The group ended staying on the planet Tenrei longer than they had expected, mainly because Yuuno had to figure out how the new ship's interfaces worked such as reworking the display language to one he was more familiar with and going through the operator's manual. As there was much to read, he didn't rest properly for the past few nights as he kept reading and working things out.
Although deciphering the language was simple enough, he ran into another problem. The ship's systems were locked with command passwords. Thankfully, Material-D and Material-S managed to get a few primary ones open, mostly by guessing on words related to that girl love thing the Reverend had been preaching about earlier. "I managed to get this one unlocked, peon."
"Thanks. I'll get to it once I finish over here." The Librarian's attention was focused solely on the displays in front of him that were showing him engine schematics. "Let's see... where's that fuel mileage number again?"
"You're welcome." The Hayate replica took out her fan to cool herself off and glanced out the ship's window where Material-L was playing outside with her brand new dog summon. Rai was trying to get her new dog to do some tricks but was having little success. Obviously because of the way it stared at her in annoyance while she tried to get the dog to follow her example of rolling over in the ground.
"Yami, can you please call Rai in for lunch?" asked Seikou from the side as she took out the day's rations and started dividing them up into equal portions for four people.
"Call me 'Your Majesty'!" grumbled Yami before she headed to the hatch to get Material-L. Once the Fate replica got word that lunch was being served, she dismissed her summon and zipped inside the ship past a bewildered Lord of Darkness.
"FOOD!!"
"Goodness... I never seen you this hungry except for chicken!" Material-S passed on one plate to Rai while another plate went to Yuuno who accepted it quietly before heading back to work.
"I know!" As she plowed into her meal, Yami quietly connected with her device.
'Both yesterday and today, Material-L has brought out that summon of hers. Something like that would normally cost her an extraordinary amount of mana and drain her to the point where she would be starving for Linker Cores. But yet, her energy levels have remained stable.'
Well? Don't you have something to say to me?
Yami ignored the smug tone of her Device while keeping an eye on the feasting Rai. 'Okay, so you were right on that regard. And I myself feel a bit stronger than before despite not consuming Linker Cores or taking additional mana from that peasant in the past few days. What next?'
As things stand, the first injection of seeds have worked to create a foundation for your internal mana generators inside your Linker Core. It can now convert standard nutrients from the food you consume into units of mana. Of course, another injection would most likely improve the conversion rate.
'I see. I'll keep that in mind.' Just as Material-D disconnected herself from her Device, she heard Yuuno shout out in triumph.
"I got it! I finally figured out how to fly this thing!"
His outburst was followed by mocking applause coming from the Lord of Darkness. "Bravo, peon. That only took you... what? Forty something odd hours to do?"
Even as Material-S frowned in disapproval at her friend's wicked tongue, it didn't bother the Librarian at all. "Say what you will but if I interpreted the engine specs correctly, it's gonna be a smooth three day trip to Mid-Childa from here! Ah, I can't wait to get back to my old office! And I want to see Nanoha and the others again!"
Seikou's sharp hearing picked up on that name that he just said. For some reason, she was curious to know more about that name but that can wait for a moment. "Only three days?"
"I know!" exclaimed Yuuno with the excitement of returning home reflecting in his tired eyes, due to the small amount of sleep he had gotten while working on the ship. "These guys were using an X-3 Xros Virsago Drive as their primary means of propulsion! Far more powerful than what I had back on my old ship! Once we get off this planet, there should be no problems getting back home!"
That was when Material-L perked up from her clean plate. "Ooh, poor choice of words there, Yuu-nii. Now the universe has an obligation to throw everything including the kitchen sink to mess things up for you."
"Oh, come on! Stop joking around, Rai-chan!" laughed the blonde male. "This is going to work. It...... it has to..."
The Fate replica shrugged, not even picking up the sudden fatigue in Yuuno's tone during that last bit. "Don't say I didn't warn you..."
The only response she got was Yuuno drifting off and slumping in his seat. "It... has...... to..."
**********
"Whoaaaa... they really renovated this place! Look at it, Tea!"
The orange haired enforcer merely sighed in irritation at her friend's antics upon stepping into this place again after four and a half years. She could understand the whole nostalgia thing but still... "Subaru, would you please act more professional? You are a Sergeant for crying out loud!"
"Aw, come on! Don't tell me you're not curious about how they spruced up the old HQ!" exclaimed Subaru in her usual energetic tone.
