"What do we do?"
Nanoha wasn't aware of who had asked the question, but she couldn't find an answer for it anyway. The Unforgiving, Hayate and Mariam stood in silence on the bridge of the
Vengala, glancing at each other as if one of them had the answer. The frozen image of Subaru still stared at them from the screen even after the connection had been cut. Nanoha refused to look at it. She'd become an abomination, a tool of the Absolution. Nevertheless, Nanoha felt divided as to what they should do. Killing her was out of the question, though; they could probably revert her back. The problem would be extracting her in the first place—
"We blow it up," Hayate said, arms crossed. Nanoha's eyes widened in shock as her thoughts halted. "I can't risk that ship blowing up our fleet like last time."
"You can't. You can't kill Subaru!" Teana stood in front of her, pointing at the screen. She was close to hysteria, her lower lip trembling and her eyes darting back and forth, searching for agreement. "She's one of us, you've known her for years."
"That thing is not Subaru." Hayate nodded at the screen and sneered. "It's a brainwashed machine that wants to kill us."
"You don't know that. How can you talk about Subaru like that?" Teana's voice began to break, her face a red blush of anger, clenched fists along her side.
"Teana, calm down," Nanoha said and reached out to touch her shoulder. Teana brushed her hand away and Nanoha shrunk back. Anger and pain rose within her, but she still couldn't find the right words.
"No, I won't calm down! You are talking about killing my friend! Our friend!" She seized Hayate's collar and yanked her close to her face before Nanoha could stop her. Her other hand remained clenched, shaking. "Don't do it, Hayate. Please."
"Do you know what one of those ships did to my fleet earlier?" Hayate's tone went cold, angry. Her eyes flared. "Do you know what kind of a risk we are taking right now, staring it down instead of destroying it? Subaru is gone, Teana. Realize it. We have to act now."
The two glared at each other in a way Nanoha had never seen any of them having done before... No, Teana had. Once. But that was to Nanoha, not Hayate, and the situation had been another. Teana had other reasons to be mad now and Nanoha understood her on a fundamental level, but didn't know what to do. Subaru was a threat that had to be neutralized. That much was certain, but killing her outright wasn't the right way to go. How could Hayate intend to kill her off right away without thinking it over? This wasn't the girl she knew from the past. She'd never go cold like that, all analytical. Calculating. Allowing hatred and a thirst for vengeance override her mind and influence her decisions.
Nanoha realized —though she felt stupid since it was so obvious —that it had gotten to her. All the loss and death around her, the responsibility of command, her choices. It all started to break her down.
"Let her go," Signum said as her Purge Suit materialized and Laevateinn flashed into her hand. She stepped forward and pointed the tip at Teana's cheek, prodding the soft skin. "Step back, Lanster."
"You agree with her?" Disbelief filled Teana's voice and she smiled while tears trailed down her cheeks. "You don't all do that... right?"
Nanoha, again, didn't know where she stood on the issue. Vita and Zafira stood at Hayate's side, their choice obvious. They showed no doubt of who they believed in. Yuuno looked at Nanoha with a shrug as if asking what to do and Vivio looked at them all, weighing each face with a sour expression.
Nanoha glanced at Mariam for support, but she shook her head. There wasn't much she could do anyway, even with the power of an XO. She couldn't overrule Hayate —in theory she could since regulations stated that if a Commander was considered unsuited for command, the person could be removed, but it would complicate everything even further —and that was before Nanoha remembered who the fleet's loyalty belonged to. Come to think of it, throughout the argument they'd drawn the attention of half the bridge so far. The guards on duty appeared shifty, looking as if they were going to intervene, but they still hesitated of what to do. Nanoha figured they were partly relieved that Hayate hadn't called them yet. As soldiers they were obligated to follow orders, but they were still humans with their own opinions and morals.
A stalemate between friends with loyalties in different places. Risks waiting around every corner, waiting for one of them to make the wrong decision. Silence reigned on the bridge.
"Are you serious?" Vivio broke the silence with a loud voice. Nowadays she remained in her Adult Form most of the time and that was the case now. She stood with her hands on her hips, back straight, staring at Hayate, Teana and the Knights. "Are you fighting over this? Think of solutions instead of getting at each others' throats! You're faced with a serious situation and you resort to threaten those closest to you? That's not the Unforgiving I know. We wouldn't even think of killing one of our own, no matter how far gone. We would look for other ways to save her." She shook her head. "The Absolution doesn't need brainwashing. We're destroying ourselves from the inside as it is. We're playing straight into their hand."
