Mahou Senki Lyrical Nanoha Force - Record 31
Dominant&Rose(II)
The world began with magic
It was built on magic
It moves forward with magic at the helm
But is that the true way to the future?
Michilda East End Division
Rezona East Central Prison
"Thoma, do you feel that?"
"What is it Lily?"
The React Plug stared off into the distance as she felt that something was off. Her eyes scanned the mountainside but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. However something did feel wrong to her. The same feeling bugged her before the Huckebein assault on the prison.
"I'm not sure exactly, but do you feel like we're being watched?"
The boy she was asking looked around, but didn't feel or sense anything at all. He looked at his friend confused.
"Sorry but I don't feel anything. Maybe you're just a little shaken after the attack?"
Lily sighed, trying to rationalise and suppress the bad feeling she had. "I hope so."
Thoma got onto the MR121 which was a type of motorcycle that had been specifically modified by Special Duty Section Six to be faster and more durable than commercial types. Lily sat behind Thoma and held her arms tightly around his body after attaching the metal box containing the Huckebein heart to the side of the bike. They were to take it back to Headquarters so Shamal could get an in depth analysis of the heart, and maybe learn more about the Eclipse Virus in the process.
The Eclipse Driver started taking them to the designated coordinates set by Erio. It shouldn't take any more than an hour to rendezvous with the Wolfram. The mobile base had already been contacted and was headed towards Midchilda to touch down at the extraction point.
As per the plan, Isis and Wendi followed behind Thoma and Lily in a car just in case anything happened.
Maritime Protection Facility
The Grendel Family were escorted by Nanoha back to the facility. After their Dividers were once again taken away, the family were taken to the interrogation room for questioning. They complied as after their escape attempt was neutralised by the Ace of Aces herself, none of the family were eager to try again anytime soon.
Cinque Nakajima was already seated on a chair on the other side of the table as the S ranked mage brought the Grendel Family inside. Nanoha had already dismissed her Fortress equipment and Strike Cannon but still kept Raising Heart Exceed Mode in her hands just in case the family tried anything.
"Thank you for bringing them, Captain Takamachi."
Nanoha nodded as she closed the door behind herself. "It's not a problem. Thankfully I didn't have to punish the naughty kids too much."
The combat cyborg then turned her attention completely to the Grendel Family. "Now then I'll cut right to the chase. You all are clearly anxious to escape, but I can't simply just let you all go. So I propose a deal, work with the TSAB."
The Grendel Family took a moment to understand her words before all the members reacted with understandable confusion.
"What the hell does that mean?" Kurt asked in an accusing tone.
"Specifically, you will be working under Commander Hayate Yagami for Special Duty Section Six. We want you to help us catch other Eclipse Drivers, and in return we can help you all with the Eclipse Virus. Our best medical experts are working as hard as they can to understand the virus, I can assure you that you will get much better treatment sooner by working closely with us."
Mariya stared at Cinque suspiciously. "What's the catch?"
The white haired girl shook her head. "No real catch. For a time your movements will of course be more restricted compared to the other members of SDS6, but if you obey the law and our orders I can assure you a more stable life than one of rouge Eclipse Drivers."
Silence seemed to fall over the Grendel Family as they took her words in. After a few seconds the head of the family, Kurt Grendel, already had his answer.
He shook his head at her. "Sorry but no deal."
Cinque raised an eyebrow at his dismissal. "Are these terms not agreeable?"
Kurt once again shook his head. "No they're fine really, actually it's pretty generous considering our position. However, I can't work with law-enforcement. My self-esteem won't allow it."
"Your self-esteem?"
Kurt let out a smug smile on his face. "That's right, the Grendel Family lives by its own rules and we'll die by our own rules. We won't be tied down by any government organisation."
Nanoha frowned as she watched the scene. It would be really helpful if SDS6 could get the help of the Grendel Family, but from the way things were playing out that option seemed near impossible.
The head of Grendel Family suddenly looked a lot more serious. "However, if you really need our help, I'm willing to let Quinn assist you."
The girls of the family momentarily stared at their leader in shock. Quinn herself was the first to speak up in protest.
"What the hell? Are you joking? Why in the world would I help them?"
Kurt's serious look did not leave his face as he turned to her. "Listen, you're the newest addition to our family. You weren't with us from the beginning, there's still a chance for you to walk away if you want to."
This was a side to the family head that the members had rarely ever seen, and it was throwing Quinn's mind for a loop. She stared downwards at the floor to think. Was it really okay to leave the Grendel Family and join the TSAB? Quinn knew she didn't like Kurt very much, but despite what her mouth might say she didn't exactly hate him either.
After all, she owned Kurt a debt that still wasn't paid back...
