I looked up at the morning sky from my wheelchair as I moved along the sidewalk leading to the main part of the Saint church. The air was crisp and held a taste to it that others said they couldn't place. I knew what it was, as the sky had always been a part of me. It was the fall season coming, bringing with it cooler weather and the pretty colors of leaves before they fall. I liked this season best and I couldn't help but smile to myself as I made it into the church after someone held the door for me. Upon entering I saw sister Schach looking around herself frantically and I couldn't help but go over to her to ask what was bothering her so much.
AlternaticveS IV
By: Satashi
"You lost her?" Nanoha asked, honestly shocked at what she was just told. "How do you lose a little girl!?"
"I'm terribly sorry," Schach bowed embarrassedly. "I went to check on her and she wasn't in her room. I don't think she could have made it too far..."
"I'll help look." Turning her chair, Nanoha moved herself in the opposite direction. "Contact me if you find her, okay?"
"Thank you, Nanoha-san."
The girl in the chair sighed out in a mixture of worry and annoyance. 'I can't believe they lost her... Poor thing must be scared out of her mind...' Nanoha licked her lips and tried to repress a worried feeling. 'She's so young, I hope we find her so we can help her...If I was a little girl, where would I go?' Her blue eyes looked out a window she was passing.' I'd want to be outside, away from everyone else...' Turning, she headed down another hallway and out through a door leading into a small outside area in the middle of the church.
Passing a flower bed, Nanoha looked around and did a double take when she thought she saw motion out of the corner of her eye. Moving to a large tree in the middle of the tiny park, Nanoha saw Vivio hiding half behind the tree holding the stuffed rabbit she had given her. "Hello there," Nanoha spoke softly, making Vivio move behind the tree more. "I see you found the bunny I gave you." Vivio looked down at her friend and then slowly turned back to Nanoha, nodding lightly. When no words were given, Nanoha tried again to talk with her. "My name is Nanoha... what's yours?"
"...Vivio." The single word was said softly, laced with a slight bit of fear in it.
"Vivio... that's a really nice name." Nanoha smiled at her. "How old are you, Vivio?"
"...Don't know." The answer made the older woman want to bite her tongue. "Where's my mama?"
"Can't find your mama?" Nanoha asked softly, instantly reflecting back on Fate. "That's not good... How about we look for her together?" Offering her hand out, she kept smiling at the blonde in front of her until she slowly came out from hiding and walked over to her to accept the hand. "What does your mama look like?"
Nanoha placed her other hand on top of Vivio's gently. "Don't be scared; I'm here with you, okay?" She got a small nod but Vivio's eyes still clearly told how she felt. "...Are you hungry, Vivio?"
"Mmn." A small nod came paired with the sound.
"Do you like waffles?" Nanoha smiled again, getting an interested look. "Why don't we go someplace where we can eat some? Bunny-san can come too." Glancing down at Vivio again, Nanoha felt a twinge of sympathy when she noticed the girl was only wearing a shirt that went to her knees. "Do your feet hurt? Want to sit on my lap?"
"Mmn..." The girl looked down a moment but her mis-matched eyes turned back up, looking at the outstretched arms of the woman leaning towards her. After several seconds of debating with herself, she raised her arms and allowed Nanoha to lift her and place her onto the older woman's legs.
"There," Nanoha praised her with a smile. "Isn't that better?" One hand went to Vivio's hair and patted it softly. "We'll get you some clothes after we eat, okay?" Vivio turned and looked back at her curiously. "Don't worry, you're safe okay?"
"Nanoha-san!" Schach's voice came as the woman ran out into the garden. "I saw you from the window."
"I just found her," Nanoha explained happily. "We're going to get something to eat; she must be starving, I'm sure she hasn't eaten since at least yesterday morning."
"I'll take her-" Schach reached out to Vivio but pulled back when the girl cried out and hugged Nanoha, hiding her face in the woman's breasts. "Ah..."
"Don't be scared, Vivio." Nanoha tried to sooth her and repress the shock of suddenly being held onto. "You're here with me, I won't go anywhere." A red and green eye looked up at her, each moistened with tears paired with a scared sound coming from the child's closed mouth. "I promise, you're safe with me." Nanoha leaned down a bit and stroked Vivio's hair. "Relax, everything is okay now."
Vivio slowly nodded and placed her face back against Nanoha's chest, holding onto her just in case. "Mmn..."
Nanoha looked back at sister Schach with a helpless expression. "Guess it can't be helped... Lets go to the kitchen and get her fed."
"O-Okay..."
Spoiler for Alternatives 4-2:
~**~
Nanoha watched with interest as Vivio looked at her fork and butter knife with a helpless expression. Clumsily the girl tried to cut off a bite of the food but only succeeded in moving it around on her plate. Before tears came to Vivio's eyes, Nanoha forced herself to stop watching the adorable act and lean over to take Vivio's plate. "Here, I'll help you." Easily, she began to cut up the waffles into bite sized pieces. "There you are, Vivio." Nanoha moved the plate back to the girl and felt rather proud of herself when she got a cheerful sound mixed with a chomp of food. "You were really hungry, huh?"
"Mmn!" Vivio stabbed another bite, holding the fork in her closed fist.
Schach leaned over to Nanoha while looking at Vivio. "Ne, Nanoha-san..." When the older woman shifted closer to her, she began to whisper. "What are we going to do with her? We know she's an artificial mage so she doesn't have parents..."
