MGLN: Future Tense
Chapter 13: Dawn, Breaking
Xx~~*~~xX
5:58 am.
Vice blinked as he glanced sideways at the time displayed on the digital alarm clock next to his bed, inwardly smiling at the fact his internal chronometer still got him up about the same time each morning after all these years. He yawned and reached out with his arm, patting the spot next to him but finding it empty, causing him to turn and chuckle in response.
[And Alto
still manages to get up before me after all these years,] he he thought to himself, amused, the sound of metal pounding on metal coming from outside bringing a smile to his lips. [Some things never change.]
He pushed himself out of bed and slipped into his faded green jumpsuit, heading downstairs to find the coffee pot already prepared and thus poured himself a cup. The clanging of metalwork in the hanger just outside continued, drawing him to the front door of their modest shack in a casual stroll door to lean against the door frame and watch her work for a moment.
"You still don't think that will really fly, do you?" he called out teasingly, knowing she had put the thing together piece by piece for the last five years. "Don't you think it's time you gave up?"
"You just want to weasel out of our bet!" she shouted back, continuing to work. "When this baby flies, you'll admit I'm the better pilot
and cook me dinner! A good one!"
"I know, but that won't be an issue since it'll never fly," Vice shot back, which caused her to bark a laugh in response that clearly indicated she felt he was full of crap. Grinning, he shook his head and headed back inside, tapping his ear communicator. "Lookout, this is Vice, give me a status report."
"Mornin' Sarge," came the reply, using the affectionate nickname most of the resistance had for him. "All quiet. A couple of our early warning beacons triggered not too long ago, but it's probably the bears again; they tend to rouse and roam around this time of year. I've sent a few people to go check it out and reset them."
"Send me the data," Vice requested and then sipped some coffee, as a holographic map screen of the outside environs appeared, showcasing the two blinking beacons.
"Mornin' dad," Amos greeted, coming downstairs and grabbing some coffee. "Mom's up early as usual, looks like. What are you up to?"
Vice held his hand up to silence his son. "Something's a bit off; the last time we had bears trigger the beacons, they did so farther to the south; these two are on the east side."
"Maybe these are new bears?" Amos suggested, taking a sip.
A third beacon started blinking to the south. "No, I placed those two myself last year." He tapped his ear piece again while setting his coffee down. "Lookout, recall those people and send out a warning; I think we've got company. It might be just a scouting party or some travelers, or we could be facing something more, but we shouldn't reveal ourselves just yet."
"Roger, Sarge, passing the wo-" the person covering the lookout position started to say. "Hold on... Transformation magic! They're coming in disguised! A whole mess of Bureau soldiers!"
Vice swore. "Sound the alarm and activate the shield generators. I'm on my way." He signed off and turned to his son. "I think we're under attack. Stay with your mom while I go organize the men."
His son's eyes widened, but he nodded, and Vice knew he'd do as he was told; his only concern now was ensuring the survival of everyone else, and more importantly, [How the hell did they know we were here?]
x~~*~~x
"We think our advance forces were detected," a captain reported, manning the communications console. "They discovered two men wandering about, but managed to subdue them. They may have got off a warning."
Signum closed her eyes, then drew her sword "I think it is fair to assume they know we are here now. The time for stealth is over. Commence full scale attack and do not let a single soul anyone leave this mountain. Contact General Vita and I the moment the target is discovered; no one is to attempt to engage her."
He saluted. "Yes, sir!"
The base of the mountain lit up as soldiers charged into battle, attempting to blast their way in.
x~~*~~x
"And the winner is Givo," the combat instructor noted, chuckling. "Again."
The young man got off his bound opponent, smirk never leaving his face as the older kid's binds dissolved and he got up, dusting his pants. Givo was beginning to appreciate what Nanoha had taught him; binds were almost more versatile than attack magic, and most opponent's weren't expecting them, or able to deal with him. Still, he had been able to improve his attack magic some, improving his one weak spell into something decent.
"We'll have to have whoever trained you, come give these guys some lessons," the instructor noted with amusement. "So far, they keep thinking they can charge in with attack magic blazing and expect to win somehow."