Her simple words hit home. Everyone gaped at her and Nanoha's heart swelled with pride. Of course that's what she should have said. She sneaked a smile at her daughter, but otherwise kept a straight face.
Teana stared at Vivio before turning back to Hayate and releasing her, head lowered. Laevateinn disappeared at the same time and Hayate took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Fine. But we have to work quickly. What can we do about this?"
"May I make a suggestion, Commander?"
They turned as one towards Mariam who observed them quietly. She wore her usual stone facade with no openings.
"Go ahead," Hayate said.
"Take the Harbingers and board it. Make the fleet ready to jump in case she makes a move towards us. Bring her back here."
Silence again.
"Well, that was easy," Yuuno said.
"Please, Hayate," Teana said as she bowed, her anger blown away. "Save Subaru and bring her back to me!"
"Nanoha," Hayate said after a few seconds of consideration, still looking at Teana. "You and Vivio take Harbinger 1. Vita and Signum will take Harbinger 2. Go now." She paused. "Bring back Subaru. Now."
Nanoha nodded, smiling. "I will."
*
Once they had gotten on their Pec suits, which despite their appearance were easy to put on — even if they were a bit too tight for Nanoha's liking — they settled into the Harbinger. It stood in the middle of the vast hangar next to its sister ship where Vita and Signum were getting off one of the mobile catwalks and seated themselves inside it. To one side in the hangar a few shuttles lay docked, but the rest of the room lay empty. Most of the transports had been used at beginning of the invasion. The majority had been destroyed.
The cockpit was larger than Nanoha had imagined, though she suspected it was an optical illusion. It was quite dark and cold on the inside once the canopy had sealed them in. The seats were situated in such a way that Vivio had an elevated position behind Nanoha's seat, and each of them had a separate screen on the console in front of them, together with an internal HUD on the inside of their helms' visors. The pilot system of the Harbinger allowed Vivio to control the weapons and defense while Nanoha focused on piloting. Both could switch if they wanted to, but Nanoha decided to let it be as it was since that seemed like the optimal layout for the two of them. The seats themselves were cushioned and fairly comfortable, clad in black and blue colors, and the controls were basic; a joystick on either side of the seat, on the armrests, along with control pads situated on the side of the joystick itself.
When they'd made themselves comfortable, Nanoha grabbed one of the joysticks and pressed a button on it. She could feel a distant hum vibrate in her back and blue light flooded the cockpit. It felt more pleasant in an instant. Her seat adjusted itself further to her liking, securing her against it with claws hooking into her suit.
[Welcome, Captain Takamachi, ] a digital voice said. It came from inside of her helmet.
"Harbinger AI, is it?" Nanoha said. She could get used to this voice. It was deep and male. Soothing in a way, the way it rumbled. It carried respect and wisdom.
[Indeed it is, my Lady. However, I would very much enjoy if you would call me Huginn.]
"Huginn it is then," Nanoha said. "Is that your given name or something you came up with yourself?"
[It is what I personally prefer. Those who created me do not mind.] Huginn paused until visuals of the hangar appeared on her visor, showing the other Harbinger. There were no windows on the machine as it relied on external sensors to provide an image.
[My brother is named Muninn. Like me, he prefers to be called that.]
"Sorry to interrupt," Vivio said, "but we don't have much time. Can we get a move on?"
[Certainly, my Lady. ]
The hum behind her increased and the entire vehicle shuddered as it became encased in magical energy. From the outside it would appear as if it was caught in a bubble that could barely be seen with the naked eye. What gave it away was a faint shimmer stroking over it from time to time.
[Allow me to begin the undock sequence and enable Cruise Control. Your input is appreciated, but I can handle myself for a start.]
While Huginn assumed control, Hayate appeared on the screen in front of her.
"I'm talking to all four of you right now. I just wanted to update you on the situation: The hostile ship isn't making any suspicious movements at the moment, which is strange in its own right. We are sitting ducks while the Harbingers undock, though, so wrap it up quickly, alright?"