"I'm not sure exactly," Nanoha whispered back just as quietly. "We need to find someone who can take care of her." Turning back to Vivio, Nanoha watched the girl eat bite after bite, getting more and more syrup on her face. Not being able to help it anymore, Nanoha got a napkin and moved next to Vivio again. "Here, you're making a mess of yourself..." Vivio allowed her to wipe her face, making content sounds at being pampered.
Now with a clean and full child to contend with, Nanoha allowed Vivio to is on her lap once more. Together along with Sister Schach, they went down the church hallways and to a room where they kept a few spare clothes for children. "Anything in her size?" Nanoha asked curiously, holding Vivio by her sides while the girl looked around with interest.
"Yes, this should fit her." Schach pulled out a white shirt with blue sleeves. "And here's the matching skirt." A blue skirt was offered as well.
"Change clothes, Vivio," Nanoha told her gently. With a small motion, the woman lifted Vivio from her lap and placed her down onto the floor. When she was looked at helplessly, Nanoha gave her a sad smile. "Want me to help you?" A nod answered her. "Lift your arms for me."
Three minutes and a clothed Vivio later, the small group went back into the hallways and headed to the front of the church. "I'll contact you as soon as we find someone." Schach spoke happily. "Thank you for your help, Nanoha-san."
"Wasn't a problem at all." Nanoha smiled at Vivio next to her. "I have to go now, Vivio."
"Waheh?" The girl grabbed Nanoha's wheelchair and shook her head. "No!"
"Don't worry, Sister Schach will take good care of you." Nanoha tried to smile again when Vivio started crying openly. "Vivio, don't cry, you'll be just fine." The loud crying was mixed with sobs and broken half words despite the two older women trying to sooth her.
"Vivio, we will have lots of fun together," Schach promised as best she could. "Don't worry, you'll be really happy here!" The crying got louder when Schach placed her hands on Vivio's shoulders. The small girl moved away and held onto Nanoha's leg tightly, shaking her head and crying out even more.
Nanoha looked helplessly at Schach and got a hopeless look in return. "I guess it can't be helped then... I'll look after her for the time being."
"But Nanoha-san...Are you able to care for such a young girl while on the base?"
"No," Nanoha shook her head, moving a hand down to stroke Vivio's hair in an attempt to calm her. "But I can't just leave this child after everything she's been through... It seems like she trusts me and I'd hate to think what would happen to her if I left her like this... she may try to run away again, and keeping her under lock and key would be no better than whoever had her beforehand..."
"I see..." Schach rubbed her hands together. "If there's anything I can do to help just let me know."
"I will, thank you." Taking a deep breath, Nanoha leaned forward to the still sobbing girl holding onto her. "Vivio," the gentle voice saying her name made Vivio look up at Nanoha, sniffling heavily. "Would you like to come home with me?"
"...Mmn." Nodding, Vivio looked up at her with shaking red eyes stained with tears.
Nanoha nodded and carefully started wiping away the tears on Vivio's face. "Okay then, we'll stay together for a while then, is that okay?" Another nod and hum came, paired with a noticeable lift in the girl's spirits. "Then lets head home together." Taking Vivio's hand, she nodded at her friend once more.
~**~
"It's not much, but its a start," Yuuno finished while glancing over the monitors in front of himself. "At least we've managed to narrow down the rift you came through, Harlaown-san."
"Please, call me Fate." The blonde offered happily. "Thank you so much, Yuuno, you have no idea how much better I feel after hearing this."
The male grinned. "We're just getting started, but it seems like we have a clear direction on where to go from here. If everything goes absolutely perfectly smoothly, then I'd say you will be on your way back home in little over a month."
"A month..." Despite the time frame, Fate couldn't help but smile broadly, red eyes shining with a light that she hadn't shown once since she arrived. "I'd wait forever if it meant I could go back to my family one more time."
A beeping sound rang up, making Hayate look up from her desk. "Speaking of, Nanoha is contacting us." A button was pressed and Nanoha's image appeared on a screen along with the loud yelling of a small child. "Na-Nanoha!?"
Nanoha looked at her friends on the screen embarassedly. Vivio was clinging to her tightly, yelling without shame at the idea of being removed from Nanoha's arms. "Uhm... Help me, please?" She asked, blushing hard and offering a light smile.
Spoiler for Alternatives 4-3:
Hayate laughed happily at the sight and nodded at her friend teasingly. "We're on our way. Try not to make the girl cry too much before we get there okay?"
"Mou, not funny, Hayate-chan." Nanoha pouted at her as the connection cut off. turning back to Vivio, the woman tried again to reason with her. "Vivio, don't cry so much okay? I will only be gone for a few hours. I promsie I will be back.... Mou, please Vivio? Pretty please?" Her attempts at requesting leave fell on deaf ears as Vivio shook her head, clinging harder to Nanoha's legs. "I have no idea how to deal with a crying child..."
The door to Nanoha's room opened and Hayate walked in along with Yuuno and Fate. The woman in the lead crossed her arms and looked at Nanoha with an amused smirk. "Well, this is an interesting sight. Nanoha-chan is babysitting, and not doing a very good job."
"Ha, ha, ha." Nanoha gave a sarcastic laugh. "What do I do? She refuses to let me go."
Fate took a step forward and picked up the small stuffed bunny that was on the floor. "Vivio?" Her voice was soft and light, making the small girl tense up before turning around. At once, Vivio screamed out in terror and literally scrambled to climb up on Nanoha. Clinging to the woman tightly, she pressed her face against Nanoha's chest and sobbed out.
Hayate looked down at the blonde curiously. "Not very good with the children, are you?"
"I...I don't understand." Fate stood up completly and walked to Nanoha, offering the bunny to Vivio. Instead of taking it, Vivio started to shiver, hugging onto Nanoha more and crying out. "Vivio?"
