ANVIL AND PUNCHKID

The sun has finally gone down. From the top of the hill, Vita can just make out a large patch of black overflowing the plain laying in the dark. She employs optics magic and surveys the marching clone girls. They are about halfway to the hill.

"Can I have a view from the sky?"

Vita requests over the comm.

"Hang on. Let me go higher." Answers Nanoha's voice, and soon a holo-display pops up before Vita. It shows the advancing Alicia clones viewed from high up in the air above the hill, enhanced by optics magic. Something is different…

"You see this, Anvil?" Nanoha tries to confirm what she is seeing is real. Vita grits her teeth.

"Fuck you, Subaru!" Vita screams into the comm. "They are copying your assault formation!"

"I told you they do that!" Subaru's voice protests. "Besides, what do you mean MY formation? It's the standard-"

"Heads up." Bug Boy interrupts the bitching. "I see more air supports." He tries to count the dots hovering above the mass of bodies below.

"Jeez, we are going to have our hands full, White Devil."

Vita turns her head to check on Teana by her side. The Enforcer on the scene seems rather nervous. Teana notices Vita's eyes and gives a weak smile.

"I, too, have been in many life and death situations, but…not at this scale."

Vita tries an assuring smile. 'Teana will be alright,' the little major thinks. After all, she did train this lady herself many years ago.

.

The very forward group of the Alicia sisters stops and hesitates. They are at the spot where that very intimidating lady knight drew the line this morning. The girls look at each other's masked face, hoping someone else would be the first to cross the line and meet the promised wrath.

"Halt!"

Suddenly a woman's voice booms in the air, surprising everyone.

"This is Enforcer Teana Lanster of Executive Office. I order you to turn back." The voice rolls on the dark plain. "Further approach will be considered as aggression on Bureau's servicemen. I will respond by deadly force."

A senior masked clone makes up her mind. She steps forward, crossing the arbitrary line. She waits some seconds, but nothing happens. Her sisters let out a collective sigh of relief.

Then with a whistling sound, a single cannon shot lands about fifty meters before the brave senior clone, spraying muds and pebbles on the girl.

"That was the final warning." The Enforcer's voice echoes again. "Turn back or I will open fire!"

.

Teana turns to Vita.

"But to be honest they aren't breaking any laws right now. I can't justify-"

A volley of explosion magic arcs high across the air and lands on the front slope of the hill; not as powerful as that of a Strike howitzer round, but each shot still deadly. Another volley lands somewhat higher than the previous one. Then the front slope erupts in continuous explosions as the Alicia clones walk the barrage up the incline to the hilltop. Vita's soldiers dug in on the front slope hunker down and endure the carnage.

On the hilltop, Teana ducks behind a wall of sandbags surrounding Anvil's command post, coming eye to eye with major Vita standing upright before her.

"Shooting up an Enforcer. That's breaking how many laws?"

"Right. OK. I hereby formally request you and your battalion who-" An explosion nearby rains dirt down on Teana. Vita does not even flinch. "Who happen to be present in the vicinity…" Teana fumbles through the formality. "Erm…to assist me in apprehending the…suspects? Yes, suspects."

Vita produces a datapad before Teana's face.

"Hang on, let me get that on record. Say that again."

While Teana goes over the sentence again, Vita gets on the local communication magic.

"Guys, don't forget what the division commander said. We don't want to send Princess to jail."

She glares down the open plain before her. The explosions from the enemy barrage illuminate the area with deafening booms while her soldiers dug in on the hill brave the deadly magics exploding everywhere.

"Teana?" Vita turns to the Enforcer.

"Right." Teana hands over the datapad. "Engage as you see fit, please."

"Thank you, Teana." Vita appreciates Teana sticking her neck out for the soldiers on the hill. Now on paper Enforcer Teana Lanster is in charge. "Now get down the hill and stay with Subaru. It's safer down there."

Teana hurries down the back slope. Soon, the Alicia clones are in range and they start firing more direct magical javelin attacks. The soldiers on the hill return fire, and the area is lit up by beams of deadly magic flying both directions.

The airborne Alicia clones are seen approaching from high above. Major Vita looks up as thirty or so flight mages ascend diagonally in an interception course. The flights of the two squadrons diverge, and the invaders split up in response.

.

The Bureau flight mages engaged in dogfights are clearly outnumbered about ten to one, but the doctrine and training prevail. An eager clone girl would chase an Air Armament Service mage from behind, only to expose her rear to the target's wingman. The sky is filled with brilliant explosions and accompanying smokes. Colorful lines are haphazardly drawn as deadly magics are exchanged and the mages trail sparkling mana residues.

The flying mages from both sides have strong enough barriers to withstand half a dozen good hits, any single hit of which would otherwise have been fatal to a regular Ground Armament Serviceman. Nevertheless, a barrier would eventually shatter, and the unfortunate soul would get caught in a vulnerable state; resulting in blood and exploded gore raining down on the battlefield far below.

Nanoha, on the other hand, is strong enough to penetrate a target's barrier with a single hit, but she is being focused hard. The Alicia clones are for some reason determined to kill her in particular. Being constantly chased and having to dodge multiple attacks coming from all directions, she is not able to rake in kills as fast as she would like to.

She outmaneuvers a group of four enemies chasing her, turning sharply and diving through the clones, mutilating three as she blitzes through. An Alicia clone zips past before her, chasing a Bureau mage. Nanoha whacks and bursts the passing enemy before maneuvering to finish off the one she left alive. Before she can even regain her breath, another batch of clone girls closes in fast.

Although equipped with superior skills and teamwork, the two Bureau squadrons are gradually being overwhelmed by the sheer number of the enemy in the sky and are forced to change their stance. The defending flight mages would peel away, diving after and intercepting those trying to attack the hill, which in turn leads to another chaotic dogfight.

Some Alicia clones would shake off the Bureau mages and head down to the hill, only to be met with a stream of fatal magic attacks fired from the hill. Despite all the efforts an air to ground attack would get through occasionally, each time obliterating a couple of dug in holes along with the soldiers in them.

#

.

"Major, 3rd company reports an enemy attempt at maneuvering north." Vita's assistant reports. "They've re-positioned to intercept but need a little help."

Fortunately, Vita has plenty of reserves in her hands.

"Move down a Raptor company. Secure 3rd's flank."

The assistant immediately goes to instruct the combat droids. Vita surveys the firefight happening down the plain before the front slope. She has to hold herself back from calling in her light cannon platoon to pulverize the exposed enemy. She cusses. Even simply coordinating all the vehicle-mounted weapons would be enough to decimate these clone girls. She shakes head. Vita has to focus on managing the job with the given constraints.

"Punchkid, your status?" Vita decides to check on Subaru down and behind Anvil.

"We are up and ready. I can swing wherever you need."

"Good. I've intercepted a flanking maneuver to our north. Be ready to move out in case they spill over."

Vita ends the comm, feeling somewhat relieved. She can count on Subaru to watch her back.

.

