The freakiest way to wake up, and this was something that Jon had known for a while now, was to have Naomi stand next to your bed and say your name in as loud a voice as she ever mustered. If there was any time that he was trying to stop jumping out of his skin during, it was then.
This time was no exception.
He did wish that he stopped grabbing the covers and pulling them up to his chin while he stared at his disturber. But, of course, he hadn’t. He had also screamed like a little girl, and it was small comfort that Naomi wouldn’t ever tell anyone how he reacted to this treatment.
“An event,” she told him, before quickly and limberly clmaboring up the ladder to the main hallway of the Silver Blur. This gave Jon a moment to actually breathe in. That is, until he realized what Naomi’s message had meant, which sent him into a fit of coughing before he sprang up out of the bed and dressed before heading over to the Com Room.
When he got there, he found Naomi and Paul going over the screens, attempting to pierce the magical cloud that had settled around whatever place it was that was ‘being struck’ this time. Naomi turned to him upon his entrance. “There is a safe place to insert ourselves, if being in the event ourselves is safe.”
There was really no other option considering how the other two events had gone before and after they waited for the red cloud to dissipate and guarantee safe passage through the area. “We go in,” Jon said. “How hard would it be to grab us back out before the event ended?”
“I will send Paul coordinates,” Naomi told him.
Paul nodded. “As long as she’s spotting for me, I can manually override and make sure I get you guys back in a pinch.”
“So we’d only really need to make sure that we were keeping ourselves safe from the effects of the event,” Jon said aloud. “Alright. I’m going in with Naomi now, and we’ll head to the center as quickly as possible. Is the center close by the safe place that you found?”
“Under 400 meters,” Naomi replied.
Jon sighed. That was further than he had wanted it to be, but closer than he had been afraid of. “Alright. We’ll hurry to the location, then. Code phrase for pullout is ‘Blur out’.”
“Got it,” Paul told him. Then he hit a bunch of keys, which had the visual effect of lighting up the teleport pad. “Go ahead; I’ll get you down there as soon as you’re on the pad.”
Jon checked to make sure that his inactive PMD was on his belt like it should be (it was), then he headed over to the pad, followed by his first mate. Paul waved momentarily, then continued with his searching.
After blinking, Jon found himself huddled in the corner of an abandoned building’s porch. Naomi’s hand immediately obscured his vision, calling up one of her signature [color] shields. “I think I can block the event,” she said, shakily. Doing whatever she was doing was apparently taxing her.
“Are you alright?”
“I will be fine.”
Jon looked at her dubiously for a moment, then relented. “Fine. But if you feel like your assessment of that changes at any time, get us out of here. I can’t have you hurting yourself for this.”
“Understood.”
He wasn’t going to be getting any more out of her about this, so he didn’t try, instead looking around her hand in the direction that the event was probably coming from. As best that he could measure 400 meters was an intersection, at which several people were milling about.
Well, that was certainly helpful.
“Can you move and keep the defenses up? Also, can you not have your hand directly in front of my face and keep the defenses up?”
Wtihout a word, Naomi took her hand down from his eyes and held a larger, though flickeringly visible, shield in front of them. Once she was settled, she said. “We can travel. I cannot make my shield invisible.”
Jon touched her gently on the shoulder, casting a spell that was as easy for him as breathing. Her shield flickered out of visibility. “Mmf,” he said, making sure of his handiwork. “I think that'll work.”
He received a nod in reply. All set to go, the pair left the porch and got down onto the street, where people were going about their business, though every few seconds most of them jerked and shook their heads. Probably some sort of effect of the event that was coming from the intersection that was now 300 meters in front of them. While Naomi looked sort of strange with her hands splayed out in front of her, her proximity to another person seemed to deflect the stares. Jon didn't have time to wonder about it then, but he filed the thought for later: why weren't they continuing to stare? Without knowledge of magical barriers (and the fact that they can sometimes be invisible), she looked quite strange with her body in that position while she walked along the sidewalk.
As they approached the halfway point of the short trek, Jon was starting to make out faces of the people that were at the intersection that Naomi's instructions had indicated. Quite a few people were milling about there... as Jon watched, one particular person was walking in perfect circles (though small ones) at the corner opposite the one that Jon and Naomi would arrive at. He didn't seem to be noticing the fact that he was doing it (or maybe he was doing it on purpose). There were other instances of unexplained behavior. There was a woman pacing on the corner that Naomi and Jon were approaching. She executed a snap turn walked out of sight behind the building that was on the corner, then about a second or two later she was back in vision for a few steps before executing the next snap turn. Jon couldn't read her face from the distance.
Jon, out of reflex more than anything else, looked down at his first mate, whose face didn't give him any sort of indication as to what she thought about this whole event. His gaze went back up to the intersection, this time searching on purpose for the people who weren't experiencing bizzare behaviors. It was hard, as the Train-Wreck Principle was working against him, but he was able to identify three people who were just standing in the same spot, looking around at the people around them (in some cases incredulously).
On the corner that was now only 100 meters away, there was a woman whose blonde hair was tied up in a bun above a vividly red cloak. Her head was turning to watch a lot of different people around her, though she was completely ignoring the pacing woman that was directly behind her. She also seemed to be looking for someone in particular and not finding them, now that Jon could see her face somewhat.
On the corner that was across the street straight ahead, was an older gentleman whose head was slowly sweeping across the assembled people. He watched cars in particular as they came across the intersection, though there weren't all that many going by right then, and he was watching all the people with the bizzare actions and sort of flinching away if one seemed to make a movement toward him.
On the opposite corner from the one that Jon and Naomi were about to arrive on, there was a young man in a long black cloak and a black hat. His eyes were flipping between the two other people that were not doing something extremely strange, and his eyes also took in the newcomers to the intersection as he gave a cursory look to the rest of the people that were nearby. His hands and arms were hidden inside the cloak, though it didn't seem like he was doing much with them, or was hiding anything significant underneath. It was a little unnerving how strong his stare was, but Jon held up to it admirably.
“Which one, do you think?” Jon said, quietly enough that neither the pacing woman or the blonde looking at all the strange people could hear his question. Naomi passed her glance over everyone in a swift motion.
“Him,” she said, indicating with a nod of her head the young man in the black cloak all the way diagonally across the paved road.
Jon nodded. “I agree.” He pressed his PMD gently. “We're at the location,” he said, his voice even lower. “Can you hear me?”
There was some white noise in the background, but the reply was audible against the noise (and Mil had tuned it so that only Naomi and Jon could hear it. “Good enough, anyway.” It was Paul.
“Target A is a young man in a black cloak that comes to his knees and black boots beneath that. I think he's wearing black pants over the boots and under the cloak. He's wearing a black hat. If you find us, he's currently diagonally across the intersection.”
“Got it,” came the reply. “I hope the event ends soon.”
But that isn't what happened next.
Everything was suddenly washed over with a black-ish aura that slid across the intersection from the older gentleman's corner through the buildings and all. People winked out of visibility when the aura touched them, but a few remained, including Jon and Naomi. Naomi had jumped in front of Jon with a brightly visible shield in front of her, but the aura seemed to ignore it and pass right through it and her and then through Jon, she spun to look at Jon, but he looked unharmed. He was looking above the building where the aura had come from, looking for someone who could have caused. Suddenly visible at the edge of the building was a figure in what was obviously Barrier Clothing. Her stark red hair would have been more noticible if it hadn't been for the two firearm-formed PMDs she was weilding.
One was pointed right at Naomi.
“Stand down! I am Enforcer Teana Lanster of the TSAB. One of you is performing dangerous magic, and I demand you cease immediately or face consequences! If you stand down now, you will be allowed a trial!” She called her message into the intersection with authority. Authority that Jon had no intention of obeying.
“I can't reach them,” Naomi said, pointing to the communications device that Jon had given her. This made Jon cringe. It was a bad thing if communications with the Silver Blur were cut off.
Jon pressed himself against the outer wall of the building before saying, “Mil, set up.”
“Set up: Combat Form.” Jon felt his Barrier Clothing coalesce around him, and he held the familiar weight of Mil's rifle for long and short range combat in his hands. Naomi was in a ready stance against the wall next to him.
“None of you are going to comply?” the figure called, this time with clear warning in her voice. Jon took a look down the way that the two of them had come, seeing more of the black aura everywhere, but the most disturbing thing was that there was another figure approaching from that side as well. This one's Barrier Clothing was black in the main area but with a white cape/cloak that was wrapped around her. She carried a black pole with a... was that a bardiche on the end? She looked dangerous. More importantly, she was cutting off their easiest escape route.
“Two known additional targets,” Jon said under his breath to Naomi. “One I am facing right now, while the other's on the top of that building.”
“She's not there.”
Jon's head whipped around, and sure enough the woman with the guns akimbo was nowhere in sight. He whipped back to keep his eye on the more immediate threat. “Figures,” Jon said. “Abort trying to find the original target; we need to escape to outside this... thing. Is the event occuring any more?”
“No.”
“Then if we can get out of this thing, we're home free,” Jon said. Then the blonde woman who was approaching Jon reached a place where she decided to stop and address them. “You are armed with Devices on an Unadministered world, and using magic in the full view of citizens of said world. You are in violation of TSAB law. Will you come quietly?”
“I don't submit to made up organizations, generally,” Jon said mildly. Though then he was struck by a thought. “We also seem to be outside the borders of your organization... the TS... something?”
The woman with the long blonde hair pointed her PMD at Jon. “The TSAB's authority extends to anywhere that its interests lie.”
Funny, he thought to himself. That was precisely the same thing that the Empire thought. If this woman actually was from some organization called the TSAB... this was a whole new can of worms. “I won't be submitting to an organization that I am not a part of; I don't even submit fully to the organization that claims me.”
“What organization would that be?”
Jon tried not to make a face, but he probably failed. “The Malainian Alliance. Or the MCAW, the Malainian Confederation of Allied Worlds. How about your... TSAB?”
