As much as I support exploding brains and the education of deprived teenagers in the classical literature, I will not tolerant the Sparkling of anything and will purge any and every Twilight book in the name of the Kaiser.
I disagree. Twilight is an important work to showcase what not to do. If you're going to have your own spin on a well known legend, keep it consistant and don't make stuff up as you go along. Take heed, fellow writers! If you say the only body fluid vampires have is venom, do not have them suddenly have semen later on!
It's just bad writing, but sadly the youth of today are too stupid to realise this
Well, I will give Twilight some credit. Because of it I got my mom into Vampire Knight
Also I think Decode by Paramore is a pretty good song (inspired one of my fics, too).
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Rough draft of MGLN Crisis Chapter 18, The City Awakes. Chapter 19 is about done, just needs polish, and I'm halfway done with 20. So hopefully I'll be able to release one chapter a day, and be done by Monday or Tuesday next week.
Spoiler for MGLN Crisis Chapter 18: The City Awakes:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 18: The City Awakes
"How the hell did he do it!?" Fate demanded to know. "We should have defused all his relic bombs!"
Three hours later, Yuuno found himself in the medical facility outside Nanoha's room, along with the rest of their friends. There was no need to explain the main point; everyone had come to realize magic was gone. As the others talked behind him, he looked through the obsevation window at the occupants within, thankful that at least Nanoha and Vivio were stable for the moment.
Hayate shook her head. "I received a report a short while ago, when I was in an emergency meeting with the provisional council and other department heads. A couple of patrolmen happened across another relic bomb in the southern continent shortly before it went off. Apparently we didn't get them all. We're also receiving reports from other planets that were hit as well."
"Did Quattro misled us?" Subaru asked. "Sending us to find decoys?"
"No, they were real," Shari told her. "Suzuka and I examined each one after the cyborgs disarmed them. Jail must have had more. And I wouldn't be so quick to blame Quattro, either, as we also had a chance to look through Jail's database. There was no data to suggest that there were more than the ones we found. She might not have known."
Suzuka, standing nearby, was obviously looking very down. Arisa put her hand on the other's arm and squeezed in an attempt to comfort her. The purple-haired girl managed a bit of a smile.
"So he played us," Teana spelled it out. "He must have personally placed all the extras and was careful enough to not record any trace of them."
"One more thing," Shari said. "Your devices run by drawing a little magic power off you, but they do have an internal battery, and most of you have cartridges which will work still. However, once that's gone, there won't be anymore unless we go to another planet which still has magic. Your devices should have gone into power conservation mode once they couldn't draw magic for power, so use them sparingly when you have to activate them."
"I have word that ships will be here in a little over an hour for relief efforts," Hayate informed them. "But there is still some rioting out there; many people are afraid and angry. And I don't blame them; the TSAB failed to protect them."
"We all failed," Signum stated solemnly. "We didn't anticipate just how far the doctor would go."
"He is really dead, right?" Subaru asked.
Shamal nodded. "I double-checked the morgue myself. Jail and Uno are still there, and they aren't clones or anything."
"We found the holographic projectors and computer devices," Hayate added. "It looked like they were set to automatically go off under certain conditions. It was literally Jail's last resort."
"What about Nanoha and Vivio?" Yuuno asked, still looking through the window. Why did she keep ending up in a hospital bed? [It's not right!]
"That's what I wanted to talk to her about right before this all hit," Shamal explained, reaching up to activate a floating screen... except it didn't appear and she sighed in frustration. With magic gone, power was being reserved for critical functions only.
"I ran some scans on Nanoha the night Vivio showed up in her room," the doctor continued. "She was completely healed, and I couldn't figure out why. Nanoha's linker core in particular was back at full strength, but there were some strange readings. Earlier today, I finally narrowed it down: Both Nanoha and Vivio have the signatures of a relic inside their linker cores."
Yuuno turned. "A relic!? How?"
Shamal shook her head. "I don't know. But I know she didn't have one when I examined her after Nanoha rescued her from the Cradle."
