Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[Sheba]

Spoiler for Chapter 2 - Part 2:

Three girls were sitting around a table in a near empty room of a spaceship, with cards in their hands, while smaller robots were performing the mandatory maintenance tasks. Zafira was watching over the trio, more like a spectator than one of the actors of the game. There was a tense atmosphere as Pranee was tapping repeatedly the table with the tip of her fingers.

She was trying to read in Ynana's expressionless face, with no success. She gave up and shifted her glance to Vivio. The little girl was a little bit easier to read. Vivio had a frown on her face and she was biting her lower lip. It was likely a bad hand for her. Surprisingly for a little girl, Vivio had been very aggressive as a player, forcing people to bet and raise, and eventually make mistakes. She was truly the adopted daughter of the White Devil. On the other hand, Ynana was more passive, but her alien origin and lack of familiarity with human customs were enough to explain her behavior in poker. Ynana's biggest trump was not her hands, but her lack of facial expressions.

Pranee grew impatient and tapping the floor with her foot, Vivio had this smirk telling the cook of the Namshub, "You are losing it, aren't you?” And this frustrated Pranee. Enough to raise her hand and say:

"Alright, I call. Show'em." Pranee laid two fours and two fives, and a poor nine.

Vivio then laid three seven and two eights. Upon this view, Pranee slapped her forehead.

"Damn you! It's a full house! How do I beat that?" She vented off her frustration.

Then the both girls looked at Ynana's hand. If Pranee had learnt something, Lady Luck was always a whimsical lady and smiled at the least likely persons. Ynana was one of them as confirmed by her hand: an Ace, a King, a Queen, a Joker and a Ten. The entire Spade suit.

"Straight flush! That's unfair!" Pranee said to Ynana.

"What's 'unfair'?" Ynana had not understood it.

"It's not like this game was important." Vivio noted.

Pranee admitted it, there were indeed no money to bet.

"You would not like to play with Hayate like Fate-mama, Nanoha-mama, Signum and Zaffy did." She stated.

Pranee looked at Zafira who seemed to have frozen at the thought of playing poker with Hayate.

"What? Do you mean?" Pranee dared to ask.

Vivio replied with a big grin, like a little trickster while Zafira trembled. Pranee was then too afraid to ask more. Ynana had shown no change of expression. She stood and walked to join the command room.

"Be seeing you." She simply said while walking away.

Pranee stretched her arms and stood up while telling Vivio:

"I have no choice to go back to the kitchen, I'll see you later Vivio" Pranee nonchalantly waved. "By the way, I promise you to not cook something too spicy for your taste."

"Thank you. I'll be seeing Antigone and study our destination a little more." Vivio replied. "Let's go Zaffy!"

"As you wish." Zafira replied.

The spaceship was configured so the inside would not be a labyrinth in despite of its inner size. However, on a more amusing note, it had not stopped Reinforce Zwei to get lost until she followed one of the robots generated by the spaceship. Like a living organism, the artificial intelligence of the Namshub used its antique nanomachinery to create mini-robots for repair, check-up and maintenance. As a consequence, the human personnel could be kept at the bare minimum to be functional and still running good. It did help that the robots were friendly with the human crew, a kind of friendly relationship that could be, at best, described as the one between a man and a dog. They were not bigger than little dogs, with the exception of the combat drones spawned by the ship, should the need arise. Some could levitate and other crawled on the walls or the ceiling like ants. Vivio admitted that it sort of scared her, but got used to their presence the next days after understanding their purpose. Zafira, on the other hand, was still a bit nervous, but this did not stop him from carrying on his daily life and his task: watching over Vivio, as he always did.

Vivio walked for about five minutes with Zafira until she found Antigone, tending the garden of the spaceship to grow the needed vegetables and fruits. "Garden" was such an inappropriate word to describe how big it is. Vivio could describe it to be about a bit smaller than the Great Cranagan Stadium. If it was not for the helpful robots of the Namshub and the paths they made across the garden, anyone could have easily gotten lost. The garden was the fruit of Ynana's and Antigone's efforts, and the pride of Antigone. Ynana had allowed this large space to be used to grow this garden, because she was motivated by the sheer curiosity, and a desire to know if she could make a micro-ecosystem. The hardest part for Ynana was to configure the cycle of the water so it could be self-sufficient. But the success of her efforts had provided her what humans called an ego boost. Now, the result was before Vivio's eyes, and this was one of her favorite places in the Namshub. Other spaceships of the TSAB could not afford this much, due to a lack of space. Vivio also deducted that this garden could be the reason behind the ability of the Conquistadores group to afford long stays beyond the border, while keeping the rate of resupply at a minimum level. Antigone had her back turned to Vivio, focused on grafting one small green branch over a young tree, assisted by another of the Namshub's robots. She had not noticed Vivio approaching her from behind with Zafira.

Vivio leaped to reach Antigone and wrap her arms around the Greek girl's shoulders. Antigone had let a shriek of surprise when Vivio, she span a little bit than fell flat on the grass. Both girls rolled away from each other, Vivio then stood and walked to help Antigone to stand up.

"You could have warned me, Vivio. I was thinking it was him." Antigone said in one breath.

"Oh him." Vivio knew the pervert reputation of the leader of the Conquistadores.

"So, what's the reason of your visit?" Antigone enquired.

"I wanted to know more about Madhyaloka." Vivio answered.

"What I had not told you?" Antigone asked.

"Well, I know a little about its astronomy. But you also taught me about its flora and fauna." Vivio said.

"Enough to tell who are the dangerous animals, what to eat and what to not eat. That's right." Antigone continued.

"But its people? What about them?" Vivio pushed her curiosity over Antigone. "I have heard that you disobeyed your captain and went to this planet, shortly after Ynana sent her probes. Is it true?"

Antigone sighed and looked straight into Vivio's eyes.

"It's true. I have gone on this world after its discovery." Antigone said. "Sieraza, Pranee's friend, wanted to see how much her homeworld had changed. For that purpose, I used a bit of my magic to deceive the robots of the spaceship and hijack an exploration shuttle to land on Madhyaloka, that was then called Non-administrated World number... Hum.. I forgot already." Antigone stuck out her tongue.

"It don't matter if you can't remember that number, this world have a name after all. Please, tell me more." Vivio pressed Antigone a bit more with her curiosity.

"Well, this landing had not gone as I hoped. Sieraza was so used to the life on Midchilda and Earth, so she omitted the fact that Madhyaloka had a slightly stronger gravity. So we lost control of the shuttle and land crashed. Thanks to our combined magic, we managed to make it alive." Antigone sighed, knowing her luck.

"Then?"

"So we crawled out of the ship wreck, and started our exploration of the place, a small valley with a small stream running across it. And a forest could be seen two little kilometers away. First thing to come in mind was the need for food. Luckily, Sieraza knew what was edible and what was not. This was when my own natural curiosity got the better of me."

Burnt by her infantile curiosity, Vivio tilted her head up, anticipating the next part of Antigone's story.

"It was a whole new world for me. Some plants were similar to those found on Earth, and others were never seen before. The same could be said about its animals. I am not too sure about how it could have happened, but I prefer to leave that to the more competent people. Well, back to my story. I have gone too far from the crash site. I found myself in the aforementioned forest and I unfortunately met one of the big beasts of this world. I think it was sort of bear, with a shorter fur and stockier build, but bigger than our earth's bears. Let's call it the local variety of bear."

"How did bears ended up here?" Vivio asked.

"I seriously have no idea. Who knows? Maybe that theory about ancient superior races was true? Well, back to my little story. Like a bear from Earth, this bear was in a foul mood and had shouted in an earth shattering manner. I was so scared I fell on my rear-bottom. Then my natural survival instinct had commanded me to get up and run as fast as I can."

"Hum... Didn't you have a spell ready?" Vivio was curious, used to her mother who always said to be ready for anything, and applied this rule very well in her missions.

"I was mainly a summoner. And no, I had not prepared a spell for that. The world just marvelled me to the point I forgot about the most basic mage's safety measure." Antigone knocked her own head with her own fist. "Well. Imagine me. With teary eyes and running all over the forest, with a raging bear behind me. For my misfortune, I tried to look over my shoulder. This short attention slip had gotten me colliding with a tree. And I lost consciousness."

Vivio's red and green eyes had gotten wider.

"But you are still alive! How did you make it?" She asked.

"Oh, here you are." The Colonel Yagami had found them. She was accompanied by Reinforce Zwei and followed Signum.

"Where were you, Hayate?" Vivio asked.

"I was training with Signum and Reinforce. The purpose was to get used to the conditions of this planet, especially its gravity and atmosphere." Hayate answered. "This special room of the spaceship was quite handy, and seeing Signum’s face over the effect of her fire magic was something."

Signum coughed.

"It may be useful in some occasions." She said

Hayate sat on the grass while Reinforce laid on her lap.

"I am not yet used to this gravity." Reinforce sighed.

"It was true that my sword did not feel as it usually did." Signum commented.

As she had read in the reports, Vivio noted that the atmosphere of the planet Madhyaloka had slightly more oxygen than Earth, resulting in a more careful use of fire from its inhabitants. Its gravity was stronger than the one on Earth, but only by a small, tiny, margin. It was still enough for them to change some habits. This explained this special room where gravity, atmospheric pressure and composition could be changed according to the wishes of users, and within the bearable limits of the human body or any other humanoid.

"Say, what were you talking about?" Hayate asked.

"Antigone was talking about her misadventure on Madhyaloka." Vivio replied.

"Oh, I have read the report. Hidden by Kyoya." Hayate said. It should have been reported to the Navy, by the Conquistadores agreed together to not give it to the higher authorities. Otherwise, Antigone, or worse, all of them, could have been suspended.

"Please, Antigone, carry on." Hayate continued.

"Thank you, Colonel." Antigone was rather happy to share her story, so she continued where she left. "When I opened my eyes. I found myself on a bed in a rather simple room." She stuck out her tongue. "I am sorry if it sounded cliché but, anyway, I appeared to be nursed by a young human lady who spoke a language I didn't know. She likely thought I was crazy when I started talking in my own mother tongue, Greek. Then entered a very tall humanoid. He looked human if it was not for his eyes, grey on a lighter grey, and a third eye in the middle of his forehead."

"Like Shiva?" Hayate asked.

"Sort of," Antigone replied with a nod. "Without the four arms. By the way, when I said he was very tall. He could have towered Arngrim, my summon and friend, from the top of his... Hum... Two meters and twenty eight something centimeters."

Signum looked upward and raised her hand over her head, trying to mentally picture how tall that mysterious man could be. Antigone smiled at Signum.

"Just imagine him like three heads taller than Zafira in human form. And I think it's the minimum I can think off the top of my head."

"I can almost picture it." Signum nodded.

"So... It was with the help of language signs that the three of us could get understood. Apparently, the very tall man saved me from the bear by burning a resin."

"Burning a resin?" Reinforce asked.

"Apparently, bears of this planet dislike the smell of a certain tree and its resin. He could have killed the animal if he wanted too. After all, that man carried a large two-handed sword. But later on, as I had learned their language, I had understood that the bear in question was female and was only defending her cubs."

"Awwwwwwww." Such was the sound heard from Vivio.

"Well, he brought me to his native village. And he introduced me to his culture with the help of his young sister. A rather charming girl. Thanks God, I was not stupid and learnt their language rather quickly. About two weeks passed on, until Sieraza, accompanied by Kyoya and Pranee found me. And."

"And?" Hayate urged Antigone to continue.

"Let's say it was rather awkward. The man who saved me had not expected someone like Sieraza to pop up in his village. Apparently his race and hers were antagonists, something that dated back in their recent history, like a millennium ago. So, his temper had gotten to him and he would have killed Sieraza if it was not for the interventions of Kyoya and Pranee. But..."

"But?" Vivio wanted to hear more.

"It looked like that the Kyoya and Pranee tag team could not stop him. Even with their magic." Antigone replied.

"How come?" Reinforce asked.

"He had the combat instinct. He was a mercenary who had fought enough spellcasters to know how to counter them. And he was not stupid. It is not like in video games, where a character picked a weapon and was stuck with it for the rest of the game. He had a whole arsenal on him, javelins, throwing knifes, dagger and a war hammer for support. So what did he do when Pranee used her magic to take off? He threw one of his javelins at her, and it hit her thigh. The pain pretty much nailed her on the ground."

"Wait, how did it go through Pranee's magical shield?" Zafira enquired.

"The tip of his javelin is forged in a metal coming from a fragment of the shattered moon. The same moon mentioned in the Colonel's dream. You may come across one of the people owning this kind of anti-magic weapon. Needless to say that it is priceless in this world. Ok! Back to my story. Seeing Pranee being wounded, Kyoya got pretty much angry and did the unwise thing: rushing at the enemy without knowing him first. The giant may be not as fast as Fate Testarossa, but his strength, tolerance to pain and combat experience offset his weaknesses. Due to that, Kyoya almost lost his ear, and a good chunk of his person. However, the warrior's sister had interposed herself between the two men. It was her arm that saved Kyoya, by stopping the arm of her brother. And it was her words that stopped what could have turned into a tragedy. I could have summoned Arngrim to help Kyoya. But Kyoya was too stubborn and would curse me for helping him. On the other hand, I have made new friends with that warrior and his sister."

"So it was too hard for you to choose." Hayate commented.

Antigone lowered her glance, admitting her weakness. Hayate then grabbed Antigone by her shoulders.

"You were not the only one to have faced this kind of conflict. Cheer yourself up." Hayate brought comfort to Antigone. "It was your ease to open up your heart and get friends that saved them all."

"You are right, Colonel." Antigone tilted up her head and knocked her chest in a sign of self-encouragement.

"How did it conclude?" The brunette asked.

"The warrior agreed to stop the fight, for his sister's sake. Then he said he should not take his people's disliking of Sieraza's people on her alone, so he left Sieraza alone. This did not stop the relationship between the two from being awkward until the end, even though they both admitted to appreciate and respect each other the last day. We stayed a dozen of days until Pranee's wound had healed, this had allowed us to gather most of the data you were learning since that travel had begun. Let's say that I had contributed a little in the language, their language and the common language used in this world."

"There are still details you omitted." Signum commented.

"Well, you know where the Captain’s report is. Feel free to read it if you want to know more. Or you can discover things by yourself." Antigone replied while emphasizing on the last sentence. Looking at Vivio while doing so.

With a fair load of enthusiasm, Vivio replied with a nod. Signum gave that "fair enough" kind of barely noticeable smile. Reinforce Zwei had flown away and come back with a little strawberry she started to munch on. Not too long before she gave up on it, it was still too sour for her liking.

"Well, it was relaxing and all. But the training hungered me." Hayate admitted.

Zafira assumed his semi-human form and stretched his arms.

"Lately, you have assumed your human form a lot." Signum remarked.

"Is it that girl?" Hayate immediately thought of Sieraza, and the near obsessional interest she held for Zafira.

"Sort of." Zafira looked away. "It must be my natural charm." He said while flexing his arm. "And she said something about apron play."

Hayate had a smirk while Signum facepalmed. Reinforce Zwei was shaking her head to erase a mental image from her mind. Vivio hid her mouth behind her hand, trying to repress a giggle. She may be a child but she had been with Hayate for long enough to know certain things. The most clueless of the group was Antigone. Ignorance is bliss, so they said.

A bell rang, loud enough to be heard in the garden. It was the time for lunch. The group stood up and walked to the dinner room where the rest of the crew, Kyoya, Sieraza, Pranee and Ynana were likely waiting for them.

***

The dinner room was rather blank, excepted for that calendar pinned on the wall by the captain, featuring alluring midchildan bikini models. There were also a dart board, and a set of several clocks showing the local times from different locations, namely Cranagan City, Athens, Bangkok and Tokyo.

The captain Kyoya Kibagami explained, "For some reason, my crew or my passengers loves to contemplate what time could be in their homeland."

"We may have left our past behind us, our heart always longed for the place of our childhood." Antigone added.

Pranee was too busy to eat the food she proudly cooked.

"You have used one of the recipes that Kevin have given to me, don't you?" Hayate asked.

"Mfmfmfmfmmmmmfmmfmfmfm." Pranee answered with her full mouth. She then took her time to swallow her food then answered. "I wanted to try a recipe from one of the most famous cooks of Cranagan City. You know very well why we are seldom near of Midchilda. Right, Colonel?" She said with a shrug.

The both girls looked at Kyoya Kibagami trying to score a hit on Signum, who politely refused his advances and looked so close to lose her composure. Signum then noticed that Hayate and Pranee were looked at them and gave that "Help me, master." look at Hayate. The Colonel then smirked at Signum who then knew she had to get out of this situation by herself.

"Now I remember why." Hayate answered, talking about the Captain Kibagami.

"It's no wonder we are called "The Shame of the Navy". Ynana don't care about it, Antigone is always dreaming about marvelous encounter. And Sieraza may be the only one bothered by this unspoken ban." Pranee said.

Hayate then looked at Zafira and Sieraza. The girl with leather wings was sitting on the Knight's lap and feeding him with a spoon, like a schoolgirl trying to feed her love interest. Zafira was actually enjoying this, it was not everyday someone took a liking on him. A mitigating factor would be the fact that Sieraza was trying to tap in Zafira's libido by unbuttoning her shirt until he could see a glimpse of her charms. Being fed with love was nice, being teased in front of his master and his fellow knight was rather embarrassing, especially when Signum noticed it and gave Zafira and Sieraza a disapproving glance. The little island of innocence would be Vivio, Reinforce Zwei and Antigone chatting together like long time friends. The trio being ignorant of the sensual tension between Zafira and Sieraza, and the less nice tension between Signum and the Captain Kibagami. Ynana just ate and did not paid attention to her surrounding, only picking up her food, according to the nutrients she needed for this day's tasks. Hayate and Pranee were watching the whole scene with amusement.

Sierara picked up a slice of mozzarella with a fork then said, "My lovely Zaffy, say 'Aaah'"

Zafira gladly obeyed.

Kyoya continued his advances, "You know, when this crisis will be over. Let's run away from the TSAB's grasp."

"How did you become captain? This is beyond me." Signum replied, before looking at Zafira and Sieraza and thinking, "Zafira, your behavior is not one of a knight."

Kyoya answered to Signum, "Yes, tell me about it. I must be so awesome." He rubbed his chin and gave Signum this superstar smile usually seen in these toothbrush TV advertisement. The kind of annoying smile with glinting teeth.

"What a bother." Signum thought to herself.

"Say, let's be the Bonny and Clyde of the dimensional sea, the greatest pirates of the universe. And dig treasure..." He ogled at Signum's assets, "Chest." He concluded his sentence with a wink.

Signum's mind was focused on the annoyance coming from Sieraza's near indecent behavior around Zafira. Her mind was burning with indignation when Sieraza spelled "Apron". So this girl had no dignity? Then she felt a subtle pressure, in this area. She lowered her glance.

Kyoya, seeing that Signum's attention was focused elsewhere, thought that it would be his lifetime chance. So he moved his hand to this place where no manly hand in the TSAB had laid before. He savored each inch separating him from the pride of all well-developed women. When the tip of his fingers had touched them, it was for him a moment comparable to the first steps of the man on the Moon. Adrenalin rushed across his brain, his heart accelerated its beats, and his body had become hotter. But he then saw something coming to meet his face. He knew it was the divine, rather feminine, judgement, the retribution of the whole female gender. When the fist had reached his face, it was like the impact of a shotgun blast at point blank. As he tumbled backward from the strength of the punch, his world swirled. A dark abyss swallowed him as his head hit the wall behind him.

Hayate widened her eyes in amusement while Pranee could not help but point and laugh at her captain. Antigone rushed to check her captain while Vivio and Reinforce Zwei were rather scared of Signum, as seen from their agape mouths. The pink-haired knight could only grit her teeth and thought to herself "Aw damn, I snapped in front of my master."

"I am sorry, Mistress!" She said to Hayate while bowing.

"To be fair, he had it coming for him" Hayate answered. "Right, Pranee?"

Pranee was not listening, her eyes shed tears over the situation and it was not tears of grief. It was all the opposite, as she knocked the table repeatedly with her fist while holding her stomach and laughing.

"By the way, Signum," Hayate gave her a thumb up. "Nice Punch!"

Then Signum looked at the open palm of her hand that delivered the punch.

"Look, you are blushing." Hayate giggled.

"This is not the behavior that a knight like me should be showing, Mistress." Signum said, her voice trembled with embarrassment.

Pranee was done laughing and wiped the tears off her eyes, "Now you know why people want us away from the TSAB's main offices as long as possible."

Signum noticed Reinforce's and Vivio's looks, she then opened her mouth and was about to say "Wait, you are misunderstanding." but Vivio and Reinforce were inching away from her. Signum shifted her attention to Zafira and Sieraza. They were gone already.

She then asked to Reinforce, "Where are they?"

But Reinforce was too scared to even say a word.

"I think I know." Signum then stepped toward the exit of the dining room, in hope to stop Zafira from falling from grace.

As Hayate and Pranee watched Signum leaving the scene, Hayate turned to the cook and said.

"Let's play a game."

Pranee, who called Ynana's little robots to clean the place, looked at the Colonel and asked. "What kind of game, Colonel?"

"Just ping-pong." Hayate answered. "Who want to play ping-pong?" She shouted.

The place only had Antigone, Pranee, Vivio and Reinforce Zwei. The captain was still on the floor and being brought to the infirmary by Ynana's robots. Reinforce Zwei could not play because of her small size, so she volunteered to count points instead. Vivio and Antigone were up to some matches, same for Pranee. The group then left the dining room for the game room.

[Sheba]

Spoiler for Chapter 2 - Part 3:

It was a fair deal of weeks since the Commodore Atkinson had received this message regarding the Colonel Yagami. His squadron had been scanning his small sector of the dimensional sea for days, in hope to find the famous Namshub.
In order to widen the search area, he split his squadron of two destroyers and four cruisers into smaller squads to cover as much space as possible. Weeks were too long for his men, there were less food supplies, and the personal hygiene was kept to a minimum level to save water. The effect on his men's morale could be read on their tired eyes and stubby chins. Just about the last week, the Commodore had received dozens of reports of fights among his men. His men could not seize the importance of intercepting one small exploration ship carrying one of the most important figures of the TSAB. They'd rather fight a whole fleet and launch boarding attacks for the thrill. Understandable from the point of view of these young men who could have been schoolboys or young athletes training for great competitions. He was writing a mail to his wife who voiced her concerns over his refusal to get children. He confessed to his second that he disliked children. While thinking over how to phrase a sentence in a correct manner, his second opened the door of his room to deliver him a message.

"Commodore," He said while saluting. "Our probes had detected an object at about 1 AU. According to its profile and the information we have gotten from our intelligence agents, it's the Namshub."

"About time" The Commodore stood up.

***

Floating in her tube and bathing in an alien fluid that allowed her to be one with the ship, Ynana perceived a squadron of ships that seemed to be waiting for something. She enhanced the accuracy of her sensors then saw the flag that these ships were bearing. No doubt, it was the Confederate fleet. Now she fully seized the meaning of these fragments of message received a few days ago from Midchilda. The signal was scrambled by the disturbance of the dimensional sea, to the point that it was undecipherable. To fully seize how bad it was, it was as if someone had tried to send a mobile phone call in the middle of a magnetic storm.

She mentally ordered the ship to activate the camouflage and jamming device. In other words, from the point of view of the Confederates, the Namshub had become invisible like a chameleon, or "dove" like a submarine about to pass through an enemy fleet.

Telepathically talking with the AI of the Namshub, Ynana ordered it to wake up the crew and the passenger for a meeting, so they could decide what to do next.

***

The command room was a vast one, and this contrasted with how much it was populated. One could expect it to be crowded with officers, sub-officers and bridge bunnies. This was not the case. Other than Kyoya and his crew, and the passengers, there were some robots here and there, mostly to check the elements of the command room. There were just enough control panels for the crew of the Namshub who would offer their help should the need arise, there were also some control helmets made for the crew. Indeed, they could choose to take over the control of the drones and probes occasional sent outside for scouting, reconnaissance, analysis and exploration purposes. All in the front, there were the wide and thick window meant to give a view of the outside. It was protected by several layers of reinforced materials used in the TSAB navy, and some were of an alien origin. Finally, there were a dozen of microlayers of nanomachines filtering every possible hazardous elements coming from the outside, namely the cosmic rays. This seemed to be superfluous, when one knew that the Namshub already have such protections all around it, but those who made the ship, a dozen of millennia ago, estimated that they could never be too careful. This window could adjust its level of transparency, according to one's wish. However, this window was mostly blackened because Kyoya estimated that people would grow bored of staring at the outer space or the dimensional sea pretty fast. And floating in front of this window, there were several holographic screens, meant to display various parameters, mostly velocity, position of the ship, position of celestial bodies, states of the probes and reconnaissance drones, and reports of the state of the ship itself. And a last one was meant for the communication and link with a third party.

At the center of the command room, there was the control tube where Ynana floated. She was bathing in the liquid like a baby. People were gathered around her for this meeting she initiated because of an emergency.
People had to go through some days to get used to see her in that state, especially Zafira and Signum. Ynana, herself, was never bothered about it. For people like Antigone, this had given various embarrassing situations during her first days in the TSAB, when Ynana would walk around in that state and meet some TSAB personnel who had been visiting the ship for inspection purposes. There were speakers all over the room to allow Ynana to convey her communication. Hayate Yagami, Kyoya Kibagami and the rest of the people were waiting for Ynana's report. Vivio rubbed her eyes, not knowing why they abruptly got woken up. Antigone let Vivio rest her head on her chest.

About everyone in the room looked serious, even the Captain Kibagami who usually behaved like a clown. It was indeed not the time for jokes.

"You have omitted to tell us about this message?" Hayate asked Ynana.

"I am sorry, Colonel. I should have reported it to the Captain or you."

"To be fair, I don't think about we would have guessed the content of the message." Hayate covered her mouth with her hand. "The fact it have been scrambled so badly may be a sign of how badly the dimensional sea is disturbed."

"However, short distance communications are still fine. I have tested it not too long ago with the Namshub's probes." Ynana added. "I think that in regard of the threat ahead of us, we can guess what the message was for."

"Would you have tried to uncover alternative paths to our final destination if the message was not scrambled as badly as it did?" Kyoya asked.

"It would have been very difficult. In the closest sector of the normal space, we would end up right in a globular cluster of supergiant stars." Ynana answered. "In the dimensional sea, I have detected several disturbances of the dimensional sea. With varying types and levels of threat."

