiet the two down. After they sit back down, she points at Fate first.

"Fate, let's hear you first. I saw you were having some heated discussion before Nanoha here turned up. What exactly were you doing?"

"I told them you were going to kill them all. And I told them the truth. That they are being manipulated to do bad things."

Listening to Fate, Signum senses something is off. She recalls the girls cheering.

"And they cheered? That doesn't sound right."

Fate hesitates.

"They were...they are not being manipulated. They are willingly doing this for Alicia." She hangs her head low.

"They what?" Nanoha butts in, eyes mad.

"They know what they are doing." Answers Fate, upset.

She didn't know what she was doing when she had been manipulated into hunting the Jewel Seeds. Had she known she was a clone, a mere replacement...or had she known about mother's scheme to revive Alicia...' Would that have made any difference?' she wonders. If she had known and willingly collaborated, her encounter with Nanoha would have resulted in something completely different; either she or Nanoha ending up dead. Fate suddenly feels a chill running down her spine. That possibility almost came true just this morning. By her own hands.

"And how does invading Vaizen help Alicia? She's been dead for decades if I remember correctly?" Signum interrupts Fate's train of thoughts. Fate remembers the little girl in Helios' engines room.

"A little girl came on board Helios. They wanted to hijack the ship. She said they want to go to Midchilda."

"With two thousand or so soldiers tagging along..." Signum rubs her chin. The invasion was, after all, inevitable. "But they ended up in Vaizen instead of Midchilda." She concludes.

"And we had our chance!" Nanoha snaps, angry. "We had a chance to end it this morning. Tell me, Signum-san," Nanoha's eyes are burning with frustration. "Why did Hayate cancel the mission?"

Fate looks up. She, too, wants to know. Why did Hayate spare her sisters? Signum sighs.

"An intel came from my Recon...reporting we are dealing with Precia Testarossa." She stops Fate trying to say something. "No, she didn't come herself, but Alph saw her projected image." Fate lets out a sigh of relief. Signum continues.

"Despite being a wanted criminal, she still is a citizen."

"So?" Nanoha demands, confused. Fate's expression changes. The head of the Bureau's law enforcement has realized the legal implication. She and Signum say it at the same time.

"Hayate is not allowed to operate against a citizen."

Nanoha, just like Signum this morning, is baffled. She tries to digest the information.

"...But what about her army here? We could still wipe out the clones-"

Nanoha then realizes what she's saying and shuts up. While keeping her eyes fixed on Nanoha Signum points at Fate across the desk.

"Citizen? Or just some expendable war material?"

Nanoha, face pale, quickly turns to Fate and grabs a hand.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"So, you are not going to kill them?" Fate asks rather hopefully, more concerned about what is going to happen to her sisters than about the fundamental question regarding her clone sisters' legal status.

Signum shrugs.

"Princess decided we can't. For now." She eyes Nanoha intensely. "Nanoha, do you understand that? We are legally restricted to self-preservative actions only. Any other, and Hayate goes down. Do you understand?"

"Argh!" Nanoha pulls her hair in frustration. She understands.

.

They are interrupted by a commotion on the other side of the hangar. HQ staff has gathered in front of a wall-mounted holo-display. Agito hovers over there to check it out, and then she hurries back.

"Major general, you better see this."

"Really? Now?" Signum gestures she is still busy with Fate and Nanoha, but Agito is insistent.

"Somebody leaked our comm to the media. It's on live news now."

Signum jumps up from her seat.

"What the..."

She excuses herself and heads towards the corner, leaving Nanoha and Fate to themselves.

.

The two sit there in awkward silence. Fate observes Nanoha's fidgeting hands, knuckles covered in dried blood and dirt under nails, balled up into fists, constantly tensing up and then relaxing, slightly trembling. She wraps her both hands around one, and Nanoha stiffens up with a gasp.

"What are we doing?" Fate whispers, locking her eyes onto Nanoha's.

"What are we doing?" Fate whispers again, this time to herself.

Nanoha's eyes jiggle and her jaw quivers.

"You were having it good, Fate-chan." Nanoha utters in a broken voice. "You were happy. I was happy. And Vivio...our family..." Nanoha is tearing up. "And then this old nightmare comes knocking on your door-" She is having a hard time breathing. "It hurts me to see you in pain, Fate-chan."

Fate, on the other hand, is surprisingly calm.

"No, Nanoha-"

"Let's end it once and for all" Says Nanoha, chewing her twitching lips. Her fists start to shake uncontrollably.

Fate gets on her knees before Nanoha, her hands still wrapped around the trembling fist.

"No, please listen." She says in a soothing tone. "They are like me. No, I was like them. I was lost." She lays her head on Nanoha's lap. "But then I met you...and I was given a chance."

"But you deserved it!"

"Do you know what they told me?" Fate looks up. "They told me it was the least they could do for Alicia...because if it wasn't for her they wouldn't have been. They wouldn't have met their sisters." Her eyes sparkle. "And they were grateful for it. Do you understand, Nanoha? They are good girls."

Fate pulls Nanoha and embraces the crying White Devil in her arms. She continues, gently running her hand down on Nanoha's head.

"And I realized I'm the same. I wouldn't have met you, Nanoha. I wouldn't have become who I am today. I wouldn't have been the happiest person alive." She locks onto Nanoha's eyes again. "I have to help them."

.

It takes some time before Nanoha stops bawling her eyes out, but she eventually calms down, hiccuping.

"Are you...are you OK with that? Are you really OK with that?" Nanoha asks.

Fate smiles and nods, still kneeling in front of her partner, holding hands. Nanoha inhales and exhales deep, and leans back on the chair, looking up at the high hangar ceiling.

"Did it hurt?"

"What hurt?" Fate is confused by this sudden irrelevant question. Nanoha fidgets again.

"My guys...they shot you."

"Ah~" Fate realizes what Nanoha means. "No, not at all. Please don't be mad at them."