Shari bit her lip. "Suzuka and I should be going back to my lab. We have more calculations to run. I managed to get a bit of power allocated for my terminal, to hopefully figure something else. And I need to check something."
"I"ll go, too," Arisa said, heading out with her friend.
"In any event, Nanoha and Vivio should be okay," Shamal told them. "Because they had a relic in their cores, I'm guessing they experienced sympathetic vibrations from the relic bomb wave. It would be as if I reached into your chest and grabbed your heart, then shook it fairly fast. Painful, but both should recover fully."
"Hayate, when those ships get here, can I arrange to have Caro transferred to another planet that still has magic?" Fate asked. "Fried isn't feeling very well."
"Neither are Rein and Agito," Hayate replied, remembering the two still passed out in their bags. "I'll try to see if I can arrange that. Zafira is also stuck in human form."
The male Guardian Beast sighed as people turned to glance at him. "It is rather... upsetting. But compared to everyone else, it's of small concern."
"Arf, too," Fate replied sympathetically, as a male aide entered the room and handed Hayate a pad. She thanked him and began to read it as he excused himself.
"What is it, Hayate?" Vita inquired.
"Deep space sensors have detected something fairly large on approach towards the planet," Hayate replied, not looking up. "It's on a collision course with Mid-Childa."
"An asteroid?" Teana asked.
The Lt. Col. shook her head. "Doesn't look like it. They are getting strange energy readings. Maybe some kind of ship, and not our own, as they'd be approaching from hyperspace. This thing is moving through space normally."
"How long until it gets here?" Signum questioned.
Hayate lifted her gaze from the pad finally. "Based on the estimates of it's speed, if it remains constant, it'll arrive in orbit in approximately 32 hours."
The fleet of six ships exited hyperspace a decent distance from Mid-childa. Almost immediately, Chrono began receiving reports from the surface, notifying him of the object approaching. He sighed at the extra complication.
"Lucino, open up communications to the fleet, as well as TSAB naval headquarters," he commanded.
"Channel open, Admiral," she replied after a moment.
"This is Admiral Chrono Harlaown of the Claudia," he stated. "We have arrived some distance from Mid-Childa to avoid entering the magic void zone. Initial plan called for us to land using thrusters, since we'd be unable to teleport to the surface. However, Ground Headquarters us has informed us of an object approaching the planet, estimated to arrive within 30 hours. We are requesting additional backup if it can be spared, in case this object is hostile. I will be sending one ship to investigate, while four others descend. The Claudia will remain stationed here for now to act as communications relay. Admiral Harlaown out."
Lucino signaled that the communique had been sent, but a small window opened up near Chrono's chair.
"Admiral, I trust you're trying to decide which ship to send," Captain Krieg Herald stated. "I'd like to volunteer the Belial. The crew is unanimous in this, and our ship is one of the older ones, if something bad happens."
"Captain Herald," Chrono noted. "Protocol requires me to double-check whether you are sure about this. It's a risk."
He nodded. "Understood, and we are sure. We can begin transferring our supplies to the other ships for descent, and take a short hyperspace to the object within the hour."
"Alright, you have my permission to investigate," the admiral replied. "Notify me when you're ready."
"Yes, sir!" the captain answered, saluting, then signed off.
Chrono looked over the initial data again, getting a bad feeling; what in the world could that be?
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Suzuka asked with dread, standing next to Shari in the safe.
The senior tech turned around, revealing the empty case. "I think we just figured out where the relic came from." Tears appeared in her eyes. "Not only did I screw up and not secure this properly, but now it's in Nanoha or Vivio!"
Suzuka put her hands on her friend and teacher's shoulders. "It's not your fault. We did what we could, locking it up in here. No one else should have known it was here."
"Then how did Vivio find it?" Shari nearly wailed.
"Was Vivio the one?" Arisa asked, thinking, hand on he chin. "Or did someone else take it and put it one of them? If they both have relic signatures in their linker cores, does that mean there were two relics involved?"
"We only had the one," Suzuka informed her, turning to look at her friend. "I guess we'll have to wait for Vivio to wake up to get more answers."
