[synaesthetic]

For your reading pleasure, here's A Path Through Remembrance ~ 3rd phase! Again, it is apparently too big to fit in an AS post, so I'll split it up into two posts, forgive my multiple postings in a row.

Spoiler for a path through remembrance - 3rd phase:

3rd phase

Teana felt overwhelmed. The work of a true Enforcer in the middle of an electrifying and politically charged case was dizzying. Her desk, impromptu as it was set next to Fate's in the temporary command center, was overwhelmed with floating display windows covered in various bits of information relevant to the case. Teana longed to close all the glowing monitor screens and rest her eyes for a moment, but that wouldn't be possible.

The investigation was coming to a head--thanks to Teana's chance witnessing of the attack on the original command center, Cross Mirage had obtained a visual record of the suspected criminal.

Teana's first instinct was to search through the TSAB records to find out if there was any trace of the strange young woman within the Administration's files. Fate had agreed but only after some argument, which struck Teana as odd, but she did not press the issue.

The initial search found nothing--no biometrics, no familial data, not even a point of origin or any surveillance images of the suspect. Teana sighed as she looked away from the multiple search windows.

"She's a ghost--a nobody, according to the Administration," Teana said irritably. Her senior, Fate Harlaown, nodded absently. She was looking very distracted and anxious. Teana was unsure what the problem was, but it was like Fate expected something bad to happen based on the information they obtained.

"Why are you acting so weird, sempai?"

Fate looked startled as she turned her attention back onto her junior. "What are you talking about? I'm not acting weird."

"Ever since your initial search was met with a refusal, you've been spacey," protested Teana indignantly. "What gives?"

"Perhaps I can answer that question for you," a male voice said from the doorway. Teana, to her credit, reacted very quickly upon hearing that voice. Despite being completely unexpected, she was standing rigidly at attention and saluting as an Admiral of the Naval Forces walked into the command center. It didn't matter that Teana knew this Admiral personally--she had been taught to show respect to the rank, not the person, after all.

"How long have you been listening at the door?" Fate asked crossly, not bothering to stand up or show any respect whatsoever. Her ire was palpable--Teana could almost feel the irritation her senior felt.

"Not long," Chrono Harlaown said as he pulled up a chair and sat down behind Shari's vacant desk, the engineer having gone to her quarters for some rest hours ago. "I sincerely apologize for blocking your queries, but there's more here going on than you know. My mo--I mean, Director Harlaown has been furious ever since several nondisclosure agreements were circulated regarding the images of the suspect Cross Mirage captured. It was all I could do to prevent Intelligence from demanding that your Device undergo a full memory wipe."

"What does the Intelligence Service have to do with anything?" Fate demanded, watching Teana gulp anxiously after hearing the words "your Device" and "memory wipe" in the same sentence.

"This woman that you encountered--she is considered a person of interest by the TSAB's intelligence community, and I'm sure you know why."

Teana looked at Chrono and nodded. "She shrugs off magic like it's a spring shower."

"That isn't the whole of it," Chrono said grimly. "The woman's magic resistance against direct processes and effects isn't complete, but her resistance to detection magic is almost total. I'm certain you can understand why Intelligence has an interest here."

"But the TSAB officially assigned this case to us with the highest importance," Teana objected. "They're frantic to get this solved after Auris Gaiz's murder!"

"It's a simple case of the left hand of the Administration not knowing what the right hand is up to," Fate said simply, staring directly at her adoptive brother. "It's a problem endemic to all large governments."

"That's correct," Chrono replied, returning Fate's piercing, accusatory gaze with an apologetic smile. "Look, I know I didn't level with you or with our mother at first, but I wasn't in a position where I could do anything to help you. But things have changed now."

"What happened?" Fate demanded.

"The mysterious sniper has killed again," Chrono muttered darkly. "Another military officer in the Ground Forces--a Colonel Miller, ranking officer in the engineering corps."

"That's unusual," Teana pointed out, her brow furrowing as she attempted to make the connection. "First the assassin kills the very public and visible General Gaiz, then she kills some Colonel in the engineering corps?"

"The attacks seem random and purposeless, but I've had a working theory for a while and now that I've seen more of this young lady's work, I'm inclined to believe that my theory is correct," Chrono stated.

"What theory?" Fate asked.

