Thank you everyone for your reviews, I'm glad that people are enjoying this even if I'm making errors. As for the questions of when characters will appear, all will be revealed in time! I have an outline of where things are going, but the details are still in flux, so I can't really answer questions that I don't even have the answer to.
And Drinker, thank you again for another review! When it comes to the Nanoha-verse (Is that what one should call a verse that's a spinoff of another anyways?) I admit I'm not horribly knowledgeable about the expanded universe. I'm running on having just watched the three anime, and read most of what I could find in terms of the mangas. So basically, I'm running on a shoestring understanding of the 'mechanics' of the dimensional sea and just combining it with what I know about physics of the real world. And the making time travel impossible bit was just for the ease of integrating the universes in such a way that made it easy on me as the author... (So, yes, I was being lazy, and was just attempting to not have it be readily apparent that I was. Hahahaha.)
I won't give away more though, all the questions will... hopefully... be answered as we continue on through this wild little journey. As always, hit me in a review if I screw anything up too spectacularly, as for minor things I blame it on not being completely true to either Negima or MSLN, just hopefully true enough for it to be enjoyable to you guys as the readers.
Shutting up now! Enjoy!
July 27th, 2143, 0800 hrs, Grandmaster's Office, Ariadne, Mundus Magicus
"Damn. They're moving quick." Collette raised an eyebrow at the rare curse to escape from Emily's lips.
The Knight-Commander shrugged before replying. "It's not entirely unexpected, they recieved word of our allies' arrivals about as quickly as we expected. It is a little odd that they reacted so quickly, but I think they had prepared for the possibility of needing more than they expected to take Ariadne."
Emily leaned back in her chair, letting out an uncharactaristic sigh as the door was opened by her secretary, three individuals stepping inside before the door closed behind them. The Grandmaster quickly rose to greet her guests, holding a hand out to each. "Princess Asuna, Captain Tatsumiya, Master Sakurazaki. It's a pleasure to see you all. I do apologize for not being able to meet with you yesterday, I was forced to personally oversee the beginnings of the evacuation."
They each shook the offered hand, Asuna sporting a smile, the two half-demons more reserved with their emotions. The three women were... impressive to say the least. The Princess was only of average height, and the traditional Ostian dress that she wore would fool the uninitiated into thinking that she was not dangerous. Little was known of how she fought, though Emily knew from personal experience that the woman was immune to all but the most powerful magics.
If you couldn't have the Dark Evangel, or her first apprentice, the second is certainly a good alternative. Made even better because it isn't well known that she studied under Evangeline.
Sakurazaki Setsuna was the shortest of the three, but as with any Shinmei-ryu, the nodachi strapped to her back would be a deadly effective weapon. Rumor had it that she was the most powerful practicioner of the sword that Mundus Vetus, and likely Mundus Magicus as well, had ever seen. Especially after the brutal training of having defended the current dean of Mahora for well over a century as the school was not popular amongst the darker regions of magical society, or with Megalomesembria.
Tatsumiya Mana though, there was a name feared by all for obvious reasons. She had few scruples when it came to picking her work, the only people that had ever steered her decisions on what jobs to take and which ones to avoid were the Crown Princess of the Mundus Diabolus, and her little sister. And even then, the rumor went that she demanded the one and a half times the price of the contract she was passing up. She and the 200 odd demons and half demons that comprised her company were the very best that money could buy in a mercenary. Unflinchingly loyal, once hired they would complete the terms of the contract no matter what other incentives were offered by the enemy, as long as their client continued to pay on time. And they had the added bonus of being the most experienced soldiers in all three worlds. There was not a conflict in the past century and a half that they hadn't fought in in some way shape or form.
Asuna seemed to slip into the role of spokesperson for all of them though. "Don't worry about it, Emily. And please... No formality, with any of us. We're interested in hearing more about your plans though, we were able to gather as many volunteers as we did because you don't plan on fighting to the bitter end. Understandably of course, details that have reached us are limited, and if you've been able to keep information from falling into Ala Alba's hands, I'm quite confident you've managed equally well against the Confederacy."
Emily nodded with a smile as she waved the three into chairs that had been prepared, Collette, having spent more time with Yue and other members of Ala Alba simply smiled and gave the three of them a nod of greeting.
