[Kaijo]

Okay, fixed and changed several things, that I hope will satisfy a few people, with Chapter 19 of Crisis. Re-posting it, and re-uploading it to ff.net in a bit. I don't want to cram up threads or forums with debate (unless everyone here doesn't mind), so if you still have issues, I'd be glad to debate via PMs. I can even point ya to links about modern and cutting edge weapon systems, and weapon theories.

Previous parts here: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2116261/Kaijo

Spoiler for MGLN Crisis Chapter 19: Rain of Fire:

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 19: Rain of Fire



Nanoha glanced nervously at the timer as she stood atop the military building, wind rustling her hair: 1 hour 38 minutes and 22 seconds remained before the missiles struck. According to Shari, the impact points would be all over the globe, and they were now going to rely solely on her to save the entire planet.

"No pressure!" Hayate had said.

She sighed as she looked around at the various techs and workers getting things ready, then down at the small red orb in her hand. [It always comes down to you and me, doesn't it, Raging Heart?] She clenched the orb in her hand; the AI currently dormant. She wouldn't wake it up until they were ready, to save as much magical power as possible. [We have to do it; Vivio and everyone else are counting on us.]

Her thoughts drifted back to her daughter, currently being taken to a shelter. She had confessed awhile ago, to stealing the relic and splitting it up, putting part of it in Nanoha. In tears, she had admitted that she had just wanted to help her mama like her mama helped her.

Nanoha sighed. There had been many throughout her life who, like Vivio, had done things to help her. And she had done the same for them as well. It was time to do that again.

"You look like a woman who is about to save the world," came a familiar voice.

Nanoha's head came up. "Arisa-chan! Sorry, I'm just thinking."

"About how you're going to pull this off?" the other girl inquired, grinning. "Don't worry; if you mess up, that's what I'm here for!"

"You and Otto," Nanoha corrected.

Her thoughts drifted back to the briefing, nearly 6 hours ago...



"And that's where we stand," Hayate was saying to the assembled group. "We have a little over 7 hours to come up with a plan and implement it or we're toast. The other TSAB ships are either on patrol in the far sectors of the galaxy, or being repaired at Naval headquarters. They don't know when they can get a ship here, so we assume we're on our own."

"Without magic?" Caro questioned, stealing a glance at Erio. "How do we do that?"

"Doesn't the city itself have any sort of missiles?" Subaru asked.

"Yes, but not very many, and they are short-range," Hayate explained. "We could intercept some of the missiles as they enter the atmosphere, but the nuclear fallout would still be bad. And we couldn't stop them all."

"No shuttles?" Teana inquired.

"A few, but they lack weapons, and weren't designed to carry any," Hayate replied. "We have some people looking into the possibility, but it's iffy at this time."

Arisa stood up. "Terra has a full charge on her magical battery. Launch me into space on a shuttle, and I'll shoot them all down."

"I told you that was a bad idea!" Suzuka told her. "We can't fit Terra on a shuttle. And before you say it, slapping you onto a booster rocket is a bad idea, too. You wouldn't be able to re-enter the atmosphere. It would be suicide!"

"We don't have much a choice!" Arisa shot back. "Everyone here has risked their lives, for us and a lot of other people. I bet they'd be just as willing to risk their lives on such a mission."

"Yes, but we try to avoid suicide missions if we can," Signum told her.

"We'll keep it in mind for the moment," Hayate told her, which mollified the girl as she sat down.

"The missiles are also on a wide approach vector," Suzuka added. "Between firing and maneuvering, you might not have enough magical energy to finish the job."

Shari began running some calculations on a data pad.

"If we could..." Subaru started to say, not looking too comfortable with it. "If we could fit Otto into the cockpit, her Ray Storm IS could assist in shooting them down." Her head dropped. "But I guess we'd be dooming her to death, too."

"It's only an idea at this stage," Fate soothed. "We'll explore all options first."

"The magical battery idea isn't a bad one, actually," Shari started to say as all eyes turned to her. "Before they left, the relief ships left several industrial strength magical batteries. We also had several in storage in the Bureau. So we do have magic available; we'd just need a shooter."

Everyone in the room turned toward Hayate and Nanoha.

"I know from personal experience that you can fire from long distances," Vita said, smirking. "But could you actually hit targets that far away?"

"Nanoha would be more suited than I," Hayate stated. "Without Rein, my aiming is bad. I could hookup to computer-assisted aiming, but my Hraesvelgr magic also consumes much more energy than Nanoha's spells. We might not have enough magic in those batteries if I was shooting."

The TSAB Ace of aces closed her eyes, then opened them again and said with all the confidence she could muster, "If you can hook Raging Heart up to the same computer-assisted aiming, I can do it."

