[Wild Goose]

As part of Prelude to Alpha, I present Last One Standing.

It is canon as regards to Alpha. Yes, that's who it yes. Yes, there's hot blood.

Spoiler for Last One Standing:

Prelude to Alpha: Last One Standing

MC 078
Southern continent, Mid-Childa

"C'mon you! You guys wanna live forever?"

Training ground 1A, Order of Freelance Mages base complex

"I bet two hundred that Master Chief's gonna get the flag!"

The OFM Assault Company soldier gritted his teeth as he heard the taunting yells and ducked as a savage salvo of beams slammed into the ground right in front of him; he missed being hit by the magical discharges only because he ducked into the trench and hit the dirt. Rolling onto his back and bringing up his BR55 battle rifle, he tracked the pair of Air Wing mages who flew above, banking and manuvering like human-shaped fighters.

"Alpha 1-4, Alpha 2-1, report your squad's status, over," called a voice on his radio - the Platoon Sergeant, the 2nd in command of Alpha platoon.

"The Lieutenant's down," reported 1-4, his voice shaky yet determined. "I think I'm the only survivor."

"Understood, 1-4. We're trying to get back to the hill to reinforce you, but there's heavy resistance. Hold the flag as long as you can."

"C-copy."

* * * * *

Two years earlier, the Assault Company had been a mere Assault Platoon, only ten men strong, before its expansion to 15 men. As the Order's workload increased, and as its mages began encountering the Spawn more and more, Colonel Erick von Long managed to secure approval to expand his unit. The Assault Platoon, under 2nd Lieutenant Franz Jaeger, were the primary beneficiaries of this expansion: from 15 men in three squads of five men, the Platoon expanded to 36 men in three "Platoons" of twelve, forming the Assault Company.

The rapid expansion had proven to be tricky, however. The new recruits all needed time to settle into the Order and to learn to do things the OFM way (or their own platoon way, each platoon bearing the fingerprints of its leader). Bravo Platoon, lead by the Master Chief, the Jolly Green Demon of the TSAB (though the only person who'd called him that to his face had been Command Sergant Major Ivanovich, and NOBODY fucked with Ivanovich - mentioning his name to veterans of the War of Subjugation was the surest way to send a TSAB Enforcer into apopoleptic fits) were disciplined attackers who melded sniping attacks with flanking and rush tactics; snipers pinning down enemies while their comrades flanked and rushed them. Delta Platoon, 2nd Lieutenant Leo "Veri" Kozlov's unit, were the stealth and ranged combat specialists, fighting at range with battle rifles and sniper rifles, while sneaking up to the enemy and knifing them in their sleep. And Alpha Platoon?

"Is that all you got?!" roared a hot blooded voice - the only OFM mage who was not wearing a helmet. His short black hair was developing streaks of gray, but his aim was sure and his hands were steady as he fired his MA5C, eliciting a yelled curse as he nailed another two mages from Bravo Platoon.

2nd Lieutenant Franz Jaeger, Assault Company Commander and Alpha Platoon Leader, had taken care to staff his platoon with like-minded men, all of whom had a penchant for extreme (what they and Erick called "hot blooded") moments. Franz was proving that now as he became a one-man bullet delivery machine, firing bullets and tossing grenades like they were going out of fashion, charging across the pock-marked hill and diving into the trench beside 1-4, just as an icy blast of magic slammed into the ground behind him.

"Having fun yet, 1-4?" he yelled cheerfully and fiercely, and 1-4 merely sat there, stunned, his mind going over the objectives of the day. Alpha was supposed to defend a hill and their flag from Bravo and Lance Flight, who would be working together to destroy them. Franz hadn't filled his platoon with confidence when he calmly stated that they'd be safer far away from him, as Lance Flight's XO "...really has it in for me. She hates me."

For an instant, 1-4 wished that Franz had gone somewhere else.

"How's your ammo?" asked Franz, slapping a fresh clip into his MA5C assault rifle, lovingly running a gloved hand over his well-used rifle, a rifle that had been with him for 16 years. "You good?"

"Yes sir," replied 1-4, reloading his rifle the way he was taught. "You, sir?"

"Sunglasses," replied Franz, grinning, tapping the side of his sunglasses. "Infinite ammo."

"...huh?"