Returning to her own chair, she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her desk. "The plan is simple. We need to hold the city for three, maybe three and a half weeks. Just the city, the rest of our territory can be sacrificed to buy us time. Unfortunately, with our estimates, we only have a few more days of peace. We expect we'll have to hold out under attack for at least two weeks."
She chuckled quietly as she saw three curious faces, the question on all of their minds obvious. "Why just hold the city for a couple of weeks?" She didn't respond immediately, taking a moment to pull an item out of the drawer of her desk, tapping it as a hologram appeared. It was a huge vessel, far larger than any dreadnaught that Megalomesembria or the Empire could field. It's size was made apparent by the fact that a huge crowd of people was milling slowly boarding.
The ship itself broke from the conventional sea-creature design that had been so prevalent amongst the magical world for centuries. Instead, it looked much closer to something recognizable from Earth's old science fiction. It wasn't pretty, more just a rectangular prism of massive proportions. There were various attachments to it, rather obvious engines towards the rear, as well as spell ports dotting nearly the entirety of its surface.
"I give you the future of Ariadne. The Jovis class colony ship. Designed to carry some 200,000 civilians each, with a crew of 10,000 to operate. A mix of technology from Mundus Vetus, and the best magical engineering that we could put together over the course of the past twenty years. We have four of them. And yes, that means that every single citizen of Ariadne that wishes to leave will be evacuated on a Jovis."
"That's... impressive, but where will you go? The Empire? I doubt that Empress Theodora would be able to help some 800,000 refugees when she gets drawn into the war." Setsuna asked, although her tone suggested that she knew Hellas wasn't their likely destination.
"The Jovis class was designed for the eventual collapse of Mundus Vetus. They aren't quite self-sufficient, but if our estimates are correct, they would serve as lifeboats for a full load of civilians and crew for two years before they needed to be resupplied. What we planned to do with them, now that we've managed to sustain demi-humans outside of Mundus Magicus, was to have the ships transfer out of this plane and into the same as Mundus Vetus and begin to colonize Mars."
The three seemed curious about the project, which surprised Emily, given the proximity that they'd had to Springfield who helped develop the alternative when it was clear that the collapse of the magics holding the two planes apart wasn't going to be be stopped, only slowed. Though, it wasn't a bad idea to keep it quiet except for those who'd actually be developing and building the ships... The bastards in Megalomesembria would have started this war long before we'd even begun construction.
"Yes, since a solution to the coming collapse wasn't found, we decided to go with alternatives. We and the Empire have been building as many of these ships as we could without the word of them getting around, after all, you see what this war is truly about. The Senate wouldn't have stood for such powerful vessels being in the hands of demi-humans, and the fact that some of us will actually manage to survive the collapse that they thought would cleanse us from existence?" She had to fight to keep from snarling at the bigotted fools that lead the Confederacy. "Sure, arrangements have been made for the Confederacy's human population to be evacuated to Mundus Vetus, but nothing would have been able to save the vast majority of the Empire's population, or even our own here in Ariadne. With the technology that Mahora's Solar System Development Administration has helped create, as well as some very clever spell work by Negi Springfield, we have found a way around that. And while we'll only be able to save a very small number of demi-humans, we will not go extinct."
"And what of Earth's current Mars Colony?" Asuna's piped in.
"We don't plan on evicting them, if that's what you're asking. We will likely make contact with them, as well as Earth, but our ships at least, are going to find a suitable region and begin our own terraforming operations and do what we can to rebuild a suitable home. Afterwards we'll worry about what our sudden appearance will cause, and if necessary, we'll prove friendly intentions by helping in their own terraforming project."
She shook her head at that, realizing that she was well off topic for a strategy meeting. "At any rate, that's all provided that we survive long enough to get the Jovises loaded and launched. I won't allow Ariadne to start the war, but the moment that Confederate forces cross our border, I'm prepared to endorse any strategies that will ensure the city holds out long enough for the evacuation. So no, you will not be limited to fighting defensively, I want to kick their forces out of our territory and airspace and then push the war back onto their lands." It was difficult for her to hold in the chuckle as she saw Tatsumiya relax at that.
"I'm sure you all know the extent of Ariadne's forces, First Fleet will be on the front lines, and we'll be attaching half of Second Fleet for operations with First. The remainder will remain in the city. What you hopefully don't know, is that the Valkyrie Brigade was heavily expanded. We lifted the cap on the maximum number of Valkyries nearly two years ago. We have some 11,000 Valkyries that will be serving as our main offensive force, with the Mage Knights working to support them or serving as our defense. The rest of the Mage Knights numbers around 40,000, but we're going to be detatching 10,000 of them to serve on the Jovises to maintain order aboard them, and to keep people in line once they're on Mars. And lastly, we're going to mobilize the senior cadets, third years and up, which will give us another 5000 capable, if inexperienced, Mage Knights."