“The Time-Space Administration Bureau,” she replied. “Do you act with the authority of your organization?”
From behind Jon, he heard Naomi quietly. “The other target is chasing Target A. We don't have to worry about her for now.”
“In some things, yes,” Jon replied to the woman, though he then mumbled, “Pick a direction and give me a signal; I'll follow you.” He felt Naomi take the hand that was behind his back and squeeze it once, then twwice to indicate she had gotten the message.
“Then I think it would be best if you came with us to our ship...”
“Now's not the best time,” Jon said with a wry grin.
“Aerowing,” Jon's PMD stated and things went a little crazy for a moment.
As it is still November, I'm not really looking for comments (Don't worry; I'll post this scene here again if I don't cut it, and you can yell at me for whatever then ). Just giving you a part of what I've been working on for the past month.
Page claim for Nanowrimo!
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Last edited by spawnofthejudge; 2009-11-21 at 10:32.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
I want to apologize if I came off badly. My brain is wired differently than most people, due to Asperger's syndrome, so I can come off as abrasive or tactless. If you're curious you can look it up on wiki.
Anyway, rough draft of MGLN Crisis Chapter 20. I tweaked 19 a little more to hopefully make it clearer as to what is going on, but it's pretty much going to stay as it is for now.
Also, as a reminder, when I began writing this, I was basing it solely off the three anime TV seasons(as opposed to the DVD version and whatever materials may have accompanied it). Nothing else. So, there may be slightly different explanations and such for things. Fans have generally seen the anime, but very few have seen particular minor details or been a part of huge threads.
As such, anything that may have been written or decided, and then hidden in a mass of posts, will be ignored. I don't hold much respect for fiats, whether they be regarding pairings or other such laws. Or you can also consider that certain things can change in the process of 10+ years, or even a year.
Spoiler for MGLN Crisis chapter 20: Calm Before the Storm:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 20: Calm Before the Storm
Hayate walked down the hall, alone for once, finding it eerily quiet. Most were asleep or resting for the night, trying to catch up on sleep from the day's hectic activities. They had bought themselves a reprieve, so despite the still-looming threat of Alhazard, people were mostly content.
Although, without Rein, or any of her knights around, Hayate felt strangely lonely, having become accustomed to their sometimes-overprotective presence.
She realized she should probably get some sleep as well, but command was weighing heavily on her. She had spent many hours over the past few days, analyzing all her decisions, wondering if she made the right calls. This is where she wanted to be, in command. But she was learning the hard way that not all decisions were easy ones. As she gazed out at the night sky, she wondered if she was cut out for command.
"You're wondering if you're cut out for command," came a young, but familiar voice that startled Hayate with it's accuracy.
"Vita!" she exclaimed, turning and smiling. "You startled me."
The hammer knight shrugged, then leaned on the railing, looking out the window as well. "I may have started out a program of a book, fully loyal and obedient to you. But all of us have changed over the years. I'm more than willing to call you out on something if it warrants."
Hayate gazed back out the window. "I guess you can read me that well by now, huh?"
"I've been watching you the past few days," she replied. "You have been looking stressed and worried, as if you're trying to carry the whole world on your shoulders." She turned to give Hayate a dirty look. "You need to stop that. You're doing fine. If you want to aim for the higher spots, you have to learn to accept that you don't know everything, and that you have friends who can help you carry things."
The other girl smiled. "And you know just what to say."
The hammer knight began to walk away. "That's part of what I do. Good night, Hayate. Get some sleep." She paused, looking over her shoulder threateningly. "And I mean it. We expect you back at the house." She resumed walking, turning a corner.
Hayate laughed, and was about to follow, when another female voice called her name from the shadows.
She turned to see who it was, surprised. "Auris?"
Caro watched Erio practice in the yard, jumping and swinging Strada around. The device was technically still off, so it was just a standard spear. Still, he felt he needed to keep in practice. He also wanted to work on some more moves that he had picked up from Fate and Signum, his two primary sparring partners. There were things he still wanted to be able to do, even without magic.
He paused, panting, in the cool night air, only to find a towel held out in front of him. "Oh, thanks."
Caro smiled at him as he dabbed his face. "I'm impressed that you work so hard, even without magic."
"Sorry, Caro," he replied. "It's just that I failed to protect you before. I don't want to make that mistake again." He was surprised when she started giggling. "Caro?"
She wiped her eyes, which had started to leak due to the laughter. "I'm sorry, Erio. But I had been thinking the same thing lately. I was a burden to you, and wanted to get stronger to protect you."
Erio put one hand behind his head, chuckling. "So I guess we both needed to work on getting stronger."
"So we can protect each other?" Caro asked. "And Fate and our friends?"
He nodded, handing the towel back to her. "I just wish we could use magic, as there are more techniques I need to perfect."
Caro looked down, saddened. "Yeah, I can't do much without it, as I'm not a physical fighter like you are. And Fried is tired most of the time, unable to fly."
Erio grew angry, turning to punch the nearby tree. "If only there was something we could do about all this!" He sighed and turned back to Caro, only to see her staring at him wide-eyed. "Caro? What is it?"
"Erio...." she said in astonishment. "The tree...."
He turned to look at the impact in the bark, realized the implications, and ran into the house, Caro following right behind.
"Any word on the rest of the fleet?" Fate inquired.
After a good night of rest, the old members of Section Six, plus a few others were all gathered together for a meeting the next day. Chrono had already given his report to the ground TSAB provisional council, and was taking the time to talk to Hayate's group. There had been no more missiles fired, and no more communication from the city. However, Alhazard was still on approach, would would make orbit in 7 hours.
He shook his head. "Not much, I'm afraid. The Claudia did detect several jumps before we had to abandon ship, so I'm hoping the rest are conducting repairs, too. The standing orders were to return to Naval headquarters if too badly damaged, otherwise attempt to return for survivors."
"And the TSAB naval station?" Hayate questioned.
"They are hesitant about sending more ships for now," Chrono admitted. "Protection of trading routes is already strained, and they aren't convinced it's worth leaving them vulnerable to pirates if the city can easily stand up to twenty ships. I might be able to swing a couple more of the ones that were already in dry dock, but that would just be for evacuations. After the confrontation debacle, I'll be lucky to keep my command when this is over.
His gaze changed, becoming more serious. "But I'm ordered to withdraw a few hours before the city gets here. At this point, there's little one ship can do without a plan. They don't believe Mid-Childa can be saved."
Hayate sighed while Fate said angrily, "Surely they must know that once Mid-Childa is taken care of, Precia will go for the rest of the TSAB!?"
"They are hoping to buy time," Chrono replied. "And I've been ordered to land soon and pick up the provisional council and some other VIPs."
"Of course, the bigwigs are the first to run!" Subaru complained.
"I can probably take the rest of you, as well," he offered.
Hayate smiled. "No, we're staying right here. We have people to protect."
Chrono chuckled. "I thought you'd say that, which means you have a plan. What is it?"
Shari stood. "We went over your data, and we found some interesting things. At one point, you managed to shoot through the shield."
"Yeah, we noticed that, but we aren't sure how that happened," Chrono replied.
"That's because there isn't just one shield," she explained, smiling. "There's two. One seems geared to block magical and thermal energy based attacks, while the second guards against kinetic energy, ie, physical impacts. That's why they are so effective, as each shield specializes in what it does. But that also introduces a weakness, because both shields can't seem to be up at the same time. A missile struck the shield a split second before an magical energy blast went through."
"That's a hell of a weakness," Teana noted. "Can we use that to destroy it now?"
Shari shook her head sadly. "The timing has to be incredibly precise as the switch from physical to energy shields is incredibly fast. And the whole shield isn't required to change; it appears very small sections of the bubble can make the switch at will, independent of the rest of the bubble. Also, the city is big. We'd need a lot of ships to do enough damage, and it sounds like we won't get that before the city gets here."
"So we're back at square one," Chrono concluded as Shari sat down.
"Not entirely," Hayate informed him, nodding towards a darkened corner.
"You may not know me, but I'm Auris Gaiz," an older woman informed them, stepping from the shadow. "I used to be an assistant to General Regius." She continued when Chrono nodded his acknowledgment. "I inherited the responsibility of a few projects of his, most notably, the Einherjar project. It was to be a series of ground-based magical cannons designed to intercept orbital craft."
"The cyborgs destroyed those, did they not?" Signum asked.
She nodded. "They destroyed the three we had built, but a fourth had been started. I've been seeing it slowly built in secret over these past few months. When we got word of Alhazard and the missiles coming, I had my engineers double-team it. Sadly, it was still offline when the missile hit. But we may be able to get it operationally by the time Alhazard gets here."
Vita shook her head. "No good. You'll only get one shot before Precia destroys it."
"Then we have to make that one shot count!" came a new female voice from the doorway.
"Mariel, you made it!" Hayate exclaimed.
"Mariel Atenza, head of the TSAB Engineering Division, at your service," she announced. "I hear you've been taking good care of my things for awhile. I would have spoken up sooner, but military secrecy and all."
At the confused looks, Hayate explained, "Mariel was the head of the team that developed the golem. I've been in secret communication with her for awhile now, feeding her the golem's combat data."
"A member of my team was apparently on Jail's payroll, and arranged to have one of our prototypes stolen," Mariel added. "We caught him, but you recovered it. The higher ups were embarrassed, and I must admit I was, too. So they forbade us from talking about it. But with the situation the way it is, that's been lifted. And I have something for you that might help: a shuttle."
"How is a shuttle supposed to help?" Nanoha asked.
"It's one we've been modifying over the past few months," she explained. "It's equipped AMF armor, and was designed as a hover transport, to rapidly ferry troops and golems around. It's a big improvement over helicopters."