"I'll explain later," he laughed, becoming serious as he pulled out a mirror from a pocket and raised it above the lip of the trench, taking a quick peek around. "Alright, we've got 4 Air Wing girls coming in from the west. Get ready. When they appear, nail them."

"That's going to be hard..." said 1-4. "And I'm not sure I can bind them at this range."

"Just do your best," said Franz, patting him on the shoulder. "No soldier can do too wrong if he shoots at the enemy. Here they come."

1-4 had heard stories of how Franz Jaeger wasn't really a master mage. He had been supposed to finish his training 20 years ago, but had never gotten around to doing so. He'd been a 2nd Lieutenant for 7 years and A-ranked for an equal amount of time, never bothering about his career or mage rank progression. He'd also heard about how the older man had apparently been more hotblooded and reckless in his youth, supposedly challenging an un-Limited Takamachi Nanoha with nothing more than the barest of skills, hot blood and determination; how both his devices had been broken by Subaru Nakajima and Vita Yagami. But looking at him now...

As Franz peered through the MA5C's intergrated reflex sight/HUD, it was like a change had come over him. His eye tracked the four mages as they appeared in a wedge formation, his hands moving his rifle in perfect coordination, as if the weapon were a part of his body, his breathing steady and time seemingly slowing...

"Contact."

Repeated crisp squeezes of the trigger, three steady sharp barks - BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! - and the appearance of a gout of flame as three 7.62mm Tranquilizer Training Rounds fired and flew forth, impacting the leftmost mage, forming splotches of red over the front of her Ghost Armor; he didn't need to be omniscient to know that she was cursing him. He aimed and sighted in, squeezing the trigger in a controlled burst, nailing another mage with a headshot, as 1-4's battle rifle rounds ran home into another mage, leaving only Lance Flight's XO as the survivor of her element.

Oh yeah, she's pissed he thought wryly. "Not bad for a couple of groundpounders, but we won't be able to pull it off again for a few months. 1-4, I'll go and draw that last girl's fire. You're to stay here and hold the flag until 2-1 gets here with Second Squad. Damn, I made a mistake of dispersing us," he said. "Good luck, 1-4. You're gonna need it."

1-4 had watched, wide-eyed, as Franz took off running, scrambling acros the hill, narrowly avoiding magical blasts and SMG fire, ducking and weaving as he ran, rolling forward and coming up in a crouch, firing his MA5C as Lance Flight's XO went wild on her attack run.

When the dust settled, Lance 5 was down on one knee, covered in red splotches, breathing heavily, while Franz was nonchalantly lying back on the ground, looking at the sky. It was apparent that both had "neutarlized" the other.

1-4 peeked out of his trench and looked at the rapidly advancing Bravo Platoon members, sighted his battle rifle and opened fire, trading fire with Bravo Platoon... and becoming frantic at the ease with which Master Chief merely sidestepped each and every shot.

"Alpha 1-4, Alpha 2-1, report your squad's status, over," called a voice on his radio - the Platoon Sergeant, the 2nd in command of Alpha platoon.

"The Lieutenant's down," reported 1-4, his voice shaky yet determined. "I think I'm the only survivor."

"Understood, 1-4. We're trying to get back to the hill to reinforce you, but there's heavy resistance. Hold the flag as long as you can."

Not two minutes later was another transmission: "Sorry, 1-4. They got us. You're on your own."

1-4's eyes nearly bugged out as he heard the news and looked at the Bravo Platoon remnants advanced uphill onto the flag, Master Chief in the lead, as one of them yelled, "Alpha Platoon! Give us your flag!"

At that moment, inside 1-4, something snapped.

"COME AND TAKE IT!" he yelled wildly, popping up and firing his battle rifle, tossing simulation grenades like they were going out of style, managing to take out a pair of Bravo designated marksmen with battle rifles. "Who do you think I am? This is not madness! THIS! IS! ALPHA PLATOOOOOOOOOOOOONN!!!!!!!!!"

For a moment, it was as if Bravo Platoon's advance faltered under the sudden onslaught of hot blood...and then Master Chief surged forward, sprinting at full speed, weaving left and right. 1-4 yelled wordlessly and fired with his right had, thrusting a Chain Bind from his left hand, using it it as an improvised whip. Against anyone else, the novel usage of a bog-standard binding spell would have taken them offguard. Unfortunately, Chief had spent his entire life being unfazed by anything, and approached the attack in a straightforward, rational manner.

