Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Character Creation and Discussion

[Aaron008R]

Originally Posted by Kha

Oh no you don't, that's already fixed into place. I'm shipping Sophiayate incest-yuri.

Originally Posted by FlameSparkZ

That kinda makes me want to do something like this...

Spoiler for Koji going GAR:

Koji: Kaze ni NAAREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

*runs at hyperspeed*

Why not?

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Aaah, Hamaji, isn't it ... i see her gender is being discussed here To answer that question (provided it is needed)

Spoiler for regarding Hamaji:

Yes, Hamaji is a trap. A shame, isn't it.

Skyfall! When can we expect you to join officially? Where's your OC?!

The power of OC compels you!

Originally Posted by Estavali

A random song for all...

I like this song. Thanks!

If I read Nanohawiki correctly, what Rein Eins did was that she created a back-up copy of all that she had and placed it in Hayate before she returned to the Force. In Twilight's Wind, what happens is that I wrote it in a way that what Rein left behind was not only the massive amount of data accumalated throughout her life. She left the Tome's Core, its "soul/heart" so to say, to Hayate, the very thing she was created to watch over in the very first place. Throughout the events of Twilight's Wind (covering the missing 10 years before StrikerS), Hayate rebuilt the Tome from scratch with this Soul Core as the basis and with the knowledge inherited from Rein to help her, creating the Yggdrasil System (see below) as the Tome's new OS. By StrikerS she should have completed the rebuilding and would now be looking into new ways to further improve the Tome (and indirectly her own) performance (since the two are one).

Ah. That is indeed workable. Though I think that only the 'data' was left behind and not the primary OS. But that shouldn't be a problem since your story is stand-alone.

Spoiler for Administrative System Yggdrasil:

Administrative System Yggdrasil

When Hayate absorbed the Tome's Core (with the help of Reinforce Eins) and became its new Meister, she did not realised that what she had inherited was more than just an extensive collection of magical data and items. Within the Tome lies a built-in multi-level universe, with its own memories and possibilities. The form that this internal universe takes differs from Meister to Meister, each customising it to suit his/her preferences. Every time the Tome was passd to a new Meister, this inner realm would return to its original settings, with the accumalated data and items safely stored away until the Meister re-creates the pocket universe.

When Hayate took over, the Tome's internal structure was already in absolute shambles due to the prolonged corruption. This proved to be a severe problem, as the original Administrative Program (Reinforce Eins) was no longer around to guide and assist her. Even the birth of the new Administrative Program (Reinforce Zwei) did not help much. The Tome initially rejected her as its new Regulator, considering her yet mature enough to command it.

Hayate did not know about this problem (she did felt uncomfortable while using magic, but shrugged it off as being yet accustomed to it) until the problem was pointed it out to her. Entering the heart of the Tome and reasserting her authority as it new Meister, Hayate re-organised its inner geography from scratch bit by bit, and created an new Administrative System to over-see and coordinate its functions. The system, named Yggdrasil, comprises of nine Governing Spheres, each in charge of a specific aspect of the Tome. The Spheres are named after the Nine Realms in Norse mythology:

Asgard: Overall supervision and fine-tuning. Archon: Reinforce Zwei
Alfheim: Data processing and calculations. Archon: Aure
Midgard: Actualisation and materialisation. Archon: Liev
Svartalfheim: Design and pre-cast formation. Archon: Sophita
Hel: Physical storage and database. Archon: Nemu
Niflheim: Negative energy (as in anti-matter). Archon: Korin
Muspelheim: Positive (expansive) energy. Archon: Karen
Jotunheim: Energy-Data-Physical Conversion/Transmutation. Archon: Jeanne
Vanaheim: Maintanence (includes regeneration and defence). Archon: Lenn

Each Sphere is over-seen by a "Archon", a sentient program that initially looks like a Mini-Hayate (except Asgard's Reinforce and Hel's Nemu, who was created in the image of the previous Meister). The Spheres can be further expanded and developed under the supervision of its Archon, which develops along with her sphere and gradually achieves its own unique soul and appearance. Each Archon is given her own name by Hayate to distinguish her from the others. Hayate feels that her Archons are part of her family just like the Wolkenritter, and treats them as she would with real humans (abeit tiny ones). The common meeting ground for her and the Archons is a virtual space that resembles her kitchen. The Archons can also cross over to their sisters' realms any time unless refused entry (a limitation that Hayate and Reinforce does not have), though most of the time they prefer to gather at the "kitchen".

With Yggdrasil in place, Hayate could finally utilise the Tome to its maximum potential. If the Tome is a warship, Hayate would be its captain and Yggdrasil its Ops room/Command centre. While Rein Zwei is currently still not acknowledged by the Tome, it recognises her position as the leader of the Archons and agrees to work with her as in this fashion.

With it taking care of the main bulk of spellcasting, Hayate can concentrate better on the situation at hand. However, as a co-ordinator, Yggdrasil can only make things run smoother; it cannot and does not do everything for Hayate. Hayate still needs to master her spells to use them, the final decision and actual casting is still up to her, and she alone can provide the energy needed for the casting. Furthermore, while Reinforce (and the Archons to a certain extent) can ease the the strain on her body and mana reserves, they cannot eliminate it totally and pushing herself too hard will ruin gradually her health (as in Nanoha's case), and in the most severe scenario, even kill her.

(I'm seriously considering doing away with the Archons, save Rein Zwei and Nemu. They seem quite excessive to me and their presence weakens Rein's role.

Ahh.... Time to get the chainsaw.)

I like the idea overall. A well-thought of system that doesn't seem influence the outside world too much. I don't think you really need to chainsaw the others since only Rein can Unison with Hayate, right? But still, your choice.

Going by your rebuilding concept, I guess we can also expect her to use the tome later by even just voice-command ala Rein1. Though I do worry about the power level this might represent. If anything, this seems to imply that she can actually be as powerful as Rein1 eventually!

Now one could ask if Hayate has rebuilt the Tome, why isn't the Guardian Knights System reinstalled into it, and thus preventing the Knights eventual demise? One explanation would be that the old GK System is incompatiable with the Yggdrasil System. The second reason is explictly expressed in the series itself, through Vita's lips. The Knights are tired of their immortality. If they can die like humans beside Hayate, they would gladly welcome their inevitable demise. Hayate, being the loving mother she is, would surely not deprive her children of their wish.

At least that's how I see it .

Ahh. That reminded me. Rationale accepted.

Noted. I think alternatively I can also set the Silberkugel to deal only magic-related damage, i.e. breaking magical defenses, disturbing the flow of mana in the enemy magus, disrupting the functions of the Linker Core, etc. When it hits a non-magus, the most s/he will feel will be just some discomfort. Even to a magus, all it'll do is drain him/her of much of his/her mana and render him/her in a Dispelled and Silenced situation. The real damage that the Silberkugeln does will be to mana and magic-links. Which is why this spell will be lethal if used on magical beings like familiars and constructs like the Wolkenritter. If you dissolve the magic links that binds their existence together, that's it for them (I think).

That does indeed sound better. But I still think that the breaking down should be gradual or at least not instantaneously.

Btw, in case anyone is interested, the super-simplified version Twilight's Wind definition of Linker Cores, mana, and magic circuits:

Spoiler for Twilight's Wind Simplified Terminology #1:

Linker Core

Organ that refines prana/base lifeforce into mana. Prana is generated by the body from nutrition and is the essential element of powering a living being's physical activities.

Mana

Refined prana. (Damn, that's really short)

Magic Circuits

Just as blood veins sends blood throughout the body, so does magic circuits sends mana flowing to all parts of it. In short, magical blood veins.

No problem there. That's pretty much how Kha uses the theory.

The upcoming Logru spell pattern technique will help solve this problem. Basically what this do is that the magus/witch "engraves" a magical tattoo onto themselves which will allow them to instant-cast any one spell (conditions apply, of course).

There's a upgraded version of the spell pattern which I currently call the "mandala". Essentially it's a very complicated composition of spell patterns that (as of now) allows the user to cast spells of any one class/type with minimal requirements (like casting time and mediums). Of course, while spell patterns can be engraved on most magi, the same cannot be said for mandalas. The requirements are quite steep, and only people with a very unique magical constuition can utilise them. For example, of the Aces, Nanoha can't but Fate should be able to, I think.

A VA reference to Tohsaka Rin. No objections for me. Engravement shouldn't be impossible since we already have cards (used by the Liezes) which are pretty much-one-spell charges. Your system is different but I think it's still workable considering the implied 800+ other types of systems of magic in Nanohaverse.

Yes, this problematic evil spell. I'll need a rather emo Dark Hayate to explain why she's going to use it.

That shouldn't be impossible... Since Hayate is sometimes emo in canon as well. Though you might have to kick it up a few notches

Mine should be fairly simple compared to yours, I think . Though with enough crack, things might improve a bit .

Mine is just a flashier power-up.

.... That would be too haxxed, no? But I think it should be inescapable most of the time.

Well... Since it's dreamland-like...

Of course, when a fiery spirit burns within one, things are hard to say sometimes .

Burning spirit of courage always does the trick, huh? Will Fate's Sprite Zamber work on this?

Heh, the ranks matters too?

To me, at least.

For example, an A-rank defense can only hold up to equivalent A-rank attacks. You need a higher ranks for your defenses to hold up to more powerful ones. If you'd take a look at the several here, you'd notice that panzerschild in many OC's does up to AAA or higher defense.

It's actually more like a reflex to incoming attacks/enemies. The idea is to give her something to hold people off with she whips out something nasty (which should be most plentiful in Twilight's Wind). The overall time needed to fire off the Tanz must be very short; otherwise it'll lose its purpose.

Noted.

Nerf is in progress. An idea would be to make it an added-on effect , i.e. adding it to a Silberkugel to mana-drain and bind the target at the same time. Hmm, not a bad idea.

Actually, I think an ideal nerf would be it's slower progression of powering-down captured opponents. The longer you're there, the more inescapable the trap is.

His is Infinite Hunting Hounds (無限の猟犬(ウンエントリヒ・ヤークト)(Unendlichjagd)). I think Accous uses them as scouts rather than game-hunters like the Wilde Jagd. And yeah, haxx indeed but I like it, VERY MUCH .

Heck, I think it's the best one you've shown us so I can't disagree!

Haha, destroying the moon might not sound so absurd now, hmm?

Quite...

Anyway, this spell is still under conception. I need to consider if increasing the output will also put a greater strain on the magus as well, and how much.

Better.

Actually in Twilight's Wind, a number of my people will have some one as their polar opposite. I'm portraying Hayate as a Queen of Darkness (in a rather different concept that what dualistic moral beliefs would have one believe), darker and more grim than what canon (especially StrikerS) would make of her. Though how I'm going to pull this through successfully without making her too angtsy... Tis' the art, the skill (which I seem to lack terribly ).

I'll be rooting for you and your project! Go for it!

Ouch.

But thanks! Ikuso, yarou-dono!

*Estavalian braincells roar in unison*

At least your brain cells are loyal to you...

Tis' a duty of the Hayate Fan Squad!!!

Originally Posted by Erio

While I also think Hayate being "helpless" in one-on-one is excessive, I dont think its that much unrealistic. Hayate chose to become a Commander, a leader. She chose to disregard her close combat training in favor of commanding troops to achieve her objectives, instead of achieving them herself.

And even so, she has a very impressive nuke arsenal, from support spells like Atem des Eises to one that mirrors a bombardment of tactical nukes, Hslverg (I forget the spelling).

For a mage with such powerful long range attacks, it is only natural that her weakness would be close combat. Still, saying she is absolutely "helpless" is a bit too much, I agree. However, making her particularly "good" at it is also not good, in my opinion.

Yes, of course! But what I'm complaining about is not being good in melee. It's 'suvivability' under emergencies! Thusly, I'm trying to make her more adaptable as opposed to being a one-trick-pony as StrikerS made her out to be. If you're worried about imbalances, I'm not making her 'good' in melee. Heck, she's still terrible there even after GenerationS. What I plan is just giving her proper ways of holding back melee-ers like Grandis; not fighting them head-on.

[PhoenixFlare]

Originally Posted by dkellis

The problem with earlier incarnations of my first chapter was that I kept trying to shoehorn in canon characters and some variety of action, instead of talk talk talk.

Today, I went "screw it", and just wrote what I wanted.

About half of the first chapter here, since the second half is getting a lot longer than I expected with a lot more talking (in other words, I need time to edit it down to something more manageable). No canon characters, no canon situations, no action. You Have Been Warned.

Spoiler for Lyrical Melancholy Chapter 1 Part 1:

-snip-

I wouldn't say that action is central to all stories, since character development and insights work better in explaining the cast. I'd think that most of us are interested in the little quirks of the people more than how they fare in battles and stuff like that.

And this is very good! I particularly like Rancer and Ivey's interactions, it sheds some light into their personalities . Though, Ivey going around to grope newbie's ... uhm, assets, got me very much by surprise .

I'll be following your next chapter in due time. Time is always short for me.

Originally Posted by Ryand-Smith

Hello all, Well, I was working over the weekend, and if I can get your approval, here is my idea, and short introduction vinaigrette , well as Will smith says, Aww here it goes

Spoiler for Weissyritter, GO:

Character idea

Aura, Mage, Age, 15 From, Small World, Ad mistered Farming plane. Weilds Customized Weiss-Ritter system Belkan Style. A native farmgirl from the plans of Non Administrated world Number 78, Aura's origins are a mystery to her at best. Her father, the caring old Colonel from the Ground Army's 109th Mobile Infantry simply told her, “You're my sky girl, nothing more should be said about that. This simple answer lead her to doubt her self worth for a short time, and the occasional thought still comes up to her int the night, but using this as a motivation, she pushed on through the St Church['s man magnet schools, and eventually, through her hard work, she was assigned the position of weapons testing officer in the TSAB Ground base on the outskirts of Mid-Childa, several miles from the infamous Einhander base.
TSAB Ground base, circa 0078

Weapons testing base.
"All right, this , as you can see here" is our newest Neo-Belken inspired weapon. Executives of the TSEB weapons procurement office, I call this, the Weiss-Ritter Type 2. Thanks to the efforts in Rand D, we were able to combine Belkian style with Mid-Childan usage. This is the final fusion of performance, and power. Allan, please play the demonstration video for our esteemed guests... "Yes Master", the armed device responded, the glowing crystal in the heart pf the staff blinking as it spoke. Ahead of the several men in suits, a projector hummed on, and several clips started to play to a voiceover. "Weiss Ritte System. "Suit Up, Weissy, lets go!" The armed device, a fairly long, almost rifle like weapon said planley "Yes maser," and in an instant, the teen's standard ground uniform was transformed into a customized barrier jacket setup. The jacket itself had an odd marking, a stylized while her face seemed to be attempting to conceal a smile, ass she fled down the test site. "Weissy, lets go, Nanoha Style, mode EX!" "Yes Master, loading cartridges, switching to magical beam weapon.. I have your firing solution ready for distance combat. All systems are ready. The girl smiled "Weissy, Fire!" The beam blasted through the targets, while the next set of drones wandered out. Their round forms, almost comical in nature each held a dummy. "And gentlemen, this isn't just some glorified staff either, the presenter said, it allows precision, and power. In the video feed, the girl looked at the situation. "Hmm, Weissy, Switch to mode P, lock and load!" The armed device's autoloader system took in two cartridges, and primed them. "Weissy, Lets go, dive in! The armed device locked onto the first don. "Fire! several minuets later, the drones each were down, bullet holes raking the the drones. "Gentlemen, This weapon and setup can be easily mass produced, and it also can serve in point blank range capabilities, as we will demonstrate with this fight simulation. Colonel Brian, would you come in, "Yea Jason, I'm ready. "Origin Shifter, Set up! The man's brown ground uniform was changed into a black overcoat, with gold sewing on the shoulders, The pants were out of an old Earth army unit, a silver chain stretching from the bet to inside of the man's right pocket. He looked at the teenager and sighed, as he saw his armed device adjust to its true form, a long almost midnight black staff, with the drastically inverted Shepard's crock on top. "So, I have to fight my own daughter... it comes down to this. Shifter, Limit release, Start maximum power! "All right master, setting Mode Double A, and now ready." He flew at the girl, who quickly responded with a furious beam assault. The energy was quickly scattered by the Armed Device's low level shields, but one blast got through, stinking the man greatly. "Honey, getting better, well, I'll show you who taught you. Shifter, Double Spell, Speedform with Flame of the elders!" The Armed device blinked, and in an instant, the staff had a burning, almost dread aura around it. "Take this, My Love, My Emotion, and My Fury, Flash Style!" "Dad, I'm not your little girl anymore, and I'll show you what Weisy and I can do, when we work as a Team! Mode, EN Weisy, Like we practiced! "Yes Master Aura, Switching up, Melee range!" Aura held down the rifle, the weapon shifting into an arrangement like a long ax. The forward ed of the rifle sharpened, and a new weapon, a pollaxe form, stabling from the magic induced evolution. Weissritter, Lets stop this attack, . Aura's device quickly saw through the fields of magic, and connected. The flaming staff, and pollaxe both collided, while inside the bade, alarms rung. "Gentlemen, I'm sorry, but its our now alarm system, its always had these poor flaws.. An image of the base's forward guard, bloodied would prove the professor wrong. "There.. invading.. too many of them.. . “Executives, Our agents will show you the power of this system, but it would be advisable for you to head to our prepared emergency exit... ever since the Capitol was hit, we have been waiting for the next round of counter-attacks.... The suited men not waiting for a hint, followed the man out into the basement of the base...