Nanoha lets out weak laughter; half happy, half disappointed.

"I don't know if I should be mad they couldn't even scratch you...or happy you aren't hurt."

"The latter, please." Fate suggests with a kind smile.

Nanoha takes a deep breath.

"So, what now?"

"Mother is still a citizen, and a wanted criminal." That means it is Fate's job. "What about you?" Fate asks her partner.

"I..." Nanoha hesitates. "I can't disobey orders. Besides," Her face is stern again. "They are my nightmares, too." She stands up. "Fate-chan, you do what you gotta do. I won't get in your way, but you get it done quick," Nanoha starts to walk towards the corner where her squadron is resting. "Before I kill them all."

1st squadron jumps up to attention and salutes their group leader. Nanoha leads them out of the hangar, and the flight mages awkwardly nod to Chief Enforcer when they walk past. After all, they tried to kill her this very morning.

Fate watches them fly off for another sortie, but with a pang in her heart. The objective thinking side of her brain is screaming at her heart from within; Despite all that tears and emotional talk, nothing concrete has been established apart from conveying Fate's sentiment towards this whole tragic situation. Fate suddenly feels so powerless. Nanoha is right. This fighting in Vaizen must end before either the Bureau or mother starts to have a drastic idea. But still...it hurts her to hear it from none other than her own Nanoha.

#

.

In the meantime, major general Signum watches in horror the live broadcast of breaking news. A news anchor and her reporter are sitting at a desk, playing the audio feed from this morning's Capital Defense Corps communication. She hears her Princess's angry voice booming out of the speakers.

"We have no enemies. They are beep Alicia clones! Led by Precia beep Testarossa! And she is a beep citizen!"

"So, beep what!"

The news network is scrolling a banner at the bottom of the screen, which reads "Breaking News: Yagami cannot fight the invaders."

"Is it us?" Signum demands. Her staff shakes their heads.

"We shook it down hard and thanks god it's not from Rapid Response, madam."

Signum sighs in relief but still is angry. It could be anyone who leaked the audio log to the media. Corps HQ? Unlikely but still possible. The JCS? The Security Board?

.

Hayate glares at Reinforce.

"It wasn't me!"

"This is a serious breach in our data security!" Hayate yells, slamming on her desk.

"Look, I know you are upset." Reinforce tries to calm her boss down. "But it wasn't our people!"

Hayate shakes her fist in the air. She then turns her attention back to the broadcast, seriously pissed she has to chain smoke.

.

"-and was presumed dead." A male reporter explains to his news anchor colleague.

"Wait, wait..." The news anchor stops his colleague. "So Chief Enforcer Harlaown is the first-ever clone made of dead Alicia Testarossa?"

"Reportedly...yes." The reporter nods. "Talk about your past coming back to haunt you. The famed head of Executive Office now faces a tremendous challenge; bringing her mother and creator Dr. Precia Testarossa to the justice."

"Wow..." The anchorman shakes his head in disbelief.

.

In the studio of one of the largest news networks, located downtown Cranagan, Midchilda, a gray-haired middle-aged female news anchor is discussing the breaking news with a special guest; the former Bureau Security Adviser, a balding man in his mid-seventies, with sharp eyes but hearty grandpa face. Because of this guest, the show is currently topping the ratings among all news networks. The public sure wants to know what the heck is happening in Vaizen.

"- so, as the former Security Adviser to the Managing Directors, what is your opinion? Can Executive Office handle this? Realistically speaking..." The anchorwoman asks in an elegant voice. She's been around the scene for a long time.

The former Adviser makes a 'phew' face.

"To answer that question, you have to first understand what the Office does, and who the Enforcers are." He waves his hands in the air as if trying to describe a complex idea by an invisible drawing. "The Office polices the Bureau Territory, making sure the laws are enforced and the justice is served. To do that they field the best of the best as its Enforcers."

"In other words, they are capable-"

"No, no." The man interrupts his host. "The best of the best means very few people because...statistics."

"Statistics..." The news anchor encourages him to go on.

"Simply put, Executive Office would not have enough manpower. Sure, they could try pulling every single Enforcer and Agent out of the entire Territory," the man shrugs and continues. "But then we are talking about leaving the rest of the Bureau space in a lawless state."

"Surely we don't want that." The woman comments.

"No, we don't. And even if we do, for what? These...clones? These clones don't care who they face against. Their modus operandi remains regardless."

"What does that mean?"

"That means the clone army won't suddenly play nice just because we send our Enforcers and Agents instead of the soldiers. What we are going to end up is our law enforcement officers taking up arms and playing soldiers in Vaizen. No matter how you look at it, we practically have an active war in Vaizen." Obviously, the former Security Adviser is against the idea of the Office taking over the job.

"Right...and we got professional soldiers for that."

"Exactly."

"So back to the question. Can the Office handle it?" The anchorwoman gets to the point. The man makes another 'phew' face.

"I'd say no." Then he becomes sympathetic. "The horror...Imagine you are Chief Enforcer Harlaown...not only you are not given enough resources for the job, but when the job itself is to go and face your own clone army? And the old abusive mother?" He shudders. "No, I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now."

.

A stage crew flashes a memo card from behind the camera. It reads 'Yagami'. The anchorwoman nods.

"How about Commander Yagami? She sounded very upset."

The man bobs his head a bit.

"Rightly so...But I'm really impressed. The moment she realizes the legal issue, she stops everything right there right then." He smiles. "I think I fell in love with this lady. 'To the letters.' That's the exact ideal soldier we need."

The anchorwoman raises an eyebrow.

"You are saying it was the right call?"

"Of course!" The man pumps a fist in the air energetically. "Right people in the right positions making the right calls! Believe it or not, the system is working! And I'm really proud because...you know I had the honor to be a part of it."

The news anchor corks her head a bit.

"But, sir. Realistically speaking. Although the situation in Vaizen has now become even more difficult to handle, you are saying it was the right decision?"