"I'll need to run some more calculations as the energy you both use, and what we have," Shari stated. "And it'll take time to get everything set up."

Hayate nodded. "It's worth a shot, if we don't have any other ideas. I'll ask Otto, but she'd have to volunteer. Still, I'm going to put Arisa's plan on backup."

"This means we'll have to let the missiles come as close as possible," Teana stated, quieting the room.

Everyone understood the implications. The closer they were, the easier they'd be to hit. But also the shorter the window to knock them all out.

"And we still have Alhazard itself to worry about," Fate reminded them, thinking of her mother. "She could fire another volley. If we drain the magical batteries now, we won't have them later."

"One problem at a time," Hayate told her. "We deal with the missiles, and we buy ourselves some time. If no one has anything else, we'll begin implementing Shari's plan. But also keep thinking about how to deal with the city itself."

"Magic battery..." Yuuno wondered aloud, then stood up. "I might have something else, but I have to confirm it. I'll check back later." He left the room.

"Well, if we're talking about long-distance shooting," Subaru said, "Dieci might be able to help. She doesn't have her cannon anymore, but you can build her one and tie her into the space targeting system...."

Shari stood up. "We don't have the specs for it, so there's no guarantee we could build one in time, but we'll give a try. Tell her to meet me in my lab, along with anyone else she thinks might be able to help with it."

Subaru nodded, and when no one else had anything to add, Hayate adjourned the meeting.



"When I got involved in magic, I was quite fine risking my life to help others," Nanoha said, her thoughts coming back to the present. "I never imagined putting you in... this kind of situation."

Arisa put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You've done a lot for Suzuka and I, even before we knew what you were up to. It's about time I repaid that." She grinned. "Besides, if you shoot them all down, then you get to save my life!"

Nanoha smiled. "I'll make sure to do that, then."

She almost regretted for a moment that Hayate wasn't the one doing this, as it she could feel the pressure of the entire planet on her. But according to Shari, the missiles were spread fairly wide and thus the explosion effect of Hraesvelgr wouldn't hit many at a time. Also, there wasn't enough magic in the batteries to accommodate enough firings of that spell, since it did use a lot of magic. They were going to have to have to rely on pinpoint accuracy over an area-effect explosion.

[No pressure,] she told herself.

"Also," Arisa said, turning to look across the way. "Suzuka seems hell bent on making this work."

Both girls listened in as the purple-haired technician in the distance ordered engineers around: "Careful with that regulator! If it's not hooked up right, or it gets damaged, we won't be able to control the flow of magic from all the batteries very well! HEY! You're hooking that cable up wrong! You want to blow us all up!?"

The two girls giggled, unused to seeing the usually timid Suzuka take charge so bluntly.

"Well, I have to head back and start pre-flight checks," Arisa said at last, offering her hand. "Good luck, Nanoha-chan; I know you can do it."

The pony-tailed girl took the hand. "Good luck to you, too. I promise you won't need to launch."

Arisa smiled, then walked away, and Nanoha hoped she could live up to that promise. Yes, she was doing this for the entire planet. But all she could think about was doing this for her friend, her daughter, and all the people that meant so much to her.

"Nanoha?" Suzuka said, approaching. "We'll be ready to hook up and run tests in 15 minutes. If all goes well, we'll be fully prepared long before the 50 minute mark. You'll have 20 minutes to knock them all down before the fail-safe point."

Fail-safe. That was the polite way of saying the point at which Arisa and Otto would have to launch, in order to make orbit with enough time to take down any leftover missiles before they entered the atmosphere.

Knowing all this, Nanoha glanced at the 1:25:33 clock and simply replied, "Understood."

They they both turned as a large holographic Hayate appeared over the city. They knew this was coming, as she was borrowing Jail's hologram setup.

"People of Clanagan, and Mid-Childa," she began. "I am Lt. Col. Hayate Yagami of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. By now, most of you probably know what's going on. Magic is gone, and there is a large flying city on approach, which may or may not be Alhazard. It is, however, hostile. You've also probably heard about dangerous missiles on the way. It may seem hopeless, but I want you to know now that it's not. We are going to survive.

Across the planet, in almost every city, shelter, and home, Hayate's message reached. "Even without magic, we are going to fight. And we are going to win. We are finishing preparations now to shoot down all the missiles before they even enter the atmosphere. After that, we will deal with the flying city. We, of the TSAB, are going to stay right here along side all of you, and fight to the best of our ability. This is the pledge we have all made, to protect everyone and everything that is dear to us.