So, here's my character introduction, and basic info. I was thinking of fitting it within the Kas's Counter-Attack saga, possibly having a characters fight the numbers, and get badly owned, but still hold them off long enough to have Scalatti call a retreat/Kas group arrives, saves us, but its up to him.

Short and sweet, with enough introductory description of Aura, though somehow, she doesn't seem to have been the colonel's biological daughter, if I read correctly. That's just a guess, however.

In any case, a slight nitpick. It'd be better if you break the block of text into several paragraphs for easier reading.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Ouch... but a dorama ouch, so I'm gobbling it all up. :3 Amazing what the loss of ones comrades can do to a person.

True, true.

Still, the loss of one's comrades was just the tip of the iceberg for what she did.

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Thanks! And no, I don't mind adorable. The part with H/N/Y/V was supposed to give that effect.

It certainly did!

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Thanks a lot! I try to change as little as I can with their set attitudes while adding my own inserts as well. Though I was going at the TeslaXZafira Tesla snuggling+grooming Zafira when I wrote it. I was like, "Wait, when did this idea came to my mind?!"

A smite from the Divine Hammer of Inspiration? It's nothing short of brilliant, in any case.

Though, admittedly, I have qualms making characters go ... "girlish", if you understand what I mean. Some (Caro, even Teana) could still remain there, but for those of the likes of Hayate, Nanoha, and Fate, giggling and the sort of stuff seems a bit strange for me. I don't really mind them when they were young, but doing that when you're about 25 doesn't sound right . Of course, that's just me. Tesla is an eternal teenager, so that's fine for me.

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Glad to be of help. THough I also have high expectations for the Aurion, Nanoha and Fate interactions since I need to brush up on those.

I most likely would be needing your help in this. Some things are going to be discussed at length, and a little catching up doesn't hurt.

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

These ideas are APPROVED! The key focus in my chapter's conversations is lowering the recoiling damage to Nanoha's physique with her high-power modes while giving Fate some proper shielding even when in Sonic mode.

And more possible improvements for Hayate is always welcome. IN GenerationS, the Bookmark system (not spoiling yet) and the upgrades on Schwertkreuz allows her to do better without relying on Unison with Rein to be able to fight fine by herself. Her Unison was implied to be quite a great boost in capabilities during episode 25, deshou?

I might even do an Aurion vs. Hayate training match for the new systems. But heck, it'll be one sided all the way through... Aurion can be a punishing taskmaster ala Abrams (of course, at a lower level) at times.

You and I have some similar ideas, though I more or less made the Blaster system to have been improved over the five years of development. Recoil damage has been minimized significantly, but Nanoha wanted to test her own strength by increasing the number of Blaster Bits she could control at the same time (up to 6 and 10). A tad dangerous, but she's headstrong, so that's that. Of course, she's going to suffer some backlash, no matter how stabilized the Blaster system is.

As for Fate, I was going to introduce some protective gears for her in Sonic form too. Still working on the ideas, though.

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Maybe a meeting near the end might do. Cameo?

Cameo is fine, I don't mind it.

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Leona she is.

Maybe.

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

And Aaron says "just as planned."

He did, didn't he?

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

Hmm...which brings the question. Its kind of a good thing since yours got delayed, but since Aaron is probably gonna write on the upgrades sooner maybe you two should share ideas. After all, GuardianS is set a few years after.

We have slightly different upgrades, I think, but it should work out fine.

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

A cameo I suppose. Helping with investigations.

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

So those gems aren't just for decorations then?

Zettai no!

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

I suppose not. Since some of us already suspect that.

Tee-hee, I like building up the mysteries before landing the bombshell.

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

And I thought you'd feel good about it.

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

True, it helps you realize how precious things are. But then most people don't realize that till its gone.

Truth.

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

Thursday eh? I'll see what I can do. It'll be a lot harder to arrange this time though. I'll try to get some other people to help.

Thanks a lot for this. Thesis writing is definitely fun, but it drains a lot of time and energy.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

That certainly is interesting at least. Leona gets more interesting for me day by day.

She does have that charm, doesn't she?

Originally Posted by Tormenk

I see. Off-hand I'll say those includes my share broadly.

I can but try to fit the taste of everyone.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

To some extent. It considerably lengthens game time by 50% at least with the extra loading time.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Tasty ones. I'm waiting to see if Leona is made of what I think she is.

Mind sharing what you think she is?

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Or what lies on the other side of the coin.

Originally Posted by Erio

Yo, I'm back from my trip. I cant remember what was the last page I read, so I'll be reading backlog..backwards. I'll see what I can find to comment on, but I have no time right now to read long stuff...so that will come later.

On another note, I've been working quite hard on the reconstruction of my characters. This time I will start posting the complete profiles first, since my first attempt, in which I tried to introduce my characters through scenarios, failed quite hard. And dont expect quick profiles...these will be massive...

Anyway, glad to see you guys are still around.

Welcome back!

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

Well actually no, I'm still trying to find the manga. But I loaned the anime from PF so I more or less know a few things about it.

GetBackers?

Originally Posted by FieryAeon

I complaint about StrikerS to some real life friends. I think there was once me and PF were discussing about it while on an outing somewhere. I don't really know many people who like the mahou shoujo genre though, so its hard to find people around me to talk about it.

I think we're the only ones who discussed that among the ten (?) who went that day.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

What the hell?!

That's a COAT you half-witted numbskulls !

The lady-like portrayal and the curt genuflection do seem to contradict what you just said. She just curtsied, didn't she?

Originally Posted by krisslanza

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical...ha_terminology
Here is a little snippit here...


See why I was so like: "WTF!?"

Maybe "typical" was emphasised instead?

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Will see what happens then... in any case, no Happy Birthdays for Leona then

Ah, so you noticed the date.

Uhm, this will be revealed later on.

Originally Posted by dkellis

EDIT: I just thought of a neat encapsulation of what my goals are for the 37th CIAA:

I want anyone who reads the story to be able to feel that these characters deserve their place in the Nanoha-verse as well as the canon characters, instead of usurping the position of Main Characters. I want readers to be able to read the story as a MSLN fanfic, and not care that they are not reading about Nanoha or Fate or Subaru or any of the canon characters.

Lofty goal, I admit, but I'm trying to aim high.

Well said, my friend. It just expressed everything that we all have in mind.

Originally Posted by Aaron008R;1338561Yes, of course! But what I'm complaining about is not being good in melee. It's [I

'suvivability'[/I] under emergencies! Thusly, I'm trying to make her more adaptable as opposed to being a one-trick-pony as StrikerS made her out to be. If you're worried about imbalances, I'm not making her 'good' in melee. Heck, she's still terrible there even after GenerationS. What I plan is just giving her proper ways of holding back melee-ers like Grandis; not fighting them head-on.

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Yes, of course! But what I'm complaining about is not being good in melee. It's 'suvivability' under emergencies! Thusly, I'm trying to make her more adaptable as opposed to being a one-trick-pony as StrikerS made her out to be. If you're worried about imbalances, I'm not making her 'good' in melee. Heck, she's still terrible there even after GenerationS. What I plan is just giving her proper ways of holding back melee-ers like Grandis; not fighting them head-on.

Franz: "Hayate, it is time that I taught you the Rifleman's Creed. You need a gun. Seriously. And a good combat knife, or two, or three..."

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Evangelion Xgouki

You forgot that also silences

Precia doesn't silence... Well except for Fate...

Originally Posted by Keroko

Possible. Yuuno used it on Arf in S1, Amy teleported Arisa and Suzuka in S2, and Arf and Yuuno teleported the core program of Yami no Sho in S2 as well.

Well, what I want to know if there's any limitations...

...Like, could you only teleport them to locations that are 'known' ? IS there something like a fog of war?

Originally Posted by FlameSparkZ

I can even imagine Kugimiya Rie voicing her

I'll wait till the first Gosick manga chapter comes out first...

... So far, it's just a novel, so I have no idea about the characters

Originally Posted by Estavali

A random song for all...

I like the song too.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Well, it's not. Mandy doesn't give. If she does, start worrying.

I was referring to the song you know...

Originally Posted by Keroko

Still not hearing an insult.

Then maybe there isn't.

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

The lady-like portrayal and the curt genuflection do seem to contradict what you just said. She just curtsied, didn't she?

Are you serious? What have this place done to you ?!

HE, just curtsied.

[Tormenk]

Originally Posted by Kagerou

Moving on, I was on a crack high (read: Red Bull + Vault + Chocolate) and thought of this trailer for my future epic:

Spoiler for MSLN Alpha Trailer:

Caption on a black screen:
When your friends, your family, your home, your very way of life... when its threatened, how far will you go to stand up and fight for it?

When you're the only one left, will you rise up to the challenge? Or will you be broken and defeated? You are one among many, but you are a hero... or are you?

It's all up to you now. Who are you? What is your name?

...Do you even want to try?

7Arcs Presents

(Flashes of scenes from the first three seasons. The footage is grainy...)
Nanoha: (Speaking over the scenes) We fought for a long time, didn't we, Fate-chan? We gave up a lot of blood and tears, and became fast friends... but it was all done through fighting.

CAPTION: FIGHT

Fate: It was hard... we never really had a childhood. It was always work, fighting, war... we're soldiers, now, ne?

Nanoha: What's this cold feeling? I don't like it.
Fate: I don't know... Nanoha-chan, what are you thinking?
Nanoha: At first, I loved that I had found my place in the universe... but now, I'm so sick of fighting and pain and death that I'd rather have never found Yuuno-kun in the park that day.

CAPTION: HURT

Fate: Nanoha...
Nanoha: Gomen ne, Fate-chan. I'm speaking nonsense again, I know.
Fate: Will you be... okay? Nanoha, I'm worried about you.

CAPTION: SADNESS

Nanoha: Ne, ne, I'll be fine, Fate-chan. I'll be okay...
Fate: ...Promise?
Nanoha: ...yeah.

CAPTION: SELF-DOUBT

(Brief screenshot of Raising Heart on a bedroom floor. The gem is cracked and the room is messy.)

Subaru: (Voiceover) I miss you... Nanoha-san.

Camera pans, fades out. When it opens, Nanoha is walking by herself down a sidewalk. People brush past her on all sides. Her eyes are downcast.)

Teana: She's really not been the same for many years, has she?
Subaru: No. Not since the last incident... it's like, she's a completely different person, isn't she?

CAPTION: LOSS

(The Takamachi/Harlown household)

Vivio: Fate-mama, where's Nanoha-mama?
Fate: I... I don't know, Vivio.
Vivio: What?! This is so stupid... why aren't you ever around anymore?
Nanoha (VO): ...I'm so sick of it all.

CAPTION: REGRET

(A cruiser's barracks)

Vita: I wonder what happened to her...
Signum: You mean Nanoha-san?
Vita: ...I miss how she used to be, Signum...
Signum: I know, Vita. But things like this... it's hard to tell you how it'll work out.
Nanoha (VO): There's nothing to work out...

CAPTION: PAIN

(TSAB Enforcer offices)

Smith: Oi, Fate-san, off the record.
Fate: Nani nani? What is it?
Wesson: We've got a conclusion, Fate-san.
Smith: Maybe you should... leave, Nanoha-san.
Fate: Wh-what?!
Wesson: She's not healthy for you and Vivio anymore.
Nanoha (VO): I'm not fit to be a friend, or a mother.

CAPTION: DESTRUDO

(Aus'ruf hangar)

Naomi: I wish I could take all of that away...
Emili: What's that?
Naomi: I miss the old Nanoha-chan. What happened to her, oneechan?
Emili: I... I don't know.
Nanoha (VO): I grew up... didn't I?

CAPTION: CONFUSION

(Saint Church courtyard)

Aurion: They're all worried about her. What can come of this?
Kha: We have to believe that she'll make it through. She neglects the contact of others...
Carim: She's shut herself away. All we can do now is hope for the best.
Aurion: That's ridiculous. A time when she needs her friends the most... and we abandon her?!
Nanoha (VO): It's easier that way.

CAPTION: THANATOS

(The bridge of the Normandy)

Tesla: So what are you gonna do about her?
Hayate: There's nothing I can do... just hope.
Tesla: That's awfully defeatist of you, Hayate-san.
Hayate: Well what else can I do? She won't even do anything...
Nanoha (VO): It hurts too much when I do something, so why do anything at all?

CAPTION: FEAR

(The Infinity Library)

Yuuno: I don't know, what do you think I should do?
Shamsel: You're asking me why? I hardly know the girl!
Yuuno: Hey, I'm just looking for all the advice I can get, okay?
Shamsel: ...eh, fair enough. But I still don't know what to tell you.
Nanoha (VO): Why bother?

CAPTION: KOM

(Nanoha, walking down the street again.)

Nanoha (VO): All my life, I wanted to help others. I wanted to be friends with everyone I met. I wanted to keep smiling and be happy. I have those things now, and yet, I'm hollow inside. What's this pain that eats at me every time I sleep at night? What's this sense of doom that's been growing in me for years?

(Cut to another place.)

Keroko: No! This is stupid! She's helped is all at one point or another, and I'll be damned if I turn my back on her when she needs me the most!

CAPTION: SUSSER

Nanoha (VO): I don't want to do this anymore. And I know, deep down, that something's going to happen, very soon. Something big and almost impossible to stop. And when that comes... maybe then, it'll end...

CAPTION: TOD

Keroko: Nanoha-neechan!
Yuuno: Nanoha-chan.
Vivio: Nanoha-mama!
Hayate: Nanoha-chan!
Chrono: Nanoha-san.
Signum: Nanoha-san.
Vita: Nanoha.
Shamal: Nanoha.
Tesla: Hey, Nanoha.
Zafira: Aa, Nanoha-san.
Arf: N-nanoha!
Teana: Nanoha-san.
Smith: Oi, Nanoha-san!
Franz: Nanoha-san!
Wesson: Nanoha-chan...
Grandis: Nanoha-san.
Carim: Nanoha-san.
Emili: Nanoha-chan!
Caro: Nanoha-san!
Acous: Nanoha-san.
Subaru: Nanoha-sama!
Elio: Nanoha-san.
Erick: Hey, Nanoha-san.
Naomi: Nanoha-chan!
Aurion: Nanoha-san.
Kha: Hey, Nanoha...
Fate: Nanoha...

All: Nanoha!
Nanoha: ...Don't come find me... please.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Alpha

When mankind's worst enemy appears, will the greatest hero of our time rise up once again?

And yes, I do plan on using all those characters XD.

Awesome stuff here, even more by using THANATOS as the music.

Must have been high on Eva-induced crack, counting the number of heavy influences here.

Originally Posted by Evangelion Xgouki

Zomg! HAIL LORD IRON BALLS!!!

Well yeah, Shinji becomes gar and a master player, Asuka gets drunk with Shinji on the apartment balcony and Rei learns to expresses herself through music. Wonderful stuff all of them, DA POWA of fanfiction.

Ah, yea it would, huh? I suppose it would be easier if I just made up my own division for him to join, but I really can't think about what it would be. I'm decent at making characters, but I dunno about an entire division . It'd be great if he would get more interaction with the other OCs but Rogue Squadron seems kinda inactive atm . Plus I just don't want to toss him into RF6...it'd just seem like I was forcing my way into that bit of the story .

Oh, I already have the scene running around my mind for when Shamsel goes berserk . I just need the proper catalyst to set it off .

A rough suggestion for a catalyst then.

Spoiler for 5 more mins. of crack:

Four and two, of black and red came to the green line. Three and one now spread their red onto the green. One more soon became part of the canvas of green and red. All marked by the paintbrush of the Black.

Windows of brown faded into a murky mix as the frames were painted red.

"Tch. Too easy.", came the lamentation of the Silver.

A ponder came to the last man of the black and red.

"Again I'm the only one left..why?"

An answer. "A beacon. One which draws the painters of the Black to them. The beacon remains unstained but everything around it is left covered with the permanent paint."