Before anyone could respond to that, the alarm sounded. "We are under attack, this is not a drill, everyone to their stations. Repeat, we are under attack, this is not a drill, everyone to their stations."
"You heard that, let's go!" the instructor shouted, as the cavern came alive with activity.
Givo stared in confusion as the students ran off to wherever it was they were supposed to go, leaving him standing there wondering what he should do. At first, he had the impulse to run, to get out of here as fast as possible; but then he remembered some unfinished business, and if he left now, there was no telling when he'd get another shot.
Making sure his knife was firmly placed on his belt, he took off towards the prison cells.
x~~*~~x
Vita let loose a wave of projectiles to pound the enemy's position part way up the mountain. So far, only a very few openings had been detected, rather small ones at that, and most of those had been apparently collapsed or sealed long ago. But there were one or two where they detected activity, however those were shielded by strong barriers, probably generated from somewhere deep inside, which made Vita realize this must have been one of the old Saint Church bases from the war.
“This is captain Guyjo, we've taken an east passageway where a couple of rebels have surrendered,” came the voice along the communication channel. “We're about to move in.”
“No, DON'T!” Vita called, but it was too late, the line went dead as the sound of an explosion sounded a few hundred meters away, causing her to growl. “This is General Vita to all troops, be wary of approaching hostiles! They may be carrying suicide explosive charges!”
They needed to get in and she wasn't going to sacrifice any of her men to do it. If she just charged in, though, odds were good they'd collapse the tunnel; she couldn't give them that chance. She directed all fire towards a single point, then flew far above it while popping a cartridge and switching Graf Eisen to Raakenform.
With the extra rocket boost, she yelled and charged straight down in faster than the rebels could react, slamming her drill into the barrier. Combined with the fire striking it from the side, the shield weakened and then shattered, allowing Vita into the enemy's midst where she spun against their individual barriers, knocking them all out of the way before they could detonate any explosives.
She stopped and tapped her ear communicator. “Squads 3, 4, and 7, converge on my position now!”
The beachhead was made.
x~~*~~x
"Outta my way!" Nove growled at the rebels she barreled through at high speeds, having managed to penetrate one of the lower tunnels.
Signum and Vita's forces were heavily engaged in close combat now, and despite their more defensible position, she knew it wouldn't take the Bureau's superior numbers to overwhelm the rebels. She had to find Teana and Wendi before the rebels decided to kill them or try to use them as hostages.
[If they were still alive,] the unbidden thought came, but Nove shoved it right back down; they had to be alive, and that's all there was to it.
She reached a small open area where several soldiers and rebels were clashing in melee combat, with a half-dozen other cave tunnels leading every which way. She took the right one while trying to avoid the combatants, calling out her sisters' names, and was eventually rewarded with faint calls over the sound of combat.
"Teana!" Nove exclaimed, coming to a stop in the small jail, making short work of the two guards within. "Wendi! Hold on, I'll have you out in a bit."
"We have AMF collars on, too, with explosives," Teana told her as Nove searched for keys and unlocked the cells, then then wrist and ankle restraints.
"I came prepared for a few things, hold on," she told them as they removed their own blindfolds, reaching into her waist pack and coming out with a key which she used to unlock them. "Good thing these collars have a standard interface. I've also got some new devices for you, since I figured your old ones might have been destroyed.
She dug around in her waist pack again, bringing out a card and a watch which she handed to them and then stepping back to the entrance as they activated them. "Alright, we should be able to get out of here the same way I came in and... guys? Whoa!"
Nove dove out of the way as Teana fired on her, the gun mage's face nearly expressionless and her eyes a bit unfocused. But Wendi was holding up her arm cannons, glowing with dark pink energy, and Nove had to roll and move quickly to avoid the blasts. She came up next to Teana who was swinging her gun down in dagger mode that gashed Nove's arm, but the roller skate cyborg rolled with it and managed a spin kick that knocked Teana back against the wall.
"What the hell is the matter with you guys?" she demanded to know, but they didn't answer.
Wendi merely hissed and growled as she advanced, firing again. Nove sped under them, using her airliner to loop up to the ceiling and come down with a punch to knock Wendi out, but the latter fired straight up, dislodging rock from the ceiling and forcing Nove to veer off course. Before she could react, Wendi leapt through the following debris and tackled Nove, continuing to growl as she came up on top, choking her sister.
