The desert planet that Signum Needes stood on howled as wind whipped around her feet. Pink and white Knight Armor thrashed around her legs, and dark sand sunk into the cracks of the metallic boots she wore.
"Vita," The smaller redhead looked up at the Wolkenritter team leader. "Where are we supposed to meet up with Testarossa and Hayate?" Her eyes looked to the smaller girl for direction.
"Signum, shouldn't you know all that?" With the Iron Count, Graf Eisen hoisted on her shoulder, Vita turned to look at Signum with an eyebrow arched.
This caused her to fully turn towards the smaller Hammer Knight. "What do you mean? I was told that Rein told you the coordinates for our rendezvous point?" This worried the Sword Knight greatly. Where were Testarossa and Meister Hayate now?
Vita turned to her left and pointed Graf Eisen in the direction. "For now Signum, let's head in this direction. I've been on this planet before… there's an abandoned facility over this way." The chibi knight started walking, leaving the Wolkenritter team leader standing there.
"Oi, Signum… what's wrong with her?" Agito spoke out for the first time in nearly three hours. The pink haired warrior turned to her unison partner and shrugged.
The warrior turned to look at Vita once more and sighed. "I think I know why, Agito." Signum looked around the area, then back toward Vita, "But I won't speak of it until I'm positive." Slowly, the Sword Knight began following the small tracks in the desert's sand, with the miniature Fire type Unison device close behind.
The heat of the day beat down on Signum and Vita as they crossed the sandy dunes, hot dry winds whipping around them constantly. Agito hovering close behind in the small bit of shade from Vita's body.
"Vita…" Signum spoke up, wiping her brow from the sweat that had accumulated on her pale skin. "How much further do we need to go?" The heat didn't bother the Knight nearly as much as it would anyone else, but the heat was still extreme.
The Red Knight stopped walking, making Agito run into the back of her hat and bounce backwards a bit.
"Hey!" Agito flailed her arms around in the air wildly in a way that would make Reinforce Zwei proud, "Watch where you're going!"
Vita turned and stared at Agito coldly, causing the smaller girl to fly to and perch on Signum's shoulder. "We're almost there…" The blank expression on Vita's face slightly worried Signum.
"Ahh, please, lead on Vita." Signum's next to emotionless tone snapped Vita out of her trance like state.
The red head turned back to the north-west and began her slow walk once again, Signum and Agito close behind.
They walked in silence for hours, no one speaking except the world on which they stood. The sun grew lower and the planet's temperature dropped.
"Vita," Signum spoke, stopping her pace. "How much longer? Night is going to come upon us soon. We don't know how cold it will be." The logic sounded fine, but Vita shrugged it off.
The girls' face looked up to the orange painted sky, eyes peering into its beauty. "It can get very cold, Signum. We're almost there, just a few…" Her words were cut off as she reached the tip of the dune. Vita's eyes widened with shock, and horror, her memories coming back.
Across the valley lay thousands of metallic bodies, claws and scythes all around. Signum had climbed up behind the girl and saw everything that lay there.
"As I had suspected, Vita?" Lavender eyes looked down; the girl in question looked down herself and nodded.
"Mmnn, this is where me and Nanoha were deployed many years ago. Where I had failed to protect her." The words were said quietly, as if in shame. Small droplets of tears leaked from the blue eyes onto the brown dirt below.
"It is in the past Vita. You did all you could." Signum began her walk down the sand dune and across the valley of destruction, Agito and Vita in tow.
"Over here!" Vita yelled out to the Wolkenritter leader, who came to her side quickly. "We can enter through here. It's where Nanoha and I came in back then. We can stay here tonight, and look for Hayate tomorrow." Her voice was still soft and tenuous.
Vita managed to squeeze her way in through the small hole, but it proved a bit more difficult for the taller leader. "Signum stand back…" Vita called forth Graf Eisen from its storage device and swung the hammer against the steel wall, which gave way quickly. "There," the word was simple but it managed, Signum stepped into the old facility which held a horrible odor.
"What's this stench?" Agito whined out as she flew in behind Signum, covering her nose which ended up causing her voice to come out weirdly.
"It's the old combat Cyborgs that were never used…" The statement caused Agito to go quite quickly. The trio walked through the old building guided only by Vita's memories.
"Ne Fate-chan, weren't Signum and Vita-chan supposed to arrive here by now?" Hayate walked around the slightly wooded area, as Fate sat in the center of the clearing with small screens floating around her.
"Yes, they where supposed to be here an hour ago. I tried contacting Alto, but I haven't gotten anything back. For now it seems we're on our own." Fate looked up to the brunette as the small screen closed around her.
Rein orbited Hayate's head like a little moon to a planet, causing her mistress to get slightly dizzy from the motion.
"Calm down Rein, I bet Vita and Signum are ok. Really... who or should I say what in their right mind, would pick a fight with Signum and Vita-chan?" Hayate spoke to the hyper little Unison device trying to calm her, and herself down in the process.
The vibe that something was off wouldn't shake from either Hayate or Fate.
Sir, something is heading our direction. It is approaching fast, and appears hostile. The sound of Bardiche speaking up caused Fate and Hayate to move together. Hayate's Schwertkreuz and Fate's Bardiche ready for whatever was coming towards them.
An eerie laugh echoed around them, seemingly coming from everywhere and no where all at the same time. A barrier soon flew into life around the two TSA mages, keeping them from escaping.
(Hurray for evil cliffhangers R&R)