20/6/124 PI, 15:58:42

ABOARD DKM OETTINGEN

AIRSPACE OF ADMINISTRATED WORLD #1 MIDCHILDA

IN TRANSIT FROM ADMINISTRATED WORLD #0 EARTH

The peaceful cerulean sky above the Capital World rippled as would a still pond, then split as the shape of a Kriegsmarine frigate materialized. Against the light of the morning sun, the wear and tear that two decades of traveling the sea of dimensions had taken could be clearly seen; the steel hull shone through the light gray paint in swathes and splotches, and black burns from shells and beams launched far in the past decorated the vessel.

The ship was a third-generation built on the same base model as the first Fleet of the Galaxienreich, but it could not replicate the destructive capabilities of its ancient predecessors. It could, however, neutralize an army of 5,000 in under a minute with its advanced orbital bombardment; provided, of course, there was a sufficiently powerful mage on board. Nevertheless, it did not come to the Capital world to fight, or even to bring news of war. Rather, instead of being the specter of destruction as the attack ships always were, today the Oettingen would be the sign of growth, of rebirth.

Within thirty seconds of the spacecraft's entry into the atmosphere over the Capital, two fully automated assault aircraft had eased alongside the frigate to flank it, as was standard procedure for any craft conducting dimensional travel to a Reich-administrated world. In the cockpit of the Oettingen, the telecom clicked on, and the face of a female officer appeared.

"This is Midchilda Airspace Control. Identify yourself, please."

The pilot of the frigate tapped a button on his communicator, which sprang to light with a green flash. "DKM Oettingen, home port Supools, call sign Schwalbe-9. En route from Earth to Midchilda, carrying recruits for the mage program. Requesting permission to land at Von Richthofen Airfield."

"I read. Schwalbe-9, you are cleared for landing on block 33A. Watch for outbound traffic."

As the frigate extended its landing gear and hovered into position over its assigned area, the ground beneath it split in two and caved in upon itself to reveal a dock deep enough to hold a dimensional craft, the small dots of people scattered all throughout the glimmering metal interior. The Oettingen engaged its vertical thrusters, pulsing them and setting down gently in the dock with a hiss. As soon as the ship sat down with a hiss, mechanics and maintenance workers poured in from every side, running every which way along the many catwalks that touched the Kriegsmarine ship's exterior.

On the walkway circling the ship's nose, a black-clad woman with the double-Sig runes of an Interdictory Corps officer on her shoulder paced, stamping one of her high heels every now and then. It would be her third year guiding the recruits into orientation, and as she very well knew, the higher-ups wouldn't be pleased if the class from Earth was to come late to the first assembly.

The door to the side of the cockpit opened, and white-uniformed rookie mages tumbled out. It was likely that none of them had ever touched a Device in their life, or actually fought a battle, or seen their squadmates killed in front of them, the officer thought. Those recruits had no idea what was going to happen to them; they were like vegetables. You would chop them up into tiny bits and burn them, but in the end they would be better than what you had at first. That was the point of military training, especially for those born with such a special gift as these youngsters. And even if the woman couldn't break them all personally, she knew of someone who would be more than capable, and more than happy to.

The recruits were milling around, talking to each other or looking around happily, but a nervous tension hung over the group. Another black-uniformed person, this one a man, sidled up next to her.

"What do we have here, Erika?" he asked, affably.

The woman did not turn her gaze from the crowd. "Recruits, Lieutenant, 116 in total, 76 men, 40 women. Mainly from the colonies, but I believe there are a few Earth-born, and a couple Honoraries in the group."

He whistled, soft and slow. "They look so...eager. Alicia's going to have a fun time with these ones."

"I don't think the Captain would appreciate you calling her that, Roth."

"That's why I said it here. I'm no match for that prodigy."

"Attention!" the woman cried, and instantly the crowd of trainees quieted and stood rigid.

She took a breath and began her spiel, the same one she performed upon meeting every new class. "Welcome, cadets. My name is Lieutenant Erika Wolfenburg, and this is Lieutenant Patrick Roth. Today you enter the Wehrmacht Basic Combat Mage Training Course. It was not an easy road here; all of you were selected because you possess innate powers that are available to only one-twentieth of the human population. It will not be an easy road from here. If you wish to continue, you will be subjected to the most intense training of your life. Some may call it torture. However, we are the ones that make the rules. If you wish to drop out now, please do so."