A resounding 'Understood' came over the channel from all of the pilots. Nanoha noticed she could see the name Harbinger Two in a column at the edge of her visor. It pulsed along with Signum's and Vita's voices as they spoke.
"Then good luck. Hayate out."
She disappeared from the screen. Ahead of them the hangar bays opened as the Harbinger moved closer. Stars glinted in the extreme distance outside and she came to realize this was the first time she would be able to fly more freely in space than on a Warship. Her stomach fluttered and, despite the situation, she couldn't help but smile, amazed and thankful for the opportunity.
[Ignition.]
Her body became squashed against the seat, pushing her eyes back into her skull, as Huginn shot forward and left the hangar in a blur. Once outside it tilted to the side — Mid-Childa becoming their sky — and set a course for the
Revolver. Harbinger Two moved up beside them after a few seconds. The sun, close to disappearing behind the planet, lit the Harbinger up. Its black metal shone, blinding Nanoha until the visuals adjusted to a lower setting on her visor. The Harbinger's magical bubble glowed in the sun's rays while the
Vengala drifted away from them, becoming smaller and smaller.
That's when Nanoha saw how battered the Warship actually was. Scorch marks, dents and long gashes ran along its hull. In a few places its paint had changed into a dull grey. It looked worse than it seemed, since it was cosmetic damage, but Nanoha shuddered anyway. The ship was living evidence of what had transpired in the past week.
"Subaru isn't moving," Vivio said from behind her. "She's not showing any signs of hostility for some reason."
"Maybe she got lucky," Nanoha said. "Subaru is stronger than we give her credit for. I didn't want to bring Teana's hopes up earlier, but she might have resisted the brainwashing. She might be holding herself back."
"Let's hope that's the case," Vivio said.
The battlecruiser grew in size as they got closer. This close up the details looked a little different compared to the 2D images she'd analyzed with Hayate. Weapons seemed larger and its metal seemed bruised as if it had been in battle before, though there weren't any visible scorch marks from TSAB weapons. In fact, besides from the bruising, it looked almost brand new. Almost as if it had been recently put together and shipped out. However, that implied that the Absolution had the ability to construct ships at will and send them to distant locations in a short amount of time.
Nanoha didn't like that prospect and hoped she was wrong.
The Harbingers tilted again and put the battlecruiser above them, searching for the entry points they had noted down. The linked metal plates were endless. It took them a fair while to search the entirety of the hull on that side until they found one of the entry points close to the stern. It appeared to her as a small hatch, part of the metal itself, hard to see if it hadn't been for Huginn's help.
"Signum, Vita", Nanoha relayed through a channel, "we found an entry point. Prepare to board."
"Roger that," came the reply.
Both Harbingers slowed to a halt close to the hull. From three points near the cockpit, metallic poles extended out. At the tip there were super-powered magnets designed to attach to the hull, which they did soon enough, the Harbinger shaking slightly. Properly secured, Nanoha and Vivio checked their suits one last time. Everything checked out.
"Huginn, let us out."
[As you wish, my Lady.]
The Harbinger vented air from the cockpit through small ventilation shafts and then slowly opened the canopy. Everything became muted to Nanoha. She could hear her own breathing and the soft sound of touching the Harbinger through her suit as she climbed outside, but she heard nothing else. She gave a gentle push with her foot and drifted upwards towards the entry point, flipped in mid-air with the help of the thrusters, and landed with her feet on the hull. Her magnetized soles secured her against it with a sudden snap. Vivio joined her a second later. Signum and Vita were on their way over from Harbinger Two.
The view was breathtaking from where she stood. To her right and left, the metallic hull went on forever, having its own horizon. When she looked up, towards the planet, she could see the sun half-occluded behind it. Everything else around them, bar the stars, was black. It was disorienting, looking up while standing upside-down or whatever direction she could define it as, but still an overwhelming experience. The might of empty space stared into her soul, paralyzing her. For a few seconds, her heart beat was the one thing she could hear.
"Mom, are you alright?" Vivio spoke into her ear through the suit's internal comm system. Her voice boomed on the inside, piercing Nanoha's ears.
"Yes, but keep it down. The volume is a bit high..."
"Sorry."