Hayate took over. "Allow me to explain what we've come up with. We are going to load a strike team onto that shuttle. When Alhazard is close enough, we're going to fire the Einherjar cannon at it. The shuttle will ride the beam all the way to the city. Orders will be to seize control of the city if possible, or find a way to destroy it from the inside."
Yuuno began to see it. "With the magical energy beam striking it, the shield will be in energy defense mode. The shuttle can pass right through it! But will the AMF armor hold out while in the midst of the beam?"
Mariel shook her head. "No, it won't last more than 10 seconds or so against the kind of energy the cannon will be putting out. We'll need very strong magic barriers protecting the ship through most of it's journey. The barriers will be turned off right before shield impact, so it passes through instead of bouncing off. The AMF Armor will protect the ship until it's inside."
"Wait a minute, magic is gone, so where are you going to get magical barriers?" Subaru wondered aloud.
Hayate smiled. "Erio, if you would. I promised him he could be the one."
As the rest of the group looked on, Erio stood up and moved a bit away from the table, then concentrated hard. His blue belkan triangle flared into existence under his feet, and his body began to crackle with visible electric arcs. After a few seconds, he cut it off, panting hard.
"Caro and I... discovered it last night," he explained between breaths.
"Magic is back!?" Teana wondered in astonishment.
"Yes and no," Suzuka answered. "It's coming back, slowly but surely. It turns out my ocean analogy was more apt than I thought. The relic bombs essentially tried to use magic to blow up magic. If you drop a large water bomb into an ocean, it may blow a nice hole. However..."
"The water will eventually flow back!" Arisa finished for her. "So how long until it's back at normal strength?"
"By our rough calculations, it might be 75% back shortly after Alhazard gets here," Shari replied. "But that's only a guess; it's very hard to measure."
"Which leaves us looking for one barrier expert to protect the shuttle on it's flight," Hayate concluded.
Yuuno suddenly noticed all eyes on him. "What are you all... oh, yeah, eheh. Well, as an archeologist, it would be a dream to see the city...."
"I'm going on that shuttle, too," Nanoha stated, standing.
"As am I," Fate added, also standing. One by one, everyone stood and volunteered.
"If Fate's going, then I am, too!" Arf announced suddenly, stepping forward from behind Fate's chair.
"We'll figure out who is going later," Hayate said, then turned to Chrono. "How is that for a plan?"
The admiral's eyes were wide, but then he shook his head and chuckled. "I should know better than to doubt you. I still have my orders to evacuate the higher-ups, but I'll be betting on you and everyone else to keep Mid-Childa in one piece." He saluted. "Good luck, everyone! You're going to need it."
"Alright, everyone go make any preparations you need to," Hayate told them. "I'll be issuing more specific orders later. And as Chrono said, good luck to us all."
"So, you've been taking good care of it, I see," Mariel noted as she examined the golem. "We've been getting good data on its actual performance in combat."
"Arisa has been a good pilot," Shari told her, indicating the golden-haired girl. "And we were impressed by how well it's designed."
Mariel climbed the gantry, the three other girls following. "Well, I've got a couple of surprises for you, that should help." She slid into the pilot's seat, plugging in a small magic battery. "Terra, code 4-5-Alpha-Tango-9-Charlie. Release Limiter."
"Code acknowledged," Terra replied, coming online. "Welcome Dr. Atenza. Limiter has been released. Accessing new subsystems."
"Limiter?" Suzuka questioned.
"There's a few more bells and whistles we added to this, but hid them in case of theft," the golem creator explained. "Good thing we did, too, considering. We had three layers of security: Normal mode just gives mobility and the main gun at a lesser power level. If Terra determines that there is a proper person for registration, there is level two. That's the full power of the main gun, AMF armor, flight systems, and artillery batteries.
She reached down to adjust a few switches, as new screens popped up. "Level three is the final one, with Limiter released. Stuff like an actual magic barrier, and a couple extra offensive and defensive subsystems. I'll brief you about it later, but first things first. Hand me my case."
"This one that you've been having me carry?" Arisa asked, passing it over.
"You're the pilot, so it's your responsibility!" she said, smiling, and opening the case. "And it's thanks to Shari and Suzuka's research on this, that I'm able to do what I'm about to do."
"A relic!" Shari exclaimed.
Mariel nodded. "Scavenged from one of the relic bombs, actually. Since it functions like a linker core, if I install this in here, you should be able to draw on an almost unlimited source of magic. At least according to our research. However, it won't come in very fast. If you use too much power and drain the battery, you'll have lay low somewhere and wait for it to naturally recharge. At least, if we're right about all this. It could just all flow in really fast and blow up the unit!"
Arisa sweat-dropped. "So I'm a guinea pig."
Suzuka elbowed her. "Well, you were the one who wanted to fly this thing!"
"We could be going soon," Fate said, speaking what was on both their minds.
Nanoha hugged the other girl closer as hey gazed out their bedroom window, each having an arm around the other. "I know. And you're going to want to face your mother." She felt Fate tighten.
"Yes," Fate replied softly. "She may have been my mother once, but that was in a different set of memories. I have to stop her now. Perhaps even more so because I am her daughter." She changed the subject. "And you should talk to Yuuno before we go."
The pony-tailed girl sighed. "I'd like to... but I'm not sure if I can. I care about him a lot, and I'm worried he won't accept this. And things have been so busy lately."
"Make time," Fate told her. "And I think you underestimate the strength of his feelings."
Nanoha nodded, turning to meet Fate's lips for a soft kiss. "I will."
"Good," the other girl replied, smiling. "Then we need to finish getting dressed and head out."
"We're almost there," Vice called from the front of the helicopter to the group he was ferrying, several hours later. Alto was next to him in the co-pilot's seat. "I'm getting landing clearance now."
Nanoha looked at the team that had been assembled, after Hayate had learned how many the shuttle could hold. Her eyes met Fate's at first, then went to Arf. She had wondered a bit about the inclusion of familiar-turned guardian beast, But Hayate had confided in Nanoha that with Fate going up against her mother, she wanted another person who would stick to Fate and help keep her emotions in check. Nanoha knew they'd both have to help in that role.
Teana, Subaru, Erio, and Caro were next; the old Section Six Forwards. Although they seemed to prefer the "Strikers" name for their little group now. Each had grown much since the old days. They were stronger, wiser, and more reliable. She had kept tabs on them in the months since, and re-acquainted herself with their profiles recently. Their progress had been nothing short of amazing.
Finally, she settled on the one she had been avoiding: Yuuno. There was much she wanted to say, and much she was afraid of. She had wanted a chance to talk with him before all this, but there had either been interruptions, or she had lost her nerve. He seemed to sense she was looking at him, and he met her gaze to give her a nervous smile and a thumbs up. She smiled back, then leaned her head back.
Hayate and the Wolkenritter were staying behind this time. The master of the Tome of the Night Sky felt certain that Precia would attack somehow, and she needed every able-bodied mage to defend Clanagan. They all had assumed that was her target. Their small strike team would have to be enough.
Mariel was also riding along, as it was her secret research facility they were flying to. Once the helicopter had landed in a mountain range outside Clanagan, they had disembarked and she motioned for all of them to follow her, including the two pilots. A large elevator waited for them, which took them down several levels, and opened into a fairly large hanger. A few other golems lined the walls, in various states of construction and makeup, but the main attraction was the ship in the center of the room.
It was over twice the size of the helicopters Vice and Alto flew, and roughly rectangular-shaped. It had a rear hatch similar to the helicopter, which was now open. Downward-sloping "wings" were attached to the top of the craft. Cradled under those, and to either side of the rear hatch, two large circle engineers rested. The belly curved upwards to meet the rounded cockpit at the front.
"It's not pretty, but we scientists tend to favor function over form," Mariel told them. "It'll fly."
"So you want us to pilot that?" Alto asked as the group spread out a bit around he hanger.
"Only to the Einherjar cannon," Mariel answered. "While in the beam, you'll be virtually blind, so we'll rely on a pre-programmed flight pattern that will be uploaded shortly before launch."
A long whistle of admiration drew their attention to where Vice was admiring something on the side. "Now that's what I call a rifle."
Mariel smiled, coming up beside him as he admired one of the more complete-looking golems, holding a large rifle gun not unlike his own. "We have been experimenting with different golem types, ever since we began receiving combat data from Hayate. Terra is an all-around model, but this is a long ranged version. It's not complete, as we still need to program an AI into it."
Vice turned her, grinning, holding up a gray card with a green jewel in it. "I have your AI right here. Storm Raider can interface with anything, and I can fly anything."
Mariel seemed to actually consider it. "It's possible, and we do have orders to make every resource available. We'll look into it." She walked away to talk to a pair of engineers about it.
"I'll be leaving the shuttle to you," Vice informed the girl next to him, his gaze not leaving the silvery golem.
"I would have thought you would have wanted to fly the ship," Alto told him. "You seem to want to fly everything these days."
He finally turned to her and grinned. "I want to fly and shoot. And I'll probably get a chance to fly the ship another time." He turned back to the golem, his eyes twinkling. "But this... this is what I dreamed of, ever since I found out about that other girl flying that other tin can around."
Further words were put on hold as the alarm flashed red in the hanger. The cause was soon clear; they were under attack.
"We're picking up elevated energy readings from the hostile!" Gerard called out. "Confirmed, it's firing!"
Hayate glanced at the timer, reading 3 hours and 15 minutes. "Already? What's the target?" She cursed; it figured Precia would wait until the Ventek was in the process of landing to attack.
"Initial tracking puts it somewhere in Clanagan," came the reply. "Impact in one minute!"
"Status of defensive systems?" Hayate called.
"Report from the engineering team says it's not quite ready yet; magic hasn't fully returned, so there isn't enough power," Gerard intoned.
"If she can fire energy weapons from that range, she can pick us off without having entering orbit!" Hayate said in frustration. "Our plan needs her to come closer. Brace for impact!"