As her vision dimmed, Nove had one thought. [Quattro, you're going to pay for this!]
x~~*~~x
"The east and south entrances have been penetrated!" came the distraught cry over the channel. "They're coming through, hundreds of them!"
"Calm down and hold your ground, giving up space as needed to maintain an advantage," Vice soothed, mentally running through options. "We need to buy time for as many people to evacuate as possible. Collapse the tunnels at the designated points, too. That should buy us some time."
Vice took a deep breath as he ran through the complex, giving orders and directing people. Rio had left him in charge and he wasn't about to lose everyone; he was bound and determined that she'd have a resistance to come back to when she returned, if he had anything to say about it. Still, the situation was rather bad; the Bureau was throwing their main army units against the rebel hideout. Hayate was apparently really wanted them gone once and for all, and thus was sparing no expense.
"Sarge!" a new voice called through the radio. "Escape tunnels 1 and 2 have collapsed, and the Bureau has the west exit covered! There's no way out!"
[Strike that, the situation is worse than bad,] Vice inwardly growled, trying to think.
"I heard everything," came the voice of his wife on the channel. "Get everyone up to the hanger. We can launch in 15 minutes."
“Are you talking about that old shuttle?” he questioned in disbelief. “This is no time for jokes!”
“The only joke is the fact that I have to pull your ass out of the fire again!” came the snarky reply. “Get your butt up here in 15 minutes!”
Several rebels appeared from a tunnel entrance on the ground level, firing into it as they backtracked, but the return fire was more numerous as Bureau soldiers emerged from it; more rebels were dropping than soldiers. Vice cursed and brought out Storm Raider, taking aim and firing a concentrated beam above the tunnel, sending a wave of rock and debris down on the soldiers and temporarily sealing it.
"You've got 10 minutes," Vice told her through the channel.
His wife's response was a string of expletives.
x~~*~~x
“Well, this is interesting,” came a surprised and amused voice.
Nove spared a glance up to see a kid she recognized standing there, as she tried to pry Wendi's arms from her neck, and gasping out a “Help.”
“Why should I?” Givo answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “You didn't help me when I was in trouble. And it looks like you're finding out what kind of person your sister is.”
Nove ground her teeth as she very slightly pulled her sister's hands off, due to being slightly stronger as a physical fighter. “Because if I'm forced to kill her, you'll never have your revenge!”
Givo's eyes narrowed as he thought about it, but he had to make his choice quick, as Teana was slowly getting to her feet. On one hand, he had his chance now, but on the other, his talk with Nanoha last night, and her speech yesterday, were still fresh in his mind. What would Nanoha do? Leave them to their devices? Or do something about it?
The young teen growled as the answer came; he knew what she would do. He quickly sprinted into front of the struggling Nove, throwing up a shield as Teana fired to block her shots. Thrusting out his other hand behind him, he bound Wendi, just as his shield shattered and sent him tumbling away to slam into a wall.
Nove spun to her feet and raced in, punching Teana in the gut and shooting the guns out of the latter's hands, lowering the gun mage gently to the floor. Then she quickly crossed back over and smashed Wendi's arm cannons and kicked the surfboard away, noting with relief that both her sisters seemingly came back to themselves after those actions. Her suspicion was correct.
“What happened?” Wendi asked, blinking, then tried to move. “And why am I bound?”
Nove broke her free. “I'll explain later, but we need to get out of here; Signum and Vita are attacking, and I'm not supposed to be here.” As if to punctuate her point, the room rumbled to a large explosion not too far away, dislodging dust from the ceiling.
“Not yet,” Teana said, regaining her feet and lumbering across the room. “We need to get something first.” She roughly grabbed the dazed Givo and held a glowing finger to his head. “And he's gonna help us, since the other two guards are out like a light.”
Givo fully recovered and glared at Nove. “What!? This is the thanks I get after what I just did? Feh, should have killed you when I had the chance.”
“Teana, he did just help me save you two,” Nove offered as she helped Wendi up.