"Either way, I'm partially at fault," Shari said, drying her eyes, her determination returning. "I have to figure out someway to remove it without magic."
"Shari, that may not be possible right now," Suzuka cautioned, turning back.
"Not here, but if we can get her to a planet with magic, it should be possible," Shari explained. "Nanoha removed it once before, and while I'm not sure of the specifics, I have a few theories."
Suzuka internally remarked that Shari's eyes looked unusually fierce. "I failed to protect Vivio for Nanoha once; I'm not going to fail again."
An hour later, the Belial signaled it's readiness and made the jump. Captain Herald kept the communication line open to the Claudia, which was also transmitted down to the surface to the provisional council and division generals in real time.
"Approaching target," the Captain narrated. "As you can see through the images we are sending, tt looks like a city in a transparent bubble. It's huge, approximately 15 kilometers in length, and roughly oval shaped. I think we're being scanned in return, hold on." He paused. "Confirmed that we were scanned, so it knows we're here. Going to attempt to communicate.
He nodded to his communications officer, then resumed speaking. "This is Captain Krieg Herald of the Time-Space Administration Ship Belial. If you can hear and understand me, we request that you state the nature of your business in this system, as it is under our jurisdiction. Please respond."
Tense moments passed without a reply, then an alarmed cry came from a crewman. "Captain, I'm detecting an energy surge. I think it's firing!"
Out in space, a beam of brilliant crimson light lanced out from the edge of the city, striking the ship's shields. Inside the Belial, the red alert was sounded, as the captain attempted to rally his crew.
"All hands, prepare for battle!" Krieg commanded. "Reverse engines and bring us about!"
"Captain, get your ship out of there!" Chrono called.
"Trying, Admiral!" Krieg replied, his image shaking. "Shields are failing; whatever hit us was powerful. Return fire seems to be having no effect. We can't charge up the Arc-en-ciel in time." He paused as the ship took another hit. "Shields down; we took a direct hit on the lower decks! Engines are down. Object is definitely hostile! All hands, abandon ship! Abandon-"
The communication channel cut out, and Chrono's sensors detected an explosion farther out in the system. His bad feelings suddenly became clear.
Things had just gotten worse.
The patient eased out of the bed, testing her feet.
"How are you feeling?" Shamal asked.
Nanoha smiled slightly. "Better. The pain has mostly disappeared, so I think I'll be fine." Her expression shifted as she turned her gaze to her daughter. "How about Vivio?"
"Being younger and having a larger-than-normal linker core, the effect had a greater shock to her system," Shamal answered softly. "But she should recover as well. I'm hopeful she'll awaken later today or tonight." A hint of a smile appeared on her face. "But if you keep this up, we're going to have to stitch your name on this bed."
Nanoha looked suitably embarrassed, then turned to walk over to the bed holding the small form, brushing her hand against the girl's cheek. "Can I ask that you look after her for awhile longer? I want to be here, but I get the feeling there's more going on than the loss of magic. There has to be something I can do."
Shamal reached out to rest a hand on Nanoha's shoulder, smiling. "Of course you can. I'll take care of her. You have my word she'll be just fine." She indicated the door. "Hayate is waiting for you out there."
Nanoha nodded, slipping out of her hospital gown and getting back into her uniform that Fate had brought from home. As she stepped outside, Hayate was waiting for her, along with Fate and Yuuno. In moments, they brought her up to speed.
"So, this could be it?" Nanoha said at long last.
"It's very likely," Yuuno replied, pounding the railing in frustration. "If only I could get back to the library to run some more searches."
"Alhazard," Fate whispered, head lowering a bit. "Could that really be my mother up there in control of it?"
"We don't know for sure," Hayate told her. "It might not be, or there may be someone else in control of it. Maybe it's even automated."
Fate's head came back up. "Thanks, Hayate."
She nodded, then turned back to Yuuno. "The four ships landed just outside Clanagan. They are offloading magic batteries and other relief supplies now. We've arranged to evacuate some people, mostly the injured and those most seriously affected by this disaster. I might be able to arrange a slot for you, to get back to Naval headquarters and the Library."