The crimson beam cut through the atmosphere, striking the top of the TSAB spire in the center of the city. After traversing down it's length, the beam cut off upon reaching the bottom. For several long minutes, the spire burned.
"Oho, did you see that, ladies?" Quattro inquired, watching the reddish-glow on the horizon in the distance. "Our dear TSAB seems to be having something of a problem."
"And that concerns us, why?" Tre asked, laying in the grass and staring at the ceiling. "We're still stuck out here with our IS's locked. Sometimes I curse that damn bastard doctor for creating us."
Quattro turned to look at her two companions. "Just thinking out loud, mainly. It is a bit boring in here. Some... excitement might be nice."
Sette lifted her head. "Such as?"
"I'm not entirely sure," she admitted, putting a finger to her lips. "But I'm sure some opportunity will present itself."
Tre sighed and Quattro smiled.
"Any sign of a follow up attack?" Hayate asked, unable to suppress the thoughts that came up at the sight.
"Negative, the hostile is silent and continuing it's approach," Gerard confirmed.
The SS rank mage sat back in her seat, thinking. "So, it either needs time to charge such a long-range attack, or she wants to tell us something."
Nanoha appeared on one of the screens. "Hayate, the prophecy...."
"I know," the other girl replied softly, then quoted. "The dead shall dance and the tower of law in the central lands shall burn to the ground." They both watched as the inflamed tower began to collapse, and Hayate was glad that people had mostly been evacuated to the shelters. "We all thought Precia was dead, and she's been doing a whole lot of dancing."
Fate appeared next to Nanoha on the screen. "It's also a message. I know my mother, and can guess what she is trying to say. She took out the biggest symbol of the TSAB's presence on Mid-Childa. She wants to cause fear and despair before she arrives."
All three had the same thoughts: The real storm was set to begin, and Precia had just made the first strike.
Alhazard will reach orbit in 2 hours and 58 minutes.
Author's notes:
Hey, Kaijo just shamelessly ripped off Gundam seed with a mecha that had a normal battery, and then gets the equivalent of a nuclear engine! But hey, why write a Nanoha/Gundam fusion, when mecha can be worked in wonderfully to the regular Nanoha-verse? =)
And as you may suspect, the city arrives next chapter, and the main, and final, confrontation will begin. For those wondering about Precia's actions and motivations, and how they might not make much sense at times... I'll just tell you to keep reading. As a reminder, I like reason behind my antagonists.^^
I still do welcome feedback, though it is always an author's prerogative to use certain feedback or not; I'm sure every author here feels the same. I do welcome debates, too, but I'd request such debates be kept to PMs, to avoid clogging the thread and annoying the other posters, thank you.
Oh, and I also want to thank those who PM'ed me with their support. I appreciate the words of encouragement and open-minded feedback. I plan to finish this fic as I have outlined.
The freakiest way to wake up, and this was something that Jon had known for a while now, was to have Naomi stand next to your bed and say your name in as loud a voice as she ever mustered. If there was any time that he was trying to stop jumping out of his skin during, it was then.
This time was no exception.
He did wish that he stopped grabbing the covers and pulling them up to his chin while he stared at his disturber. But, of course, he hadn’t. He had also screamed like a little girl, and it was small comfort that Naomi wouldn’t ever tell anyone how he reacted to this treatment.
“An event,” she told him, before quickly and limberly clmaboring up the ladder to the main hallway of the Silver Blur. This gave Jon a moment to actually breathe in. That is, until he realized what Naomi’s message had meant, which sent him into a fit of coughing before he sprang up out of the bed and dressed before heading over to the Com Room.
When he got there, he found Naomi and Paul going over the screens, attempting to pierce the magical cloud that had settled around whatever place it was that was ‘being struck’ this time. Naomi turned to him upon his entrance. “There is a safe place to insert ourselves, if being in the event ourselves is safe.”
There was really no other option considering how the other two events had gone before and after they waited for the red cloud to dissipate and guarantee safe passage through the area. “We go in,” Jon said. “How hard would it be to grab us back out before the event ended?”
“I will send Paul coordinates,” Naomi told him.
Paul nodded. “As long as she’s spotting for me, I can manually override and make sure I get you guys back in a pinch.”
“So we’d only really need to make sure that we were keeping ourselves safe from the effects of the event,” Jon said aloud. “Alright. I’m going in with Naomi now, and we’ll head to the center as quickly as possible. Is the center close by the safe place that you found?”
“Under 400 meters,” Naomi replied.
Jon sighed. That was further than he had wanted it to be, but closer than he had been afraid of. “Alright. We’ll hurry to the location, then. Code phrase for pullout is ‘Blur out’.”
“Got it,” Paul told him. Then he hit a bunch of keys, which had the visual effect of lighting up the teleport pad. “Go ahead; I’ll get you down there as soon as you’re on the pad.”
Jon checked to make sure that his inactive PMD was on his belt like it should be (it was), then he headed over to the pad, followed by his first mate. Paul waved momentarily, then continued with his searching.
After blinking, Jon found himself huddled in the corner of an abandoned building’s porch. Naomi’s hand immediately obscured his vision, calling up one of her signature [color] shields. “I think I can block the event,” she said, shakily. Doing whatever she was doing was apparently taxing her.
“Are you alright?”
“I will be fine.”
Jon looked at her dubiously for a moment, then relented. “Fine. But if you feel like your assessment of that changes at any time, get us out of here. I can’t have you hurting yourself for this.”
“Understood.”
He wasn’t going to be getting any more out of her about this, so he didn’t try, instead looking around her hand in the direction that the event was probably coming from. As best that he could measure 400 meters was an intersection, at which several people were milling about.
Well, that was certainly helpful.
“Can you move and keep the defenses up? Also, can you not have your hand directly in front of my face and keep the defenses up?”
Wtihout a word, Naomi took her hand down from his eyes and held a larger, though flickeringly visible, shield in front of them. Once she was settled, she said. “We can travel. I cannot make my shield invisible.”
Jon touched her gently on the shoulder, casting a spell that was as easy for him as breathing. Her shield flickered out of visibility. “Mmf,” he said, making sure of his handiwork. “I think that'll work.”
He received a nod in reply. All set to go, the pair left the porch and got down onto the street, where people were going about their business, though every few seconds most of them jerked and shook their heads. Probably some sort of effect of the event that was coming from the intersection that was now 300 meters in front of them. While Naomi looked sort of strange with her hands splayed out in front of her, her proximity to another person seemed to deflect the stares. Jon didn't have time to wonder about it then, but he filed the thought for later: why weren't they continuing to stare? Without knowledge of magical barriers (and the fact that they can sometimes be invisible), she looked quite strange with her body in that position while she walked along the sidewalk.
As they approached the halfway point of the short trek, Jon was starting to make out faces of the people that were at the intersection that Naomi's instructions had indicated. Quite a few people were milling about there... as Jon watched, one particular person was walking in perfect circles (though small ones) at the corner opposite the one that Jon and Naomi would arrive at. He didn't seem to be noticing the fact that he was doing it (or maybe he was doing it on purpose). There were other instances of unexplained behavior. There was a woman pacing on the corner that Naomi and Jon were approaching. She executed a snap turn walked out of sight behind the building that was on the corner, then about a second or two later she was back in vision for a few steps before executing the next snap turn. Jon couldn't read her face from the distance.
Jon, out of reflex more than anything else, looked down at his first mate, whose face didn't give him any sort of indication as to what she thought about this whole event. His gaze went back up to the intersection, this time searching on purpose for the people who weren't experiencing bizzare behaviors. It was hard, as the Train-Wreck Principle was working against him, but he was able to identify three people who were just standing in the same spot, looking around at the people around them (in some cases incredulously).
On the corner that was now only 100 meters away, there was a woman whose blonde hair was tied up in a bun above a vividly red cloak. Her head was turning to watch a lot of different people around her, though she was completely ignoring the pacing woman that was directly behind her. She also seemed to be looking for someone in particular and not finding them, now that Jon could see her face somewhat.
On the corner that was across the street straight ahead, was an older gentleman whose head was slowly sweeping across the assembled people. He watched cars in particular as they came across the intersection, though there weren't all that many going by right then, and he was watching all the people with the bizzare actions and sort of flinching away if one seemed to make a movement toward him.
On the opposite corner from the one that Jon and Naomi were about to arrive on, there was a young man in a long black cloak and a black hat. His eyes were flipping between the two other people that were not doing something extremely strange, and his eyes also took in the newcomers to the intersection as he gave a cursory look to the rest of the people that were nearby. His hands and arms were hidden inside the cloak, though it didn't seem like he was doing much with them, or was hiding anything significant underneath. It was a little unnerving how strong his stare was, but Jon held up to it admirably.
“Which one, do you think?” Jon said, quietly enough that neither the pacing woman or the blonde looking at all the strange people could hear his question. Naomi passed her glance over everyone in a swift motion.
“Him,” she said, indicating with a nod of her head the young man in the black cloak all the way diagonally across the paved road.
Jon nodded. “I agree.” He pressed his PMD gently. “We're at the location,” he said, his voice even lower. “Can you hear me?”
There was some white noise in the background, but the reply was audible against the noise (and Mil had tuned it so that only Naomi and Jon could hear it. “Good enough, anyway.” It was Paul.
“Target A is a young man in a black cloak that comes to his knees and black boots beneath that. I think he's wearing black pants over the boots and under the cloak. He's wearing a black hat. If you find us, he's currently diagonally across the intersection.”
“Got it,” came the reply. “I hope the event ends soon.”
But that isn't what happened next.
Everything was suddenly washed over with a black-ish aura that slid across the intersection from the older gentleman's corner through the buildings and all. People winked out of visibility when the aura touched them, but a few remained, including Jon and Naomi. Naomi had jumped in front of Jon with a brightly visible shield in front of her, but the aura seemed to ignore it and pass right through it and her and then through Jon, she spun to look at Jon, but he looked unharmed. He was looking above the building where the aura had come from, looking for someone who could have caused. Suddenly visible at the edge of the building was a figure in what was obviously Barrier Clothing. Her stark red hair would have been more noticible if it hadn't been for the two firearm-formed PMDs she was weilding.