Silence hung in the air for a minute, but it seemed like an hour. Of course no one moved. If any of the candidates chose to leave, it would be a horrible badge of shame upon themselves and their families.

Lieutenant Wolfenburg cast a glance over the recruits, whose cheerfulness had mostly evaporated. Their faces, while handsome and fitting for purebloods, were ashen.

There was one in the very back, the lieutenant noticed, who looked different from the others. She was holding on to the shoulders of the girl in front of her, nearly quivering in fear. It's one of the Honoraries, Wolfenburg noted. Of course it's an Honorary. She scoffed internally and reminded herself to have a word with the member of the Mage Corps who oversaw recruitment for the Japanese Special Administrative Zone. Those who weren't pureblooded Belkans were weak; this was yet another thing that proved it. This one was clearly not cut out to have anything to do with the military.

"Roth," she gestured at her counterpart, flicking her finger in the direction of the terrified rookie.

"Can you get me the info on the Honorary, back row?"

The man scratched his chin before pulling out a thin device from his pocket, tapping the screen and aiming it at the direction of the Honorary girl.

"Number 63. Born in Uminari City, Japan Special Administrative Zone, youngest of three. Her name's-" He gave a grunt of surprise. "Wait, don't tell me that's Shiro's kid!"

There's no way.

"I would not be inclined to believe that. But if it is true, that's quite an interesting change between generations. Either way, she had better produce results."

"This way!" she motioned with her hand, and the cadets fell into step behind the two officers.


Until two months ago, Nanoha Takamachi had believed herself to be completely average girl. It was, in fact, extraordinary at how mediocre she was. She was of average intelligence, average athletic talent, average social skills, average everything. Her parents ran a kendo dojo, but even though her older siblings were prodigies, she was only average. Even her citizenship was squarely in the middle: she wasn't a pureblood, but she wasn't an Inhuman either. She was an honorary Belkan, in-between both.

Until two months ago, she envisioned herself going to college with her friends, meeting a nice boy, and living out the rest of her life as a Coordinator just like her father. The military was the furthest thing from her mind.

On her eighteenth birthday, the soldiers in their imposing uniforms came to her city to set up the "aptitude test" which every citizen was required to take upon reaching the age of majority. Even though her older sister and brother had failed it, when she placed her hand on the scanner inside the tent, it read "pass", to her shock.

She wanted no part of the military, but she had no choice. She had been drafted.

On the day of her departure, when the ship had come to take her away, her family had come to see her off: her father who wore the soft stress lines of a Coordinator's job on his face but could still wield a sword as well as any samurai five hundred years ago, her mother who made the best oyakodon in the world and always listened to Nanoha when she needed to talk, no matter how stupid the subject was, her brother who always woke up at six in the morning to go running and hated people but still took care of her whenever she was sick, her sister who would attract every boy in the city but cared about none of them, who gave her dating advice; they had all come.

She remembered her mother crying, and her sister waving forlornly, and as the whistle for entry blew her father took her aside and whispered in her ear something he had told her hundreds of times before:

Nanoha, I may be the wisest, Kyoya may be the strongest, Miyuki may be the quickest, but you have something that they don't. You have the biggest heart of them all. You'll be someone great. I promise.

What did he mean by that?

That was how Nanoha Takamachi ended up here, being jostled in this crowd of eager recruits taller and stronger than her, looking desperately around for the one face she knew.

"Suzu-chan?" she cried out, her voice barely audible above the din of boots on metal and the clanks and clings of the repair docks to each side. "Where are you? Suzu-chan?"

She felt a tug on the side of her jacket and looked behind her to see the face of Suzuka Tsukimura, her best friend. For the first time that day, Nanoha smiled. At least there was someone she knew in this strange place.

"I was looking for you all over!" Suzuka sighed, putting her hands behind her head in exasperation. "I kept having to ask these guys, 'hey, have you seen a girl about my size, reddish hair in twintails, blue eyes' and they all ignored me! I told you we should have stuck together on the plane!"