The former Adviser comes down to the real world. He sighs.

"Right call, but not the best call. But it's not somebody failing to do their jobs or making bad decisions. The whole thing comes down to the intrinsic nature of our system."

The stage crew flashes another memo card. It read 'Yagami. Win?'

"Do you think lieutenant general Yagami and her forces could handle the situation in Vaizen?" The anchorwoman asks. She quickly adds. "Provided of course, she is somehow allowed to do so. I mean she is the youngest ever to be-"

.

Lindy Harlaown, Chairwoman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been watching the discussion from her office. She whistles.

"Whoa...I see where it's going."

She, too, has wondered where the leak came from. She knows now.

"You've pulled some dirty tick here, sir. Well done."

.

Back in the news studio, the former Adviser boasts Commander Yagami's prowess.

"Forget about her age. Forget about Riot Force 6 or Special Duty Section. Let's look at the recent facts alone. Yesterday Commander Yagami contained a corps strength invasion with just a single battalion."

"True. An impressive job." The news anchor admits.

"This morning, she had the balls to go against the entire enemy force with just three battalions. And all assessments indicate it would have worked!" This old man is proud. "I tell you, if anyone can bring an end to this invasion, it's lieutenant general Yagami."

The anchorwoman pulls out several holo-displays showing images of angry people gathering on the streets.

"I'm hearing there already is a campaign by the public; demanding we let our soldiers fight." She highlights a particular photo; a man is shouting something, holding up a large sign above his head. "Unchain the Princess. I like that...What do you think? Is it legally possible to-"

.

The current Bureau Security Adviser has seen enough. The other party has done their part of the deal. He makes a call to his secretary.

"He's done his part of the deal. Tell the boys to go easy on censoring his new book." He quickly adds. "But not the top-secret stuff, OK?"

.

Hayate has a mixed feeling about the whole thing. She's watching a news feed showing the main streets of Cranagan. Thousands of people have already gathered, shouting "Unchain the Princess." Public support is all good and all, but...

"This makes me look like I leaked our comm." She complains.

"Did you?" Reinforce quickly dodges an attempted smack on her head.

#

.

Teana barges into the Investigation Lab deep inside the Executive Office building.

"It wasn't her! The orbs-"

"Yes, Teana, I get it." The Senior Laboratory Operator quickly jumps up from her seat just in time to stop Teana from bumping into a delicate equipment set.

"It must have been one of those clones!" Teana is still excited. Fate is innocent, and she is happy. "Now, arrange me a jump to Vaizen." She demands.

The Lab Operator sighs and gets back to her seat.

"Look. One, I'm your friend, not your secretary. Do it yourself." She returns to whatever she was doing before Teana ran in. "Two, all non-military traffics are blocked. You can't go."

"Actually, I can." Teana gloats. "See? A wanted criminal and her clone gang going ham in Vaizen? That's our job."

The Lab Operator looks up from her work, annoyed.

"Technically, yes. Practically, no. What exactly can we do? Are you going to take a bunch of guys and fight the war yourself?"

"Hmm...I don't know." Teana scratches her head. Surely, her boss would know what needs to be done.

.

The Helios crew in quarantine are also watching the news.

"Precia Testarossa...that old hag is still alive!" Chrono can't believe. "This explains the state I found her in. Fate must have had realized it somehow."

"So, it was Al Hazard after all..." Professor Scrya trails off. His face turns pale. "Oh god, they were trampling all over the place!"

Captain Griffith Lowran shakes his head in disbelief.

"And that's the first thing you worry about?"

"Sorry." Yuuno apologizes sheepishly.

"OK, let's say it's Al Hazard." Chrono switches into his Naval Intelligence mode. "What the hell does Testarossa want? She wanted Al Hazard, she got Al Hazard. What more does she want?"

"Well, obviously Alicia is still dead." Yuuno shrugs. "If she had succeeded in reviving her daughter she would not have made all those-"

"No, that doesn't make sense." Chrono cuts Professor off. "Fate is the living proof cloning doesn't bring Alicia back. Testarossa should know this."

"I don't think she went from 'What do I do with all these girls' to 'Oh, right. I will invade Vaizen.'" Griffith suggests.

"It should be the other way around. She wants something from the Bureau and so made the clone army." Says Chrono. He thinks out aloud. "But why?" Precia Testarossa reaching Al Hazard should have been the end of her story; the mother and the ex-dead girl living happily ever after all by themselves. But of course, dead people cannot be brought back, so it would have been more of a mother and a dead girl living sadly ever after. Either way, two hundred thousand clone girls are not supposed to be featured at all. So why are they there?

"Could be out of grudge." Yuuno suggests. "Alicia is still dead and it's all Bureau's fault...that kinda thing."

"That hypothesis requires Testarossa giving up on her daughter." Chrono points out.

The news feed is now showing the people marching on the streets of various worlds.

"Look at that. Unchain the Princess." Griffith points at the display. "Commander Yagami can do anything with that kind of public support."

"Nah~" Chrono waves it off. "It's obviously the administration trying to get enough political backing. They are probably drafting up a new law or an amendment right now."

.

The pressure has been immense. Reinforce finally caved in and OKed an interview.

"-so, we are still waiting for a clear directive from the top." Reinforce, sitting on a tiny toy chair placed on Hayate's large desk, talks to the hologram face of the gray-haired news anchorwoman. She continues. "That makes it very difficult for us to set proper rules of engagement. Lieutenant general has no choice but to go extremely conservative end of the spectrum."

She quickly glances sideways. Hayate stays out of the view, immersed in reading the reports from Vaizen, occasionally sipping coffee from a mug.

"Thank you, Miss Reinforce." The anchorwoman nods. "Maybe we can have Commander Yagami herself next time?"

"Ah...that's..." Reinforce scratches her head. "She's still not very comfortable being on...hey, it was your show come to think of it."