One was pointed right at Naomi.
“Stand down! I am Enforcer Teana Lanster of the TSAB. One of you is performing dangerous magic, and I demand you cease immediately or face consequences! If you stand down now, you will be allowed a trial!” She called her message into the intersection with authority. Authority that Jon had no intention of obeying.
“I can't reach them,” Naomi said, pointing to the communications device that Jon had given her. This made Jon cringe. It was a bad thing if communications with the Silver Blur were cut off.
Jon pressed himself against the outer wall of the building before saying, “Mil, set up.”
“Set up: Combat Form.” Jon felt his Barrier Clothing coalesce around him, and he held the familiar weight of Mil's rifle for long and short range combat in his hands. Naomi was in a ready stance against the wall next to him.
“None of you are going to comply?” the figure called, this time with clear warning in her voice. Jon took a look down the way that the two of them had come, seeing more of the black aura everywhere, but the most disturbing thing was that there was another figure approaching from that side as well. This one's Barrier Clothing was black in the main area but with a white cape/cloak that was wrapped around her. She carried a black pole with a... was that a bardiche on the end? She looked dangerous. More importantly, she was cutting off their easiest escape route.
“Two known additional targets,” Jon said under his breath to Naomi. “One I am facing right now, while the other's on the top of that building.”
“She's not there.”
Jon's head whipped around, and sure enough the woman with the guns akimbo was nowhere in sight. He whipped back to keep his eye on the more immediate threat. “Figures,” Jon said. “Abort trying to find the original target; we need to escape to outside this... thing. Is the event occuring any more?”
“No.”
“Then if we can get out of this thing, we're home free,” Jon said. Then the blonde woman who was approaching Jon reached a place where she decided to stop and address them. “You are armed with Devices on an Unadministered world, and using magic in the full view of citizens of said world. You are in violation of TSAB law. Will you come quietly?”
“I don't submit to made up organizations, generally,” Jon said mildly. Though then he was struck by a thought. “We also seem to be outside the borders of your organization... the TS... something?”
The woman with the long blonde hair pointed her PMD at Jon. “The TSAB's authority extends to anywhere that its interests lie.”
Funny, he thought to himself. That was precisely the same thing that the Empire thought. If this woman actually was from some organization called the TSAB... this was a whole new can of worms. “I won't be submitting to an organization that I am not a part of; I don't even submit fully to the organization that claims me.”
“What organization would that be?”
Jon tried not to make a face, but he probably failed. “The Malainian Alliance. Or the MCAW, the Malainian Confederation of Allied Worlds. How about your... TSAB?”
“The Time-Space Administration Bureau,” she replied. “Do you act with the authority of your organization?”
From behind Jon, he heard Naomi quietly. “The other target is chasing Target A. We don't have to worry about her for now.”
“In some things, yes,” Jon replied to the woman, though he then mumbled, “Pick a direction and give me a signal; I'll follow you.” He felt Naomi take the hand that was behind his back and squeeze it once, then twwice to indicate she had gotten the message.
“Then I think it would be best if you came with us to our ship...”
“Now's not the best time,” Jon said with a wry grin.
“Aerowing,” Jon's PMD stated and things went a little crazy for a moment.
As it is still November, I'm not really looking for comments (Don't worry; I'll post this scene here again if I don't cut it, and you can yell at me for whatever then ). Just giving you a part of what I've been working on for the past month.
...
Dammit, now I want to read the full entry. D: This teaser caught my attention and I want more! I was sad to see it end, especially on that cliffhanger!
I love how I can spend an hour or two writing something, post it, and no one notices because they're busy arguing about how magic can or can't work. Don't you?
Spoiler for Mirror Universe Nanoha (Possibly NSFW):
A treasure chest. A magically sealed treasure chest. On a marble altar. In the middle of a forest.
Yuno Non-Scrya swore colorfully at the simple... clicheness of it all, his fingers dancing like a master conductor as he magically analyzed, prodded, and finally dismantled the legion of enchantments and seals upon the chest that contained his prize. He'd been working for hours now, but it would be worth it: the Logia-Artifact believed to be within would fetch quite a nice price if he could claim it. He'd hoped to do so without any interference, but sadly a small group of local guardians had been nearby and had detected his work, sweeping in to deal with his intrusion. They'd be very skilled, prepared to face and best anything short of a demon in combat.
Yuno grinned as he glanced briefly to his right.
Fortunately, he had a White Devil at his command.
Nanoha's nude form stood a short distance away, where the crimson magical energies that raged around her would not interfere with his delicate work, swaying almost drunkenly in the wind and gazing listlessly at the fist-sized crimson orb in her hands that was Raging Heart. Her naked body was thickly coated in blood from the locals, whose butchered corpses lay scattered - often in several pieces - around the clearing. One particularly unfortunate guardian's remains were even located in no less than three separate trees!
The savagery, the bloodshed... oh, how it truly excited him to have such a minion under his control! He had indeed chosen well back then, on that tiny, miserable little backwater world where the Jewel Seeds had eluded his grasp. He'd lost quite a bit of an investment there and nearly damaged his standing with the Harlaown syndicate, but in the end it had all been worth it; he'd never believed he'd be able to so easily acquire such a willing and able host for Raging Heart's power! A little research on local entertainment, a simple illusion, a few empty words about love and justice and the planet's moon for whatever fool reason and then the Daemonhost was his. Glorious! Shame about that family of hers, though.
He could only hope that he'd be able to find a replacement so easily. The woman had been useful over the years - her power, her savagery, her exquisite body, all to use as he saw fit... but it'd been a full ten years now. No mere mortal could handle the strain of channeling an Infernal Device for long, and a Logia-Artifact ID like Raging Heart? Miss Takamachi would be lucky to see her twenty-fifth birthday, and the chances of her reaching thirty were astronomically low at best. He'd toyed with the idea of trying to breed a replacement out of her, but he hadn't expected her to last long when the notion had first come to mind and it was far too late to try it now. Ah well, he didn't particularly like children anyway.
Yuno frowned as he unraveled another ward, only to find yet a dozen more hidden underneath. "This is taking far too long!" he muttered, sneering down at the chest before him as if it were consciously hiding it's secrets from him.
"As you say, master." Nanoha instantly responded to his statement, eyes still gazing lovingly into the darkness swirling within the Stone in her hands, like a kind mother looking down at the smiling face of her child.
"I wasn't talking to you, slave." Yuno sneered, "Be silent! This is delicate work."
Nanoha merely nodded absently, still entranced by her device.
Yuno through himself into his work with renewed vigor and perhaps a little less caution, eager to get the damn Logia-Artifact and get off this accursed planet already. He already had enough frustrations to work off on his minion tonight, he didn't need to risk breaking her again. That time eight years ago had nearly cost him the greatest asset he had outside of his own abilities and had nearly landed him in an Alhazredian prison, and he had no intention of repea-
"SCRYA!"
Yuno bit back a curse and sped up his work as fast as he dared. "Miss Testarossa. Come to try my patience yet again?"
"Your bounty's gone up again, Non-Scrya!" Fate Testarossa clenched her hands around her ebony Belkan swordstaff, face hard, an explosion of golden power erupting from her and causing her black cape to flap harshly on the artificial breeze. "I'm freeing your slave and bringing you in!"
"And yet again you make promises you never keep." He really didn't have time for this. "Nanoha? Kill them."
Nanoha turned, grinning malevolently, and paused for a moment. "'Them', master?"
Yuno would've blinked if it wouldn't have disrupted his work. Instead he smiled.
"Come without your sister this time, Fate-chan?" Yuno ignored her furious growl at his choice in honorific, "You'll regret that I think. Kill her, slave."
"Yes, my master." Nanoha raised Raging Heart before her.
"Nanoha, stop!" Fate shouted, stepping forward and extending one arm, "You mustn't call upon the Stone's power!"
Too late for her. With the psychic shriek of tormented souls - one female scream of agony much louder and more recognizable than the rest - Raging Heart exploded into streams of blood-red light, which flowed around Nanoha's body and congealed, blackening into the foul-smelling and damp cloth of her barrier jacket, which clung tightly to her body, and her hair straightened and flowed into twin tails bound in thin black ribbons. Runes of crimson blood forming upon the exposed parts of her skin, of which there were many, and Nanoha's soul screamed once more as a pair of feathery crimson wings burst from her back.
Then, with a blast of dark energy, a portal to the Infernal realm tore it's way through space-time, the air around it distorting from both the blatant disruption of physics and the sheer searing heat emanating from the Hellgate.
Nanoha reached in, shuddering and moaning in a mixture of agony and pleasure as her flesh began to roast, and then pulled her arm back, the black shaft, crimson orb, and finally the bronze blade of Raging Heart's true form coming to rest in her hands, which sizzled from the effort of holding a weapon which still glowed hot with hellfire.
Then, the twin sounds of her physical laughter and psychic sobbing echoing throughout the forest, the White Devil hurled herself into the fray.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Knight Gafgar
I love how I can spend an hour or two writing something, post it, and no one notices because they're busy arguing about how magic can or can't work. Don't you?
Spoiler for Mirror Universe Nanoha (Possibly NSFW):
A treasure chest. A magically sealed treasure chest. On a marble altar. In the middle of a forest.
Yuno Non-Scrya swore colorfully at the simple... clicheness of it all, his fingers dancing like a master conductor as he magically analyzed, prodded, and finally dismantled the legion of enchantments and seals upon the chest that contained his prize. He'd been working for hours now, but it would be worth it: the Logia-Artifact believed to be within would fetch quite a nice price if he could claim it. He'd hoped to do so without any interference, but sadly a small group of local guardians had been nearby and had detected his work, sweeping in to deal with his intrusion. They'd be very skilled, prepared to face and best anything short of a demon in combat.
