Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Riot Force 6
Chapter XII New Line
“I swear, that Hayato is an idiot,” Syn grumbled from her bed.
“Syn, are you still going on about that?” Vivio asked coming out of the bathroom as she towelled her hair dry.
“That’s because he is!” Syn declared, and sat on the bed cross-legged. “I mean who in their right mind would honestly get their device blown up on mission like that?!”
“Syn,” Vivio sighed, sitting down next to the girl, “it wasn’t his fault.”
“He should’ve kept better care of it,” Syn mumbled, opting to rest her chin in the palm of one hand, while the other idly twirled locks of her ultramarine hair. “I mean even I could’ve taken better care of that device. But now look at it! One’s just scrap metal, and the other looked like it had gone to hell and died!
“And what was up with that some platoon officer? Did he have some sort of stick shoved up his ass? He was a jackass, that’s what! Talking to Lanstar-san like that, I mean c’mon!”
Vivio simply sighed and listened as Syn launched into a tirade. Her complaints ranged from Hayato’s performance, to Ryoutaro hiding his rank, to how the Belkarangers were utter goofballs in great length, to many other things Vivio didn’t really bother to remember or really make out. But despite it all, she found comfort in just listening to the girl talk. It was usually how their days went whenever they had down time: Syn would make some snide comment of some sorts, and then she in turn would try to reason her out of it, which would lead from one thing to another until she would launch into a tirade. The end result was that she would end up going for minutes on end talking about anything and everything that bothered her.
But to Vivio, it was something she enjoyed. For the most part. It was more the idea that she could just hangout with her best friend, even if it was in a one-sided conversation. Back home on base, the two of them would just situate themselves on or under a tree together, and spend whatever break they had idly talking about anything, or it was Vivio listening to Syn rant her heart out.
Letting out a sigh, Vivio sat behind Syn and leaned against her back, and closed her eyes, and simply let Syn’s voice fill the room.
“What you happy about?” Syn asked, raising an eyebrow at the sudden expression of content. Vivio simply shrugged at the question, content with just simply leaning against her best friend.
“Bah, whatever,” Syn muttered and continued to idly twirled her hair in her one hand. “So what you think of those weirdo Belkarangers?”
“I like them,” Vivio answered back much to Syn’s displeasure. Her immediate response was some form of a garbled chocking sound.
Whipping around, she forcibly turned her friend around and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Are you nuts?! You actually like those weirdoes?! I mean seriously, who in their right mind would actually go out of their way, in the middle of a battle I might add, and do all those weird poses and theatrics, WHEN THEY SHOULD BE FIGHTING?! At the rate they’re going, they’re going to get killed!”
“S-Syn,” Vivio mumbled, taken aback by her sudden outburst. “It’s-it’s not like I have anything against them…”
“But…but…” Syn sputtered, still aback by the fact that Vivio actually liked the group. Groaning in utter annoyance, she flopped onto her back and grabbed her head. “Mou…I just don’t get you!” she exclaimed, and began to launch into another rant that was focused in its totality on the Belkarangers, not that Vivio minded. Simply sighing, Vivio simply sat cross-legged, propped her chin in her hands and listened. Almost 6 years and counting of joy and friendship, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
In the meeting room, a discussion between the senior officers of RF6 took place.
“So, that’s the case huh?” Farukon asked, leaning against the wall as he looked at the screens displaying Chrono’s, Hayate’s, Tesla’s, and Carim’s faces.
“Yeah,” Chrono sighed. “The fact that there may be some discord among the other units against you guys, along with the higher ups may cause some issues in the foreseeable future.”
“It’s not surprising,” Farukon sighed. “Politics always had, and always will work that way.”
“It seems that way,” Hayate sighed.
“So…how is this going to work out?” Keroko asked.
“Loan the teams,” Tesla stated, earning surprised looks from some of those present.
“Excuse me?” Keroko asked.
“The most sure-fire way to prevent permanent separation, would be to assign the team to other units, rendering assistance, but can be recalled whenever necessary,” Tesla explained. “Administratively, we would be registered as a member of Mobile Unit Riot Force 6, however, any active teams presently not undergoing training will be assigned to other units for periods of time.”