The anchorwoman chuckles.

"Yes, indeed. We did fix our seats after that, but I still believe her skirt came undone on its own."

The news anchor ends the feed before Reinforce can protest.

#

.

"Are you done?" Asks Hayate. Reinforce nods.

"By the way, my skirt didn't come off on its own. It was the fucking chair."

"Alright, alright." The tiny fairy-like girl raises her hands in defeat.

Hayate fiddles with the comm and Signum's face appears before her.

"Signum, what exactly happened?" Hayate gets straight to the business, scrolling through the report displayed next to Signum's floating face.

"Why do we have casualties from a mission that didn't even kick off?"

Signum twitches. 'Oh boy, here it comes.'

"Do you really want to know?"

Hayate leans back in her swivel chair with her arms crossed. Signum sighs.

"We were about to pull out silently, but then Fate appeared out of nowhere. She tried to convince them to give up." Signum opts to go honest.

"Fate-chan again? Can somebody tie her down to a chair or something?" says Hayate, slightly irritated.

"But to be fair, commander, at that point you established the Vaizen situation is Executive Office's job." Signum reminds her senior officer. "It wasn't official yet, but still-"

"So, we can't really complain about an Enforcer getting in our way?"

"We got in her way, so to speak." Signum fidgets at the sight of Hayate's raised eyebrows. "Nanoha got involved, and then...she went berserk for some reason."

Hayate lights a cigarette, confused and stressed.

"And how did that result in our soldiers getting hurt? Did she attack ours?"

"Well, er...how do I say this...erm..." Signum is visibly uncomfortable delivering this information. "Nanoha and Fate started duking it out-"

Hayate sits up with her jaws dropped. Signum continues.

"And Nanoha's guys attacked Fate, which in turn led to Vaizen Air engaging them."

"What the..." Hayate can't believe what she is hearing.

"And the Alicia clones joined in." Signum goes on. "So, we had a three-way free for all fight right there. Vita and Subaru moved in to take some heat off of the flight mages..." She sighs and shrugs. "By the time I untangled this mess the damage was already done."

.

After hearing both Nanoha and Fate are OK and have somewhat reconciled, Hayate ends the comm in frustration. It is bad enough Fate's clone sisters are invading Vaizen, thanks to certain someone who sort of nudged the Bureau to fight it out. The last thing Hayate wants is Fate herself causing any more troubles as she pleases. Somebody has to keep Chief Enforcer in check. Hayate calls Teana.

"Hello, Hayate. Can I go to Vaiz-"

"Yes, yes." Hayate cuts Teana off. "I will have you authorized, but you have to promise me something."

Teana is listening.

"You keep Fate-chan in check. Don't let her go do silly things on her own, OK?" Hayate runs the sentence again in her head. "Don't you go do silly things with her either. Or better; just bring her back to the Office."

"Sure thing. Thank you." Teana then adds after a giggle. "Unchain the Princess!"

Hayate is embarrassed but doesn't hate it.

#

.

It's the afternoon in Vaizen, and a senior Alicia clone approaches the projected image of her mother standing in front of the gate. She presents a simple device and presses a button on it. A holographic map appears.

"We found it in one of the houses. This is the map you asked?"

Precia Testarossa's projection glances at the map.

"It is. Now locate the Terminal."

The girl fiddles with the holo-map, lost. Eventually, she gives up.

"Mother, we can't read."

The mother stands there in silence for a moment, questioning her own past decision regarding her girls' education.

"Never mind." She examines the map displayed in front of her. "We are here." She locates the Staging Dock and tells the girl to zoom out the map.

"There. Yes, that is the Interworld Terminal. So, it is still there, I see." She turns her eyes to the west. "How far have we progressed?"

"Not far, mother." The senior clone answers apologetically. "The Bureau soldiers are strong. This morning we almost got us all killed caught in a trap."

Dr. Testarossa scowls at her daughter.

"I need that terminal no matter what cost."

"Yes, mother. You will have the terminal in the next few days. Sisters and I are discussing how to fight better, and we already have some good ideas." The girl's tone shifts to an eager excitement.

"Good. I will send more girls." The mother offers. The senior girl bows and thanks her mother. More sisters will definitely be of great help.

"To west." Precia orders. "But do not test my patience for too long."

.

Precia Testarossa ends her inter-dimensional projection. She dips one hand into the gate, and raises the other in the air, channeling the magic Al Hazard offers. The gate sucks in the ambient magic, fortifying the pathway between Vaizen and Al Hazard, essentially turning the dark tunnel into an indestructible jump pad. Behind her, some thousand Alicia clones are standing with their staffs.

.

A Naval Intelligence Mission Control operator receives a call from one of the ships he oversees. He logs the call and runs to the Senior Mission Operator on the other side of the room.

"Report from our ships orbiting Vaizen. They detected a strong mana current flowing in the pathway."

The Senior Operator looks up from his console.

"Are they trying to cut down the travel time?"

The junior operator nods. "Most likely they are planning to send something to Vaizen. And quick."

The Senior Operator looks at the vacant seat next to him.

"Damn, I wish boss was here." He turns to his junior. "Can Sail Force intervene?"

"I don't think so." The junior man shakes his head. "All warships are ordered to stay away."

The Senior Operator grimaces. Nobody wants another Wolfram, that is for sure, but... He decides to call the Joint Task Force. Whatever is coming, at least it won't catch Commander Yagami off-guard.

.

The masked Alicia clones stream past their mother and into the gate. The strong mana current Precia pumped in launches the girls forward at an incredible speed; A horde of deadly mages hurled across the multiverse.

#

.

Teana steps out of a large travel gate that the Terminal operators have reserved for military use only. A large canvas hangs down from the glass ceiling, separating the gate from the long array of other interworld teleportation gates spaced inside this massive building. Teana stumbles few steps forwards, gets down on her fours, and throws up on Signum's boots.