Rings took hold of the man, forcing him parallel to the green.

A flare, marked by a shift as Red now took the man's chin into her grasp.

Clarity became smogged as the man choked. He could not tell if the restrains holding him down or the spinning sensation in his head was responsible for the flashes of memories flashing before him now, he could no longer tell. Pure Red and Black which he had tried his hardest to not bring back. Eyes closed, he tried to shut out the agony that was screaming and leaping at him.

"A lone survivor. Of many encounters. I offer you a reprieve the others did not receive. Life, so that you might continue, acting as a cursed beacon and tormented by the past and in fear of pains the future hides. Death, so that you can be released from those of the former."

"What shall be your decision? Hurry or the precious choice might be revoked by the hands of time." The slightest of a smile played out on the lips of Red.

Shamsel knew there was no choice at all. His parched lips and hoarse throat threw out his choice.

"It will.."

Pardon the flowery language since it suddenly came out.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Well, what I want to know if there's any limitations...

...Like, could you only teleport them to locations that are 'known' ? IS there something like a fog of war?

Probably. I would guess teleportation involves the coordinates at least like Fate's long recital to teleport to the garden of time in S1. Otherwise to get past the fog of war, random generalization by the device perhaps.

Are you serious? What have this place done to you ?!

HE, just curtsied.

Hmm. Keroko might take an interest in Loki now. Given his newly minted status as a trap.

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

Tee-hee, I like building up the mysteries before landing the bombshell.

More awesome Guardians to land the bomb then.

She does have that charm, doesn't she?

Mind sharing what you think she is?

Might be a little off from the initial and more complete view but the recent chapter did serve to complicate things nicely between her profile and the impression given through the rest of the story.

Leona is chained to a number of past events and her calm manner serves to hide the turmoil beneath. There is a hint of malice within her among a number other things I can't quite place yet. Need to refresh my impressions by reading GuardianS.

[Jimmy C]

Originally Posted by Nightengale

even more so with how 'protecting the mainland' was so oh-repeatedly mentioned, which gave the impression Mid-childa was their only responsibility.

Well, the Ground Force people we've seen in StrikerS are assigned to Mid. So it'd be obvious that their first concern is for that particular planet.

Despite being the GF head-honcho, his projects and scale of operations is limited to Mid, and doesn't seem to encircle other parts of AWs.

I don't think Regius was the top head-honcho of GF. He was just a an Lt. General after all. According to the newscast in ep10, he's the Capital Defense Forces' Representative. Now, I'm proceeding on the assumption that he has some authority, hence he's the representative. I'd like to know what does the "Capital" cover, Cranagan City or the whole planet of Mid? He certainly has influence as the commander of GF's most important military district either way. Had the fiasco with Jail not happened, his next promotion might have been GF high command.

the Ground Forces looks to be...really scattered with each GF branch probably managing themselves as their own command structure with Regius's main GF branch at the top.

Think about it, each AW is isolated across the dimensional sea. It'd make sense for each world's GF command to be able to take care of itself without being managed by Central.
I'd imagine GF's chain of command to be along the following lines: geographical district-> planetary -> overall command.

We know little of Navy/Air Force, though looking at how the JS/BoD threat was handled, it doesn't seem to be fully centralized either.

One thing to remember is that Air Force needs ground bases too. So their structure should be simillar to GF's. The Navy is the tricky part. The dimensional sea should be such that the normal concept of "space" doesn't apply. Even so, it's possible that it has "sectors" that cover several worlds each and at least one responsible for operations beyond TSAB-controlled space.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

I believe so: Fate and Accous are Agents, IIRC.

The way I've always approahced things is that Agents are like the US Army CID's Special Investigators: they have almost unlimited legal power and authority in chasing after their targets, but need to work within the system due to a lack of command authority...

Confusing, as Fate has been called an Enforcer as well in StrikerS.

Perhaps Enforcer is more of a title as oposed to a rank. In other words, Fate and Accous are both Enforcers with the rank of Agent.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Well, what I want to know if there's any limitations...

...Like, could you only teleport them to locations that are 'known' ? IS there something like a fog of war?

Coördinates seem to be a requirement, as Tormenk said. I'm not sure about the comparison between Sein's Deep Diver and teleports though. Arf's forcefull teleportation in S1 suggests that defensive abillities as a shield don't matter.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Hmm. Keroko might take an interest in Loki now. Given his newly minted status as a trap.

Pfft, I'm with Chaos on this one. That kid doesn't even come close to a trap.

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

One thing to remember is that Air Force needs ground bases too. So their structure should be simillar to GF's. The Navy is the tricky part. The dimensional sea should be such that the normal concept of "space" doesn't apply. Even so, it's possible that it has "sectors" that cover several worlds each and at least one responsible for operations beyond TSAB-controlled space.

I'm thinking that the Navy only has one central command, that being the command structure floating in the dimensional sea. The Navy's territory, so to say, would be the dimensional sea itself so they really only need one command structure.

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Confusing, as Fate has been called an Enforcer as well in StrikerS.

Perhaps Enforcer is more of a title as oposed to a rank. In other words, Fate and Accous are both Enforcers with the rank of Agent.

My impression of Enforcers was that they're the SWAT deployed by the Navy, working together, while Agents are Uber-Enforcers... and of course, Enforcers pwn Ground Forces...

I'm thinking that the Navy only has one central command, that being the command structure floating in the dimensional sea. The Navy's territory, so to say, would be the dimensional sea itself so they really only need one command structure.

I was thinking that the Navy's command structure is both centralised and decentralised. Fleet Command/High Command is based at that hugeass space station, which is the final Navy command authority, Then, they have zone commands. For example, the US Navy splits its forces between Atlantic Fleet and Pacific Fleet; the Pentagon houses the CNO and Department heads, Norfolk houses CINCLANT, Hawaii houses CINCPAC. Then within LANTFLT and PACFLT you have sub commands, such as 7th Fleet, etc etc.

Also, a curious thing: rank and influence are not the same. To give an example, Vice Admiral James "Ace" Lyons was a big proponent of special warfare during the 80s, and as head of the Navy's Operations and Planning Department, Lyons was able to put his mark on the Navy, wielding great influence - among other things, Lyons was instrumental in fighting for SEAL Team Six. Towards the end of the 80s, however, Lyons was promoted to be CINCPAC, where he commanded the entire Pacific Fleet... and had zero influence on the Navy, who quickly put a more conservative Admiral into his position, and began deemphasizing special warfare, a process that was halted by 9/11.

[Aaron008R]

Originally Posted by Kagerou

I aww'd.

I'm gonna go ahead and post a chunk of the final arc of Sorairo Days because the next part's gonna be quite big...

Spoiler for The Liberation of Belzac, Part One:

*snip*

Nice. Nothing too eventful. But that part with Emili and Glen was GOLDEN!!! It's kinda frightening that Emili can switch between te two extremes of tsun and dere so quickly...

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

Spoiler for Joint Training Pt.2: "Debrief":

*snip*

Heh... Now the entire RF6 gets outdone...

Though separating Hydrogen and Oxygen from water is-

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

A smite from the Divine Hammer of Inspiration? It's nothing short of brilliant, in any case.

Thanks.

Though, admittedly, I have qualms making characters go ... "girlish", if you understand what I mean. Some (Caro, even Teana) could still remain there, but for those of the likes of Hayate, Nanoha, and Fate, giggling and the sort of stuff seems a bit strange for me. I don't really mind them when they were young, but doing that when you're about 25 doesn't sound right . Of course, that's just me. Tesla is an eternal teenager, so that's fine for me.

Well... I don't really find it too weird. Despite all you can see in the world, there are still some noticeable MOE women who are older than 21~22. If there are any bases to go by, I kinda follow Cecile Croomy's attitude from Code Geass. She's 24, and yet she still has her carefree moments like the whack-a-mole scene in episode 21. Since you've reminded me, I'll keep it in mind when I do even more character interactions for GuardianS. Though I hope that the first one with Hayate is alright with you...

I most likely would be needing your help in this. Some things are going to be discussed at length, and a little catching up doesn't hurt.

Sure.

You and I have some similar ideas, though I more or less made the Blaster system to have been improved over the five years of development. Recoil damage has been minimized significantly, but Nanoha wanted to test her own strength by increasing the number of Blaster Bits she could control at the same time (up to 6 and 10). A tad dangerous, but she's headstrong, so that's that. Of course, she's going to suffer some backlash, no matter how stabilized the Blaster system is.

Some scolding incoming...

As for Fate, I was going to introduce some protective gears for her in Sonic form too. Still working on the ideas, though.

Will wait for them then.

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

Franz: "Hayate, it is time that I taught you the Rifleman's Creed. You need a gun. Seriously. And a good combat knife, or two, or three..."

[LoweGear]

Quick backlog breaker

Originally Posted by Ryand-Smith

Hey All, well, I was working on the story, added a large ammount of explantion and expositon and some foreshaowding to something I wanted to expand on, if it hasn't been already done, the Selee like expansion of secret military projects.

Spoiler for Chapter 3, Theft!:

*snip*

Seolla and Arado imported wholesale?!? And still kicking ass like they always do

Still, as suggested need to separate the narration and dialogue up, to make it easier to read

Originally Posted by Saint X

As promised, I'm ready to unleash my TRAP into the thread.

But first, a sneak peek WIP

Spoiler for WIP: "BRIDGET"!!!:

[
*snip*

And Bridget finally joins the ranks of OC with her trapness... now wondering what'll happen if he ever meets up with Jun...

Originally Posted by Kagerou

*ahem*

Have to answer some questions first...

@Lowegear and Eva Xgouki: I'm not entirely clear on this, it's best to ask Goose, but I can try: The 200th hour is the moment in a soldier's training or on a mission where he or she royally messes up really bad. It's a concept that pretty much says "you WILL fuck up" and, inevitably, you do. Even though it's not really your 200th hour of active service, it's the concept.

Everyone in the OFM has had their 200th hour at one point or another. Erick's 200th hour was getting his ass kicked by Aurion. Glen's was the first time he went berserk. Emili's occurred in one of the shorts I've wrote, Platinum Lucifer. I don't know Franz and Naomi's cause Goose hasn't told me about them.

Aaaah clears up alot of questions

Now that you've clarified it, it appears that everyone here in the OC who's served under the TSAB would've gone through the 200th hour eventually, no matter who they are.

hmmm....

*zips mouth*

Originally Posted by Kagerou

Moving on, I was on a crack high (read: Red Bull + Vault + Chocolate) and thought of this trailer for my future epic:

Spoiler for MSLN Alpha Trailer:

Caption on a black screen:
When your friends, your family, your home, your very way of life... when its threatened, how far will you go to stand up and fight for it?

When you're the only one left, will you rise up to the challenge? Or will you be broken and defeated? You are one among many, but you are a hero... or are you?

It's all up to you now. Who are you? What is your name?

...Do you even want to try?

7Arcs Presents

(Flashes of scenes from the first three seasons. The footage is grainy...)
Nanoha: (Speaking over the scenes) We fought for a long time, didn't we, Fate-chan? We gave up a lot of blood and tears, and became fast friends... but it was all done through fighting.

CAPTION: FIGHT

Fate: It was hard... we never really had a childhood. It was always work, fighting, war... we're soldiers, now, ne?

Nanoha: What's this cold feeling? I don't like it.
Fate: I don't know... Nanoha-chan, what are you thinking?
Nanoha: At first, I loved that I had found my place in the universe... but now, I'm so sick of fighting and pain and death that I'd rather have never found Yuuno-kun in the park that day.

CAPTION: HURT

Fate: Nanoha...
Nanoha: Gomen ne, Fate-chan. I'm speaking nonsense again, I know.
Fate: Will you be... okay? Nanoha, I'm worried about you.

CAPTION: SADNESS

Nanoha: Ne, ne, I'll be fine, Fate-chan. I'll be okay...
Fate: ...Promise?
Nanoha: ...yeah.

CAPTION: SELF-DOUBT

(Brief screenshot of Raising Heart on a bedroom floor. The gem is cracked and the room is messy.)

Subaru: (Voiceover) I miss you... Nanoha-san.

Camera pans, fades out. When it opens, Nanoha is walking by herself down a sidewalk. People brush past her on all sides. Her eyes are downcast.)

Teana: She's really not been the same for many years, has she?
Subaru: No. Not since the last incident... it's like, she's a completely different person, isn't she?

CAPTION: LOSS

(The Takamachi/Harlown household)

Vivio: Fate-mama, where's Nanoha-mama?
Fate: I... I don't know, Vivio.
Vivio: What?! This is so stupid... why aren't you ever around anymore?
Nanoha (VO): ...I'm so sick of it all.

CAPTION: REGRET

(A cruiser's barracks)

Vita: I wonder what happened to her...
Signum: You mean Nanoha-san?
Vita: ...I miss how she used to be, Signum...
Signum: I know, Vita. But things like this... it's hard to tell you how it'll work out.
Nanoha (VO): There's nothing to work out...

CAPTION: PAIN

(TSAB Enforcer offices)

Smith: Oi, Fate-san, off the record.
Fate: Nani nani? What is it?
Wesson: We've got a conclusion, Fate-san.
Smith: Maybe you should... leave, Nanoha-san.
Fate: Wh-what?!
Wesson: She's not healthy for you and Vivio anymore.
Nanoha (VO): I'm not fit to be a friend, or a mother.

CAPTION: DESTRUDO

(Aus'ruf hangar)

Naomi: I wish I could take all of that away...
Emili: What's that?
Naomi: I miss the old Nanoha-chan. What happened to her, oneechan?
Emili: I... I don't know.
Nanoha (VO): I grew up... didn't I?

CAPTION: CONFUSION

(Saint Church courtyard)

Aurion: They're all worried about her. What can come of this?
Kha: We have to believe that she'll make it through. She neglects the contact of others...
Carim: She's shut herself away. All we can do now is hope for the best.
Aurion: That's ridiculous. A time when she needs her friends the most... and we abandon her?!
Nanoha (VO): It's easier that way.

CAPTION: THANATOS

(The bridge of the Normandy)

Tesla: So what are you gonna do about her?
Hayate: There's nothing I can do... just hope.
Tesla: That's awfully defeatist of you, Hayate-san.
Hayate: Well what else can I do? She won't even do anything...
Nanoha (VO): It hurts too much when I do something, so why do anything at all?

CAPTION: FEAR

(The Infinity Library)

Yuuno: I don't know, what do you think I should do?
Shamsel: You're asking me why? I hardly know the girl!
Yuuno: Hey, I'm just looking for all the advice I can get, okay?
Shamsel: ...eh, fair enough. But I still don't know what to tell you.
Nanoha (VO): Why bother?

CAPTION: KOM

(Nanoha, walking down the street again.)

Nanoha (VO): All my life, I wanted to help others. I wanted to be friends with everyone I met. I wanted to keep smiling and be happy. I have those things now, and yet, I'm hollow inside. What's this pain that eats at me every time I sleep at night? What's this sense of doom that's been growing in me for years?

(Cut to another place.)

Keroko: No! This is stupid! She's helped is all at one point or another, and I'll be damned if I turn my back on her when she needs me the most!

CAPTION: SUSSER

Nanoha (VO): I don't want to do this anymore. And I know, deep down, that something's going to happen, very soon. Something big and almost impossible to stop. And when that comes... maybe then, it'll end...

CAPTION: TOD

Keroko: Nanoha-neechan!
Yuuno: Nanoha-chan.
Vivio: Nanoha-mama!
Hayate: Nanoha-chan!
Chrono: Nanoha-san.
Signum: Nanoha-san.
Vita: Nanoha.
Shamal: Nanoha.
Tesla: Hey, Nanoha.
Zafira: Aa, Nanoha-san.
Arf: N-nanoha!
Teana: Nanoha-san.
Smith: Oi, Nanoha-san!
Franz: Nanoha-san!
Wesson: Nanoha-chan...
Grandis: Nanoha-san.
Carim: Nanoha-san.
Emili: Nanoha-chan!
Caro: Nanoha-san!
Acous: Nanoha-san.
Subaru: Nanoha-sama!
Elio: Nanoha-san.
Erick: Hey, Nanoha-san.
Naomi: Nanoha-chan!
Aurion: Nanoha-san.
Kha: Hey, Nanoha...
Fate: Nanoha...

All: Nanoha!
Nanoha: ...Don't come find me... please.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Alpha

When mankind's worst enemy appears, will the greatest hero of our time rise up once again?

And yes, I do plan on using all those characters XD.

...



What is this SUPREME EPICNESS?!?!?!

Nanoha's been helping everyone... now it's everyone's turn to help her. Will be looking forward to see how this goes

Slight nit though: S&W don't use honorifics. Smith calls her "Instructor", while Wes simply calls her "Nanoha"

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Tell me about it!