She spread her arms about before her, hands open, palms up. "And so I ask for your help. Please stay calm, no matter what happens. Cooperate with authorities. Do no give in to fear. There is a saying from a work of literature on my home planet: 'These are the times that try men's souls.' We are being tested now, and we will rise above it. We will survive, no matter what happens. Thank you, and good luck to us all."



Arisa ran through her pre-flight checkup, and tried not to think about the giant explosive she was sitting on. The rocket was virtually safe, she was assured, and Terra's inertia dampeners wouldn't subject her to horrifying G-forces like normal astronauts, but it was still something she wasn't entirely comfortable with.

Although she found it strange she should think about that, considering the mission would end in her death regardless. There had been one last ditch effort to see about using a shuttle to retrieve the pilots, by having them eject from Terra. But the cockpit would be scrunched with two people as it were; there wasn't room for spacesuits, which would also hamper operation of the golem. Without her own magic, control would be much clunkier and harder.

She felt Otto climb into the cockpit, and was at least grateful the cyborg was slightly smaller than Suzuka. "I didn't think you'd come."

"Why wouldn't I?" Otto replied. "My sisters and I are as much a part of your society as the rest of you are. I have no wish for any of them to die if I can help stop it." She closed the hatch, and then stuck her arms in the specially built side tubes, testing the connection. They would allow her to project her IS power outside the golem.

"I suppose that's true," Arisa noted. "I didn't think there was anyone else crazy enough to volunteer for a suicide mission." She looked back and gave the cyborg a grin.

"I suppose I am crazy, too," Otto replied with a smile.



"Ready to fire!" Nanoha announced, Raging Heart in Excelion mode.

A cable was hooked up the back end of her staff which would supply the magic power, and a scope was attached to the top of her spear end to assist in aiming. Also, considering the power that was going to be used, a couple other cables were attached to Raging Heart's venting system, to help remove the waste heat buildup. Her Divine Buster was incredibly efficient on a magic power-to-heat ratio already, but she'd really be pushing the limits here.

Still, part of her despaired, since it appeared that Dieci hadn't been able to construct her highly technologically-advanced cannon in time. It was all up to her.

"Remember, since you can't draw magic normally, and due to the extreme range and power requirements, you'll have about two minutes between shots," Suzuka reminded her. "Your cartridges can speed this up, but you only have so many of them."

Nanoha nodded and glanced at the timer: 00:51:58. "Ready to begin charging for first shot!"

Suzuka returned to the monitoring and switching station as power began to flow.

Time passed as Nanoha lined up, and the scope activated a floating window above her staff, with targeting crosshairs. The blips appeared on her screen and she lined up. "Ready, Raging Heart?"

"Divine Buster, Extension!" her device chirped as its way of answering, then added: "Mark Two!"

This version sacrificed about half her normal power for increased control range. The technicians told her that the missiles would actually be somewhat fragile, and thus wouldn't require much force to knock them out. She'd also be applying a bit of mental power to control the beam, similar to her Divine and Axel shooter attacks.

Nanoha lined up, steadied her nerves and began to fire, tilting her staff to sweep the beam over multiple targets. Raging Heart began venting steam almost immediately.



"Nanoha's first volley is away!" Lt. Gerard Wilheim announced. "Tracking... 5 missiles down!"

Hayate sighed in partial relief. [But she'll need to do better than that, if she wants to save Arisa and Otto. She has to knock out all 50 in 20 minutes.]

Another 1 minute and 30 seconds passed, and then, "Second volley.... 7 missiles this time!"

[She's using cartridges to speed up the time,] Hayate noted. [Please let this work!]



It was after the fifth volley that disaster struck. The regulator seemed to overheat and blow, cutting off the supply of magic power. Suzuka barked orders to get the secondary one hooked up, but precious time would be lost. And there were still 22 missiles left.

"Nanoha!" Yuuno called, running up to her. Apparently, he had arrived while she was firing and was standing by.

She turned as he tossed something her way. She caught it, realized what it was, and looked up at him in surprise.

"I've been keeping track of them, and this one was in display at a museum," he told her. " I don't know how much magic is has, just use it!"

Nanoha turned back, focusing on the jewel seed, letting it float up in front of her, pulling magic from it. As opposed to the ones she captured long ago, this one had been properly sealed and adjusted so it wouldn't go wild.

Nanoha resumed firing, using more cartridges to make up for lost time. But she was running out of those as well.

"Seventh volley... 7 more missiles down," came the steady count. "15 targets remaining."

Hayate glanced at the timer: 00:33:12. [Come on, Nanoha....]

"Eighth volley... 6 more down," Gerard announced. "Wait, report from the firing station.... The jewel seed replacement is dead. They are still having trouble with the backup regulator. They won't make it before the Fail Safe point."