"The targets destroyed by the particle beam don't appear to serve any connected purpose. Computer simulations bore this out, and with the assassination of General Gaiz... all the pieces fall into place. Our little sniper is throwing up a smokescreen, but she may not even know it herself--it's likely her employer calling the shots behind the scenes."

"It fits," Teana replied, mulling that one over in her head. "We've had incidents in which many people were killed to disguise and obscure the specific death of one person. If these assassinations are a smokescreen, who do you think the real target is?"

"I don't know, but I have my suspicions. If the killings had started and stopped with Auris Gaiz, this would have been easier. Killing her was a brilliant move on the enemy's part--the political fallout will keep the Administration distracted for weeks. The local representatives are already at each other's throats trying to appoint her successor."

"So who do you suspect will be the true target?"

"Why would anyone use an energy weapon of unknown origin to kill Auris Gaiz? She isn't a mage and has never been one. She would be unable to defend herself against a simple bullet fired from a mass-based sniper rifle. There's no reason to use that much overwhelming power against such a target. The materiel targets make more sense--destroying objects takes much more effort.

"But think about it, Teana. Why would the assassin need so much stopping power--a weapon seemingly tailor made to kill a powerful mage before their autoguard can activate? What target within the command structure of the Ground Forces warrants such drastic measures?"

Chrono nodded in satisfaction as Teana made the connection. The blood drained from her face, leaving her pale and wide-eyed as she quickly tumbled to the proper conclusion.

"Ha... have you warned her yet?" Teana asked grimly.

"I haven't and I won't," Chrono said coolly, ignoring Teana's outraged expression. "If it becomes obvious that she knows she is being hunted, the mastermind behind this plot may go to ground and we'll never find them. She's an officer in the military and within the command structure--she knows the risks, and she knows that many people have not forgiven her for the crimes her 'children' once committed."

"Wait, wait, wait," Fate shouted suddenly, slamming her palms on the table. "The killer is after Hayate?! And you are just going to let it happen?"

Chrono held his hands up and replied mildly, "There's nothing I can do about it in any case. These are orders from above--my hands are tied, Fate. I was specifically ordered not to tell her. The only reason I'm telling you two is that my orders concerning these matters were only clear regarding Colonel Yagami."

"Do you have any good news at all or are you just here to upset us?" Fate queried angrily.

"As a matter of fact, I do have good news--I have the information you were seeking. I had to call in some favors and pull some strings, but I managed to find out who the woman in Cross Mirage's recording is." Chrono plugged a memory card into the console on Shari's desk and displayed the information.

It was the intelligence dossier on the woman Teana had encountered and fought nearly a week ago. She was shocked at how detailed it was, how much the TSAB's intelligence agency knew about this woman and yet left her completely alone to wreak havoc as she saw fit.

"Nena Karolyn Ashley," Chrono began, reading the report summary. "Unknown age, believed to be in her mid-twenties. Born on Midchilda in an undisclosed location, likely somewhere within current Belkan territory. According to Intelligence reports, she grew up in a small town predominately populated by the descendants of Belkan expatriates, near the Saint Church itself. Data on her adolescent years is incomplete and inconclusive, but there were some witnesses who mentioned that she was kidnapped by a group of strange men wearing what appeared to be power-assisted armor suits.

"Five years later she reappeared, spotted by several Intelligence cells making a living as a freelance courier and smuggler. She ran drugs, mass-based weapons and smuggled various other types of contraband for many different underworld interests, but stopped short at slaving operations and anything related to Lost Logia. Nothing major, really--at this point she was a petty criminal, a space pirate of sorts. The Enforcer patrols were on the lookout for her, but at that time a large portion of the fleet was busy with the Book of Darkness incident."

"What changed her from a smuggler to an assassin?" Teana asked impatiently.

"We don't know, really. During the Book of Darkness incident, Intelligence probes recorded a fierce space battle against multiple pirate vessels. The vessel known to belong to Nena Ashley was crippled and boarded by other pirates with the intent to capture. Reports of what happened within are sketchy, but the general claim is that this is when Nena obtained her distinctive weapon. It wasn't long after the battle that Nena began to reduce her shipping jobs and increase her hunting missions."

"Has she ever targeted Administration personnel before?" Fate asked. Chrono shook his head and brought up another file--this one a list of people Intelligence suspected that Nena Ashley had killed. Teana was taken aback by the high number of kills credited to the woman--nearly two hundred suspected killings.