Our classes go by One student recites per period; which lasts 1.5 hours

I wonder how long it'll take for all of you to finish

Originally Posted by Kha

"Ash Like Snow!"

This is amazing, like Lowe pointed out the last time. Especially the random panda snipers! I'm actually inspired by this song enough to make it the BGM for an MTV providing a walkthrough of the life of the Rebuilt Vice!

"When I come for you yeah/Ash like snow will fall from you yeah."

Think that's AMAZING? Wait till you see the EPIC actual 00 OP for it:

Spoiler for Gundam 00 Opening Sequence 2 "Ash Like Snow":

HQ Version, may take some time to load. But any other version does it no JUSTICE

Originally Posted by Kha

~~~New intelligence data updated~~~

In one startling flash of crack inspiration, the Cleric-knights got booted down one generation, and another placed in between! Here's the latest list of Grade Meisters:

1st generation:

William Sanders: Setashi Belmond
Betty Sanders: Quoxite Gemsin
Charlie C. Lewis: Kruge Smokem
Kha: Alexander Rowell

2nd Generation:

Yui Hiro: Setsuna F. Seiei
??????: Lockon Stratos
??????: Allelujah Haptism
??????: Tiera Erde

3rd Generation:

Gimmy Milfuelle: Razr Darrel
Fye Rokker: Free Willy
Taiyo Aoisora: Albiirex Nigata
??????: *static*

New names and certainly never-b4-seen remixed Grades for them! Using Lowe's chop-shopping, I've created 4 new Grades and still working on 2 more. The 3rd gen's name is bec she only appears after StrikerS.

As for the 2nd gen, who do YOU think are the missing names? Be surprised, cos you must know 2 of them. I can't tell you if the 2 are CCs or OCs, otherwise it'll be a dead giveaway.

Nice list of the generations of Grade Meisters, though I don't recognize half of them

Originally Posted by Estavali

Spoiler for Administrative System Yggdrasil:

Administrative System Yggdrasil

When Hayate absorbed the Tome's Core (with the help of Reinforce Eins) and became its new Meister, she did not realised that what she had inherited was more than just an extensive collection of magical data and items. Within the Tome lies a built-in multi-level universe, with its own memories and possibilities. The form that this internal universe takes differs from Meister to Meister, each customising it to suit his/her preferences. Every time the Tome was passd to a new Meister, this inner realm would return to its original settings, with the accumalated data and items safely stored away until the Meister re-creates the pocket universe.

When Hayate took over, the Tome's internal structure was already in absolute shambles due to the prolonged corruption. This proved to be a severe problem, as the original Administrative Program (Reinforce Eins) was no longer around to guide and assist her. Even the birth of the new Administrative Program (Reinforce Zwei) did not help much. The Tome initially rejected her as its new Regulator, considering her yet mature enough to command it.

Hayate did not know about this problem (she did felt uncomfortable while using magic, but shrugged it off as being yet accustomed to it) until the problem was pointed it out to her. Entering the heart of the Tome and reasserting her authority as it new Meister, Hayate re-organised its inner geography from scratch bit by bit, and created an new Administrative System to over-see and coordinate its functions. The system, named Yggdrasil, comprises of nine Governing Spheres, each in charge of a specific aspect of the Tome. The Spheres are named after the Nine Realms in Norse mythology:

Asgard: Overall supervision and fine-tuning. Archon: Reinforce Zwei
Alfheim: Data processing and calculations. Archon: Aure
Midgard: Actualisation and materialisation. Archon: Liev
Svartalfheim: Design and pre-cast formation. Archon: Sophita
Hel: Physical storage and database. Archon: Nemu
Niflheim: Negative energy (as in anti-matter). Archon: Korin
Muspelheim: Positive (expansive) energy. Archon: Karen
Jotunheim: Energy-Data-Physical Conversion/Transmutation. Archon: Jeanne
Vanaheim: Maintanence (includes regeneration and defence). Archon: Lenn

Each Sphere is over-seen by a "Archon", a sentient program that initially looks like a Mini-Hayate (except Asgard's Reinforce and Hel's Nemu, who was created in the image of the previous Meister). The Spheres can be further expanded and developed under the supervision of its Archon, which develops along with her sphere and gradually achieves its own unique soul and appearance. Each Archon is given her own name by Hayate to distinguish her from the others. Hayate feels that her Archons are part of her family just like the Wolkenritter, and treats them as she would with real humans (abeit tiny ones). The common meeting ground for her and the Archons is a virtual space that resembles her kitchen. The Archons can also cross over to their sisters' realms any time unless refused entry (a limitation that Hayate and Reinforce does not have), though most of the time they prefer to gather at the "kitchen".

With Yggdrasil in place, Hayate could finally utilise the Tome to its maximum potential. If the Tome is a warship, Hayate would be its captain and Yggdrasil its Ops room/Command centre. While Rein Zwei is currently still not acknowledged by the Tome, it recognises her position as the leader of the Archons and agrees to work with her as in this fashion.

With it taking care of the main bulk of spellcasting, Hayate can concentrate better on the situation at hand. However, as a co-ordinator, Yggdrasil can only make things run smoother; it cannot and does not do everything for Hayate. Hayate still needs to master her spells to use them, the final decision and actual casting is still up to her, and she alone can provide the energy needed for the casting. Furthermore, while Reinforce (and the Archons to a certain extent) can ease the the strain on her body and mana reserves, they cannot eliminate it totally and pushing herself too hard will ruin gradually her health (as in Nanoha's case), and in the most severe scenario, even kill her.

(I'm seriously considering doing away with the Archons, save Rein Zwei and Nemu. They seem quite excessive to me and their presence weakens Rein's role.

Ahh.... Time to get the chainsaw.)

Oooh nice concept for the Tome there, Hayate just expanded her family twofold with the inclusion of the Archons and their own little world Though a family of chibi-Hayate's is

Originally Posted by Tormenk

A rough suggestion for a catalyst then.

Spoiler for 5 more mins. of crack:

Four and two, of black and red came to the green line. Three and one now spread their red onto the green. One more soon became part of the canvas of green and red. All marked by the paintbrush of the Black.

Windows of brown faded into a murky mix as the frames were painted red.

"Tch. Too easy.", came the lamentation of the Silver.

A ponder came to the last man of the black and red.

"Again I'm the only one left..why?"

An answer. "A beacon. One which draws the painters of the Black to them. The beacon remains unstained but everything around it is left covered with the permanent paint."

Rings took hold of the man, forcing him parallel to the green.

A flare, marked by a shift as Red now took the man's chin into her grasp.

Clarity became smogged as the man choked. He could not tell if the restrains holding him down or the spinning sensation in his head was responsible for the flashes of memories flashing before him now, he could no longer tell. Pure Red and Black which he had tried his hardest to not bring back. Eyes closed, he tried to shut out the agony that was screaming and leaping at him.

"A lone survivor. Of many encounters. I offer you a reprieve the others did not receive. Life, so that you might continue, acting as a cursed beacon and tormented by the past and in fear of pains the future hides. Death, so that you can be released from those of the former."

"What shall be your decision? Hurry or the precious choice might be revoked by the hands of time." The slightest of a smile played out on the lips of Red.

Shamsel knew there was no choice at all. His parched lips and hoarse throat threw out his choice.

"It will.."

Pardon the flowery language since it suddenly came out.

What the hell is happening here?

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Probably. I would guess teleportation involves the coordinates at least like Fate's long recital to teleport to the garden of time in S1. Otherwise to get past the fog of war, random generalization by the device perhaps.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Coördinates seem to be a requirement, as Tormenk said. I'm not sure about the comparison between Sein's Deep Diver and teleports though. Arf's forcefull teleportation in S1 suggests that defensive abillities as a shield don't matter.

What about space? I mean, could it also be limited to only empty areas? Makes sense doesn't it.

So in that case, other then coordinates, having a visble confirmation is also a must...

Originally Posted by Keroko

Pfft, I'm with Chaos on this one. That kid doesn't even come close to a trap.

I just don't get how anyone could mistaken... *shake head*

Originally Posted by Keroko

Confusing, as Fate has been called an Enforcer as well in StrikerS.

Perhaps Enforcer is more of a title as oposed to a rank. In other words, Fate and Accous are both Enforcers with the rank of Agent.

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

My impression of Enforcers was that they're the SWAT deployed by the Navy, working together, while Agents are Uber-Enforcers... and of course, Enforcers pwn Ground Forces...

I'm slightly different, I thought Enforcers were like detectives or at least in-charge of field operations.

The 'SWAT', are the ones they call the 'armed bureau mages'. I'm almost certain Chrono used the term somewhere in the early stages of A's

[Tormenk]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

And Bridget finally joins the ranks of OC with her trapness... now wondering what'll happen if he ever meets up with Jun...

Lots of trap bait.

Aaaah clears up alot of questions

Now that you've clarified it, it appears that everyone here in the OC who's served under the TSAB would've gone through the 200th hour eventually, no matter who they are.

hmmm....

*zips mouth*

Interesting point. Nanoha's 200th would count as that incident I suppose.

Think that's AMAZING? Wait till you see the EPIC actual 00 OP for it:

Spoiler for Gundam 00 Opening Sequence 2 "Ash Like Snow":

HQ Version, may take some time to load. But any other version does it no JUSTICE

*wanted to savor it along with subs but watches anyway*



Best OP of the season anyone?

Now I'm pumped up for the next episode!

What the hell is happening here?

Note to self: write something other people can understand next time.

Tying in to the catalyst for Shamsel's berserk trigger, Shamsel's group gets decimated yet again, this time by Katrina. Four and two representing the four men and two women in his unit, black and red being the colors for Rogue Squadron if I'm not mistaken.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

What about space? I mean, could it also be limited to only empty areas? Makes sense doesn't it.

So in that case, other then coordinates, having a visble confirmation is also a must...

Space would be possible but I think you need something a ship's equipment for those kind of precise locations out in the middle of nowhere. The teleport coordinates in A's 12 was probably calculated by the Asura, following that requirement.

Well, on the other hand I'm thinking visualization of an area is good enough for teleportation in some cases.

I'm slightly different, I thought Enforcers were like detectives or at least in-charge of field operations.

The 'SWAT', are the ones they call the 'armed bureau mages'. I'm almost certain Chrono used the term somewhere in the early stages of A's

To be honest, I have never really thought much about this kind of things. Hence why none of my OCs are in the TSAB.

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Skyfall! When can we expect you to join officially? Where's your OC?!

The power of OC compels you!

The answer to that would be: not in any foreseeable future. I prefer to work with the original characters. I am just prowling lurking around this place

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Lots of trap bait.

And lots of men shall fall into despair once they realize T3H TRUTH

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Interesting point. Nanoha's 200th would count as that incident I suppose.

Quite true

Wonder what Fate's 200th hour would be like?

Originally Posted by Tormenk

*wanted to savor it along with subs but watches anyway*



Best OP of the season anyone?

Now I'm pumped up for the next episode!

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Note to self: write something other people can understand next time.

Tying in to the catalyst for Shamsel's berserk trigger, Shamsel's group gets decimated yet again, this time by Katrina. Four and two representing the four men and two women in his unit, black and red being the colors for Rogue Squadron if I'm not mistaken.

Aaah yep, as I've been saying in regards to Shamsel, he never gets a break

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Well, on the other hand I'm thinking visualization of an area is good enough for teleportation in some cases.

Depends on how well you can visualize the area, and what exactly the teleported item does to the surrounding area... wouldn't want to get stuck in a tree you didn't think was there before

[dkellis]

(Original post edited to serve as archive of full chapter.)

Spoiler for Lyrical Melancholy Chapter 2:

"This is not a formal training exercise, but it will still be recorded," Rancer announced.

Reiz stood at attention. Dressed in the standard physical training outfit, she had what Rancer had to admit was a cute and yet comically serious look on her face, like a child playing pretend soldiers. "Yes, sir," she said.

"We're just going to gauge your combat capabilities," Nova said, starting up the Finieno Training Simulator version 2.3. "So don't worry about impressing anyone, and just do your best to pass the scenario."

Midchilda East Base Training Ground D was situated some distance from the administrative buildings, and a long way from any civilian areas. Worn signs with large scary letters over even scarier finely printed legalese warned against using any magic ranked over AA in the area on threat of moderately severe disciplinary action, unlike Training Grounds A and B, which were built for that very purpose and wisely situated even further away from breakable objects like cities.

Three-quarters of the 37th Criminal Investigation And Apprehension unit were gathered at the training ground Home Point, where they had an impressive view of a small cluster of commercial mid-rise buildings materialize from thin air, or at least what passed for thin air from this distance. One building in particular rose above the rest, gleaming in the morning sunlight.

"Your goal will be to infiltrate that tall building, taking care to keep from unnecessarily damaging the infrastructure along the way, retrieve the objective on the top floor, and apprehend the target alive," Rancer said. "There will be enemy drones along the way, and you may take them out at your leisure, but you do not need to defeat all of them to proceed. There will be no time limit, but the longer you take, the more likely it is that the situation may change." He shot a glance at the building in question. "Meaning that Ivey might get bored, and start improvising."

"Training limiters have been placed on all participants in this exercise," Nova said, tapping breezily on the console,"but there will be no limit on cartridge use. Take as long as you'd like to get ready, and then we'll begin."

Reiz extended a hand, palm up. On it was a small object the size and approximate shape of a stubby pencil, attached to a chain necklace. "Impulse," Reiz commanded, "set up!"

Rancer nodded. "Good luck."

Reiz clutched her quarterstaff Device, gave him a small bow, and then took a running start before launching herself into the air.

"She's going high," Nova observed. "She's making good time to the target building, even without a flight speed booster spell."

"Probably wanted to get a look around first," Rancer said. "Pardon me, ma'am." He reached over to hit a button, and another screen popped up. "The first of the drones should be closing in on her... now."

Reiz didn't even slow down, as she swung her staff like a bat, and slammed it into the drone's shield, smashing through easily. Two more drones approached her; she rammed one with the butt end of her Device, throwing up a shield to block the shots of the other. Impulse ejected a cartridge shell, and flames erupted from its ends.

"Is it me," Rancer said, as the carnage continued on the screen, "or does it seem odd that Reiz has a Device like Impulse? Is it a personal Device, did she inherit it, or something else I'm missing?"

Nova pulled up another screen. "Well, it is registered to her name, and there were no irregularities found regarding it, but Devices generally don't have a lot of paperwork attached to them. Is there a problem?"

"No, it's nothing, ma'am. Idle curiosity."

Reiz faced the larger, sturdier drones now, and was fending them off with what appeared to be a shield spread across an entire flank. Impulse ate another cartridge as Reiz shouted "Firewall!"

"Mana conversion affinity for fire," Nova noted.

Rancer scratched his chin. "A lot stronger than Ivey's own affinity for ice."

A globe of fire hung in the skies, before suddenly exploding in a wave of smoke. The drones were only singed at most, but their retaliatory beams cut through the smoke without striking anything.

"There she is," Rancer said, pointing. Reiz had simply dropped out of the cloud of smoke she had created as a distraction, and was now just entering the target building, through the front door. A couple of smaller drones attempted to follow, but were destroyed by a gout of flame.

"Switching to indoor observation," Nova said. The screens flickered briefly with static before changing over. "That's odd. There shouldn't be any interference at this range..."

Inside, Reiz had smashed open the elevator doors, checked that the elevator was below her in the basement, and fired a tiny but brilliant point of light upwards, illuminating the shaft. With a cry of "Rocketstream!" she sped upwards, a trail of smoke marking her path.

"The smoke's clearing up a lot quicker than I expected," Rancer noted. "I wonder if that means..."

Reiz reached the top floor, and pried open the doors with Impulse. The retrieval objective, a small black box, stood in the center of a field of debris, apparently unguarded.

Rancer sighed. "I recognize this one."

Nova, frowning: "I didn't expect Ivey to cause such a mess. I suppose this doesn't count against Reiz, but I don't see... oh."