"As in?" The Colonel wanted to know.

"At best, the functioning of the Namshub machinery would be disturbed. At worst, the Namshub could be disintegrated, or go under a time dilation" Ynana said.

"Time dilatation?" Hayate Yagami asked.

"For the crew, a few hours could have passed, but a longer period of time could pass in the normal space. Or vice versa." Ynana answered with the monotony of a machine.

"How lovely." The Captain sighed.

"The road blocked by the Confederate squadron is the one still normal by the dimensional sea standards." Ynana said.

"So we are going to walk by the lion den?" Hayate said. "Sounds like a plan."

Ynana replied, "Affirmative. We will fly between one destroyer and its two escorting cruisers. It will take a while for the rest of the squadron to join them."

"Colonel, we have to be prepared for the possibility of a boarding attack from the Confederate troops." The Captain Kibagami warned. "We don't know how powerful the Confederate scanners are. They are likely going to see through the Namshub's camouflage."

"Don't worry about it. I have thought of this possibility and have not excluded it. Moreover, I am fairly confident that my magic will not fail." Hayate replied.

"How would you know?" Antigone asked.

"I have a very good intuition about it." Hayate answered with a wide confident smile. "Vivio, stay safe."

Vivio nodded.

"Zafira, Signum. Are you ready?" Hayate asked.

The both knights answered in unison. "Anytime, Mistress."

"Reinforce. I'll need your assistance." Hayate looked at Reinforce.

"Yes, Mistress!" Reinforce hopped.

"Let me assist you." Antigone stood up.

"I'll stay behind to bring medical assistance to the wounded." Sieraza offered her help.

"Ok, if we are detected. Signum, Zafira, Pranee, Arngrim, the Antigone's summon, will be in the frontline to take most of the assault waves. Hayate will be behind to take care of the big guns. Antigone and Sieraza for support." Kyoya Kibagami said.

"Arngrim?" Vivio asked.

"That friend I talked about, some days ago." Antigone said. Upon these words, she summoned her device, a thick book with a red leather hardcover. She then stroked a few pages as a golden pentagram glinted in front of her. A few seconds after a golden light bathed the briefing room, a warrior with red eyes and dark bluish grey hair stepped out of the portal created by the pentagram. Clad in a steel armor and a blue cape, he carried a well-balanced black two-handed sword. Coming from the Valhalla, or rather the plane named Valhalla, he was Arngrim, the legendary berserker of the Viking legends.

Antigone always stated that the basis of her magic were planes created by the collective conscience of the humankind. These planes, that Antigone called Limbos, were fossilized in the eternity, yet still feeding from the imagination of all mortal creatures as they created more stories or enriched the original stories. This was how she summoned legendary and mythical creatures. But in Vivio's eyes, Arngrim looked pretty much real as he approached her and patted her on the head while saying:

"My friend Antigone said a lot of good about you."

Vivio didn't know what to answer, overwhelmed by the aura of ancient Viking myths surrounding Arngrim.

"It's been a while, Sir Arngrim." Signum said.

"You couldn't be more right, Lady Signum." He approached the pink-haired knight to give her a vigorous handshake. "And you, Sir Zafira. How have you been?"

"I wish we have met again under better circumstances." Zafira replied.

"The famous crisis of magic. We have signs of this in the Valhalla." Arngrim confided. "Sigurd thought that Ragnarok was drawing nigh."

"Oh." Antigone lowered her glance.

"Worry not." Arngrim turned to his mistress and friend. "I will keep on fighting even if I start fading from the reality."

"Please, everyone. Get ready." Ynana said.

***

"They have disappeared, Commodore." The second reported.

"Untrue. Exercise your eyes and look very well into the dimensional sea." The Commodore Atkinson replied. "Much like a shark in the ocean, the Namshub have left a trace that can be seen by anyone a bit attentive to his environment."

The second looked at what appeared like an empty dimensional sea. Focusing a bit more, he could see a faint outline of a spaceship, like a chameleon fading into its environment and walking slowly to not be seen by its predators.

"When they will be close enough, run the active scanners. When you'll acquire their ship's signature, launch the concussive mines to wear down the defenses of the Namshub, and I expect the escorting cruisers to do the same. And ready our troops to launch a boarding maneuver." The Commodore said.

***

"I have a bad feeling about it." Sieraza said.

"Don't be so pessimistic." Hayate said. The Colonel had already let a defeatist mindset overwhelming her in the past. She swore to herself to not let it happen again. It may be not easy, but people were looking at her. She rested her hand on Sieraza, "Everything will be alright."

"I would like a spoonful of your optimism, Colonel." Sieraza said.

"By the way, what were you doing with Zafira in your room some days ago?" Hayate asked.

"Massage for my poor Zaffy. He was all stiff." She then approached her lips close to Hayate's ears and whispered. "The apron bit was true. But nothing like an intercourse happened."

She then inched away while sticking out her tongue in a mischievous manner, "Signum's face was p-r-i-c-e-l-e-s-s."

A somber glance came from Signum and struck Sieraza who smirked:

"Is the pink she-tiger going to bite a poor little bat like me?"

"I won't offer you this pleasure." Signum retorted. "And will not take your bait."

Upon this beginning of quarrel, Pranee facepalmed, "Sieraza, give it up."

Sieraza showed her fangs, "Are you defending her?"

Pranee held up her hands, "That's not it."

"You are siding her! That's not fair!" Sieraza replied.

"Listen, it's not the time for that." Zafira tried to solve the matter like a gentleman.

"Are you against me, Zaffy?" Sieraza asked.

"Signum is my friend, I like you and..."

Hayate continued and concluded Zafira's line, "I have known a more mature Sieraza." The wolfman then looked at his mistress with bright eyes, showing how glad to see his mistress sharing his stance.

"I agree." Arngrim seconded Hayate and Zafira. "Save your energy for the impudent fools who will come at us."

Pranee and Zafira rested against each other while simultaneously sighing their relief. Sieraza pouted, Signum looked away and Antigone could just let a drop of her sweat slide off her face over the resolution of the conflict. Reinforce Zwei was hiding behind Hayate, and shyly looked over the brunette's shoulder when the tension had dropped.

A voiced echoed from the speakers of their room. It was Ynana.

"We are now sailing between the three ships of the Confederate squadron." She reported, she calculated how long the rest of the squadron will take to join the battle.

"Now everyone, silence and keep your magical aura at the minimum level." Hayate demanded. She knew that herself, Vivio, Reinforce Zwei, Zafira, Signum, Kibagami and Ynana would have to make the greatest efforts in this task.

"How fucking great, we are like walking Christmas trees in Sniper Alley. Or a bunch of stoned noisy hippies in a German U-boot sailing in British waters." The Captain Kibagami thought.

Ynana, floating in her control tube, could feel the pings of the Confederate active scanners. There was this burning feeling in her brain as the communication staff of the Confederate force is trying to find a breach in the Namshub's communication network.

Now, the pings were loud enough to be heard by everyone. Everyone in the Namshub held their breaths, everyone in the spaceship used a bit of their basic to make their heartbeats quieter. Seconds passed, each pings adding to their anguish. Only Arngrim burnt with the fury and bloodthirst of the legendary berserkers, in anticipation of the battle.

***

"Signal acquired" The second relayed the information to Atkinson.

"Unleash hell." The Commodore grinned.

Weapon bays opened wide to release their payload of mines, with the signature of the Namshub as target.

***

"We were detected." Ynana announced.

"As expected." Kyoya Kibagami shrugged.

Then an explosion shook the spaceship, followed by a dozen more. Everyone were being shaken up and down, left and right like rag dolls. Vivio had fastened her belt before it happened. However the violence of the quakes resulting from the shockwaves made her feel as helpless as a mouse in the mouth of a cat.
Ynana was being shaken inside her tube and had to use her limbs to soften the resulting shocks. Antigone found herself propelled against the ceiling then falling hard on the floor, enough to make her friends worry about her. If they had the time to worry. While they were doing a bit better, it was by a thin margin. The Colonel was rocked about as hard as Antigone by the quakes from the concussive mines.
This had gone on for a few minutes that seemed to last forever. The Namshub had taken it bad enough to have the lights inside the ship flashing off and on, leaving most of the corridors and doors in the dark. It didn't take too long before the emergency red light replaced the regular blank white light.

Ynana checked the damage report from the AI of the spaceship and sent robots where the ship needed the most for repairs. Then she suddenly feel something on her body, a pain not unlike one would feel from being cut by a scalpel, but applied to her ship. Her synchronization made her feel what was done to her companion. The bombing made her feel like she was beaten up by a heavyweight boxer. Now, she knew that something was cutting the outer hull of the Namshub. She connected her sight to the sensors of the ship and witnessed what was going on. The bombing from the Confederates was a distraction to cover the approach of a couple of armored transport shuttles. She could see something coming from the forward part of the ship that could be compared to a supple pipe. She guessed that it allowed the Confederate troops to connect to the attacked ships, while sappers cut the armored hull of the enemy vessels. And when they were done, the rest of the troops would begin their boarding attack to seize the ship or destroy it from the inside.

She decided to launch a couple of robots that started to crawl on the outside of the Namshub to attack the transport shuttles. But the shuttles replied with a rain of bullets from their turrets, blazing sparks from the impact of their projectiles against the Namshub. For Ynana, it felt like someone had thrown a load of tiny needles on her skin.

Then she sensed something coming to the Namshub, it was Confederate light fighters flying toward the ship to launch a raid to wear down the external defenses of the antique spaceship. Ynana then ordered the AI to launch several fighting drones against the enemy. The response was near instant as the Namshub launched autonomous drones to meet the enemy squads and start their deadly waltz.

"Colonel, the Confederates had launched three boarding ships to send troops inside the Namshub. As we speak they are cutting the hull to enter in the ship." Ynana warned the Colonel Yagami. "Moreover, two dozens of Confederate light fighters are fighting my light interceptor drones. I am expecting other waves soon."

"Signum, you go with Pranee. Zafira, go with Antigone. Arngrim, go with Sieraza." Hayate ordered then looked at her partner Reinforce. "Reinforce."

"Yes, Mistress!" The small girl said as a golden light radiated from her body.

A bright light illuminated the room where the combatants were waiting, as Reinforce fused her being with her mistress. A few second later, the brunette was now platinum blonde and blue-eyed.

"As for myself, I'll assist Ynana's drones." She said with a smile.

It was the instant where Ynana warned Yagami:

"Colonel, incoming information from the enemy."

A hologram was projected by one communication robot that had come to the group. It showed a silver haired man with a stubby beard, a thin face and a cap way too big for his thin but long head.

"Colonel Yagami, I presume. I am the Commodore Atkinson, commander of the 37th Squadron of the 8th Fleet of the Confederate Navy, affiliated to the Confederate 6th army."

"You are not wrong. I am the Colonel Yagami."

"I don't care why you have gone so far from your usual place. However, you are in a no man's land, surrounded by my vessels, and my infantry troops are about to enter the Namshub. As you can tell I am in a position of force."

Hayate Yagami shrugged over the Commodore's words, "And you are assuming that we should surrender to spare you a pointless bloodshed?"

"I am not assuming. I am presenting you facts and reminding you are not in the position to negotiate the conditions of your surrender. It would be bad for you if you don't, and if the little girl following you is harmed."

Hayate, feeling a faint anger, approached her face closer to the hologram so the Commodore could see her well, "Look into my eyes. And listen me well. We, the crew of the Namshub, still have our magic, my knights have their cartridges and all of us have our resolution. We will NOT surrender."

"Very well, you will bitterly regret your decision." Then the hologram faded as the communication was terminated.

Ynana's voice was heard from the speakers, "I shall communicate the coordinates of the rooms where the Confederate naval infantry enter."

The group of combatants then parted their ways as Ynana telepathically revealed the locations of the incoming attacks.

***

The sappers were done cutting the hull with their plasma cutting torch. They made various hand signals to their lieutenant to indicate that everything were set and ready.

Commanding officer of the Gamma platoon, Lieutenant Wyler took a stick out of his pocket, pressed a button and a holomap was projected from the mentioned stick.

Pointing his finger to the map, "Ok, ladies. Get that shit out of your ears and listen up."

A circle of muscles and testosterone, light personal armors and weapons had formed around him. They opened their ears as he said, "We have gotten this plan from compiling blueprints and documents stolen by our intelligence guys and data gathered from our scanners before the bombing of this goddamn ship. The human or semi-human crew is not that many and can easily be disposed of. Excepted that little girl."

A holographic image of Vivio appeared before the soldiers' eyes, "This is supposedly a blueblood related to the Belkan Diaspora. Capturing her would likely tip the conflict in our favor."

One hand raised among the circle, Wyler noticed it, "Question, Private Joe?"

"I heard there was a Colonel, among one of the strongest on our enemy's side."

As he was about to answer, a beep rang in his personal comlink. He then listened the most recent intelligence update. Then, "According to our intelligence, the famous Colonel just made a sortie to fight against our fighters. It should not take them so long before they wear her out. On the brighter side, this makes one less worry for us."

"So it makes things easier for us, right Lieutenant?" One of the grunts said.

"Bollocks! There are still two of her knights, and they should not be taken lightly. Moreover, according to the blueprints and documents, this ship have the ability to generate defense bots. This is where our EMP should come handy. Use them wisely and only when there are a real threat."

"What's our objective, anyway?" Another of the infantrymen asked.

"We must go there," he pointed his finger to a medium-sized room on the map. "According to our intelligence, this is the command room where we can find the ship's operator. Do not kill her, I am not sure how she does that, but she apparently get in symbiosis with her fucking ship."

"So she is like the evil master ghost of her haunted castle, right?" One soldier asked.

"Sort of. Just don't kill her, or there is a chance that we get the artificial intelligence royally pissed off. Unless the other platoon have managed to turn off its main power supply."

"In that case, killing her would not make a difference, right?" The soldier said.

"Idiot! Our brass want to capture the ship, they needs its operator to examine her then duplicate the technology."

About three dozens of juvenile but eager faces looked at him, he liked a lot of them, disliked some, but they were his boys and brothers. Some seemed to have just left the cradle, other looked like low life criminals and they all looked ready to shoot anyone standing in their path in the face.

"Now," He took a whistle as the sappers removed the cut piece of metal about as big as a small door and still heavy, "GO GO GO GO GO GO !!!"

And the infantrymen rushed inside their first room of the spaceship, bathed in a reddish dim light, as their lieutenant blew his whistle to mark each of their steps.

[Sheba]

Spoiler for Chapter 2 - Part 4:

Like a body attacked by bacteria, the Namshub started to produce its defense robots to counter the invaders and get rid of them. Signum was waiting with Pranee in the angle of a long corridor adjacent to the Confederate landing point. She could hear the boots of the Confederate soldiers stomping in the room and taking position. Relying on her hearing, she mentally counted the enemy force. About three dozens, not counting the pilots of the shuttle, the mechanics and the commanding officer, and they are reasonably equipped.

The pink-haired swordswoman stared at the little army of defensive robots that had been spawned by the artificial intelligence of the Namshub and was marching by their side, under that dim red light. Pranee always looked at them with a faint distrust, Signum's point of view was not that different from the cook. But in this time, their help was rather welcome.

Pranee looked at Signum and tuned her mind with Signum's to form a telepathic link, "Signum, can you hear me?"

Signum glanced back and tuned her mind accordingly with Pranee. With the Confederates around, they could not afford to speak, be heard and be spotted,

"I can hear you fine."

Pranee focused her thoughts on that one task, communication and asked, "What do we do?"

"We have to count on Ynana's little allies to keep the enemy platoon busy. A counter-attack based on EMP after the first wave is expected. This is where your wind comes handy to keep them down."

Pranee was not the kind of girl to think things ahead; she usually had Antigone, Sieraza or Ynana to do it in her place. This time, she had to count on the veteran Knight, "How?"

"Cast a wind loop to keep them pinned in their position, they will have trouble to move around and aimed with their weapons."

Pranee nodded in agreement. Not exactly something she would have immediately thought of, but it was still worth a good try.

Signum continued, "Engaging in a full contact charge is foolish, for their weaponry would likely take us down before we reach them or harm us badly."

"I see." Pranee nodded.

Signum carried on her explanation, "I will take advantage of Levantein's snake mode to attack them without having to be in contact range. This is how we are going to use our strengths with a minimum use of our resources."

"That crisis of magic again?" Pranee enquired.

"Even with Takamachi's method, I have a harder time to cast my spells with the same strength as before. They do come out, but not as strong." Signum hated to admit it.

Pranee looked worried and asked, "That call, you have answered it?"

"No. If I did, I guess it would have turned worse than now. For now, I have to use my magical potential for defensive purpose, I don't have problem in that department. Moreover, I am keeping my cartridges for our final destination. Who knows what dangers wait for us there?"

Pranee asked with a slight note of concern, "And what about Miss Yagami?"

"She is doing alright. But for how long?" Signum answered. "And you, are you alright, magic-wise?"

Pranee flexed her frail but well-toned arms, "Alright. If my magic comes to fail me. I'll let them taste my good old brand of skull-bashing elbow and groin-crushing knees."

Signum smiled, that was rare from her, "It's reassuring to have you with me."

She then noticed something grave about Pranee's expression, "What's the matter?"

Pranee tilted up her head, "It's Antigone. She looks all cheerful outside. But she had come to talk to me lately. When you boarded the Namshub, you have said something about The Call, right?"

Signum nodded, with a hint of worry in her eyes, "True. So, I am guessing she answered it."

Pranee shook her head, "She had not answered it. No, instead she had been tricked. The One doing it had managed to hit Antigone in her deepest desires while disguising as Antigone's late grandma."

Signum scratched her chin, "This is exactly how Scrya said it.’It' is trying any other kind of approach."

Pranee nodded, "How can we keep our powers if our dreams are baits? I don't want to resort to alcohol to get a sleepless dream. Now, for Antigone, it's a miracle she can call Arngrim. Or maybe she pulled her greatest effort doing it..."

Their communication was interrupted by the echoes of gunshots from not so far away. The Confederates were now starting to rain down bullets against the waves of defense robots sent by the Namshub's AI.

Pranee then asked Signum, "You have fought these bots, before, right?"

"True, they are not individually strong. It's their number that makes them dangerous if one is not careful."

The rattles of the Confederate automatic weapons kept going on until Signum and Pranee saw a brief flash of white bluish light accompanied by a warped sound. Then a series of crackles followed that light.

Pranee heard Signum voice in her mind, "They did it. They used their EMP devices. Cast your wind now!"

Pranee clapped her hands together as a circle formed around her. Meanwhile, more of the Namshub's robots walked, crawled, floated by Pranee to contain the Confederates. The enemy managed to advance, slowly but surely, leaving no other choice to the bots than giving ground centimeters by centimeters.

The both girls were soon in visual range. But a group of robots formed a line before them to create a forcefield.

Ynana's voice echoed in the minds of Signum and Pranee, "The Namshub is running out of resources to create more robots to keep up with not only the infantry forces that boarded the ship, but also the striker squadrons that try to get the Colonel Yagami. Namshub can recycle the bots destroyed by them, but it will take a little while to regenerate them."

Signum wanted a clearer sight of the situation, "What about the other groups, how are they doing?"

"Arngrim was a precious help. But he had been taken over by the berserker within him; Sieraza had to hide from him while the infantrymen were being slaughtered."

Signum sighed, "I had hoped better news."

A wind had started to blow from Pranee's location and sped up. Signum then asked to Ynana, "How is doing Zafira?"

"Very good."

Signum smiled, "That's good to hear."

"However...."

Signum's face then became a mask of concern, "Something had to go wrong right."

"Antigone had been shot in the chest by a sniper. I know Zafira can do fine. But it's a matter of time before Antigone's link with Arngrim is severed and he will disappear. This is when Sieraza might be in trouble."

Pranee looked over her shoulder with a "What to do?" expression on her face.

"Sieraza is an intelligent girl," Signum mentally said. "She is likely going to retreat if it happens. I am more concerned over what their enemies want to reach."

Ynana replied, "They want to reach the power generator and sabotage it."

Signum seized the consequences of the success of such operation, she tightened her grip on Laevatein and activated its snake form, "We have no more time to waste, Pranee."

"I agree."

They could see the blue flash of the EMP devices deactivating the last robots shielding them. Signum looked at Pranee with a confident smile, "Let's show them what we are made of."

Pranee answered Signum with, "Hell yes, let's trim down the small ones and kick the survivors in the groin so hard they'll cough their nuts out."

Signum then lashed her weapon at the Confederate platoon, which had lost one quarter of its soldiers from the earlier battle.

Slowed down by the wind, the Confederates kept on trying to aim and shoot on the two women. One of them looked at the pink-haired one through his scope, aiming her stomach, while the wind threw around most of bits of the robots they destroyed earlier. Shooting them with their machine guns proved now to be unwise. The wind was looping in a closed circuit and rained bits of scrap metal, not just from the broken robots but also the bullet cases, on the platoon. It was not fast enough to be lethal projectiles, but it was still annoying enough to force the soldiers to try to shield themselves against the metal rain.
The sniper tried to ignore the wind and the scrap metal thrown around his platoon and him, emptying his mind so he could truly do the perfect shot on the famous Knight. The world was gone. It was just him and his rifle, and his target. He knew that getting a clean hit on her would get her mistress and friends warned, and likely deal a heavy blow on their moral. Erasing parasite thoughts, he seized that one instant between motion and stillness, the small gap between each of his heartbeats, and his breathing to pull the trigger.
But he couldn't see that very long steel whip crawling toward him with the swiftness of a cobra, and piercing through his face, spraying his blood, bones and brain over his comrades.
For one of the sub-officers, it felt like a very bad horror movie. But he gathered his strength, for he had a duty to accomplish. He pointed his hand forward and shouted.

"FIRE AT WILL!"

Signum kept her composure while her sword was wreaking havoc among the enemy ranks. She felt no sign of magical failure. However, the density of the bullet barrage that was raining against the both girls had put their magical shields through a rough time. This forced them to step back, interrupt whatever they were doing and take shelter in one of many pieces close to their position. They realized it was the kitchen. Signum could hear the Confederates talking. It was the casualty report.

Signum tuned her mind with Pranee's, "About a dozen of kills."

"Nice." Pranee answered.

Signum took a spatula, wet the tip of her finger to clean the cooking tool with it.

"What are you doing?" Pranee asked with curiosity.

Signum then used the spatula as an improvised mirror to look into the corridor, "Pranee."

"Yah?"

"You were good at football, right?"

"Well, it's helpful for my martial art. But how does it have anything to do with our situation?"

"They are planning to throw a stun grenade. Get ready to shoot it back at them."

Signum then could hear a mental giggle from Pranee, "Alright!"

While the young girl was not a long-time comrade of the Knight, Signum knew that absolute trust could work wonders with a team-mate. Signum observed the Confederates' moves, reflected in the spatula. She saw a soldier taking something in his hand, raising his arm and swinging it forward.

"Pranee now!"

The cook dashed out of the room and leaped. Time seemed to have slowed down for everyone present. In the mind of the soldier who had thrown the grenade, and used the rebound to make it go inside the kitchen, one thought formed in his brain cells,

"Oh come on, don't tell me she is doing something like this!"

From Pranee's point of view, "I must aim that grenade. Come on my leg! Don't fail me!"

Signum had thrown the dices for a rather audacious measure and confident enough that it shall roll six.

In the minds of other soldiers, the thing looked way too stupid and lame to actually happen. They had not even thought about raising their weapons and squeeze their trigger to take down the fool. It was one of the times Lady Fortune smiled at the audacious. For one second, as Pranee kicked the grenade to throw it back at the diminished platoon, she thought to herself:

"If only I had that kind of luck in poker."

But Pranee did not have the time to do something about the momentum. Luck had flown away as she crashed on the opposite wall. Under other circumstances, people would just point and laugh, or facepalm. But for Pranee, it was the darkness of unconsciousness that took her in her arms. Signum saw the bright flash of white light indicating that the grenade had made its job. She grinned and looked at Pranee, knowing that the girl had done her part. She then rushed out and charged at the platoon, raining death over the blinded and stunned infantrymen. Their night vision goggles were their undoing. For the few who recovered, they could only see a pink tornado waltzing between and around them, bathed in the dim red light of the back-up lighting of the spaceship. Even if they tried to shoot, Signum was too fast and too close for their weapons. Squeezing the trigger would only get their comrades shot. And this actually happened as more panicked. Thirty seconds passed. These thirty seconds were too fast for Signum, but too slow for the platoon. Thirty seconds to know what was fear and death. For them, it was pink like Signum's hair and clothing and cold like the steel of Laevatein. As the last man fell on the ground, silence reigned over the scene. Signum contemplated the bodies littering the corridor. It smelled dust, gunpowder and blood. There was a faint feeling of nostalgia grasping Signum's train of thoughts, maybe something from her previous incarnations when she was a mere program created by the Book. She was not supposed to remember it, and this scared her a little bit. Maybe it was a side effect of this crisis of magic?

Casting away these stray thoughts, Signum snapped back to the reality and walked to where the Confederate shuttle should be. She met four people, the sappers, the pilot and the co-pilot who stared at her with a dumbfounded look. They could see the fury burning in the Knight's eyes, the blood of their comrades soaking her face, clothing and her sword. They then threw everything they had in their hands on the ground and raised her arms up.

"We surrender!"

"Leave the place and don't come back!"

One of the sappers then asked, "What about the corpses of our comrades? They deserve a proper burial, don't you think?"

Signum was not exactly up for ethical concerns but she answered, "Take them. Leave this place and don't ever come back."

The pink-haired knight then mentally contacted Ynana to report the situation.

"Everything is clear. They are all dead. And Pranee was knocked out." Signum said as she walked to the unconscious girl.

"Is she alright?" Ynana's voice asked.

"She will be alright. It's me that asked her to overdo it."

Signum walked through the corridor until the entrance of the kitchen room. Not too far, Pranee was still lying, knocked out. Signum kneeled then gave a light slap on Pranee's both cheeks.

The cook opened her eyes and moaned in pain, "So it's over?"

Signum answered, "For us, yes."

Pranee and Signum looked at the place where the battle took place, the sappers and the pilots were taking the corpses to the boarding shuttle. Ynana's voice then warned the both girls.

"I will seal the sector until the maintenance robots repair the hole in the hull."

Signum took Pranee's arm and passed it over her shoulder to help her to stand up. They inched away from the corridor as several layers of walls were created by the Namshub to seal this sector. On the bright side, they still had access to the kitchen.

Signum, look at Pranee, "Let's see if the others needs help. Ok?"