Nanoha took the plushie and gave Fate an apologetic look. "She seems to be scared of you for some reason."
"It seems so..." Fate answered back softly. "I better move away..." True to her words, the blonde turned and walked away, hiding behind Yuuno.
"Vivio," Nanoha spoke to her in a caring tone. "Don't be scared, nothing will hurt you. See, bunny-san says its okay." Her hand made the plushie bounce lightly in the air before Vivio took it and held it close to her chest.
Hayate moved forward this time and knelt down next to the two, looking at Vivio with curiosity. "You have very pretty eyes, Vivio."
"This is Hayate-chan," Nanoha introduced the still sniffling girl to her friend. "She's my best friend in the world." As an after thought, she looked at Yuuno and stuck out her tongue playfully at him. "And that is Yuuno-kun, my... best male friend in the world."
"Hello, Vivio." Yuuno greeted with an over dramatic bow that made Vivio forget the current problem she was facing.
Fate held back saying anything and instead watched the small group talk to Vivio, distracting her for a moment so she could calm down. 'I wonder what made Vivio so afraid of me? Was it because I grabbed her when she was running away? Does she think I will hurt her?'
"Vivio," Nanoha spoke up again, rubbing the girl's back. "I really have to go do my duties now." At once Vivio's eyes started to mist up.
"So," Hayate interupted the waterworks. "You get to stay with me for a while, until Nanoha-chan can come back. It will be lots of fun!"
Yuuno glanced over at Hayate and whispered into her ear so no one else could hear. "Are you able to watch after her right now?"
"A small break won't kill me, at least until Nanoha finishes her training." Hayate picked up her voice again and opened her arms up. "Come on, lets go have some fun, okay Vivio?"
Vivio looked from Hayate to Nanoha, giving a small whimper at the idea of being transfered. "Its okay," Nanoha promised her. "I will come pick you up in a few hours. You don't want to be a selfish girl, do you?"
Another displeased sound was made but Vivio did allow herself to be plucked from Nanoha's lap and cradled against Hayate's body. "There," Hayate cooed at her. "We will play dress up!"
Nanoha rubbed her forehead. "Ah, I need to get some clothes for her as well."
"I'll get them," Fate spoke up again. "I got my first paycheck for the missions I did, so it won't be a problem."
"No, no, I'll pay for them." Nanoha shook her head.
"Its okay, my money won't be used anyway later on. The least I can do is get some clothes. Should I pick up some groceries while I'm out?" Fate moved to the kitchen and looked around to see what she should buy.
"Fate-chan!" Nanoha turned and moved over to the girl, blushing. "Really, you don't have to-"
"Shush," Fate replied simply, pulling up a monitor and starting to make a list. "I want to." Looking over at Nanoha, she smiled down at her and leaned over to touch her nose in an immitation of what Nanoha did to her earlier. "Should I bring back some ice cream for her?"
"I... guess so." Nanoha reached up and took the finger in her hand, holding onto it. "Thank you... Fate-chan."
"You're very welcome." Letting Nanoha hold onto her finger, she looked over at Vivio, who quickly turned away from her to hide against Hayate. "Well, I'll be off then... Can I borrow your car, Nanoha?"
Actually, since the Fate here is from 6th Div instead of the Strikers canon timeline, she hasn't seen this before.
If she was from the Strikers canon, she could have told them exactly where to find Scaglietti and what's in his lair by now.
Stop ruining my fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Satashi
AlternativeS 4-3
That was certainly unexpected, but probably helpful in the end for all parties that AltS!Vivio and Canon6divOur!Fate don't get attached.
@Thread: I don't mind the chatter really, but it is very offtopic and makes several pages appear in just under an hour or so (also spamming out on-topic things)
So, I'd just like to say that this is the reason I made the chatroom. Link is under my signature, its super simple to get into and is really active. Just click, fill in two lines of information, and then click chat. If you need better details just PM me and I'll step by step it better for you.
Again, I don't mind it, but if a mod comes in and sees that 90% of the pages are random chatter they may use their hammer T_T
EDIT:
AlternativeS is a mix of 6th division and canon. There are a few things changed, but in general I didn't plan it enough since this wasn't a "real fic". I'll have to alter past posts for the offical release.
6th division: Erio can use armor from Caro and Lutecia. Fate and Nanoha adopted Vivio (after jail is defeated.)
Alts: vivio is found like she is in canon.
My thoughts: Plot hole, plain and simple. I guess you can say that Erio/Caro/Lutecia is just a wink at 6th division and the rest is like it happened in canon... Yeah, that'll make the most sense
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Whew, typing like a madman to get this stuff out while inspiration is striking. Rough draft of Chapter 10 is done. I wanted to get the full combat sequences out there, since I had to break up the one chapter into two.
“Lt. Col. Yagami, the immediate area has been evacuated, you may proceed.”
“Acknowledged,” the SS rank mage answered the communication from the ground forces. “Now it's time to really unload. I'm counting on you, Rein.”
“Let's do it!” the little girl inside Hayate exclaimed.
“Come forth, the wind of snow, and become the fletching which falls from the heavens,” she intoned, trusting her palm out, her white Belkan magic triangle flaring under her feet. “Hraesvelgr!”
Three large white beams exploded downwards at a 45 degree angle, one after another, striking the colossus dead center. She had cut the power by 50%, so as to not cause extensive property damage, but the explosions as they connected were plenty potent. She continued to hold her pose, waiting to unleash a second wave; she was waiting for the dust to clear first.
