Fifteen hours ago…
"Protection." A barrier was erected in front of Kiran, shielding him from Wendi's attack. Wendi froze in shock as her attack completely dissipated.
"Limiter release, excellion mode!" A huge magical symbol appeared below Nanoha as she charged a Starlight breaker.
"Sein! Now would be a really good time!"
"Alright alright!"
"Starlight…" Sein's hand then popped out of the ground, pulling Wendi and Ni into it.
"Breaker!" The blast eradicated the terrain in front of Nanoha. She scanned the area after the smoke cleared but the cyborgs were gone. "They got away again…" She then turned around the Kiran and Ginga to inspect their wounds.
"Teana, have you finished escorting Subaru?"
"Yes ma'am! The ambulance has just left."
"Kiran has managed to rescue Ginga but the two of them are severely injured. I'll bring them to straight to the hospital since the transport is gone. Meanwhile, go back into the building to see if anybody requires assistance." Nanoha received her understanding and used turned around to the dark red snow. She then called forth her magic to lift Kiran and Ginga up and took off.
---
Present time…
He had to get out of here. He considered going overdrive and killing Jail while he was at the hideout. 'Heck, I might as well use stage three since I would lose my arms and legs in their current condition if I pushed them further.' He was about to when he heard footsteps coming his way.
"Oh, you're awake. I guess that means that your internal elemental core is replenished," the nurse said as she walked over to the tube and started to drain the liquid.
He was dumbfounded at her action. Was she going to dress him? If he was going on a rampage he figured he could use some protection, even if it was just cloth. "I didn't know Scaglietti allowed outsiders in his base."
"What? No dear, you're at the hospital. This is a camber from your home planet designed to restore internal cores. You really did a number on yours. If you're wondering, we had to expose as much surface area as possible to speed up the process."
"Oh... Sorry for my accusation."
"It doesn't matter. I just hope you get better soon. Your skin is patching up nicely; the main issue is the internal damage. Scans show that the nerves in your arms and legs are heavily damaged. Main cause of it was from your bones unable to withstand the amount of liquid in them and rupturing. It seems that your body is rejecting the liquid from your elemental core, perceiving it as a threat from what it did previously. You'll have to wait for your nerves and bones to heal naturally."
"Alright. Thank you."
"We will be putting you to sleep now. During that period we will wrap you in special bandages designed to exert pressure on your bones to hold them together while they heal naturally. After that you will be sent to a normal ward for further observation and healing."
"Before you do that, may I know where my devices are?"
"Oh, they are undergoing checks at HQ, to see if any major damage was done to them. If they're ok they will be sent to you at your bed. Now, if I may…"
"Of course, ma'am." The nurse injected Kiran in the neck as he lost consciousness again.
---
"Tea, I'm sorry."
"For what? For running ahead instead of listening to Nanoha and me? Or that you got yourself badly hurt and made everyone worry? "
"A bunch of stuff."
"You better apologize to Mach Caliber later too. She's in pretty bad shape."
"Right."
"Hey, Ginga's still alive right?"
"I think she can come back from that level of damage."
"Then you've got a chance to see her. I don't know the exact details but Kiran managed to rescue her, although the both of them are in the intensive care unit now." Subaru's eyes widened as she turned to Teana, blurting out the next few sentences.
"Tea, you're not lying right? Gin-nee's at the hospital as well? I've got to see her!"
"Hold on! She's still in a coma, the doctors don't know if she'll wake up yet and your leg hasn't fully recovered!" said Teana as she tried to hold Subaru down.
"Tea! Let go of me! I just need to confirm that she's safe here!" Just then, a nurse stepped into the room and got the shock of her life when she saw the females hugging.
"You! The orange haired girl! The patient needs some rest! Don't harass her!"
"I wasn't trying to!" Teana said frantically as she waved her hands in front of her and blushed as she immediately got off Subaru. Subaru then jumped out and ran out of the room. The nurse started to holler and chase after her, leaving Teana in the room alone. 'What am I going to do with the idiot…'
Subaru darted pass the other people in the hospital easily, leaving the poor nurse chasing her far behind. She then burst through the doors of the intensive care unit, rushing to Ginga's room. As she barged into the room, the doctor almost dropped his clipboard.
"Doctor! Is she going to be fine?.!"
"Wha… you're a patient here aren't you? You're going to open those wounds again if you run around like that."
"Please… just tell me how she's doing and I promise I will go back to my bed right away."
"I hope you will remember what you just said." After a quick nod from Subaru he continued, "There's a large gash on her head and a few broken bones. Most likely she passed out from massive loss of blood. I suspect she can be discharged in a week but no strenuous activities for another three days. When she wakes up her left hand will be unresponsive for a few days due to being completely crushed. Now, please leave as I go to the other patients." Subaru walked out from the unit and back to her bed but not before the nurse saw her and scolded her.
---
Kiran woke up three hours after the drug was administered. He slowly looked around and saw that he was in a regulation bed. His arms and legs were still not responding and they were totally covered in bandages. 'Great, now I look like a mummy,' he thought as he turned his head to the desk, seeing Watch and the communicator there.
"Watch, how are you?"
"Total restoration of my magical core will take another twenty four hours. All other functions are at one-hundred percent."