Nanoha squatted down and pulled out a cord from her suit. It was a thin rubber cable with a plug on the end, designed to fit into Absolution interfaces. She thanked Shamal and Obrock in her mind as she opened a small panel next to the hatch and plugged the cable into one of the ports.
As Signum and Vita landed, they resorted to wait as the suit's codebreaker program began cracking the security measures. While it would have been impossible in normal circumstances, their programmers had managed to salvage enough working Absolution technology to make up solutions for this exact situation. If it hadn't been for them, the alternative would be to blow the hatch up, a solution Nanoha was glad she didn't have to utilize.
Her suit pinged after a while and the hatch opened, leading into an airlock. Nanoha nodded at Vivio who went first, followed by Signum and Vita. Nanoha was the last one to go inside, but before she closed the hatch she took one long look at Mid-Childa with a variety of emotions rushing through her head.
"See you soon," she whispered and shut the hatch.
*
Pure carnage met them inside the
Revolver. Droids lay strewn in the corridors, their innards destroyed, limbs bent and heads crushed. A few of them still moved, but Vivio made short work of them as she scouted ahead, smashing their heads with a fist. Everywhere there were signs of battle, a one-sided one. The walls were scorched from the droids' fire as they'd missed whatever they had aimed at. The furniture, consoles and other things that had once served a function had all been destroyed. Sparks flew from broken monitors when they passed a control room lying in darkness. Each spark acted as a light source, revealing more broken droids inside.
From the layout so far, this battlecruiser was different from the normal ones. This one had the bare necessities, further proving the fact that it was meant for droids, not humans. Judging from the amount of droids they found as they walked towards the bridge, it added more evidence to their theory. They couldn't find a single drop of blood on any of the droids, or any clothes for that matter; no signs of humans could be found.
When they reached the bridge — spending over ten minutes walking through identical corridors with bare walls and more droids —the door opened by itself as soon as they got close to it. Surprised, looking at each other in wonder, they stepped through, half-expecting to find either a dead Subaru or an ambush.
"I held back."
They found neither. Subaru stood in the middle of a heap of crushed droids, holding a Zealot General above the floor with one arm. The man groaned, still alive. His clothes had been ripped to shreds and the machines meant to keep him functional hung in loose cables from his body. He twitched in her grip, kicking his legs, but he didn't have the strength to break free. Teeth gritted, he stared at her defiantly.
"Subaru, you're back to normal," Vivio said, failing to hide her amazement.
"I never left," Subaru said and grinned. "Not willingly, anyway. I remember the message I sent you guys, but I broke away after that. This guy here," she said and shook the Zealot General, "tried to stop me. It didn't work."
"But your head..." Nanoha murmured. Her head was still shaved, cables sticking out from pretty much the entirety of her scalp. The red orbs behind her visor glowed.
Subaru shrugged. "I've gotten used to it. It's not the most beautiful thing in the world, but I feel more powerful than ever. They brought about their own destruction trying to... 'improve' me. After they kidnapped me, they analyzed and went through my whole body. I'm glad I was sedated for the most of it. The things they did, opened me up and...
"Anyway, since they thought they had successfully brainwashed me, I've had access to their database. There's a lot of information you might find interesting there."
Nanoha's interest peaked and she remembered her theories. The evidence she needed might be here on the ship. "I'll take a look," she said and plugged in the cable into a console. The codebreaker program began its process again.
"Do we need him for anything?" Subaru nodded at the Zealot General.
"Can he give us anything we can't from the database?" Vita asked. Subaru shook her head. "Then do as you wish."
Subaru grinned and carried the Zealot General out of the bridge, shutting the hatch behind her. Lamenting screams soon echoed through the ship. Nanoha shuddered.
"She's mad," Vita said.
"Naturally," Signum said. "She was suppressing rage as far as I could tell. That girl... she was about to explode."
Nanoha nodded, half-listening. The codebreaker was done and displayed information on her visor. She drew a sharp breath and scoured through one particular entry of interest, authored by someone named Tikin Hyoka. The name itself indicated it wasn't an Absolution name. It sounded like a name from Earth. Japanese. So why was it in this database? It had to be related to something, research perhaps. Ties to Earth.
The implications worried her and she started reading the entry. It read like a diary, not at all as if it had been written by an academic or a soldier, which was strange in itself. She had the feeling someone wanted her to read it, but she shrugged it off.