However, Hayate had to break her stance and move because more blue beams were seeking her out. She was force to throw up her barriers to block some of the attacks, as the return fire became more and more accurate. And then she despaired when the smoke finally did clear; the drone goliath had only been pushed back a few meters, with no visible damage.
“Lt. Col. Yagami, we have reports of another drone giant emerging almost a kilometer west,” came the report from the ground commander.
Hayate sighed in exasperation; it was all she could do to handle one of these and there was a second? “Do we have any other high ranked mages to deploy?”
“Um, Lt. Bently is AA + rank, and we have half a dozen AA's, but the rest are A or lower,” the ground commander informed her.
[That's not going to be enough,] Hayate thought in despair. [This thing's AMF is so powerful, we have yet to penetrate it.]
“Hayate-chan, we can handle it!” came an excited female voice.
The SS rank mage blinked. “Arisa? Is that you!?”
“Um, yes, Hayate-chan, it's Arisa and I,” Suzuka reported to the view screen image.
The girl in the window stared at them. “Suzuka? You, too? What in the world are you two doing!?”
Suzuka did her best to bow her head and slap her hands together in the cramped cockpit. “I'm very sorry about this! But we've, uh, kinda taken the golem for a test drive.”
“And it's handling great!” Arisa added with glee. “We've been monitoring communication channels. Trust us, Hayate-chan, we'll handle that other drone giant!”
The high-ranked commander mage stared at them for a several long seconds, then sighed. “Well, beggars can't be choosers. Alright, I'll consider you both drafted. I'm sending some of the higher ranked mages your way to help with covering fire. But you better damn well hope you pull this off and don't screw up; otherwise, you'll both find yourselves back on Earth for good!”
Arisa flashed a thumbs up. “No problem! Arisa Bannings, golem pilot extraordinaire, signing off!”
Suzuka sighed in defeat. “I REALLY hope you know what you're doing.”
The other girl was silent for a few moments, then spoke softly. “Do you remember way back when we first found out that Nanoha and Fate were mages? And how frustrated we were before that, when we knew Nanoha had a problem and wouldn't tell us?”
“As I recall, you were the one frustrated about that,” Suzuka told her wryly.
Arisa blushed a bit. “Shut up! It was just because I was worried about her!” She waited for the purple-haired cat-girl to finish giggling, then continued. “Back then, even if we knew, there was nothing we could have done. But I've been training these past ten years, and now beginning to work my own magic, so that I could Nanoha and our friends should they need it. If ever they are in trouble, I want the power to be able to help them. I don't want to be left out of any aspect of their lives!”
Suzuka stared at the other girl in awe. “Arisa...”
The impromptu golem pilot laughed. “Even if we succeed, we're bound to get into a lot of trouble, but I'm not about to back down now; not until I see how far I can go! Terra, can you lock onto the second giant's location and get us there? And give me a readout on what kind of weaponry you have?”
“Plotting intercept course,” Terra replied, while a secondary screen displayed various schematics.
Suzuka reached up to squeeze Arisa's shoulder. “I feel the same. I haven't been as vocal as you, and let myself be pulled along by you, because you could say the things I couldn't. I didn't have the confidence to think I could make it this far. I don't want to give up, either. I want to see how far I can go, too.”
Arisa grinned. “Then hold on, because we're both in for a bump ride! Terra, activate the AMF armor and deploy the magical artillery arrays. We're goin' in!”
The golem shimmered, it's armor changing color from pure white, to various blues and reds as the AMF armor came online. Square boxes formed on top of it's shoulders, each with a couple dozen firing points. Two more rectangular boxes emerged on the outside of each leg as well.
It's two occupants held on as they dove to attack, the magical artillery arrays firing dozens of blue laser beams that homed in on the designated target.
“You've fought well, but it should be obvious you can't win,” Sette informed her opponent, raising her two blades again. “IS: Slaughter Arms!”
“Shut up!” Vita shouted back, swinging her hammer to destroy one boomerang blade, as the second ripped through the right shoulder of her barrier jacket. The impact sent her spinning, tumbling across the ground.
Sette landed on the other side of the small clearing, forming two more blades. “I admit, you would probably be a good match for me, if you were at full power. But the battlefield isn't a fair place.”
Vita dragged herself to her feet. Her right shoulder was warm, and she could feel the blood running down her arm. Not bad by itself, but combined with the blood coming from the graze on the left side of her head, it meant that the longer combat went on, the more likely she'd lose consciousness from blood loss.
But Vita of the Wolkenritter wasn't the type to pay heed to such minor details. “And I told you to shut up!” Her red triangle flared up under her feet, red magical energy gathering in her left hand. “I am the Iron Hammer Knight Vita, and this is the Iron Count, Graf Eisen! Take us lightly, and your doctor will spend the next year picking you up off this battlefield!”
Sette assumed a guarded ready stance. “What are you-”
Vita thrust the crimson orb forward, then swung at it. “Heul, Graf Eisen!”
“Eisengeheul!” her device chirped as the hammer met the orb.
Crimson energy flared up and filled the entire clearing, temporarily overloading the cyborg's optical sensors. Sette shielded her eyes, only seeing her opponent a split second before the attack came.
“Tödliche Strafe!” Vita cried, swinging her hammer.
Sette managed to block with both blades, but the impact sent her tumbling back through the underbrush.
Vita dropped to one knee, panting, vision blurring slightly. She wanted to pursue, but she just needed a minute to catch her breath. Double-thinking that, she realized she may need more than a minute, and using Graf Eisen as a crutch, limped into the forest to gain some recovery time.