She looked over at Mariya and Lolo. The smallest girl only smiled at her and Quinn didn't get any help from that. Mariya on the hand shrugged her shoulders in a "I don't care what you choose" kind of way.
The face of one of the Huckebein members flashed through Quinn's mind. Specifically it was the one that defeated her so effortlessly. If she joined the TSAB then a greater chance to wipe that smug look of her face would be there.
After a few moments of thinking, Quinn inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before staring down the TSAB officer on the other side of the table.
"Alright. I'll do it, but I have two conditions."
Cinque immediately felt relieved and nodded. "Name them."
"If I'm working with you then I want to be on the front lines, I don't want to be behind a desk doing paperwork. Secondly..."
Quinn blushed a little, as she knew some teasing would be coming her way after this. "...I may be helping you, but I'm still a Grendel. I'm not leaving the family."
The combat cyborg let out a silent sigh of relief. It wasn't the most optimal scenario but it was definitely better than coming out of this empty handed. Cinque stood up and walked around the table to extend her hand towards Quinn. The blond sword wielder saw what she needed to do and amicably shook the other's hand.
Cinque smiled. "Those conditions are agreeable. Welcome to Special Duty Section Six."
Arnage and Sonica watched a crystal ball in the fortune teller's hand. They were able to view Thoma and Lily riding a motorcycle with a metal box attached to the side of the bike. That was definitely Veyron's heart. The plan had already been figured out. Arnage would openly ambush them and draw attention to herself as Sonica sneaked behind the enemy and hopefully manage to take back the heart.
Sonica however had a bad feeling. Not that she doubted Arnage's abilities in battle, but something about the situation felt off. She momentarily looked around in case the two of them were being watched but she couldn't see anyone.
She shook her head in an attempt to shake off what she assumed to be pre-battle nerves. Even though Sonica herself wasn't going to be directly fighting.
"Alright then Arnage, we get in, get the heart and get out. I'm not a fighter so we can't afford to play around."
The redhead nodded and took out her own Divider. She slide one of the blades across her right arm.
"React! L/R Full Barrel!"
Lily stared out and watched both sides of herself as she held onto Thoma. She watched the mountains off in the distance with a worried look on her face. The React Plug figured it was irrational, but Lily really couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen. Specifically she felt like whatever would happen, it would revolve around Thoma.
Almost as if she called upon the following events to happen by her own will, The Bible of Silver Cross appeared in front of Thoma's face as he was driving.
[Alert! Hostile existence detected! Recommend immediate React!]
At the end of that sentence, a large explosion erupted from the road ahead of them. Thoma immediately stopped the bike and set it standing on the side of the road as he and Lily got off. The Eclipse Driver looked back and saw that the car Isis and Wendi were in was still a ways off. He decided that there was no time to wait for them and held hands with Lily.
The React Plug felt power surging within her and Thoma.
"Engage Standby. Divider Set."
Thoma's gunblade Divider appeared in his hand while the Bible of Silver Cross appeared in Lily's.
[Eclipse control functioning normally.]
Lily transformed into her Engage Suit and held her arms closely around Thoma.
"System Zero, start up!"
In a bright flash of white light the two became one as Thoma took on his Black Knight mode. He readied the large Divider and charged forward towards the smoke. His eyes blinked and became a purple colour. He scanned the dust and found that there was a person within but his vision couldn't display any more concrete information than that.
Bullets began to fire out of the smoke. Thoma saw it immediately and jumped to the side. The smoke cloud started to cleared up and he recognised the person that stood within.
"Wait a minute, you're one of the Huckebein right?"
The woman smirked as got his attention. Now she just had to hold it for long enough.
"That's right. The name's "Arnage", I think this is the first formal introduction we've had. Of course I already know your name, "Thoma "Zero Boy" Avenir". I'll be blunt, you've got something that belongs to the Huckebein, and I'm here to take it back."
Thoma focused his vision directly on Arnage, waiting for her to make a move. His track record when it came to fighting Huckebein members wasn't the greatest, so he knew he had to be careful.
The redhead jumped and flew high into the air. She then pointed her Divider downwards and started shooting a hail of bullets toward Thoma.
He followed Arnage into the sky and used his own Divider to block the incoming shots. Thoma took some minor injuries but it was nothing his regenerative abilities couldn't heal. He eventually rose high enough so that he and Arnage were at eye level with each other.
"You want the heart right? Sorry but I'm under orders to take it to headquarters for in depth examination."
The woman shrugged her shoulders. "You think your orders will stop me? Listen here kid, I'm taking that heart back. One of our own needs it to survive and I'll be damned if you stop me."
Thoma looked confused. "Needs it? I thought the Eclipse Virus gave us all fast regeneration? Or is the heart an exception?"