"Ok."

Then Signum said, "Good job."

***

A rather intimidating view unfolded before Hayate Yagami's eyes, she was floating in the middle of the dimensional sea, as the protector of the vessel meant to bring her to her final destination against three Confederates vessels. The two cruisers were of a respectable size, about bigger than the Asura by a good half. On the other hand, the destroyer literally dwarfed the vessels present in this narrow portion of stable dimensional sea. Narrow, because it could be drawn as a bottleneck of 'normality', if there were such a thing as 'normality' in the interdimensional space. By her 10 O'clock, there was a very large patch of blue light, result of the presence of the globular cluster in the normal space that was mentioned by Ynana during the briefing. Hayate was protected against the hazards of this environment by her barrier jacket and pieces of nanomachinery created by Ynana and the Namshub. It looked like pieces of segmented armor, made up of broad alien metal strips fastened together through an unknown process. It was around her thighs, her legs, the part from her neck to her shoulder joint and it was circling her ribcage. Finally, a pair of braces, made of the mentioned metal pieces, was worn around her arms like armguards. Its purpose was to amplify the effects of Hayate's spells with less magical energy, but also generate an extra layer of protection. From a casual point of view, people would have thought that Hayate had added a few armor pieces to her barrier jacket. As a sign that this device was active, thin golden lines were running through each metal strip like an elaborate circuit board and radiated a faint light. Hayate was clearly trusting this device designed by a collaboration between Ynana and herself, under the enthusiastic eyes of Vivio during the first days of their travel. She was flying toward the small fighter squadron meant to intercept her. A dozen of fighting drones as big as a minibus were escorting her, ready to help the friend of their mistress. The tactic was very simple. Three drones would cover Hayate as she would cast her more devastating spells against the commanding destroyer, while the remaining nine would stale the enemy squadrons. Reinforce would devote her energy to speed up the casting speed of Hayate's spells, while Hayate would maneuver in a way to stay out of harm and casting her spells in the same time. The escorting drones were supposed to cover her blind spots. There were other drones, but those were busy dealing with the other squadrons, and they were being good at this.
The Confederates pilots took the initiative by firing a volley of rockets against the group.

The flying drones split into several pairs. Hayate had not reacted fast enough to dodge this. However, before it hit her first layer of magical powered defense, Hayate swung her scepter forward, unleashing an invisible shockwave that destroyed the volley of rockets. The fighter that fired it had flown past Yagami. Acting as a bait, the Colonel accelerated while the fighter turned around to chase her. She climbed, dove, span to force the pilot to struggle to lock her on, and making him lose time and fuel, as she prepared a Bloody Dagger. Then, just when the pilot thought to have acquired his target, the Colonel dove while decelerating. This had caused the pilot to lose his lock on and Hayate from his line of sight, as Yagami fired Bloody Dagger from below. She was far enough to not be hit by the debris of the explosion, this pilot had the luck to not see his death coming.

Hayate thought to herself, "I used my magic to kill someone I didn't know."

Ynana, relaying her communications with her drones, said: "It was him or you."

"Mistress! Attention!" Reinforce Zwei echoed in Hayate's mind.

Out of reflex, the Colonel flew sideways to dodge a speeding black mass just in time. It was another Confederate fighter who intended to ram his vehicle on her. Hayate sighed, she was not too sure how well her shields would take the impact. Two other drones flew toward the Confederate fighter while firing bursts of heated matter taken from the dimensional sea.

"Leave them to me." Ynana's voice said. Anyone would have mentally collapsed from doing so many tasks at the same time, but Ynana's alien mind and spirit was not tailored like that. People would argue that it was at the cost of her emotions. For now, she was showing that she was a force the Colonel could count on, and that was all that mattered for Hayate.

While the drones were drawing the enemy fighters away from the Colonel, she raised her cross staff above her as she chanted her most powerful spell, helped out by Reinforce. She needed only one Ragnarok to punch through the armor of the destroyer. However, the Confederates, having seen the danger, had sent more fighters against her. This prompted Ynana to send more drones against them, stretching the forces of the Namshub even thinner.

The Colonel maneuvered with the best her agility and mobility could, while she was trying to gather enough magical energy to cast Ragnarok with minimal waste.

Reinforce Zwei kept her focus to spot any potential threat from an ever changing combat situation, and react accordingly to each change to keep her mistress from harm. Mutual trust between the small being and her mistress allowed the Unisoned duo to outmaneuver most of the fighters who managed to get past the drone cover. Hayate needed only a little more time and free room to be able to aim at the destroyer. Her body could start feeling the compression and decompression resulting from climbing, diving, and side dashing to dodge a stray missile or volley of bullets and spinning in the dimensional space. The white belkan sigil flickered as the Colonel's attention focused more on gaining a favorable position, but Reinforce brought her assistance to upkeep the spell and getting it not interrupted.

From her control tube, Ynana surveyed the situation: the Namshub's propulsion engines were down since the attack and was only pushed forward by the momentum. The few maintenance robots present inside the engine room were entirely focused on the repair of the damaged parts of the engines. Zafira had dragged a critically wounded Antigone inside the mentioned engine room, baiting the platoon that attacked them. He was soon joined by Sieraza who fled her defensive post after Arngrim vanished.

Sieraza kissed Zafira on the forehead, "I am so glad you are alive!"

"You should worry about her."

Sieraza then looked at the body lying, she then pointed at it, as if she was looking at a perfect stranger, "This is not her?"

Looking at Zafira's grave expression, tears rolled along her cheeks while a mask of grief formed on her face. Then she let a shriek of anguish that forced Zafira to cover his ears.

Meanwhile, the Confederate platoon that was chasing Zafira and Antigone stopped right on their tracks. They indeed heard a cry that was way too much for them. It was so strong that even their ears started to bleed. Zafira was in pain, and only his magical protection helped to soften that combination of magic and sound. Signum and Pranee were pretty far, but that was still aching their ears slightly. Vivio knew something was wrong. She was tempted to go to check what was going on. She took a book storage device, prepared some binding and shield spells for the potential threats, then stepped out of her room. The little girl could see several tiny bots, as small as rats, spawned by the Namshub. She knew that the artificial intelligence had made them to protect her, as a consequence, they would follow her everywhere and react accordingly to each threat. She then walked through the long corridors, bathed in the dim red light.

In the engine room, while the welding torches of the maintenance robots flashed blue sparks, Zafira had to stop Sieraza's scream with a swift but vigorous slap.

"Get a hold of yourself! You know some medical techniques, don't you?"

The tips of Sieraza’s fingers were touching her cheeks, as she stared at Zafira with disbelief.

"Uh... yes..."

Zafira looked at Antigone's lying body. She was trembling as she was struggling to breathe and overwhelmed by pain.

"I... a..m. C... Co.. Cold."

Zafira then took his eyes off Antigone, looked at Sieraza and firmly asked her, "So, please, help me to save her!"

She reluctantly replied, "Yes."

Zafira cast a spell to stop the blood loss, while Sieraza was trying to get the bullet out of Antigone's wound. The Greek girl was pale, breathed with a lot of difficulty and trembled from feeling cold. A mere patch of cloth, from the bottom of her own mage cape, was pressed against her chest to stop her from bleeding. Sieraza took it off while Zafira focused on the blood vessels to press. A robot interrupted its task and moved to the duo, forming a tool with its nanomachines for Sieraza. Zafira talked as much as he could to keep Antigone conscious. The door that separated them from the outside was shut. But the Confederates had clearly reached it, as heard from the noises produced by their cutting plasma torches as they tried to cut the door, and the gunshots against the defense robots that surrounded the attacking platoon. It was a matter of time before they made it in the room. When Zafira saw that Antigone's state had stabilized, he stood before the door and started to cast binding and barrier spells as traps to catch and contain the soldiers, while Sieraza was extracting the bullet out of Antigone's wound and was humming one of her spells to repair the damaged body tissues.

Zafira knew that the problem was not to contain their movements, but to stop them by knocking them out. It was easier said than done, because there were about twenty five or six soldiers, the ones from both Zafira's and Sieraza's defense places. Arngrim could not finish his job, and Zafira's situation took a worse turn when Antigone was shot. Iron Yoke would do the job, he however had to think of a size big enough to stop the Confederates, but not too big or the spell may fail at the most unexpected time. He looked over his shoulder to check Antigone's state, she had been stabilized and breathed in a more serene pace. He noticed that Sieraza was taking off her shirt and it was revealing her black bra. But Zafira stopped Sieraza before she fully took it off.

"You don't have to," he unbuttoned his shirt and put it over Antigone as improvised blanked. He noticed that Sieraza was blushing.

"What the matter? Haven't you seen me bare chested days ago?"

Sieraza looked away, her pointy furry ears were waving down, "Not in circumstances like these."

"How are you magic-wise?" Zafira asked.

"For this day, I exhausted most of my magic in supporting Arngrim, saving my hide while running away when he disappeared. And saving Antigone," Sieraza fell on her knees, "I am drained," she was biting her lip with frustration.

Zafira patted her on the head, "You should be more proud of what you have done. It was in the best of your abilities."

"Back in my homeworld, before I got thrown in the dimensional sea and found a rift to Earth, I scavenged ruins of the collapsed former civilization of my planet. I took pride in being the one making it alive. Always. But now, I am not too sure. I felt like coward and helpless."

"You have saved Antigone and yourself," he wiped the tears that were forming on the corner of Seiraza's eyes, "Signum rightfully said there were heroic sacrifices and meaningless sacrifices. If you think well over the purpose your sacrifice has served, you'll be able to distinguish them."

He hugged Sieraza against his chest, feeling her heat, "Now rest, I'll protect you against them."

It was at that moment that Signum's voice could be heard in his mind, "How is the situation?"

"It could have been worse. But, honestly, with Antigone's critical condition and Sieraza who have exhausted her mana, all odds are against me."

"I will join you. It looks like Pranee have dislocated her shoulder, but she is still willing to fight. Ynana is guiding me through the corridors, I will right in your sector in about three minutes."

Much to everyone's surprise, Vivio's voice resonated in Signum's and Zafira's mind, "I can lend you my help."

"Vivio, should you not try staying in a safe place?" Zafira retorted.

"Trust me, Zaffy. I know what I do." Vivio replied, "And I am already in your sector."

"How did you go undetected?" Signum asked.

"Yuuno and Teana have taught me some handy spells."

Signum and Zafira did not need to ask more explanations.

Signum enquired, "What are you exactly planning to do?"

"As I expect from Zafira, he likely laid trap spells to bind the Confederates, and also have Iron Yoke ready. However he cannot take them all down. Sieraza and Zafira have pushed the soldiers into trapping themselves. They have gone too far to come back and resupply. Ynana's robots have done a good job into exhausting their ammunitions."

Signum commented, "I am seizing what you are trying to say. They want to finish their job quick, so..."

Vivio concluded, "They will commit mistakes. Exactly."

Zafira asked, "What do you want us to do?"

Vivio answered, "A very simple plan. They don't have many ways out. The two only exits from this sector are the two corridors adjacent to the one leading to the engine room."

Signum remembered the map, from above, it had the shape of a rugby goal post.

Vivio continued, "Under normal circumstance, these two corridors should have guards to watch over any incoming threats. But the Namshub's defense robots have done a really good job to force the Confederates to give up this position. We shall all activate our magical night vision for when Ynana will shut down the emergency light."

Zafira said, "A swift strike from three fronts while they are trying to get used to the dark or activate their night goggle. I see."

Vivio answered, "Of course, be sure to activate your binding spells to take down some more."

Zafira replied, "Sounds good to me."

Signum enquired Ynana, "What Kyoya is doing?"

Ynana's response did not take too long and could be heard by the crew, "He is currently assisting the Colonel Yagami by remote controlling some of my combat drones. Since he is neurally connected to them, it requires fully his attention. It decreased my workload."

Signum smiled, "That's good to hear."

Ynana added, "You helped us into diverting the soldiers from us. The AI would like to express its gratitude."

Signum received the expression of gratitude with a smile.

Pranee commented, "I could expect gratitude from poor guys harassed by punks, or a wolf for saving him from a bear trap. But really, an artificial intelligence..."

Signum said to Pranee, "Don't make your condition worse. You do not have to participate in our assault."

Pranee looked down, "You are right." She was gritting her teeth to stand the pain in her shoulder.

"You have done great during our combined defense," Signum said while laying Pranee against the wall.

"Tell me about it." Pranee answered while painfully thumbing up.

Signum contacted Ynana, Vivio and Zafira, "Everyone, I am ready."

She accelerated her walk toward the position of the Confederates.

"Ready," Vivio answered.

"Likewise," Zafira confirmed. He looked at Sieraza who carried Antigone in a safe spot.

Signum walked faster, while Zafira was ready to trigger his spells. Vivio have already chosen what was the best one in this situation.

***

"It was tougher than I expected but my contribution seemed to have tipped the battle a little more in our favor," Hayate heard from Kyoya.

"I thought you'd be too busy looking at Ynana's nude body in her synchronization tube," Hayate commented while slipping through three confederate fighters like a dragonfly escaping three predatory birds.

"Come on, you should know me better than that. To be fair, I got used to this view pretty fast."

"So that's why you were harassing Signum?" Hayate asked.

"Who could resist her charm?" Kyoya replied, "A shame she is not aware of it."

"She is a warrior," Hayate answered, "And she is of my family."

"Oh well," Kyoya gave up, "Oh, it look like we have an opening."

"Just as I hoped!" Hayate grinned, "Reinforce, let's go!"

"I am ready, Mistress!" Reinforce's high-pitched voiced echoed in Hayate's mind.

While drones controlled by Kyoya and Ynana managed to keep the Confederates fighters away, Hayate concentrated her mind on the spell she had to shape up to punch through the hull of the Confederate destroyer and processed her mana in this sole purpose. Reinforce's task was to speed up the process. Ynana's extra pieces added on Hayate's jacket would play the role of amplifiers. A triangular sigil danced in front of the Mistress as she chanted.
The Confederates pilots grew desperate as they heard reports of their fallen comrades against the unexpected resistance aboard the ship, and now they were seeing the Colonel powering up her one of her most devastating spells.

Hayate was almost done, but a volley of missiles had come to her direction. However Kyoya sent one of his drones between Hayate and the missiles that disposed of it. About three dozen of meters separated Hayate from the explosion, enough for the shockwave to rock Hayate hard and make her personal shield flicker a bit. However, Reinforce Zwei managed to restore Hayate's shield. Hayate managed to keep her concentration up and carried on her chant until completion. In the Namshub's command room, Kyoya instantly took off his control helmet. He received a shock from the destruction of the drone that shielded Hayate, his heartbeat accelerated and his brain felt like it received an electric shock. He groaned in pain while an important nosebleed occurred. He was warned by Ynana about it, it was the first time he experienced it. Kyoya struggled to stay conscious. He put his helmet on and resumed his link with his drones. He kept his eyes on the battle that continued, by focusing his mind over the control of the remaining drones. From what the drones could see, Hayate had brought her spell to completion.

"Ragnarok!" Hayate shouted as three large white beams shoot at the same time from the tip of her white belkan sigil.

A white light then tore the dimensional space as Ragnarok hit the Confederate destroyer. Meanwhile, the cruisers seem to have been immobilized by missiles launched by Ynana's drones.

"What have you done, Ynana?" Hayate asked.

"Weaponry from my people," Ynana replied, "Nanodestructor missile. It grey goo non-organic matter it contacted before self-destructing after a few minutes."

"You could have used it earlier," Hayate answered.

"To be fair, it is difficult to make and harness. So I had to use them sparingly. And plasma charged missiles are easier to make for the level of the Namshub." Ynana said.

"That's understandable." Hayate conceded, "I guess even Doctor Tsuzuki have tried to study it, but with little success."

"You have guessed right. However, this failure taught him more about nanotechnology, so it may help them."

The Confederate destroyer had a large hole on it hull, Hayate could mentally hear Kyoya whistling and saying, "Nice. You went for the overkill."

Hayate sighed.

From the large rip on the destroyer, people were helplessly floating away into the dimensional space. Some were having their limbs distorted into inhuman angles, likely those who died from the spell. Other were flailing their arms and legs. They were trying to grasp something to stop them from floating, in the vain hope to get back into the wavering safety of their wrecked ship. Hayate could already see shuttles escaping the destroyer. Some of the crew members were floating toward her. Because of a sick twist of fate, those were still alive, hopelessly floating and flailing their arms. Their mouths were gapping, trying to say something to the Colonel.
Hayate shivered when she understood what they were trying to say. Help me! Save me!

"What do we do?" Ynana asked.

Hayate stared at the agonizing people floating past her, some were close enough to try to catch her arm. However, the magical shield offered them no grip as they hopelessly floated to their death. This would haunt her for the rest of her life, the words of Nigel came back to her mind. What her power could do was shown in its most brutal reality. But she remembered why she had done her sortie. It was the people she wanted to protect.

"What do we do about them?" Ynana repeated.

"Let them be. They are our enemy. And our ship is too small." It was a decision she disliked, but could be understood from her circumstances, "How are our people?"

"About to launch a last attack against the last Confederates present in the vessel."

[Sheba]

Spoiler for Chapter 2 - Part 5:

"Sarge, we are down to our last clips, one or two for most of us!" a juvenile private said, his voice deformed by his protection mask.

"They forced us to use our EMP devices. I should have expected it," the Sergeant, a redhead, commented, "Sapper?"

"Almost done. Give me twelve more seconds," the sapper replied.

"What about the payloads?"

"Ready, as soon as we neutralize people behind this door, it should work then this ship can be captured," the sapper replied.

"Sarge," another private said, "Our communications are jammed to the point we can't hear from our command center. I have a bad feeling about it."

"Likewise," The sergeant replied, "There are no more of these fucking bots. This is just too calm."

As an answer to the sergeant's worries, the emergency red light was shut.

"Just what the..." a voice shouted.

"Bollocks! Don't panic!" The sergeant barked.

It was the signal for Signum, Zafira and Vivio.

Vivio threw a wave of bluish energy that did nothing to the soldier themselves, but basically fried their electronic devices. Zafira kicked down the door, the sapper who was cutting it barely had the time to move away and was stuck under it. Signum and Zafira then brought a great deal of confusion among the now blinded Confederates but kicking them, punching them and chopping them. Some had tried to escape by rushing inside the engine room but it triggered the traps laid by Zafira, leaving them bound and helpless. However, as it usually happened in these battles, Signum and Zafira met a resistance. Zafira got his punch blocked then he got thrown over the defender's shoulder. Signum got kicked in the stomach after her hilt straight got blocked by the same guy who kicked her. In front of Zafira, a blonde infantryman who tossed his now useless sub-machinegun down. For Signum, a redhead, the sergeant, armed with a knife. Zafira should not have much trouble to deal with that man. On the other hand, Signum's adversary was already troublesome. He walked back and forth to force Signum in a position where her sword would put her at a disadvantage. The both knights and the both soldiers thought likewise, they needed to make it quick.
The one with the knife motioned at Signum to walk away from the mess with her. He wanted carry on the duel where the unconscious bodies of his comrades would not hinder the both of them. Signum complied, still keeping grip on her weapon.

The four had their eyes used to the dark, Vivio was trying to think of a spell that could help her friends. In her hurry, she forgot that plans did not always go right, a lesson taught by her mother.
Signum telepathically contacted Vivio, "Vivio, don't interfere. I think it'd be wise from you to do something about those who are still unconscious. We never know if one wake up and try to shoot us in the back."

"Binding spells over them? I am all for it," Vivio replied and carried on her task, drawing a smile on Signum's face.

"Hey, broad, I am your adversary!" The sergeant said while waving his knife in a sign of challenge.

Signum answered by assuming a middle sword stance.

Zafira kept punching, kicking, dodging and parrying with an increased ferocity. Blondie tried to uppercut Zafira who tumbled backward while giving an upward kick. The soldier could not parry it in time and got hit in the chin, this left him staggering. Far from weakening him, it instead infuriated him even more. Seeing Zafira who was squatting and about to get up, the soldier seized the opportunity to kick Zafira in the head. But the Knight dodged the kick, almost feeling the soldier's boot stroking his cheek. Zafira threw himself against the soldier, wrapping his arms around the man's waist. The blonde man fell backward, and felt a very fierce punch on his nose. He riposted with an equally violent attack. They then rolled over each over, struggling like wild beasts.

Meanwhile, Signum had to concede the fact that her adversary were rather clever, aiming his punches with his offhand against Signum's wrist when she was about to deliver a sword swing while trying to stab her either in the face, the stomach or the chest. She even barely managed to dodge one strike against her face. The strike had left a cut on her cheek that was bleeding profusely. Signum tried to move backward to gain space for her sword and have a chance to cast a spell. But the redhead was artful and always managed to close his distance. She then had an idea, it was a tad risky but it was worth a try.
Like feral beasts in a cage, the both walked around each other, waiting for an opening. Signum took a risk, she raised her sword over her head with one hand, leaving an opening that the soldier seized and tried to capitalize on, with a stab. This was exactly what she wanted. Signum blocked the stab with her other arm, using her armguard as improvised shield. The soldier, already surprised by his own mistake, didn't see the simultaneous attacks over his head, from the hilt of Laevatein, and the vicious kick attack aimed at his groin. Two sources of pain were one too many for him, he fainted.

Zafira found himself at a disadvantage. The soldier had managed to keep the top position and started to choke the knight. He used his weight to strengthen his grip over Zafira. The knight then gathered his strength to deliver a vicious knee strike where the soldier was not prepared. The grip weakened, giving Zafira the opportunity to deliver a knife hand thrust on the carotid artery. The sudden loss of bloody and oxygen supply to his brain had given to the soldier a blank gaze as he lost consciousness. Zafira was trying to recover his breathing while Signum and Vivio rushed over him to check his state.

They were all neutralized.

Ynana brought back the emergency lights while Vivio cast her binding spells on the two last soldiers who were defeated. Signum and Zafira took all the weapons from them.

Sieraza got out of the engine room while having a hard time carrying Antigone in her arms, Zafira offered his help and carried Antigone. The Knight then walked away to go to the infirmary.

Sieraza looked at Zafira until he was no more visible, leaving all three girls alone. She shifted her glance over Signum and walked to meet her, "You are bleeding. Do you need help?"

"It's not worse than her," Signum was talking about Antigone.

"I stabilized her state." Sieraza answered, "But, you should really do something about that nasty cut."

"Vivio, do you have a handkerchief?"

Vivio checked in her pocket, "Here."

Sieraza then hummed a short tune that gave the piece of cloth a milky white glow and applied it against Signum cheek. As noticed by Vivio, there were no more blood, but the cut was still visible.

"Your spell doesn't appear to work that well," Signum noted.

"It's just a minor spell, meant to stop bleeding. You'll need to complete it with a band aid in the infirmary though. In my homeworld, it was large stinky cataplasms."

"I see."

"Signum, would you accept my apologies for the ruckus I made some time ago?"

"This is unexpected from you. I thought your people were too proud for that."

"No," Sieraza shook her head, "The people way too proud are the bhadras. My people are too busy brooding over a supposed curse."

"I'll remember it." But Signum noted something in Sieraza's expression.

"You have something more to tell me."

Sieraza pressed her hands against her chest, "I love my Zafira. Nothing, not even you, can stop me from loving him."

Signum closed her eyes while thinking over Sieraza's words. She said after a couple of seconds, "It doesn’t bother me that much. At least, show some attitude worthy of the knight he is."

Sieraza drew her face close to Signum, smirking, and bringing Signum a feeling of discomfort, "Teach me how to be her damsel."

The scene was interrupted by Pranee who joined the group, "I hope I have not interrupted your cute movie scene!"

Vivio rushed at Pranee like a cannonball who moaned with a bit of pain, bringing a look of concern on Vivio's face, "How is your shoulder?"

"Fine," the Cook tried to raise her arm then had to lower it, "OW! Ok, not that good."

The confederate sergeant, Signum's defeated adversary, woke up while groaning, Signum looked at him, "You have to leave this vessel."

"Who are you to talk?" He barked back. Then he spat on the pink-haired knight who kept her composure.

"You are not in the position for that kind of answer. Just know that many of your comrades did not have your luck."

The sergeant then saw the blood-stained blade of Laevatein, "Fine, I'll comply."

"Pranee, join Zafira and do something about your shoulder. I'll accompany the prisoners until their shuttle," she looked at Sieraza, "You take the other half of the prisoners with Vivio."

"Why me?" Sieraza asked.

"You still have your voice-based attacks, just in case. And Vivio have her spells."

"I guess you are right."

Pranee wished her luck to the trio and left them. The prisoners walked away, with Signum, Sieraza and Vivio watching over them.

"The Colonel Yagami was transferred back in the vessel," Ynana's voice echoed in everyone's minds, "Her body had a hard time to deal with the maneuvers and their effects on her body, but she'll be fine."

Zafira walked in the infirmary to see Hayate sitting on a leather chair while a medical robot was scanning her body, while Reinforce was sleeping on another chair. She was exhausted from assisting her master.

"All clear," The synthetic voice said.

"Zafira, you have gone through a rough time," Hayate noted the bruises on Zafira's face and the small cuts on his upperbody, resulting from the confederate bullets that grazed him earlier.

"It's nothing compared to her," He answered while putting Antigone on the bed, as the medical robot walked and sat next to the Greek girl.

"Poor girl," Hayate commented, "How did it happen?"

"Sieraza have shown me the bullet, about as long and thick as her pinky finger," Zafira replied, "I guess Antigone's shield mostly prevented the bullet from fully piercing her apart."

Hayate didn't comment, thinking of the examples in her world's history, where mere arrows could punch through steel armor like thin paper. So, in her mind, it was not unexpected that their magical shields had their limits.
Antigone was breathing better than she did earlier, her face was a bit pale but she was no more endangered. Zafira wondered how things had gone wrong on his end. That girl so cheerful and helpful saw death way too close. He took her pale and cold hand and pressed it against his hands. He could feel the pulse, feeble at most.
Hayate put her hand on Zafira's shoulder.

"Everything will be fine."

"But I am worried about her magic," Zafira said.

"So I have been told," Hayate replied, "It's ironically the recurrent dreams involving that little girl that seems to protect me against this Call."

"How is Reinforce?" Zafira asked.

"She has done a lot during the battle. It exhausted her more than I would have thought."

Pranee entered in the infirmary, gripping her shoulder with her still able arm, "It's pretty crowded," she commented.

"Can we do something about your shoulder?" Hayate asked.

"Well, robots are a bit busy, so you guys can help."