She hoped Subaru hurried up her end soon.
“Give up yet?” Quattro's voice taunted, echoing all around. “Your friends will be taken care of soon, leaving you all alone. If you like, I can show you a safe way out, and you can go home by yourself, safe and sound.”
[Nanoha wouldn't give up under these circumstances, and neither would Tea!] Subaru told herself. “You've got a lot to learn about about us, if you really think that would work on me!”
Subaru brought her Vibration Shatter IS online, blue circle symbol lighting up under feet; she had an idea. Her Revolver knuckle loaded six cartridges as the gears began revving up. Yelling, she leapt up, then came straight down fist first, slamming into the ground with all her might.
The cyborg-induced earthquake shook the entire cavern, crackings appearing in the walls, celing, and floor. The scenery around her fluctuated, exposing the real tunnel in brief flashes. Just as she predicted, the mini-earthquake had knocked Quattro off her feet and broken her control over the illusions.
Engaging her afterburners once more, Subaru shot off down the tunnel again to get out of the illusion range. And it wasn't long before her objective came into view. [A relic?] she thought to herself. It was hooked up to some machine about the same size as it, resting on a ledge.
“Stop!” Quattro cried, the illusions starting to reform.
[I would have liked to take this back for study, but I don't have a choice,] Subaru realized. She loaded a pair of cartridges and wound up, blue energy forming in front of her fist.. “Diviiiiiine Busterrrrr!”
The azure blast obliterated the relic object, but a backlash of magical energy exploded outwards from its location, sending the mage cyborg girl flying.
Terra fired another rain of blue energy bolts down. “Fourth bombardment, ineffective.”
Arisa jerked the stick hard and to the right, trying to avoid the return fire. Thus far, the AMF armor had been holding up very well, but Suzuka had been monitoring and telling her that each hit drained the magic battery. When it was empty, the unit would be powerless.
The two girls screamed as they were hit, the drone laser fire taking out the left leg artillery box.
“Battery power down to 63%!” Suzuka called. She had pulled a single nail from her left cat-claw, which came attached to a wire. The claw was then plugged into a console to her left, creating a direct link between the golem unit's computer and her suit. Data ran across her visor heads-up display. “This isn't working!”
Arisa cursed. “We need something more powerful. Terra, retract the artillery and prepare the main gun!” She squealed in delight. “I always wanted to say that!”
The three remaining boxes folded back into the main body as the golem used it's right arm to grab the gun attached to its right side. The weapon fully deployed, barrel elongating.
“Magical Positron Gun charging, 45% complete,” Terra informed them.
Arisa worked the controls, trying to dodge fire, going into a steep climb. “Come on...”
“The MPG is full charged!” Suzuka informed her. “Optimal firing distance is 30 meters, and we need a decent speed to handle the recoil.”
“That's closer than I'd like, but here we go!” Arisa canceled the climb, wings contracting somewhat and folding behind the golem, which proceeded to drop like a rock.
Fortunately for the girls, Suzuka had identified a sort of magical inertia dampener around the cockpit so they weren't crushed by G-forces. It was only about 80-90% effective, though, which Suzuka felt most of all as Arisa crushed her against the seat. As the ground rapidly approached, she began to wonder exactly how she got herself into this mess.
“Pull up!” she cried.
“Almost...” Arisa said in a low voice. “Now, redeploy wings!” The golem pulled out the dive, skimming the rooftops, as the pilot watched the distance countdown. “60... 50... 40... FIRING!”
The golem grabbed the gun with both hands as a multi-colored beam exploded from the barrel, striking the giant head on. For several seconds it stayed stationary, then the force of the beam on it's AMF shield began pushing it backwards. As it landed back into the water, there was a brilliant explosion, and the golem's view screens immediately dampened the brightness to protect it's occupant's vision.
“Did we get it?” Arisa asked.
Suzuka adjusted the dials covering her ears, trying to get a read on her visor. “I'm not su-IT'S STILL UP!”
The golem was rocked by weapon fire as the dust cleared, sending it tumbling down to the ground, and Arisa worked to bring it back under control. “Damn it! You gotta be kidding me! That shot didn't do it?”
“Power levels have dropped to 38%!” Suzuka informed her. “That shot uses up a lot of energy, and the AMF armor took a beating.”
“What now!?” Arisa cried, ducking behind a building for a brief respite.
Suzuka adjusted the dials some more, and hit a few buttons. “I've got it! Activate the Vibro Blade. We need to get in close with melee weapons, as much as I hate that idea.”
“On it!” Arisa replied, hitting controls. Outside, the gun barrel retracted, and a bayonet sword deployed from underneath; the blade began to hum as it vibrated at high speeds. “Here I go!”
The skates were activated and the golem shot out from cover, moving at an angle to avoid the energy beams, but it couldn't evade them all, taking multiple hits on the approach. Terra leapt into the sky once more, heading straight for the giant's AMF... and passing right through it, the momentum sending the unit, blade first, right through the shoulder. The sword cut through it like a hot knife through butter, the golem emerging out the other side.
“YES!” Arisa shouted as the arm hit the water with a mighty splash. She engaged the boosters to climb again.
“It's not over yet,” Suzuka reminded her, as the golem was struck several times again. “Power down to 18%! We need to finish this quick!”
“Way ahead of you!” Arisa shot back, going into a U-turn and heading right back in. This time, she swung downwards as she came at it, splitting the head and neck down the middle and coming out the other side as the upper part exploded.
“Power at 9%!” Suzuka warned. There was less incoming fire now, but the AMF would fail soon and the unit would be totally out of power. “The rear boosters have been hit!”