The gun mage raised an eyebrow, glancing down at him. “Oh? Listen, kid, I have nothing against you, and I'll let you go once we're out of here. If you help us one more time, we'll get you out of here so that you're not captured by Signum; and trust me, you don't want that. Where are the devices that were confiscated from us when we were captured?”
Nove raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think he... knows...”
He had closed his eyes, seemingly concentrating, then pointed. “This way. I show you where they are, and you get me out of here and let me go free, alright?”
Teana nodded and handed him to Wendi to hold who carried him under her right arm. “Deal. No double-crossing or Wendi will deal with you.”
The three women headed out, Nove and Teana covering while Wendi kept a firm hold on the kid. Thanks to Givo, their trip was made relatively quickly, and thanks to Nove it was mostly quiet; for the most part the fighting was elsewhere, and the few rebels they passed were quickly rendered unconscious by the #9 cyborg. They eventually reached some sort of workshop where the three devices were located in a small locked compartment, seemingly in good condition. Teana pocketed Mach Calibur and tossed Wave Rider to Wendi, then activated Cross Mirage.
“Now, let's get out of here,” she told her two cyborg sisters as they headed back out of the room.
"Don't move!” came the sudden shout. “And let the kid go!"
Teana didn't need to turn around to realize who that was. "Vice. I don't think you have time to worry about us, when the rest of your little group is about to go down."
"You know, I think you're right," he replied.
A thin green beam piercing Wendi's right shoulder, bypassing skin to damage the cybernetic muscles and bones inside and forcing her to drop Givo who hit the ground rolling and came up on one knee, focusing his magic into both his hands as Vice fired a second shot that damaged Nove's right roller blade before the #9 cyborg could come at him. Wendi spun and brought up her left arm cannon to bear on Vice's position, but Givo was a split second faster, releasing his white arrow-like bolt that struck her arm and knocked it up as she fired, lacing the ceiling with multiple energy shots.
Vice dove and rolled around a corner as Teana turned and fired, but the confrontation was over as quick as it started due to Wendi's fire damaging the supports along the roof of the tunnel. Rock and debris began to rain down as cracks spread in the ceiling, forcing Vice and the girls to sprint in different directions to outrun the collapsing corridor.
But Givo was right in the middle of it, and barely had time to put up a barrier before he was buried underneath mounds of earth.
x~~*~~x
"Oh dear, the devices were destroyed!" Quattro lamented, then frowned in annoyance as her opponent knocked over a pawn with her knight to put her in check. She sighed. "And I put so much work into those...."
Her chess partner chuckled. "I could have told you they wouldn't work."
Quattro studied the chessboard, but detected precious few options. "And your game is as sharp as ever sister. But don't think you've won yet!"
"By all means, make your next move, then," her wily opponent challenged, spreading her arms wide. "But I thought I taught you better than this."
"Well, it would have made things a bit easier if they had worked," the #4 cyborg admitted, picking up a bishop and moving it to block the knight. "But still, we've lost nothing. The next phases of the plan are proceeding, though I am a bit doubtful about the sketchy information we've gathered."
"You protect your king well," Quattro's sister and mentor nodded, reaching out to grasp her other knight. "But you aren't protected as well as you'd like to believe."
Quattro sighed as her queen as taken, then made the obligatory move to take the knight with a rook. "I know how much you like your knights, so I didn't think you'd sacrifice one of them like that."
"You're getting too sentimental," came the admonishing response. "A proper sacrifice for just the right effect, is one of the most important moves you can play in chess; I thought I would have more than demonstrated that by now. And it may be just rumor, but if the information we have obtained is correct, it will mean big things."
"Indeed, 'mother'," came a new male voice from the shadows. "If he has discovered what I think he has, it will be the greatest scientific discovery of all time. And our little pawns will help us claim it for our own!"
Quattro grinned, amused, as she swung her hand over the chessboard, debating her next move. She was slightly different than her comrades, in that the journey was more interesting than the destination itself. But even she had to admit that this time, the destination might just prove to be the most fascinating journey of all.
x~~*~~x
“We've cut off all the lower accesses, general,” came the call over the channel. “The rebels appear to be moving further up, though we are unsure why.”