Yuno grinned as he glanced briefly to his right.
Fortunately, he had a White Devil at his command.
Nanoha's nude form stood a short distance away, where the crimson magical energies that raged around her would not interfere with his delicate work, swaying almost drunkenly in the wind and gazing listlessly at the fist-sized crimson orb in her hands that was Raging Heart. Her naked body was thickly coated in blood from the locals, whose butchered corpses lay scattered - often in several pieces - around the clearing. One particularly unfortunate guardian's remains were even located in no less than three separate trees!
The savagery, the bloodshed... oh, how it truly excited him to have such a minion under his control! He had indeed chosen well back then, on that tiny, miserable little backwater world where the Jewel Seeds had eluded his grasp. He'd lost quite a bit of an investment there and nearly damaged his standing with the Harlaown syndicate, but in the end it had all been worth it; he'd never believed he'd be able to so easily acquire such a willing and able host for Raging Heart's power! A little research on local entertainment, a simple illusion, a few empty words about love and justice and the planet's moon for whatever fool reason and then the Daemonhost was his. Glorious! Shame about that family of hers, though.
He could only hope that he'd be able to find a replacement so easily. The woman had been useful over the years - her power, her savagery, her exquisite body, all to use as he saw fit... but it'd been a full ten years now. No mere mortal could handle the strain of channeling an Infernal Device for long, and a Logia-Artifact ID like Raging Heart? Miss Takamachi would be lucky to see her twenty-fifth birthday, and the chances of her reaching thirty were astronomically low at best. He'd toyed with the idea of trying to breed a replacement out of her, but he hadn't expected her to last long when the notion had first come to mind and it was far too late to try it now. Ah well, he didn't particularly like children anyway.
Yuno frowned as he unraveled another ward, only to find yet a dozen more hidden underneath. "This is taking far too long!" he muttered, sneering down at the chest before him as if it were consciously hiding it's secrets from him.
"As you say, master." Nanoha instantly responded to his statement, eyes still gazing lovingly into the darkness swirling within the Stone in her hands, like a kind mother looking down at the smiling face of her child.
"I wasn't talking to you, slave." Yuno sneered, "Be silent! This is delicate work."
Nanoha merely nodded absently, still entranced by her device.
Yuno through himself into his work with renewed vigor and perhaps a little less caution, eager to get the damn Logia-Artifact and get off this accursed planet already. He already had enough frustrations to work off on his minion tonight, he didn't need to risk breaking her again. That time eight years ago had nearly cost him the greatest asset he had outside of his own abilities and had nearly landed him in an Alhazredian prison, and he had no intention of repea-
"SCRYA!"
Yuno bit back a curse and sped up his work as fast as he dared. "Miss Testarossa. Come to try my patience yet again?"
"Your bounty's gone up again, Non-Scrya!" Fate Testarossa clenched her hands around her ebony Belkan swordstaff, face hard, an explosion of golden power erupting from her and causing her black cape to flap harshly on the artificial breeze. "I'm freeing your slave and bringing you in!"
"And yet again you make promises you never keep." He really didn't have time for this. "Nanoha? Kill them."
Nanoha turned, grinning malevolently, and paused for a moment. "'Them', master?"
Yuno would've blinked if it wouldn't have disrupted his work. Instead he smiled.
"Come without your sister this time, Fate-chan?" Yuno ignored her furious growl at his choice in honorific, "You'll regret that I think. Kill her, slave."
"Yes, my master." Nanoha raised Raging Heart before her.
"Nanoha, stop!" Fate shouted, stepping forward and extending one arm, "You mustn't call upon the Stone's power!"
Too late for her. With the psychic shriek of tormented souls - one female scream of agony much louder and more recognizable than the rest - Raging Heart exploded into streams of blood-red light, which flowed around Nanoha's body and congealed, blackening into the foul-smelling and damp cloth of her barrier jacket, which clung tightly to her body, and her hair straightened and flowed into twin tails bound in thin black ribbons. Runes of crimson blood forming upon the exposed parts of her skin, of which there were many, and Nanoha's soul screamed once more as a pair of feathery crimson wings burst from her back.
Then, with a blast of dark energy, a portal to the Infernal realm tore it's way through space-time, the air around it distorting from both the blatant disruption of physics and the sheer searing heat emanating from the Hellgate.
Nanoha reached in, shuddering and moaning in a mixture of agony and pleasure as her flesh began to roast, and then pulled her arm back, the black shaft, crimson orb, and finally the bronze blade of Raging Heart's true form coming to rest in her hands, which sizzled from the effort of holding a weapon which still glowed hot with hellfire.
Then, the twin sounds of her physical laughter and psychic sobbing echoing throughout the forest, the White Devil hurled herself into the fray.
Sorry, Gaf, wasn't aware of how I'd set things off. I found it amusing, but I don't think I'll comment much on fics, as my ideas are too dangerously different. :P
I love how I can spend an hour or two writing something, post it, and no one notices because they're busy arguing about how magic can or can't work. Don't you?
Spoiler for Mirror Universe Nanoha (Possibly NSFW):
A treasure chest. A magically sealed treasure chest. On a marble altar. In the middle of a forest.
Yuno Non-Scrya swore colorfully at the simple... clicheness of it all, his fingers dancing like a master conductor as he magically analyzed, prodded, and finally dismantled the legion of enchantments and seals upon the chest that contained his prize. He'd been working for hours now, but it would be worth it: the Logia-Artifact believed to be within would fetch quite a nice price if he could claim it. He'd hoped to do so without any interference, but sadly a small group of local guardians had been nearby and had detected his work, sweeping in to deal with his intrusion. They'd be very skilled, prepared to face and best anything short of a demon in combat.
Yuno grinned as he glanced briefly to his right.
Fortunately, he had a White Devil at his command.
Nanoha's nude form stood a short distance away, where the crimson magical energies that raged around her would not interfere with his delicate work, swaying almost drunkenly in the wind and gazing listlessly at the fist-sized crimson orb in her hands that was Raging Heart. Her naked body was thickly coated in blood from the locals, whose butchered corpses lay scattered - often in several pieces - around the clearing. One particularly unfortunate guardian's remains were even located in no less than three separate trees!
The savagery, the bloodshed... oh, how it truly excited him to have such a minion under his control! He had indeed chosen well back then, on that tiny, miserable little backwater world where the Jewel Seeds had eluded his grasp. He'd lost quite a bit of an investment there and nearly damaged his standing with the Harlaown syndicate, but in the end it had all been worth it; he'd never believed he'd be able to so easily acquire such a willing and able host for Raging Heart's power! A little research on local entertainment, a simple illusion, a few empty words about love and justice and the planet's moon for whatever fool reason and then the Daemonhost was his. Glorious! Shame about that family of hers, though.
He could only hope that he'd be able to find a replacement so easily. The woman had been useful over the years - her power, her savagery, her exquisite body, all to use as he saw fit... but it'd been a full ten years now. No mere mortal could handle the strain of channeling an Infernal Device for long, and a Logia-Artifact ID like Raging Heart? Miss Takamachi would be lucky to see her twenty-fifth birthday, and the chances of her reaching thirty were astronomically low at best. He'd toyed with the idea of trying to breed a replacement out of her, but he hadn't expected her to last long when the notion had first come to mind and it was far too late to try it now. Ah well, he didn't particularly like children anyway.
Yuno frowned as he unraveled another ward, only to find yet a dozen more hidden underneath. "This is taking far too long!" he muttered, sneering down at the chest before him as if it were consciously hiding it's secrets from him.
"As you say, master." Nanoha instantly responded to his statement, eyes still gazing lovingly into the darkness swirling within the Stone in her hands, like a kind mother looking down at the smiling face of her child.
"I wasn't talking to you, slave." Yuno sneered, "Be silent! This is delicate work."
Nanoha merely nodded absently, still entranced by her device.
Yuno through himself into his work with renewed vigor and perhaps a little less caution, eager to get the damn Logia-Artifact and get off this accursed planet already. He already had enough frustrations to work off on his minion tonight, he didn't need to risk breaking her again. That time eight years ago had nearly cost him the greatest asset he had outside of his own abilities and had nearly landed him in an Alhazredian prison, and he had no intention of repea-
"SCRYA!"
Yuno bit back a curse and sped up his work as fast as he dared. "Miss Testarossa. Come to try my patience yet again?"
"Your bounty's gone up again, Non-Scrya!" Fate Testarossa clenched her hands around her ebony Belkan swordstaff, face hard, an explosion of golden power erupting from her and causing her black cape to flap harshly on the artificial breeze. "I'm freeing your slave and bringing you in!"
"And yet again you make promises you never keep." He really didn't have time for this. "Nanoha? Kill them."
Nanoha turned, grinning malevolently, and paused for a moment. "'Them', master?"
Yuno would've blinked if it wouldn't have disrupted his work. Instead he smiled.
"Come without your sister this time, Fate-chan?" Yuno ignored her furious growl at his choice in honorific, "You'll regret that I think. Kill her, slave."
"Yes, my master." Nanoha raised Raging Heart before her.
"Nanoha, stop!" Fate shouted, stepping forward and extending one arm, "You mustn't call upon the Stone's power!"
Too late for her. With the psychic shriek of tormented souls - one female scream of agony much louder and more recognizable than the rest - Raging Heart exploded into streams of blood-red light, which flowed around Nanoha's body and congealed, blackening into the foul-smelling and damp cloth of her barrier jacket, which clung tightly to her body, and her hair straightened and flowed into twin tails bound in thin black ribbons. Runes of crimson blood forming upon the exposed parts of her skin, of which there were many, and Nanoha's soul screamed once more as a pair of feathery crimson wings burst from her back.