"Exactly, ma'am: Ivey's set up a trap. That's her Dispersion Field causing all the interference, and notice how Reiz's flames aren't as large due to the magical disruption. It's not enough to slow Reiz down, but the temperature in there's dropped significantly, and that has to be distracting, at the least. And that's not all..."

Reiz approached the box slowly, looking around warily for traps.

"Boo," Ivey said.

Reiz spun around, and Ivey would have lost her head if she hadn't ducked in time. "I'll be your dimensional fugitive for today," she sang, swinging her chain Device Mistral lazily. "Catch me if you can."

Reiz took a step backwards instead. "Firewall!"

"Now, that's not very effective," Ivey chided, as the immolating divide shot up between them. "You can't escape with just the- WHOA!" She snapped Mistral forward to deflect a sizeable fireball that shot out of the barrier, and dodged to the side as it was rapidly followed by a flame-wreathed staff strike. Reiz emerged as the Firewall dissipated, her breath clouding in the chilled air, laying onto Ivey's defenses like an enraged ifrit, illuminated by the incandescance of Impulse's ends, as two more empty cartridge shells were spat out onto the floor.

"Remember," Ivey grunted, desperately blocking every attack with Mistral's rapidly-diminishing length, broken links scattering with every hit, "that- ungh! That you're supposed to- ergh, capture me alive." She ducked, and touched the floor. "Crystal Patch!"

A sheet of ice appeared beneath Reiz, and she stumbled and fell as her boots unexpectedly lost traction. Ivey springboarded off the wall behind her, somersaulted over Reiz's head, snaked Mistral out, and snagged Reiz's staff out of her hands. "Hah!"

Reiz held out a hand, and Impulse reappeared in it with a flash of flame.

"Oh."

Reiz didn't bother getting back to her feet, but slid forward on her knees, gaining speed. She brought her staff forward, planted it firmly on the ground, and vaulted forward with solid fiery kick on Ivey that broke through Ivey's hasty barrier and sent her flying. Ivey let out a grunt as she impacted against the wall, and looked up to see Reiz level Impulse at her face, the heat waves distorting the air around them.

"Um," Reiz said quietly. "You are, uh, under arrest. Surrender, please?"

Ivey managed a half-grin, as sweat dripped down her face. "Do I get to say a couple of last words before I go?"

"What?"

"Mistral Cage!"

Reiz swatted away a blurred projectile, but more were coming, every severed and broken link from Mistral's chain, loosed in the fight and before when Ivey had seeded the area, converging on her, connections forming and strengthening before she could free herself from them. Impulse clattered to the floor, followed by Reiz, now completely wrapped in a cocoon of diamond-hard chains of ice.

"Mmf!" she whimpered, muffled.

"You and me, kid," Ivey muttered, still slumped against the wall, exhausted.

Rancer, now in his barrier jacket, floated up outside the windows. Finding no obvious means of entry, he drew a fist back and shattered a pane with a shielded punch. "The exercise is over," he announced, stepping carefully through the broken shards of glass. He nudged the objective box to the side with his foot. "You did very well, Reiz."

"You're good," Ivey agreed. "Really good."

"Mmf," Reiz opined.

"We'll review the video later, to point out areas to improve upon, but overall, I'd say that I can't find much fault with your tactics or skill. At least, nothing that can't be corrected with what we like to call on the job training, the bitter humour of which I am sure you will discover soon enough."

"Mmf?"

Rancer sighed. "Ivey, would you kindly remove the chains? I don't think that's very comfortable for Reiz, and she did just have a busy morning."

"Aw, do I have to?" Ivey whined. "She's all nice and wrapped up like a present! It's like cutie takeout!"

"Mmf!?"

"Ivey..."

"Oh, all right."

*****

Nova had apologetically disappeared on a mysterious errand, and so Rancer was left minding the office while waiting for the other two ladies to finish showering and cleaning up after the exercise.

A flashing light on the desktop comm device indicated an incoming call, voice only, and Rancer patched it through. "37th Criminal Investigation And Apprehension, Captain LaSalle here. How may I help you?"

"Hello, Captain. It's been a long time since we last talked, hasn't it?"

Rancer stared blankly at the comm, before memory flipped a card. "Inspector Acous! It's good to hear from you." Well, not always, since the inspector usually had some request or new information which invariably meant more work for the unit, but at least he was polite about it.

"Well, I've been out of contact for a while, but that's another matter. Anyway, I've just received a copy of the report on site E-203, and I'd like to interview you and Lieutenant de Lorien in person, whenever you're available."

Huh? "Uh, that would be fine, Inspector. If I may ask, though, is it an urgent matter?"

A silvery laugh. "I'm not too sure myself, to be honest, but I would guess that it is rather time-sensitive, to the order of a few months at most, but more likely a couple of weeks. Forgive me for asking an insensitive question, but is the unit combat-ready?"

"Um, Lieutenant de Lorien and I are both fit for duty, but we've just received a new transfer, and we're working on integrating her, so our unit may not be operating at full efficiency."

"That's all right. I'll be at Midchilda East Base some time tomorrow, and- oh, would you mind if I brought along a few friends?"

"Not at all, Inspector."

"Then I'll see you soon. Goodbye."

Now what was that about? Rancer didn't really expect to hear about E-203 again, but apparently three weeks of Intelligence combing over the footage for clues had led... well, probably not nowhere, but there was nothing Rancer could add to the story that wasn't already in his report, and he was reasonably certain Ivey hadn't been holding anything back either.

The door slid open, and Nova waved cheerfully at him. "Was there anything while I was gone, Rancer?"

"Inspector Acous called," Rancer replied. "He wants to talk to me and Ivey. I'm not sure why or what he's hoping to get out of us that we haven't already given, but he's coming tomorrow, with, and I quote, 'a few friends'."

"Friends?" Nova placed a finger on her chin in thought. "I wonder if he means... never mind, we'll be able to see for ourselves soon enough. Is there anything else, Rancer? I remember that you wanted to talk to me about something... and I think I had something I wanted to talk to you about... I wonder what it was?"

"Ah, yes." Rancer took out his personal organizer, and thumbed through the menu. "It's about Reiz's housing situation, ma'am. I haven't been able to find any free single rooms for her, and I'm going through the doubles, but the last room assignments I managed to get were a month old, and a lot seems to have changed since then." Rancer set the organizer to public display. "The problem I'm facing is that I'd rather not have Reiz share a room with anyone too, uh, disruptive, so Ivey is definitely out. But I'm getting a fair amount of pressure, steadily increasing ever since word got around that Reiz is with us, about getting her out of her current temporary quarters so the 344th Battalion can get it back."

"Rooms? Oh! Yes, that was it." Nova beamed. "I ran into Halley on the way back here. You know, Captain Rainier of the 8th Information Archive Retrieval?"

Rancer covered his eyes wearily. "To my unending misfortune."

"Anyway, she mentioned that her partner, May, might be open to the idea of a roommate. It seems that May is now living alone in a double that is technically assigned to us, and Halley was asking if Ivey was up for a move. Something about personalities rubbing off."

"... rubbing off?"

"I'm not sure about it myself. But wouldn't you agree that May would make a good roommate for Reiz, and vice versa?"

Rancer tried to piece together what he knew of May Shelby. "Ma'am, I would postulate that it isn't so much that May is open to the idea of a roommate, but more that it matters not to her whether or not she has one. I doubt Reiz's presence would even register."

"But May wouldn't be considered disruptive, would she?" Nova persisted.

Rancer had to concede the point. May seemed to have only one desire in life, which was to read everything she could get her hands on. Everything else, including other people and communications or presence thereof, faded into irrelevance. It was likely that she noticed the world around her, or she'd be walking into things, but she simply did not care.

"I'll talk to Reiz and May about it," he said. "In fact, I'll have Reiz meet May in the IAR office after lunch." He considered this. "Scratch that, make it at least a few hours after lunch."

The door opened. "Ya-hooo!" Ivey greeted, striding into the office.

"Um, good day, everyone," Reiz said shyly, trailing along behind her, keeping a respectful distance.

Rancer glared at Ivey. "Did you do anything to her?" he demanded. "In the..." Blush. "In the showers, I mean?"

"Aw, you're so cute when you're embarrassed," Ivey snickered.

"Just answer the question, Ivey."

Ivey flapped her hand in denial. "I didn't touch her, if that's what you're worried about. Heck, Reiz was trying to stay as far away from me as possible, but she was perfectly safe in there."

Reiz blinked.

Ivey put her hands on her hips authoritatively. "It's no fun if there's no challenge!" she declared. "So the safer she seems to be, the more danger she's actually in!"

Reiz squeaked, and hugged her chest.

"Ivey," Rancer sighed, "you are a strange, strange woman."

*****

"May might come across as a little unsettling," Rancer told Reiz, "so try not to be too put out by anything she does. Or doesn't do, for that matter."

"Um," Reiz ventured, "what is Librarian Shelby like?"

Rancer considered this. "Well, if I had to describe her in just a few words, she'd probably be... like a ghost, I would say."

"A ghost?"

"You'd barely notice her presence in the room, and you might miss her altogether if you aren't paying attention. She'd probably seem more like a fixture than a roommate. I don't think it's even possible to offend her, or at least I don't think it's possible that you could ever offend her, so the question really becomes... ah, we're here."

The 8th Information Archive Retrieval merited a large, roomy office, which did make a rare bit of sense, considering that they were one of the few units based in East which made actual frequent use of their assigned working areas. The 8th IAR were responsible for fielding every inquiry any unit at East may have of the information contained within the Infinite Library, the cleaning up of which was still continuing in accordance with the TSAB's goal of becoming a model, streamlined organization conforming to interplanetary standards. For this reason, the 8th IAR was a longstanding victim of the overall shortage of personnel willing to work with the Infinite Library and its associated units, a job which required patience, obsessive attention to details, and the ability to inhale vast amounts of data and regurgitate it on demand. This tended to leave very little room for social skills.

Reiz stepped hesitantly through the threshold, and looked around the office. Sliding shelves lined the walls five deep, filled from floor to ceiling with data discs. Here and there a shelf held a row of conventional bound books, most of which looked as though they had been written a long time before the TSAB had even existed. The two desks situated in the center of the room were unoccupied.

"There's nobody here," she said.

Rancer tapped her shoulder, and pointed.

"... oh."

May Shelby stood up from her chair in the corner, a paperback book in her hands. The effect would have been extraordinarily spooky if the book had not featured a lurid pink cover and the title of the latest in a popular line of romance novels.

Rancer stared at it. "That's not what you usually read."

May looked at him, her face expressionless.

"Never mind. Uh, this is Corporal Reiz Astra, who joined us about a month back. Reiz, Librarian Private May Shelby. May, did you get the message I sent you earlier today?"

A barely perceptible nod.

"And your response is?"

Shrug.

Rancer turned to Reiz. "You see what you may have to deal with."

Reiz smoothed her uniform out, flustered. She bowed deeply. "Um, pleased to meet you! I'm, uh, you can call me Reiz, and I hope we'll be able to, er, live together? Without any problems, I mean."

"Likewise." May spoke in a monotonous near-whisper, as though she would rather have kept silent.

Rancer stepped back towards the door. "I'll leave the two of you to get acquainted. Reiz, do you need any help in moving your belongings? I can probably rustle up some people who can be trusted to understand the concept of fragile goods."

"Oh, um, I should be fine, sir," Reiz said. "I, um, I don't really have a lot of things, and I should be able to handle it by myself." At Rancer's sceptical expression, she added, "Would it be all right if I called you if I did need help, sir?"

"Anytime you want," Rancer said. "And before I forget, you know what I told you about Ivey? Specifically about not letting down your guard near her?"

"Um, yes sir?"

"Double that if you ever run across Librarian Captain Halley Rainier." Rancer blinked. "Actually, where is Halley?"

"Library," May mumbled.

"What, at the Main HQ? I thought you people had everything set up so that you didn't have to commute back and forth whenever you needed to check something out."

May shrugged. It was as expressive a gesture as was lacking in her tone of voice. "Orders."

Rancer gave up. "Mine is not to question why, especially regarding other departments," he noted, turning to leave. "Reiz, I'm giving you the rest of the day off, so that you can get settled in as soon as possible."

"Thank you, sir."

Now, what else did Rancer have on his desk? He still had to get back to Requisitions about the delay on Reiz's cartridge supply, which would probably involve jumping on someone in the supply chain until they got to work. There was the weekly report on the unit's activities, a couple more follow-up reports on a year-old case which was still stuck somewhere in the judiciary system, and working out some kind of training schedule for Reiz. Come to think of it, maybe he could arrange a mock examination for Reiz to see if he could get her into Officer Cadet training...

"Ow!"

It was not a particularly large pile of books, but the sudden impact unsettled the delicate balance and sent them tumbling. Rancer managed to catch the falling books before they hit the ground. He was rather proud of that.

He handed the books back to the woman he had bumped into. "Sorry about that, um..." Vaguely unfamiliar uniform, Sergeant rank insignia, and a very familiar unit patch. "Investigator."

"Oh, no, I'm the one who should apologize. It was my fault." The woman brushed her short hair out of her eyes. "Uh, Captain." She did a double-take. "Captain Rancer LaSalle? Of the 37th CIAA?"

Rancer eyed her warily. "Speaking. Have we met before, Investigator?"

"Oh! No, no, we haven't. I just, um... your reputation precedes you?" the woman said hopefully.

"It does?"

"Look, I really need to go." The woman bowed quickly in apology. "Um, sorry for bumping into you, Captain, and, uh, forget that we met. Please?" She scampered away.

Rancer watched her go. "That," he muttered to himself, "was weird."

Ivey and Nova were at their desks in the 37th's office, typing industriously at their consoles. "Say," Ivey said the moment Rancer stepped through the door, "how do you spell 'illuminate'?"

"With a lot of practice." Rancer spelled it out for her. "Which report is that?"

"The B. Banar case, from about two years back. Records is just about to close the file, and they asked us to write up a final summary." Ivey peered at her screen. "Case number... 0074-10025. Does that ring any bells?"

"Banar, Banar... wasn't that the one with the massive property destruction when the guy overdosed on some weird experimental magic?"

"Hey, we caught him, didn't we?"

"After he transformed and levelled the shopping mall. We had to write apology letters in triplicate."

"Did you have any problems with May?" Nova asked, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"No, ma'am, it went pretty well." Rancer sank into his chair and started up his work client. As per usual, several messages immediately clamoured for his attention. "I gave Reiz the rest of the day off to move in. Ivey, did you need any input from me for that report?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Rancer started on the messages. Standard base orders, a mass-mailed advertisement for a tax counselling workshop, a forwarded notice from Intelligence on Inspector Acous's upcoming visit... something occured to him. "Ma'am? You mentioned that you ran into Halley earlier today? And she told you about May's room vacancy?"

"I believe I did, yes." Nova smiled. "We didn't have much of a chance to talk in great detail, unfortunately. She seemed rather busy, although she could just have been looking forward to her present duties."

"And did she happen to mention what those duties were?" Rancer asked. "I'm only asking out of what amounts to idle curiosity, I should add. It just seems kind of odd that something could uproot Halley from East Base, even for only a day, to go up to the Main HQ."

Nova pursed her lips in thought. "As a matter of fact, she did mention that she had to deal with some organizational problems in the Infinite Library proper. It seems that the powers that be wished to make use of her perfect recall to... something about misordered books, I think. Halley was not quite clear on that point, although she did make her displeasure known at some length."

"Huh." Rancer laboured at his console for several minutes. "I thought they had the new system or something to stop that from happening. I mean, there's probably a lot of information in the Infinite Library which could help us, like what happened with the JS incident."

"Entirely possible." Nova looked quizzically at him. "You look like something's bothering you."

"Maybe something is." Rancer drummed his fingers on his desk. "Ma'am, do you happen to have a copy of the footage we recorded from site E-203? Or at least some pictures of the writing Ivey and I encountered in the cavern?"

"It's in the classified archives, Rancer. I might be able to retrieve it for access like the last time, but I'll need a reason to do so. Failing that, I suppose they could settle for a plausible excuse."

"Never mind, then. It was just a strange hunch I had; it probably isn't worth the trouble." What had those runes looked like? Reiz had mentioned that they resembled something from Ancient Belka, but weren't quite the same... coincidence?

Speaking of which...

Rancer grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper. It was just a hunch, but it would still nag at the back of his mind until he got to the bottom of it...