“Continue to push them,” Signum intoned, flying through the tunnels. “They will soon run out of mountain.”
As she received the affirmative reply, her thoughts were still mildly concerned; thus far, there had been no sign of the Nanoha clone and Signum figured she'd be at the forefront of the fighting. Where was she?
x~~*~~x
All over the mountain, Bureau soldiers poured in. The rebels collapsed as many tunnels as possible and and did their best to slow the advance, but it only delayed the inevitable. Vice kept calling out orders up, rallying as many as he could to the upper level hanger until the last possible moment, dreading how he was going to tell Nanoha that he had lost the kid she was taking care of.
“Go go go!” Vice shouted to the last few people running past him and his son as they covered for them. Magic shots came from both ends of the tunnel now as the soldiers crept up to the two men in the hanger doorway. “Amos, above!”
“On it, dad!” his son shot back as he took the hint and both of them aimed their weapons up, blasting into the ceiling and sending waves of debris down both sides, collapsing the tunnel. “That won't hold them for long.”
“Get to your mother in the shuttle, ASAP!” he commanded, as soon as the doors were slammed shut. “I'll be along in a moment!”
Thankfully Amos went without protest while Vice fired a single beam to weld the metal door shut, then took aim above it, firing several short blasts which began to collapse the ceiling in front of the door.
As it began to come down, he quickly hotfooted it for the shuttle while the warming engines began to whine, returning Storm Raider to device form while letting his son grasp his hand and pull him aboard, slamming the hatch closing switch after.
“Strap in!” Alto called from up front tempo of the vehicle beginning to shake and shudder under them.
Vice quickly made his way up to the co-pilot's seat and buckled himself in, then noticed a tiny detail that they seemed to have overlooked. “Um, Alto, what about the hanger doors?”
She didn't miss a beat as she flipped switches. “What do you mean? They haven't worked for years. I figured I'd get to them once the shuttle was done.”
Vice sweat-dropped. “That's the point! Aren't they kinda important!?”
“Calm down you big baby,” she told him, slamming a center switch that did nothing. “Huh.” She whacked it again, and was rewarded as the technical readout came up on a holographic screen. “Interface Storm Raider into the firing controls and blast us an exit in exactly 28 seconds.”
Vice blinked as he inserted his dog tag device into the slot and cross hairs appeared on the holographic screen, indicating that a cannon had swung into position on the underside of the shuttle, then grasped his controls and took aim. As the count reached down and the main engines flared, he pressed the trigger, sending a spread of several shots into the metal doors as the shuttle began to lurch forward, exposing the light from outside.
“Hold oooon!” Alto called as her baby shot forward and burst out of the newly-formed hole, then she pulled back hard on the stick to put it into a steep climb.
“Where are we going!?” Vice shouted in alarm.
“I thought it was obvious!” Alto shot back as the shuttle gained altitude. “Space! They'll be able to track us in this thing no matter where we go on the planet. We'll have to come back later with reinforcements.”
“Are you crazy!?” Vice questioned in disbelief. “There are ships out there! We'll never make it out of orbit!”
Alto grit her teeth and pointed to the closed hatch. “If you want to get off, you still can!”
“Mom, dad, would you cut it out?” Amos yelled from in back.
The sounds of the engines and the rattling of the frame around them was the only sound for a few moments as both adults heeded their son's command, with Vice wondering if the thing would actually hold together. Surprisingly, it did as they began to leave the atmosphere, but then his scanners came alive.
“Detecting two cruisers approaching from the other side of the planet,” Vice announced. “Vector 00 by 45 by 38. They'll be on us in a minute. Wait, where are the shields?”
"Haven't gotten around to installing them yet!" Alto replied casually, tapping away at her controls. "But don't worry, we have this!” She hit a final button and there was a distinct whine that rapidly dropped in volume, which just as quickly changed her expression from supreme confidence to worry. “No no no, come on, baby!”
“30 seconds to firing range!” Vice called out, almost more distressed by his wife's actions and the shuttle, then the Bureau ships in pursuit. “25 seconds!”
“Take the controls!” his wife yelled at him while she slipped out of her seat, barely giving him time to grasp the handles.