“So only a few teams will stay behind, while everyone else is out on the field?” Keroko asked.
“That’s the plan,” Chrono sighed again, rubbing his temples. “Hopefully this will get some heat off you guys.”
“It should help,” Farukon commented from his spot. “If other units get a chance to be joined by members of this elite unit, it might help with relations. Sharing the wealth as it were.”
“Precisely,” said Tesla, and activated a screen displaying the present roster of the various team configurations. “At the moment, we have three teams, Stars, Lightning, and my team which will be re-designated as Blitz.” Taping a few more buttons, the display shifted so that only the captains of the three teams, along with the Wolkenritter sans Tesla and Shamal, and Keroko were displayed.
“However, chances are head office won’t be too happy if the Wolkenritter and the Aces were stationed at the same base for any given length of time, so this is what I have come up with to maximise our fighting potential, along with allowing our forces to be spread out equally. Right now, I have reassigned all high-ranking members as unit commanders, which will also include these two.” Immediately two more faces appeared among the roster, “1st Lt. Himemiya Chikane and 1st Lt. Kurusugawa Himeko will be command Lunar and Solar teams respectively.
“The general configuration and disbursement of the teams will work as follows: Stars, Lightning, and Blitz will all be reduced to 4-person teams. Rue will be reassigned as assistant instructor. Vita and Signum will be relegated to team captain duties, each assigned to their own teams, as well as Keroko. Myself, have been reassigned to Long Arch. To fill in the missing gap in Stars, we will be assigning an additional member to fill in. We will also be assigning members to Sword, Hammer, Fang, Rouge, Solar, and Lunar squads, based on varying profiles that we have gathered from the recent graduates, along with prospective graduates.
“Each team member will be observed by the team captains to ascertain whether or not the candidates will be selected for additional screening and observations, before finally being inducted into the unit.”
“Wait up,” Farukon stated before Tesla could continue, “if Rue’s assigned as assistant instructor, who fills out the role as head instructor? I know in the original line-up, Nanoha and Keroko filled out that role with Vita assisting, but the manner Stars and Lightning had operated is completely different to how the teams operate now. With Nanoha and Keroko having to train their teams, what would be the point of having Rue as assistant instructor?”
“Quite simple,” Tesla stated. “In terms of the disbursement, Stars and Rouge will alternate in terms of who stays and goes. In short, there will always be a Takamachi on base at all times. In terms of training, for the duration of approximately 12 weeks, Lightning and Blitz squads will be out on active duty, while all remaining captains will be spending that time scouting and assembling their teams.
“In that time, Nanoha and Keroko, with Rue’s assistance, will start training the new recruits to meet RF6’s basic standards, where then the captains will take over and start training their teams to meet their roles in their teams. This will be in a 12 week span.” Mulling it over in their heads, everyone agreed that it was the best plan of action present.
“So are we in agreement?” Hayate asked from her end. “To recap, the teams will be restructured, and we will start recruiting additional mages for assignment into our…” taking a moment she quickly counted off the amount of teams, “eight teams. Once recruited, they will spend a certain amount of time with Nanoha and Keroko, with Rue’s assistance, before being assigned to their teams where they well undergo additional training needed, before finally being assigned on missions. During this time, Lightning and Blitz will be on missions for approximately 12 weeks to accommodate the training time that the new recruits will need.”
“Exactly,” Tesla stated.
“Sounds reasonable,” Chrono commented. “It should do for now. At least until we can come up with a more permanent ops order for you guys.”
“There’s just one thing left we have to talk about then,” Vita added, earning surprised glances from everyone present.
“What’s that, Vita-chan?” Nanoha asked, earning an amused smirk from the shortest of present company.
“Who are the kids we’re picking out?”
In the mess hall, Rue simply sighed as she quietly ate. The day had been quite stressful. Thankfully, the mission had gone off with very minor setbacks. Despite the fact that Hayato’s device had exploded and the Logia was completely sealed with no means of opening it, overall the mission had been a complete success.