"Finally done!" Ivey exclaimed, stretching. "Hey, Rancer, wanna go get something to eat? It's just about time to go off-duty."

"In a minute."

"What are you doing anyway?" Ivey wandered over to have a look. "What's that you're writing?"

"Just a few books I should check out." Rancer added a note at the bottom of the list. "I'm pretty sure I got the titles correct, although the authors might be off by a letter or two. At least, the ones which have listed authors."

"They look like books on ancient languages. Still worried about E-203?"

"Inspector Acous is going to be talking to us about it tomorrow," Rancer reminded her. "If we get any new insights on the matter, we should probably let him know."

"Rancer, Intelligence went through the footage with great scrutiny. If there was anything else to find, they'd have found it by now."

"Then why the interview?"

"Because Intelligence works in strange and mysterious ways," Ivey intoned, "and their intentions are utterly ineffable."

Rancer rolled his eyes, letting the matter drop. He turned to where Nova was still typing away. "Ma'am, would you like to join us?"

"Not right now, Rancer. Although, if it's possible, could you come back to the office after dinner? I might have something else I need to discuss with you."

"Of course, ma'am." And then, remembering his earlier promise to Reiz: "I'll try my best to do so, anyway."

"Thank you."

"She didn't ask for me," Ivey noted as they walked down the corridors towards the cafeteria.

"It's probably something administrative and boring," Rancer guessed. "Major Alto really should cut down on her workaholism."

"But maybe it's something else." Ivey seemed uncharacteristically serious. "Rancer, I-"

"Don't," Rancer advised her. "Just don't."

Ivey sighed. "Okay."

*****

When Rancer returned to the 37th's office, Nova was still typing away.

"I brought you a packed meal, ma'am," he said, putting the disposable box on her desk. "With all due respect, this cannot be healthy."

Nova gave him a cheerful smile. "Thank you, Rancer. I'm afraid it may be a bit too late to start worrying about my figure, though. Please, have a seat."

"I also have to note," Rancer said, "that I am your second in command, and in all probability I can, in fact, assist you in whatever work you're finding yourself swamped under. Ma'am, you don't have to take personal control of everything; the 37th won't implode if you can't accomplish all your work in one day."

"Hm? Oh, it's all right." Nova gestured at the screen carelessly. "This isn't really anything all that important."

"Then why are you still here after hours?" Rancer sighed. "Never mind. Was there something specific you wanted to talk to me about?"

"You'll be meeting with Inspector Acous tomorrow."

"That is correct."

"Are you fine with that?"

"Why shouldn't I be?" It came out harsher than he had intended. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I don't have anything against TSAB Intelligence. They're just doing their jobs, and the people I could conceivably have a right to be angry at were doing their jobs too. And Acous had nothing to do with any of it, so there's really no reason for me to refuse the interview."

"After what happened between you and Ivey..."

"That was in the past. I've gotten over it." Mostly. "Was that all you wanted to see me for, ma'am?"

Nova didn't answer immediately. Instead, she shut down her console, to Rancer's surprise, and leaned back in her chair. She took off her glasses, and rubbed her eyes. "You know," she said wearily, "I think you may be right."

"I am? What about?"

"This isn't healthy for me." She squinted at him; Rancer wondered how nearsighted she was, and how much her glasses corrected her vision. "There's a lot I have to tell you, to be perfectly honest, but I don't know whether this is the right time. So many things... what do you think of Reiz?"

"Huh?" The sudden shift in conversation caught Rancer off-guard. "She's... she's very promising," he said lamely. "I know we haven't seen her in action during an actual mission, but I'm pretty confident that she'll be able to hold her own at the least, and most likely excel beyond anyone's expectations."

"That's very nice. Is that all?"

Nova had deep lavender eyes, but Rancer was accustomed to seeing them behind lenses. He focused on a point slightly to the left of her head. "Well, I'm considering recommending her for officer training. She has the skills for it, and maybe with a few missions under her belt, she'll have the self-confidence to pass the course." Rancer spread his hands. "If you want anything more, ma'am, you'll have to be more specific."

"Hm," Nova said neutrally, "I wonder." She took out a handkerchief and gave her glasses a perfunctory wipe, before putting them back on. Rancer suppressed a sigh of relief.

"Was that all, ma'am?" he asked again.

"For now, maybe. You're free to go." Nova sighed. "I'm just rather concerned about events, all in all. It's not something I can pin down, but this whole E-203 business gives me an unpleasant feeling."

"You worry too much, ma'am."

"No," Nova disagreed, "I don't think I worry enough."

[Jimmy C]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Wonder what Fate's 200th hour would be like?

I think that would be MGLN ep11, when she became the first victim of the Starlight Breaker.

Originally Posted by dkellis

Spoiler for Lyrical Melancholy Chapter 2 Part 1:

Anyway, she mentioned that her partner, May, might be open to the idea of a roommate. It seems that May is now living alone in a double that is technically assigned to us, and Halley was asking if Ivey was up for a move.

Question: Why is someone assigned to a squad that, if I recall correctly, works in the Infinite Library that is accessed from Main HQ, be living in a base on Mid? I would think their housing would be in the Main HQ instead.

[Saint X]

Originally Posted by Evangelion Xgouki

And thus Bridget ARRIVES!

*cue in [whatever occasion] music*

Originally Posted by Evangelion Xgouki

Well I suppose it would depend on when he arrives. There's always bribing USB to do something with him in one of those holiday fics .

I need FSZ's premission, since i'm integrating those 2 OCs with his.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Hmm, this can bide well for talk chapters. Small difference though, Mandy hardly shows emotion at all, and she always uses ruthless tactics. It's the brutal 'destroy the city' type tactics that she uses slightly less. For example, during A's Mandy would have just withdrawn her troops, fired the Arc-en-Ciel and be done with it.

Kyla has options to choose though...

More Hostiles = forced kidnapping/teleportation of neutrals before doing hell on the enemy

More Neutrals = infiltrate to bring torment to the enemy

Equal numbers = depends on what to do

Originally Posted by Keroko

No wait, she would have helped Graham, actually. :3

Kyla would have argued- wait, she has argued with Graham over the idea of freezing somone.

It will be a ticking time bomb once you do that!!!

Little does Kyla know that in her deep hidden secret past- a past that is beyond any timeline- even before the Seiou, she was in a similar situation as Hayate. makes you wonder why she has such intelligence and wisdom- almost divine if you think of it

*runs*

Originally Posted by Keroko

Bridget! and he's here! Lovely, the OC-thread needs more traps.

glad to be of fanservice

all we need now is a Reverse TRAP

is anyone willing to take the challenge- i know that i do... i have a pool of at least 2 of them

Originally Posted by Keroko

Not sure, I have Jun a Barrier Jacket, and only a small device to materialize it.

If it were my way, Jun will have have Kyla's first device and will either cement his/her gender permanently.

*runs*

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

Franz: "Hayate, it is time that I taught you the Rifleman's Creed. You need a gun. Seriously. And a good combat knife, or two, or three..."

Kyla: The Staff is already a spear if you look at it- a Terran Japanese Yari to be exact... maybe i can invite somone over to help her as well?

@Kha: It's Mrs. Y.H.

Originally Posted by Kagerou

*ahem*

Originally Posted by Kagerou

Moving on, I was on a crack high (read: Red Bull + Vault + Chocolate) and thought of this trailer for my future epic:

Spoiler for MSLN Alpha Trailer:

Caption on a black screen:
When your friends, your family, your home, your very way of life... when its threatened, how far will you go to stand up and fight for it?

When you're the only one left, will you rise up to the challenge? Or will you be broken and defeated? You are one among many, but you are a hero... or are you?

It's all up to you now. Who are you? What is your name?

...Do you even want to try?

7Arcs Presents

(Flashes of scenes from the first three seasons. The footage is grainy...)
Nanoha: (Speaking over the scenes) We fought for a long time, didn't we, Fate-chan? We gave up a lot of blood and tears, and became fast friends... but it was all done through fighting.

CAPTION: FIGHT

Fate: It was hard... we never really had a childhood. It was always work, fighting, war... we're soldiers, now, ne?

Nanoha: What's this cold feeling? I don't like it.
Fate: I don't know... Nanoha-chan, what are you thinking?
Nanoha: At first, I loved that I had found my place in the universe... but now, I'm so sick of fighting and pain and death that I'd rather have never found Yuuno-kun in the park that day.

CAPTION: HURT

Fate: Nanoha...
Nanoha: Gomen ne, Fate-chan. I'm speaking nonsense again, I know.
Fate: Will you be... okay? Nanoha, I'm worried about you.

CAPTION: SADNESS

Nanoha: Ne, ne, I'll be fine, Fate-chan. I'll be okay...
Fate: ...Promise?
Nanoha: ...yeah.

CAPTION: SELF-DOUBT

(Brief screenshot of Raising Heart on a bedroom floor. The gem is cracked and the room is messy.)

Subaru: (Voiceover) I miss you... Nanoha-san.

Camera pans, fades out. When it opens, Nanoha is walking by herself down a sidewalk. People brush past her on all sides. Her eyes are downcast.)

Teana: She's really not been the same for many years, has she?
Subaru: No. Not since the last incident... it's like, she's a completely different person, isn't she?

CAPTION: LOSS

(The Takamachi/Harlown household)

Vivio: Fate-mama, where's Nanoha-mama?
Fate: I... I don't know, Vivio.
Vivio: What?! This is so stupid... why aren't you ever around anymore?
Nanoha (VO): ...I'm so sick of it all.

CAPTION: REGRET

(A cruiser's barracks)

Vita: I wonder what happened to her...
Signum: You mean Nanoha-san?
Vita: ...I miss how she used to be, Signum...
Signum: I know, Vita. But things like this... it's hard to tell you how it'll work out.
Nanoha (VO): There's nothing to work out...

CAPTION: PAIN

(TSAB Enforcer offices)

Smith: Oi, Fate-san, off the record.
Fate: Nani nani? What is it?
Wesson: We've got a conclusion, Fate-san.
Smith: Maybe you should... leave, Nanoha-san.
Fate: Wh-what?!
Wesson: She's not healthy for you and Vivio anymore.
Nanoha (VO): I'm not fit to be a friend, or a mother.

CAPTION: DESTRUDO

(Aus'ruf hangar)

Naomi: I wish I could take all of that away...
Emili: What's that?
Naomi: I miss the old Nanoha-chan. What happened to her, oneechan?
Emili: I... I don't know.
Nanoha (VO): I grew up... didn't I?

CAPTION: CONFUSION

(Saint Church courtyard)

Aurion: They're all worried about her. What can come of this?
Kha: We have to believe that she'll make it through. She neglects the contact of others...
Carim: She's shut herself away. All we can do now is hope for the best.
Aurion: That's ridiculous. A time when she needs her friends the most... and we abandon her?!
Nanoha (VO): It's easier that way.

CAPTION: THANATOS

(The bridge of the Normandy)

Tesla: So what are you gonna do about her?
Hayate: There's nothing I can do... just hope.
Tesla: That's awfully defeatist of you, Hayate-san.
Hayate: Well what else can I do? She won't even do anything...
Nanoha (VO): It hurts too much when I do something, so why do anything at all?

CAPTION: FEAR

(The Infinity Library)

Yuuno: I don't know, what do you think I should do?
Shamsel: You're asking me why? I hardly know the girl!
Yuuno: Hey, I'm just looking for all the advice I can get, okay?
Shamsel: ...eh, fair enough. But I still don't know what to tell you.
Nanoha (VO): Why bother?

CAPTION: KOM

(Nanoha, walking down the street again.)

Nanoha (VO): All my life, I wanted to help others. I wanted to be friends with everyone I met. I wanted to keep smiling and be happy. I have those things now, and yet, I'm hollow inside. What's this pain that eats at me every time I sleep at night? What's this sense of doom that's been growing in me for years?

(Cut to another place.)

Keroko: No! This is stupid! She's helped is all at one point or another, and I'll be damned if I turn my back on her when she needs me the most!

CAPTION: SUSSER

Nanoha (VO): I don't want to do this anymore. And I know, deep down, that something's going to happen, very soon. Something big and almost impossible to stop. And when that comes... maybe then, it'll end...

CAPTION: TOD

Keroko: Nanoha-neechan!
Yuuno: Nanoha-chan.
Vivio: Nanoha-mama!
Hayate: Nanoha-chan!
Chrono: Nanoha-san.
Signum: Nanoha-san.
Vita: Nanoha.
Shamal: Nanoha.
Tesla: Hey, Nanoha.
Zafira: Aa, Nanoha-san.
Arf: N-nanoha!
Teana: Nanoha-san.
Smith: Oi, Nanoha-san!
Franz: Nanoha-san!
Wesson: Nanoha-chan...
Grandis: Nanoha-san.
Carim: Nanoha-san.
Emili: Nanoha-chan!
Caro: Nanoha-san!
Acous: Nanoha-san.
Subaru: Nanoha-sama!
Elio: Nanoha-san.
Erick: Hey, Nanoha-san.
Naomi: Nanoha-chan!
Aurion: Nanoha-san.
Kha: Hey, Nanoha...
Fate: Nanoha...

All: Nanoha!
Nanoha: ...Don't come find me... please.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Alpha

When mankind's worst enemy appears, will the greatest hero of our time rise up once again?

And yes, I do plan on using all those characters XD.

That is not enough... add more!!!

And also, i don't have the capability to do such epic trailers... for now

*runs*

Originally Posted by LoweGear

And Bridget finally joins the ranks of OC with her trapness... now wondering what'll happen if he ever meets up with Jun...

That is one thing that i did not compute... yet

but this may happen

Spoiler for TRAP vs TRAP:

*Bridget and Jun eye each other as they pass by*

Bridget *whisper*: Enemy!
Jun *whisper*: Foe!

*evil glints show in thier eyes*

*runs*

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Now that you've clarified it, it appears that everyone here in the OC who's served under the TSAB would've gone through the 200th hour eventually, no matter who they are.

hmmm....

*zips mouth*

Hmmm... 200th hour scenarios huh?

Kyla: when she singlehandedly took down 3 Mugan-B units in one hit

Others: still need to assess

Originally Posted by LoweGear

And lots of men shall fall into despair once they realize T3H TRUTH

*Sees dead and dying men*

DOES COMPUTE

Offtopic: can you PM me the full name of your newly promoted grandfather?

My sister is asking for the name for her AP assignment

[Reiji Tabibito]

Originally Posted by LimitedEternal

YES. FOR THE LOVE OF [insert deity here], YES.

And here it is for those not yet enlightened.

Which is YOUR favorite rule?

Originally Posted by Kha

Rebuilt plans to at least guest-star everyone ever created, and I think that's kinda over-ambitious.

YAH, just a LITTLE...

Originally Posted by Kha

Oh no you don't, that's already fixed into place. I'm shipping Sophiayate incest-yuri.

That's not what I meant? What I meant was...

<pauses, think>

...what the hell did I mean?

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Aaah, Hamaji, isn't it ... i see her gender is being discussed here To answer that question (provided it is needed)

Spoiler for regarding Hamaji:

Yes, Hamaji is a trap. A shame, isn't it.

You're not supposed to TELL us!!

Originally Posted by Evangelion Xgouki

Zomg! HAIL LORD IRON BALLS!!!

I AM THE PUMPKIN QUEEN!!

<breaks down laughing>

I'm sorry - that fic just had TOO MANY good one-liners...

Originally Posted by Keroko

Nanoha is injured too, remember? :3 While she was allowed to train, Shamal did say she had to take it easy, I highly doupt she'd be flying dangerous missions during recovery time.

There's a difference there, though. Nanoha's magically restricted in what she can do, but she's not physically restricted like Keroko is. Keroko's actually IN the hospital, and can't make the trip to Gaelica. Nanoha, on the other hand, CAN, but she can't really do much in the way of magical stuffs - but I wasn't planning on her doing much in that way anyways...

There IS A new development in the story though, so tell me if this changes anything:

Originally, I had planned on LegendS taking place Late October-November of 0075, barely a month after the Cradle Showdown.

However, considering other timelines in play here (yours, Kha's, Aaron's, Satty's, and FlameSparkZ's), I have decided to bump back the timeline.

LegendS NOW takes place during December 0075-January 0076.

Furthermore, for reasons that will not become apparent until the story, the combat personnel of MD6 (Stars & Lightning Squads, Hayate, the Wolkies, Rein & Agito, and FlameSpark's Maren & the Minawas) will not arrive on Gaelica until near the halfway point in the story, and halfway in calendar time. So, they'll arrive maybe 5~6 days before Christmas. That gives them three months between the Cradle Showdown and leaving for Gaelica.

As stated before, IF this changes anything, let me know.


TO AARON, KHA, SATTY, and FLAMESPARKZ:

Please read the above comments to Keroko on the change in timeline - and let me know for the following characters if their status changes:

Kha der Kleriker: Unavailable due to Cradle Showdown; recovering

Sophia Alexei: Available

Artei: Available

Kaempfer: Unavailable due to Saint Church assignments

Allison Ford: Unavailable due to Saint Church assignments

Aurion Dauer: Available

Sky Squad of the 216th Battalion: Available

Maren: Available

Koji Minawa: Available

Yui Minawa: Available

[Kagerou]

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Aurion doesn't use '-san' when addressing Nanoha or any other Ace.
But, it sure sounds EPIC!!!

Noted XD

Originally Posted by Kha

Actually I'm dying to get a new thread for us. Makes us look smaller and more welcoming. Then again, I can't exactly live without all the cheese we've grown.

This might not be such a bad idea. It would allow some of us who came in less than 200 pages ago to get all organized and stuff like, say, you and USB (Speaking of which, I haven't seen Hikki-kun around for a while...)

Originally Posted by Kha

Then we shall await his results. *coughcough*

At least I'm only going as far as 300 years ago, to the time of the Seiou, so no trouble making you-- I'm mean Yuuno's thesis fit.

Speaking of which, does anyone have a decently close date to how long Midchildans have been in space? Has is only been 150 years or so or longer than that?

Originally Posted by Kha