“20 seconds!” Vice called out while Alto pulled off a panel and fiddled with wires and circuits inside. “What are you doing?”
“The backstroke,” she replied sarcastically, as a few sparks flashed from inside. “What does it look like!?”
Vice pushed down on the throttle, trying to squeeze more speed out of the engines. “Well, you better finish your laps soon because Hayate's ships are gonna evict us from the pool in about 10 seconds.”
“Done!” she declared triumphantly, then took a breath and reached up to smack the button again. There was a few seconds of a very pregnant pause, and then the shuttle lurched into hyperspace; she tossed him a victorious grin. “You owe me dinner!”
He blinked at her. “You put hyperspace engines on a shuttle!? I didn't think that was possible! Why didn't you tell me? And what's stopping them from pursuing us?”
She shrugged and lifted three fingers to rattle off her answers, ticking them one at a time. “'Yes' and 'You didn't ask.' As for your third, we're also faster, having less mass to propel, so we should outpace them shortly. Also, our small size limits our signature, so we should be out of the detection range, provided the hyperdrive holds out, which I have every confidence in.” She beamed and tossed him a thumbs up. “Corona helped me work out the specifics!”
At the woman's name, the two fell silent; despite their escape, the Kaiser Force had taken a heavy beating and was out of action, with no telling when or if they could recover. Vice unbuckled and stood up, heading to the back of the craft, where their passengers were buckled to the sides in fold out seats. One by one, he locked gazes with each of the men and women who had made it, realizing each of them felt the same.
“We got about 18 people out, dad, including us,” Amos told him softly, standing up from his seat.
Neither man needed to say more. There were over 50 people back in the hideout, which meant they got less than half. Vice slammed his fist against a bulkhead, then gazed out a porthole at the shifting colors of the dimensional sea. Not only had he failed Rio and the trust she had put in him, but he had failed everyone else.
How the hell were they going to fight Hayate now?
x~~*~~x
Corona crawled out of the the dome tent and rose to her feet, stretching as she glanced around, then promptly froze as her eyes found something in the distance. "Rio!"
“Hmm?” came the voice from inside the tent she had just exited, the purple-haired owner of the voice emerging and taking notice of the rising smoke pillar on the horizon. "Our base... they found it! I have to-"
"NO!" Corona blurted suddenly, grabbing the other woman before she took off. "You can't! It's too late!"
The minor commotion woke Nanoha and Agito up, the former crawling out of her own smaller tent while the latter floated out of the domed one. While Nanoha at first wondered what it meant, Agito who took immediate action, flying up into Rio's angry face to slap it.
"Corona's right, if you go back there now, you'll just get caught or worse!" the little demon berated her, the logic of which finally penetrated the resistance leader's angry haze and made her go still. “Besides, it could mean almost anything, not that they were discovered. Maybe there was just an accident; you know Vice would get them clear ASAP.”
"Givo..." Nanoha whispered, hoping somehow he had escaped. Once again, led to someone else paying a price.
Rio pulled out of Corona's grasp and hit her ear communicator. “Vice, can you read me? Lookout? Is anyone on this channel?”
All four were quiet as they waited several moments for a response. Rio's expression in particular continued to grow darker as the minutes ticked by, but no one answered her query.
"Dammit!" Rio growled, slamming her fist into a nearby tree. “Everything we've worked for all these years... gone! Why didn't the oracle warn us of this last time!? We believed in him and the Saint!”
“Perhaps some managed to escape,” Corona hopefully pointed out. “And we still have Nanoha. We just need to get her to the oracle and we can put an end to all of this.”
Agito floated back over to the purple-haired woman's face. “She's right, Rio. We have to keep moving and hope for the best. Perhaps this was inevitable; we couldn't stay hidden forever. But we are still here and we can still fight! We've only lost if we give up!”
Rio looked up at the little demon's firm face, then sighed. "Perhaps you're right. Come on, we need to get moving; Hayate's probably still looking for Nanoha, and so they'll be searching the area. They'll probably even know the direction we took if they interrogate the right people. If we double-time it, though, we can probably reach the oracle before sundown, hopefully ahead of any search parties."