Hayate watched the counter hit 00:31:05. "We don't have a choice now. Launch the golem." [And may Nanoha and the rest forgive me,] she added to herself.



Arisa and Otto heard the command over the communicator, as the countdown started and the rocket roared to life. They spared a knowing look at each other, then focused on the task at hand.

There were nine missiles left.



Nanoha dropped to her knees, tears appearing in her eyes as she watched the rocket lift into the sky. Yuuno knelt down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Arisa, I'm so sorry...."



The ride wasn't as bad she expected it to be, Arisa thought, as the rocket detached. And he view wasn't bad, but she didn't have time to admire the beauty of space.

"Tracking remaining missiles and engaging boosters," she replied.

A small periscope descended and Otto put her eyes to it. "Receiving targeting data. Even though my effective range is enhanced to over 2 kilometers with the targeting computer and without atmospheric interference, getting closer will enhance my chances to hit."

"Terra's weapon systems aren't much longer than that as well for the same reasons," Arisa answered. "First missile coming into range. Calculating targeting lock...."

The artillery boxes snapped into place, on top of Terra's shoulders and on the outer parts of the legs. Almost immediately, they began to fire; Otto supplementing that with Ray Storm blasts. After several near misses, the target exploded.

She was grateful the techs down below were right; even though these missiles were technically traveling very fast, they were also moving in essentially a straight line. Terra's calculations allow them to essentially place a wall of fire in their path, to which the missile ran into.

"1 down!" Arisa cheered. "Moving on to the next...."



"5th missile down, 4 to go!" came the announcement.

Hayate glanced at the timer, where 15 minutes and 53 seconds remained. "Arisa, you have about 12 minutes to get the last 4. After that, they begin atmospheric entry and it becomes much harder."

"Understood," Arisa responded. "But these remaining ones are spread out fairly far, and we're trying to balance remaining battery power with heading changes. We don't want to run out of power until we get the last one."

"What's the status on the regulator?" Hayate inquired.

"Hayate, this is Suzuka," came the reply. "Shari is working on the backup, but I don't think we'll get it up in time. They have been in storage a long time, and weren't meant to be used in the way we're using them. We barely had time to get the primary ready. It's my fault for not getting a proper full checkup on the secondary."

"Don't blame yourself, Suzuka," Hayate told her. "You, and everyone else did the best they could. We just have to hope Arisa and Otto can get the rest."

"6th down, 3 to go...."



Arisa glanced at the amount of magic power remaining and winced. "Otto, these maneuvers are taking too much energy. I'm going to have to rely on you for shooting. If I do that, I can put more power into movement so we can get these last missiles before they hit the atmosphere."

"Understood," Otto replied. "I'm getting the hang of this, so I should be able to take out the next ones quickly once we get into range. I think I can increase my effective range a bit for the same reason."

The golem pilot poured more power into the boosters. "Coming up on #7."

The cyborg focused. "I see it.... IS: Ray Storm activate!"

Several green shots fired from the glowing orbs on either side of the golem's head, striking the head of the missile as it flew into the green rain, and blowing it up.

Arisa set a course for the next one, but noticed something. "We have a problem. We can get #8, but I don't think we'll get #9 before it enters the atmosphere."

"Can't you increase speed?" Otto asked.

"Possible, but we wouldn't be able to decelerate too much at the end," Arisa replied. "We'd swing by pretty fast, and you'd only have a second or two to shoot a rapidly moving target, due to differences in heading and velocity."

"There is an available method," Terra intoned, putting up information. "Due to lack of atmospheric interference, if all remaining power is used, the range of main gun is increased by several magnitudes. Success probability is 78%."

"I'll take those odds," Arisa replied. "Coming up on #8. Terra, prepare to target and dump power into the gun as soon as Otto destroys this one."

"Acknowledged," Terra responded.

"Firing!" the cyborg responded. "Destroyed."

"Channeling energy!" Terra intoned.

Arisa prayed as she targeted. "Firing!"

A beam of multi-colored light erupted from the barrel of the gun in the golem's right hand.



There was intense silence in the Long Arch control room after the second missile was destroyed. Hayate kept her eyes on the timer as it ticked down to the 3 minute mark.

"Reports coming in from outside; a bright flash in the sky!" Gerard nearly shouted. "That was the last missile! They did it!"

Cheers erupted in the room, while Hayate sighed and closed her eyes.



Arisa glanced at the power indicator. "2%. That wasn't all your power, Terra."

"Apologies, but calculations indicated not all power was required," Terra replied, shutting down various systems to preserve life support for as long as possible. "I regret that I am not capable of atmospheric entry."