"Yes, good evening to you, too." Signum shakes off Teana's lunch sprayed on her boots.

Teana quickly stands up, wiping her mouth with jacket sleeve.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry."

"I can't be mad." Signum shrugs. "Fate did warn me about this, but I forgot." She hugs Teana, an old friend. "Anyway, welcome to Vaizen."

When they first met Teana was an insecure teenage girl who was so conscious of her lack of talents and innate power compared to the other members of Riot Force 6. While Signum has been locked in her age forever Teana grew up to be one of the best Enforcers in the Office and has become the right hand of Chief Enforcer Harlaown.

"I didn't expect a general would come out in person to welcome me." Says Teana.

"I've had a very colorful day today." Says Signum with a weak smile. "Thought this would be a good change of pace."

Signum leads the Enforcer out of the arrival platform and into a spacious lobby packed full; tired people who evidently spent the last several days there sleeping on benches and floors. The huge mass of people extends out the building where countless makeshift tents have been set up in rows and columns covering the rolling plain as far as the eye can see. The noise is deafening. The two old friends wade their way through.

"This is just the tip of an iceberg. The evacuation still has a long way to go." Signum shouts over the noise. Helios bringing down the teleportation network in the east has created a bottleneck here at the Terminal. Teana surveys the people waiting for their turn in going through the gates. Some of them, bored of waiting, recognize Signum and her. After all these two are some big names within the Bureau.

"Who's taking care of these civilians?" Teana asks, waving back at a small boy.

"Your colleagues in the Vaizen Office," Signum points at an agent wearing the Executive Office uniform. A young lady in her early twenties, looking extremely tired but still carrying on with her task of keeping things in order and directing the people where they should go. She spots Teana and salutes. Enforcer Lanster salutes back and gives a thumbs up. Signum continues, shouting over the noise.

"But we are also committing whatever Vaizen Defense unit up and ready into this. We also have some specialists from the Disaster Recovery Corps, and they really know what they are doing it's impressive."

"We are diverting military resources?" Teana is surprised.

"Vaizen is still mobilizing." Signum shrugs. "So far they only have couple hundred men up and ready, so it's not like we are losing too much on the front line."

"But if I understood correctly you yourself have only three battalions?" Teana asks. Did this general really decline 'couple hundred men' when she herself had slightly less than a thousand soldiers up against, if Teana remembers correctly, over two thousand hostiles ranked double A on average?

Signum points at a squad of soldiers entering the lobby, each carrying a big crate. They spread out and start distributing packaged foods and water bottles.

"Look. These people are moms and pops and neighbors of the Vaizen soldiers. This really means something to everyone here."

They finally reach an exit and walk out of the building. A car is waiting for them. Its driver salutes the two ladies.

.

The car drives past several terminals and commercial buildings, makes a turn past a control point, and then onto a massive open flat space dotted with hangars here and there under the cool evening sky.

Signum points out the window at a large empty space.

"We had big passenger carriers taking off from here on the first day, but ever since Wolfram-"

Teana has spotted a small group of soldiers, each carrying a datapad, placing markers on the ground.

"Are they your people?" She asks.

Signum uses optics magic to check unit patches.

"They are from my two regiments. Getting the place ready before their buddies arrive."

Teana keeps her eyes on the soldiers as the car drives past them. She is digesting this bit of information.

"So, you and Subaru really are the only fighting force we have in Vaizen right now..."

"And Vita. And Nanoha." Signum adds the names.

The car stops in front of the hangar used as Rapid Response's HQ.

.

Major general Signum, ever so generous, has set up a small desk and a console for Fate. Chief Enforcer is in a call with someone and motions for the two ladies to wait.

"Alright, approved. Send me the paper, and I will sign the budget." Fate ends the call and turns to Teana.

"That was the Head of Firstraum Executive Office. He needed my special budget approval to handle the evacuee."

Signum summons a holo-table, reading the numbers.

"Firstraum...They are taking in some hundred thousand."

"Oh!" Teana quickly pulls out a memo from her datapad. "Yeah, he's been calling ever since the evacuation was issued." She deletes the memo.

"How about the Midchilda Office? They are taking in the bulk." Chief Enforcer inquires.

"Last I checked they are paying from their own reserve fund. Said they will ask for central money if needed." Teana answers, to which Signum whistles.

"Must be a real fat reserve they have. Thank god I have Agito doing all those money works."

Fate gives Signum an 'Oh, really?' look.

"Did you know Hayate goes over every single penny on the book?" Fate smirks at the sight of Signum's surprised face. "We were hanging out the other day, and I saw her whipping out a calculator and correcting the numbers herself." Fate shivers. "Let's just say there were lots of cussing and cursing."

"Oh...She never said anything to us!" says Signum, making a mental note to double-check on Agito's math in the future.

"Speaking of Hayate..." Teana changes the topic. "Boss, I have promised her that I will keep you in check. So, I need to know what your plan is."

"Yes, I, too, wish to know what Executive Office plans to do." Signum demands, too.

Fate thinks for a moment before answering.

"I can't plan anything unless I know what they want. One of them did tell me their goal is to reach Midchilda-"

"Midchilda? What for? And why invade Vaizen?" Teana interrupts with questions.

"They followed a wrong ship sailing to a wrong port." Signum gives a simpler version of the story. "That's why we have an invasion in Vaizen, not Midchilda."

"As for what they want...that I need to find out." Fate takes over. "I also need to know how same...or different they are from me, or to Alicia." At this point, she is just thinking out aloud. "What's their weakness? How do they think? How strong is their loyalty to mother?"

Teana turns to Signum.

"Would it be possible for your soldiers to capture a prisoner or two? Then maybe we can interrogate-" She trails off as Signum shakes head.

"It takes a considerable effort to kill just one of them. It would take even more efforts to capture one alive." But she has an alternative. "I do however have one dead Fate Harl-...I mean a dead Alicia clone in the fridge if that helps."