Nanoha spared another glance back at the black smoke rising in the distance, realizing that it was because of her. Hayate was seemingly pursuing her at all costs, and if she hadn't associated with the rebels, they'd still have their safe haven. Somehow, the Bureau had been on her heels almost since she left Clanagan. Did they know where she was going or what she was up to? Was she somehow an unwitting spy?
As she rolled up her sleeping bag and mat, Nanoha glanced at her travel companions, her thoughts conflicted.
x~~*~~x
“Hayate reported that the shuttle jumped into hyperspace at a surprising speed,” Vita said from the holo screen. “If Nanoha was on it, then she left the planet and is headed who knows where. She wants us to leave some troops here to finish pacifying this area, and prepare to chase her off-world.”
“Ah, I expected as much,” Signum replied, leaning back in her chair about her transport ship grounded near the rebel hideout. “Though I do not see where she could be headed, except perhaps to try and rally more terrorist troops. Still, I have already apologized to Hayate for letting them get away.”
“Or perhaps it was just a rash escape,” Vita noted. “At any rate, I'm in the process of interrogating the prisoners I managed to take. Perhaps one of them will-”
“General Vita!” a male voice interrupted her. “Pardon for the intrusion, but we have something we think you should hear. Among the prisoners we took were two other rebel leaders from more minor factions. One of them told us that Rio Wesley would be taking the target to see some mysterious source of theirs. They seemed to think this source had inside information on us, perhaps being some sort of spy."
"Could it be some sort of trick or misdirection?" Vita questioned. "Perhaps they want us to think the target is still on planet, instead of on that ship."
"Our interrogator believes it to be the truth," he replied. "The subject broke rather quickly, and admitted that Rio left with a small group yesterday."
"That would explain why we did not see her in combat," Signum added. "There was no sign of this Rio Wesley, either. I will pass word back to Hayate about this spy if you will organize the search parties."
Signum allowed her eyes to close after Vita nodded and turned from the screen, started barking orders to her men to form search parties; apparently, Nanoha was still on planet after all, which meant she wasn't on that shuttle heading to deep space. Was it a ruse? A misdirection? At the moment, the escape ship could be anywhere, so without further intel, they'd have to just go with their original plan of searching the immediate area. With the sheer number of troops at their command, searching the nearby woods and mountains wouldn't take too long.
She had little doubt that, barring unforeseen circumstances, Nanoha would be theirs by the end of the day.
x~~*~~x
“Report,” Fate commanded, still looking through her viewfinder, barely seeing the green structure hidden among the trees.
“Your intel appears to be correct, sir,” her captain replied. “It's well-hidden, and there is a fairly strong barrier protecting the building. It will take us some time to breach.”
Fate lowered her electronic binoculars to gaze out with her own eyes. “We'll need to do this just right. If she is really here, she might have have an escape plan; at the least, expect heavy resistance, so when we strike, we need to be as quick and decisive as possible. Spread out around it, but stay hidden; I'll breach the shield when it's time to strike and everyone is in position.”
“Yes, sir,” the Enforcer captain saluted. "Also, per your orders, Captain Vellis is in geosynchronous orbit above with an Arc-en-Ciel charged. She reports that she's ready to fire any time."
"Understood," the Enforcer commander replied. "Rejoin your men and await my signal to proceed."
Fate raised the binoculars again, calming her nerves with well-honed breathing techniques; if Schach had given the correct information, then Carim would be inside.
[And perhaps Vivio as well,] came the unbidden thought, which was the reason for the Arc-en-Ciel on standby. If worse came to worse, it may be the only thing that might stop the Sankt Kaiser that the church depended upon so heavily during the war.
Fate bit her lip; both her daughter and Carim had evaded the Bureau for nearly 20 years, but tonight could very well be the night that all ended. She wondered how they might have changed, and how exactly she'd respond to them. Could she turn her daughter back, and somehow become a family again? Or would she be forced to imprison them both, or make use of her last resort plan?
What made Fate apprehensive the most was not that she didn't know which it would be; it was that today, one way or another, she'd be confronted with the answers.
Xx~~*~~xX
2010-07-19, 18:07
, I have an incredible backlog to go through 
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