“Now if there was someone I could talk to,” she idly muttered. When she had entered the mess hall for dinner, she had been hoping that she would be able to talk to Evangeline. Unfortunately, she was no where to be found putting a dampening on her mood somewhat. However, her hunger had superseded her disappointment, so she was now quietly eating her dinner all by her lonesome.
“You can’t have everything,” she sighed stuffing a forkful of salad in her mouth. A family series of clicking and buzzes greeted her ears, as out of the corner of her eye SaSword climbed onto the table and headed straight for its side of the table. Raising an eyebrow, Rue looked to her right to see Evangeline approach her, a tray of food in hand.
“Ma’am,” Rue politely greeted, despite the pleased expression that she knew was plastered all over her face. Evangeline simply smiled in return before sitting down and joining her. This response somewhat deflated her mood, but didn’t deter her from continuing to try and befriend the officer. For a while, the two did nothing but sit in silence and eat, much to Rue’s chagrin. However, she did learn one thing: Evangeline was definitely one of those kinds of people that she didn’t want to mess with. The way she carried herself, from her squared shoulders to her straight back, right down from the way she walked to the distinctive cadence in her walk, all pointed to the fact that she was a powerful opponent in combat, and a scary officer to be disciplined by in the office. Despite her silent disposition, Rue could see the inner officer within.
“So…how was your day?” Rue eventually asked, knowing that sooner or later, their conversation would have to get going. However, since Evangeline didn’t seem like she was going to take the initiative, she would have to get the conversation swinging. She hoped.
“Uneventful,” she stated sighed, followed by a long pause that Rue thought that was all so had to say. “But it comes with the being only temporarily assigned to a ship, I guess,” she added, much to Rue’s relief. “It gets boring somewhat when I’m mostly in my quarters, or in the rooms I am permitted to access, since I’m not part of the crew.”
“I guess,” said Rue. “Yeah it does get boring, especially if you’re mission is completed.” Evangeline simply hummed in agreement. “Oh by the way, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Then ask,” Evangeline stated.
“Do you know of a Captain Nogami Ryoutaro?” Rue asked, in which Evangeline raised an eyebrow to Rue’s question.
“Quite well actually,” she answered. “I’m also familiar with his wife; Belka Yellow is one of her call signs I believe.” It was Rue’s turn to raise an eyebrow, in disbelief.
“I…I see…”
“You’ve met them?” Evangeline asked.
“Met them, trained by them, did a mission with them…yeah…” Rue awkwardly answered, to which she simply got an amused laugh from the older woman.
“They can be a handful at times, the Belkas,” she remarked, her amused grin never leaving. “Although there are times I wonder if there will be anyone who could possibly fill Asagi’s heart, and stand her antics.”
“You and me both,” Rue grumbled.
“I venture that they’ve left…quite the impression,” said Evangeline, now eyeing Rue in amusement.
“Let’s just say…It was quite the impression, and introduction,” Rue muttered, knowing quite well that one of her eyebrows was twitching from the memory. Evangeline couldn’t help but laugh at Rue’s expression. It was one of extreme annoyance, clearly directed towards the Belkarangers and their unique means of expressing themselves.
“It takes a while,” Evangeline chortled, trying to keep herself under control. Rue simply sighed as the topic of the conversation eventually began to drift and wander throughout their dinner. Throughout it all, Rue couldn’t help but wear a bright smile on her face.
A new friend had been made for sure.
Back on Mid-Childa, Hayate sighed and leaned back into her desk. Work was horrible today. With the trip off from Chrono a few days prior, Hayate and Rein had been spending following days working to rework and revise the ops order of the unit. It was just a stroke of luck that Tesla had returned from her mission, and had helped her out plan out the unit’s operations, so that it would allow them to keep their friends together in a legitimate manner, and to also maintain the right to have them as part of the unit.
And with that meeting with all the parties involved over just less than 30 minutes ago, she was hungry. All she wanted to do now was leave her office, and have lunch with Shamal and Rein.