He jumped above 1-4, activating his AMF as he soared, aligning his body as the last Alpha man stood his ground. "WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?!" yelled Alpha 1-4, and John sighed mentally, tuning out Cortana's annoyed ranting. He landed on the ground in a crouch, darting forward and ducking under Alpha 1-4's gunfire as the latter tried to draw a bead on Master Chief, both bringing their weapons up at the same time... before Chief dropped in a spin kick that sent Alpha 1-4 flying back to hit the wall of the trench; completing his spin, without even bothering to aim, Chief squeezed the trigger of his rifle.

BLAM!

His shot was true and Alpha 1-4 slumped to the ground weakly, gazing at the red splotch on his barrier jacket in disbelief... and then a siren rang and a computerised voice announced, "Excercise complete. Bravo Platoon Victory." Alpha 1-4 took off his helmet and wiped the sweat away from his forehead and his glasses, running a shaking hand through his blonde hair as a smiling Franz aproached him, flanked by Remington Smith and Colt Wesson. Chief helped 1-4 to his feet, and Franz smiled and shook 1-4's hand, clapping him on the shoulder, as the hot blooded men of Alpha Platoon welcomed their newest member.

"Welcome to Alpha Platoon," grinned Franz. "You're gonna fit in real well with us."

With the effects of his adrenalin and hot blood receeding, Yuuno Scrya, Alpha 1-4, began to wonder if it was too late to ask for a transfer.

Originally Posted by AdmiralTigerclaw

Okay, before I hit The books again, so to speak. I need some data.

This concerns Regius. As the honcho in charge of ground forces... he was under the control of the brains. The brains had him covering up Jail's actions even though he was criminal and dangerous.

As far as what i've seen indicates, he and Jail were cooperating in a "allies of convinience" scheme, without him realising that the brains were backing Jail. Both of them were planning on betraying each other, but Jail moved a lot faster than Regius expected.

How feasible would it be that Regius, knowing and hating Jail, would order small scale projects with the purpose of countering Jail's threat?
I know he was openly denying funding for equiping the ground forces against the gadget drones. Probably on orders.

Actually, from what Auris was thinking in the elavator, it was implied Einherjar sucked up all the fund from the ground forces. My understanding of it is that Regius diverted the funds to the Einherjar project and also didn't want to get the anti-Gadget Drone gear because it wasn't made by the ground forces.

But as much as we can tell he really HATES Jail (especially because Jails Numba's killed his friend ZEST.), would it not be expected for someone of his rank to have something on the low down to pull out of his back pocket come Jail making a move? Knowing Jail is up to something.

The reason I put this out is because one way to wrap these little projects (Lawmaker and Crash's armor.) Together is that Regius had already figured Jail for a wild card, if not by the time Zest got killed, at least from then onwards. And needed his own pawns prepared, but they needed to seem trivial, under the radar of the floating brains and Jail.

Unfortunately, his projects would come too late since Jail made his move very quickly once he found what he wanted.

This would, on the face of it, appear feasible. However, IIRC, Regius is a diehard true believer in the traditional ways of operation. Furthermore, Einherjar was supposed to be his counter to Jail and the Numbers.

Now, I know he had something in the works... Einherjar... but I haven't the freakin foggiest clue what it is... (Seems to be mentioned as a trump card, but seems to be destroyed before its even revealed.) so I'm off to look around.

Einherjar was a set of three giant cannon installations. each was really freakin' huge with 3 guns long enough to launch a plane off (...well, a V/STOL, at any rate), and they were dispersed. One was out in the desert, one was in a forest, and i can't remember where there third unit was placed. It was revealed but quickly destroyed by swarms of Gadget Drones and Numbers who overwhelmed the defenders. Basically, smaller-scale magical versions of Chandelier.

Also, to those who've commented on the OFM and Alpha and the Overview I put up; thanks for your support! It's good to know I'm being red.

Erio, will get to your PM soon. Chasing down some leads and talking to sources, as well as stress at work -_- Good time to PM me with questions is from Thursday 1200 GMT onwards to monday 0000 GMT.