A group of senior Alicia clones has gathered, laying side by side flat on their bellies. They watch the fight happening before them.

"Something is different." One of them observes.

"They are not using their big strong magic." Another one points it out. "You know, from their cars."

Another one points above.

"And the flying ones aren't using their rock blasting magic either."

The girls run their eyes up the hill. Whatever the reason the Bureau soldiers are not fighting with their full strength. 'We can push them off' the girls are in a mutual agreement.

A magical mouth appears in front of a senior clone, relaying some information that the other seniors cannot hear over the noise. The girl turns to her peers.

"Sisters got stopped." She points at the northern foot of the hill. "I think we made the turn too close to the soldiers."

"Let's try the other side but make a wider arc." The senior girl with the red ribbon on her head suggests, drawing a wide half-circle in the empty air with her hand. Having successfully led the sisters into the southern part of the town yesterday, this particular clone has become a big advocate of flanking maneuvers and crossfires. "We will be able to hit them from behind." She adds.

Another senior sister points straight ahead.

"Why not just charge up the hill? We can make it."

"No. Look at them. They have better shots on us than we have on them." The red ribbon girl shakes her head. "Yes, they are weaker than yesterday, but we will still lose too many sisters."

"But we are supposed to get to the place called Terminal!" The impatient sister shouts over the noise. "Why do we even fight here?"

"But we can't just ignore them here! What if they go to the portal?" The red ribbon girl shouts back. The sister has had enough. She half gets up.

"You girls go ahead push them off the hill. Protect the portal. I'm flying to the Terminal."

She summons a set of magical ears and shouts into them.

.

The soldiers have spotted a significant number of the enemy heading south. The assistant promptly reports to Vita.

"They are swinging wide this time, major. To the south."

"Damn it!" Vita cusses and gets on the comm, calling Subaru. "Punchkid, the enemy is trying to hook around my far right. Can you spare a company or two?"

"No worries. I'm on it." Subaru replies.

Satisfied, Vita calls Captain Mondial.

"Erio, Punchkid is sending out her boys to cover my right. Move down and link them up with us."

After receiving an acknowledgment from the young captain, Vita cranes her neck to see down the reverse slope. A company of armored personnel carriers depart Subaru's staging area and run along the foot of the hill, heading to challenge the invaders on the move. Vita can see Captain Mondial's soldiers spreading out and taking positions to prevent the enemy from getting in between Punchikid's company and the hill. She notices a group of Punchkid soldiers on the reverse slope, busy with shovels and sandbags and…logs? 'What is Subaru doing?' Vita wonders.

#

.

The battle for the hill goes on for hours. The mass of Alicia clones has closed in and molded itself onto the Bureau's foremost positions. Their pressure spreads along the defense, threatening to spill over to exposed flanks. Vita responds by committing Raptors and Subaru's units, extending the contact surface where meats are burnt, and bones are shattered; the men and women and the combat droids would rush to take positions, bringing the clones' attempts to go around to stalemates as best as they could.

The airborne invaders have changed their approach; splitting up in smaller groups and attacking the Rapid Response soldiers along the defensive line all at the same time. The Bureau flight mages, lacking numbers, are only able to cover limited sections of the sky at a time, and the lack of air coverage is taking the toll on the soldiers fighting down below.

.

"Punchkid was right. These girls are adapting." Vita comments.

"But became predictable to some degree…at least on the ground." Her assistant observes. Vita nods. She, too, has noticed the subtle change. Instead of charging in like mad, a clone girl would methodically alternate between dashing and shooting her magical javelins in bursts from behind a cover; something all Bureau soldiers are thoroughly trained to deal with.

"Of course. They are mimicking us, but they lack the substance."

A call from Punchkid interrupts Vita from further discussing this interesting topic.

"Anvil, be advised I've just committed my last reserve unit."

Vita grimaces. That means Subaru has no more units to dispatch.

"Let's shrivel up a bit." Subaru suggests over the comm.

"You are right. We've spread a bit thin." Vita concurs.

The two Rapid Response battalions re-position their units, pulling them inward to form a slightly curved line facing the enemy.

In the meantime, the defenders dug in on the front slope have been pushed back to the ridge up the hill; The clone invaders are now swarming on the slope, fighting an uphill battle. Those who dare to expose themselves out of cover are met with focused fire from the ridge above, instantly disintegrating on the spot. The invaders opt to rush in numbers, a small distance at a time, from cover to cover. The Raptor droids are better at managing synced shots than their human counterparts, downing the single target they collectively select squad by squad, but the clones are relentless, running, dashing, and crawling the steep incline to the next cover, slowly but steadily closing the distance to the ridge.

A status report comes in from the northern foot of the hill. The units there are low on mana.

"They can't maintain the position much longer, major." The assistant reports. Vita orders them to pull back, to consolidate her defense. She gets on the comm.

"Punchkid, I'm giving away my left shoulder. I'm sorry."

"Roger that…but I thought the north was secured?" Subaru replies. Vita can sense a slight disappointment in Subaru's voice.

.

"God damn it!" Subaru cusses as she ends the comm.

"What's happening?" Asks Teana from behind.

Subaru points to the northern foot of the hill.

"We are giving away that side. Right when I don't have any more units to spare." She shakes her head. "That means they can go up the hill from there, but they can also come around attack here directly."

She tells the soldiers around the command post to get ready for an enemy attack coming around the hill.

"If we give ground here, they get free access to Anvil's ass!" Subaru informs her soldiers. Then she does a double-take.

"Teana, what are you still doing here?"

"It's my show, remember?" Teana points out. "You are…assisting?"

Subaru pulls her hair out and stomps on the ground.

"No! This place is too dangerous!" She turns to her assistant. "Ready her bike. Get her out of here."

The young lieutenant grabs Teana's arm and starts to 'lead' her away towards her motorbike.

"Madam Enforcer, this way, please."

"No! I'm not going-"

Teana's protest is interrupted by a sudden explosion. She instinctively puts up a barrier but is thrown back hard against the Punchkid's command vehicle.

Once the ringing inside her head is gone and the vision is cleared, Teana tries to stand up, groaning. Her entire body aches, but fortunately, she is not hurt. Smoke and dust settle down, and she finds Subaru kneeling beside her dead assistant on the ground, his head missing. The headless body is twitching as the nerves and muscles have lost their commander. Blood is pumping out of the exposed neck stump in sync with the fading heart.

Subaru looks up and Teana follows the eyes. A small group of masked invaders is ascending to make a downward turn for another attack run. The Punchkid is furious. She glares at the enemy mages.

"Nanoha-san!" Subaru curses through gritted teeth. "Why are they here?!"

The Alicia clones pass over the hill this time, weaving through streams of anti-air magic, raining down deadly spells on Vita's position. They almost make it out safe, but the Vaizen Air squadron flies in out of nowhere, and a chaotic dogfight ensues yet again in the sky above the hilltop.

Punchkid command post staff rush to their boss to check if she is alright. They stop at the sight of their colleague's headless body. Teana silently watches as Subaru covers the dead body with her uniform jacket. After a quick prayer, the major stands up.