"Well," Nanoha smiled, "maybe they couldn't understand you."

"I don't need you to tell me I'm bad at Standard," Suzuka huffed. "That language stuff is up your alley anyway. Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"It's the opening assembly. I think we find our dorms afterwards."

"We can't even get our bags now? Man, what a pain..."

The group had emerged to the surface in the meantime; Nanoha squinted as the sun suddenly beat down on her. The recruits had lined up in a courtyard surrounded by tall buildings and what she guessed were barracks.

"Hey, what's this about?" Suzuka whispered from next to her.

"I don't really know..." Nanoha shrugged back.

Suddenly, the group of cadets began to erupt with shouts and cheers. Nanoha looked up, and stared in astonishment as a large ship passed overhead.

"That's the Sanktkradel!" Suzuka exclaimed. "It's where the Fuhrer lives!"

Suddenly, something flashed in the corner of Nanoha's eye, and when she turned to look her eyes widened.

A girl who looked almost the same age as her, who had silky blonde hair almost down to her waist tied with two black ribbons, was standing in front of the trainees, piercing them with a gaze the color of fire. She wore a sleek black bodysuit, the different sections of the material barely visible except for the silver double-Sigs on each shoulder. In her right hand she carried a staff with the head resembling an axe, a yellow crystal shining in the center of the dull black metal.

Even though she might have been even smaller than Nanoha, this girl was far more imposing. It was as if she radiated intimidation.

The crowd quickly fell silent, waiting for the strange girl to do something.

"Welcome," the blonde said, her voice clear and reverberating with authority. "I am Alicia Testarossa, a Captain in the Interdictory Corps, and this (she pointed to the Device she carried) is Bardiche. As some of you may know- those who bothered to study before coming here, that is- I will be your chief instructor for as long as you remain in this program."

She strode down the line, inspecting the recruits, several of whom gulped or flinched when she passed by. Nanoha stood with her eyes toward the ground, trying to attract as little attention as possible, and made a mental note never to get on this Testarossa person's bad side.

"Don't get me wrong, however," Captain Testarossa announced as she continued to inspect the recruits. "I'm an Interdictor officer, and a Special at that. That means I have a lot better to do than waste my time explaining the most complex art of war in the universe to a bunch of kids who have only ever seen it on television. So let me warn you...I won't go easy on you."

She stopped, and Nanoha realized with a sinking feeling that the officer was standing directly in front of her. Oh no, am I going to get singled out on my first day here?

Nanoha desperately tried to keep her whole body from shivering like a plucked guitar string, but thankfully Captain Testarossa didn't seem to notice. The officer had returned to her original position. "Now. Any questions?"

A young man a little ways to the left of Nanoha raised his hand tentatively. "Um, sir, is it true that you're the daughter of Minis-"

In what seemed like the time it took Nanoha to blink, Testarossa had closed the distance between the rookie and herself, drawn back the palm of her right hand, and knocked the poor cadet to the ground with said palm. A line of grimaces, winces, and eye aversions flowed down the line of trainees like a current through a wire.

At that point, Nanoha was officially scared of her new commanding officer.

She couldn't see her, but from the way she was spitting her words, Nanoha could tell Testarossa was incensed. "There is no such thing as family here. There is no such thing as connections. There is only you and me, and I obtained this position solely because of myself. If I hear anyone else mention such things as number 30, I will see to it they are immediately expelled."

"Now," she continued in a lighter tone, "you are dismissed. If you'll check your telecom, you'll find the locations of your bags and your dormitory. Lights out is at 0000, do not be late."

It took the trainees a minute or so to comprehend that they had been released, but once the shock of their commanding officer's introduction had worn off on them, they immediately began to disperse in every direction. Beside Nanoha, her best friend huffed in exasperation.

"Tch, who does she think she is, trying to act all high and mighty and scare us like that? She's just a kid too!"

Her friend was prone to anger easily, Nanoha knew all too well. In fact, she wasn't sure that if she herself didn't exist, Suzuka would be some delinquent picking fights with anyone and everyone. Nonetheless, for all her flaws, she was just as close to the girl's heart as any member of her family.