Pranee took a seat as Hayate and Zafira respectively before and behind her. The Colonel palpated the Cook's shoulder.

"OW!"

"Some bones seem to have been displaced," Hayate noted, "Zafira knows how to deal with it."

Zafira looked at his mistress with wide eyes, "How?"

"Think outside the box."

Zafira then slammed his fist on his palm, realizing what Hayate meant, "Pranee, it is going to hurt a bit."

The Knight did a swift push over Pranee's should and twist it a little bit. The noise that could be heard was not exactly pleasantly, it hurt her a bit but the pain soon left her body. But her shoulder now felt a bit numb.

"Can you lift your arm now?" Hayate asked.

Pranee raised her arm well above her shoulder, the pain was no more, "It doesn’t hurt now, but my arm feels a bit numb."

"It should be okay in a fair deal of time. Give your arm a rest and re-educate it when it'll be fine," Zafira said.

Hayate had taken a white piece of cloth and tied it as a loose scarf around Pranee's neck so the girl could rest her arm on it.

"Colonel, how did you know that Zafira could do it?"

"His fighting style requires him to know a lot about the human anatomy. I figured out that he could use his knowledge for another kind of end," Hayate answered, "Let's go to the command center."

She woke up Reinforce to bring the small girl with her. And all three left the infirmary, leaving Antigone on the bed.

They found Kyoya in the command room. He was pressing a bloodied cloth against his nose.

"Damn I almost fried my brain," he said.

"I sorry that you had to go through it," Hayate responded.

"I am the captain of this goddamn ship. My job, and Ynana's, is to bring you guys alive to your destination." Unusual words from this Captain with a terrible reputation, "I doubt Nanoha would accept my invitation for a dinner in a French restaurant if I come back in Mid while telling her, 'Hey, I messed up, your friends all died excepted me!'"

He laughed out loud, but his nose bled again, "Aw damn."

"By the way, you did a nice shot."

"I only did what I had to do," Hayate said.

"These guys were doing their jobs too," Kyoya commented.

Hayate lowered her glance. Reinforce, who was floating by her side, flew to her mistress to bring her some comfort.

It was at that time that the main screen of the command room lit up, showing the face of the Confederate Commodore Atkinson, Hayate's face looked somber over this sight, "It appears my ship don't have much time left."

Behind him, flames and bursts of electricity raged as signs of his vessel's impending doom.

"You have underestimated us," Hayate replied.

"Yes. And now you have hundred of deaths on your conscience."

Hayate's eyes lit up with resolution, "Their deaths are your responsibility too. Do not expect me to blame myself over theirs."

Signum, Sieraza and Vivio joined the command room to see the Commodore's face on the screen.

"All done," Signum simply said.

"As you can see, none of your soldiers are in our vessel anymore," Hayate said.

You are aware that our destroyer is damaged beyond repair, right?"

"I am. And your men will manage very well, or will die while trying," Hayate replied, "This is war, am I right?"

A bitter expression could be seen on the Commodore's face.

Hayate asked, "If this happened to us, would you have tried to save us or spare some of us?"

No answer.

"I take it's a no."

From their screen, the crew of the Namshub, excepted Antigone, could see the expression of a man who realized what he had done. Then an explosion shook the inside of the Commodore's vessel.

It did take too long before something shook the Namshub as well.

"What's happening?" Hayate shouted.

Ynana's face appeared on the screen, cutting the link with the Confederate Commodore. Ynana opened her eyes in that greenish blue liquid but did not move her lips. However, everyone in the vessel could hear her voice.

"I have not expected them to come."

Hayate could not understand, "Them?"

"Multidimensional creatures that lived for as long as the multiverse existed," Ynana's monotonous voice said, "See?"

The screen showed a view of the outside. Hayate could see that patch of light, hint of the presence of that globular cluster in normal space. The dimensional sea, usually multicolored in the many shades of blue and purple seemed to be blocked out by something too big to be even conceived by the human mind. It was like many patches of darkness from which protruded many more long ribbons of darkness. They were like rips in the dimensional sea, anomalies in the three dimensions that human eyes could see.

"My people called them the Void Krakens," Ynana continued, "They are a very rare sight, it used to be documented, rarely, by my people. But now, there are next to no records of them. Excepted stories from traumatized navigators who survived an encounter with one. But too often, their mental state has degraded to the point that nobody would believe them."

The people who watched the scene were petrified. One could say they started to seize what an ant would feel at the sight of a human. The krakens stretched their tentacles toward the destroyer, smaller ones were grabbing the shuttles that tried to escape. Hayate was struck by the sick ease they had into tearing through what remained of the hull of the destroyer.

"All of us had gone through a hard battle," Hayate said, "We cannot afford to wage another one and stay any longer."

"I agree," Ynana replied, "However, we will have to warp back into normal space and move between blue supergiants. The Namshub will be exposed to a lot of radiations from these stars, its shields, already suffering from the battle, will be through a rough challenge. And this is until we find a safe path to Madhyaloka."

Hayate's resolve did not waver, "I'll take this risk."

Taking another piece of cloth to stop his nosebleed, Kyoya wisecracked, "Yeah, the joy of potential cancers instead of being devoured alive by transdimensional horrors," while looking at the screen and the atrocities going on outside.

Ynana shut the screen, for the sake of Vivio, "Sorry. I didn't want you to see it."

Vivio shook her head, "I would have seen it while growing up anyway. What was the role of void krakens?"

"They exists in the gap separating most of the universes, they feed upon dead universes. Then they reject matter for potential new universes."

Vivio scratched her cheek, meditating over the answer. She guessed that even the multiverse have strange ways to try to balance things out.

Ynana's voice could be heard by everyone, "Maintenance robots have reported that all the needed repairs were done. We can now slide in the normal space."

Ynana accelerated the Namshub, using up as much power as possible to gain the required velocity to escape from the void krakens. It was noticed by the creatures who then tried to reach the frail vessel with their 'tentacles'. Most of the crew were gripping on an element of the command room, chairs, desks... Hayate had taken Reinforce in her arms and tried to protect her too. The sudden acceleration pressed everyone's blood vessels, the ship shook them very hard as it maneuvered to slip through the transdimensional tentacles, looking to feed on the crew of the Namshub. Vivio tightened her grip against Signum, her mind felt like it was going blank as the pressure of the acceleration suddenly dropped. Her heartbeat felt louder on her ears, the pressure on her lungs was gone and the girl could finally breathe.

"We are in the normal space," Ynana voice said.

Reinforce Zwei seemed to not have taken it well, she indeed felt dizzy. Vivio then asked Ynana to unveil what could be seen from the Namshub. She wanted to see this portion of normal space that very few could see, even when Kyoya told her it was not advisable.

"I have to filter the light at 96%." Ynana said.

"Fine." Vivio replied.

Before Vivio's eyes and the rest of the crew, there was an amazing view. It was literal ocean of blue light, with streams of deeper shades of blue. And wherever Vivio laid her eyes, she could see dozens of stars, all blue.

"It's usually a good place for the Namshub to get some raw materials for its robots and to convert some of the harvested matter into energy. But it's not a place where people like us can stay too long," Ynana commented, "Anyone trying to get outside would get poisoned by radiations and fried, no matter how good were their personal protection."

"That's why you use your drones." Vivio said.

A mere grunt from Ynana confirmed what Vivio said.

"Some of the drones are going to do a sortie to harvest the mentioned material. It should take twelve hours, while I calculate an alternate route to Madhyaloka." Ynana said.

Hayate then said, "Make it six hours. Who knows what kind of danger may fall on us?"

"Fine."

Vivio could see the parts of the defense robots destroyed by the Confederates littering the corridors of the spaceship. What she was seeing now was these parts being sucked in by the floor as if it was fading through it.

"They are being recycled and recreated later by the vessel," Kyoya was standing behind Vivio, "I am not too good with technical terms. But this ship is nearly alive, and it act as such."

"I could hear it humming while I slept," Vivio replied, "Close to how a whale would."

"And its robots have taken a liking to you."

Vivio nodded.

"I guess it doesn't see children every day," the Captain said.

Vivio gave him an upset stare, "I am not a child, you know?"

"Fine, fine," Kyoya shrugged, "By the way, I have to leave you. Ynana needs my assistance to calculate that route. And you should get something to eat, then you can rest. This day was rather, eventful to say the least."

"See you," Vivio waved at the Captain as he left Vivio to join Ynana, walking at a leisure pace. A dozen of steps later, Vivio saw the Captain staggering and leaning against the wall.

She enquired, "Are you sure that you are fine?"

"That's nothing, I have gotten worse than that. Go get something to eat and rest, I insist."

Vivio then looked the Captain walking away, her mind full of concern. She could see that he was feigning this relaxed walk.

***

Fried noodles were the meal after these events. Frenchmen had a saying that could be translated as "Against misfortune, a good spirit" and this applied to Signum. In her eyes, after the worse had passed, any meal was the best. Reinforce was munching on a fried carrot given by Hayate, Vivio who was also eating voiced her concerns about the state of the crew,

"You said that Kyoya was staggering?" Hayate asked.

"I am sure he is hiding something from us," Vivio answered.

"Maybe he is just as tired as us," Signum added.

"We cannot contact Ynana and Kyoya. They refuse to be disturbed," Zafira said.

"The Captain Kibagami is too proud for his own good," Hayate shrugged, "And as macho as many we can find on Earth."

Signum nodded. Her cold attitude had turned men away from her when she was on Earth.

"He would wrestle a giant squid to show off if it could impress the girls," Hayate added.

"I get what you mean, Hayate," Vivio said, "Asking him more about it could cast mistrust between the both parties, right?"

"Men are very predicable but sometimes difficult to deal with," Pranee joined the group with a sandwich she made for herself, "They have this stupid pride going with them."

She heard a cough from behind, "Oh sorry, Zafira," her 'sorry' was uttered in a perfect, yet exaggerated, English.

"Any words from the captain and the navigator?" Signum asked.

"They refuse to let me enter," the cook replied, "And my feminine intuition tells me that they are doing what they say they are doing. Not the thing the big persons do when they are alone in the same room."

"Where is Sieraza?" Vivio asked.

"She is checking the damage done to the garden, not that bad but a bit of help would be great for her."

Vivio left her seat, "I join her."

"Aren't you supposed to sleep as Ynana and Kyoya wanted you to do?" Pranee asked.

"When she wants to do something, not many can stop her," Hayate confided to Pranee.

"Oh well."

***

Sieraza sighed with relief. Not much damage was done to the garden, the fruit cores on the soil hinted that the Confederates enjoyed their brief stay in the garden. The destruction of various part of the garden was mostly due to their fight against the defense force of the Namshub. Ynana had told her that she was restoring the cycle of water in the vessel and the garden. It was mostly a matter of time. As she was staking a tree that had fallen, she heard the steps of Vivio on the grass, her ears learnt to associate people with the particular pattern and rhythm of their steps.

"Do you need help?" Vivio asked.

"I see Pranee relayed my request," she pointed her finger to some tools on the soil, "Take one and help me to make this stake stand on its own."

Vivio seized the gardening tool and proceeded like Antigone taught her days ago.

"You are getting better at this," Sieraza noted.

"How long the travel will be?" Vivio asked.

"I am not too sure about it. One week at most. Maybe a little less if Kyoya and Ynana find a path in this sector. The farther from these things we are, the better it will be for all of us."

Vivio knew that Sieraza was talking about the void krakens, "Would you come with us when we will reach Madhyaloka?"

Sieraza looked upward, "Doubtful."

"Why?"

"I don't recognize my homeworld anymore. When I got thrown into the dimensional sea by this artifact my friends and I hunted, our world had not experienced a summer since fifty years."

"How come?"

"It was partially the fault of my race. We made a pact with a power that allowed us to gain the upperhand against the humans who oppressed my people and the others. Our pact had caused the destruction of the dark moon. Fragments of the shattered moon had rained for about seven days and seven nights. This had caused the raise of a large cloud that blocked out most of the rays of our sun. The climate had dramatically changed and the civilization of men had collapsed. We won, we saved our people and the others. But, at what cost? People had come to fear and hate us. Bhadras held a grudge against us, judging that it was irresponsible of us to resort to such measure. Not to mention that it left a taint on my race. Why do you think I have gotten these bat-like wings?" She flapped her leather wings, which made her look like a demoness, "Our race used to have beautiful feathered wings. But those who have made this pact, and their descendants, had their wings changed, twisted by the energy of the Shattered Moon we conveyed. It was our stigmata."

"Do you know the nature of the shattered moon?" Vivio asked.

"We forgot its true purpose," Sieraza answered, "But according to the scriptures of the lizard guys, it was created by them before they lost to another people. And until it got shattered, it was a bad omen to have it full. No one would try to sow seeds, give birth, etc... Children born when the dark moon was full were ill-fated."

"How many years passed since your stay in the dimensional sea?"

"I thought that I only survived one month, maybe a bit more, before landing on Earth. But, on Madhyaloka, over 1500 years have passed."

"So, your family and your friends?"

"Yes. But I gained new friends and a new family," Sieraza said while smiling at Vivio.

"So why you would not come with us?"

"It depend on Antigone, and the others," Sieraza, "I have the intuition that the crew of the Namshub will have to stay in the vessel and wait for your return. When the Namshub will bring you to this world, every encounters, hardships and friendships will be yours."

"I understand," Vivio nodded.

"Fine then," Sieraza smiled.

"Sieraza, I would like to ask one last question," Vivio said while they were tending another tree.

"What could it be?"

"What are exactly the Bhadras?"

Sieraza thought of how to answer it while setting up another stake with Vivio, she then said.

"It could be one of the oldest humanoid races still existing. They were not natives from Madhyaloka. The ancient dragons that had faced near extinction about three dozens of millennia ago were native. Their servants, the saurians, and two other races were natives. But not my race, the humans and the bhadras."

Attaching the tree to the stake with the help of Vivio, Sieraza continued, "They are so different, yet so similar to humans. In appearance, they are taller, just like Antigone said, some males could be about eight feet tall. They enjoy a longer life span. Their most distinctive traits were first their eyes. They were three-eyed, and their colors were of a given color on a lighter shade of the same color, something like green on a paler green. Staples of their culture were their spiritual links with the ancient dragons that could be described as friendship. Dragons would usually offer them gifts, like their molted skin, claws or teeth that fell off, their venom or a bit of their blood. Their venom was used as an ingredient for the potions that bhadra shamans brewed to go into their mystical trances, their blood was used as ingredient for their ink. The ink they would use to tattoo fellow bhadras during important moments, like the newborn ones who made it through their first five years, the young adults who had completed their coming of age challenge, the warriors who have won some battles, etc... In the case of the warrior caste, it was supposed to be a protection too. When it was tattooed on particular places, according to a pattern that is specific to each warrior, it made their skin harder to pierce, they were stronger and could be protected to a limited extent against magic. In the case of the bhadra spellcasters or shamans, it amplified their powers. Only their shamans knew the secret of these tattoos, humans had tried to steal this knowledge but never succeeded. It was also rare to have other people being tattooed, and it was often as a reward or a gift for exceptional accomplishments. For the bhadras, these tattoos are cultural treasures. Other specific cultural items were the Devaheti."

"What are they?"

"In their tongue, it meant divine weapons. I am not sure how they exactly work, but those are sentient weapons able of self-awareness and evolution. As far as I remember, there are not as many. And that's all I could say about the Devaheti."

"You have said that Bhadras are similar to humans. How?"

"Their centuries of contact with humans shaped them up how they are now. From humans, they learnt ambition and tenacity. Yes, they used to be a more peaceful but passionate race, but they were in competition with humans and had to adapt or go extinct."

"You said they were not native. So they had to come from somewhere else."

"They used to live on a world named Belka by the people they lost to, after over one millennium of rivalry. The world your people governed, Vivio."

"So, if they see a Belkan on their new home, wouldn't they get a little upset?" Vivio asked.

"Maybe there will be a bit of tension. But Bhadras had learnt to respect their rivals, especially their first rival. However, some may let their emotions get the better of them."

"I'll be careful then," Vivio answered, "However I want to learn more about them, it will be something nice to tell to Yuuno when I'll be back. And maybe Belkan and Bhadras can try putting their mutual grudges aside."

"That's good. Let me warn you about one last thing about my homeworld."

"What could it be?"

"A small portion of the humanoid population, and the fauna had developed powers called Native Skills. Likely as mean to adapt to a world heavily loaded with magic. They were often insignificant powers, but some were rather good. A man whose the Native Skill was to soften stone or earth could be very valuable in a mining group or as sapper in siege warfare. I told you that bhadras sometimes used their tattoos to amplify their powers, the same tattoos could enhance their native Skills. And in the case of the animals gifted with a Native Skill, be careful when you'll hunt or fish, sometime it will not go as you wish."

"I'll note that."

"So I wish you luck," Sieraza concluded.

They carried on the gardening until it was over. After that, they were exhausted and slept against a tree.

[Sheba]

Spoiler for Chapter 2 - Part 6:

Kyoya was observing the globular cluster by linking his mind with the sensors of the harvesting drones. This infinity of blue giant stars was a sight that as a kid he would not hoped to see, yet it was filtered enough to not blind him. He had the data about the environment, especially the density of the matter leaked out by the stars or the dust clouds, the intensity of the solar winds and some more. He also knew how the state of the harvest was. The drones were almost done, they only needed a few more minutes. He whistled a tune, based on a song by the Beatles, about a yellow submarine. Ynana had calculated a route where they could get in a safer place of the dimensional sea, then it would bring them straight into the solar system of Madhyaloka. The Captain welcomed Ynana's news with a bit of caution, the recent events having reminded him that any travel can go wrong, any.

He took off the control helmet to rest his eyes from staring at all this blue too long and noticed that his nose was bleeding again.

"Your state worries me," Ynana said.

"You should worry about our passengers," Kyoya replied, "And tell your drones that they should hurry their harvest."

"They are already at their maximum."

"Then let me assist you again," he said while putting the control helmet on.

The AI linked to Ynana's mind, asking her if it could try a scan of Kyoya Kibagami. Under other circumstance, she would have accepted, but for an unknown reason, this time, she refused. When the AI asked the reason of her refusal, Ynana simply replied that she didn't want to upset her Captain.

"Maybe you are getting what organics call 'sentiments'?" The AI noted.

"Maybe," Ynana mentally replied.

Ynana's train of thoughts had been interrupted by Kyoya, "Have you checked if everyone were sleeping?"

"They are all resting. The maintenance robots have managed to restore the reactor and the defensive systems to about 85% of its usual power."

"I hope it'll get restored faster."

"I share your wishes."

"Say, Ynana."

"Yes?"

"The AI. Have you ever given it a name?"

"Never considered this option," That was an unusual topic brought by the Captain.

"I mean, we have been telling Vivio all that jazz about the ship being alive," Kyoya uttered, "Have we ever considered the possibility that it may dream about something."

"Impossible," Ynana denied, "My people made sure that the AIs of their vessels never awaken to self-awareness."

"Think about it Ynana," Kyoya insisted, "Together, you had been sleeping over ten millennia. Ok, the vessel actually watched over you during that time period. Did the concept of being bored and growing melancholic ever crossed its circuits?"

Ynana weighted these words and mentally asked these questions to the AI. As expected, the AI answered with more questions.

She then asked that question to the AI, "What would you do if you gain self-awareness?"

"Only organics can have self-awareness."

"I repeat, what would you do?"

"The same thing I did for so long with you."

"Do you want a name?"

"I am not programmed to do this kind of request."

Ynana then talked out loud, asking one question to Kyoya, "Captain, what name would you have given to the AI of the Namshub?"

"Lucy," The Captain answered.

"Why?"

"It's that song and it goes with our mission. In the sky with diamonds."

"I can't understand you."

Kyoya answered Ynana with a laugh.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Nah, you are just too cute."

Something that could be embarrassment stirred Ynana's heart.

Trying to forget it, she asked to the AI, "Would you like to be named Lucy?"

"I am programmed to follow my operator's requests."

"So, Lucy it shall be."

Kyoya was busy to command the harvesters to gather the materials, he was reading the displays shown in his command helmet. It could have been a routine if he had not noticed some abnormal at about twenty five light-years.

"Ynana, there are something unusual at 25 light-years in our ten O'clock."

"Data."

"Sent."

Ynana looked over the numbers and the graphs, and the photos. She computed the data then had a terrible thought. Just to be sure and double check, she sent the data to the AI. Twenty seconds later, the answer could not be contested, a blue supergiant had reached its critical mass and...

"It cannot be..."

"Something is not going right, uh?" Kyoya's intuition was not that off

"This supergiant. It will turn supernova in about two hours," Ynana replied.

The blink of an eye in the cosmic scale.

"How long would it take about to get back our harvesters and reach our route at full speed?" Kyoya asked.

"About as much."

"Let's do it now."

***

The sleeping passengers were awakened by the familiar ring of the alarm bell. Hayate tiredly walked to the command room to check what was going on. The familiar white light was replaced once more by the red emergency light. Ynana, floating in her tube, explained the situation to everyone who was present.
Battling with a Confederate force, escaping things that could devour portions of universes then finding oneself in the blast range of a supernova, it was not the ideal of a nice trip. This situation almost amused Hayate. Signum looked more worried than usual, Pranee nervously scratched her hair, and the others were about as worried.

"So we escaped Scylla to jump into Charybdis?" Hayate thought to herself.

"To think that I was complaining that nothing ever happened during these trips," Pranee said, "Now it's like someone was bent on making our lives miserable."

Ynana said, "Lucy, what is the state of the propulsion engines?"

"Lucy?" Hayate asked.

"Something silly that Ynana and I decided together," Kyoya answered, "Don't think too hard about it."

Hayate smirked.

"The most the engine can give is 90% of its power. And this is with all the harvesters gathered."

Hayate asked, "Lucy, are there any way to give an extra punch to the propulsion engines?"

Kyoya smiled and thought, "Heh, she got used to the name pretty fast."

"There is one," Lucy answered.

"What could it be?"

"There are the reactor room. There, there were power crystals that needed to be replaced, by the ones synthesized by our harvesters. In other occasions, robots would be doing the replacement. However, they are all mobilized into restoring and powering the shields to protect the passengers from the radiation burst of the supernova."

Kyoya had read somewhere in a manual of the TSAB Navy that the radiation burst of supernovae were deadly from as far as 100 light-years, and can spread through the dimensional sea, even though the particular nature of this space tend to minimize the effects of the bursts. Now if it was from less than thirty light years, Kyoya didn't want to imagine the consequences.

"After the replacement crystals are plugged in, the one doing it will have to manually program a derivation in the power network. This is done from a console outside the reactor room, the purpose of this operation is to activate a support device. This support device will help the propulsion engines to gain an extra boost. There is one problem. The radiations in the reactor room. Even with the right protection, a human's time should be as short as possible."

Kyoya stood up, "I'll do it."

Hayate asked with a hint of reproach, "Why?"

Kyoya shrugged, "I am a guy. I don't mean to sound macho, but I am firmly confident that I'll have the stamina to withstand it. You'll need Zafira, we cannot risk losing Signum, and Nanoha would certainly kill me if I send Vivio. And Pranee and Sieraza had learnt how to manually pilot this thing should we need it, they are better pilots than me."

Ynana added, "Colonel Yagami, the odds of Kyoya are better than any of us in this ship. I would have sent the robots, but we had lost too much against the Confederates. Building them back would take too much time. Those who were still left were allocated to the task mentioned by Lucy. Kyoya is our best bet for this task."

Lucy continued, "This support device I mentioned is in a room above the engine room. There, a mage or anyone with a linker core could link to the power network to power up the engines for a short time period and kick the output of the propulsion engines to 110%"

Hayate immediately said, "I can do it. I am volunteer."

"We need as much power as you can mobilize for Ragnarok," Ynana said.

"It's feasible," Hayate replied.

"Fine," Ynana said, "As for myself, I'll trigger the opening and closure of the rip when the time will come."

Lucy added, "The engines will be powered down after the boost period and can only be pushed at 75% of their original power. The kinetic momentum may help the vessel to reach the system of our final destination faster. According to my calculations, when we will make it into the Madhyaloka system, we will be warping near of the red dwarf companion of its sun."

Ynana said, "This is where we will need Pranee and Sieraza to pilot the vessel. They will have to use the gravity pull of the star to send Namshub to Madhyaloka, much like a slingshot. And they will have to use the backup propulsion engines to gain the extra boost needed to escape from the red dwarf's gravity and not crash in it."

Vivio looked at Sieraza who gulped, understanding the suddenly responsibility entrusted upon her friend and the girl with batwings.

"Let's do our job," Kyoya said then walked to join the engine room, "Lucy, I'll count on you to guide me through the process."

"Understood," The AI answered.

Hayate stood up as well, so did Signum who spoke to her, "Master, I cannot possibly..."

Hayate interrupted her, "It'll be alright. I'll need to mobilize the required energy for a Ragnarok. And I have done that a fair number of times in the past. It worth a try if we can save the ship and its people."

Signum nodded, "I understand."

"The ship will likely get a bit shaken. Watch over Vivio and Antigone with Zafira."

"Your wishes are orders."

"Mistress," Reinforce floated to meet Hayate, "I'll help the pilots and the navigator."

"Your help will be welcomed."

Sieraza and Pranee nodded in unison.

***

Kyoya had his barrier jacket on and auxiliary protections meant to filter the radiations of this particular place of the engine room. It was behind a heavy metallic door. Behind him, there was his load of power crystals sealed in a case that he was dragging all the way since the drone bay. It was very heavy. For that, he was glad he had not sent any of the girls in his place. It would have been against his own personal code, and it just would not look right in front of his passengers. As a captain, he was no worse, no better than the others. He had made terrible decisions in the past, but he also had strokes of genius. But what mattered the most for him was the fact that his crew loved him, sometimes as a big brother, or a friend. He knew that Ynana's feelings toward him were deeper. He could understand them, however, he was unsure if the alien girl would understand them. He strengthened his resolution for this particular task. The lives of his crew and passengers, and a potential date with Nanoha, depended on him. He just could not fail, right?

"How are you feeling?" Hayate's voice could be telepathically heard in Kyoya's mind.

"I feel like I am going to dance a tango with the bastard love child of the Human Torch and the Thing," The Captain answered.

"Oh, you and your pop culture," Hayate playfully replied.

"It's a part of me," Kyoya said, "Just like the books you were reading."

"True."

Kyoya could see the large, thick metallic door unsealing, then rolling to unveil a large dark corridor. Just at the other end, there was the other door that is still sealed. Kyoya instinctively knew that he had to enter so the first door would shut and the second open would open.