"Teana, now is the time you get the hell out of here."

Subaru's eyes follow Teana's finger pointing at the motorbike, which is all blown up to pieces. She throws her angry eyes to the sky again.

"God damn it!"

Teana, too, looks up again. The Midchilda flight mages and their famed leader are nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Nanoha?" She asks no one in particular. Subaru has the same question and gets on the comm.

"White Devil, this is Punchkid. Where are you?"

No reply. Subaru tries again.

"White Wing, where are you?"

Finally, Nanoha's stressed voice crackles out of the communication magic.

"Sorry, Punchkid. Look to your far right. To the south. I'm rather busy right now."

.

Nanoha is being chased by about fifty enemy mages throwing themselves at her from all directions.

"This is ridiculous!"

Midchilda Air's 1st squadron is trying to get in the way and peel the enemy off their leader but with little success. The Bureau mages manage to down one or two invaders from time to time, but the hunt continues.

"This is over-commitment on a single target! What about their mission?" Nanoha laments.

.

The impatient senior clone has gathered enough sisters. About two hundred of them. She is waiting for the go sign as her peers have persuaded her to wait for the right time.

She is assessing her sisters' progress. The Bureau soldiers are fully occupied. The mages in the air are pushed to their very limits, and the flying devil, especially the flying devil, has been driven far away to irrelevance. Her path west is clear.

"Are you sure about this?" The red ribbon girl asks once again. "You are taking many sisters with you." 'The girls I need here' she decides not to add.

"The Bureau soldiers are tied down here. I think I have a good chance at the Terminal." The senior clone answers hopefully.

"You be careful. We don't know what's waiting there." The red ribbon girl hopes for the best. She surveys the battlefield.

"Now should be good. Go."

.

"Looks like you are the mission, madam." One of her flight mage comments, watching Nanoha shoot and kill an Alicia clone with a single magic discharge.

"See? That's why they hate you…"

The flight mage trails off, stunned at the dreadful sight of some two hundred or so masked girls rising up in the air. The blob ignores everything else and flies straight towards inland westward.

"What the…"

"All flights, after them!" Nanoha orders, but the Midchilda squadron cannot break free of the swarm. The masked girls, as if they have been waiting for a cue, dive on the White Devil all at once.

#

.

It's midnight, and a mass of soldiers and armored vehicles are gathered at a vast empty space in front of Signum's hangar. Men and women rush to and from a full Colonel, a woman in her mid-thirties, who has a striking resemblance to Subaru. The Colonel is receiving reports and giving instructions.

Major General Signum steps out of the hangar with Agito tagging along. The Colonel gives a solid salute to her superior officer.

"Welcome to Vaizen, Ginga. Status?" The division commander returns the salute.

"Major General, there is some stuff still in transit, but overall my regiment is ready to roll out on your orders." Colonel Ginga Nakajima, in charge of one of Signum's regiments, stands to attention. Signum surveys the soldiers and she is pleased.

"Your sister and Vita are under attack about 100km from here. It's a matter of time before they are completely surrounded." She informs Ginga.

"That bad?" Ginga asks, worried.

"I thought I could pull it off." Signum shakes her head. "It's proven to be tougher than I expected."

Ginga nods.

"Is that something to do with our legal situation?" She immediately identifies the problem. Signum nods with a sigh.

"Exactly. We are fighting with our hands tied." She gestures to Agito, who pulls out the map of Vaizen. Signum continues.

"That applies to you, too, Ginga, so I don't see much point throwing you at the hill." She points at some point on the map. Signum has decided to pull Punchkid and Anvil off the hill, and now requires a safe home for Subaru and Vita to pull back to.

"This spot is about 70km east from here. The open plain roughly ends there, and the terrain favors us with good chokes and reasonable high grounds." Signum lets Ginga know where she wants 1st regiment placed. Ginga studies the map.

"Where is Subaru holding up?" Punchkid's big sister asks. Agito points at the hill on the map. Ginga studies the map some more.

"I see…That really is a good position. Shame we are giving it up." She then runs her finger down the map, to the south of the hill. "They will get free access to the south, Major General. The industrial-"

"Yes, I know." If they go south, Signum would definitely want to launch an intercept mission and hit the enemy on the move from the side, but with the current constraints in place, there is nothing much she can do. In fact, she is not sure whether she will be permitted to send her troops on such offensive.

"Nothing much we can do." Signum sighs again. "The priority now is to preserve our strength until the lawmakers unchain our Princess."

Ginga nods sympathetically. She straightens up and gives a crisp salute.

"I'll report in once I set up in position. Please tell Subaru to hang in there."

With that, colonel Nakajima's regiment starts rolling out of the Teleportation Terminal facility, heading east far away.

As Signum watches the soldiers leave, she is startled by the siren going off. At first, she is confused. Air raid? Here?

#

.

"What's going on?" asks Signum entering her HQ. A staff rushes to the commanding officer and reports.

"Major general, airborne inbound. Two hundred or so heading straight this way."

Signum's face turns pale. What the hell is Nanoha doing?

"How did they get through?"

"Our flight mages are too busy on the hill. They can't intercept, madam!"

Signum thinks for a bit. She has to act quick. There is no way she can evacuate the civilians in time.

"I want the Terminal security layout."

Agito immediately summons a map showing the Interworld Teleportation Terminal and its surroundings, several locations are highlighted; security checkpoints, guard posts, and more importantly the remote-controlled static anti-air guns scattered around.

"I want barriers on the passenger terminal. Alert all units in the facility." She shouts to her staff officers. "Midchilda and Vaizen wings are to focus on the current task. We deal with the inbound ourselves!"

.

Hayate listens to Signum's hologram face with a concerned expression.

"-so I'd like to request Reinforce help me out." Signum gets to the point.

"Sure. Request granted." Hayate nods. She doesn't really have any other options.

Reinforce takes over communication.

"Signum, hook me up to the Vaizen net. I will take it from there." The little admin of Book of Darkness says.

Signum's face now looks relieved.

"Thank you. I'm counting on you, Reinforce."

.

Colonel Nakajima's regiment comes to a halt. They haven't gone too far when Agito's call came in. Sitting inside her command vehicle, Ginga orders through the comm.

"All units, we will shortly have two hundred or so airborne targets passing above our heads. Shoot them down!"

.

Signum bites her fingernails, nervously watching the swarm of red dots moving west on a large hologram map of Vaizen.

"They've just passed Caledfwlch Factory. No attack reported." Agito reports.

The HQ lets out a sigh of relief.

Ginga is also setting up her anti-air guns on the road.

"That should help a bit." Agito comments.

Signum just nods. She is thinking. 'Where are they targeting?' She looks at the map again. A little bit more to the west of the Terminal, there sits the capital city, Vaizen's heart. 'But didn't Fate say their goal is Midchilda?'

"I'm in the network. Taking gun controls." Reinforce's voice interrupts Signum's thoughts. A few seconds tick by and Reinforce gets on the comm again. "I've taken control. Give me their vectors."