Then, with a blast of dark energy, a portal to the Infernal realm tore it's way through space-time, the air around it distorting from both the blatant disruption of physics and the sheer searing heat emanating from the Hellgate.
Nanoha reached in, shuddering and moaning in a mixture of agony and pleasure as her flesh began to roast, and then pulled her arm back, the black shaft, crimson orb, and finally the bronze blade of Raging Heart's true form coming to rest in her hands, which sizzled from the effort of holding a weapon which still glowed hot with hellfire.
Then, the twin sounds of her physical laughter and psychic sobbing echoing throughout the forest, the White Devil hurled herself into the fray.
I read it the first time you posted it but didn't really have much to say outside of superficial stuff like "It was interesting." Hm, maybe for times like this is when I should use the reputation system.
Probably not. We've been discussing Mirror Universes over on TFF recently, and the idea popped into my head so I decided to see how many souls I could crush with Yuno the Evil Bastard. Since most people seem to have just been "meh" towards it, I think I'll look into something else.
They only did that in the final episode, though, and obviously this fic happens before that. Besides, I like Faiz and I wanted to do the whole Blaster VS Blaster thing.
What, you can't see him with ALL his hair spiked up? Would give a super saiyan a run for their money
Darn someone beat me to the idea of Yuuno and Den-o fusion...^^; Oh well, not liked I knew enough about Den-o to specifically make a fic out of that. Though, I imagined Yuuno's hair back into a pony tail *with no bangs with the exception of one lose red strand...^^;*
Though, I still how much the Imagin would cause Yuuno...
After a month plus of hanging elsewhere, I've decided to try and see if it's safe to come back in here. This time, I'll throw out a minimum-detail thing to see what you all think - more than a bare-bones skeleton of an outline, this is just a small bunch of bones. I seek suggestions on how to complete the skeleton and add some flesh to it... or if I should just reject & bury the fragments and try again in a few months.
What I've got so far: in this fic, Teana's parents were killed partly because they were betrayed, when a "friend" gave vital information in exchange for a large sum of money, and his betrayal led to Sayuri & Tarlis Lanstar being ambushed and killed. The betrayer then fled to parts unknown. His name is Ahlus Kahn (Captain Kirk: "KAAAAAAAHNNNN!!!" [Nostalgia Critic: "Knock it off!"]).
Teana manages to track him down to a little-known desert world, not telling the rest of the group for fear that they may try to stop her from pursuing her. When she arrives, she soon realizes that Kahn knows she's on the planet. In response, she sends him this message:
Spoiler for epic speech:
“Kahn… you don’t know who I am, do you? 12 years ago you betrayed my family; you traded their blood for money, and made an orphan out of a four-year-old little girl… me. They’re dead because of you. You took them from me. …You’ve probably ruined so many lives like you did mine that you can’t even tell who I’m talking about. But by the end, you will know who I am. ...You probably don’t even consider me a threat, considering you’re an S-rank mage with over 500 soldiers protecting you, after all. You think that when this is over, you’ll still be alive & well, and I’ll be just another corpse buried by the endless dunes. Understandable; after all, the healthy human mind doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day alive. I know I probably won’t make it off this planet alive. None of my comrades know I am here, and this mission is strictly off the record; after all, it’s a mission I’ve given myself. It’s likely that no-one will know or even remember what becomes of me, and if I die, even those that love me will eventually move on and forget. But the sand and rocks here, silent sentries over this long-tortured world… they will remember me for this, telling my tale for millennia, to those yet to come. For out of all the pain and misfortune, all the heartbreak and suffering, all the endless nightmares I’ve gone through… this is the one I choose for myself. And so, I fall upon you and your vaunted ‘warriors’, I come forth like a breath exhaled from the earth. With vigor and conviction in my heart, and one goal, one single, all-consuming purpose in my soul. I. Will. Kill you.”
From here, I don't know how to proceed. Whether to have Teana succeed or fail. Whether she lives to return home, achieves her objective but dies from injuries, or (most depressing option) is killed without managing to do whjat she set out to. Whether or not to have any of the rest of Riot Force 6 show up for a Big Damn Heroes moment, or whether Tia's mission remains a total secret. I seek suggestions. Please be nice. And a bonus point to whoever can recognize what video game holds the speech that Teana's speech is partly based off of.
After a month plus of hanging elsewhere, I've decided to try and see if it's safe to come back in here. This time, I'll throw out a minimum-detail thing to see what you all think - more than a bare-bones skeleton of an outline, this is just a small bunch of bones. I seek suggestions on how to complete the skeleton and add some flesh to it... or if I should just reject & bury the fragments and try again in a few months.
What I've got so far: in this fic, Teana's parents were killed partly because they were betrayed, when a "friend" gave vital information in exchange for a large sum of money, and his betrayal led to Sayuri & Tarlis Lanstar being ambushed and killed. The betrayer then fled to parts unknown. His name is Ahlus Kahn (Captain Kirk: "KAAAAAAAHNNNN!!!" [Nostalgia Critic: "Knock it off!"]).
Teana manages to track him down to a little-known desert world, not telling the rest of the group for fear that they may try to stop her from pursuing her. When she arrives, she soon realizes that Kahn knows she's on the planet. In response, she sends him this message:
Spoiler for epic speech:
“Kahn… you don’t know who I am, do you? 12 years ago you betrayed my family; you traded their blood for money, and made an orphan out of a four-year-old little girl… me. They’re dead because of you. You took them from me. …You’ve probably ruined so many lives like you did mine that you can’t even tell who I’m talking about. But by the end, you will know who I am. ...You probably don’t even consider me a threat, considering you’re an S-rank mage with over 500 soldiers protecting you, after all. You think that when this is over, you’ll still be alive & well, and I’ll be just another corpse buried by the endless dunes. Understandable; after all, the healthy human mind doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day alive. I know I probably won’t make it off this planet alive. None of my comrades know I am here, and this mission is strictly off the record; after all, it’s a mission I’ve given myself. It’s likely that no-one will know or even remember what becomes of me, and if I die, even those that love me will eventually move on and forget. But the sand and rocks here, silent sentries over this long-tortured world… they will remember me for this, telling my tale for millennia, to those yet to come. For out of all the pain and misfortune, all the heartbreak and suffering, all the endless nightmares I’ve gone through… this is the one I choose for myself. And so, I fall upon you and your vaunted ‘warriors’, I come forth like a breath exhaled from the earth. With vigor and conviction in my heart, and one goal, one single, all-consuming purpose in my soul. I. Will. Kill you.”
From here, I don't know how to proceed. Whether to have Teana succeed or fail. Whether she lives to return home, achieves her objective but dies from injuries, or (most depressing option) is killed without managing to do whjat she set out to. Whether or not to have any of the rest of Riot Force 6 show up for a Big Damn Heroes moment, or whether Tia's mission remains a total secret. I seek suggestions. Please be nice. And a bonus point to whoever can recognize what video game holds the speech that Teana's speech is partly based off of.
Are you actually going to listen to the comments this time around? Last time you just ignored everyone and ran off, wasting out time. Before I think about commenting, I'd like to know if you're more mature this time around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Knight Gafgar
I love how I can spend an hour or two writing something, post it, and no one notices because they're busy arguing about how magic can or can't work. Don't you?
I agree on the whole arguing, but people probably read it. As it was stated, you can't always get people to comment if they don't have anything to say.
After a month plus of hanging elsewhere, I've decided to try and see if it's safe to come back in here. This time, I'll throw out a minimum-detail thing to see what you all think - more than a bare-bones skeleton of an outline, this is just a small bunch of bones. I seek suggestions on how to complete the skeleton and add some flesh to it... or if I should just reject & bury the fragments and try again in a few months.
What I've got so far: in this fic, Teana's parents were killed partly because they were betrayed, when a "friend" gave vital information in exchange for a large sum of money, and his betrayal led to Sayuri & Tarlis Lanstar being ambushed and killed. The betrayer then fled to parts unknown. His name is Ahlus Kahn (Captain Kirk: "KAAAAAAAHNNNN!!!" [Nostalgia Critic: "Knock it off!"]).
Teana manages to track him down to a little-known desert world, not telling the rest of the group for fear that they may try to stop her from pursuing her. When she arrives, she soon realizes that Kahn knows she's on the planet. In response, she sends him this message:
Spoiler for epic speech:
“Kahn… you don’t know who I am, do you? 12 years ago you betrayed my family; you traded their blood for money, and made an orphan out of a four-year-old little girl… me. They’re dead because of you. You took them from me. …You’ve probably ruined so many lives like you did mine that you can’t even tell who I’m talking about. But by the end, you will know who I am. ...You probably don’t even consider me a threat, considering you’re an S-rank mage with over 500 soldiers protecting you, after all. You think that when this is over, you’ll still be alive & well, and I’ll be just another corpse buried by the endless dunes. Understandable; after all, the healthy human mind doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day alive. I know I probably won’t make it off this planet alive. None of my comrades know I am here, and this mission is strictly off the record; after all, it’s a mission I’ve given myself. It’s likely that no-one will know or even remember what becomes of me, and if I die, even those that love me will eventually move on and forget. But the sand and rocks here, silent sentries over this long-tortured world… they will remember me for this, telling my tale for millennia, to those yet to come. For out of all the pain and misfortune, all the heartbreak and suffering, all the endless nightmares I’ve gone through… this is the one I choose for myself. And so, I fall upon you and your vaunted ‘warriors’, I come forth like a breath exhaled from the earth. With vigor and conviction in my heart, and one goal, one single, all-consuming purpose in my soul. I. Will. Kill you.”
From here, I don't know how to proceed. Whether to have Teana succeed or fail. Whether she lives to return home, achieves her objective but dies from injuries, or (most depressing option) is killed without managing to do whjat she set out to. Whether or not to have any of the rest of Riot Force 6 show up for a Big Damn Heroes moment, or whether Tia's mission remains a total secret. I seek suggestions. Please be nice. And a bonus point to whoever can recognize what video game holds the speech that Teana's speech is partly based off of.