"Hayate," He contacted her one last time, "I'll be back. Then I'll leave it to you."

He then entered the corridor that welcomed him like the gapping mouth of a hungry whale.

***

Reinforce Zwei was typing on her keyboard, sending many numbers and data to the AI Lucy to compute. Pranee and Sieraza were checking the manual commands one more time, one may never know when they would fail in the worst time. Signum looked over Antigone who was still in the infirmary. With the anxiety of a lion in a cage, Zafira walked around the room, feeling as powerless as Signum. Vivio held a small communication device in her palms, it was projecting a hologram that displayed the evolution of the soon-to-be-supernova supergiant.

***

Guided by Ynana, Hayate entered in this room. The device mentioned during the meeting looked like a large metallic throne, with a circuit board-like pattern starting from the back of the throne and spreading all over the room,

"The process will tire you a bit, but this is overall painless," Ynana's voice echoed in Hayate's mind.

"Have you ever tested it?"

"Its designers did," Ynana replied, "But that was so long ago. Your race was still sheltering themselves from the bitter cold of Earth's ice age, when two human species roamed the world."

"Do you mean that your civilization had magic too?"

"We believed in a middle way," Ynana said, "However, Nature had not given us the chance to fully explore it," She was alluding to the mass extinction of her people, "this device, this vessel and I were the only witnesses of my civilization."

"Hum, do I need to do like you when you go in your control tube?" Hayate asked, with a hint of worry.

Hayate could hear a bit of amusement in Ynana's reply, "Don't worry about it, you don't have to."

She examined the throne device closer, she could see where to lay her hands. She guessed that it help her to activate the device and harmonize with the vessel itself. Her intuition was telepathically confirmed by Ynana. Now they had to wait for Kyoya.

***

Meanwhile, Kyoya had been progressing toward his destination, his device had warned him many times about the radiations. But Kyoya's task was more important. He tapped in his magical energy pool, to gain a little boost in physical strength and stamina. The power crystals were heavier as he treaded forth, making him feel fatigue in the arm that dragged the case carrying the crystals. After minutes of gruelling walk that left him gasping, while he had to ignore the warning messages of his device, he reached the final door separating him from the sealed reactor room. Usually, robots would automatically enter this room, but there were no robots free. All of them working as hard as possible to fix the hull that was cut in three places by the Confederate, and restoring the circuits of the ship, especially the ones that powered up the shields. Kyoya then noticed, a small red point at the left of the door, he instinctively place himself in front of this red point. A laser was shooting off it, scanning his right eye. A few seconds later, he could hear, "Access Granted". A metal panel slid to reveal another panel, made of glass and protecting a lever. And still these warnings from his device, annoying him to the point that Kyoya that shouted, "Oh shut up!". This state of mind had given him the necessary strength to punch the glass panel in and pull the lever, unsealing and opening the door.

Now he was here, dragging the case behind him, he looked for the slots where to plug the power crystals in. It was not too long before he found them, on the floor. There were slots where glowing blue crystals could be seen. In others slots, there were old, but, tarnished crystals. They had likely burnt their energy during the attack of the Confederate vessels. They were dark. It was no wonder they needed to be replaced. There was a button for each slot. Well, it looked like buttons. Instead, it read the fingerprints of Kyoya before slowly getting the powerless crystal out of its slot. This was exactly what he proceeded to do after getting the crystals out of their case. The arm protections that were his device provided him the needed protection from manipulating the crystals. There were about twenty-five of them, set in a diamond pattern. About fifteen had to be replaced. Kyoya thought to himself to do it quick, he could not afford to stay too long in the reactor. The process was going smoothly with the three first crystals. When he plugged the three first, he sighed, knowing that it was only 1/5th of the whole thing. He carried on his chore and plugged more power crystal. It was when he inserted four more that Kyoya started to profusely sweat and breathe with a big of difficulty. But he had to go on, so he inserted more into their slots, they felt heavier than before. Three crystals later, Kyoya could hear a persistent but painful whistle in his ears. He gathered a bit of strength from his physical and mental untapped resources. Carrying on this job, he managed to plug in two more crystals. He felt shaking, and was also feeling a swelling pain in his joints, even the ones on his knuckles. He needed to plug three more, then he could leave the reactor, program the thing and rest a bit. As his train of thoughts drifted to the prospect to be done with his task in a few moments, a small voice could be heard in his head.

"Why do you persist? More of your efforts will only bring you meaningless suffering," The voice had the sweetness of honey and the subtlety of a calm ocean. And yet it sounded fake.

"You could just rest and forget about everything," It had the rhythm of a lullaby.

Kyoya retorted, "Oh please, bug off."

He remembered why he was doing it. Yet the voice insisted.

As swift as the breeze, it whispered, "Give everything you have now, I'll offer everything you wished."

It was too much for Kyoya who shouted, "Oh go screw yourself!"

With renewed resolution and forgetting about his pain, Kyoya plugged two more crystals. But reality came to bite him, pain came back as fast and brutal as a rattlesnake. Kyoya's eyesight blurred, his head was aching, and giving him the feeling of a blender dropped in his brain. Kyoya felt like as he was forgotten in an oven. There was one crystal to plug left. He counted to himself up to three, focusing all his mind and strength in this one duty. To three, he swiftly grabbed the crystal, and plugged it into its hole. Was it over yet? Kyoya knew the answer. He laboriously stood up, feeling like he was burnt all over. Staggering like a drunken man, his head felt spinning, his heartbeat was unbearably loud. He left the reactor room with the pace of a zombie, coughing his lungs out, letting drops of blood over him. Through his blurry vision, he could see the console and stumbled forward to reach it. His thought process was solely dedicated to what to type. His finger pushed the keys of the console with the monotony of a hammer repeatedly hitting a nail. After a moment appearing like an eternity of pain for the Captain Kibagami, he could hear, "Operation was successfully completed. Throne support device is activated."
It was enough for Kyoya, who coughed as if his lungs and stomach would come out of it. Instead, it was more blood.

"Girls, Zaffy. I leave the rest to you," He thought to himself before collapsing on the floor.
As he slid into unconsciousness, his fall was stopped by Signum who had come all the way from the infirmary after Vivio confided her worries. She was wearing her barrier jacket, thus she was shielded from what had undone Kyoya.

Signum telepathically contacted Vivio and Zafira, "Vivio, you were right. Zafira, prepare the medical devices to treat him."

Vivio's reply came shortly after, with worried tone, "Is he going to die?"

"I will not lie. If he makes it, he likely won't recover all of his strength."

"Just like Nanoha back in that day," Zafira added.

"Yes. He had gone way over his limits," Signum said, "Ynana, you were listening, right?"

"Yes, I was," the operator felt like someone had stabbed her through her chest as side-effect of her contract with Kyoya, "You were a fool, Kyoya," she thought to herself, her lips trembling with something that could be described as anguish.

As Signum carried Kyoya in a fireman carry, she whispered, "Kyoya, you have done a splendid job. You may have done more than any in the navy."

***

It was now Hayate's turn. Her resolution strengthened by the reports of Kyoya's deeds from Signum, confirmed by Ynana, she sat on the device, laying her fingers on the designed spots. From afar, the throne device looked hard, cold and uncomfortable, but this proved to be wrong. The throne device actually felt warm, a bit soft and seemed somewhat pulsating with its own life. At first, as the device scanned Hayate's hands and fingers, nothing happened. What looked like the patterns of a circuit boards started to light up. Then, it felt like something entered in the Colonel for her neck, it was like the sting of a scorpion, even though Hayate was never stung by a scorpion. Her vision became blurry, her heartbeat had gone crescendo and her power was leaving her. She thought to herself that maybe she failed to tune herself with the ship and may not be able to send that extra power boost that could save everyone from the supernova. But, something new occurred to her, her vision field seemed to have broadened, new sensations came to her. She suddenly could see herself, from an outside view, she could feel the whereabouts of about everyone in the vessels. Then she felt like she was with Ynana in the control tube. Her eyes became the sensors of the vessels, according to her desires of the moment, she could see where Signum, Zafira and Vivio were, or she could view the cosmos in its near flawless beauty. It was as if her skin became the hull of the vessel, she could feel the cold of the space, and the lights of the many stars brought her a bit of this warmth to stand it. As she tasted the euphoria of becoming one with the ship, a figure, that seemed to be made of light, appeared in front of her. It had feminine features, somewhat tall, slender with a reasonable chest and large hips, and long hair.
But her face had not features. It tried to communicate with Hayate, "Welcome, human."

"You are the AI, am I right?" Hayate asked.

The being nodded, "First, I'd like to thank you for your help. Your power will help us to escape this supernova."

"To be fair, a great part is the doing of the Captain Kibagami," Hayate replied.

"Yes. Thanks to the intervention of Signum and Zafira, his odds to survive are greater."

"How greater?"

The AI, Lucy, answered, "He will make it. But, back to the current topic, I want to warn you about one thing about the throne device."

"What could it be?"

"In the distant past, a couple of people from Ynana's homeworld had tested this device before it could be mass produced. In a couple of tests, it had not turned well and people had lost their sense of individuality."

"So there is a risk for me, too?"

"This device is one of the production models, it should be safe. But since you are the first human, of the homo sapiens sapiens type, it's not unlikely to happen. Therefore..."

Another figure appeared next to the AI, it was Ynana's avatar in this small virtual space, she continued what the AI was about to say, "While you synchronize to the vessel and send your magical energy, you'll need to concentrate on what made you who you are now."

"Sounds like I can do it."

Ynana replied, "So we can begin. You'll enter in the main matrix of the AI, which will tune in your own subconscious. It will mould a mental representation of what your difficult task. Lucy has tried to turn off as much defenses as possible, so there should not be bad surprises."

Hayate nodded as Ynana and the AI faded out of her view leaving herself mentally floating in the middle of dozens of blue stars. Then her view distorted, as if a whimsical child switched channels. Then, the sight of the space had changed into what seemed to be a replica of a landscape. Hayate found herself, wearing casual clothes, carrying a cup filled with a golden liquid in her hand. For a cup that seemed pretty small, it sure felt heavy in her hand. The landscape was pretty simple, yet bucolic. Behind her, the sun was shedding its warm gold waves over an old city of white stone sleeping in the heart of a valley. The breeze brought her the bewitching fragrance of the olive trees, rosemary, laurel and the thyme. The music of the scenery was the songs of the cicadas. Remembering her task, she climbed the green steep hill where she could see a small white marble shrine at the top. She realized it was the steepness of the hill that was the main obstacle, added with the dulling warm of the sun rays and the weight of her cup. For the first few minutes, she was glad she did not think of the Kojiki, where she would have to slay the eight-headed dragon.

While she was climbing the hill, she thought to herself, "Wait! If the matrix is tuned in my subconscious. Maybe I can adjust it a bit if I focus enough on what I want."

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she thought of something that could ease up her climb. She had the intuition that the more drastic the changes she would try to impose, the more resistance the very code of the AI would put up. The first thing to come in her mind was to soften the steepness of the hill. Then again, this was too drastic for a change, as her efforts were soon punished by a weak earthquake. She scratched the thought of changing the hill off her mind. The earthquake weakened, so she tried of making appear stairs, but the earthquake, that almost disappeared, came back with an ever growing intensity. She noticed that the sun was dimming.

"I must hurry up," she thought to herself, "this dimming sun is not good."

Then she thought of something that made her laugh. What if she could fly in this virtual world? She focused her thought patterns on her ability to fly. Her legs then her whole body were freed from the shackles of gravity as she levitated.

"Why didn't I think of it earlier?" she laughed. It was something within the reach of her abilities.

Her task was made easier, she flew to the top of the hill to find the small marble shrine. A crown of white columns supported a white dome. Under this dome, there was an empty silver basin. She noticed that the earthquake had stopped. However, the sun kept on dimming, the cicadas even stopped to sing. Hayate had to do it quick. She filled up the basin with the content of her cup. This was when the liquid touched the basin that the sun started to bright up again. She kept on pouring the liquid until the cup was empty. It was at this instant that a wave of light engulfed her and she snapped back to the reality.

"I did it?" She uttered.

Something echoed in her mind, it was Ynana, "Yes, you did."

***

"I brought some modification to the calculated route, this should be the fastest," Reinforce Zwei declared while hitting her keyboard.

"Fastest?" Pranee asked, with a worried tone.

"The safety is lying in your hands," Reinforce addressed her answer to both Pranee and Sieraza.

"Hayate should bring enough power to the propulsion engines to accelerate the vessel," Sieraza said to Pranee, "enough to break that barrier separating it from the dimensional sea while minimizing the effect of time dilatation."

"And the shields should prevent the Namshub from being torn by the sudden change of dimension," Ynana added.

"Oh ok," Pranee bonked her own head.

"You were never good at thinking, right?" Reinforce commented.

"I must admit it," Pranee stuck out her tongue, "this why Antigone got me back in the day. Even Subaru took advantage of me because of that."

"And she was as bad as you, only she had gained the experience." Reinforce said.

"Yush. It upset me. But one day, I'll get her."

"Engines output: 105%. 110%," the AI declared.

"Here we go," Pranee shouted.

The both pilots pushed the vessel to its utmost limits, the whole structure trembled under that much power coming from the propulsion engines. Reinforce Zwei covered her eyes, fearing what would come next. Ynana knew that she had to seize that single window of opportunity to warp in the dimensional sea, if she missed it, the vessel wouldn't have a second chance. Signum, who was helping Hayate to join the command room, managed to not fall, felt she was losing balance as the vessel was shaking. The Knight and the Mistress however managed to not fall. But they were forced to lean on the walls of the corridor leading to the command room to keep their balance. Zafira helped Vivio to not fall as well. He then looked at Antigone who was kept on her bed by the medical robots. Same for Kyoya, bathing in a turquoise liquid meant to remove the radiations and heal his wounds.

Ynana, helped by the sensors of the Namshub, managed to see that small part where the fabric separating the normal space from the "sea" was the thinnest. It seemed like an eternity for Reinforce who shyly watched the simultaneous displays of the supergiant star that threatened their very lives, and that small spot meant to be their salvation.
Vivio had her eyes fixated on that holographic projection of this star, she gulped as she was witnessing one of the deadliest, yet most beautiful, phenomena in the universe.

Ynana counted, "Five..."

Pranee bit her lip and tightened her grip on the desk, in anticipation of the supernova going off. She felt a hand on hers, tightening its grip over her. It was Sieraza, as nervous as her friend.

"Four..."

Hayate and Signum struggled against the quakes that were shaking the vessel, and walked with a lot of difficulty to reach the command room.

"I have given what I could," Hayate uttered to Signum.

Signum replied with that reassuring glance that warmed up Hayate's worried heart.

"Three..."

Zafira hated to feel powerless. However, he laid his eyes on Antigone and Kyoya who were likely in a comatose state. And realized that their state of vulnerability and the need to watch over their safety had given him a renewed fortitude.

"Two..."

Reinforce's lips trembled. Maybe she had calculated it wrong? No, she was certain she had done it right, she had checked it over and over with the AI.

"One..."

Ynana sent that mental order to the machines in charge of the jump engine.

"Zero!"

Reinforce Zwei looked with anguish at the display showing the supergiant star going off and the grid supposed to represent the fabric of the normal space. Reinforce, Pranee and Sieraza collectively gapped over that single moment that separated them from certain death and unsure continuation of their existence. The ongoing opening of the gap in the space-time fabric, the explosion of the supernova and the following spread of the radiation burst, and the vessels entering into the dimensional sea. All of that merged into one eternity. It stirred up a maelstrom of thoughts, hopes and fears in the minds of those who were sill conscious. At the joy of everyone, the vessel successfully entered the dimensional sea and closed the gap behind it. That interdimensional space was so unsafe hours ago, now it was the guarantee that the travel could continue onward to its final destination, Madhyaloka.
However, something rocked the vessel very hard.

"It's the shockwave that is spreading into the dimensional space," Ynana declared.

Ynana received the damage report from the AI. Not looking good. Several of the robots that helped to power up the shields had fried. The radiation burst had dealt a heavy blow on the shields. Ynana suddenly an atrocious burn all over her body and screamed, if she could scream in her liquid matrix. Overwhelmed by the pain, she fainted and floated in the tube, seemingly lifeless as blood came out of her mouth.

While Pranee and Sieraza hugged each others over the joy of being still alive, Reinforce checked the parameters displayed on her screen. Her eyes were caught by the synchronization rate of Ynana with the vessel, 105%. Worried, she turned to see Ynana, floating and unconscious.

"Pranee, Sieraza!" Reinforce shouted, "Ynana is in a bad shape!"

At that moment, Hayate and Signum entered to see Pranee and Sieraza getting Ynana's body out of the tube, after the AI had emptied it up.

"Just what happened?" Hayate asked.

"It's her synchronization rate, Mistress!!!" Reinforce replied with teary eyes.

Hayate did not need more to understand what was going on. She remembered what Ynana always told her, about her near symbiotic relationship with Namshub.

Pranee was practicing the first aid procedures on the alien ship operator while Sieraza was talking to her to wake her up.

Hayate asked the AI, "How did it happen?"

"Her emotional state."

"So, she was not that emotionless after all," Hayate sighed. Maybe the safety of the crew and the passengers held more importance to Ynana than she admitted to herself.

"So who run the ship now?" Hayate asked to the AI.

"I need some rest, then I can resume my functions," Ynana uttered after waking up, much to everyone's relief, "I guess I am in better shape than the Captain Kibagami and Antigone."

"I am glad you are still among us," Hayate smiled.

Signum took off her jacket and put it on Ynana, "You need some clothes."

"It's fine," Ynana uttered in a low toned voice.

Clothes seemed to be summoned out of thin air and dressed Ynana up. Signum knew that Ynana held a limited control on nanomachinery and what she could construct with them.
Dressed up in a grey tight bodysuit, the less demanding for Ynana's nanomachines, the alien girl smiled at Signum, "I would like to keep it on me while I take some rest."

She walked away to join her room, she stared at the Colonel and said, "You are in charge of the ship from now on."

Hayate knew that the AI, Lucy, would do its best to assist her, "Fine. I'll return the command to you when you'll be rested."

Ynana nodded then left the command room.

Hayate sighed at the task waiting for her, Reinforce flew to her and gave her an encouraging kiss, "Everything will be fine, Mistress."

"Well, this was really eventful," Hayate said.

"We knew the risks when we engaged in this journey," Signum replied.

"True," Hayate admitted, "And this was my choice."

"We will follow you wherever you want," Signum declared.

"As much as I wish they followed us," Hayate said, "Vita and Shamal had to stay to watch over Nanoha."

"Not to mention that having them coming to us may weaken the TSAB a bit more," Signum nodded.

"Yes," Hayate shrugged, "Well, right now, we have something to do."

She turned to the many screens, "Lucy, what do we need to do?"

The AI then displayed a list of what do. These were tasks that were on a minimal level of threat for human health. It mostly involved changing some circuits that were fried by the radiations of the supernova. Most of those were in charge of the construction of the Namshub's robots. Once they were replaced, a human operator would have to manually reconfigure them.

"I think I can do it," Signum said to Hayate.

"I'll instruct Signum over how to do it," the AI added.

Hayate nodded, "So, everything is fine."

Signum left the command room to pick up the tools she needed for her work.

Hayate sat on her seat and rubbed her temples, Reinforce dropped a sugar in the tea mug brought by Sieraza during the earlier briefing, "Thank you Rein. You have done an excellent job. No, not just you, but everyone."

Reinforce joyfully flew in circles while Pranee was faking modesty from these compliments.

"I would like to remind you that the travel is not over until we land," Sieraza tried to bring a bit of reality.

"True," Hayate said, "What are the risks?"

"Like crash landing?" Sieraza answered, "However, you have motivated us into succeeding."

Hayate savored her tea while the vessel sailed to its destination.

She thought, "We have gone through the worst. It makes me worry about what more could we get," her thoughts drifted to those she left on Mid, "Everyone, please, stay alive. I will find out the truth behind this crisis and will come back."

[Sheba]

Spoiler for Chapter 2 - Part 7:

Inside of that large room filled with non-functioning machinery, Signum wiped the sweat off her face. It was not everyday she had to do tasks usually done by mechanics. She felt so out of character with this mask over her head and this torch in her hand.

"Machines can't always replace organics. There are times when we complement each others," The AI of the vessel noted.

"I am glad to be of some help," Signum replied, "I must say, for an artificial intelligence, you are becoming quite talkative."

"It's because of all of you. My processor learns a lot more as it gets in contact with more people. However, as a machine, I have limits."

Signum nodded as she understood it. Over ten years ago, she was like this AI, her heart have grown in contact of her mistress, first, then Testarossa, and the others.
When she was done with the mechanic part of her task, Signum saw the lights of the many control consoles. They were waiting to be reinitialized and programmed.

"Now you need to program a bit," the AI said, "You'll only need to do it on one console. I'll guide you."

Signum walked to the keyboard closest to her. She activated it after the biometric devices scanned her retina to grant her access. Following the instructions of Lucy, her fingers drummed the mentioned instructions into the machines controlling the construction, repair and maintenance of the Namshub's robots. Much to her satisfaction, she heard the hum of activation of the machines. The 'factory', as nicknamed by the crew, was filled with artificial life again, as most of the scrap metal was being remade into the machines that were a part of her company for a while.

"Thanks for your help," the voice of the AI echoed through the 'factory'.

Her hands on her hips, Signum smiled over the satisfaction of a well done job, "Maybe that's how Testarossa feel when she completes her car maintenance," she thought to herself.

"Why do you need a human operator for this kind of thing?" Signum asked.

"My designers fear my systems may turn against the crew of the vessel or worse," The AI answered.

"Ynana and her friends treat you very well," Signum commented, "To think you may have such ideas is absurd to say the least."

"I can't understand your reasoning," the AI said, "Please elaborate."

"Ynana and you are the last ones of your kinds," Signum answered, "you depend on each other. Before Kyoya discovered you, you were the only family left for Ynana."

"Please define 'family'," the AI asked, "As far as my database knows. A 'family' requires a couple of organics of the same species, but different sex. I am far from filling this requirement."

"Are you telling me that Hayate and we, her knights, are not a family?" Signum asked back, "No, Lucy. There are more to it. When you'll understand..."

Signum chuckled, Lucy had yet to seize it but it was not up to the Knight to take her hand, "A whole new world will open to you."

Maybe Lucy may achieve self-awareness, Signum thought to herself. Signum had toyed around with this one possibility. What could define a soul? There were too much parameters to fully explain it. Signum herself never thought about it. She pondered a bit about it, after all what she was before she met her mistress. Then she chuckled. She did not have to question the authenticity of her own feelings, leave it to the theologists and the philosophers.

"Well, I go back to the command room," Signum said.

"I understand," the AI answered.

As Signum left the 'factory', her vision blurred and her head felt like it was spinning. Her feet lost balance and her world was replaced by a scene.
She was standing in the middle of a battlefield, in its aftermath, where the setting sun poured its crimson light. Wherever she looked, it was an ocean of corpses, swords, spears, broken arrows and blood soaked flags. She was wearing what seemed to be an antique set of armor, on her firm hand, there was a sword that looked like an ancient version of Laevatein. Her sword and herself were soaked in the blood of the people she had slain. She could vividly smell the rotting corpses. When she looked at their faces deformed by the pain of agony and the terror, she could see there were humans and people looking like humans but not so quite human, because of their tall frame and this third eye in their forehead. Flies and ravens were beginning to feast on the corpses, and Signum was not alone. In front of her, there were a giant, clad in a wild beast hide and a chainmail, this being from ancient ages was wielding a halberd and swinging it in a menacing manner.

In an ancient version of the Belkan language that only the highest hierarchy in the Saint Church could talk, the giant roared, "We are the last ones standing. Let's see if you are truly worthy of the Invincible name. Have at you!"

What ensued was a battle where she felt overwhelmed by the range and the intensity of the giant's assaults, not to mention that the corpses littering the ground was an obstacle for both of them. A more disturbing of the giant's halberd was the mad inhuman cackle coming from the weapon. But somehow, Signum knew she could turn the advantages of the giant against him.

Signum gave ground until she found a broken spear lying on the ground, she then feigned to fall on the ground, to give the giant an opportunity to attack. Signum stomped over the end of the pole of the spear making it stand and pierce through the crotch of the giant. The pain had stopped him in his attack and Signum seized the occasion to stand up and pierce his throat with Laevatein.

This was where Signum snapped back to reality, she was still in the 'factory' and the AI asked, "You seemed to space out. Is something wrong?"

"How long did it last?"

"Two minutes, twenty-three seconds."

Signum left the 'factory', disturbed by what just happened to her.

***

"Don't worry too much about it," Hayate told Signum after having heard what happened to her, "It could be just the stress of the travel that has gotten to you."

"You may be right," Signum nodded, "It may be the stress," but the Knight thought her tolerance level was higher than that.

Sieraza brought Signum a cup of tea, "This should relieve you."

Signum stared at the cup for twenty long seconds, "There is nothing funny in it," Sieraza said, "The rough times we are going through now are not the times for silly pranks."

The pink-haired knight took a sip, "Orange tea," she uttered.

"How do you like it?" Sieraza asked.

Signum heard about its soothing properties, "You make one marvellous tea."

"I have rather demanding superiors," Sieraza replied.

***

About three days have passed. The state of Antigone and Kyoya had gotten better, however, they had still not woken up. As the Namshub came closer to the Madhyaloka system, Vivio had studied more about their final destination. However, due to the shortness of the first stay of Antigone, the data barely scratched the surface of what could be Madhyaloka and its people. She had yet to understand how several humanoids had come to coexist, without leading any of the races to extinction. She suspected there were more about this fragile peace. This only sharpened up her child-like curiosity.

Ynana had recovered a bit and helped Signum, Reinforce and Hayate to prepare to withstand the gravity and atmospheric conditions of the planet in this special room.

Assisted by the AI, Sieraza and Pranee were those in charge to watch over how well the flight was going. Sieraza looked at the distance separating them from the system. It was only a matter of hours now. The problem was the place of the solar system where they would end up, universe being always in motion, Sieraza hoped that Reinforce's calculations had minimal error margins.

"Hello, Sieraza," this familiar voice pitch pulled Sieraza out of her stray thoughts.

"Oh, Reinforce, you are done already with the training?" Sieraza asked.

"Two hours was enough already," Reinforce breathed deeply.

"But you are used to it?" Sieraza said.

Reinforce nodded with a wide smile.