"I don't want to take a spot from a patient," Yuuno told her. "And to be honest, I'm not sure there's much more I could find, that would help in this situation. I did most of my research on Alhazard years ago; what little information I could find, that is."
"So how do we fight this?" Nanoha asked. "It seems hostile and it's coming."
"Chrono already requested more ships, which should be here within three hours," Hayate replied. "This is judged to be a more serious threat than the cradle itself. I think he's managed to get almost half of the entire fleet, which is quite an achievement. If that much firepower can't take care of it, I don't know what will."
All four of them looked out the window, glancing toward the sky, each feeling powerless.
There had been no response to the warning. The city-in-a-bubble maintained its course for Mid-Childa, and Chrono couldn't wait any longer. He ordered the twenty ships to jump. The fleet emerged from Hyperspace, weapons hot and shields deployed. Almost immediately, all ships fired their main Arc-en-Ciel cannons.
White fire lit up the blackness of space, impacting the bubble shield around the city. Chrono had to shield his eyes along with the rest of the crew at the brilliance of the attack and the followup secondary explosions.
"Report!" he shouted as the lights began to dim.
"Working, but there's still too much interference," Lucino replied, tapping away furiously at her computer.
"Nevermind, I don't think I need you to tell me," Chrono stated as the brilliance died, revealing the city still in one piece, transparent bubble still intact.
"No way..." Lucino gasped. "I only registered a minor drop in shield output!"
"What kind of power is behind that!?" Chrono's first officer, Griffith, wondered aloud in astonishment.
"Tell all ships to charge for another blast, while firing all secondary batteries," the admiral ordered. "Permission is given for the use of missiles as well."
"It's firing!" Lucino called in warning.
Beams of crimson energy leapt out once more, tagging several ships, but that was followed up by secondary fire, yellow orbs that fired at a near machine-gun pace. Point defense batteries couldn't intercept them all, and one ship exploded in the initial barrage.
Dozens of magic-powered missiles lifted from their firing tubes, arcing towards the city. The yellow orbs fire changed course, seeking to shoot them down, managing to take out about half before impact. Multiple explosions blossomed over the bubble shield, as the ships' secondary magical guns continued to fire.
"Detecting an explosion inside the city!" Lucino announced, to cheers. "I think we got through!"
The city's return fire increased as it fired it's own missiles and main energy beams. The Claudia shuddered as it's shields strained against the barrage. Another two ships exploded.
"Arc-en-Ciel full charged!" Griffith announced. "But shields are failing! The Mizetto, Ralgo, and Leone are reporting that they are abandoning ship."
"All remaining ships fire main guns at will!" Chrono ordered, inserting his key and turning it. [We have to get through somehow! We got through once!]
Another round of intense white energy exploded towards the city, but in a staggered release as each ship showed differences in charging speeds. The magical weapons fire temporarily overwhelmed the red beams and yellow orbs being tossed at them, lighting up space brilliantly once more.
"Negative on penetration!" Lucino called, as the ship shuddered and red lights flashed.
Chrono pounded his fist on the armrest of his chair. "Dammit, what is that thing made out of? Why can't we penetrate it again? Order all ships to retreat immediately!"
"Admiral, our engines were hit in that last wave," Lucino informed them. "We can't maneuver."
"Start the charging process for the Arc-en-Ciel again," he ordered. "Then all hands abandon ship. I'll stay to fire off one more shot if I can, to help cover the escape!" Griffith and Lucino stared at him. "That's an order!"
He closed his eyes in finality, as he thought of his family. [I'm sorry, Amy. I'm sorry that you'll have to raise our two children alone.]
Lucino reluctantly got up from her chair along with the rest of the bridge personnel as the Claudia took another hit. Screens around the room began to show red, reporting of damage to various decks as the shields in various sections failed completely.
Griffith saluted. "It's been an honor serving with you, Admiral."
"Likewise, commander," Chrono answered, returning the salute, then turned back to the screen. He felt a tap on his shoulder. "What is it, Grif-?"