The two Enforcers brighten up. Signum smiles to Fate and continues.

"Subaru freaked out thinking she had killed you."

"Subaru? Kill me? Well..." Fate considers the possibility. "Maybe if she tried really really hard-"

"That's not the bloody point!"

.

Signum's soldiers have brought out the dead Alicia clone.

"Wow, she really does look the same." Teana observes, examining the body. The dead girl is surprisingly light and uncomfortably thin upon closer inspection; clearly, this clone girl was not fed very well when she was alive. "Except she's twice as thin and about half the age." She adds much to Fate's dismay.

"Sorry I'm a fat old hag." Fate taps on the remaining piece of mask that is still bolted onto the face. "What's with this mask?"

"Subaru broke it when she punched this kid in the face." Answers Signum. She nudges Teana. "Doesn't this mask thing remind you of the Mariage?"

"I think it's just a coincidence." Teana brushes it off. She touches the bolt and winces. "Why would they do this?"

"They are all wearing the same mask, so it must be some kind of an identity thing." Signum suggests. She, too, wears her uniform after all.

"I'm guessing mother can't stand the faces resembling Alicia." Fate answers from her own experience. "What's with this red paint?"

"Oh, they have big red X on the mask." Signum explains.

"I see..." Fate sighs. "It's a statement of rejection; You are not her, you will never be her...I mean Alicia." She is certainly very sad. "Even after all these years she still can't accept me as who I am... I mean us clones-"

Teana puts a hand on Fate's shoulder. She doesn't know what to say because she cannot imagine the pain of being rejected by one's own mother over and over again. About two hundred thousand times collectively.

"So, what's the plan?" Signum decides to change the topic. Fate needs something else to focus on.

"Teana, I want you to take her to our lab for a thorough autopsy." Fate hovers her hand over the dead body. "On top of that see if we can extract and separate mana signatures."

"What do you mean?" asks Teana.

"Mother specializes in borrowing external magic source for her magic-"

"I get it!" Signum immediately realizes what Fate is talking about. "If we somehow isolate the external input that was used in creating this clone-"

"Then we know what kind of fuel Precia Testarossa is burning?" Teana, too, gets it. Fate likes this analogy and nods. She doesn't expect much from the analysis, but still the more she knows the better.

#

.

It's late evening and Nanoha has been circling above the hill the entire day, keeping her distance from the Vaizen flight mages. She's just sent her squadron down for the evening chow and stays in the air solo, skipping her meal.

She fully understands what Fate is trying to achieve. Save them from doing stupid things so the clone sisters don't get themselves killed.

Nanoha feels cornered, boxed in. As long as she is ordered to fly the Vaizen sky, her duty comes first. If she decides to sit back with arms crossed, she has to watch her friends and colleagues die by the clone sisters' hands. Nanoha doesn't really have a choice. Whatever she chooses to do, or not do, she has to witness people die. Bird's eye view.

Nanoha has made her mind up. People dying in this conflict is inevitable. She can't help it; no matter how much she loves Fate, Nanoha can't prevent deaths in this war. Thus, she will do her best in helping Hayate end this war as quickly as possible, even if it means killing all Fate's sisters here in Vaizen. That at least saves the two hundred thousand girls who are supposed to be living in their world. Good girls. Fate said these are good girls. It is so because Fate said so. Good girls. Grateful to their mother for making them. Why did she even make them in the first place?

"No matter what you try, Alicia won't be back!" She wants to tell the old witch. Why doesn't the stupid woman get it? Is she that incapable of understanding the simplest and the most straightforward fact of the multiverse? Or is she refusing to accept it? Or is clinging onto the impossible hope the only thing that's left for her? What then would be the point in going on? Precia Testarossa should just shut the fuck up, accept Alicia is dead, and move on.

"If, for example, something happened to Vivio, I would just..."

Nanoha shuts herself up and shakes her head. What am I thinking? Of course, nothing is going to happen to Vivio so there is no point in thinking about what I'd do. I picked a bad example there, ha ha, silly me. Vivio is fine. I'll make sure nothing happens, just in case. But what if?

"Nothing is going to happen to Vivio!"

She yells into the empty sky.

But what if it did? What would I do? Would I be ready to accept it and go on with my life?

"Yes, of course, I'd..."

Nanoha shuts up again. Look, I'm talking to myself. She realizes thinking about these things is affecting her. She tries to focus on her task; Flying the war zone sky. Against Fate's clone sisters. Good girls. Girls who want their dead sister to wake up. OK, I kill them. As many and quickly as possible so Hayate wins the war quickly. But technically it's not a war because all Precia Testarossa wants is...

Nanoha shakes her head again. What the fuck am I doing?

.

Nanoha looks down, trying to focus on something else than thinking silly thoughts. She can see her squadron mingling and talking with their Vaizen counterparts as if nothing happened this morning. Nanoha sighs. She, too, has to sort it out with Bug Boy. Nanoha lands on the hill. Vita and Bug Boy immediately come over to her.

"Look who's here." The Vaizen Air's group leader stands there with his hands on his waist.

"Sorry about my guys this morning." Nanoha apologizes. "They overreact sometimes."

"That was totally messed up." Bug Boy scowls but relaxes immediately. "Though I'm rather pleased my people came out unhurt going against your crazies."

"Ha!" Nanoha scoffs. "My guys must have held back." She then relaxes, too. "Anyway, it won't happen again. I promise."

"Hey, don't be cheeky in my sky." The Vaizen group leader extends his hand. "Anyway, apology accepted. We cool?"

"We cool. Thanks." Nanoha shakes the man's hand.

"So, what exactly happened? Why was Fate here?" Vita asks, changing the topic. The Vaizen group leader is curious, too. Why did the two ladies start fighting each other? Nanoha sighs.