Epic indeed! Just a small note: Kha uses Nanoha-san, and "familyname"-san for everyone outside his circle. The only people free of his formality is his family.

*nodnod* I'll remember this.

Originally Posted by Evangelion Xgouki

It's Hayate!

OH GOD REDEATH.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Small twinge, Tesla doesn't adress Hayate with -san. Ever. She usually uses 'Hayate' sometimes 'Hayate-chan' and when on millitairy business her rank.

*nodnod* will ensure to keep things in line XD

Originally Posted by Keroko

I'm using Mandy as a partial explanation for the monopoly of high-ranked mages, but even more so for his seemingly personal dislike for the navy. Regius seems the type that takes things far too personal.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Awesome stuff here, even more by using THANATOS as the music.

Must have been high on Eva-induced crack, counting the number of heavy influences here.

There will be more as the story progresses. Basically imagine Nanoha as very Shinji-like in the first part of the story.

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Well yeah, Shinji becomes gar and a master player, Asuka gets drunk with Shinji on the apartment balcony and Rei learns to expresses herself through music. Wonderful stuff all of them, DA POWA of fanfiction.

Only Evafiction XD

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Spoiler for 5 more mins. of crack:

Four and two, of black and red came to the green line. Three and one now spread their red onto the green. One more soon became part of the canvas of green and red. All marked by the paintbrush of the Black.

Windows of brown faded into a murky mix as the frames were painted red.

"Tch. Too easy.", came the lamentation of the Silver.

A ponder came to the last man of the black and red.

"Again I'm the only one left..why?"

An answer. "A beacon. One which draws the painters of the Black to them. The beacon remains unstained but everything around it is left covered with the permanent paint."

Rings took hold of the man, forcing him parallel to the green.

A flare, marked by a shift as Red now took the man's chin into her grasp.

Clarity became smogged as the man choked. He could not tell if the restrains holding him down or the spinning sensation in his head was responsible for the flashes of memories flashing before him now, he could no longer tell. Pure Red and Black which he had tried his hardest to not bring back. Eyes closed, he tried to shut out the agony that was screaming and leaping at him.

"A lone survivor. Of many encounters. I offer you a reprieve the others did not receive. Life, so that you might continue, acting as a cursed beacon and tormented by the past and in fear of pains the future hides. Death, so that you can be released from those of the former."

"What shall be your decision? Hurry or the precious choice might be revoked by the hands of time." The slightest of a smile played out on the lips of Red.

Shamsel knew there was no choice at all. His parched lips and hoarse throat threw out his choice.

"It will.."

Pretty good for five minutes XD.

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Nice. Nothing too eventful. But that part with Emili and Glen was GOLDEN!!! It's kinda frightening that Emili can switch between the two extremes of tsun and dere so quickly...

that's really the idea. She's bit, well, extreme with them.

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Now that you've clarified it, it appears that everyone here in the OC who's served under the TSAB would've gone through the 200th hour eventually, no matter who they are.

That's really the idea. It's just the fact that you WILL screw up eventually. Everyone does it. XD

Originally Posted by LoweGear

What is this SUPREME EPICNESS?!?!?!

Nanoha's been helping everyone... now it's everyone's turn to help her. Will be looking forward to see how this goes

Slight nit though: S&W don't use honorifics. Smith calls her "Instructor", while Wes simply calls her "Nanoha"

Noted. In the case of Smith, however, I can make the excuse that it wouldn't flow with the dialogue of that scene XD.

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Think that's AMAZING? Wait till you see the EPIC actual 00 OP for it:

Spoiler for Gundam 00 Opening Sequence 2 "Ash Like Snow":

HQ Version, may take some time to load. But any other version does it no JUSTICE

My god I need to catch up with Gundam 00 .

Originally Posted by dkellis

This is why I don't like to write action.

Spoiler for Lyrical Melancholy Chapter 2 Part 1:

"This is not a formal training exercise, but it will still be recorded," Rancer announced.

Reiz stood at attention. Dressed in the standard physical training outfit, she had what Rancer had to admit was a cute and yet comically serious look on her face, like a child playing pretend soldiers. "Yes, sir," she said.

"We're just going to gauge your combat capabilities," Nova said, starting up the Finieno Training Simulator version 2.3. "So don't worry about impressing anyone, and just do your best to pass the scenario."

Midchilda East Base Training Ground D was situated some distance from the administrative buildings, and a long way from any civilian areas. Worn signs with large scary letters over even scarier finely printed legalese warned against using any magic ranked over AA in the area on threat of moderately severe disciplinary action, unlike Training Grounds A and B, which were built for that very purpose and wisely situated even further away from breakable objects like cities.

Three-quarters of the 37th Criminal Investigation And Apprehension unit were gathered at the training ground Home Point, where they had an impressive view of a small cluster of commercial mid-rise buildings materialize from thin air, or at least what passed for thin air from this distance. One building in particular rose above the rest, gleaming in the morning sunlight.

"Your goal will be to infiltrate that tall building, taking care to keep from unnecessarily damaging the infrastructure along the way, retrieve the objective on the top floor, and apprehend the target alive," Rancer said. "There will be enemy drones along the way, and you may take them out at your leisure, but you do not need to defeat all of them to proceed. There will be no time limit, but the longer you take, the more likely it is that the situation may change." He shot a glance at the building in question. "Meaning that Ivey might get bored, and start improvising."

"Training limiters have been placed on all participants in this exercise," Nova said, tapping breezily on the console,"but there will be no limit on cartridge use. Take as long as you'd like to get ready, and then we'll begin."

Reiz extended a hand, palm up. On it was a small object the size and approximate shape of a stubby pencil, attached to a chain necklace. "Impulse," Reiz commanded, "set up!"

Rancer nodded. "Good luck."

Reiz clutched her quarterstaff Device, gave him a small bow, and then took a running start before launching herself into the air.

"She's going high," Nova observed. "She's making good time to the target building, even without a flight speed booster spell."

"Probably wanted to get a look around first," Rancer said. "Pardon me, ma'am." He reached over to hit a button, and another screen popped up. "The first of the drones should be closing in on her... now."

Reiz didn't even slow down, as she swung her staff like a bat, and slammed it into the drone's shield, smashing through easily. Two more drones approached her; she rammed one with the butt end of her Device, throwing up a shield to block the shots of the other. Impulse ejected a cartridge shell, and flames erupted from its ends.

"Is it me," Rancer said, as the carnage continued on the screen, "or does it seem odd that Reiz has a Device like Impulse? Is it a personal Device, did she inherit it, or something else I'm missing?"

Nova pulled up another screen. "Well, it is registered to her name, and there were no irregularities found regarding it, but Devices generally don't have a lot of paperwork attached to them. Is there a problem?"

"No, it's nothing, ma'am. Idle curiosity."

Reiz faced the larger, sturdier drones now, and was fending them off with what appeared to be a shield spread across an entire flank. Impulse ate another cartridge as Reiz shouted "Firewall!"

"Mana conversion affinity for fire," Nova noted.

Rancer scratched his chin. "A lot stronger than Ivey's own affinity for ice."

A globe of fire hung in the skies, before suddenly exploding in a wave of smoke. The drones were only singed at most, but their retaliatory beams cut through the smoke without striking anything.

"There she is," Rancer said, pointing. Reiz had simply dropped out of the cloud of smoke she had created as a distraction, and was now just entering the target building, through the front door. A couple of smaller drones attempted to follow, but were destroyed by a gout of flame.

"Switching to indoor observation," Nova said. The screens flickered briefly with static before changing over. "That's odd. There shouldn't be any interference at this range..."

Inside, Reiz had smashed open the elevator doors, checked that the elevator was below her in the basement, and fired a tiny but brilliant point of light upwards, illuminating the shaft. With a cry of "Rocketstream!" she sped upwards, a trail of smoke marking her path.

"The smoke's clearing up a lot quicker than I expected," Rancer noted. "I wonder if that means..."

Reiz reached the top floor, and pried open the doors with Impulse. The retrieval objective, a small black box, stood in the center of a field of debris, apparently unguarded.

Rancer sighed. "I recognize this one."

Nova, frowning: "I didn't expect Ivey to cause such a mess. I suppose this doesn't count against Reiz, but I don't see... oh."

"Exactly, ma'am: Ivey's set up a trap. That's her Dispersion Field causing all the interference, and notice how Reiz's flames aren't as large due to the magical disruption. It's not enough to slow Reiz down, but the temperature in there's dropped significantly, and that has to be distracting, at the least. And that's not all..."

Reiz approached the box slowly, looking around warily for traps.

"Boo," Ivey said.

Reiz spun around, and Ivey would have lost her head if she hadn't ducked in time. "I'll be your dimensional fugitive for today," she sang, swinging her chain Device Mistral lazily. "Catch me if you can."

Reiz took a step backwards instead. "Firewall!"

"Now, that's not very effective," Ivey chided, as the immolating divide shot up between them. "You can't escape with just the- WHOA!" She snapped Mistral forward to deflect a sizeable fireball that shot out of the barrier, and dodged to the side as it was rapidly followed by a flame-wreathed staff strike. Reiz emerged as the Firewall dissipated, her breath clouding in the chilled air, laying onto Ivey's defenses like an enraged ifrit, illuminated by the incandescance of Impulse's ends, as two more empty cartridge shells were spat out onto the floor.

"Remember," Ivey grunted, desperately blocking every attack with Mistral's rapidly-diminishing length, broken links scattering with every hit, "that- ungh! That you're supposed to- ergh, capture me alive." She ducked, and touched the floor. "Crystal Patch!"

A sheet of ice appeared beneath Reiz, and she stumbled and fell as her boots unexpectedly lost traction. Ivey springboarded off the wall behind her, somersaulted over Reiz's head, snaked Mistral out, and snagged Reiz's staff out of her hands. "Hah!"

Reiz held out a hand, and Impulse reappeared in it with a flash of flame.

"Oh."

Reiz didn't bother getting back to her feet, but slid forward on her knees, gaining speed. She brought her staff forward, planted it firmly on the ground, and vaulted forward with a solid fiery kick on Ivey that broke through Ivey's hasty barrier and sent her flying. Ivey let out a grunt as she impacted against the wall, and looked up to see Reiz level Impulse at her face, the heat waves distorting the air around them.

"Um," Reiz said quietly. "You are, uh, under arrest. Surrender, please?"

Ivey managed a half-grin, as sweat dripped down her face. "Do I get to say a couple of last words before I go?"

"What?"

"Mistral Cage!"

Reiz swatted away a blurred projectile, but more were coming, every severed and broken link from Mistral's chain, loosed in the fight and before when Ivey had seeded the area, converging on her, connections forming and strengthening before she could free herself from them. Impulse clattered to the floor, followed by Reiz, now completely wrapped in a cocoon of diamond-hard chains of ice.

"Mmf!" she whimpered, muffled.

"You and me, kid," Ivey muttered, still slumped against the wall, exhausted.

Rancer, now in his barrier jacket, floated up outside the windows. Finding no obvious means of entry, he drew a fist back and shattered a pane with a shielded punch. "The exercise is over," he announced, stepping carefully through the broken shards of glass. He nudged the objective box to the side with his foot. "You did very well, Reiz."

"You're good," Ivey agreed. "Really good."

"Mmf," Reiz opined.

"We'll review the video later, to point out areas to improve upon, but overall, I'd say that I can't find much fault with your tactics or skill. At least, nothing that can't be corrected with what we like to call on the job training, the bitter humour of which I am sure you will discover soon enough."

"Mmf?"

Rancer sighed. "Ivey, would you kindly remove the chains? I don't think that's very comfortable for Reiz, and she did just have a busy morning."

"Aw, do I have to?" Ivey whined. "She's all nice and wrapped up like a present! It's like cutie takeout!"

"Mmf!?"

"Ivey..."

"Oh, all right."

*****

Nova had apologetically disappeared on a mysterious errand, and so Rancer was left minding the office while waiting for the other two ladies to finish showering and cleaning up after the exercise.

A flashing light on the desktop comm device indicated an incoming call, voice only, and Rancer patched it through. "37th Criminal Investigation And Apprehension, Captain LaSalle here. How may I help you?"

"Hello, Captain. It's been a long time since we last talked, hasn't it?"

Rancer stared blankly at the comm, before memory flipped a card. "Inspector Acous! It's good to hear from you." Well, not always, since the inspector usually had some request or new information which invariably meant more work for the unit, but at least he was polite about it.

"Well, I've been out of contact for a while, but that's another matter. Anyway, I've just received a copy of the report on site E-203, and I'd like to interview you and Lieutenant de Lorien in person, whenever you're available."

Huh? "Uh, that would be fine, Inspector. If I may ask, though, is it an urgent matter?"

A silvery laugh. "I'm not too sure myself, to be honest, but I would guess that it is rather time-sensitive, to the order of a few months at most, but more likely a couple of weeks. Forgive me for asking an insensitive question, but is the unit combat-ready?"

"Um, Lieutenant de Lorien and I are both fit for duty, but we've just received a new transfer, and we're working on integrating her, so our unit may not be operating at full efficiency."

"That's all right. I'll be at Midchilda East Base the day after tomorrow, and- oh, would you mind if I brought along a few friends?"

"Not at all, Inspector."

"Then I'll see you soon. Goodbye."

Now what was that about? Rancer didn't really expect to hear about E-203 again, but apparently three weeks of Intelligence combing over the footage for clues had led... well, probably not nowhere, but there was nothing Rancer could add to the story that wasn't already in his report, and he was reasonably certain Ivey hadn't been holding anything back either.

The door slid open, and Nova waved cheerfully at him. "Was there anything while I was gone, Rancer?"

"Inspector Acous called," Rancer replied. "He wants to talk to me and Ivey. I'm not sure why or what he's hoping to get out of us that we haven't already given, but he's coming the day after tomorrow, with, and I quote, 'a few friends'."

"Friends?" Nova placed a finger on her chin in thought. "I wonder if he means... never mind, we'll be able to see for ourselves soon enough. Is there anything else, Rancer? I remember that you wanted to talk to me about something... and I think I had something I wanted to talk to you about... I wonder what it was?"

"Ah, yes." Rancer took out his personal organizer, and thumbed through the menu. "It's about Reiz's housing situation, ma'am. I haven't been able to find any free single rooms for her, and I'm going through the doubles, but the last room assignments I managed to get were a month old, and a lot seems to have changed since then." Rancer set the organizer to public display. "The problem I'm facing is that I'd rather not have Reiz share a room with anyone too, uh, disruptive, so Ivey is definitely out. But I'm getting a fair amount of pressure, steadily increasing ever since word got around that Reiz is with us, about getting her out of her current temporary quarters so the 344th Battalion can get it back."

"Rooms? Oh! Yes, that was it." Nova beamed. "I ran into Halley on the way back here. You know, Captain Rainier of the 8th Information Archive Retrieval?"

Rancer covered his eyes wearily. "To my unending misfortune."

"Anyway, she mentioned that her partner, May, might be open to the idea of a roommate. It seems that May is now living alone in a double that is technically assigned to us, and Halley was asking if Ivey was up for a move. Something about personalities rubbing off."

"... rubbing off?"

"I'm not sure about it myself. But wouldn't you agree that May would make a good roommate for Reiz, and vice versa?"

Rancer tried to piece together what he knew of Second Lieutenant May Shelby. "Ma'am, I would postulate that it isn't so much that May is open to the idea of a roommate, but more that it matters not to her whether or not she has one. I doubt Reiz's presence would even register."

"But May wouldn't be considered disruptive, would she?" Nova persisted.

Rancer had to concede the point. May seemed to have only one desire in life, which was to read everything she could get her hands on. Everything else, including other people and communications or presence thereof, faded into irrelevance. It was likely that she noticed the world around her, or she'd be walking into things, but she simply did not care.

"I'll talk to Reiz and May about it," he said. "In fact, I'll have Reiz meet May in the Infinite Library after lunch." He considered this. "Scratch that, make it at least a few hours after lunch."

The door opened. "Ya-hooo!" Ivey greeted, striding into the office.

"Um, good day, everyone," Reiz said shyly, trailing along behind her, keeping a respectful distance.

Rancer glared at Ivey. "Did you do anything to her?" he demanded. "In the..." Blush. "In the showers, I mean?"