Chrono felt the fist slam into his jaw and his world went black.
Lucino stared, then sighed, understanding.
"Can't let the captain, or admiral in this case, go down with the ship," Griffith told her. "His wife would never forgive me. Help me get him to the teleporter."
"I should have figured you'd do something like that," She said, bemused as they hurried off the bridge and down the hall, the unconscious Chrono between them. "He should have seen it coming, too."
The ship shook again, violently, tossing the trio against a wall.
"We'll never make it to the teleportation room," Griffith told her as they got up. "And there might not be enough power left for it, anyway." He pulled a switch on the wall, a small door opening. "Get him in; you, too."
Lucino pushed Chrono into the seat of the small escape pod. "There's not enough room in there for all three of us!"
"I'll stay, you go," Griffith ordered, holding up the Arc-en-Ciel firing key. "I'll try to cover for your escape. I'm your superior, and you won't be able to knock me out with a punch."
She wanted to argue, but realized it was pointless, so instead offered her gloved right hand. "It's been an honor serving with you, Commander Griffith Lowran."
"You, too, Lt. Lucino Lillie urk!" he shook as he took her hand, collapsing to the floor.
"You're right, I can't punch you," Lucino told him, taking off the small stun device she had hidden in her palm. She kissed him, and then pushed him into the pod. "But I can't let you die here, either." She grabbed the key and tossed him a small round disc. "Goodbye, Griffith."
Commander Griffith Lowran couldn't move, but he could watch as she shut the door and launched the pod, tears in her eyes.
As the pod shot away from the ship, Griffith slowly regained some use of his limbs, although they were still a bit numb and the pod was cramped with two people. Watching the rear view, there was only wreckage of those destroyed as far as the eye could see. Several other escape pods could be seen firing thrusters as well.
The city itself had stopped firing for the moment. Then the heavily Claudia reoriented itself on the city and fired it's Arc-en-Ciel. Griffith was amazed it was still capable of that, his thoughts drifting to Lucino. He wanted to shout "WHY!?" but he already knew; the same reason he had been willing to stay behind.
He managed to touch his lips, never imagining that she had feelings for him. Or did she? He'd never know now.
He watched in horror as the city fired again, and the Claudia exploded.
Another hologram appeared above the city of Clanagan, but it wasn't the doctor this time. Fate gripped the railing in shock from where she watched in the Long Arch command center in the section six building, the voice echoing from all speakers.
"People of Mid-Childa," Precia Testerossa intoned, spreading her arms wide, her staff in her right hand. "You sent your fleet against me and they failed. I am, however, willing to show some leniency. I will leave the ones in the escape pods alone, so that you may pick them up later. They will bear witness to the truth of my power. Many years ago, I was a simple researcher. But the Time-Space Administration Bureau called my research and experiments illegal and wrong. They said my ideas were crazy and insane. They tried to shut me down and arrest me, forcing me into exile.
She grinned evilly. "But as you can see, my theories weren't so crazy after all, were they? The ancient city of Alhazard, fountain of advanced technology from a long dead civilization, is now under my control. I've come to exact my revenge on those that stood against me, and preventing me from re-uniting with my beloved daughter. I give you 8 hours to reflect upon your misfortunes. I will enjoy watching you squirm!"
"Detecting multiple signals from the hostile," of the male officers announced. "Confirmed. Appears to be several waves of missiles on approach."
"Time and number?" Hayate demanded to know.
"Confirmed: 50 missiles inbound," he responded. "They will arrive well ahead of the city, approximately 8 hours from now."
"How many of the fleet ships survived?" Hayate asked.
"I'm not detecting any ships," a female officers replied. "If they jumped, they didn't end up around the planet."
Hayate fell back in her chair, sighing in frustration. But Fate barely noticed this.
"Chrono..." she breathed, clenching her fists and teeth. "Mother..."
"Fate-chan..." Nanoha whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's alright, and is in one of those escape pods."
Fate nodded. "I want to believe that. But mother... this goes so far past what she has done before. Why? She found her city apparently. Why does she feel the need to do this!?"