"That can wait until after the meeting! Let's go or we're going to be late!" growled Teana as she walked on and saw the small crowd gathering near the area ahead. As the duo arrived, they spotted many familiar faces in the crowd. Senior officers such as Nanoha, Fate, Signum and Vita were present along with former members of Riot Force Six like Alto, Vice and Griffith. A few new faces did pop up though such as...
"Gin-nee?! And everybody else too...!" Indeed, all of the other Nakajima sisters had blended in with the crowd.
"Yo!" greeted Nove casually as Subaru and Teana made their way through.
"You all got orders to transfer to Special Duty Section Six as well?" asked Teana.
"It was Yagami-san who made the arrangements," said Cinque. "The fact that N2R and some of Battalion 108 have been transferred to this unit means that she is really taking this threat seriously."
"Speaking of transfers, Erio and Caro will be joining us too, right Gin-nee?"
Ginga nodded. "They're on their way from Supools as we speak although I do recall that they intended to make a detour to Carnaaji to recruit Lutecia. Commander Yagami's working to pull some strings and temporarily lift her sentence while the threat is still at large."
All of a sudden, the small chitter chatter began to die down as Hayate Yagami, dressed in a blue military uniform complete with a dress shirt, tie, jacket and skirt, came into view of everybody and stepped up to the podium to face the crowd. She was accompanied by a tiny silver haired Unison Device dressed in the same uniform as well except the one thing that most people noticed was that the little one wasn't looking like the cheerful energetic being they all remembered. "Hello everyone. It's good to see that everybody's healthy and I wish that we had reunited under better circumstances however we have a powerful threat on the horizon and it's our mission to ensure that they never set foot on our home." She paused for a moment. "First, I would like to clear up any misconceptions that are out there, beginning with this one."
A presentation screen popped up behind to show off the images of the three women who had broadcasted themselves all over Mid-Childa a few days ago before playing back a part of the clip. "...You will never get Yuuno-san back. I will never allow someone who has such kindness in him to work for such evil people. You had best hope, for your sake, Evil Admiral, that we never meet in person, for I shall not hold anything back." While that played on, Teana noticed Nanoha's sudden shift in posture out of the corner of her eye. The Captain's eyes were as hard as steel while one of her hands was rubbing against the pendant form of Raising Heart... as if itching to let loose on the enemy.
"The accusation that was just thrown at Admiral Harlaown has absolutely no basis. This is most likely a tactic to throw the public into confusion. Sadly to say that it worked and regardless of the press conferences we held to clear Chrono's name, there are still those who want these allegations thoroughly investigated. If any one of you is contacted by a member of the media, please do not comment on the situation as the position of the Bureau has already been clarified," said the Commander. "The next misconception I would like to address is the assumption that these 'Materials'-"
"Wait a sec. 'Materials'?" asked Vice in a puzzled tone.
"It was how they identified themselves along with a title so for now, we will be labelling them as 'Materials'," explained another male voice in the crowd.
"Thank you, Verossa." Hayate waited a moment to get her train of thought back on track. "As I was saying before, there has been a misconception that the 'Materials' are more powerful than myself, Captain Takamachi and Enforcer Harlaown. We cannot confirm or deny this so we are operating under the assumption that they are equal in power to ourselves. However due to the fact that they don't have Limiters and are openly hostile to members of the Bureau, it is highly recommended that none of you take on any of them alone."
When no one said anything, she continued on. "As it stands, with the imminent threat of these 'Materials' and the threat that they pose to Mid-childa, we have been taking the time to move several prisoners that have been on world to other penal colonies until this threat has passed."
"Why prisoners?" Wendi asked, confused as to why they would bother moving such people off world.
"A precaution to say the least. If they were to free all the prisoners to create havoc, it would divide our forces even further to their advantage."
Wendi nodded at Hayate, before frowning slightly. "What about civilians?"
"We're going to make sure that the civilians are kept out of this." Hayate leaned against the podium. "The rest of the Bureau agrees with me in that these 'Materials' must be kept off planet if possible. Fortunately for us, we're going to have some additional help from the Saint Church."
And on cue, three new females popped up behind Hayate by phasing through the ground. "Ta-da! No need to fear! Cute Church Knight Sein-chan is here!"
"Was that really necessary?" asked the girl hanging on her left arm in a quiet tone.
"We had to make a splashy entrance, Otto! That's the way we show style! Showmanship!!" Sein turned to the other girl hanging on her right arm. "Don't you agree, Deed?"
The nun merely shrugged indifferently while Hayate giggled. "As you can see, these three will be acting as the liaisons between us and the Saint Church. Please welcome Sein, Otto and Deed to Special Duty Section Six!"