I'm going to have to agree with what Satashi just said, mate. I probably don't have the right to tell you off, considering that 1.) I'm still new around here, 2.) I'm not a great writer myself, and 3.) this might actually start off a flaming session, but regardless of how long you "stay away" from the Nanoha FFT, people will still remember you for the way you're behaving.
So, please, grow up. As Satashi said, take everyone's feedback to heart to make your story happen. I've mentioned that I'm not a good writer myself, but I still write down something whenever I'm hit by a plot bunny, and I still post whatever that I have in the FFT, regardless of whether people actually read it or not. Not that I care about the lack of responses - I'm more into writing original music and making photocomics, and I'm satisfied as long as people do read my stuff.
Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Can... can we please just drop my past behavior for now and help me with my new fic idea? PLEASE?
Well, I don't know who you are or what you've done in the past. I'm the last person who should hold that against you anyways, seeing as what I'm guilty of.
Anyways, on to your fic idea. As some one who really likes Teana (a lot) I have several points to make:
1.) We know nothing about her parents or their deaths, so them being betrayed and whatnot is plausable. However, on to point two.
2.) Teana was very young when she lost her parents, so she wasn't very attached to them. That's not to say she wouldn't want justice on the people who killed them, but I don't think it would go to the extent of an unauthorized commando suicide revenge mission.
3.) Tiida (her brother) was a much more significant person in her life. We know he was killed during a mission and the culprit was captured afterwards. If this culprit was working for this Kahn fellow, that could justify her desire for revenge.
4.) While she may desire revenge, Teana wouldn't do anything stupid like going to face a 'S-rank mage with over 500 soldiers protecting him' by herself. A major development point for her in StrikerS was that she learned to stop trying to overcompensate for her abilities alone, and to allow herself to rely on her teammates.
5.) Her dream is to be an Enforcer, so again, going off on her own isn't reasonable. It would work if, as an Enforcer, she requested to be assigned to the investigation of Kahn, and go through official channels and inevitably confront him. She wouldn't be so brazen as to say "I will kill you" but more "I'm taking you in."
Your premise is workable, but I suggest considering the changes above to have Teana more in character.
After a month plus of hanging elsewhere, I've decided to try and see if it's safe to come back in here. This time, I'll throw out a minimum-detail thing to see what you all think - more than a bare-bones skeleton of an outline, this is just a small bunch of bones. I seek suggestions on how to complete the skeleton and add some flesh to it... or if I should just reject & bury the fragments and try again in a few months.
What I've got so far: in this fic, Teana's parents were killed partly because they were betrayed, when a "friend" gave vital information in exchange for a large sum of money, and his betrayal led to Sayuri & Tarlis Lanstar being ambushed and killed. The betrayer then fled to parts unknown. His name is Ahlus Kahn (Captain Kirk: "KAAAAAAAHNNNN!!!" [Nostalgia Critic: "Knock it off!"]).
Teana manages to track him down to a little-known desert world, not telling the rest of the group for fear that they may try to stop her from pursuing her. When she arrives, she soon realizes that Kahn knows she's on the planet. In response, she sends him this message:
Spoiler for epic speech:
“Kahn… you don’t know who I am, do you? 12 years ago you betrayed my family; you traded their blood for money, and made an orphan out of a four-year-old little girl… me. They’re dead because of you. You took them from me. …You’ve probably ruined so many lives like you did mine that you can’t even tell who I’m talking about. But by the end, you will know who I am. ...You probably don’t even consider me a threat, considering you’re an S-rank mage with over 500 soldiers protecting you, after all. You think that when this is over, you’ll still be alive & well, and I’ll be just another corpse buried by the endless dunes. Understandable; after all, the healthy human mind doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day alive. I know I probably won’t make it off this planet alive. None of my comrades know I am here, and this mission is strictly off the record; after all, it’s a mission I’ve given myself. It’s likely that no-one will know or even remember what becomes of me, and if I die, even those that love me will eventually move on and forget. But the sand and rocks here, silent sentries over this long-tortured world… they will remember me for this, telling my tale for millennia, to those yet to come. For out of all the pain and misfortune, all the heartbreak and suffering, all the endless nightmares I’ve gone through… this is the one I choose for myself. And so, I fall upon you and your vaunted ‘warriors’, I come forth like a breath exhaled from the earth. With vigor and conviction in my heart, and one goal, one single, all-consuming purpose in my soul. I. Will. Kill you.”
From here, I don't know how to proceed. Whether to have Teana succeed or fail. Whether she lives to return home, achieves her objective but dies from injuries, or (most depressing option) is killed without managing to do whjat she set out to. Whether or not to have any of the rest of Riot Force 6 show up for a Big Damn Heroes moment, or whether Tia's mission remains a total secret. I seek suggestions. Please be nice. And a bonus point to whoever can recognize what video game holds the speech that Teana's speech is partly based off of.
...
...
...
No comment. Just.... no comment. I'm not doing this again.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
On the other hand, it made me do this:
Spoiler for Coming Home:
The group was coming back to Mid-Childa after a particularly arduous mission, aboard Chrono's ship this time, when they got the warning.
The speakers crackled as they attempted to play the static-filled message. "Do no... approach Mid-Chi... I rep... not appro... Childa..."
"The message just repeats, Admiral," Lucino told him.
"What could be going on?" Fate wondered aloud.
"Lucino, bring us out of hyperspace well away from the planet," Chrono commanded. The helmswoman acknowledge, and the ship dropped back into normal space.
"Sensors indicate something in orbit of the planet," Griffith said, checking a side science console. "Some sort of ship. It appears to draining power from the planet. There's also a strange frequency being emitted from it."
He put it up on the speakers as they all listened.
Caro smacked her hand with her fist. "I know what that is! The preserve has old recordings of extinct species. It sounds like the mating call of the wild gorillasquid!"
"Didn't those go extinct hundreds of thousands of years ago?" Erio asked.
Hayate leapt to her feet, grinning. "Well, there's only one choice: Go back and time and grab a couple of gorillasquids, and bring them forward to do the nasty!"
"This doesn't sound like a good idea..." Nanoha offered with trepidation.
"No no, it'll work!" Hayate replied, growing more excited. "Teana?"
"Beginning calculations for time warp!" the gun mage said, tapping away at a keyboard.
Nanoha was flabbergasted. "This... is wrong! This isn't how we're supposed to do things!"
Fate put a hand on her shoulder. "It's the only way to resolve things peacefully."
The TSAB Ace frowned, then stomped her way off the bridge.
Subaru danced with glee. "We're going back in ti-ime! We're going back in ti-ime!"
"Calculations complete!" Teana announced.
"Wait, we just had an airlock open," Lucino reported. "Someone just left the ship!"
"On screen!" Chrono ordered.
All watched as a space-suited figured flew off towards the planet. There was a flash of bright pink light, and the object exploded into millions of pieces.
Hayate pouted. "My way would have been better...."
The group was coming back to Mid-Childa after a particularly arduous mission, aboard Chrono's ship this time, when they got the warning.
The speakers crackled as they attempted to play the static-filled message. "Do no... approach Mid-Chi... I rep... not appro... Childa..."
"The message just repeats, Admiral," Lucino told him.
"What could be going on?" Fate wondered aloud.
"Lucino, bring us out of hyperspace well away from the planet," Chrono commanded. The helmswoman acknowledge, and the ship dropped back into normal space.
"Sensors indicate something in orbit of the planet," Griffith said, checking a side science console. "Some sort of ship. It appears to draining power from the planet. There's also a strange frequency being emitted from it."
He put it up on the speakers as they all listened.
Caro smacked her hand with her fist. "I know what that is! The preserve has old recordings of extinct species. It sounds like the mating call of the wild gorillasquid!"
"Didn't those go extinct hundreds of thousands of years ago?" Erio asked.
Hayate leapt to her feet, grinning. "Well, there's only one choice: Go back and time and grab a couple of gorillasquids, and bring them forward to do the nasty!"
"This doesn't sound like a good idea..." Nanoha offered with trepidation.
"No no, it'll work!" Hayate replied, growing more excited. "Teana?"
"Beginning calculations for time warp!" the gun mage said, tapping away at a keyboard.
Nanoha was flabbergasted. "This... is wrong! This isn't how we're supposed to do things!"
Fate put a hand on her shoulder. "It's the only way to resolve things peacefully."
The TSAB Ace frowned, then stomped her way off the bridge.
Subaru danced with glee. "We're going back in ti-ime! We're going back in ti-ime!"
"Calculations complete!" Teana announced.
"Wait, we just had an airlock open," Lucino reported. "Someone just left the ship!"
"On screen!" Chrono ordered.
All watched as a space-suited figured flew off towards the planet. There was a flash of bright pink light, and the object exploded into millions of pieces.
Hayate pouted. "My way would have been better...."
That was... weird. It did make me think of the space whales from Macross 7, though.
No comment. Just.... no comment. I'm not doing this again.
Then I will leave this forum for good this time. It's obvious to me now that no matter how much I want to forget my past outbursts, control myself, and start anew - and I would have from now on NOT SAID ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to anything anyone said about my fic ideas, good or bad -, you all will never ever let my live down my past mistakes. I will take my leave, and scour the web for some (probably comparatively-tiny) story forum, where I've yet to make the horrible mistakes that have colored the perception you guys have of me, and seek their help. You will not see me post in this forum again
Well, actually... are there any Nanoha story forums out there besides this one, or am I stuck here, doomed to be forever chewed up and spit out over my past posts?
I do believe 00-Raiser has just tried to help you. If you say you've changed then show us through time. Only time can heal wounds and you put a lot of bad tastes in peoples' mouths. I'm not unwilling to give you a second chance but you have to actually prove you deserve it.