“One more time!” Arisa shouted, coming in again and growing the blade to twice its normal size.
Despite the low rate of fire, the AMF failed on the wings, and the right one was struck and blown off. The golem unit went into a spin, but Arisa kept it on track with the remaining wing. Using its inertia for one last pass, she sliced through the giant's waist, cutting it in two. With not much of it left, the AMF was weak enough for the mages on shore to pick the remaining drones apart.
However, the golem lost it's ability to maintain flight and went skipping over the ocean, eventually slipping beneath the waves.
“We're sinking!” Suzuka wailed.
“I know!” Arisa shot back. “Terra, can you do anything?”
The AI's voice was weak. “Power levels.. 3%. Shutting down all systems to preserve life support.” Lights and screens shut down, one-by-one. “It was good fighting with you, Arisa Bannings,” Terra told her solemnly, but with a hint of warmth. “Thank yooouuuu...” The voice wound down as the last of the lights and power finally went out.
“TERRA!” Arisa cried out.
The AI didn't respond. Arisa and Suzuka looked at each other helplessly as the golem sank into darkness.
Nanoha's eyes flashed open. She didn't know how long she had been out, but she realized she still had an opponent to face. She hoped he hadn't left her and gone on to attack the patients.
Dragging herself to her feet, she picked Raging Heart back up, still in spear mode. The ninja was laying still, several meters away, multiple holes in his clothing; Nanoha wondered if that last desperate attack had done it. Detonating her outer Barrier Jacket was a risky move, as it did almost as much damage to herself as her opponent. It was normally used as reactive armor to lessen the damage from powerful projectile attacks.
Limping towards him, she hesitantly reached down with her spear and tapped him.
With surprising speed, he lashed out with one his swords. Nanoha instinctively jumped back and raised her right arm to shield herself, resulting in a sideways gash on her arm. [Stupid! Stupid!] she berated herself.
The ninja did a kipup to return to his feet. Despite the damage to the rest of his clothing, his mask was still mostly in one piece, but he circled her warily, no longer feeling like charging in. She wondered if he was wising up. At least he seemed to be down to one sword.
But it still didn't look good for her. She was bleeding in several places, the worst being her arm. She could reform her barrier jacket, but it would take time, and likely not do much good to that razor sharp sword.
And then she had her answer, also realizing that this would really hurt.
“I know you've come too far to stop now,” Nanoha told him, lowering her spear to point at him, reforming the Strike Flame tip. “Perhaps after this is over, you can tell me what this is all about. But I'm going to have to stop you here. We're both not doing so well, so we'll each give it one more shot, with everything we have.”
Surprisingly, she seemed to see some other sort of light in his eyes, something akin to understanding. He raised his sword, holding it horizontally in front of his body with his right hand, and took a ready stance.
Softer, she said, “Ready, Raging Heart?” while forming two more pink orbs, all the magic she could spare at the moment.
“Clear to go!” her device chirped, wind energy gathering at the tip. “Barrel Shot!” The binding wind blast fired.
The ninja dodged it, Nanoha knew it wouldn't be that easy, and came at her, running sideways quickly along the walls to get to her. Once more, Nanoha sent one of the orbs at him, one at a time, but deliberately missing to explode part of the walls and floor. He emerged from the dust unscathed, thrusting his sword forward.
And impaling Nanoha with it.
His eyes widened, noticing Nanoha had switched her weapon from her left hand, to under her right armpit and hand. And it's tip was glowing. And she had just grabbed his right wrist with her left hand, holding it firmly with a bind spell.
“Excelion...” Nanoha whispered, her voice slowly growing louder. “Buster!”
Brilliant magical energy exploded from the tip, striking her opponent point blank, filling the entire area with a powerful explosion.
“Break... SHOOT!”
Nanoha released the bind spell a split-second before it hit, blowing the ninja down the hallway and letting the shock wave push her back into safety.
After it died down, the area was remarkably silent, except for Raging Heart venting steam. Nanoha gently reached up and grabbed the sword hilt with her left hand, gently pulling it out, using what little magic she had left to close the wound. But as she coughed up blood, she realized there was still internal damage. She had managed to shift slightly at the last second before the attack, so that the sword pierced her upper torso, just below her left shoulder, missing most vital organs. But she surmised she probably had a punctured a lung at least.
Using Raging Heart as a crutch, she limped over to the fallen form of her enemy, his clothing nearly disintegrated in the blast. He was laying on his back, his mask totally gone.
Nanoha froze in shock, her body growing cold, now knowing exactly why everything felt so familiar. “K-Kyoya? B-brother!?”
The shock and her wounds caught up to her, and Nanoha's world went black as she collapsed face first.
Fate shivered. “Yuuno, did you feel that?”
She noticed he was already looking her way, and his eyes told her that he had, but a shrug added that he didn't know what it meant.
“A feeling...” he attempted to voice the sensation. “Something bad?”
The two looked helplessly at each other.
“[Signum, did you feel that?]” Vita sent. “[The distortions are gone and I can fully access my magic.]”
“[Ah, I did, Subaru must have done it,]” Signum replied, wrapping her left arm with spare bandages to stem the bleeding. She had temporarily managed to elude Tre, but it wouldn't last. “[But we still have a problem. I don't have much left even with that.]”
“[Giving up already, boob monster?]” Vita taunted.
Signum flushed in anger and embarrassment. “[I told you never to call that to someone who is better than you!]”
“[Good, because I have a fish on the way that I need you to catch,]” Vita told her smugly. “[Formation C?]”