Then her intercom buzzed.
“So much for lunch,” Hayate comically wept before answer the call. “Yes?”
“1st Lt.’s Himemiya, and Kurusugawa are here ma’am,” said her secretary.
“Send them in,” Hayate said.
“Yes ma’am.”
Turning her attention towards Rein, she put on a bit of a sheepish smile and said, “Ano…Rein…”
“It’s alright,” Rein answered, putting away the rest of her folders. “Shamal will understand.”
“Thank you Rein,” Hayate sighed. “I’ll make it up to you two tonight. I promise.”
“Hai desu,” Rein stated before floating off towards the door, which opened up revealing two people who promptly made their way entering. Saluting in respect to the two, they returned the salute before resuming their approach towards Hayate.
With the door closing, Hayate looked at the two officers as they saluted her.
“1st Lt. Himemiya Chikane, ma’am,” said the first person.
“1st Lt. Kurusugawa Himeko, ma’am,” said the other.
Getting up, Hayate returned the salute. “Welcome to Lost Property Riot Force 6 ladies. Would you like to join me for lunch?”
Three passed since the mission. With the Belkarangers going back to their own place of residence, and Evangeline and Ryoutaro returning to their posts, Stars, Lightning, and Hammer squads trudged back towards their barracks where they had simply headed straight back to their quarters, dumped their stuff, and fell into their beds. Most of them anyhow.
Bored now that the mission was over, Agito aimlessly floated around base. Unfortunately, Signum was with the teams attempting to pry open the Logia, leaving her without much of anything else to do. Hayate and Rein were in their office, Vita had disappeared off somewhere and same with Zafira, and Shamal was busy tending to Hayato’s burned hands.
“What’s there to do?” she grumbled. Loosening the tie around her uniform (much to her chagrin) she let out a sigh of relief, glad that the restricting piece of clothing was no longer bound around her neck. She needed a new shirt, which was surprising, since last time she checked she didn’t grow.
“I hate the new regs,” she sighed. When the unit had reformed, the new uniform standards had also been changed. Up until recently, they had been using the old uniforms. But now although they wore the same colours, the configuration was completely different. Proper ties were worn around their necks now. Also, ranks were to be clearly sown on the right sleeve (on the upper rank for Enlisted and NCO and on the cuffs for officers) along with any qualifications which ranged from first aid, to Mage Rank on the lower part of their sleeves. On the left fore arm was the squad insignia. They were also to wear the shoulder flashes of their units on both shoulders.
Despite all that, the one thing that bothered her was the fact that she had to wear a tie.
Quietly grumbling to herself, she mindlessly floated around base before coming to a decision to head off towards the water-side of the base and simply look out at the ocean. Not much of a view, but it was better than nothing.
Landing on a tree branch, Agito got comfortable on her spot and prepared to take a nap. That was before noticing a pair of quiet voices below. Glancing down, she nearly choked in surprise at what she saw below her.
Caro and Lutecia making out.
And unfortunately for her, it was quite heated. Despite their clothed state, Lutecia was on top of Caro as their hands were feeling one another. Hands fervently explored one another’s bodies, to the point they looked like they just wanted to rip one another’s clothing off.
“I’m gone,” Agito muttered before quickly flying off back towards base before she saw anything that would end up being engrained into her mind.
The following day, Stars, Lightning, Hammer, the Wolkenritter, and the two new officers were called in by Hayate to a meeting in the meeting room.
“Before we get started, there’s a couple people I’d like you to meet,” Hayate began, before motioning towards two female officers to her left, “1st Lieutenants Himemiya Chikane and Kurusugawa Himeko.”
Standing up, the two of them bowed lightly towards everyone. “Yoroshiku onegai shimasu,” they said together. Standing up straight, the two of them took a moment to look at everyone, and let everyone look at them.
There was one word that Hayato could think off to describe Himeko and Chikane: Princess and Queen respectively. The two of them were in exact height, but that was where the similarities ended.