Agito quickly relays the tactical feeds to her counterpart in the neighboring world.

.

Reinforce is sitting cross-legged on the commander's desk. In front of her are several dozen small holo-displays each showing the Vaizen sky. There also is a large holo-map of Vaizen. On it are many dots scattered centered around the Terminal. Several dozens of those in the path of the incoming attack are highlighted glowing red.

"I will start firing when in effective range."

Reinforce informs her colleagues in Vaizen. Signum's voice tells her to wait for a moment.

"I want to clear with Princess first. Are we allowed to shoot AA guns before they open fire?"

Hayate has been chain-smoking ever since informed of the incoming airborne hostiles. She is standing but leaning onto a corner of the desk, watching Reinforce doing her job.

"The civilians gathered at the Terminal are in immediate danger. Do what you must do, but remember this applies to this particular occasion only." She gives Signum a one-time free pass.

"Engaging!" As if on cue Reinforce shouts excitedly.

Scattered around in Vaizen, several dozens of remote-controlled static anti-air guns swivel around, pointing barrels to the night sky.

.

The clone girls have flown deep inland, and up to now, it has been quite uneventful. They remain alert regardless. One of the girls squints her eyes and surveys the pitch-black horizon to the west.

"We should see it soo-"

The masked clone explodes mid-sentence. The leading senior clone is taken aback. The air is suddenly saturated with explosions. Some are lucky and survive, losing their strong barriers as a price. The weaker ones are torn to pieces.

"Keep going! We are almost there!"

The senior clone tries to rally her sisters, but she herself is almost knocked out by an explosion on her barrier. The shot came from below. She looks down and sees columns of armored vehicles spraying the air with deadly magic attacks. She clenches her teeth, and powers through. The group speeds up and puts a good distance from the vehicles, but they are still being shot at from god knows where.

.

"Wow, how can they be still alive?" says Reinforce, remotely operating several dozen guns simultaneously.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Hayate observes.

"Rest of the corps are not allowed to fight at their full strength." Reinforce shrugs. "But here I am... with these big guns. Of course, I'm enjoying it."

"Hang in there, Reinforce! Don't go back to the dark side!" Hayate shouts jokingly, but she quickly switches to a more serious tone. "Just don't forget those are real lives you are deleting."

.

The senior Alicia clone leading the air incursion spots a large pool of lights illuminating the massive structures forming the Interworld Teleportation Terminal complex.

"There! That must be it!"

She turns her head to check on her sisters. She has lost more than half the girls on the way, and the air surrounding them is still full of deadly explosions. At this rate, there will not be enough sisters by the time they reach the Terminal. Nevertheless, she has to press on. Mother wants this place, she will deliver the Terminal. She rallies the girls once again.

"We are almost-"

She stops midair. The girls stop, too. About a kilometer ahead of them, in the otherwise pitch-black sky, there floats a red flame at about the same altitude as the clone sisters. A sister nearby shouts.

"That's her!"

The girls panic. They have, after all, crossed the line, to which wrath was promised. The clone girls are still being shot at by Vaizen's air defense system controlled by Reinforce. The senior Alicia clone realizes they are sitting ducks stopped here like this.

"She is the last obstacle! Attack!"

She charges forward. The girls, inspired, let out battle cries and follow their sister. They fly towards the fierce red flame in the air, hurling deadly javelins across the sky.

For a moment, it seems as if the flame in the distance flickered. Then suddenly, with a crackling sound, the air incinerates. A plane of dancing flame, led by an impossibly long chain-sword swiping across horizontally, expands across the sky, melting and exploding anything it touches, including the senior clone girl.

Once the carnage is over, there is only a twenty or so of the masked sisters with soiled pants left in the air. And they are still being shot at by the air defense system. The girls give up and fly east, desperately trying to get out of this cursed sky as soon as possible.

.

The siren has stopped. The HQ staff cheers loudly as their commanding officer walks into the hangar with Agito.

"Back to work, people! Punchkid and Anvil are still fighting." Shouts Signum. She does not seem pleased at all.

"Can't you just...enjoy the glory for a bit?" Agito suggests. Signum shakes her head, upset, furious even.

"No. Our hospital was completely defenseless! I want the air above Caledfwlch secured right now! Take Ginga's anti-air platforms if it comes to that."

Signum waits for an answer but gets none.

"Get on it!"

"Alright, alright." Agito hovers away from Signum, pouting.

#

.

Vita is furious seeing an Alicia clone coming up the northern ridge. She can hear the fight still going on on that slope, which means this girl somehow made it through. Vita grabs her assistant and swivels him around, pointing at the masked clone girl, who is promptly dealt with by the combined efforts of several Raptor droids on the hilltop.

"What happened to 3rd company?" Vita shouts her question in anger.

"3rd is not respond-"

An urgent call from 3rd company interrupts the assistant. They are requesting to retreat as they finally cave in under pressure. Vita orders them to come up and regroup on the hilltop. Soon what's left of Anvil's 3rd company come up the slope. The company's captain runs over to Vita with a visibly frustrated expression.

"Major, permission to fight in our full capacity. Please!"

"No." Vita shoots the officer down.

"But madam-"

"No! Division says no, so I say no. And it stays no. Got it?"

The captain bites his lips but doesn't say anything. He returns to his men who have regrouped around Vita's command post on the hill.

Soon the northern side of the hill erupts in explosions and intense firefight as the invaders try to push in towards Vita's command post. The soldiers, what's left of the 3rd company and the accompanying Raptors, try to drive the enemy off the hill, but they barely manage to hold the position.

Suddenly, from down below, rapid firing sounds of vehicle-mounted automatic weapons echo in staccato; Vtoom! Vtoom! Vtoom!

"What the…" Vita gets on the comm immediately.

.

"Punchkid, I'm hearing mounted weapons being fired. What the hell are you doing!" Vita's angry voice rushes out of Subaru's communication magic. The Punchkid is standing beside her command vehicle that's firing its gun into the darkness. All armored carriers around the command post are shooting towards the north and the noise is deafening.

"I'm fighting the enemy, god damn it. They're breaking into my command post!" Subaru shouts into the comm.

"God damn it! Small caliber only!" Vita is shouting, too.

Subaru glances down. Teana is hunkered down behind the armored chassis, both pistols drawn. The veteran Enforcer tries to maintain her composure, but she is visibly, and understandably, afraid as an endless shower of golden javelins screams through the explosion-filled air. Some hit and are deflected off the armored plates with unnerving noises.

"Are you serious?" Subaru gets back on the comm.

"I will kill you if you get Hayate in trouble!" Vita threatens from the hilltop.

In frustration, Subaru punches her command vehicle's armor plate just above Teana's head. The impact jolts and pushes the heavy metal about half a meter sideway. A soldier pops his head out the top hatch and looks around in confusion. The soldier spots Subaru.

"What the hell, major?"

"Sorry!" Subaru then hesitates before giving her order. "Get off the gun. Small caliber only."