"Hayate!" Shari called, her face appearing on one of the forward monitors. Suzuka could be seen in the background with an equally worried face.
"What is it?" Hayate inquired.
"We detected the missile launches here, since my terminal is tied in with the Long Arch systems still," she replied. "We ran a preliminary analysis on them, and Suzuka detected something about them." She stepped aside and motioned for the other girl to step up.
"I only recognized the readings right away because of my education on Earth," Suzuka explained. "Some of those missiles are giving off radioactive signatures!"
Hayate's eyes widened, along with Nanoha's, but Fate was a bit confused and asked, "What does that mean?"
"Nuclear missiles," Hayate whispered, her eyes drawn to the multitude of blips on the radar screen, and the red countdown timer in the corner.
The missiles would reach the planet in 7 hours, 51 minutes, and 38 seconds.
--------------------------
Author's notes:
For those who don't recognize her, Lucino Lillie was in StrikerS, so she isn't a character I made up. She was a Long Arch "bridge bunny" but you can see her in the ending of ep26, when they mention what each character goes on to.
And for those of you who are tired of seeing the torment our heroes are going through, fear not; things will start turning around next chapter, entitled "Rain of Fire." There are more surprises in store, and plans will be made. There is hope! And if you can connect the dots to little things I've mentioned before, you might even be able to predict most of what happens next.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 00-Raiser
I'm proud to say I've always remembered who Lucino is!
Only just glanced through the chapter cuz I haven't read the rest yet, but some really big things are going down, aren't they?
You could say that. :P It is the tail end of the fic, and the big confrontations are happening. I liken it to the last 6 episodes of Strikers... but bigger.^^
I groaned as she walked into Nanoha's bakery. The brown haired girl had stars in her eyes as she read the black book in front of her. Walking over to her, I plucked the book from her grasp, startling her. "Fate-chan!?"
"I thought I told you about these books." I moved back when she tried to grab for it and read some aloud. "He shined in the sun, tiny glittering stars over his totally awesome face. shining with the shiniest of vampire shiners. but Alas, the totally awesome and really hip werewolf dude was furry in all his furry glory." I began to dramatically act out, throwing my hair over my shoulder and walking around the bakery while Nanoha jumped at my back, trying in vain to reach teh book I held out of her grasp. "I loved them both, but a three-way was out of teh question. Werewolves didn't double up on vamps and humans, no matter how much I tried to talk them into it. My poor wolf didn't like the shining rays of shine that came off the vampire in the sunlight, even though vampires didn't like sunlight. Oh, alas, woe is me, I love them both, and the both love me-"
"FATE-CHAN!" Nanoha was getting a little upset now so I turned to face her, looking down at her cute puffy cheeks. "Don't make fun of what I read."
"You know a vampire AND a worgen, how can you stomach this crap?"
"It's not crap!" Nanoha gave a small huff. "Its romantic!"
"You don't see us in a three-way with a worgen." Just as soon as I said that, Hayate walked into the door to the bakery.
"Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan!" Hayate's brittish accent came at once and she glomped onto me and held my arm, much to Nanoha's displeasure. "hi!"
"Mine," Nanoha stated firmly, grabbing my other arm.
"we can share."
"Vampires don't like werewolves."
"I'm a worgen."
"Her sparkling will annoy you."
"I DON'T SPARKLE!"
"SHE DOESN'T SPARKLE!"
Nanoha growled, letting go of me and getting a cinnamon bun.
"Don't you dare," I warned her.
Nanoha ignored me and held the bun up to me, forcing me to inhale the sweet cinnamony goodness that the gods themselves blessed the earth with.
"Oh sweet Jesus, she's sparkling!" Hayate jumped back
I absolutely loathe Twilight. Although the image of Jail reading it is a funny one; I can just see his face twisting with horror and disgust before he gives up and throws the book away, ordering Quattro to burn it.
Besides, with Satashi's lemon my version of Vivio doesn't really lose anything because it isn't based off my current ViCia/Shadow series. So technically she'd still be a virgin.
2009-11-19, 10:01
Author