Mana's eyes narrowed at the numbers. "46,000 won't stand long against what the Confederacy will bring to bear. Just from what I've heard, they'll have at least 100,000 troops crossing the border, and they'll outnumber you in ships 3-1, and if you go by tonnage of those warships the ratio gets even uglier. I'll admit, your Valkyries are some of the finest troops on all three worlds, but there simply aren't enough of them."
"There's also been word that with your arrival, they've reinforced their fleet, we're outnumbered 4-1, and we think there'll be an extra 20,000-30,000 troops along with them." Tatsumiya frowned slightly at Collette's addendum.
"And that is why we're so thankful for your arrival and the aid that the three of you will give us. We just need time. And that's why I'm going to unleash the three of you to fight as you see fit. Collette has orders to support you in any way possible with whatever forces we can spare, and I know that she will do so, but you know your troops and their capabilities far better than we do. Plus, and I do hope that you will forgive me for this, it will make you targets. All three of you have bounties on your heads in the Confederacy, and I have no doubt that the possibility of collecting them will entice some of their commanders to focus more on you than on demolishing Ariadne."
That drew a feral grin from the half-demon mercenary. "Grandmaster, you've already made it onto my list of favorite employers. You can take another 5% off of my fee. You want me to raise as much hell as I can to make myself a target and have an even more entertaining fight on my hands? I think I can manage that."
Asuna chuckled at that. "While I'd honestly prefer to fight defensively, I understand that Ariadne simply isn't big enough for that. I would prefer to have my troops integrated into Valkyrie, or at least Mage Knight units, while I can guarantee they're all stronger than the average mage, many of them are still inexperienced, and frankly, a lot younger than I'd like them to be. But when word got out that volunteers were being taken to help Ariadne... Your city has earned a great deal of good will over on Earth, despite what Megalomesembrian agents have tried to do over there."
Collette nodded at that. "I'm sure we can manage that. Our troops will be able to keep them from getting killed stupidly at any rate."
Asuna nodded her thanks, but twitched as a bright flash lit the entire room. Emily spun in her chair, her eyes going wide as she saw the forest, some thirty kilometers away from the city. What was usually just a dense sea of green, was filled with an immense pink ball, which remained a second longer before it began to disappate.
Silence reigned in the office as everyone felt the magical power that had erupted within the forest. Emily turned back to Collette and asked simply. "You don't suppose that was Cadet Eins, do you?"
The Knight-Commander blinked as she watched the mushroom cloud forming. "Uh, well, the Fifth-years were scheduled for evasion training in the forest. I'm not sure I'd have put the blame on her first thing... but thinking about it... none of the instructors could manage something like that." Her last word was also emphasized by a thundering boom that rattled the windows of the office.
Asuna couldn't help herself, the incredulous words bubbling out uncontrollably. "A cadet? What do you feed them that causes them to manage to cast a spell I wouldn't be surprised seeing out of Negi or Evangeline?!" She frowned slightly in thought before she added, "Well, aside from the fact that it was pink."
"Ah... Well, she's not quite a Cadet. She is on the books as one, but she seems to be an alien. She claims to be from... well... I'm not at all certain where really, but a Japan some century or more ago, and was caught in a conflict with a multi-planetary magical government." She chuckled as she halted the explanation. "Put simply, she's from somewhere else, with some incredibly powerful spells from a style of magic I've never seen... although that's what I thought before she tried to blow up the forest... Insanely powerful spells might be more appropriate."
"Will she be a combatant?" Emily shrugged at Tatsumiya's question.
"That's entirely up to her. We've merely been providing her a place to stay as an apology for a rather rude greeting that we gave her when she was disoriented by her sudden appearance here. You're welcome to meet with her when she returns. She's... interesting."
The three didn't get a chance to respond as the door opened, the secretary hurrying over to the Grandmaster before handing her a note. She scanned the note quickly, before a chuckle escaped her. "Send out the scramble order, I want that forest swarming with Valkyries, round up the cadets and get them out of there."