She glances down again. Teana looks up nervously with a weak smile.

"And this is what you get paid for?" Teana points at the deadly environment surrounding the area.

"Handsomely, yes." Subaru puts her hands on her waist. "And remember, Teana, we are fighting with our hands tied. We don't generally get our ass kicked like this."

Teana grimaces. How the hell is this supposed to be Executive Office's job?

.

Vita hears the sounds of mounted weapons down the hill die down to a stop, but the absence is compensated by more intensified sounds of Strike rifles firing. And lots of yelling and painful screaming.

Her situation on the top of the hill is not any better as the enemy continues its attempt to take the hill from both the front and the northern slopes. Vita has no other choice but to bring her ace captain back. She calls Subaru.

"Punchkid, I need Erio back up here. Your guys can hold my right alone?"

"Do what you gotta do." Subaru replies. After a brief pause, she adds. "Punchkid will hold south."

Vita ends the comm thanking Subaru. She knows Subaru has every right to be bitter and pissed, but the kid will continue to keep Anvil's rear safe.

.

Captain Mondial's company moves up the slope from the southern foot of the hill. Subaru's units re-position themselves, consolidating the defense in order to compensate for the vacancy left behind by the Anvil's company leaving the area.

As Erio's company reaches the hilltop, two platoons take up positions at the ridges facing east and north, guarding Vita's command post. One is sent on the back slope to link up with Punchkid's command post down the hill, providing fire support to the fight happening on the lower ground as best they can.

In the meantime, the Vaizen flight mages are doing everything they can to intercept the airborne invaders attacking the ground, but with the Midchilda Wing effectively tied down to irrelevance trying to drive off the dedicated manhunt on their leader, the task has become more and more difficult.

The large mound of dirt and rocks is lit up like a burning ship in the middle of the otherwise pitch-black ocean. The entire hill is on flame, burning, with sporadic explosions happening all over the place and the air saturated with deadly magics zigzagging across. But Rapid Response is still holding the position. For now, at least.

#

.

The battle has dragged on to many hours past midnight. Punchkid's command post is in chaos as the soldiers are fighting off the breach, sometimes resorting to close-quarter melee. Like a mother goose, Subaru stands tall over her friend Teana, who's taken the cover crouched behind the armored chassis of Subaru's command vehicle, shooting at the Alicia clones with her dual pistols. Subaru, too, has been forced to pick up her rifle. Occasionally a clone girl would come too close with either a blade or scythe drawn, only to be crushed by Subaru's martial art blows.

There is a loud scream of pain from the personnel carrier sitting some twenty meters left of the duo. It ends abruptly. Then suddenly from the carrier's shadow three masked invaders, with their beam blades drawn, dash towards the two friends. Subaru and Teana shoot the same target and blow one up to pieces but leaving the other two free. The girls are already on top of the duo. With her magically armored fist, Subaru blocks the blade swinging down on her crouched friend, kicking the attacker in the chest, which caves in with a loud bone cracking sound and the punctured heart and lungs deflating.

But in the attempt to protect her dear friend Subaru left her own defense open. The remaining Alicia clone's blade smashes through the barrier and cuts Subaru's face open, running vertically over her left eye and the cheek, ending up buried deep in the collarbone.

Teana, furious, shoots the masked face at point-blank range. The head explodes, spraying the two friends with skull fragments and blood.

"Argh, fuck!" Subaru collapses with her hands on her face. Teana jumps over her fallen friend and with her own shaking hands pulls the blade out of the Punchkid's shoulder. She pries Subaru hands off to check on the wound. There is a long deep gash running down the face.

Several soldiers rush to the position to check on their boss. They break out an emergency medikit and start working on their commanding officer.

"It hurts! My eye-" Subaru screams in pain.

"Of course, it hurts, major, but you are gonna live." A soldier readies a painkiller shot, but Subaru grabs the hand.

"No! I need to stay awake!"

The soldier hesitates. Teana grabs the hand that is holding the painkiller shot and forcefully slams it down on Subaru's thigh.

"No, Teana, what the fuck-" Subaru goes limp, half conscious half asleep. Breathing heavily Teana faces the soldiers. Did she do the right thing?

"Thank you, madam." The soldiers nod in appreciation.

.

The situation is slightly better on the hilltop, with Captain Mondial's company successfully containing the breach at the northern ridge.

"Vita, Subaru is hurt!" Teana's voice erupts in Vita's comm.

"Teana? Who let you on the military channel?"

"It doesn't matter!" Teana is screaming. "I'm calling it off!"

Major Vita grits her teeth and grimaces. Teana is exercising her 'on-paper' status as the Enforcer in charge.

.

"It is indeed her call." Says Signum to Vita's hologram face.

"But I thought you wanted this hill?" Vita protests from some hundred kilometers away.

Oh, yes, Signum wants that hill bad. Princess wants that hill, too.

"But it's turning out to be too costly. Princess has given me an OK to pull out." Signum informs Vita. "I will be honest with you, Vita. We underestimated our enemy. It's on the command, not you. Nor Subaru." She sighs. "How bad is Subaru hurt?"

"She will live."

"Good." Signum then transmits a coordinate some distance west of the hill. "Ginga has setup there and should be able to block any pursuit. Fall back to her position."

"But-"

Signum cuts Vita off.

"Look, Vita, you and Subaru have done what you can." Sure, they are going to lose a good position, but the time Vita and Subaru have bought for Ginga, a freaking regiment not a mere battalion, to dig in also has its own value. Just before Vita's call, Princess, after carefully studying the tactical feeds, sent a simple message; 'fuck it'. Signum shakes her head recalling the short message. Somebody has to talk to Princess about sending such profanity over the logged channel. She gets back to Vita.

"Thanks to you Ginga has had the time to dig in. Now get out of there."

"OK. I hear you were under attack?" asks Vita, worried.

"Nothing too serious." Signum plays it cool. "Don't worry about me, worry about you coming back in one piece."

.

Pacing around in her office, Hayate is furious.

"You and Signum just killed one tenth of their force!" She paces around some more. Reinforce keeps her mouth shut.

"But I can't go offensive!" Hayate is red on the face.

"Nothing much we can do." Reinforce tries to calm her general down, but she, too, is disappointed.

Last night Hayate ordered an attack, exploiting the enemy willingly giving up their initiative. Not even 24 hours have passed and Hayate is on the run, forced to not act upon a good chance which Reinforce almost single-handedly created…with a tiny bit of help from Signum. The little fairy-like girl pouts. This is so not fair.

#

.

Vita's voice echoes out of the communication channel.

"All units, a retreat order from the division command. Punchkid go first, Anvil provide cover."

Teana thinks for a second Vita sounds disappointed. A soldier gestures towards Teana.

"Madam Enforcer, please get in." He opens the back hatch of the command vehicle.

Teana nods and helps the soldiers carry Subaru in. Others stand on guard shooting at the enemy while the compartment is loaded with other wounded soldiers. When it's full, somebody bangs on the exterior armor plate, and the carrier starts moving. Those who can still walk either jog along or ride on top, firing at the rear.