"Now, now, Suzu-chan, I don't think she means anything personal by it. I heard that all officers do that," she replied, trying to calm her friend down as quickly as possible.

"Yeah, right. I bet that Tetsurosa or whatever's just like those bullies back home. You know, the ones that always picked on you for some reason, and kept coming no matter how many times I beat them up."

I never really asked her to do that, Nanoha thought. That's the difference between her and me. I've never liked it when people fight.

"Well, it's going to take a lot more than that to get to me. Come on, let's go get our bags. Do you have the map?" Suzuka giggled nervously, "I kinda left my telecom in my bag, ehehe..."

"Sure," Nanoha mumbled, reaching into one of her breast pockets. In front of the two girls, a holographic projection appeared, hovering, displaying a map of the area. Nanoha perused it. That was odd. The baggage drop wasn't indicated anywhere.

"Do you see it, Suzu-chan?" she asked, gesturing towards the screen.

Her friend frowned. "No, I don't. That was real helpful of our great commander. I don't see anyone around we could ask, either...they've all split."

"We should go look for someone. There's got to be someone that could help us."

The two girls set off from the lawn, in the direction of one of the identical buildings. However, they saw no one for a while, and Nanoha was starting to lose hope.

What if we don't find it at all? I don't want to be laughed at on my first day here!

At last, as they turned one of the corners, they spotted a figure ahead of them, carrying one of the standard-issued duffel bags at the shoulder. Her face brightened. Suzuka immediately took off toward the person, and although Nanoha tried to keep up, she quickly fell behind, panting. She was never the athletic sort of girl.

"Uh, you there!" Suzuka cried, reaching out toward the person as she screeched to a stop. "Where'd you get your stuff? We can't find it!"

The person turned, and Nanoha could see that it was a rather handsome boy in the same uniform the Honoraries wore. For some reason, she had a good feeling about him. He looked oddly benevolent.

"Don't talk to me, you Moonface trash," he spat back at them.

Nanoha's confidence shattered once again.

As the two girls stood in shock at what their fellow cadet had just said to them, he had already disappeared through the buildings.

The silence was broken by a loud "Shit!" and the bang of Suzuka kicking the building to the side. "People like him piss me off!" she growled.

Why does he hate us so much? Nanoha wondered, still uncertain how someone who at first impression had looked so kind could speak such cruelty.

The two girls, more depressed than usual, continued their search, hardly speaking. While at first they had thought the others were just somewhere else, they now began to suspect they were being intentionally avoided.

As they turned a corner, Nanoha moaned, "I think we've already been through here..."

Suddenly, her friend held up her hand, signaling her to stop. "Nanoha. There's someone following us."

"Huh?" Nanoha responded. "Why would anyone-"

"Don't know, don't care," Suzuka snapped. "Hey, you!" she called, turning around. "Whoever you are that's been hiding, get out here now!"

With a frightened squeak, a girl peaked her head around the corner, than slowly tiptoed out. It was easy to tell that she was a pureblood; even though she hung her head flaxen hair fell to her shoulders. She looked up slowly, and seeing the two Honorary girls standing in front of her, squeaked in surprise again and jumped back a couple steps. "S-sorry...I...not speak...language..."

"We're fine at Standard, you know," Suzuka retorted acidly. "Anyway, what's your problem? What's a pureblood like you doing talking to Honorary scum like us?" she continued, shoving her face into the girl's.

"Hey, Suzu-chan!" Nanoha interjected. "Sorry about her," she said to the girl. "She can be like that with people she doesn't know. Don't mind it."

"Okay...it was my fault anyway..." the girl replied, looking downcast again.

"My name's Nanoha Takamachi," Nanoha friendly continued, pointing to herself, "and this is Suzuka Tsukimura. We're from a place called Japan on Earth. It's okay if you're surprised. You probably don't see a lot of people like us often."

"I'm Alice...Alice Bannings..." the girl said softly. "I'm from here on Midchilda..."

"We're looking for the baggage unload. Have you found it? It wasn't on the map," Nanoha asked.

"Well, no...I'm actually looking for it too..." Alice replied.

She's nicer than I expected. I wonder if there are more like her?