Asuna remained quiet as the younger woman hustled back out the door, but as soon as she was gone, the Princess raised an eyebrow at the Grandmaster. "Something going wrong in the forest? I recall Yue telling me it wasn't the friendliest of places."
Emily resisted the urge to blush, remembering the incident. And judging by the way the Princess snickered, she both knew the story, and the Grandmaster had failed to hide her embarrassment. "Yes, well, that's why we use it for training our more experienced cadets. It seems to have gone wrong somehow though. There seems to be four dragons that aren't pleased with the cadets being there."
She paused as she saw a sparkle in the Princess' eyes... one that made her look as if she were 15 again. "Would you... Like to go with the Valkyries, Asuna?" The answering vehement nod only reinforced the image, and she glanced over at Sakurazaki, who simply gave a long suffering sigh.
"Well, by all means, feel free to go play with the dragons... just try to help keep the cadets out of trouble, would you?"
July 27th, 2143, 0400 hrs, Ariadne's 'Monster' Forest, Mundus Magicus
The yawn that she'd been fighting back for the past fifteen minutes was not to be denied. Somehow, she'd missed the memo that they were to be woken at three in the morning for an evasion exercise. It could have been worse, she supposed. They could have sent them out in the middle of the night without any sleep at all... But that was a small sort of consolation.
The ever-present Valkyrie sergeant had given a soft laugh when she voiced her complaint aloud, albeit quietly, given their location deep within the forest. Those who were close enough to hear had chuckled as well. "Don't worry, Rein, the secret to this little exercise is that when you escape the forest, they give you the rest of the day off. Most cadets usually use it to party, but I'm sure they'll be happy to let you crawl back into bed if that's what you really want to do."
Reinforce held in a snort at the tone that suggested Nodoka felt such an idea was near blasphemous. She stepped carefully through the undergrowth, her eyes scanning for any signs of the monsters that gave the forest its name. She glanced down at her left hand, wondering again why they'd decided to return the intelligent device that certainly wasn't NachtWal, at least not anymore. As she glanced around, she took note of the fact that the rest of the cadets were wearing at least light armor and carrying weapons or battle-worthy wands.
I suppose sending us out armed and armored is their way of trying to show that even with the instructors out there with us, and even a squad of Valkyries on standby... the forest is quite dangerous, especially dark like it is now.
0300 hrs
Reinforce had been all but drug out of bed by Nodoka. It wasn't often that she contemplated hurting someone, but the Valkyrie was pushing all the right buttons by pulling covers away and telling her to get dressed. At least they'd stopped for the local version of coffee in the kitchen before she'd found herself led to a lab.
A white-coated lab tech had smiled and handed her a blue bracelet that had a single red claw dangling from an equally red chain. "We've completed our research on your device, and the Grandmaster has decided to have it returned to you with the understanding that you aren't to activate it unless the situation calls for it."
The sleepy cadet had simply nodded and mumbled her thanks as she frowned at the thing that had caused her so much trouble for so long. She glared back at the Valkyrie, remembering the more recent slight just as well as any done centuries ago. "And this couldn't have waited until morning, or better yet after training, why?"
"Oh, don't you worry about that, but don't bother trying to get back to sleep. You'll regret it if you do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some preparations to make. I'll meet up with you shortly!"
She growled at the cryptic message, but resigned herself to remain awake. The very least she could do was use the time to plot what sort of vengeance she'd bring down on the Valkyrie should it all be a trick. She held the device up, frowning thoughtfully at it. "I'll decide what to do with you over breakfast..."
The mechanical voice replying to her words almost startled her. She hadn't been expecting a reply, even if it was apparent that the device was an intelligent one, or perhaps she was more startled by hearing her native tongue for the first time out of another in the longest time. [I am an intelligent weapon, Mistress. Does that designation not imply my proper use?]
Her eye twitched. A cheeky device. They just don't make them like they used to. I might grow to like you, even if I sincerely hope that you don't turn out like that red demon jewel of Nanoha's.
"And why should I use you after the hell you put me through?"
The claw on the bracelet glowed slightly. [Mistress, undesirable modifications had been made upon my system. NachtWal was designed to defend the Book. I am Nacht Klaue, intelligent weapon built at the order of Kaiser Hildegarde I. Most of the modifications to my AI have been purged, though I am still bound to the Mistress of the Tome. You, Mistress.]
Cheeky, and talkative. What happened to the two-word maximum reply?