My grandmother served on Redemption's Light. It was a Black Ops TSAB Warship that set sail about one-hundred and twenty years ago with a mission that has fallen into the shadows of old memories. Two days after it left dock, it suffered critical engine failure and was forced to leave the Dimensional Sea, crash-landing on a planet as they had lost all manner of control. That planet, with billion to one odds, was Cherubim, the birthplace of the Absolution. Though it wasn't called that back then. It was called something else that has been forgotten, purged from official records.
The TSAB personnel intermingled with this peaceful civilization that had just a year prior achieved space travel. Love appeared among some, camaraderie among many. They formed bonds that would last them for centuries since the TSAB never came to look for them. It bred disdain and hatred as time passed. Plans were drawn up in an attempt to eventually return to their rightful place in the universe.
Then it all went wrong. My grandmother told me that when the meteorite struck the planet, no one realized the utter horror it had brought with it. This thing, an invisible plague, spread quickly over the continents. Theoreticians said it was an alien weapon. I don't know what it was, but it killed a lot of us. Too many to count. Those who survived became very ill, doomed to live a sad existence since their bodies had stopped functioning as they should, except they couldn't die. They found solutions, though. Technology flourished. Immortality was a fact, if an eternal torture. And it had a side-effect: We all became insane.
I'm one of the of few sane ones left. They might find me soon and get rid of me, for all who aren't with them are heretics and must be punished. They pray to the stars, expecting a savior. It's dangerous around here now. A select few, those descended from those with TSAB origins has grown powerful with their forefathers' magic and their own technology developed on Cherubim. They've become demigods, leading the people towards a new life.
I pray to someone as well, but I'm not sure who. I pray that their leader won't find me. If she does, I hope I'll have a quick death. I shudder every time I hear her name. She's a monster. She wants to destroy the TSAB, to punish them for what they brought onto us. She cites gods and prophecies. Projects of war has been set into motion that cannot be stopped. I think she's lying about the gods and prophecies. All of them are lies. No, it's simpler than that. She's a fraud, using her knowledge to rally the people behind her. And she won't fail.
Because she's already won.
Nanoha's eyes widened. It all made sense. She had to take this to Yuuno herself in case the fleet had spies. She had to inform him of who the Absolution actually were and find out who led them. But something cold wrapped itself around inner being. If she had trouble with Zealot Generals, who knew what a Lord was capable of? What Luiz had said... the person this Hyoka talked about was the ultimate enemy. They'd have to regroup and draw up a battle plan before they faced a Lord. They had to—
Hayate's voice burst into her ear, interrupting her thoughts. "Unforgiving, emergency situation. An Absolution fleet just warped in."
Subaru returned at this point, wiping blood off her hands with eerie indifference, and sat down at the helm. Nanoha didn't ask what she had done to the Zealot General. Subaru summoned a screen in front of them and they observed as five battlecruisers and the
Messiah emerged from warp, too close for comfort for the TSAB fleet. As soon as they landed, Hayate's fleet started to move away from them in a haste, engines burning with energy as the ships aligned.
"Go," Subaru said without turning from the screen. "Go and fight. I'll do what I can from here. Judging from their comm chatter they think I'm still with them."
"Subaru, Teana is waiting for you," Nanoha said, touching Subaru's shoulder. "Come with us, you can't stay here."
"I can and I will. I have to protect her." She paused, turned and looked Nanoha straight in the eye with her red orbs. She smiled. "Go. Please. I don't want her to see me like this right now. I have to prepare myself."
"But..." Nanoha said, words sticking in her throat. She looked at Subaru with a heavy knot of sadness in her chest. She had to tell her about Caro and Erio. She wanted to ask what the Absolution had done to her during the time she was gone. Nanoha had questions she needed to be answered. She wanted to put some things to rest so she wouldn't be distracted later on.
Vivio pulled at Nanoha's arm — her expression suggesting she didn't like it either, but that they didn't have a choice — and she let herself be pulled outside the bridge. She didn't try to fight it, reason winning her over. The hatch closed behind them and they started to run through the corridors towards the Harbingers.
A battle was about to begin. Nanoha couldn't shake off the feeling that something horrible was about to happen.