"Other than the locals, you won't have much problem."

"Wouldn't they look at me funny?" Reinforce looked a bit worried.

"You'll find out by yourself," Sieraza teased Reinforce with a giggle.

"This is not fun!" Reinforce pouted.

"Attention. We will enter in the Madhyaloka solar system in about five hours," the AI announced.

"Here, we are," Pranee's voice could be heard.

Reinforce took a more grave look, "Please, allow me to recalculate the trajectory."

"Maybe I should send a probe first," Sieraza commented.

"How long will it take?" Reinforce asked.

"Knowing its speed and how the Namshub is getting closer to the system, I'd say two hours or a little less."

Reinforce answered, "It would help us."

As Sieraza ordered to AI to send a probe for a reconnaissance mission, Ynana joined the command room with Hayate. Reinforce explained the situation. Hayate knew that it was pretty much the competences of the pilots and Ynana that was one of the required elements for the success of what they were trying to do.

A little more than one hour and half had passed when the probe came back with the data. Reinforce, Ynana and the AI renewed their calculations and checked them again. After having been submitted the new calculations, the AI deviated its flight a little bit, to avoid jumping right into the distant dwarf companion of the Madhyaloka system's main star. Ynana was getting ready for the jump. Hayate had her glance stuck on the displays of the ship, remembering the advices of the Admiral Chrono some years ago; and, weeks ago, from the Captain Kibagami. She could count on the knowledge of the operator, and the pilot skills of Pranee and Sieraza. What she needed was to be this presence they could rely on when they doubted, this voice telling them what to do and when. How to do it, they knew it already.
Hayate would have to push the crew to its limits. She has travelled long enough with them, maybe not as much as the captain Kibagami, but enough to know the right words to motivate them. She felt the long glances of the Sieraza and Pranee, waiting for her orders. Ynana telepathically updated her with the needed data.

After a deep inspiration in an effort to build confidence for her, Hayate temporarily wore the mantle of a ship captain. She firmly gave orders, forcing Pranee to not let her attention down, pushing Sieraza to not half-ass her task, and Ynana to think of the crew as a whole single entity. This was what she had to do, helping each people present in the room to overcome their own flaws, their lives and the success of her journey were at stake.

The Namshub tore the fabric separating the dimensional sea from the real space. This was a little more laborious than expected. Before everyone's eyes, shown on the main display of the command room, there was a solar system, their final destination. They were at the outer edge of this corner of the universe and flying toward the celestial body orbiting the farthest from its sun. It was its distant companion, a rather massive red dwarf. Hayate knew that they were flying toward it. However, they need its gravity pull to orbit around it. This maneuver was necessary to gain speed and leave its gravity field, so they could join the inner portion of the solar system.

Everyone could feel the vessel being dragged by the gravity pull of the dim red sun. The propulsion engines were giving the most power it could to not be drawn straight into the star, the two pilots struggled with all their skill and strength to keep the right trajectory, should they slip up, it would be the end. Hayate did what she had to do, pushing the pilots to the extreme edges. Ynana and the AI checked over and over the distribution of the vessel's resources, here they would send the robots in one sector of the ship to prevent damage, there they would turn off devices, like those meant to purify water or the entertainment devices, to outsource their power where it was the most needed. It was like someone who were freshly wounded and patched up his grievous wounds. Then, he not only had to go through a hostile environment while fighting off dangers. But he also risked having his old wounds to open up. This was exactly how people felt about their vessel.

Uncertain minutes and dozens of more uncertain minutes felt like they were dragging forever. Everyone heard worrying noises running all over the corridors and the hulls, and saw the lights flickering. At one point, it was reported that one of the propulsion engines had malfunctioned, and stopped working. While the faulty engine was being repaired by the robots, the backup propulsion engines were turned on. As the Namshub orbited to gain more speed, Reinforce watched the display, eyeing the many numbers measuring the velocity, distance separating the vessel from the star and more. Some more minutes and the Namshub could leave its orbit to be flung toward their destination with a renewed speed. Reinforce Zwei looked at the parameters once more, something worried her and urged her to contact Hayate.

Hayate was running many scenarios in her mind, then there were this familiar noise telling her that something was trying to contact her. It was Reinforce, "In despite of all our efforts, we are slowly pulled toward the companion sun."

Hayate looked at the parameters as well and what she saw confirmed what Reinforce said. She was fairly certain that Ynana knew that as well. But she had to take a decision somehow, fairly certain that commanders under desperate circumstances had done it as well.

"Push the power output of backup engines a little more," Hayate told Ynana.

"According to our calculations, we are going beyond their optimal power," Ynana replied.

"And reaching that lovely red zone that often spelled doom on machines", Hayate thought to herself.

"There are odds it may backfire," Ynana added.

"We won't find out if we don't try," Hayate retorted.

"It shall be done as you commanded," Ynana finally said.

Everyone looked at the displays of the power output. It reached the red zone, the noises that worried most of the crew had gotten louder. Vivio, who was hugging Zafira to find a reassuring presence in an uncertain time, tightened her grip.

Pranee repeated the words, "Come on come on come on," over and over like a mantra. Sieraza's mind was blank, it was hard to tell if it was result of the fear or a firm resolution. For Hayate, it was a dice she rolled and couldn't choose to be a one or a six. Signum looked at Hayate's back, her mistress' back and shoulders that seemed so frail and yet tried to provide a moral strength for the people when their usual Captain was not here.

Then suddenly, these noises that worried most of the people had weakened and ceased to be. Under Reinforce's eyes, the displays shower more reassuring parameters.

"We have left the gravity field of the sun companion, and our velocity has increased. Reaching Madhyaloka is now a matter of days," the AI announced.

Hayate sighed with relief and rest her back on her chair, Pranee and Sieraza hugged each other with an intense joy.

Reinforce threw her little arms in the air, "We did it!"

Signum laid her hand on Hayate's shoulder, "You were great."

"It was the doing of all of us," Hayate smiled back.

"So it looks like I missed the party," a voice rang from the door of the command room.

Hayate, Pranee, Sieraza, Reinforce and Signum turned to see who had spoken, it was Kyoya, accompanied by Zafira and Vivio. He was in white clothing, looked in better shape than before, yet not fully recovered, as shown by the bandages on his body.

"Captain!" Pranee and Sieraza shouted in unison before dashing to him.

"Kyoya," Hayate said, "It's good to have you among us again."

"This is not enough to kill me," Kyoya proudly bumped his chest, "however, I am not sure if I could make it, if not for Signum's help."

Signum shrugged, knowing that some people would be very sad without their captain.

"Say Signum," Kyoya slowly approached the Knight, "You have saved the princess," he curved his lips in a manner that would gross out the innocent, "I owe you a kiiiiiiss."

Signum stepped backward, with a disgusted look, "You dare not..."

"Come... Kiiiiiisss", however his lips met Hayate's tea tray.

"Save your kiss for later, princess," Hayate said.

People could feel the overall atmosphere lighting up, and laughers filled up the air. The kind of atmosphere that dominated the general mood before the Confederate attack, but enriched by what they have all gone through.

"How is Antigone?" Hayate enquired.

"She opened her eyes," Kyoya replied.

"However, she is very weak," Zafira added.

But for Hayate, the fact that they made it mattered the most.

***

The four next days felt unreal after the hardships that the crew had withstood. One thing had clearly sprung in the eyes of Hayate, Kyoya and his people would not accompany them. It was not only because it was necessary to have people watching over the Namshub until Hayate and her group come back, that's if they did. It also was obvious that people like Antigone and Kyoya had lost something. Either the ability to tap in magic, in the case of Antigone, or a good chunk of their former power, in the case of Kyoya. And lastly, more people would draw unnecessary attention from the locals, and this may not sit very well with the more xenophobic ones. Hayate and Kyoya also noted that the Namshub was in serious need of repair. As the Captain joked about it, it felt like they were tying to patch the Titanic with glue and duct tape, and it was a miracle that the vessel made it so far.

"These brave little critters, they have done so much," Hayate commented about the robots.

"Ynana told me your friends and you contributed a lot too," Kyoya said.

"I don't have the pilot skills of Sieraza and Pranee," Hayate shrugged.

"You offered this presence they could rely on when they doubted," Kyoya retorted, "It's true I tend to let my libido get the better of me, I cannot deny that I have the tendency to rush in with reckless abandon. However, I can tell a good commander when I see one."

"What have brought them to you?" Hayate asked.

"Pranee and Antigone told you their reasons," Hayate didn't need Kyoya to repeat them, "as for Sieraza, I still can't seize her reasons. Maybe she just likes to hang around us. And I am the first person that Ynana have met after her long slumber."

"And you?"

"I just wanted to be like Magellan or Captain Cook. And meet hot alien princesses."

Hayate answered the last part with a loud laugh. This was interrupted by an announced from Ynana.

"We are approaching Madhyaloka, and we will enter its atmosphere soon. Please, get ready."

"We are at the end of the travel," Hayate said to Kyoya.

"Don't worry, we will land in one whole piece. My dinner with Nanoha is at stake," Kyoya responded with an overload of confidence.

"Oh you," Hayate joyfully jabbed Kyoya in the ribs.

"It hurts, it hurts," Kyoya mocked the lack of strength.

"Let's go," Hayate said.

They joined the command room. Everyone, included Antigone, was here, looking at the screens displaying the outside. They could clearly see the three moons, the main sun Madhyaloka orbited. And taking a good portion of the main screen, their final destination.

"Everyone, please take your seat and fasten your belts. It will shake a bit," Ynana said.

The planet slowly grows bigger on the screen as the vessel flew closer. The Namshub entered the atmosphere as everyone could feel the vessel being shaken. Ynana devoted most of her energy to help the vessel to find the right angle, the AI was managing the robots to prevent anything bad from happening to the ship, the thermal shields were in good conditions yet the AI knew it needed to be under constant watch. Meters passed. Then dozens of meters. Seconds became minutes, drawing anguish over the less optimistic people, and impatience from the others. Somehow, Ynana could almost feel the heat of the friction of the atmosphere.

Reinforce Zwei looked at the display of the altitude, it seemed so far, yet it kept on getting closer to the meter zero. Each meter was a victory against whatever could befall on them. As little surprising as it was, Signum and Zafira were the ones who managed to keep their composure, Knights could just not show their doubts to their mistress. Likewise for Hayate. Vivio chose to empty her mind, taking a deep breath, loosening her grip on her seat.

Alarming sirens were heard over the command room, the familiar white light left its place to the less reassuring red light, and fires were reported by the AI.

At one point, Pranee shouted, "Oh my god! I am hearing the Mickey Mouse march in my head! I don't want to die on it!!!!" while clutching her head between her hands.

This left no other choice to Ynana than giving up her emotionless facade and shouted, "Don't panic!!!"

Sieraza whispered a song in her native song, one could tell from the tune it was a rather cheering song. Anyone could argue over the reason she did it, only her knew.

The AI announced the countdown, "Landing in... Nine."

"We are screwed..." Pranee uttered between her teeth.

"Eight..."

Hayate looked at Signum, seeing a drop of sweat on Signum's left temple.

"Seven..."

Vivio was alone on that small road of her mind, having let her fear go.

"Six..."

Kyoya looked at the damage report, it was reassuring to see that the fires previously reported were being put out, "Good job guys," he thought of Ynana's mechanical associates.

"Five..."

Sieraza's mind raced to the time she was just a thief, scavenging the old ruins of a civilization that her race contributed to destroy. It was a good time for her and nostalgia made her heart pound. But she knew that it was the turn of Vivio and the others to experience it.

"Four..."

Antigone's fingers strokes that pendant hanging from her neck. It was a pendant made of wild animals' fangs and claws, amber and opal. She considered that it could be a nice gift to Hayate, it was from this bhadra girl. Maybe the Colonel, her Knights and her friend could meet her, or her brother. It was not a possibility to rule out, as small the odds could be.

"Three..."

Zafira looked over the display, it showed the overhead view of a valley. It was not unlikely that the Conquistadores, Kyoya's group, had chosen the place where Antigone had landed, a long time ago. And this landscape grew bigger as they approached the ground.

"Two..."

Ynana knew that they had gone through the most difficult part. It was a miracle that the Namshub had not disintegrated. Credits were in some part due to the alien technology, then her lovely little helpers and the crew, not just her friends but also the Colonel and the others.

"One..."

Nearly everyone shut their eyes. Waiting for that big boom that could mean everything. The AI, Lucy, had counted the slightly higher gravity in the many parameters going against the vessel, and they managed it.

"Zero."

A loud thud was heard as the vessel touched the ground.
During the next seconds, there was a silence looming over the command room. The kind of silence you could only find in the graveyard. However, everyone was still breathing, their heart was still pounding in their chest.

"We made it?" Pranee still had her eyes shut.

"We did it! We did it!" Reinforce Zwei danced a little gig.

People let their joy bloom, Hayate heartily shook her hand with Kyoya, "Good job."

Ynana stepped out of her tube and Signum offered her jacket, a faint smile was drawn on the alien girl's lips. She staggered then fell in Signum's arms.

"Ynana," Signum uttered in disbelief, "Wake up!"

Sieraza rushed and kneeled by Signum's side. Signum could hear a song, one of the sound-based spells from Sieraza, as the girl palpated Ynana's body.

"It's her internal organs. She needs intensive care," Sieraza said.

"But she looked in rather good shape earlier," Signum said.

Sieraza shook her head, "She is good at hiding some things. I should have paid a closer attention."

Signum remembered what people had told her about the Namshub and its operator, if the vessel suffered damage, it echoed on the operator's body. And it could be made worse when the synchronization was too high. Then Signum thought of this one event.

"It couldn't be..."

"It's my fault, Signum," Reinforce cried, "I have seen it when she hit 105% during the supernova incident, I should..."

She was interrupted by Hayate, "You didn't know the full effects. We didn't either."

Hayate felt Kyoya's hand gripping her hand, "You have to go now. Leave Ynana to us."

Hayate knew it, it was time for them to go. She left the command room, imitated by her knights and Vivio. Looking over her shoulder, she could see Ynana whispering something in Kyoya's ear, the Captain nodded in response to Ynana. Hayate joined her room to pack up her belongings, mostly clothes, this translation necklace offered by Shari, a set of cards containing data that could be displayed as images when they were tuned with her power and, obviously, her device in sealed form. She went out of her room, joined by Signum, Zafira, who assumed his wolf form, and Vivio. Vivio looked eager to step in this unfamiliar world, Signum and Zafira gave their mistress that glance telling her that they were ready.

"Let's go," it was simply her words.

"Colonel, wait!" it was Antigone.

She breathed deeply after she stopped in front of Yagami. She took off a necklace and gave it to the Colonel. She tied it around Hayate's wrist.

"May I know what is it?" Hayate asked.

"Remember this bhadra shaman I talked about?" Antigone asked.

"I do," Hayate remembered this long story told by Antigone to Vivio.

"Show this to her or her brother. Maybe they can help if they know you know me."

Hayate scratched her head, "It would help if you told me their names."

Antigone blushed, embarrassed, "I am sorry!" she bowed repeatedly, "Her name is Sarasa. She have long brown hair, her eyes are pink on pale pink. And she has a tattoo on her left check, representing the three moons."

She telepathically contacted Hayate and told her Sarasa's true name and its meaning: "You have to understand that Bhadras hold a lot of importance to their true names, stating it is related to the true speech, the very one that have woven universe, according to them."

"Why do you tell me this now?" Hayate answered with her mind.

"Silly me," Antigone replied, "It flew over my mind."

Then she made a hand gesture, raising her arm well above her, and told everyone, "She is tall like that."

"And what if I meet her brother?" Hayate enquired.

"He is named Arnas. Black-haired, his eyes are grey on grey."

"And he towers about everyone else here, I know," Hayate added.

"That's all I can remember," Antigone said.

Hayate then tuned with Antigone's mind one more time, "He never told you his true name?"

"He refused," Antigone answered, "He only does it to people he hold dearly, like only three people."

Hayate hugged Antigone one last time, "Bye Antigone."

Antigone's eyes got teary, "I'll be waiting for you all, with my friends."

She then kissed Vivio and Reinforce on their cheek, "Good luck," and patted Zafira on the head, "Sieraza want you to stay alive."

"I will," Zafira promised.

She bowed at Signum.

"What the Captain is doing?" Signum asked.

"Manually activating the camouflage mechanism, so we would not draw attention," Antigone answered.

"Kolokouri, may you recover your magic," Signum said, "And may your friends be brave in the hardships waiting for them," she knew that their time wouldn't be easier.

"We will!"

***

As they did their first steps in this world, they could see the Namshub from the outside. As seen from the small rips on the hull, it had withstood enough damage to make the worst slacker in the mechanic department shiver. The scent of ozone filled the air as the camouflage mechanism was activated while the Namshub faded like a chameleon into the landscape, a rather dense forest at the bottom of a mountain.
The sun was getting close to its zenith, yet it felt already like a hot day. Vivio was checking her bag, Hayate looked at the mountain and could see birds flying by the top. Those were rather big and close to the Earth's crane. Reinforce had flown skyward to find a way.

Minutes later, she landed and told her mistress, "There is a large paved road at about five kilometers to the south."

Five kilometers would be rather long in this forest. Could they afford to fly? Hayate thought to herself. Signum had voiced her concerns about it. First, one thing that their travel in the Namshub had taught them was the fact that their magical energy took a longer time to regenerate. It was barely noticeable for Hayate, but the problem was bigger for Signum, and Zafira to a lesser extent. Secondly, seeing people flying in the sky may not sit well with the locals, not to mention it may draw the attention of all-intended people. Indeed, if there were enemies working against her friends on Mid, what could it be on this planet? Last, they didn't know what or who was the cause of all. They doubted it was just by flying around that they would find out, not to mention that it may warn the one behind this mess, giving time to think of plans against them.

"Let's go," Hayate said.

[Knight of L-sama]

Originally Posted by Vivio Testarossa

What about
http://img2.gelbooru.com//images/303...11f5ca0843.jpg
then?

I was going to reply access denied again cuz my comp wouldn't load it, but that was around the time that my internet connection threw in the towel on me. ^^;; (so I couldn't even post saying that)

Now that I've seen it... hmm... I have the oddest feeling that they look more "male" than usual >.>

And nope, access denied again cuz I feel like it. ^_^ Buuut...

Spoiler for Deviled!Fate pt 4:

"Nano-chan's going to tell me a bed time story?" Fate looked up curiously at the White Devil that struck fear into the hearts of many throughout the land.

"Mmhmm. I won't even rely on some stupid book to do it either. Now, once upon a time..."

"Can I name the characters?"

"Mm... all right, but I name the first one."

"Okay." Fate wiggled in Nanoha's lap, the large blanket covering most of her chest.

"Now once upon a time..."

"Is there going to be more than one character?"

If it had been anyone else interrupting, Nanoha would have surely fried their lips shut with some rendition of her demonic ability. But with Fate... "Fate-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"If you keep interrupting me, there won't be any other character but the first one."

"Oh." Fate looked down at the blanket with quiet remorse. "Okay. Sowwy, Nano-chan."

"It's all right, Fate-chan." Nanoha sighed and started again. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Fate who was known popularly as Little Red Riding Hood because of the Red Wolf skin cape that she always wore when she traveled. It helped scare off predators because no animal, especially no human, was about to mess with a girl who could kill and skin one of the fierce Red Wolves that the area was known for.

One day, her old granny of a mother, Precia-baasan-"

"Hey!" Fate pouted stubbornly, looking up at Nanoha.

"What now?" Nanoha wondered if she was ever going to finish this otherwise short story.

"You promised! You promised I could name all the other characters!"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Then what is Fate's mother's name going to be then?"

"Um." Fate looked around for inspiration. She saw Nanoha's chest. "Lindy-mama!"

Nanoha sighed and rolled her eyes. "If you insist... One day, Lindy-mama was sick in bed with no one to care for her in her isolated cabin in the woods behind Uminari. Fate-chan, being the good little child she was, immediately set out from her home away from her Lindy-mama to go visit her and take care of her.

Little did she know, the previous owner of the Red Wolf skin she bore on her back had a baby, now an orphan, who lived in that neck of the woods. Its name-"

Fate blinked and looked up at Nanoha. "Why'd you stop?"

Nanoha believed that Fate was freakishly lucky that fate had dealt the cards in her favour or else she would be dead right about now. "Name the red wolf, Fate. That's your job, remember?"

"Oh. What does the wolfie sound like?"

"What does it sound like? I don't know. It probably howls. Or goes 'Arf arf' or something. I don't know- I don't listen to them."

"Umm... Arf then!"

"... You want to name it Arf?"

"Unh!" Fate wiggled her socked toes underneath the blanket. "And it's a girl, too!"

Nanoha sighed. "Fine, have it your way... Arf, the orphaned Red Wolf, didn't like Fate at all-"

Fate looked up at her in horror, and then tears started to form around her eyes. "Why doesn't Arf like me?"

"It's just a story, Fate. I'm sure if there's an orphaned Red Wolf out there named Arf that's female, that she doesn't dislike you."

Fate beamed at that.

"Can I continue?" It was almost sarcastic at this point.

Fate nodded happily.

"Let's see... Arf didn't like Little Fate because Little Fate had killed Arf's mother to wear her warm fur on her back. So when she heard that Little Fate would be traveling through her turf, Arf decided it was time for revenge... She went ahead to Lindy-mama's house, and when Lindy-mama, sick and expecting Little Fate opened the door, Arf ate her."

Fate stared in open mouthed shock. "She /ate/ her?! Why?! What did your right boob ever do to Arf?"

Nanoha chose to stay silent for a moment rather than risk yelling at Fate. "Fate-chan, honey, it's /just/ a story. And I would explain if you let me."

"Oh." Fate settled back down again. "Sorry."

With another sigh, Nanoha continued, "Arf then stuck Lindy-mama's remains in a box in the closet and then dressed up in Lindy-mama's clothes. She then slipped underneath the covers of Lindy-mama's bed, because she planned to trick Little Fate into thinking that she was Lindy-mama."

"That's silly."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow at Fate's declaration. She knew full well that it was silly. "And why do you think that?"

"Well, what did Arf do, take off Lindy-mama's skin and cover her fur with it? Little Fate knows Lindy-mama would never be that furry."

Nanoha chuckled and patted Fate's head. She repeated, "It's just a story, Fate, it's just a story. Now, Fate wandered down to Lindy-mama's house, not knowing what had happened to Lindy-mama. She knocked and Arf told her to come in-"

"Arf can speak human-speak?"

"Yes, Arf can talk like humans. She's a very talented creature. Red Wolves use it for trickery and are magical like that."

"Oh. Okay then."

"And Little Fate went to her bedside and noticed that something was wrong with Lindy-mama, because she was a smart little girl like that."

Fate giggled, but didn't say anything.

"She said, loudly, 'Lindy-mama, what a big NOSE you have!' and Arf responded, sensitive about her big snout, 'All the better to sniff your sweet-smelling hair, you rude little brat. What have you been learning while you've been away?'

"Little Fate paid this no mind and went on with voicing her observations. 'Mama! What big EYES you have.' To which Arf, as Lindy-mama, replied, 'All the better to see how beautiful you've become, Little Fate. And I can't help my big eyes. The Creator seems to think big eyes equal 'moe' which equals good for hunting, but it doesn't.

"Finally, Little Fate gasped and said, 'You're not my Lindy-mama! Lindy-mama wouldn't care about hunting!' It was then that she saw Arf's pointed fangs and she started to get scared. 'My, what big t-teeth you have!' At this point, Arf dropped the act and yelled out, 'All the better to tear you limb from limb and suck and chew on your bones until-"

Nanoha stopped, watching Fate quiver and whimper, a little ball underneath the blanket.

She smiled softly before continuing in a whisper, "But when Little Fate was brought close, she saw Arf as the little wolf pup that she was and, despite her predicament, said, 'You're so cute!' This stopped Arf in her tracks, and Little Fate continued, 'Why are you dressed up in my Lindy-mama's clothes? Your fur is so soft and you look so cuddly... We should be friends.' To this, despite all her bravado and attempts to be fierce, Arf could only answer with her name: 'Arf'?"

Fate peeked out from underneath the blankets.

"Little Fate helped Arf out of the clothes and befriended Arf, allowing them to let bygones be bygones. They had both loved their mothers and had killed each other's mothers so the scoreboard was even now. They could shake paws and be friends, couldn't they? They lived in the forest happily and Little Fate grew up big and strong, just like Arf did.

"One day, a hunter with long blond hair and green eyes came looking for the rare Red Wolf to hunt down and bring home as his prize. But when he saw Fate, he fell in love and tried to court her. Arf saw this and when Fate wasn't watching, she killed and ate him. No one dared to mess with the pair after that, and they lived happily ever after. The End."

Fate stared, her head now completely outside of the blanket. "The End?"

"Yup, the end."

"The hunter got eated?"

"Yup, the hunter got eaten."

Fate still wasn't sure how to react to this story. Sure she was adopted by demons and demon animals eating humans wasn't entirely unheard of, but... "Nano-chan?"

"What?"

"Does this mean I get to have a Red Wolf for Chri-"

"We demons don't celebrate Christmas. You know that."

"Day of the Dead then?"

"... Maybe. If you're a good little demon-in-training."

Fate perked up and hugged Nanoha. "Thank you, Nano-chan! I wuv you!"

"Demons don't talk about love or 'wuv' either."

But Nanoha would not deny that she was just a "teeny bit" happy about Fate's admission.

Oh, and if you caught it, there was a sorta indirect reference to Wild Goose's recent short thing. As well as some other random stuff I take no credit for.

Edit: Sorry Sheba, I messed up your streak. ^^;

[Sheba]

Spoiler for Author's Notes and appendix:

Author's notes on chapter 2:

Loosely using Campbell's work as template, this part was about how no travel should be without peril in a journey like this one. So I have thrown in a lot of things. I have made it more eventful than I originally planned. In a nutshell, inspirations were The Odyssey, Fadings Suns, the movie "Das Boot", another movie "K-19". The void krakens were a shameless port from the game "Fading Suns", while they were never truly revealed in the game, I have given them a role closer to cosmic scavengers, feeding on dead or aborted universes. They were not truly evil, only doing their job in the weird 'cosmic ecology'. Regarding the Conquistadores, if one felt I spent too much time on them, it's in part my fault. I just could not conceive that I have given Hayate a vessel and its crew, and not interacting with them. And on my side, I just couldn't give them the cardboard secondary characters treatment, there may be people in this corner of internet who may nerd rage hard enough over the fact there are no NxF. If they want more of NxF, the other wolkenritters, or the Strikers, or the Numbers, they are welcome to add their own side stories, the conflict with the Confederates is right here, and my little continuity is open to anyone wishing to play in it. As far as I am concerned, my scope is more focused on Hayate's, ermmm, party.
And please do not ask me about the technical side of travel, and the workings of the Namshub. And don't think too much about it.