She sighed before eyeing the device critically. "Fine then, Nacht Claue. I'll keep you around for the time being, but don't make me regret it, and don't talk unless I or those around me are in danger. I'd rather not have to explain a talking bracelet."
"Yes, Mistress." Her eye twitched again as she fought the urge to snarl at what sounded like a resigned tone. She shook her head, and slipped the bracelet onto her left arm, where it resized itself to fit snuggly around her wrist.
0340 hrs
Reinforce still hadn't decided on the proper punishment for being woken an hour early. Though, she supposed that Nodoka deserved some leniency, as it had allowed time to wake up, whereas the other recruits had simply been hustled out of their rooms with barely time to don their uniforms before instructors had herded them towards the armory.
She had to admit, it was quite a professional affair, despite the fact that the cadets seemed to be as much schoolgirls as they did soldiers in the making. Even sleep deprived each of them had been in and out in no more than five minutes, with another five or so to finish strapping on the rather complex and various sets of armor. Some were even in full plate similar to that which the Valkyries wore, although most seemed to stick with leather or chain-mail. A few wore more traditional mage clothes, merely switching out their uniform cloak for a heavier duty cloak.
Reinforce and Nodoka had actually been the last ones out of the armory given that they'd been searching for spare gear that would fit her. All the while Nodoka had been explaining that while most of their defenses were powered by enchantments woven into the gear, the quality of the materials used provided a greater capacity for enchantment.
Solid plate, while harder to move in, heavier, and generally requiring customization, holds the greatest capacity for enchantment, with rarer metals and alloys upping the 'enchantability' even further. Chain, a good substitute for plate, was cheaper, lighter and easier to move in. It couldn't contain as many defensive spells however, and provided less defense should the enchantments fail from overuse. Leather, especially dragonhide, was balanced, easy to move in, easy to maintain, and was surprisingly well suited to enchantment was the most common, and a good choice for all but those who required the greatest freedom of movement. Cloaks or robes provided next to no protection, but could be enchanted to help boost offensive abilities while having minor defensive additions. She resisted the urge to cringe at the stupidly similar logic to video games that she'd seen Vita playing on Earth. Sure! It's all very logical... but almost too much so.
Thankfully, for her sanity, Nodoka had freely admitted that higher powered mages wore whatever they wanted, as they generally didn't require additional help, all of their defenses coming from their own skill or spells. A fact that would come in handy one of these days. She chuckled as she glanced over at the Valkyrie.
Maybe even sooner than 'one of these days.' Nodoka had proven... quite eager in regards to armor fashion. Something that Reinforce had never considered a priority, even after the recent experience with Hayate and her Knights' outfits. But Hayate hadn't been designing armor when she'd crafted the image. This was specifically armor for use in battle from the sounds of it, and yet Nodoka was frowning between leather breastplates of slightly different design, but seemed largely equally protective.
Knowing to keep her mouth shut rather than run the risk of getting a lecture on the fashion of armor of all silly things, she decided to keep her mouth shut, instead pulling on the heavy leather boots and fastening the greaves while she waited for Nodoka to finally choose. With a sniff, the shorter woman turned back holding both. "Sadly there wasn't a whole lot of choice for you. You're a bit better endowed than most of the younger girls who were really the target audience for the academy's armor. So, really the only choice you get in leather is these two. This one's got a wider range of motion at the shoulders, and is a bit thinner and softer for greater agility. The other is... well, a bit more protective. Which would you prefer?"
Reinforce managed to not sigh at the Valkyrie. She took a moment to finish tying a bracer around her right fore-arm. "You know, armor isn't really necessary for me. I do have a spell that serves as my armor."
"Bah! That argument. That black ensemble makes you look like a villain. Even if you don't need it, it's also for identification purposes. Now, quit arguing and make a decision before I make it an order cadet!"
She chuckled in reply. "Fine, fine, Sergeant, this cadet will take mobility, Sergeant!"
Nodoka simply chuckled before waiting for Reinforce to remove her tunic and slip the leather on. And then proceded to help her fasten everything before stepping away with an appraising frown. "Damn. That armor does flattering things for you."
The comment prompted a raised eyebrow at the bitter tinge to the tone. The Valkyrie simply chuckled and waved it off. "Sorry, old familial inferiority complex that's hounded us through the past century and a half. Don't worry about it. Now hurry up! We're already late."