.

Vita watches as her sister battalion leaves the area. The enemy on the southern sector, now unopposed, wraps around the hill and joins with the sisters from the other side at the foot of the back slope. Instead of coming up the hill the masked clones start to chase after Punchkid.

"Erio!"

Vita shouts into the comm, and the young captain immediately jumps into action. Captain Mondial orders his platoon on the back slope to assault the lower ground. The soldiers catch the Alicia clones who have their backs turned. The girls turn around from their chase in order to deal with this threat on their backs.

.

On the front slope, a senior Alicia clone is shouting over the noise.

"We should go after them! Otherwise, they fight us again at the terminal!"

The red ribbon girl has a different opinion.

"No! We can't leave the Bureau soldiers behind our back. What if they attack us from behind? Or the portal?"

The first senior girl thinks about it for a few seconds. She finally nods in agreement. Cleaning up this hill should come first.

She looks around other senior sisters.

"Anyone heard anything back from the girls at the Terminal?"

The girls just look at each other's masked face. Nobody has heard anything.

.

Fighting for her life, particularly her very own, Nanoha sees the invaders have completely surrounded the hill down below. Vita is under attack from all directions.

The White Devil and her Midchilda flights have fought out of their minds and finally have found some breathing room, having significantly reduced the clones going after the group leader.

"I think that's about it-"

Nanoha trails off. She chokes at the sight of another hundred or so masked girls rising up in the air, half of them joining the ground attack effort. The Vaizen flight mages are visibly exhausted and are clearly missing several of their members. Yet again they scramble to intercept, trying to keep the air above Anvil clear.

On the other hand, the other half of the newly airborne clone invaders heads straight to the Midchilda's squadron; the flying devil in particular.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

She checks on her colleagues. She's down to three flights of four, and they aren't in good shape either. Nanoha grits her teeth.

"Form up! Endure! If we lose, they will swarm our Vaizen friends!"

"But they are swarming you!" One of her junior officers points it out. Nanoha just glares at him briefly.

"Airborne from inland! Hostile!" Vaizen air's Bug Boy panics on the other side of the comm. "When did they get there? Can you deal with them, White Devil?"

Nanoha has to dodge another set of attempts at her life before answering.

"No, I've got my hands full-"

She watches in amazement as twenty or so badly burnt enemies just fly over the hill at top speed, heading to the seaside. Apparently, Bug Boy is equally puzzled as Nanoha.

"OK…Never mind."

.

Vita lets out a sigh of relieve as she receives the news Punchkid has safely gone out of reach. It's now her turn to roll. She orders her battalion to get ready, then calls her trusted right hand.

"Erio, you are on point. Break through and lead the battalion out." Vita sends over the coordinate. "Colonel Nakajima should be waiting for us."

"We are attacking the other direction?" Erio's voice inquires in an optimistic tone.

"Hell, no, we are running away."

"What about you, major?" Erio asks, this time a concerned voice. 'Good boy.' Vita smiles quickly to no one in particular.

"I'm staying with the Raptors and taking the pressure off your back."

Erio tries to protest, but Vita cuts him off. "Shut up and go!"

.

Led by the young captain wielding a spear in one hand and a Strike rifle in the other, Captain Mondial's company assaults down the hill and picks up its platoon there on the way, then proceeds to plough through the masked invaders coming up the back slope and on the ground. The armored carriers run through the gap created, with the rest of the Anvil battalion following at high speed, running over the fallen Alicia clones. As the vehicles rush westwards, the Raptors remaining on the hilltop pour fire down on the enemy in order to pin the clones down in place.

Anvil battalion breaks out of the encirclement, making its way inland.

The invading clones, worried about leaving these annoying Bureau soldiers behind their back, turn their attention yet again to the hill. Major Vita and what is left of the Raptor battalion form up in preparation for the imminent onslaught.

#

.

Hayate has calmed down and now sits at her desk, monitoring the tactical feeds from Vaizen. Reinforce has opened the windows so the dawn breeze can get in, hopefully carrying a new day's energy to the depressed lieutenant general.

Hayate has been up all night and it shows with the wrinkled shirt, messy hair, and tired eyes with dark sacks. The silly Hello Kitty ashtray on the desk is filled to the brim with cigarette butts, some ash spilled over onto the desk. She calls Signum, whose face pops up immediately.

"Punchkid made it out safely. Anvil has also broken through." Signum reports. Hayate studies the hologram face for some seconds. No sign of worries.

"I see Vita still up on the hill, though." Hayate is worried. "She's all alone against the whole lot of them."

"So was Subaru on the first day." Signum says matter-of-factly.

Hayate throws her hands in defeat. These Wolkenritters and their pride as warriors are really something special it still amazes Hayate after all the years they've been together.

"Jeez, you always go extra hard on fellow knights."

Major general Signum doesn't answer, but just flashes a weak smile with a hint of pride. Hayate gets onto her point.

"Raptors are expendable, but Vita is not. Signum, I need her back alive."

Signum stands to attention. Hayate continues.

"Do they know we can't destroy the gate?"

The division commander in Vaizen thinks about it for some seconds. She shakes her head.

"As far as I know, they don't. Subaru had tried before the enemy arrived."

"Good, good." Hayate nods, pleased. "It's their only asset in Vaizen. Go wreck it. Draw them away from Vita." She checks the time. "And I think…yeah, she should reach Vita just in time." Hayate chuckles at the thought. 'I bet the clones have never seen anything like it.'

.

Nanoha is, of course, still fighting the clones obsessed in killing her, when Signum's call comes in.

"White Devil, a new mission for you."

"White Wing, Signum-san!" Nanoha shouts into the comm while dodging an attack. "Not you, too!"

Signum ignores this little detail and continues.

"Zafira is going to attack the dimensional gate. I need you to wreak havoc from above."

Nanoha is puzzled. What about the legal constraints?

"Are we allowed to do that?"

"The Staging Dock belongs to Naval Intelligence, Sail Force." Signum explains. "Military facility full of confidential stuff. The standard security protocol dictates any armed intruders are to be shot on sight."

Nanoha makes an O-face. Burnt to the ground or not, the Dock still is a military facility alright. She surveys her flight mages; all very tired and look like they are going to drop dead any second. Yet she still sees a few drops of juice she thinks she can squeeze out.

"I'm on my way." She informs Signum and leads her group, powering through the swarm of enemies.

The Midchilda Air's squadron manages to break off and then heads seaside at full speed. The airborne clones do not know what to do with this new development, but after a short hesitation, they chase after the flying devil.

.

On the hill, the Raptors are collapsing under the immense pressure. Major Vita is surrounded, cut off from the Raptors, but the invaders are having a hard time killing this angry child wielding a war-hammer larger than herself. A crude ring has formed around the Anvil's commanding officer, its radius roughly twice the length of the war-hammer's shaft.