"Aw, you're so cute when you're embarrassed," Ivey snickered.

"Just answer the question, Ivey."

Ivey flapped her hand in denial. "I didn't touch her, if that's what you're worried about. Heck, Reiz was trying to stay as far away from me as possible, but she was perfectly safe in there."

Reiz blinked.

Ivey put her hands on her hips authoritatively. "It's no fun if there's no challenge!" she declared. "So the safer she seems to be, the more danger she's actually in!"

Reiz squeaked, and hugged her chest.

"Ivey," Rancer sighed, "you are a strange, strange woman."

Well, I liked it. So nyah.

Originally Posted by Saint X

That is not enough... add more!!!

And also, i don't have the capability to do such epic trailers... for now

*runs*

lol actually, this isn't the final cast. If anything, I plan on adding more people later, more OCs. This story is going to be huge (I'm shooting for fifty-two chapters.)

There will be two more shorts by me; the end of Sorairo Days and a thing involving Glen and Id (No name yet; probably Tooku Made).

MSLNA is set to take place in MC0083, setting the Aces at 27 and everyone's favorite Vivio at the ripe mindfuck age of 14, I think. I need the Cadia's help in choosing an OP. I've narrowed it down to two options, presented below.

Spoiler for Option 1: Kakusei Heroism - The Hero Without A Name (AN Cafe):

Spoiler for Option 2: Cruel Angel Thesis SN Version (Shouko Nakagawa):

On a further note, I can't be the only one who correlates the UC timeline with the MC timeline, right? I keep expecting to see/read a fanfic taking place in MC0079...

[Aaron008R]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

And Bridget finally joins the ranks of OC with her trapness... now wondering what'll happen if he ever meets up with Jun...

Quite honestly, I had trap-alarms blaring in my head the very moment I saw his face; no matter how girlish he appeared.

Now that you've clarified it, it appears that everyone here in the OC who's served under the TSAB would've gone through the 200th hour eventually, no matter who they are.

hmmm....

*zips mouth*

Aurion sure did.

Think that's AMAZING? Wait till you see the EPIC actual 00 OP for it:

Spoiler for Gundam 00 Opening Sequence 2 "Ash Like Snow":

HQ Version, may take some time to load. But any other version does it no JUSTICE

Incredible OP!

Oooh nice concept for the Tome there, Hayate just expanded her family twofold with the inclusion of the Archons and their own little world Though a family of chibi-Hayate's is

Cute to imagine.

Originally Posted by Skyfall

The answer to that would be: not in any foreseeable future. I prefer to work with the original characters. I am just prowling lurking around this place

Aw shucks.
Having a MOD in the community would have been extremely interesting.

Originally Posted by dkellis

This is why I don't like to write action.

Spoiler for Lyrical Melancholy Chapter 2 Part 1:

"This is not a formal training exercise, but it will still be recorded," Rancer announced.

Reiz stood at attention. Dressed in the standard physical training outfit, she had what Rancer had to admit was a cute and yet comically serious look on her face, like a child playing pretend soldiers. "Yes, sir," she said.

"We're just going to gauge your combat capabilities," Nova said, starting up the Finieno Training Simulator version 2.3. "So don't worry about impressing anyone, and just do your best to pass the scenario."

Midchilda East Base Training Ground D was situated some distance from the administrative buildings, and a long way from any civilian areas. Worn signs with large scary letters over even scarier finely printed legalese warned against using any magic ranked over AA in the area on threat of moderately severe disciplinary action, unlike Training Grounds A and B, which were built for that very purpose and wisely situated even further away from breakable objects like cities.

Three-quarters of the 37th Criminal Investigation And Apprehension unit were gathered at the training ground Home Point, where they had an impressive view of a small cluster of commercial mid-rise buildings materialize from thin air, or at least what passed for thin air from this distance. One building in particular rose above the rest, gleaming in the morning sunlight.

"Your goal will be to infiltrate that tall building, taking care to keep from unnecessarily damaging the infrastructure along the way, retrieve the objective on the top floor, and apprehend the target alive," Rancer said. "There will be enemy drones along the way, and you may take them out at your leisure, but you do not need to defeat all of them to proceed. There will be no time limit, but the longer you take, the more likely it is that the situation may change." He shot a glance at the building in question. "Meaning that Ivey might get bored, and start improvising."

"Training limiters have been placed on all participants in this exercise," Nova said, tapping breezily on the console,"but there will be no limit on cartridge use. Take as long as you'd like to get ready, and then we'll begin."

Reiz extended a hand, palm up. On it was a small object the size and approximate shape of a stubby pencil, attached to a chain necklace. "Impulse," Reiz commanded, "set up!"

Rancer nodded. "Good luck."

Reiz clutched her quarterstaff Device, gave him a small bow, and then took a running start before launching herself into the air.

"She's going high," Nova observed. "She's making good time to the target building, even without a flight speed booster spell."

"Probably wanted to get a look around first," Rancer said. "Pardon me, ma'am." He reached over to hit a button, and another screen popped up. "The first of the drones should be closing in on her... now."

Reiz didn't even slow down, as she swung her staff like a bat, and slammed it into the drone's shield, smashing through easily. Two more drones approached her; she rammed one with the butt end of her Device, throwing up a shield to block the shots of the other. Impulse ejected a cartridge shell, and flames erupted from its ends.

"Is it me," Rancer said, as the carnage continued on the screen, "or does it seem odd that Reiz has a Device like Impulse? Is it a personal Device, did she inherit it, or something else I'm missing?"

Nova pulled up another screen. "Well, it is registered to her name, and there were no irregularities found regarding it, but Devices generally don't have a lot of paperwork attached to them. Is there a problem?"

"No, it's nothing, ma'am. Idle curiosity."

Reiz faced the larger, sturdier drones now, and was fending them off with what appeared to be a shield spread across an entire flank. Impulse ate another cartridge as Reiz shouted "Firewall!"

"Mana conversion affinity for fire," Nova noted.

Rancer scratched his chin. "A lot stronger than Ivey's own affinity for ice."

A globe of fire hung in the skies, before suddenly exploding in a wave of smoke. The drones were only singed at most, but their retaliatory beams cut through the smoke without striking anything.

"There she is," Rancer said, pointing. Reiz had simply dropped out of the cloud of smoke she had created as a distraction, and was now just entering the target building, through the front door. A couple of smaller drones attempted to follow, but were destroyed by a gout of flame.

"Switching to indoor observation," Nova said. The screens flickered briefly with static before changing over. "That's odd. There shouldn't be any interference at this range..."

Inside, Reiz had smashed open the elevator doors, checked that the elevator was below her in the basement, and fired a tiny but brilliant point of light upwards, illuminating the shaft. With a cry of "Rocketstream!" she sped upwards, a trail of smoke marking her path.

"The smoke's clearing up a lot quicker than I expected," Rancer noted. "I wonder if that means..."

Reiz reached the top floor, and pried open the doors with Impulse. The retrieval objective, a small black box, stood in the center of a field of debris, apparently unguarded.

Rancer sighed. "I recognize this one."

Nova, frowning: "I didn't expect Ivey to cause such a mess. I suppose this doesn't count against Reiz, but I don't see... oh."

"Exactly, ma'am: Ivey's set up a trap. That's her Dispersion Field causing all the interference, and notice how Reiz's flames aren't as large due to the magical disruption. It's not enough to slow Reiz down, but the temperature in there's dropped significantly, and that has to be distracting, at the least. And that's not all..."

Reiz approached the box slowly, looking around warily for traps.

"Boo," Ivey said.

Reiz spun around, and Ivey would have lost her head if she hadn't ducked in time. "I'll be your dimensional fugitive for today," she sang, swinging her chain Device Mistral lazily. "Catch me if you can."

Reiz took a step backwards instead. "Firewall!"

"Now, that's not very effective," Ivey chided, as the immolating divide shot up between them. "You can't escape with just the- WHOA!" She snapped Mistral forward to deflect a sizeable fireball that shot out of the barrier, and dodged to the side as it was rapidly followed by a flame-wreathed staff strike. Reiz emerged as the Firewall dissipated, her breath clouding in the chilled air, laying onto Ivey's defenses like an enraged ifrit, illuminated by the incandescance of Impulse's ends, as two more empty cartridge shells were spat out onto the floor.

"Remember," Ivey grunted, desperately blocking every attack with Mistral's rapidly-diminishing length, broken links scattering with every hit, "that- ungh! That you're supposed to- ergh, capture me alive." She ducked, and touched the floor. "Crystal Patch!"

A sheet of ice appeared beneath Reiz, and she stumbled and fell as her boots unexpectedly lost traction. Ivey springboarded off the wall behind her, somersaulted over Reiz's head, snaked Mistral out, and snagged Reiz's staff out of her hands. "Hah!"

Reiz held out a hand, and Impulse reappeared in it with a flash of flame.

"Oh."

Reiz didn't bother getting back to her feet, but slid forward on her knees, gaining speed. She brought her staff forward, planted it firmly on the ground, and vaulted forward with a solid fiery kick on Ivey that broke through Ivey's hasty barrier and sent her flying. Ivey let out a grunt as she impacted against the wall, and looked up to see Reiz level Impulse at her face, the heat waves distorting the air around them.

"Um," Reiz said quietly. "You are, uh, under arrest. Surrender, please?"

Ivey managed a half-grin, as sweat dripped down her face. "Do I get to say a couple of last words before I go?"

"What?"

"Mistral Cage!"

Reiz swatted away a blurred projectile, but more were coming, every severed and broken link from Mistral's chain, loosed in the fight and before when Ivey had seeded the area, converging on her, connections forming and strengthening before she could free herself from them. Impulse clattered to the floor, followed by Reiz, now completely wrapped in a cocoon of diamond-hard chains of ice.

"Mmf!" she whimpered, muffled.

"You and me, kid," Ivey muttered, still slumped against the wall, exhausted.

Rancer, now in his barrier jacket, floated up outside the windows. Finding no obvious means of entry, he drew a fist back and shattered a pane with a shielded punch. "The exercise is over," he announced, stepping carefully through the broken shards of glass. He nudged the objective box to the side with his foot. "You did very well, Reiz."

"You're good," Ivey agreed. "Really good."

"Mmf," Reiz opined.

"We'll review the video later, to point out areas to improve upon, but overall, I'd say that I can't find much fault with your tactics or skill. At least, nothing that can't be corrected with what we like to call on the job training, the bitter humour of which I am sure you will discover soon enough."

"Mmf?"

Rancer sighed. "Ivey, would you kindly remove the chains? I don't think that's very comfortable for Reiz, and she did just have a busy morning."

"Aw, do I have to?" Ivey whined. "She's all nice and wrapped up like a present! It's like cutie takeout!"

"Mmf!?"

"Ivey..."

"Oh, all right."

*****

Nova had apologetically disappeared on a mysterious errand, and so Rancer was left minding the office while waiting for the other two ladies to finish showering and cleaning up after the exercise.

A flashing light on the desktop comm device indicated an incoming call, voice only, and Rancer patched it through. "37th Criminal Investigation And Apprehension, Captain LaSalle here. How may I help you?"

"Hello, Captain. It's been a long time since we last talked, hasn't it?"

Rancer stared blankly at the comm, before memory flipped a card. "Inspector Acous! It's good to hear from you." Well, not always, since the inspector usually had some request or new information which invariably meant more work for the unit, but at least he was polite about it.

"Well, I've been out of contact for a while, but that's another matter. Anyway, I've just received a copy of the report on site E-203, and I'd like to interview you and Lieutenant de Lorien in person, whenever you're available."

Huh? "Uh, that would be fine, Inspector. If I may ask, though, is it an urgent matter?"

A silvery laugh. "I'm not too sure myself, to be honest, but I would guess that it is rather time-sensitive, to the order of a few months at most, but more likely a couple of weeks. Forgive me for asking an insensitive question, but is the unit combat-ready?"

"Um, Lieutenant de Lorien and I are both fit for duty, but we've just received a new transfer, and we're working on integrating her, so our unit may not be operating at full efficiency."

"That's all right. I'll be at Midchilda East Base the day after tomorrow, and- oh, would you mind if I brought along a few friends?"

"Not at all, Inspector."

"Then I'll see you soon. Goodbye."

Now what was that about? Rancer didn't really expect to hear about E-203 again, but apparently three weeks of Intelligence combing over the footage for clues had led... well, probably not nowhere, but there was nothing Rancer could add to the story that wasn't already in his report, and he was reasonably certain Ivey hadn't been holding anything back either.

The door slid open, and Nova waved cheerfully at him. "Was there anything while I was gone, Rancer?"

"Inspector Acous called," Rancer replied. "He wants to talk to me and Ivey. I'm not sure why or what he's hoping to get out of us that we haven't already given, but he's coming the day after tomorrow, with, and I quote, 'a few friends'."

"Friends?" Nova placed a finger on her chin in thought. "I wonder if he means... never mind, we'll be able to see for ourselves soon enough. Is there anything else, Rancer? I remember that you wanted to talk to me about something... and I think I had something I wanted to talk to you about... I wonder what it was?"

"Ah, yes." Rancer took out his personal organizer, and thumbed through the menu. "It's about Reiz's housing situation, ma'am. I haven't been able to find any free single rooms for her, and I'm going through the doubles, but the last room assignments I managed to get were a month old, and a lot seems to have changed since then." Rancer set the organizer to public display. "The problem I'm facing is that I'd rather not have Reiz share a room with anyone too, uh, disruptive, so Ivey is definitely out. But I'm getting a fair amount of pressure, steadily increasing ever since word got around that Reiz is with us, about getting her out of her current temporary quarters so the 344th Battalion can get it back."

"Rooms? Oh! Yes, that was it." Nova beamed. "I ran into Halley on the way back here. You know, Captain Rainier of the 8th Information Archive Retrieval?"

Rancer covered his eyes wearily. "To my unending misfortune."

"Anyway, she mentioned that her partner, May, might be open to the idea of a roommate. It seems that May is now living alone in a double that is technically assigned to us, and Halley was asking if Ivey was up for a move. Something about personalities rubbing off."

"... rubbing off?"

"I'm not sure about it myself. But wouldn't you agree that May would make a good roommate for Reiz, and vice versa?"

Rancer tried to piece together what he knew of Second Lieutenant May Shelby. "Ma'am, I would postulate that it isn't so much that May is open to the idea of a roommate, but more that it matters not to her whether or not she has one. I doubt Reiz's presence would even register."

"But May wouldn't be considered disruptive, would she?" Nova persisted.

Rancer had to concede the point. May seemed to have only one desire in life, which was to read everything she could get her hands on. Everything else, including other people and communications or presence thereof, faded into irrelevance. It was likely that she noticed the world around her, or she'd be walking into things, but she simply did not care.

"I'll talk to Reiz and May about it," he said. "In fact, I'll have Reiz meet May in the Infinite Library after lunch." He considered this. "Scratch that, make it at least a few hours after lunch."

The door opened. "Ya-hooo!" Ivey greeted, striding into the office.

"Um, good day, everyone," Reiz said shyly, trailing along behind her, keeping a respectful distance.

Rancer glared at Ivey. "Did you do anything to her?" he demanded. "In the..." Blush. "In the showers, I mean?"

"Aw, you're so cute when you're embarrassed," Ivey snickered.

"Just answer the question, Ivey."

Ivey flapped her hand in denial. "I didn't touch her, if that's what you're worried about. Heck, Reiz was trying to stay as far away from me as possible, but she was perfectly safe in there."

Reiz blinked.

Ivey put her hands on her hips authoritatively. "It's no fun if there's no challenge!" she declared. "So the safer she seems to be, the more danger she's actually in!"

Reiz squeaked, and hugged her chest.

"Ivey," Rancer sighed, "you are a strange, strange woman."

True to the profile, Reiz is quite excellent as a fighter. She handled the situation quite well. And I see there are some more developments incoming. Nice chapter.

When can we see Halley and May?

Originally Posted by Saint X

That is one thing that i did not compute... yet

but this may happen

Spoiler for TRAP vs TRAP:

*Bridget and Jun eye each other as they pass by*

Bridget *whisper*: Enemy!
Jun *whisper*: Foe!

*evil glints show in thier eyes*

*runs*

Enemy? Nande?

Originally Posted by Reiji Tabibito

Spoiler for le SIZE!:

TO AARON, KHA, SATTY, and FLAMESPARKZ:

Please read the above comments to Keroko on the change in timeline - and let me know for the following characters if their status changes:

Kha der Kleriker: Unavailable due to Cradle Showdown; recovering

Sophia Alexei: Available

Artei: Available

Kaempfer: Unavailable due to Saint Church assignments

Allison Ford: Unavailable due to Saint Church assignments

Aurion Dauer: Available

Sky Squad of the 216th Battalion: Available

Maren: Available

Koji Minawa: Available

Yui Minawa: Available

Available.