"Normally growing back the heart wouldn't be a too much of a problem, but something's gone wro-"
She stopped herself mid sentence as noticed familiar looking black birds coming at her from left the side.
"Black Perfume No.3, Hummingbird!"
The birds exploded point blank at her which forced Arnage back.
Isis flew up to Thoma's side and as he turned to face her, the boy was greeted with a hard flick on the forehead.
"Ow, what was that for?"
The black haired girl huffed as she wasn't happy with her friend. "I keep telling you not to get friendly with the enemy!"
"I wasn't getting friendly!"
"Oh? Then why were you chatting away with her?"
"What's wrong with just getting some information?"
The two of them were forced to stop their argument as two missiles flew out of the smoke in their direction. They dodged just in time and focused their eyes on the clearing smoke which soon revealed Arnage looking ready for an all out fight.
"Think maybe you two could save the lovers quarrel until after I beat the both of you?"
While Thoma and Isis were facing off against one of the Huckebein, Wendi decided to stay her distance by keeping herself beside the MR212. She had already transformed and her Riding Board was aimed squarely at the enemy, ready to fire at a moment's notice. Even if Thoma and Isis engaged in close range combat she was pretty confident that her sharp shooting skills could land a clean hit on the Huckebein woman with no problems.
She also however needed to protect the heart inside the small box should the battle in the sky get overly intense. It was at that moment she wished Sein were with them. Wendi knew that her sister's Inherent Skill; Deep Diver, would've been invaluable for a situation like this.
Sonica watched the entire scene from behind a large boulder a decent distance away. She eyed the pink haired TSAB woman protecting the box attached to motorcycle. The fortune teller narrowed her eyes. If she wanted to take back the heart then she would need to get that girl away from the bike.
Just then Sonica had a sudden feeling that someone's presence was behind herself. She quickly turned around her eyes but saw nothing. Not a soul behind her anywhere.
Damnit what is this feeling? Is someone watching us?
She sighed and shook her head hard to get rid of the unnerving feeling. Sonica resigned herself to waiting things out. She hoped that Arnage could draw all attention to herself.
Said redhead started firing upon Thoma and Isis. The two of them dodged to both sides as the Eclipse Driver charged toward Arnage. He swung his sword at her Divider, hoping to break them and force the woman to retreat. She avoided his unskilled strikes easily but caught eye of more black birds sneaking up behind herself.
"Black Perfume No.5, Rumbling Sparrows!"
"Ah crap."
The birds engulfed her in multiple explosions. After taking the hits she jumped straight back to make some distance. Thoma pointed his Divider directly at where she was and pulled the trigger.
"Silver Hammer!"
Arnage couldn't react in time to dodge or block and took the brunt of his bombardment attack. Despite taking that attack at fairly close range, a smile appeared on her face.
"Well now, you're not half bad Zero Boy. Guess I shouldn't play around."
She pointed both of her weapons toward her enemies and let loose.
A barrage of bullets and missiles were fired upon Thoma and Isis. The two of them knew dodging wasn't a option with so many of them coming all at once. Lily immediately summoned the Bible of Silver Cross in front of Thoma and used its pages to act as a shield for him and Isis.
The bullets and missiles were blocked without much issues. However the missile explosions created a large dust cloud around Thoma and Isis which obscured their view of the enemy.
Still, they were both grateful towards the React Plug for, well, reacting so fast. The black haired girl threw out a thumbs up. "Thanks for the save Lily!"
No problem! Now stay focused you two.
Thoma and Isis nodded while getting ready to engage in combat as Lily retracted the pages back into the Silver Cross.
However that was a mistake.
"Plasma Discharger!"
A hot stream of plasma struck Isis through the smoke. There was no time to dodge or block as she took a direct hit and the resulting explosion knocked her unconscious and shot her down from the sky.
"Isis!"
Thoma started flying down to catch her but a smaller stream of plasma blocked his way. He watched Isis fall but someone flew upwards and caught her before she hit the ground.
It was Wendi on her Riding Board.
Don't worry about her Thoma. Focus on the enemy in front of you!
Thoma smiled and nodded at her before turning to face Arnage and saw something new in her hands.
Lily, do you see that? Is that her Divider? I thought she already Reacted.
This is just a guess but I think her Divider has a second React Form.
Oh. Well that's just great.
The male raised his own Divider to point at Arnage as the two of them charged up another attack.
"Silver-"
"Plasma-"
"Aerial Cannon!"
Before either of Eclipse Driver could fire their attack, a large pink beam flew towards Arnage and hit her directly. She was beaten back by the blast. The redhead was mentally grateful that she had the durability withstand so many attacks.
"Silver Hammer!"
Arnage managed to dodge that bombardment in time as Thoma could only fire blind into the smoke. A look of surprise overtook her face as she thought more about the attack that hit her earlier. It wasn't the force of the attack that was surprising, but rather how it felt at a deeper level.