Although exhausted and outnumbered, Vaizen's flight mages are doing their utmost to keep the air above Vita clear, paying the price to do so with their own blood.

A senior Alicia clone steps up and challenges Vita, confidently parrying the hammer that came crushing down on her head. Her counter attack pushes Vita back a few meters. Vita takes a step back and examines the new challenger. 'What's with that ribbon?'

Vita shakes her head, trying to focus. The red ribbon girl does not miss this opportunity and launches forward at an incredible speed. Vita quickly ducks just in time to let the glowing blade pass over her head. She thrusts her hammer in return, but the clone girl just sidesteps out of the harm's way. Vita glares at the eyes behind the mask. She has this nagging question in her mind.

'Have I actually ever won a fight against Fate?'

She focuses again. With the hammer raised, Major Vita lunges forward.

.

It's dawn and the Staging Dock has been quiet whole night. Every now and then the girls would hear from their sisters fighting on the hill. It seems everything is going in their way. Pleased, the masked girls relax.

So, it is no surprise they are caught completely off guard when Zafira's recon company comes out of nowhere assaulting the ruined facility. They watch in horror as the dimensional gate comes under attack. The invaders scramble to drive Zafira's soldiers off.

Then the Midchilda Air's squadron led by the flying devil screams above the Alicia clones, blowing up everything beneath as they pass.

.

Fortunately for Vita, the girls have decided to just watch. Vita is sure she would not come out in one piece if the others joined in the fight. This girl with the red ribbon is strong, Vita admits. But nothing she can't handle, Vita grumbles. It's just that she is tired and also has to keep an eye on her surroundings and stuff so she can't fully concentrate. She tries to think of some more excuses. Indeed, Vita has been keeping her surroundings in check. The Raptors are falling left and right, which is not good news.

Suddenly there are lots of yelling and confusion among the clones. Exchanging half-hearted blows with the red ribbon girl, Vita quickly glances around trying to find out what's going on. The girls on the slopes are leaving. The girls on the lower grounds are leaving. Even the girls in the sky are leaving. 'What the hell?'

The ribbon girl reminds Vita their fight is still not over. Vita parries just in time to prevent her head getting chopped off. 'That's right' she thinks, quickly taking the stock of her surroundings again. There are still a hundred or so girls on the hilltop, finishing off the remaining Raptors. 'I still need to fight my way out.'

.

Nanoha glances down inland and sees the sea of bodies illuminated by the thin light of the rising sun. Like a tide, the clone girls are rushing back from the hill to the Staging Dock. Nanoha gets on the comm to warn Zafira. He has to get out in time or his company will be overwhelmed.

"Zafira, they are almost back. Get out of there!"

"Roger. We will disengage."

Nanoha orders her squadron to bombard the pulsating gate. Sure enough, upon seeing the flight mages pummeling their gateway to back home the clone girls decide to go after the flying devil. Rapid Recon, now with slightly less pressure on them, disengages and starts pulling back.

One Alicia clone comes too fast and too close neither Nanoha nor her colleagues have time to shoot the girl down. Nanoha has to resort to a brutal physical attack, slamming her staff on the clone girl's face. Raising Heart in its staff mode lands on the face with a satisfying 'tonk!' sound, which results in the girl's head exploding.

'Tonk?' Nanoha is confused. It should have been a thud…or a whack. Her eyes try to follow the falling dead body, but the head is gone Nanoha can't make out what made the noise. She surveys the air; the Fate girls are closing on her formation fast. Something is different from yesterday but Nanoha can't exactly put her finger on it. Not that she has the time to spare. An urgent call comes from Agito.

"White Devil! Recon! Sail Force reports mass approaching the gate! Get the hell out!"

Nanoha glances down at the gate. Zafira's soldiers are pulling back fast, and she is relieved to see them not having too much trouble getting away from the Dock. Then to her horror, several thousand invaders emerge from the dimensional gate. Many of them immediately rise up in the air, heading straight to the Midchilda Air's 1st squadron.

"Disengage! Disengage! Let's get out of here!" Nanoha screams into the comm, but the girls are too fast. They swarm the Bureau's flight mages.

.

Zafira's Recon Company has retreated out of the facility. Zafira and Alph look up the sky, where Nanoha's flight mages are desperately fighting for their lives, trying to break out of the blob surrounding them.

"God damn it!" Alph cusses.

"Nothing we can do to help." Zafira pushes Alph to keep moving. "Lieutenant Alph, take the company and screen the enemy's movement from the south. Stay out of sight as best as you can."

"What about you?" Alph is concerned. What is the captain going to do?

Zafira transforms into his puppy mode.

"Girls like puppies. I'm gonna hang around a bit."

"Hey, I can do that, too. Let me stay." Alph protests. She, too, has her puppy mode. The alpha puppy on the ground shakes its head.

"No, Alph. We can't risk Testarossa recognizing you."

Alph can't argue with that. She salutes the captain puppy and leads the company to the south.

.

Vita, too, is fighting for her life on the hill. Her fight with the red ribbon girl has dragged on too long for Vita's liking. For some reason, most of the Alicia clones have pulled back from the hill. If she is to get out of here alive, this is her chance.

Suddenly Bug Boy's stunned voice distracts Vita.

"What the fuck? What the fuck? Do you see that Anvil?

"I'm busy!" answers Vita back, dodging an attack that nearly cut her legs off. Bug Boy is still blabbering on the comm.

"What the fuck is that thing?!"

Vita has had enough. She is not going to kill this annoying ribbon girl any time soon. She shouts an order for the Raptors, what's left of them, to get off the hill. Vita makes an aggressive attack on the clone girl she has been fighting, who in response takes a few steps back.

Vita quickly turns and powers her way through the surprised masked clones who have not anticipated this little soldier would run away. Within a dozen or so steps she bumps into and comes face to face with a tall Alicia clone wearing a broken mask that only covers less than half the face. With a bloodcurdling battle cry Vita swings her war-hammer, but the clone girl with the broken mask frantically waves her arms and blinks out of Vita's sight. 'Shit, she's fast.' Vita notes and continues to power her way through the girls, running downhill. But halfway down the hill, she comes face to face with another strong Alicia clone, who nonchalantly parries Vita's war-hammer.

"Welp, this sucks." Vita cusses her luck.

The clone sisters jump on the small angry child soldier.

A giant scaled hand swings down from above, sweeping across the mass of the masked clones surrounding Vita, its razor-sharp claws shredding the bodies to ribbons. The clone sisters look up, and are immediately taken aback, terrified at the sight of what they see, shrieking in fear, some even wetting their overall pants.

A massive white dragon lands next to Major Vita. On its back sits a young woman in the Air Armament Service combat uniform. Above her, four flights of mages spotting Midchilda Air's insignia float in the air among the Vaizen squadron. The young lady greets with a nod.

"Good morning, Major Vita. Midchilda's 2nd squadron at your service."

"Good morning, Caro." Vita suddenly feels all her strength draining out of her body. What a relief, she thinks out aloud. I'm getting out alive.

The dragon gently grabs Vita in its hand.