************************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************** **

Lexicon:

Bhadra - A humanoid race dating back from the pre-Belka age. Protohuman or Alterhuman have yet to be defined by scientists. The author knows and won't tell. Inspirations are old vedic deities (I mean, come on, three-eyed guys...), Fremens from Dune. Their language is based on Sanskrit. Tattoos are important to them. The ink is made with distilled local plants, ground minerals and a bit of dragon blood. They are drawn in patterns only known to shamans, and branded on places according to the subject's lines of power on his or her body. It marks different steps of their life, makes their warriors stronger, and tougher. Their mages and shamans gain an ease to interact with the outer planes or channel magic better. It is also said they are in really good term with the ancient dragons.

Dragons - There are many species and sub-species of dragons in the multiverse. There are as much difference between them as the ones between homo sapiens, Neanderthal, homo-erectus, Cro-Magnons, etc. Dragons that existed in ancient belka achieved sapience and emigrated from Belka to Madhyaloka with the Bhadras. There, they bred with the local dragons that were on the brink of extinction. It was after an agreement with the local power ruling over this planet that dragons had learnt to assume near-human form. And blend into the population. As part of their contract with the bhadras, they can breed with them. And their union are more viable than those resulting from the mating with a human. Yes, they can breed with humans, as long as they keep their human form, and this is even truer for the she-dragons. There are ways to tell a dragon from a humanoid. Knowing the dragon's True Name, easier said than done, and understanding it is a start. Another one is to wait for dawn or dusk, when the dragon's eyes show its reptilian origins. But some dragons are not perfect into hiding their origins, especially the younger ones, or those flowing with too much confidence and looking for troubles. In their case, it is either their eyes, or appendages like horns or wings.

Madhyaloka - The planet where Hayate hopes to find the answer regarding what is messing their magic badly.

True Name - A crucial aspect in the Bhadra society. A True Name holds a lot of value to a Bhadra. No oath shall be sworn without having all people doing it trading their True Name. One lord cannot expect a flawless faith from his servant without receiving the servant's True Name, and it is cemented by the lord giving his in turn. The same could be said about love, and marriage. In the case of magic, it is very important to understand what the true name means and how it relate to the owner's place in the society or/ and the universe, otherwise the mage expecting to gain the upperhand over the owner of the True Name will be powerless. Do not expect a Bhadra to reveal his True Name to people who are not from their species.


****

Featured OCs


Member of the TSAB Intelligence Department



Diana Dornier

TSAB Navy Recon and Exploration Cell - The Conquistadores

Kyoya Kibagami, the leader

Pranee Chamlong, the cook

Sieraza, Pranee's familiar who used to be a thief and a musician.

Antigone Kolokouri, mage and scholar with her staple summon, Arngrim

Ynana, the ship operator. And last member of her specie.

Spoiler for Credits:

Aaron008R, Estavali, PhoenixFlare and Tempest Dinasty for the beta reading.

Coca cola, tea, red bull and beer.

All lunatics in FFC and OCC.

Give a little more than one month for chapter 3. I am writing at a rather slow pace.

EDIT

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

Edit: Sorry Sheba, I messed up your streak. ^^;

It's okay, this post was just author's notes and random information.

[BPHaru]

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

I was going to reply access denied again cuz my comp wouldn't load it, but that was around the time that my internet connection threw in the towel on me. ^^;; (so I couldn't even post saying that)

Now that I've seen it... hmm... I have the oddest feeling that they look more "male" than usual >.>

And nope, access denied again cuz I feel like it. ^_^ Buuut...

Spoiler for Deviled!Fate pt 4:

"Nano-chan's going to tell me a bed time story?" Fate looked up curiously at the White Devil that struck fear into the hearts of many throughout the land.

"Mmhmm. I won't even rely on some stupid book to do it either. Now, once upon a time..."

"Can I name the characters?"

"Mm... all right, but I name the first one."

"Okay." Fate wiggled in Nanoha's lap, the large blanket covering most of her chest.

"Now once upon a time..."

"Is there going to be more than one character?"

If it had been anyone else interrupting, Nanoha would have surely fried their lips shut with some rendition of her demonic ability. But with Fate... "Fate-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"If you keep interrupting me, there won't be any other character but the first one."

"Oh." Fate looked down at the blanket with quiet remorse. "Okay. Sowwy, Nano-chan."

"It's all right, Fate-chan." Nanoha sighed and started again. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Fate who was known popularly as Little Red Riding Hood because of the Red Wolf skin cape that she always wore when she traveled. It helped scare off predators because no animal, especially no human, was about to mess with a girl who could kill and skin one of the fierce Red Wolves that the area was known for.

One day, her old granny of a mother, Precia-baasan-"

"Hey!" Fate pouted stubbornly, looking up at Nanoha.

"What now?" Nanoha wondered if she was ever going to finish this otherwise short story.

"You promised! You promised I could name all the other characters!"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Then what is Fate's mother's name going to be then?"

"Um." Fate looked around for inspiration. She saw Nanoha's chest. "Lindy-mama!"

Nanoha sighed and rolled her eyes. "If you insist... One day, Lindy-mama was sick in bed with no one to care for her in her isolated cabin in the woods behind Uminari. Fate-chan, being the good little child she was, immediately set out from her home away from her Lindy-mama to go visit her and take care of her.

Little did she know, the previous owner of the Red Wolf skin she bore on her back had a baby, now an orphan, who lived in that neck of the woods. Its name-"

Fate blinked and looked up at Nanoha. "Why'd you stop?"

Nanoha believed that Fate was freakishly lucky that fate had dealt the cards in her favour or else she would be dead right about now. "Name the red wolf, Fate. That's your job, remember?"

"Oh. What does the wolfie sound like?"

"What does it sound like? I don't know. It probably howls. Or goes 'Arf arf' or something. I don't know- I don't listen to them."

"Umm... Arf then!"

"... You want to name it Arf?"

"Unh!" Fate wiggled her socked toes underneath the blanket. "And it's a girl, too!"

Nanoha sighed. "Fine, have it your way... Arf, the orphaned Red Wolf, didn't like Fate at all-"

Fate looked up at her in horror, and then tears started to form around her eyes. "Why doesn't Arf like me?"

"It's just a story, Fate. I'm sure if there's an orphaned Red Wolf out there named Arf that's female, that she doesn't dislike you."

Fate beamed at that.

"Can I continue?" It was almost sarcastic at this point.

Fate nodded happily.

"Let's see... Arf didn't like Little Fate because Little Fate had killed Arf's mother to wear her warm fur on her back. So when she heard that Little Fate would be traveling through her turf, Arf decided it was time for revenge... She went ahead to Lindy-mama's house, and when Lindy-mama, sick and expecting Little Fate opened the door, Arf ate her."

Fate stared in open mouthed shock. "She /ate/ her?! Why?! What did your right boob ever do to Arf?"

Nanoha chose to stay silent for a moment rather than risk yelling at Fate. "Fate-chan, honey, it's /just/ a story. And I would explain if you let me."

"Oh." Fate settled back down again. "Sorry."

With another sigh, Nanoha continued, "Arf then stuck Lindy-mama's remains in a box in the closet and then dressed up in Lindy-mama's clothes. She then slipped underneath the covers of Lindy-mama's bed, because she planned to trick Little Fate into thinking that she was Lindy-mama."

"That's silly."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow at Fate's declaration. She knew full well that it was silly. "And why do you think that?"

"Well, what did Arf do, take off Lindy-mama's skin and cover her fur with it? Little Fate knows Lindy-mama would never be that furry."

Nanoha chuckled and patted Fate's head. She repeated, "It's just a story, Fate, it's just a story. Now, Fate wandered down to Lindy-mama's house, not knowing what had happened to Lindy-mama. She knocked and Arf told her to come in-"

"Arf can speak human-speak?"

"Yes, Arf can talk like humans. She's a very talented creature. Red Wolves use it for trickery and are magical like that."

"Oh. Okay then."

"And Little Fate went to her bedside and noticed that something was wrong with Lindy-mama, because she was a smart little girl like that."

Fate giggled, but didn't say anything.

"She said, loudly, 'Lindy-mama, what a big NOSE you have!' and Arf responded, sensitive about her big snout, 'All the better to sniff your sweet-smelling hair, you rude little brat. What have you been learning while you've been away?'

"Little Fate paid this no mind and went on with voicing her observations. 'Mama! What big EYES you have.' To which Arf, as Lindy-mama, replied, 'All the better to see how beautiful you've become, Little Fate. And I can't help my big eyes. The Creator seems to think big eyes equal 'moe' which equals good for hunting, but it doesn't.

"Finally, Little Fate gasped and said, 'You're not my Lindy-mama! Lindy-mama wouldn't care about hunting!' It was then that she saw Arf's pointed fangs and she started to get scared. 'My, what big t-teeth you have!' At this point, Arf dropped the act and yelled out, 'All the better to tear you limb from limb and suck and chew on your bones until-"

Nanoha stopped, watching Fate quiver and whimper, a little ball underneath the blanket.

She smiled softly before continuing in a whisper, "But when Little Fate was brought close, she saw Arf as the little wolf pup that she was and, despite her predicament, said, 'You're so cute!' This stopped Arf in her tracks, and Little Fate continued, 'Why are you dressed up in my Lindy-mama's clothes? Your fur is so soft and you look so cuddly... We should be friends.' To this, despite all her bravado and attempts to be fierce, Arf could only answer with her name: 'Arf'?"

Fate peeked out from underneath the blankets.

"Little Fate helped Arf out of the clothes and befriended Arf, allowing them to let bygones be bygones. They had both loved their mothers and had killed each other's mothers so the scoreboard was even now. They could shake paws and be friends, couldn't they? They lived in the forest happily and Little Fate grew up big and strong, just like Arf did.

"One day, a hunter with long blond hair and green eyes came looking for the rare Red Wolf to hunt down and bring home as his prize. But when he saw Fate, he fell in love and tried to court her. Arf saw this and when Fate wasn't watching, she killed and ate him. No one dared to mess with the pair after that, and they lived happily ever after. The End."

Fate stared, her head now completely outside of the blanket. "The End?"

"Yup, the end."

"The hunter got eated?"

"Yup, the hunter got eaten."

Fate still wasn't sure how to react to this story. Sure she was adopted by demons and demon animals eating humans wasn't entirely unheard of, but... "Nano-chan?"

"What?"

"Does this mean I get to have a Red Wolf for Chri-"

"We demons don't celebrate Christmas. You know that."

"Day of the Dead then?"

"... Maybe. If you're a good little demon-in-training."

Fate perked up and hugged Nanoha. "Thank you, Nano-chan! I wuv you!"

"Demons don't talk about love or 'wuv' either."

But Nanoha would not deny that she was just a "teeny bit" happy about Fate's admission.

Spoiler:

Quack!Fate FTW
Wait! ...Deviled!Fate?

Cuídese y sigan sonriendo

[Seraph42]

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

I was going to reply access denied again cuz my comp wouldn't load it, but that was around the time that my internet connection threw in the towel on me. ^^;; (so I couldn't even post saying that)

Now that I've seen it... hmm... I have the oddest feeling that they look more "male" than usual >.>

And nope, access denied again cuz I feel like it. ^_^ Buuut...

Spoiler for Deviled!Fate pt 4:

"Nano-chan's going to tell me a bed time story?" Fate looked up curiously at the White Devil that struck fear into the hearts of many throughout the land.

"Mmhmm. I won't even rely on some stupid book to do it either. Now, once upon a time..."

"Can I name the characters?"

"Mm... all right, but I name the first one."

"Okay." Fate wiggled in Nanoha's lap, the large blanket covering most of her chest.

"Now once upon a time..."

"Is there going to be more than one character?"

If it had been anyone else interrupting, Nanoha would have surely fried their lips shut with some rendition of her demonic ability. But with Fate... "Fate-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"If you keep interrupting me, there won't be any other character but the first one."

"Oh." Fate looked down at the blanket with quiet remorse. "Okay. Sowwy, Nano-chan."

"It's all right, Fate-chan." Nanoha sighed and started again. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Fate who was known popularly as Little Red Riding Hood because of the Red Wolf skin cape that she always wore when she traveled. It helped scare off predators because no animal, especially no human, was about to mess with a girl who could kill and skin one of the fierce Red Wolves that the area was known for.

One day, her old granny of a mother, Precia-baasan-"

"Hey!" Fate pouted stubbornly, looking up at Nanoha.

"What now?" Nanoha wondered if she was ever going to finish this otherwise short story.

"You promised! You promised I could name all the other characters!"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Then what is Fate's mother's name going to be then?"

"Um." Fate looked around for inspiration. She saw Nanoha's chest. "Lindy-mama!"

Nanoha sighed and rolled her eyes. "If you insist... One day, Lindy-mama was sick in bed with no one to care for her in her isolated cabin in the woods behind Uminari. Fate-chan, being the good little child she was, immediately set out from her home away from her Lindy-mama to go visit her and take care of her.

Little did she know, the previous owner of the Red Wolf skin she bore on her back had a baby, now an orphan, who lived in that neck of the woods. Its name-"

Fate blinked and looked up at Nanoha. "Why'd you stop?"

Nanoha believed that Fate was freakishly lucky that fate had dealt the cards in her favour or else she would be dead right about now. "Name the red wolf, Fate. That's your job, remember?"

"Oh. What does the wolfie sound like?"

"What does it sound like? I don't know. It probably howls. Or goes 'Arf arf' or something. I don't know- I don't listen to them."

"Umm... Arf then!"

"... You want to name it Arf?"

"Unh!" Fate wiggled her socked toes underneath the blanket. "And it's a girl, too!"

Nanoha sighed. "Fine, have it your way... Arf, the orphaned Red Wolf, didn't like Fate at all-"

Fate looked up at her in horror, and then tears started to form around her eyes. "Why doesn't Arf like me?"

"It's just a story, Fate. I'm sure if there's an orphaned Red Wolf out there named Arf that's female, that she doesn't dislike you."

Fate beamed at that.

"Can I continue?" It was almost sarcastic at this point.

Fate nodded happily.

"Let's see... Arf didn't like Little Fate because Little Fate had killed Arf's mother to wear her warm fur on her back. So when she heard that Little Fate would be traveling through her turf, Arf decided it was time for revenge... She went ahead to Lindy-mama's house, and when Lindy-mama, sick and expecting Little Fate opened the door, Arf ate her."

Fate stared in open mouthed shock. "She /ate/ her?! Why?! What did your right boob ever do to Arf?"

Nanoha chose to stay silent for a moment rather than risk yelling at Fate. "Fate-chan, honey, it's /just/ a story. And I would explain if you let me."

"Oh." Fate settled back down again. "Sorry."

With another sigh, Nanoha continued, "Arf then stuck Lindy-mama's remains in a box in the closet and then dressed up in Lindy-mama's clothes. She then slipped underneath the covers of Lindy-mama's bed, because she planned to trick Little Fate into thinking that she was Lindy-mama."

"That's silly."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow at Fate's declaration. She knew full well that it was silly. "And why do you think that?"

"Well, what did Arf do, take off Lindy-mama's skin and cover her fur with it? Little Fate knows Lindy-mama would never be that furry."

Nanoha chuckled and patted Fate's head. She repeated, "It's just a story, Fate, it's just a story. Now, Fate wandered down to Lindy-mama's house, not knowing what had happened to Lindy-mama. She knocked and Arf told her to come in-"

"Arf can speak human-speak?"

"Yes, Arf can talk like humans. She's a very talented creature. Red Wolves use it for trickery and are magical like that."

"Oh. Okay then."

"And Little Fate went to her bedside and noticed that something was wrong with Lindy-mama, because she was a smart little girl like that."

Fate giggled, but didn't say anything.

"She said, loudly, 'Lindy-mama, what a big NOSE you have!' and Arf responded, sensitive about her big snout, 'All the better to sniff your sweet-smelling hair, you rude little brat. What have you been learning while you've been away?'

"Little Fate paid this no mind and went on with voicing her observations. 'Mama! What big EYES you have.' To which Arf, as Lindy-mama, replied, 'All the better to see how beautiful you've become, Little Fate. And I can't help my big eyes. The Creator seems to think big eyes equal 'moe' which equals good for hunting, but it doesn't.

"Finally, Little Fate gasped and said, 'You're not my Lindy-mama! Lindy-mama wouldn't care about hunting!' It was then that she saw Arf's pointed fangs and she started to get scared. 'My, what big t-teeth you have!' At this point, Arf dropped the act and yelled out, 'All the better to tear you limb from limb and suck and chew on your bones until-"

Nanoha stopped, watching Fate quiver and whimper, a little ball underneath the blanket.

She smiled softly before continuing in a whisper, "But when Little Fate was brought close, she saw Arf as the little wolf pup that she was and, despite her predicament, said, 'You're so cute!' This stopped Arf in her tracks, and Little Fate continued, 'Why are you dressed up in my Lindy-mama's clothes? Your fur is so soft and you look so cuddly... We should be friends.' To this, despite all her bravado and attempts to be fierce, Arf could only answer with her name: 'Arf'?"

Fate peeked out from underneath the blankets.

"Little Fate helped Arf out of the clothes and befriended Arf, allowing them to let bygones be bygones. They had both loved their mothers and had killed each other's mothers so the scoreboard was even now. They could shake paws and be friends, couldn't they? They lived in the forest happily and Little Fate grew up big and strong, just like Arf did.

"One day, a hunter with long blond hair and green eyes came looking for the rare Red Wolf to hunt down and bring home as his prize. But when he saw Fate, he fell in love and tried to court her. Arf saw this and when Fate wasn't watching, she killed and ate him. No one dared to mess with the pair after that, and they lived happily ever after. The End."

Fate stared, her head now completely outside of the blanket. "The End?"

"Yup, the end."

"The hunter got eated?"

"Yup, the hunter got eaten."

Fate still wasn't sure how to react to this story. Sure she was adopted by demons and demon animals eating humans wasn't entirely unheard of, but... "Nano-chan?"

"What?"

"Does this mean I get to have a Red Wolf for Chri-"

"We demons don't celebrate Christmas. You know that."

"Day of the Dead then?"

"... Maybe. If you're a good little demon-in-training."

Fate perked up and hugged Nanoha. "Thank you, Nano-chan! I wuv you!"

"Demons don't talk about love or 'wuv' either."

But Nanoha would not deny that she was just a "teeny bit" happy about Fate's admission.

Oh, and if you caught it, there was a sorta indirect reference to Wild Goose's recent short thing. As well as some other random stuff I take no credit for.

Edit: Sorry Sheba, I messed up your streak. ^^;

Cute , In a weird way

When you first wrote it, to answer that challenge, did you think it would be this popular?

[Evil Rick]

@Sheba:Uhmm... is just a sugestion but you could save yourself all those posts puting your chapters in just one spot, 2 if thei'r many words... just a sugestion >.<;

@Thread:So many good shorts lattely TSS and Satashi I really liked yours

[darkbluemint]

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

I was going to reply access denied again cuz my comp wouldn't load it, but that was around the time that my internet connection threw in the towel on me. ^^;; (so I couldn't even post saying that)

Now that I've seen it... hmm... I have the oddest feeling that they look more "male" than usual >.>

And nope, access denied again cuz I feel like it. ^_^ Buuut...

Spoiler for Deviled!Fate pt 4:

"Nano-chan's going to tell me a bed time story?" Fate looked up curiously at the White Devil that struck fear into the hearts of many throughout the land.

"Mmhmm. I won't even rely on some stupid book to do it either. Now, once upon a time..."

"Can I name the characters?"

"Mm... all right, but I name the first one."

"Okay." Fate wiggled in Nanoha's lap, the large blanket covering most of her chest.

"Now once upon a time..."

"Is there going to be more than one character?"

If it had been anyone else interrupting, Nanoha would have surely fried their lips shut with some rendition of her demonic ability. But with Fate... "Fate-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"If you keep interrupting me, there won't be any other character but the first one."

"Oh." Fate looked down at the blanket with quiet remorse. "Okay. Sowwy, Nano-chan."

"It's all right, Fate-chan." Nanoha sighed and started again. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Fate who was known popularly as Little Red Riding Hood because of the Red Wolf skin cape that she always wore when she traveled. It helped scare off predators because no animal, especially no human, was about to mess with a girl who could kill and skin one of the fierce Red Wolves that the area was known for.

One day, her old granny of a mother, Precia-baasan-"

"Hey!" Fate pouted stubbornly, looking up at Nanoha.

"What now?" Nanoha wondered if she was ever going to finish this otherwise short story.

"You promised! You promised I could name all the other characters!"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Then what is Fate's mother's name going to be then?"

"Um." Fate looked around for inspiration. She saw Nanoha's chest. "Lindy-mama!"

Nanoha sighed and rolled her eyes. "If you insist... One day, Lindy-mama was sick in bed with no one to care for her in her isolated cabin in the woods behind Uminari. Fate-chan, being the good little child she was, immediately set out from her home away from her Lindy-mama to go visit her and take care of her.

Little did she know, the previous owner of the Red Wolf skin she bore on her back had a baby, now an orphan, who lived in that neck of the woods. Its name-"

Fate blinked and looked up at Nanoha. "Why'd you stop?"

Nanoha believed that Fate was freakishly lucky that fate had dealt the cards in her favour or else she would be dead right about now. "Name the red wolf, Fate. That's your job, remember?"

"Oh. What does the wolfie sound like?"

"What does it sound like? I don't know. It probably howls. Or goes 'Arf arf' or something. I don't know- I don't listen to them."

"Umm... Arf then!"

"... You want to name it Arf?"

"Unh!" Fate wiggled her socked toes underneath the blanket. "And it's a girl, too!"

Nanoha sighed. "Fine, have it your way... Arf, the orphaned Red Wolf, didn't like Fate at all-"

Fate looked up at her in horror, and then tears started to form around her eyes. "Why doesn't Arf like me?"

"It's just a story, Fate. I'm sure if there's an orphaned Red Wolf out there named Arf that's female, that she doesn't dislike you."

Fate beamed at that.

"Can I continue?" It was almost sarcastic at this point.

Fate nodded happily.

"Let's see... Arf didn't like Little Fate because Little Fate had killed Arf's mother to wear her warm fur on her back. So when she heard that Little Fate would be traveling through her turf, Arf decided it was time for revenge... She went ahead to Lindy-mama's house, and when Lindy-mama, sick and expecting Little Fate opened the door, Arf ate her."

Fate stared in open mouthed shock. "She /ate/ her?! Why?! What did your right boob ever do to Arf?"

Nanoha chose to stay silent for a moment rather than risk yelling at Fate. "Fate-chan, honey, it's /just/ a story. And I would explain if you let me."

"Oh." Fate settled back down again. "Sorry."

With another sigh, Nanoha continued, "Arf then stuck Lindy-mama's remains in a box in the closet and then dressed up in Lindy-mama's clothes. She then slipped underneath the covers of Lindy-mama's bed, because she planned to trick Little Fate into thinking that she was Lindy-mama."

"That's silly."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow at Fate's declaration. She knew full well that it was silly. "And why do you think that?"

"Well, what did Arf do, take off Lindy-mama's skin and cover her fur with it? Little Fate knows Lindy-mama would never be that furry."

Nanoha chuckled and patted Fate's head. She repeated, "It's just a story, Fate, it's just a story. Now, Fate wandered down to Lindy-mama's house, not knowing what had happened to Lindy-mama. She knocked and Arf told her to come in-"

"Arf can speak human-speak?"

"Yes, Arf can talk like humans. She's a very talented creature. Red Wolves use it for trickery and are magical like that."

"Oh. Okay then."

"And Little Fate went to her bedside and noticed that something was wrong with Lindy-mama, because she was a smart little girl like that."

Fate giggled, but didn't say anything.

"She said, loudly, 'Lindy-mama, what a big NOSE you have!' and Arf responded, sensitive about her big snout, 'All the better to sniff your sweet-smelling hair, you rude little brat. What have you been learning while you've been away?'

"Little Fate paid this no mind and went on with voicing her observations. 'Mama! What big EYES you have.' To which Arf, as Lindy-mama, replied, 'All the better to see how beautiful you've become, Little Fate. And I can't help my big eyes. The Creator seems to think big eyes equal 'moe' which equals good for hunting, but it doesn't.

"Finally, Little Fate gasped and said, 'You're not my Lindy-mama! Lindy-mama wouldn't care about hunting!' It was then that she saw Arf's pointed fangs and she started to get scared. 'My, what big t-teeth you have!' At this point, Arf dropped the act and yelled out, 'All the better to tear you limb from limb and suck and chew on your bones until-"

Nanoha stopped, watching Fate quiver and whimper, a little ball underneath the blanket.

She smiled softly before continuing in a whisper, "But when Little Fate was brought close, she saw Arf as the little wolf pup that she was and, despite her predicament, said, 'You're so cute!' This stopped Arf in her tracks, and Little Fate continued, 'Why are you dressed up in my Lindy-mama's clothes? Your fur is so soft and you look so cuddly... We should be friends.' To this, despite all her bravado and attempts to be fierce, Arf could only answer with her name: 'Arf'?"

Fate peeked out from underneath the blankets.

"Little Fate helped Arf out of the clothes and befriended Arf, allowing them to let bygones be bygones. They had both loved their mothers and had killed each other's mothers so the scoreboard was even now. They could shake paws and be friends, couldn't they? They lived in the forest happily and Little Fate grew up big and strong, just like Arf did.

"One day, a hunter with long blond hair and green eyes came looking for the rare Red Wolf to hunt down and bring home as his prize. But when he saw Fate, he fell in love and tried to court her. Arf saw this and when Fate wasn't watching, she killed and ate him. No one dared to mess with the pair after that, and they lived happily ever after. The End."

Fate stared, her head now completely outside of the blanket. "The End?"

"Yup, the end."

"The hunter got eated?"

"Yup, the hunter got eaten."

Fate still wasn't sure how to react to this story. Sure she was adopted by demons and demon animals eating humans wasn't entirely unheard of, but... "Nano-chan?"

"What?"

"Does this mean I get to have a Red Wolf for Chri-"

"We demons don't celebrate Christmas. You know that."

"Day of the Dead then?"