That definitely wasn't magic, but it didn't feel like Anti-Eclipse either. Now that's interesting.
Thoma quickly turned back to thank Wendi for the surprise assistance.
Thanks Wendi!
Not a problem. Been a while since I used Riding Board like that actually. Now take that Huckebein down!
Thoma nodded and turned back to launch himself at Arnage after the smoke cleared. He started to swing his blade with an overhead strike at the woman but didn't expect her to block his attack with her own Divider. They pushed against each other using their Dividers as sparks started coming off inbetween.
"Sorry kid, but that sword of yours still isn't strong enough."
Sonica saw her chance. The TSAB woman had to move herself away from the motorcycle to catch the girl that was shot down, and now her attention was completely on Arnage. The fortune teller ran up to the bike and pulled the metal box away to detach it from the vehicle. There was no doubt, that this had Veyron's heart inside. She could feel his presence from it.
Wendi turned around as she heard some noises behind herself and found the woman who came with the Huckebein to assault the prison holding the container that secured the heart in her hands.
She raised her Riding Board and took aim at the woman. "Hey! Stop right there!"
Arnage smirked as she witnessed Sonica obtain the objective. She saw no reason to continue the fight any longer so she pointed her Divider into the sky and started a quick charge.
"Plasma Rainfall!"
A hot blast of plasma flew into the air before it exploded into smaller chunks that began to rain down on everyone.
Thoma tried his best to dodge them as Wendi covered herself and Isis's unconscious body with Riding Board to block the incoming attack. Sonica took this chance to run away as Arnage flew down to pick her up.
The surrounding explosions made it difficult to see as the woman ran off, but Wendi knew she had to do something.
She raised her free arm and fired something small out of her wrist that lightly struck the fleeing woman before she was picked up by the redhead Huckebein.
The storm of plasma finally ended as Thoma descended down toward Wendi and Isis. He disengaged his React with Lily which allowed her to go and personally check on Isis as Thoma went to the pink haired girl. "Wendi, Are you okay? How's Isis?"
Before Wendi could respond, Lily was already looking over her friend's body. While Isis was definitely injured, there was nothing life threatening that Lily could see.
"Don't worry Thoma, she should be fine once we get back to the Wolfram."
The boy suddenly remembered the heart that they were suppose to take back. He looked up at the motorcycle but found it to be completely wrecked by Arnage's last attack.
Wendi sighed. "Sorry Thoma, but that unfamiliar woman was here and she got away with the heart."
She stood up and opened up a holographic window and viewed a blinking red dot that was moving across a map of the local area.
"However, not all is lost. Look at this." Wendi turned the window around to let Thoma and Lily see it.
The React Plug blinked as she watched the moving red point on the map. "What is that?"
Wendi smiled at her. "I managed to stick a tracking device on the woman so her location can be monitored easily. The device is sending a constant signal right into my body so I can track them down."
She started contacting the Wolfram to inform Commander Yagami that complications have arisen about the current situation.
A long haired woman watched the events unfold from one of the mountainsides. The battle was certainly an entertaining show as a whole, but what really captivated her attention was the boy and his Eclipse Reactor. The aura he emitted during the fight, the way her own Eclipse infection reacted to him using his abilities. There was only one explanation for what she felt while observing the boy.
She smirked as her hand moved back some of her black hair that was flowing in front of her face. "So that kid has the Zero Gene..."
Her right hand reached to her left upper arm and touched the blue wing mark on her skin. "I think things are going to get very interesting for the Seed of Origin."
Author's Note: Okay I must say this now. I am well aware that the first half of Record 31 does exist, however to this very day it has yet to have been translated for an English audience. As such, the first half of this chapter is a rewrite of it, using bits of information about Chapter 31 on wikia pages and the Chinese raw pages that have been uploaded. This is the only time something about Force will be rewritten. Everything else, Record 0 to Record 30 is unchanged and canon to this fanfic.
Secondly, I understand that Force isn't very well liked to a lot of people in the Nanoha fandom. So the chances that this story gets popular is very low in comparison to other stories in the community. However to anyone that does like Force, then I hope you guys at least like this. I have only read the Force manga semi-recently and I genuinely liked the story and characters and want to see an ending to it. I know a fanfic is nowhere near close to an official manga continuation, but I hope you guys like my attempt to continue the story.
Third, and lastly, as you might have noticed with "Plasma Rainfall". I'm going to be coming up with new attacks and spells for characters, especially for the new cast introduced in Force. So if you can't recognise an attack in this story, that's why.
Anyway, if you have something to say then please do so in a review. It would help to know when I'm doing something right or wrong. Hope that everyone who read this enjoyed it and I'll see you next time.