The golem pilot smirked. "I'll ask them to add that to your capabilities next time."

There was a pause, then the AI voice seemed to reply more softly. "Understood. Beginning final shutdown. It was a pleasure, Arisa Bannings." Terra signed off.

"So, what happens now?" Otto asked quietly as the cockpit went dark.

"Life support will run for awhile with minimal power use, if everything else is shut down," Arisa replied. "And based on my last readings, our orbit won't decay for awhile, either. How much time, I don't know. But enough to reflect on things." She paused, then looked back at the other girl, smiling. "I didn't get to know you very well, but I'm glad you helped me with this. I think we made a good team."

Otto smiled in return. "I am glad as well, Arisa Bannings."

"Just call me Arisa, since we're friends now," the golem pilot told her.

Otto nodded. "Okay, Arisa."

Both girls' expressions changed as they felt something. "Wha-?"



"Lt. Col. Yagami, new contact has appeared," Gerard announced.

Hayate's head came up. "What is it?"

One of the screens activated. "Sorry we're late, Hayate. This ship was badly damaged and needed repairs."

Fate's eyes widened. "Chrono!"

"The Ventek was able to jump out of the fight, but needed to repair it's engines," he explained. "Then it jumped back to save survivors in escape pods, including me."

Hayate stood up. "Chrono! Arisa and Otto are in a golem somewhere in orbit. Can you lock onto them and teleport them aboard?"

"Already done," he replied, nodding. "Got them and the golem. We began monitoring what was going on once we started rescuing survivors. We got here as soon as we could. We'll remain in orbit conducting additional repairs, and to shoot down anymore missiles."

"It's good to have you back, Chrono," Fate told him.

He nodded. "Thank you, but we lost a lot of good people today, including Lucino." He paused, as Hayate and Fate both remembered her. "However, for now, you need to get your staff together. I'm also sending some data you need your people to analyze. We need to make plans."

Hayate nodded as the data stream commenced.



An excited Suzuka came over to Yuuno and Nanoha, who were sitting against the wall-like railing of the building. After informing them of Arisa's and Otto's rescue by Chrono, Nanoha jumped to her feet and hugged her happily. She hugged a surprised Yuuno next.

All three knew the city was still coming, and they still had much work to do. But for now, there was hope. Whatever may come, they would deal with it.



The city of Alhazard reaches orbit in 16 hours, 37 minutes.

Author's notes:

This chapter didn't exist in my notes, initially. It was something I came up with as I got to it. After the couple of losses the team has experienced, I decided to give them a draw, but with a note of hope. Plus it gave our main heroine a chance to shine. =) Also for one more reason, which will be made more clear next chapter.

Be here next time for Chapter 20 "Calm Before the Storm" where plans are made to strike back, and many surprises are revealed.

Science notes(skip if you find such things boring): There has been some debate on the plausibility of the methods being used here. Believe me, as a science nerd who keeps up on the latest physics and developing weapon systems, I can see the concerns. So while it does stretch the bounds a bit, there is sufficient space for magic and the high magical technology of the TSAB to make things possible. Hayate and Nanoha have both used magical-technology to assist them in hitting things they couldn't see. Hayate in ep11 to hit groups of fast flying drones, and Nanoha blasting Quattro through several walls; apparently, Raging Heart's scope was good enough for that, and it's been considerably enhanced here via hookup to targeting computers and space sensors.

As far as Nanoha reaching space with her weapon, it's a fact of physics that the more power you pump into a beam, the farther it can go and the more powerful it becomes. If you really want to think about range issues here, look up at the night sky. Each of those stars you see is hundreds of thousands of light years away, and yet energy is reaching you via a light beam.

Last note: While pure computer targeting would seem to be the best on the surface, there is a reason that humans are still in the loop here. There is very much a mental component when using magic, something that computers can't do. Also, it's kinda boring when it's the computers doing all the work, rather than a human we care about doing the firing. MGLN is all about humans and devices working together to produce extreme magical effects.

If you want debate things with me, feel free. My PMs are always open, and I love a good debate. Or you can direct me to a thread where I would be more than glad to discuss aspects like weapons theory and physics. But also keep in mind, movies, TV shows, and other stories have been bending science for decades in order to embellish things or just to simply entertain. Ultimately, that's the goal of a storyteller. As a science nerd, I could go on about the space battles in Star Wars, the implausibiliy of lightsabers, or the fact that the movie Peter Parker could not physically be able to shoot his organic web shooters.

But in the end, it doesn't matter, because we just want to tell/hear a good story. =)

Edit: Page claim for science vs. magic in the Nanoha-verse! ^_^