Chikane had the air of royalty in her stance. Back straight, shoulders squared, held up high, she was true and perfect example of royalty. Royal blue hair fell gracefully along her back down to the back of her knees, held in a tight ponytail. Sharp sapphire eyes that could hold all the emotions within her heart adorned her features, complemented by pearly white skin. Yet upon that same face now, was the stone mask of an officer who was ready to perform her duty to the letter without question.
Himeko was the exact opposite in many ways. Despite a posture fitting of an officer, it was nothing like Chikane. It was a more of a demure expression on her face, especially due to her gentle features, compared to the sharp contrasting visage of her fellow officer. Gentle lavender eyes gazed upon everyone, paired with a gentle smile that seemed to melt the hearts of many, and swoon men and women alike.
But without question, both seemed to be officers to be reckoned with, especially with the medals decorating their right chests.
“These two will be captains to additional teams that we will be forming within the next 6 weeks or so,” Hayate explained and motioned for the two new officers to sit down. “I hope that you will get along well with them in the near future.” Calling up a command console, she tapped a few buttons as a screen formed over the main table.
“What you are looking at is the present configuration of the three teams we have,” she began to explain. “However, due to our rapid growth in new officers and our overall raise in unit-mage ranking, I’ve been required that I have to export out our power, otherwise it would cause problems in the foreseeable future. However, Captain Tesla will explain the rest of the details.”
Responding, Tesla rose from her seat as Hayate sat down. “Thank you. I will get straight to the point: For the next 6 weeks, we will be building 5 new teams: Hammer, Sword, Fang, Rouge, Solar, and Lunar teams under the game of Vita, Signum, Zafira, Himeko, and Chikane respectively. And due to the conflicting naming between the present Hammer team and Vita’s Hammer team, Farukon’s team will be officially re-designated Blitz team.
“The plan is to have the teams be restructured into four-person teams, consisting of a captain and three subordinates, with each team being trained in a specific art, to the captain’s discretion. In terms of the present team configurations, Stars team will be losing Vita and Keroko due to their promotion, and will be working as a three-man team for some time until such that an additional member can be assigned. Lightning will not be affected, as PFC Alpine will be filling in the blank, since Signum and I will no longer be with the team. And Blitz team will have Rue removed and reassigned as assisting training officer.” Tesla goes on to explain the plan of how the new prospects will be recruited and trained by Nanoha and Keroko with Rue’s assistance before receiving training by their captains, for a period of 6 weeks. She also continues to explain Lightning’s and Blitz’s mission during that time, in order to cover their bases.
“Are there any questions?” she asked, looking around the table as she finished her briefing.
“Are present living accommodations able to fit in all squad members, and the rest of the base?” Chikane inquired.
Unsure of how to respond, Tesla looked over towards Hayate, but much to her surprise the answer came from Rein instead. “We’re currently building two new additional barracks for the new recruits and enlisted members to live in. The present barrack will be renovated somewhat to accommodate officers.”
“I see,” Chikane commented.
“Are there any recreational facilities?” Himeko asked.
“There are within the barracks ma’am,” Rein replied in earnest. “The remaining available land we have now is only the parade square. The only thing we have similar is the one room we use as a dining hall and internal parade square.”
“I see,” said Himeko, gently inclining her head towards Rein. “Thank you, Sergeant Major.”
“Umm…why exactly am I being pulled from the field?” Rue asked, somewhat confused as to the reasoning of her assignment.
“Consider it a promotion,” Tesla replied. “Your recent evaluation as an instructor has made you an ideal candidate to instruct recruits in proper close combat forms, along with assist both Major Takamachi’s in basic long ranged combat and buster spells. Does that satisfy your answer?”
“I guess,” Rue sighed, slumping back into her chair.
“Need I point out that this will also look good on you for promotions?” Farukon whispered to Rue.
“Oh yeah…” Rue muttered.
“Does anyone else have any problems or questions with the arrangements?” Hayate asked everyone. Her answer was silence as everyone waited on her. “Then this concludes the meeting. These implementations will take place in one week, so until then, you are on stand-by.”