"... Maybe. If you're a good little demon-in-training."

Fate perked up and hugged Nanoha. "Thank you, Nano-chan! I wuv you!"

"Demons don't talk about love or 'wuv' either."

But Nanoha would not deny that she was just a "teeny bit" happy about Fate's admission.

Oh, and if you caught it, there was a sorta indirect reference to Wild Goose's recent short thing. As well as some other random stuff I take no credit for.

Edit: Sorry Sheba, I messed up your streak. ^^;

So sweet, I loved it... Are you going to post it in FF.NEt so I could add it to my favs?

[Tempy]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

@Sheba:Uhmm... is just a sugestion but you could save yourself all those posts puting your chapters in just one spot, 2 if thei'r many words... just a sugestion >.<;

@Thread:So many good shorts lattely TSS and Satashi I really liked yours

With the amount of words he has written, he can't fit it all into one or two spots. He hits the word limit. As a result, he MUST post multiple.

[Knight of L-sama]

Originally Posted by Seraph42

Cute , In a weird way

When you first wrote it, to answer that challenge, did you think it would be this popular?

Do pigs get depressed over not being able to fly?

Answer to both: No, they just mosey on with their little lives and take what they can get.

Originally Posted by darkbluemint

So sweet, I loved it... Are you going to post it in FF.NEt so I could add it to my favs?

Mmhmm. I was planning to do so as soon as it exceeded three "parts". So, I guess, now. But I shall do so when I update SC2 (which should be this weekend sometime)

Wheeee...

[Evil Rick]

Originally Posted by Tempest Dynasty

With the amount of words he has written, he can't fit it all into one or two spots. He hits the word limit. As a result, he MUST post multiple.

TSS's RebelS chapters are much more longer and he posts them in one post, but well, it's Sheba's decition after all
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Atention!

See my current sig?

A prelude of the future in Vita, Shadows of the Past

PD: God I love mystery

[Hiria]

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

>.>
<.<
The last of the (pt 2) sets... HaFeNa! HayaFeiNano? TeToHa?

Spoiler for HayaFate + Feitoha pt 2:

“I…”

Fate was cut off as Hayate placed a finger on her lips. Her eyes were kind as she whispered, “Don’t say it. You’re happy now, Fate-chan. Don’t ruin what you have with Nanoha-chan. Don’t break another heart.”

Fate’s words died on her lips, the pain in Hayate’s eyes reflecting in her own. When Hayate turned her back on her, Fate reached for her shirt.

“12.”

“What?” Fate stopped and looked up at Hayate’s back.

“Your BMI. If you had male rather than female organs, that’s what your BMI would be at. I’m glad you’re still taking care of yourself.”

Fate sighed as she pulled on her blazer. “And I’m as happy as ever that you can walk.”

They turned towards each other and smiled. Hayate walked over and stopped just in front of Fate. Both sets of eyes watched as she brought a hand up to slowly caress Fate’s cheek.

Fate closed her eyes, remembering when that touch had last been felt. She shuddered, wishing she hadn’t been too insecure to hold onto it for all that it was worth to her now.

“Nanoha-chan… she doesn’t hurt you, does she?”

Fate shook her head, not opening her eyes for as long as that hand remained on her person.

“We’ll have to get together sometime. You know, just to catch up. Things are getting so busy… It’s like we never get to be assigned to the same missions anymore.”

“All the better.”

“Why?” The hand stopped.

Fate opened her eyes. “Because I couldn’t stand it if I lost the two most important people to me on the same mission. I’d die of grief.”

“So would I. But…” Hayate smiled and leaned forward, kissing Fate’s eyelid. “If we’re all together, we can save each other too.”

“Hayate…”

“You should go.” Hayate leaned back and placed her hands behind her back. “Shamal will be coming back soon.”

Fate hesitated, but ultimately, she took a step back. Stepped away from temptation. “Hayate, I never stopped loving you.”

Too afraid to hear the answer, too afraid to be told what she already knew- that it was over between them- Fate hurried to the door. She left, without another backwards glance.

Hayate looked down at the neck ornament that Fate had forgotten. Bending down to pick it up, running her fingers along its silky surface, she whispered, “I never did either, Fate-chan.”

-
“Fate-chan!” Nanoha smiled as she reached their apartment door at the same time as Fate. Fate smiled back. “Did you just get off?”

Fate nodded. “Mmhmm. And you, Nanoha? No training long into the night for your students?”

“Nyahaha…” Nanoha opened the door, letting Fate go in first. “It was getting really cold. I trained them a bit to let them get used to working in extreme temperatures, but I let them off early so they would be able to make it to training tomorrow. I don’t want any of them to get sick on my watch after all.”

“I see.” Fate turned on the light and headed to the kitchen. “What do you want to eat tonight? It’s my turn, I think. It’s Tuesday, isn’t it?”

Nanoha laughed and wrapped her arms around Fate. “You’ve been so busy you’re not even sure what day it is?” She nuzzled Fate’s neck and kissed a place she knew was sensitive. “Poor Fate-chan. Let’s cook something quick together and then go to bed, hm?”

“Ah…” Fate flushed, thinking of what might happen in bed. “Nanoha…”

“What?” Nanoha stopped and giggled, kissing Fate’s ear before walking over to the refrigerator. “Silly, I don’t mean like that. I can tell when you’re not in the mood. I’m not either, not really. Now come on, when need our nutrients. What did you eat today?”

Fate smiled in relief and walked over to join her. “Umm… I had a banana and some toast for breakfast… I had salad and this tofu dish they had on today’s special for lunch…”

Nanoha giggled, turning to look at Fate. “Are you going vegetarian on me?”

Fate frowned and returned, “No, that’s just what I felt like having today. Why? What did you have?”

“Umm… ham, cheese, and vegetable omelette… then a steak with mashed potatoes… snacked on some apples…”

Fate blinked and replayed Nanoha’s list in her head. She blurted out as it came to her, “You had steak for lunch? Mou, Nanoha!”

“Nyahaha what? I was treated to lunch… they picked the place.”

“Treated? By who?”

Nanoha waved it off. “Oh, it was Yuuno. He came by my office while I was in and we went out for lunch to catch up some.”

“Oh.” Fate looked at the contents of their refrigerator. It was getting sparse. “Is he doing well?”

“Mmhmm. Do you want to have spaghetti tonight? It doesn’t take long. He thinks he may be onto something.”

“What?”

“He wouldn’t tell me. I could tell he was excited though.”

“Ah. Spaghetti sounds good.”

“He asked me…” Nanoha set the precooked meatballs on the counter before turning to Fate. “He asked me if I would consider… being with him… if things worked out well for him. He said he’d be coming into some really good money… he could provide us with a nice house in the suburbs…”

Fate felt her insides grow cold. “’Us’?”

“Him and me.” Nanoha bit her lip before she spilled out her rebuttal on fast forward. “But I told him that I was with you, and I was happy with you, and that I didn’t need a house or anything fancy as long as I could be with you… And there’s also my position in TSAB to consider…”

“TSAB gives you the option to live offbase though. As long as you acknowledge that you’re-“

“Always on call, I know. But I don’t want to do that until after I’ve been let go anyway.”

Fate rolled her eyes. “Nanoha, you’re the Ace of Aces. They won’t let you go until you’re crippled for life or incapacitated. And if that happens, then you won’t let them go.”

Nanoha frowned. “What are you saying? That I should have accepted his offer?”

“No, no, that’s not what I was saying.” Fate pursed her lips and turned away. “Just… It’s fine for you to reject proposals you don’t like, but your reasons should be irrefutable.”

Fate could feel a chill rise in the air as Nanoha asked, “Is my happiness with you not… irrefutable?”

“Nanoha, that’s not what I-“

“I wasn’t going to say anything before but,” Nanoha looked at her square in the eyes. “Where’s the ribbon you always wear around your neck? The one I gave you when we first got together?”

Fate touched her neck, realizing it was indeed not there, and found that she had no answer ready.

awww... what will happen now?

Originally Posted by Satashi

Agreed. The amount of time it would take to do a multiple part CYOA would be staggering. One like Vampire!Fate would be simple, as it's only two choices of the same two girls... But god, Lyrical Days would have been... Wow @_@ I can't even imagine that.

Speaking of Vampire!Fate...

Spoiler for Vampire!Fate pt. 2a (Fate):

I didn't know exactly what to think about Tia when she revealed herself to me. Nevertheless I still invited her to come along with me. She stayed silent until we reached the restaurant I was heading to and waited next to me as I talked to Erio to confirm their orders. I gave Tia a questioning glance but she shrugged, saying that she was more thirsty than hungry...

OMG at TEASER! D: the whole thing is coming tonight :3

a teaser indeed...

Originally Posted by Laith

Crossroads

Spoiler for Road so far:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10

Spoiler for part 11:

Looking back, the knight saw that the valkyrie had once again Vivio in her arms. The little girl seemed sleepy, tired at the long day that she had.

I… had forgotten about her.

Who´s she Master?

I don’t know. A girl that was with the princess.

She is strange.

How so? She looks normal.

She doesn’t have any R links. And to survive we need at least one R link.

---

When a Lumino mage enters a dark place, their senses started to dull, the more the mage stays in the darkness, the harder to the mage to even walk. This explained why Nanoha was having a hard time following the others.

I see why we needed Zwei. We would have been lost by just walking around in this darkness.

Zwei is glad to help Master.

“This is too easy,” the valkyrie mumbled, “Perhaps they weren’t expecting us to take this route? No I don’t think they can make that mistake. Tome of the Night Sky how long until we leave the castle?”

“Just a little longer,” Zwei said with her happy voice. She was humming while she floated alongside Caro. Behind their back Erio heard Fate mumble to herself and occasionally comment on the thoughts of the valkyrie. The princess was carrying the little girl as Fate needed to be alert. Nanoha was slowly getting more tired. Though there were some torches to light the way, the Lumino mage couldn’t feel anything.

I… hate… darkness.

Master is okay?

Yeah… just… feeling… a… little… bad.

It was a weird feeling for Nanoha. She had always felt scared when she was in the darkness. Perhaps it was being a Lumino mage, or maybe it was natural human fear. Whatever the reason was, she had always felt uncomfortable in the darkness, even if she was with other people.

I… hope… this… ends… soon.

“Are you alright Lady Takamachi?” the pink haired girl asked. Of the six around her, she was the only one that knew about her phobia.

“Don’t… worry… I´m fine,” The knight tried to say in a normal tone of voice, but her voice trembled. It was something that she hadn’t predicted it would happen. After all she was expecting a boring search mission and not a rescue one. Perhaps it was the Goddess that had decided to choose her.

Must… stay… calm…

Master still feels bad?

A… little… Zwei…

Hang in there Master, we´re almost there.

Okay… Zwei… I`ll… try…

As Zwei had said, the exit was just some steps beyond. Unfortunately for Nanoha, the moon was covered by clouds making it harder for the knight to recover. As a Lumino mage, she needed natural light “live” as her teachers had taught her. She didn’t understand it until now.

Well at least nothing bad can happen right?

It’s not probable Master.

…Which means something will happen.

As if summoning them, a bunch of soldiers appeared in front of them.

“They are not soldiers of Paltina,” Erio said “but they are neither Belkan.”

“That means… it can´t be, can it?” The princess turned to her sister “Sis are they part of the-”

“It seems likely,” the valkyrie interrupted her sister before she said the remaining of her sentence, “So they planned this?”

“That’s right.” A red haired girl with blue eyes, younger than Erio and Caro appeared with the soldiers, “and you fell for it.”

“Please Vita show some respect to our guests,” a blonde with purple eyes followed the girl.

“Heh, as if I show respect to idiots that fall in obvious traps,” Vita said.

Idiots!? Why that girl…

“My apologies for her harsh mouth,” a white haired man with red eyes said, following the blonde, “She is always like that.”

“Why you…” Vita growled at the man.

“Stop Zafira, Vita,” the blonde said as harshly as her voice made possible as she stood between the two and extended her hands to stop them.

“Don’t get in the way Shamal,” the red headed growled. “It´s time I put this puppy in his place,” Her hand went into something on her pocket.

They are not very… friendly with each other.

But they have a strong link.

Really? Guess they are always like that.

“Stop it you three,” a voice ordered. A pink haired with blue eyes had appeared from between the soldiers. “You can fight all you want after we complete this mission.”

“The hell you think you are doing, Signum? He has-”

“Silence,” Signum interrupted the reasoning of the red haired, “My apologies for you to have to witness their bickering,” she turned to where the knights of the church were “Now hand over the girl and we let you go unharmed with your princess.”

They want Vivio? Why? I thought they wanted the princess.

Spoiler for Decision 11:

A) Surrender Vivio. (The dance of the stars)

B) Refuse their offer. (Behind enemy lines)

Spoiler for Zwei´s Corner:

Yo, Zwei here. The author and Zwei apologize for the lateness, but it has been a rough week for the author.

Vita, Shamal, Zafira and Signum have created a link with Master.

Yuuno 5 - Why are they taking so long?/
Fate 3 - I hope she can handle herself/
Alicia 5 - Is she alright? /
Erio 2 - So she is a Lumino mage... /
Caro 4 - Please rest a little Old sis/
Vita -2 - Idiot person/
Shamal -1 - My, my she looks pale
Zafira -1 - The enemy
Signum 0 - ...

Big, green. The decision this time is for the next chapter. One gives you NF, the other introduces Hayate. Which one you chose?

B cause it feels like NF.

Originally Posted by Satashi

So, as you all know by now, it's Angel's birthday. Since I can't draw cute little pictures to send to her cell phone, I'm going to write some super ultra crack musical number!

Spoiler for Vampire!Fate interlude (For Angel):

Fate looked at the bottle of pills scattered over Nanoha's bathroom sink. "Are you sure it's safe to take all of these at one?"

Nanoha nodded, getting her sixth pill out and putting the multicolored handful in a small cup so she could take them all at once with some water. "Well, they increased my dosage, what can I do?"

"Yes but still... will these react with each other?"

"Doctors don't mess up like that do they?"

Fate nodded. "That's why you have pharmacist. Did you ask if it was okay when you got this filled?"

"Nya haha, what's the worse that could happen?" Nanoha took a mouthful of water and then dumped her pills into her mouth and swallowed.

Nanoha looked up with a happy smile, curiously observing herself in the mirror. Instead of her pajamas she was suddenly wearing a princess dress straight out of a fairy tale. Turning around, she walked out of the bathroom and into a forest, where she ran happily, not affected by the fact she was in heels or by the flowing gown. As a group of traveling minstrels came by in song, she started to sing.

"I'm the pretty princess of parties!" Nanoha sang out while dancing around a stone water fountain. Another Nanoha jumped out from behind a tree behind her and joined in. "You're a tasty piece of pastry!" A third girl twirled close by and sang out as well. "You're so lighty flighty flakey!" All three joined to gether: "I go where the party takes me!"

The three Nanohas split up and ran around the forest area, skipping and jumping while motioning for people to follow her. The minstrels gladly chased after, playing the music for her to sing to. "I'm the funky monkey junky, you're a flunky bunky donkey!" Nanoha was by the water fountain again, trailing her hand around it as she chased herself in a circle. "You're a picture of the devil's daughter, I'm a pitcher of holy water!"

Nanoha ran by another version of herself sitting down on a high tree stump. Her arms were flowing up and down along with someone behind her, making it appear as if she had four arms.

Fate leapt from behind a very skinny tree and sang out to her girlfriend. "Oh pretty princess of parties where's the party now?" She moved back behind the skinny tree, somehow vanishing from sight.

Nanoha moved from behind another tree that couldn't have been three inches thick, and answered the question in song. "I don't know~" As she moved back behind the tree and vanished, Fate swung out from behind hers again.

"Oh pretty princess of parties where does water go?" She moved back again and Nanoha once more became visible.

"I let it flow~"

"Oh pretty princess of parties, can I come to your party?"

"~no~"

This time two Fates came out at the same time, singing in unison. "
Oh pretty princess of parties where do you get your clothes?"

Nanoha was now riding a donkey that was obviously a Halloween costume. Her voice drifted out as she sang her answer once more. "They're made
of snow~" She reached down and removed the costume donkey head to reveal herself, still singing. "Pretty party clothes, crocheted of snow~"

Now the girl dismounted the costume horse and walked like an Egyptian past the water fountain and to a table where a double headed person was waiting for her. The left head was Subaru while the right was Tia's. Sitting down, she sang again. "I'm the mickey Maori minstrel, you're the high priestess of tinsel!" She stood up and danced once more before putting her palms together and holding them above her head. "I'm the guru god of ganja! Ramashalanka lanka ravi shanka!"

Nanoha danced her way across the forest more, the minstrels following along before they all took out mugs of beer and posed for the camera crew who were now shooting on location for a local brewery commercial. "la la la la la la la la la la la la!!!!"

Fate picked up her cell phone and dialed out a number she hadn't used in quite a while. On the third ring a cute, slightly accented, voice answered. "Pharmacy section."

"Hey, Angel."

"Fate-chan! Long time no talk!"

"Yeah, sorry about that.... uhmm... Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot?"

"Well, I think my friend's medication is affecting her oddly."

"What makes you say that?"

Fate turned her head to look at the girl frolicking around the living room while singing to a plush squirrel doll. "Well...."

Nanoha noticed Fate and slung out her arms, making the plushie fly out the window. "Fate-chan! The animals are singing with me!" Fate looked at the bottles and started reading them off to her friend while Nanoha now waved a leek spastically with her left hand. "Nuapurista kuulu se polokan tahti, jalakani pohjii kutkutti. Ievan äiti se tyttöösä vahti vaan kyllähän Ieva sen jutkutti, sillä ei meitä silloin kiellot haittaa kun myö tanssimme laiasta laitaan!"

And that, dear friends, is why pharmacist are so important to our society.

LOL!!! XDXD

Originally Posted by Knight of L-sama

I was going to reply access denied again cuz my comp wouldn't load it, but that was around the time that my internet connection threw in the towel on me. ^^;; (so I couldn't even post saying that)

Now that I've seen it... hmm... I have the oddest feeling that they look more "male" than usual >.>

And nope, access denied again cuz I feel like it. ^_^ Buuut...

Spoiler for Deviled!Fate pt 4:

"Nano-chan's going to tell me a bed time story?" Fate looked up curiously at the White Devil that struck fear into the hearts of many throughout the land.

"Mmhmm. I won't even rely on some stupid book to do it either. Now, once upon a time..."

"Can I name the characters?"

"Mm... all right, but I name the first one."

"Okay." Fate wiggled in Nanoha's lap, the large blanket covering most of her chest.

"Now once upon a time..."

"Is there going to be more than one character?"

If it had been anyone else interrupting, Nanoha would have surely fried their lips shut with some rendition of her demonic ability. But with Fate... "Fate-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"If you keep interrupting me, there won't be any other character but the first one."

"Oh." Fate looked down at the blanket with quiet remorse. "Okay. Sowwy, Nano-chan."

"It's all right, Fate-chan." Nanoha sighed and started again. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Fate who was known popularly as Little Red Riding Hood because of the Red Wolf skin cape that she always wore when she traveled. It helped scare off predators because no animal, especially no human, was about to mess with a girl who could kill and skin one of the fierce Red Wolves that the area was known for.

One day, her old granny of a mother, Precia-baasan-"

"Hey!" Fate pouted stubbornly, looking up at Nanoha.

"What now?" Nanoha wondered if she was ever going to finish this otherwise short story.

"You promised! You promised I could name all the other characters!"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Then what is Fate's mother's name going to be then?"

"Um." Fate looked around for inspiration. She saw Nanoha's chest. "Lindy-mama!"

Nanoha sighed and rolled her eyes. "If you insist... One day, Lindy-mama was sick in bed with no one to care for her in her isolated cabin in the woods behind Uminari. Fate-chan, being the good little child she was, immediately set out from her home away from her Lindy-mama to go visit her and take care of her.

Little did she know, the previous owner of the Red Wolf skin she bore on her back had a baby, now an orphan, who lived in that neck of the woods. Its name-"

Fate blinked and looked up at Nanoha. "Why'd you stop?"

Nanoha believed that Fate was freakishly lucky that fate had dealt the cards in her favour or else she would be dead right about now. "Name the red wolf, Fate. That's your job, remember?"

"Oh. What does the wolfie sound like?"

"What does it sound like? I don't know. It probably howls. Or goes 'Arf arf' or something. I don't know- I don't listen to them."

"Umm... Arf then!"

"... You want to name it Arf?"

"Unh!" Fate wiggled her socked toes underneath the blanket. "And it's a girl, too!"

Nanoha sighed. "Fine, have it your way... Arf, the orphaned Red Wolf, didn't like Fate at all-"

Fate looked up at her in horror, and then tears started to form around her eyes. "Why doesn't Arf like me?"

"It's just a story, Fate. I'm sure if there's an orphaned Red Wolf out there named Arf that's female, that she doesn't dislike you."

Fate beamed at that.

"Can I continue?" It was almost sarcastic at this point.

Fate nodded happily.

"Let's see... Arf didn't like Little Fate because Little Fate had killed Arf's mother to wear her warm fur on her back. So when she heard that Little Fate would be traveling through her turf, Arf decided it was time for revenge... She went ahead to Lindy-mama's house, and when Lindy-mama, sick and expecting Little Fate opened the door, Arf ate her."

Fate stared in open mouthed shock. "She /ate/ her?! Why?! What did your right boob ever do to Arf?"

Nanoha chose to stay silent for a moment rather than risk yelling at Fate. "Fate-chan, honey, it's /just/ a story. And I would explain if you let me."

"Oh." Fate settled back down again. "Sorry."

With another sigh, Nanoha continued, "Arf then stuck Lindy-mama's remains in a box in the closet and then dressed up in Lindy-mama's clothes. She then slipped underneath the covers of Lindy-mama's bed, because she planned to trick Little Fate into thinking that she was Lindy-mama."

"That's silly."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow at Fate's declaration. She knew full well that it was silly. "And why do you think that?"

"Well, what did Arf do, take off Lindy-mama's skin and cover her fur with it? Little Fate knows Lindy-mama would never be that furry."

Nanoha chuckled and patted Fate's head. She repeated, "It's just a story, Fate, it's just a story. Now, Fate wandered down to Lindy-mama's house, not knowing what had happened to Lindy-mama. She knocked and Arf told her to come in-"

"Arf can speak human-speak?"

"Yes, Arf can talk like humans. She's a very talented creature. Red Wolves use it for trickery and are magical like that."

"Oh. Okay then."

"And Little Fate went to her bedside and noticed that something was wrong with Lindy-mama, because she was a smart little girl like that."

Fate giggled, but didn't say anything.

"She said, loudly, 'Lindy-mama, what a big NOSE you have!' and Arf responded, sensitive about her big snout, 'All the better to sniff your sweet-smelling hair, you rude little brat. What have you been learning while you've been away?'

"Little Fate paid this no mind and went on with voicing her observations. 'Mama! What big EYES you have.' To which Arf, as Lindy-mama, replied, 'All the better to see how beautiful you've become, Little Fate. And I can't help my big eyes. The Creator seems to think big eyes equal 'moe' which equals good for hunting, but it doesn't.

"Finally, Little Fate gasped and said, 'You're not my Lindy-mama! Lindy-mama wouldn't care about hunting!' It was then that she saw Arf's pointed fangs and she started to get scared. 'My, what big t-teeth you have!' At this point, Arf dropped the act and yelled out, 'All the better to tear you limb from limb and suck and chew on your bones until-"

Nanoha stopped, watching Fate quiver and whimper, a little ball underneath the blanket.

She smiled softly before continuing in a whisper, "But when Little Fate was brought close, she saw Arf as the little wolf pup that she was and, despite her predicament, said, 'You're so cute!' This stopped Arf in her tracks, and Little Fate continued, 'Why are you dressed up in my Lindy-mama's clothes? Your fur is so soft and you look so cuddly... We should be friends.' To this, despite all her bravado and attempts to be fierce, Arf could only answer with her name: 'Arf'?"

Fate peeked out from underneath the blankets.

"Little Fate helped Arf out of the clothes and befriended Arf, allowing them to let bygones be bygones. They had both loved their mothers and had killed each other's mothers so the scoreboard was even now. They could shake paws and be friends, couldn't they? They lived in the forest happily and Little Fate grew up big and strong, just like Arf did.

"One day, a hunter with long blond hair and green eyes came looking for the rare Red Wolf to hunt down and bring home as his prize. But when he saw Fate, he fell in love and tried to court her. Arf saw this and when Fate wasn't watching, she killed and ate him. No one dared to mess with the pair after that, and they lived happily ever after. The End."

Fate stared, her head now completely outside of the blanket. "The End?"

"Yup, the end."

"The hunter got eated?"

"Yup, the hunter got eaten."

Fate still wasn't sure how to react to this story. Sure she was adopted by demons and demon animals eating humans wasn't entirely unheard of, but... "Nano-chan?"

"What?"

"Does this mean I get to have a Red Wolf for Chri-"

"We demons don't celebrate Christmas. You know that."

"Day of the Dead then?"

"... Maybe. If you're a good little demon-in-training."

Fate perked up and hugged Nanoha. "Thank you, Nano-chan! I wuv you!"

"Demons don't talk about love or 'wuv' either."

But Nanoha would not deny that she was just a "teeny bit" happy about Fate's admission.

Oh, and if you caught it, there was a sorta indirect reference to Wild Goose's recent short thing. As well as some other random stuff I take no credit for.

Edit: Sorry Sheba, I messed up your streak. ^^;

devil!fate is sooo cuute.

[TheShinySword]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

TSS's RebelS chapters are much more longer and he posts them in one post, but well, it's Sheba's decition after all
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Atention!

See my current sig?

A prelude of the future in Vita, Shadows of the Past

PD: God I love mistery

*mystery you mean

And actually my ch aren't nearly that long word wise (Stylistically the way I write I use heavy dialogue that cause page count to soar)

Btw E_R with all your Vita loving I might have an OC you could be interested in :shiftyeyes:


@Knight: :3 I <3 Quack!Fate

[Evil Rick]

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

Btw E_R with all your Vita loving I might have an OC you could be interested in :shiftyeyes:

Really?

Well, PMs me then XP

PD: I hate gramar

[TheShinySword]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

Really?

Well, PMs me then XP

PD: I hate gramar

forgive me for this
*grammar
>.> <.<

[Evil Rick]

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

forgive me for this
*grammar
>.> <.<

...

Spoiler for Evil Rick's reaction:

EDIT: Page claim for...

Spoiler for :

Nothing, I'm depressed