The leader of the Wolkenritter smiled, sending her acknowledgment. She stood up and stepped out of cover, getting ready with Levantine.
“Finally decided to come out and end it like a true knight?” Tre's voice echoed.
“Something like that,” Signum responded, raising her sword in front of her and holding it with both hands. She closed her eyes and focused her senses on Vita's approach, loading a cartridge into Levantine. She had to line this up just right.
Sensing the moment, she opened her eyes and sprinted in one direction, then stopped suddenly and whipped her sword outward in a different direction.
“Schlangenform,” the sword intoned, breaking into snake-form and sending the whip streaming at Tre.
The cyborg was startled at the sudden attack and veered off, but she wasn't the target. The whip continued, heading straight for Sette who was pursuing Vita at high speeds. The second cyborg didn't realize it until it was too late, and she was ensnared.
“Pferde,” Vita intoned, activating her horse speed move. “Graf Eisen!”
Her hammer device loaded a cartridge. “Gigantform!”
“Roaring Smash,” Vita intoned, winding up the now-enlarged hammer. “Gigant Crusher!”
Tre, who had resumed her attack on the stationary Signum, had about a split second to realize she was about to meet a large object. Unable to change her direction fast enough, Vita's giant hammer slammed into the cyborg, sending her flying, tumbling over the treetops.
Meanwhile, Signum yanked on her whip-sword, pulling Sette directly towards her, while simultaneously leaping towards the cyborg, loading another cartridge, and returning it to sword form. Levantine burst into flames as Signum swung, smashing Sette's blades and sending her crashing to the ground.
Signum dropped back down beside Vita, whose hammer had returned to normal size.
“You have anything left?” Vita asked, panting. “I'm out of cartridges.”
“As am I,” the taller Belkan Knight informed her, similarly out of breath. “That probably didn't finish them, but perhaps we can bluff our way out.”
Both cyborgs did appear again, looking a bit beat up, but still having fight in them.
Then Quattro suddenly appeared behind them. “Tre, Sette, we're retreating. The artifact is destroyed, so we have no more reason to remain here.”
“Shut up, I still want to finish that bitch!” Tre shouted.
Quattro smiled. “If you think you can, with their reinforcements on the way. You won't be getting any support from me or the doctor, either.”
“Another time, Tre,” Sette told her, as she held her own damaged left arm.
Tre growled, then shouted, “We'll finish this another time!”
Quattro saluted. “Good job today, you two cute knights. Seeya! IS: Silver Curtain.”
The three cyborgs disappeared from sight.
The two knights collapsed, sitting with their backs against each other, to the sound of Agito and Zafira calls growing louder. They smiled and waved as the two descended from the sky to greet their valiant companions.
Hayate shook her head and rubbed her arms to get rid of the sudden chill. “Rein, did you notice anything on that last attack?”
“Yes, I've been analyzing it; the AMF coverage isn't perfect,”she replied. “All the drones are sharing their power sources and AMF fields, and then focusing it where the attacks are coming from. That's why we've been unable to penetrate it.”
“We just need to hit it at multiple angles while it's AMF is fully deployed,” Hayate concluded, diving low again and beginning to chant. “In a distant land, sink into the darkness...” A large black crackling ball of energy began to grow right above the giant. “Diabolic Emission!” The black sphere exploded, covering the drone giant in darkness.
“That won't be enough!” Rein informed her. “It's taking some damage, but this time it spread the AMF all around, like a thin bubble.”
“Then we need something that's guaranteed to hit,” Hayate replied, her book flipping pages. “Gods in the heavens, mighty wolf slayer, render the spear and strike my enemies true!” A brilliant white magical spear appeared over head, then multipled a hundred times; Hayate waved her staff down. “Gungnir Lance!”
The hundred energy spears rained down, striking the giant from all sides while the Diabolic Emission explosion was still going on. With the AMF bubble so thin, they easily penetrated, taking out most of the attached drones.
As the spells died down, the giant stood there for a bit, then collapsed into a pile of junk.
Hayate let out a breath of relief she didn't know she was holding, receiving word that Arisa and Suzuka had downed theirs as well.
Then she received a frantic call from Shamal: Nanoha was unconscious and badly injured.
Author's notes:
Grats to those of you who figured it out. To those of you who didn't, your homework is to watch the Triangle Hearts OVA!
Stay tuned for Chapter 11: Mysteries Unveiled, in which much is made clear at last, while a deal is struck with the proverbial devil.
Edit: That was bad even for a rough draft. Cleaned it up some, adding missing words and fixing sections to sound better.
WARNING! This story contains content not suitable for those with sanity. Please visit your local Elder God for treatment before reading.
Spoiler for mind-searing mental images:
The soldiers sang and danced, cheering loudly in celebration of the end of the battle, and Nanoha Takamachi couldn't help but feel herself being drawn into the festivities despite the cold, numbing sensation in her gut that came with the realization that she had utterly, utterly screwed the pooch this time.
'Well, Nanoha...' the voice of Hayate Yagami echoed in her mind, and Nanoha glanced over at where her longtime friend and commander was allowing herself to be swirled about by a dancing stormtrooper, the false and slightly manic smile plastered on her face somewhat but not completely covering up her expression of pure horror, though thankfully the men around them were mostly too busy - or drunk - to notice. 'I told you your "Divine Buster first, ask questions later" policy was going to get us into trouble one day. Again.'
'Um...' Nanoha tried to raise an argument in her defense, then reluctantly admitted to herself that there wasn't all that much she could say to that effect right now.
"Die Straße frei, den braunen Bataillonen!" roared a small group of soldiers nearby, waving their helmets in the air, "Die Straße frei, dem Sturmabteilungsmann!"