"Alright. Go into sleep mode to speed it up." Watch blacked out as Nanoha walked into the room, Raising Heart floating beside her.
"Captain Takamachi, I have yet to thank you and Raising Heart for saving me and Ginga."
"Kiran, don't call me that when we're not in the field or at HQ. Anyway, we were just doing our part and I didn't save Ginga. You did and you were willing to sacrifice your life for it."
"No, I didn't. I passed out after retrieving the case. The combat cyborgs could easily take her back. I was worthless."
"Don't think like that… I know that you gave your all and that's all that matters." Kiran opened his mouth but Nanoha quickly stopped him by saying, "Don't talk, I'll make it an order if I must. Then again, Ginga and Subaru are here so talk to them." She then left the room as they stepped forward.
"Kiran… is it true that this happened to you while trying to save me?"
"Even so, it does not matter. Nanoha was the one who saved you. I was deadweight."
"Don't say that… I looked at the medical report explaining the cause of damage. Previously you didn't want to do anything with me unrelated to work… I thought that you could not stand me but here you just disregarded your life to save mine… I don't know what to say…"
"There's nothing to say. You were pretty banged up as well. At least sit down so you won't damage your legs any further."
"My injuries are nothing compared to yours… You can't move anything except your neck now… I feel so guilty knowing that this happened because of me."
"It wasn't your fault, you were outnumbered three to one. I also fell for their diversion and got separated from you."
"If it was anybody's fault its mine!" cried Subaru, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I rushed in without Nanoha and Teana, if not we could have rescued Gin-nee right there and then! I'm sorry Kiran, because of my brashness you had to destroy your body…"
"I see that this can go on for a long time…" he began. The sisters looked at each other for a moment before smiling sheepishly.
"Um, you now know that we're combat cyborgs as well right?" Subaru started. "I know that a combat cyborg killed your father and…"
"It doesn't matter. I know exactly which cyborg it was, I won't mark either of you as one of them."
"Alright then, we'll leave you alone to rest," said Ginga as they left. Kiran then closed his eyes, trying to sleep naturally this time. His eyes opened when he heard footsteps in the room. He lifted his head up a little and saw Erio looking at him.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Ahh... no no, I was just wondering how you were doing. I heard that you could only be discharged in two weeks?"
"Yeah, sorry about that. You'll need to wait another two weeks for a roommate."
"Uh, don't feel sorry about that. I can wait for you to recover," Erio frantically said as he waved his good arm. "I guess I shouldn't bother you anymore. Goodnight." Kiran returned the greeting as he finally fell asleep, but not before cursing at his limitations.
---
"I'm sorry doctor. Our mission was a complete failure," said Nove as she clutched her arm.
"Don't worry about it. Your objectives were just optional, I wanted to reclaim the Vessel of Saints and that I did. In fact, what you did caused their recovery force to drop by half so I consider it a success. Worry about your sister now as I finish the upgrades on Ni and Ichi," Jail replied as he tapped the keyboard in front of Ni's regeneration camber. Nove nodded as she slowly walked back to Cinque's camber.
Uno appeared on the screen as it flickered in front of the doctor. "There seems to be a problem. The relic is not reacting with the Vessel of Saints as we thought it would. It seems we have to wait for thirteen more days before the scared moon arises to supply the energy needed."
"A minor setback, are we able to keep her here till then?"
"I'm afraid not. The one-shot memory wipe we have only lasts ten days. There won't be enough time for us to use her to get to the two moons for unlimited power. If we wait any further, there's a chance she might go berserk and unleash the power of the Saint Kaiser. If that happens we cannot subdue her without taking her down for good."
"What will go wrong can go wrong huh? Are you suggesting that we send her back to the TSAB until it's time?"
"The doctor has always been good at reading us."
"Alright, get Tre to send her back without being spotted. Place a tracker hidden in her cells and I'll think of a plan to take her back when the date draws near." The screen then closed as a smirk appeared on the doctor's face. "Ni, how would you like to have Burst Ignition's power in your normal state?"
Ni slowly opened her eyes as she answered, "I failed the previous times. I will do whatever it takes to not let you down next time." Jail's laugh then resounded throughout the hideout.
---
Ginga was packing her things when Kiran knocked on her door. It had been a week since the incident and Vivio's strange return. Ginga was allowed to be discharged while the doctors wanted Kiran to stay for another week. She granted Kiran entry as he walked in slowly, the special bandages still wrapped around his limbs.
"What are you doing here? I'll visit you before I leave, there's no need to worry on that note."
"I felt bad that you had to come to me in the previous week. Now that they allow me to move around I should make the most of it."
"I never expected you would want to see me voluntary," she teased.
Kiran either didn't get it or didn't care. "I also have something to ask you… I noticed that Subaru also wears a headband in battle. Is there a reason why she does that as well? Especially her since she has short hair…"
"Oh that, our mother did the same before she passed away. We do it as a memento of her and hope that she watches over us."
The two of them had already discussed their parents' death so Kiran didn't apologise. "Alright then, I'll leave you alone to pack up." He then entered his room and sighed. 'Two more sappy people in the world, huh?' he thought as he looked at Watch and remembered his barrier jacket.