"OK, listen. Our enemy...they are all clones of Alicia Testarossa. Fate had somehow learned of our trap and wanted to save her 'sisters'." Nanoha makes the double quotes hand gesture. "I...er...disagreed."

Bug Boy throws his hands in the air.

"That's how you two settle a disagreement? If I did that with my wife..."

"Alicia Testarossa?" Vita is surprised. The Alicia?

"Precia Testarossa. Alicia Testarossa. And Fate Testarossa. You know the story?"

Of course, Vita knows Fate's origin story. But isn't the abusive mother supposed to be dead?

"Jeez..." Vita calls Subaru. "Subaru, come up here. You have to listen to this."

.

"Wow" Subaru does not know what to say. "Really? It's Executive Office's job? Then what the heck are we even doing out here?"

"Somebody's gotta stand between them and the civilians at the Terminal." Vita points out. "We can't just up and leave."

"This is fucked up." Bug Boy shakes his head. "We are just a meat shield."

"Orders are orders." Vita, as always, stands by her Princess. She, too, is not happy with the situation, though. "Spread the words to your men, Subaru." She tries to smile. "At least we are allowed to defend ourselves."

"The Office better come up with something really quick." Subaru grumbles, which makes Nanoha a bit uncomfortable. Subaru notices this.

"No, Nanoha-san, I don't mean like that." She frantically tries to take it back. "I'm sure Fate-san already has everything under control."

"Look, madam!"

The officers are interrupted by a nearby soldier, who points at the road running inland. A single headlight travels down the road under the dusk sky, approaching the hill from the west. As they watch the lone traveler coming closer and closer, the division communication magic carries Agito's announcement to everyone.

"All units, and intel from Naval Intelligence. They detected a significant modification of the dimensional travel path. We think more hostiles will arrive."

"Oh boy..." The soldiers in the area sigh collectively.

#

.

Subaru's assistant is waiting at the foot of the high hill where the road starts to wind around. Punchkid has set up its command post there, and the men and women are busy fortifying the reverse slope of the hill.

An army-issue motorbike comes to a full stop. Teana gets off her ride and takes the helmet off. She has begged her boss 'Only a couple of hours, please? Pretty please?' and got approval. Signum, ever so friendly, has offered the bike. "It should be a good ride." She said.

"Welcome to Punchkid, Enforcer." The assistant takes the helmet and guides Teana to the command vehicle. "It's an honor to meet the famous Doorkicker in person."

"Doorkicker? That's new." Teana comments. She knows the public calls her by many names, but Doorkicker is something new to her.

"You know what they say; When Fate Harlaown comes gently knock on your door you better be sorry." The assistant tells the urban fable. "But if you are not sorry by then, you will definitely be when Teana Lanster kicks down your door."

"Nah~ it's all exaggerated." Teana brushes it off, but she finds the little tale to be generally true. Fate, always soft-hearted, usually offers the one last chance. When an investigation, that is big enough and worthy of Fate's attention, reaches a point where it becomes obvious there will be an inevitable show-down or an armed raid, Chief Enforcer would casually waltz alone into the den of hardened criminals. There she would deliver her ultimatum, with a kind smile and firm but polite suggestions. Most of the time it works out, but in the rare cases where it doesn't, Fate would walk out and tap on Teana's shoulder. Teana, always the one to be kicking doors down leading her agents, would then unleash the wrath of Executive Office.

With a sudden chill running down her spine, Teana senses a great danger. She braces for an impact, just in time as Subaru jumps on Teana and gives a bone-crunching hug.

"Teana!"

"Subaru, you are killing me!" Teana almost falls. "I just came to say hello. Gotta go back to Midchilda tonight."

Subaru, still clinging on Teana, is not having it.

"Aw, you rode all this way just to say hello? At least have some tea."

The assistant takes the cue and puts the kettle on.

.

Zafira sits in the shadow cast by a large boulder about two kilometers south of the small town, a good place to observe the road running to the industrial zone about fifty kilometers down the road. If the girls head that way, Zafira won't miss them. At least that's what the textbooks would say, but then again, these clone girls don't seem to value the smoothly flat solid surface to walk on. They just either walk or fly everywhere, but obviously, prefer the former method of travel. That has been puzzling Zafira and the staff back in the division HQ. Why are they so insistent on walking when everyone knows how to fly? One of Signum's tactical staff has hypothesized maybe the enemy's homeworld has an environment that does not permit long distance flights, and the habit from back home just carried over to Vaizen.

A whispered voice from the comm interrupts Zafira's contemplation. It's a small team laying low just outside the town.

"Captain, a major activity in the residential area. They seem to be moving out."

Zafira cranes his neck over the boulder. He whispers into the comm.

"I can't quite see from here. How major?"

"Almost everyone, sir." His man whispers back.

"Oh, no." Zafira quickly opens another comm to the men near the Staging Dock. "Staging, report."

A different voice whispers back.

"Nothing significant, captain. Staging Dock is quiet."

Zafira ends both comms. He bobs his head above the boulder and intensely watches the silhouette of the town engulfed in the late evening darkness. With a bit of concentration, he picks up the distant sounds of marching footsteps and occasional shouts carried over by the evening breeze. He sees two or three hundred or so small silhouettes rising in the air, hovering, slowly drifting towards inland westward; indicating the flying girls are advancing in sync with the sisters below.

#

.

"Technically it's not our job." Hayate says to Signum's floating face hovering over the desk. Both generals are visibly frustrated. "But it pains me to lose that hill."

"That hill controls the crossroad and the surrounding open plain. It's also a good staging platform for us." Signum tries to persuade her boss. "If they swing south from there to the coastal industrial zone we will have a considerable difficulty dealing with it without that hill."

"I know."

They stare at each other for a while.

"So, you insist on holding the position." Hayate observes.

"Let's just say I want to be in a better position when the order to counter attack comes." Signum insists, but she knows Hayate is not allowed to order a counter attack. She continues nevertheless.