"Hey, you guys said you're from Japan, right? Is it really true that you eat cats- sorry!" Alice exclaimed, immediately trailing off as Suzuka gave her a death glare.

"It's okay, we get that a lot. You've never been there, have you? Come on, let's go look together. I can tell you all about Japan while we look." Although Suzuka huffed loudly beside them, the shy girl joined Nanoha and her friend.

However, time had begun to creep up on them, and they were still no closer to finding the spot where their belongings had been placed. After many turns through the labyrinthine buildings, they were back on the central green, and the sun was beginning to set.

Suzuka sighed. "Come on, let's just give it up. I bet it'll be better to not have our bags than to break curfew."

"You're right..." Nanoha agreed. "I'm really hungry, too..."

"Our quarters are that way-"

Behind Nanoha, something soft hit the ground with a whump.

When she turned around, her bag was at her feet, and her commanding officer was in front of her, carrying two more duffels on her shoulders and boring holes through her with a steely gaze. Even though there was nothing out of the ordinary, Nanoha felt like she was being looked at naked in the middle of the winter.

"These are yours, I presume?" Testarossa said icily. "After two hours, it appears that these are the only ones that were not claimed. And they belong to Number 18-" she tossed a bag in the direction of the Midchildan, who cast her head down, "Alice Bannings. Number 54, Suzuka Tsukimura. And Number 63-"

Captain Alicia Testarossa was in front of Nanoha. It didn't matter that she was staring up at the girl; Nanoha still felt that there was a sword pointed at her throat regardless, just like every kendo match her sister when they were younger, which would inevitably end with Nanoha on the ground. The officer looked even younger than Nanoha. It didn't matter. The girl's gaze was powerful.

"Nanoha Takamachi."

"Why wasn't this on the map?" Suzuka asked, exasperated. "We spent all this time looking for them!"

"It was not on the map because I didn't want it there. This was a simple test," their commanding officer replied, "and you three failed. No, you gave up. If you do the same thing on the battlefield, you will be killed. It's a fact. A mage uses his mind. A mage does not quit. Those who don't understand that are not fit to serve the Reich."

She turned away. "I'll be keeping an eye on all of you."

Thankfully, the rest of the night passed without any sort of incident; it was quite easy for the three to find their sleeping quarters, and there was still time for them to eat. Although no one talked to them the rest of the night, Nanoha was more worried about what Captain Testarossa had said to them.

Those who don't understand that are not fit to serve the Reich.

I knew it. I guess she's right, I really am not cut out for this.


21/6/124, 00:00

The lights had cut out in their dormitory, but Nanoha was still awake even though it was impossible to see her hand in front of her face.

She thought about the day, about this strange new world she had been thrown into, this world she had to get used to.

Somehow all the excitement seemed so far away.

Dad, Mom, Kyo-chan, Mi-chan, I know you're worried about me.

But I think I'm going to be just fine.


Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay! It's finals period so it's hard finding time to write! Fortunately I have a break ahead so I should be able to get more done.

The White Devil! Well, more like the White Devil-to be. If she hadn't been exposed to the Jewel Seeds at age 9, I think this is what Nanoha would be more like, more timid than self-confident. And of course living on an Earth that's been half scorched and the other half used as slave plantations has taken its toll as well. I hope you don't mind me taking too many liberties with the characters. Obviously this setting changes a few but I hope I didn't change them too much.

I know a few people have commented that it's unrealistic for the Nazis to reverse-engineer Belkan technology. Actually, they didn't reverse engineer anything. They found Belkan technology that they could use and used it to conquer the multiverse. Any military technology they make now is an imperfect replica of their discoveries.

Questions about the author: Yes, I am male. I think the Nanoha fanfic community is kind of odd in that it's mainly guys writing, but I like it. I'm not so weird here.

What's with this Alicia girl? Is she our beloved Feito-chan? Does Alicia live? You'll have to wait and find out!

Until next time,

mrcmc888

MAHOU SHOUJO LYRICAL NANOHA IS THE PROPERTY OF MASAKI TSUZUKI/SEVEN ARCS, NBCUNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN, AND GENEON (US) (DEFUNCT). I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING RELATED TO THE SERIES.