"As you can see, the majority of kills credited to her are underworld figures. She was something of a hitman for various organized crime groups, a bounty hunter operating on the wrong side of the law. Only recently has she started to assassinate Administration personnel." Chrono highlighted a recent entry, dated less than two months ago.

"Intelligence has no idea why she suddenly started assassinating Administration personnel two months ago. They believe that she has been working for the same person or organization for at least two years, yet up until recently she has only been used within the underworld."

"What's this here... entry from last month on the activity report," Teana murmured, gesturing to the inactive window. Chrono obligingly switched to the other report and highlighted the entry in question.

"According to this report, a small scout vessel rumored to be owned by Nena Ashley was spotted nosing around an orbital maximum-security prison controlled by the Naval Forces. Apparently the automated security system activated and sent a number of fighter drones out to investigate, but she was already gone by the time they arrived."

"That's the prison where Scaglietti is being held," Fate noted. Chrono nodded, his expression troubled.

"It's possible that her client wishes to free the good Doctor, but there are dozens of other high-profile dimensional criminals kept within that facility. Scaglietti is a small fish in a big pond. Still, it's troubling information," the admiral agreed.

"Is there any data on Nena's magic resistance?" Teana inquired, changing the subject suddenly. Chrono shook his head.

"Unfortunately that was the one thing the Intelligence Service refused to release. I can't even see that information, much less access it away from their secure terminals. It was all I could do to obtain a personal dossier on Miss Ashley."

"The Administration isn't doing anything... funny again, are they?" Teana inquired with a suspicious tone. Chrono shook his head helplessly.

"I only know what they tell me. I do realize where you're going with this, but I can assure you the answer is probably not. The Administration has little use for magic resistant soldiers, considering how all of our technology and infrastructure is built upon magic use."

Teana and Fate both caught the unspoken hint Chrono had carefully worked into his neutral reply. They glanced at each other and nodded--Teana noticing that her senior's face looked much more pleased and less upset with her brother than moments before.

"I'm tired," Fate said absently. "I'm going back to my quarters. Nanoha is probably wondering what's taking me so long."

"Say hello to Nanoha for me," Chrono said with a smile. His adoptive sister nodded and smiled back, showing Chrono clearly that she wasn't upset with him personally, but only upset with what he had been forced to do that had hindered her investigation. Had it been anyone else, Teana knew, she would have been threatening to bring them up on charges for intefering with a federal investigation.

"I'm going to stay and work on this some more," Teana told Fate as she picked up her purse and prepared to leave. Fate's expression softened and she glanced out the window.

"Subaru would probably like to see you some since you're in town," she noted.

"She's busy right now," Teana said matter-of-factly as she started sifting through the data on Nena Ashley. "There was some severe weather that caused disaster for the fishing fleet off the coast. Her unit was called in to rescue the crews of several capsized fishing boats."

"Terrible storm going on," Chrono agreed. "It should make landfall and drop a deluge on Cranagan within the next six hours."

"I'm going," Fate said as she walked out the door. "See you tomorrow morning, Teana. Make sure you get some sleep tonight."

"Yes ma'am," Teana replied absently. Chrono excused himself silently and followed his sister out the door, leaving Teana alone with her thoughts and the data on her rival, the prime suspect of the Capital Sniper case.

"Nena K. Ashley... now we've got a name to go with that face, with that weapon," Teana murmured to the image burning on the data window in front of her. The young woman in the image hardly had the look of a hardened killer with the blood of hundreds on her hands. She was attractive--not beautiful, not the kind of woman who would attract the eyes of ever male in a crowded room--but pretty enough. Maybe cute.

The picture itself wasn't the unkempt mug shot of a captured criminal, but a high-definition Intelligence snapshot taken of the woman in a small restaurant. The short white dress and decorative high-heeled sandals did much to accentuate her apparent innocence. Teana prided herself on her lack of prejudices, but even she wouldn't have pegged Nena Ashley as a pirate, smuggler and murderer.

I wonder why she's doing this, Teana thought to herself. Most mercenaries and freelancers don't intentionally go against the Administration purely for profit. There are much safer means of making a living within the underworld. As a pure profit motive, it just doesn't add up...

A Path Through Remembrance
1st phase
2nd phase
3rd phase