"Look, I don't know why, but they are going west. As long as we are in their way...I'm sure we are allowed to defend ourselves, yes?"

Signum notices Hayate is still reluctant. She presses further.

"Assuming they continue their course west, the next spot that remotely resembles a passable defensive position is another twenty kilometers inland from here. Farther, if I want a better spot. Do you want to give them all that space for free or not?"

Hayate is irritated. Sometimes Signum can be as nagging as Reinforce.

"That's not the issue here." Hayate points out. "As they say, I'm chained by the rules. We have no justification to be in their way. We will be hampering Executive Office's operation." She buries the head in her hands. It would be nice if the Bureau simply ordered Hayate to pull out, but no, not a single directive has come down her way. Hence, she is stuck in limbo. She wants to defend the hill with tooth and nails if it comes to that, but her troops no longer have a reason to be there in the first place. No, actually nothing has become official yet, so there is some room to wiggle around a bit...only if there is something that would solidify the justification of her actions...

"The Office?" Signum scoffs. "No matter how capable Teana is, I doubt she alone can do anything about the girls here."

"What do you mean?" Hayate looks up.

"Teana is on the hill. She went to say hello to Subaru-"

Hayate slams on the desk.

"Why the hell you tell me this just now?"

Signum silently studies the young commander's face. It's flustered. There are signs of excitement and hope. Good. Looks like Princess has come up with an idea.

.

Subaru and Teana have been chatting and drinking teas when Signum makes an announcement over the division's communication magic.

"Punched and Anvil, Recon reports the enemy is advancing towards your position."

"Roger." Vita's voice acknowledges. "What are our rules of engagement?"

"Self-preservative measures only. This whole thing is technically Executive Office's job." Signum answers matter of factly.

"Then what are we doing here? Can we even engage?" Subaru shoots into the comm.

From far west of Punchkid's position, Signum smirks.

"Let me talk to Teana first."

"I'm here." Teana speaks into Subaru's communication magic.

"Good. Enforcer Lanster, I understand you have a bunch of suspicious armed people heading your way."

Teana exchanges glance with Subaru. What the hell is Signum talking about? The Rapid Response division commander continues.

"I happen to have my units in your vicinity. Do you require assistance?"

Subaru makes an O-face first, then brightens up. She punches the air, jumping, mouthing 'Say yes. Say yes!' Teana leans into Subaru's comm.

"Erm...yes, thank you. That'd be very helpful."

"Good. We will provide assistance as long as the Office takes the responsibility, and Princess doesn't end up court-martialed."

Teana scowls. What the heck did I just walk into?

"Do you understand?" Asks Signum. Teana nods.

"The Enforcer on the scene understands." Subaru answers instead.

"Good!" Signum sounds happy. "All units, you heard the conversation. We will- Fate, stop! Get back-!"

.

Signum runs out the hangar after Fate, but it is too late. Huffing and puffing from the sudden dash, Signum watches the tiny spec of Fate flying away, trailing golden mana residues in the dark sky.

"Damn it!"

She stomps the ground a few times and returns to the hangar. She gets back on the comm.

"Sorry about that." She starts to issue the new rules. "Basically, if the Office has something equivalent, you are free to use it in self-defense. Otherwise...just don't."

"That limits us to Strike rifles!" Subaru's upset voice fills the hangar. Signum ignores this protest and continues.

"Precision single target weapons only. No area attack and that includes the flight mages, too."

"What? No~ Where's the fun in that?" Bug Boy is upset, too.

.

Signum ends the comm and sits back in her seat, trying to enjoy the precious few minutes of peace before all hell breaks loose on that distant hill. Unfortunately, Agito has to interrupt.

"Ginga is almost done assembling at the Midchilda gate. She will start jumping within the next hour."

Signum does quick scheduling in her head. It would take some hours before all of Ginga's subunits finish the travel and re-assemble here at the Terminal. Colonel Nakajima's regiment will be ready to roll out not long after midnight.

.

"Ginga will start jumping soon. Midchilda's 2nd squadron is scheduled for around dawn." Reinforce reports. Hayate nods and Reinforce starts working on paperwork, sitting cross-legged on the large commander's desk, furiously typing into her device on her tiny lap.

Hayate is looking out the bright lit city of Cranagan through the window, thinking. There's a war going on next door, but Midchilda does not seem to be affected at all. 'What if it was Midchilda?' She shivers at the thought.

The two battalions and the two air squadrons have to survive the night on their own, with their fighting capacity severely limited by the recently 'discovered' legal constraints. 'Will Signum commit Ginga's regiment?' It's down to her decision really; how long does Hayate want to hold that mound of dirt and rocks? How fast should she give grounds and how much?

"But that place is just so damn useful!"

Reinforce is about to respond but realizes Hayate is talking to herself. She gets back to her paperwork but looks up again upon smelling a freshly lit cigarette. Reinforce pushes the Hello Kitty ashtray and it slides across the desk, stopping just at a corner where Hayate can easily reach. The tiny lady immerses herself back in the world of number crunching and reports writing, oblivious to the fact that Hayate will later secretly recalculate and correct all the numbers.

The commander of Capital Defense Corps is deep in thoughts. Naval Intelligence has informed her of the possibility of more clone girls coming. Vaizen gates are clogged up by the still-on-going evacuation, and the efforts to keep things in order and the people fed and cared for is eating up resources that could have gone to help Signum. Three days are too short of a period to base a judgment, but the mobilization rate across the Bureau worlds has not been up to Hayate's expectation, despite Lindy's best efforts from the JCS side. Either Capital Defense is too quick, or the rest of the Armed Forces are too slow.

At this rate, Hayate knows, she will reach the point where her own force preservation outweighs the strategic value of holding good positions. 'When will it be?' Hayate wonders. No matter. She has to be ready for it. How well she balances the time gained for the Bureau versus grounds given will determine the fate of Vaizen, provided, of course, that she is allowed to fight her war.