'...I... um. I messed up here, didn't I?'
'Nanoha, you changed the course of history.' Hayate glanced over at the still-steaming crater that had once been a major city. 'An entire planet's history. Our entire planet's history. We're lucky this is an alternate Earth, or...' She visibly shuddered, though the - now two - soldiers on either side of her were too busy themselves swaying back and forth while singing along to notice. 'Face it. You fucked up this time.'
"Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen... Marschier'n im Geist, in uns'ren Reihen mit!"
'I can fix this! Really! Just let me get Raising Heart and go find-'
'No. No, Nanoha, you're not going to go blow up anything else. Or anyone else. No more Starlight Breakers for you, not for a long time.'
'Mou...'
"Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen! Marschier'n im Geist, in uns'ren Reihen mit!" the men leading the chorus concluded, suddenly snapping briskly to attention and throwing their right arms up in salute, an action Nanoha and Hayate were horrified to find themselves copying along with the assembly around them. "SIEG! HEIL!"
Fate Harlaown, fully caught up in the celebratory mood, wondered what exactly had her friends so spooked. Granted, changing history was against TSAB regulations, and she was sure she wouldn't have liked the idea of messing around with Midchilda's history - even an alternate Midchilda's history - but the soldiers around them seemed like nice enough people- Fate felt herself being swept off her feet, and she had just a moment's glance of wild eyes, thin dark hair and an odd little mustache before she felt her mouth suddenly hosting a second tongue. Fate stiffened in shock for a moment, then relaxed, reasoning to herself that a drunken kiss from a total stranger was only slightly worse than a drunken kiss from a friend and, thankfully, the stranger was a much better kisser than Subaru. Or Hayate. Or Signum. Not quite as good as Nanoha, though...
Nanoha glanced at the crater that had once been Moscow, the German soldiers - a small knot of whom seemed to be clustered off near one of the panzers clapping and whistling in approval at something, though she couldn't quite tell what through the press of bodies - gathered around them celebrating their undoubtedly now imminent victory on the Eastern Front and the Second World War, and finally at Hayate once again with a sheepish expression.
WARNING! This story contains content not suitable for those with sanity. Please visit your local Elder God for treatment before reading.
Spoiler for mind-searing mental images:
The soldiers sang and danced, cheering loudly in celebration of the end of the battle, and Nanoha Takamachi couldn't help but feel herself being drawn into the festivities despite the cold, numbing sensation in her gut that came with the realization that she had utterly, utterly screwed the pooch this time.
'Well, Nanoha...' the voice of Hayate Yagami echoed in her mind, and Nanoha glanced over at where her longtime friend and commander was allowing herself to be swirled about by a dancing stormtrooper, the false and slightly manic smile plastered on her face somewhat but not completely covering up her expression of pure horror, though thankfully the men around them were mostly too busy - or drunk - to notice. 'I told you your "Divine Buster first, ask questions later" policy was going to get us into trouble one day. Again.'
'Um...' Nanoha tried to raise an argument in her defense, then reluctantly admitted to herself that there wasn't all that much she could say to that effect right now.
"Die Straße frei, den braunen Bataillonen!" roared a small group of soldiers nearby, waving their helmets in the air, "Die Straße frei, dem Sturmabteilungsmann!"
'...I... um. I messed up here, didn't I?'
'Nanoha, you changed the course of history.' Hayate glanced over at the still-steaming crater that had once been a major city. 'An entire planet's history. Our entire planet's history. We're lucky this is an alternate Earth, or...' She visibly shuddered, though the - now two - soldiers on either side of her were too busy themselves swaying back and forth while singing along to notice. 'Face it. You fucked up this time.'
"Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen... Marschier'n im Geist, in uns'ren Reihen mit!"
'I can fix this! Really! Just let me get Raising Heart and go find-'
'No. No, Nanoha, you're not going to go blow up anything else. Or anyone else. No more Starlight Breakers for you, not for a long time.'
'Mou...'
"Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen! Marschier'n im Geist, in uns'ren Reihen mit!" the men leading the chorus concluded, suddenly snapping briskly to attention and throwing their right arms up in salute, an action Nanoha and Hayate were horrified to find themselves copying along with the assembly around them. "SIEG! HEIL!"
Fate Harlaown, fully caught up in the celebratory mood, wondered what exactly had her friends so spooked. Granted, changing history was against TSAB regulations, and she was sure she wouldn't have liked the idea of messing around with Midchilda's history - even an alternate Midchilda's history - but the soldiers around them seemed like nice enough people- Fate felt herself being swept off her feet, and she had just a moment's glance of wild eyes, thin dark hair and an odd little mustache before she felt her mouth suddenly hosting a second tongue. Fate stiffened in shock for a moment, then relaxed, reasoning to herself that a drunken kiss from a total stranger was only slightly worse than a drunken kiss from a friend and, thankfully, the stranger was a much better kisser than Subaru. Or Hayate. Or Signum. Not quite as good as Nanoha, though...
Nanoha glanced at the crater that had once been Moscow, the German soldiers - a small knot of whom seemed to be clustered off near one of the panzers clapping and whistling in approval at something, though she couldn't quite tell what through the press of bodies - gathered around them celebrating their undoubtedly now imminent victory on the Eastern Front and the Second World War, and finally at Hayate once again with a sheepish expression.
'Um. Oops?'
Nanoha tried to blow up Hitler? *Groans* Doesn't that girl know that he's got Time Travel immunity?!
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
2009-11-09, 11:32
Author
Stop ruining my fun!