"Now let's get you out of here, Major." Captain Caro Ru Lusche guides her dragon into the air. Joined with the flight mages, they leave the hill, heading inland westward.

Below them, the senior clone with the red ribbon tries to rally her cowering sisters.

"No! Don't let them get away-"

A hand taps on her shoulder and she turns around to face a tall sister wearing a broken mask only covering one third of the face, and in dirty overall that is clearly undersized.

"Look, we don't even know how many of those monsters they have!" The sister shouts, leaning in.

"But-" The red ribbon girl tries to argue, but the sister shakes her head. There is something authoritative about her demeanor.

"We've fought all night we don't have the strength to push further."

The ribbon girl looks around. The sisters watch her in silence, waiting for her words. They all look exhausted.

#

.

An ambulance unloads Teana and several wounded soldiers outside the building lit by the morning sunlight. After reaching Ginga's position, the injured were transferred over to the waiting ambulances. A lot of them.

Teana stays close to Subaru as the latter is carried inside the makeshift field hospital building along with the others.

Once inside, Teana waits patiently for Shamal to process the new arrivals. Examining Subaru's injured face, the doctor calls Teana over.

"She will live, Teana, but this must have hurt a lot." She checks the left eye and grimaces. "This is lost for good. What happened?"

"This idiot took a blade for me." Teana answers in an irritated tone. Why does Subaru always do such stupid things?

"I wouldn't call that being an idiot. It's heroic." Says Shamal, straitening up. She, too, had a long night.

"Huh? No, I mean she's an idiot in general." Teana scoffs. She continues. "Listen, I gotta get back to my boss and then go to Midchilda. Promise me you take extra extra good care of Subaru?"

Shamal looks puzzled.

"Fate? Didn't you meet her on the way?"

Now Teana is puzzled.

"What do you mean? Was she here?"

"She stopped by hours ago." Shamal then winces. "Don't even ask what she wanted to be done on her face."

.

Teana barges into Signum's HQ hangar.

"Where did Fate go?" She yells to no one in particular.

Signum is busy at a corner receiving reports and giving instructions. She doesn't even look this way. Instead, a soldier comes up to Teana and salutes. There is a large coffin-like crate tagging along behind him.

"Madam, here's your package ready to go."

He taps on the stasis coffin on a self-driven wheel cart. Teana looks inside the coffin.

"Why is she naked?"

The soldier shrugs. He is not very comfortable with the question of why a dead girl he's been taking care of is suddenly naked. Wrong kind of rumors start that way. Instead, he hands over a handwritten note.

"Chief Enforcer left a note on her desk. It's for you."

Teana quickly takes the note and reads it out aloud.

"Teana, I'm pulling off the easiest undercover job in history. I will find out what they want in Midchilda...Talk to Chrono when you have the analysis results-"

She flips the note to check if there is more on the other side but finds none.

"What the hell, boss…"

The soldier tries to get Teana's attention.

"Sorry, madam, but almost all our vehicles are in use right now." He taps on the stasis coffin. "But this is self-driven. A bit slow, but you can still ride on it should you wish to do so."

Teana tries to imagine herself riding a wheeled coffin with a dead girl inside. She shakes her head. She will walk to the Midchilda gate. It's only a few hundred meters anyway.

Teana fiddles with the cart's control. In the meantime, the soldier can't take his eyes off of the bone fragments and gray pink brain matters smeared all over this lady Enforcer's uniform.

.

Nanoha dodges an attack and pushes the attacker aside for her flight mages to finish off.

"Damn it!"

She checks on her squadron. They are dutifully sticking by, despite being completely exhausted. But it is not as bad as it was on the hill. She has noticed the newly arrived Fates are melee only, just like the first day.

"These ones haven't learned the trick?" She thinks to herself aloud.

"Boss, we've got to get out of here!" One of her squadron shouts through the comm.

Nanoha is fully aware. She has to find an opening to lead her men and women out of this swarm.

Suddenly, from a corner of the residential town only a few kilometers outside the Staging Dock, thousands of lightning bolts shoot up in the air, dispersing a section of the blob that is surrounding the Midchilda's flight mages.

'Phalanx shift?!' Nanoha is surprised. Why is it coming from the town? No matter. She has to get her unit out.

"This is our chance! Break through!"

Leading the squadron, she powers through the opening at full speed. The flight mages break it out of the encirclement. As they speed towards inland, another set of Phalanx Shift attack saturates the air behind the squadron, giving the Bureau mages a head start and discouraging the invaders from pursuing.

Nanoha counts her group. From the original sixteen flight mages who left Midchilda, she's now down to ten including herself and the two bleeding badly. The proud ace of the aces has suffered a devastating loss. But that is not her primary concern right now. Nanoha looks over her shoulder down at the town. Fate is definitely down there somewhere. But why?

.

A group of clone sisters rushes to the scene, just outside the southern edge of the town. A lone Alicia clone wearing a broken mask runs up to them.

"The soldiers! They ran that way!"

She points to the south. As the sisters hurry off in that general direction, the girl steps away and jogs towards the town center, making sure no one is paying special attention to her. Soon she joins the others and melts into the crowd.

.

Alph's heart sinks. From her hiding spot, she watched a tall clone girl pointing at her general direction, and now a group of the masked invaders is heading this way.

"Shit, did they spot us?" She whispers her order to pull back into the company communication. "Pull way back. Maintain maximum concealment."

The recon company cloaks up and silently retreats further south.

.

Nanoha's voice fills Signum's hangar.

"I've broken through. Heading home now."

The HQ staff cheers loudly. Signum lets out a sigh of relief.

"Has Vita got out?" asks Nanoha from the distant sky.

"White Devil, Anvil is safe and sound. Your mission was a success. Now, leave the air-duty to Dragonling. Come home." Signum hears Nanoha relaxing on the other end of the comm. "Don't fly over the hill." Signum adds.

As the communication ends, Teana, who has been listening, silently leaves the hangar with the self-driven stasis coffin tagging along.

.

Leading the self-driven stasis coffin, Teana enters the terminal packed with a continuous stream of Raptor combat droids exiting the jump gate from Midchilda. 'This must be Signum's 2nd regiment.' She recalls the brief chat she had with the Rapid Response commander.

She spots a young man in the Executive Office uniform and approaches him.

"Teana Lanster. I believe there is special teleportation to Midchilda arranged for me?"

The young man recognizes the famed Enforcer and salutes.

"Good morning, Enforcer Lanster." He checks his datapad. "There indeed is on directed jump straight to the Office HQ."

Teana has some other plans.

"I'd like to pay a visit to Capital Defense Command first. Could you change the jump destination?"

The man looks troubled.

"Madam, that's a jump to a military facility. We are not authorized-"

"Please."

The young man nods and after a thought initiates a comm to somewhere. Teana leans onto the stasis coffin and closes her eyes, dozing off. After some minutes she is woken up by a gentle tap on the coffin. The man beams a smile. Teana Lanster is cleared to jump to Capital Defense.