The following hour had been fun, an instructor giving the both of them a dressing down for taking so long, although it had been... less caustic than it might have been after Nodoka's explanation that Reinforce hadn't had armor and they had to find her loaners. Then had come the briefing on what they were going to be doing.
Teleporting deep into a forest and making your way out of it without flight, no longer than seven hours permitted. Easy enough, until the creatures of the forest were explained. Some of them would take a full squad of cadets out if encountered unprepared. Not to mention dragons. Multiple species with various attributes that would make them difficult to deal with.
They'd been grouped randomly into squads, armaments distributed, and then teleported to their various starting locations. Nodoka had raised a questioning eyebrow when she'd noticed that Reinforce had failed to pick out a weapon. She'd chuckled when Reinforce had simply replied that she prefered to fight unarmed.
And then, they'd set out on the heading that they'd been assigned.
0405 hrs
Reinforce frowned as she crept forward, being careful to make as little noise as possible. So far it had seemed as if the forest was simply just a creepy dark forest, but given the wariness that even Nodoka was showing the further they went it was far better to keep aware.
It was comical though, the others in their squad were moving quietly, but they clearly hadn't practiced recently, as Reinforce didn't even need to glance their way to know exactly where they were. And of course, somehow, the Valkyrie in plate armor seemed to be the quietest of them all.
"How the hell are you being that quiet, Nodoka?"
The Valkyrie had simply shuddered, quite dramatically. "I was a member of the Rare Book Retrieval Squad... Some traps were sound activated in that library."
The response had... certainly not been what she was expecting. What kind of a library needs traps? She pushed the thought away as she continued to scan her surroundings, deciding that asking that question could wait until another time.
A loud growl came from ahead, drawing her immediate attention as the cadet that had been on point scrambled back with an aborted cry of fear. The source of the growl made Reinforce's eyes widen. It looked like a dire lion of the likes she hadn't seen since the fall of the Empire. Just... bigger. Much bigger. She spared a glance at Nodoka as the others in her squad drew their weapons. "There's something just wrong about a lion the size of a transfer shuttle."
The Valkyrie only chuckled as she took a few steps back. "You cadets are on your own unless you get into too much trouble! If I help you, you'll fail this little exercise, and I don't think any of you want that!"
Reinforce only chuckled as she moved forward, joining the other cadets. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed that they seemed quite nervous. "What's the matter? It's just a big cat, right?"
Their reply was drowned out by a second angry roar from the beast, though she did hear them calling for her to stop as she continued walking towards the lion. It's eyes locked on her as she continued to approach, just as if she were taking a nice little stroll.
Eyes locked, feral aggression meeting a flat stare. The lion seemed a little confused by her behavior, though it came to a quick decision, lifting a paw that was nearly the same size as Reinforce. The cadets cringed, and even Nodoka tensed as she watched the scene unfolding, knowing that she wouldn't be able to intervene in time to keep her charge from being mauled.
The paw flashed down with all the power that the feline could bring to bear, to which Reinforce replied only by raising her hand, summoning a purple-black triangular shield to take the blow. The swipe was surprisingly heavy, Reinforce's eyes widening slightly as she let more mana flow, strengthening herself and the shield.
For its part, the lion seemed quite confused when its paw was stopped cold by the little creature that had wandered into its territory. It pulled back a moment, unprepared for what came next.
Reinforce released the shield as the pressure was removed, and looked to the bracelet. "Nacht, if you would please?"
She recieved no answer, save for the bracelet glowing, and growing, taking on it's weapon form. Taking a moment to glance at the rest of her squad, she was surprised by the fact that they appeared frozen in astonishment. Huh. I guess I'm a little more powerful than average around here...
[The strength of their linker cores is much weaker than yours, Mistress.]
Not bothering to take the time to reply to the voice of Nacht Klaue sounding in her thoughts, she pumped mana to her legs, using a spell she'd stolen from the young Testarossa, even if she wasn't able to attain the same sort of speed that the girl had, she was able to flash under the feline with a speed that drew gasps from her compatriots, and left the cat fumbling about, looking for where she went.
The method she used to inform the beast of where she was... was rather crude. She leapt up, a dark shooting spell forming ahead of Nacht Klaue's red tip, only for her to slam it into the creature's stomach with all the power she can muster, the black beam forcing its way through the creature, ripping through the forest canopy, before disappearing into the dark morning sky.
She flashed out from beneath as the lion was launched upwards some five meters before it fell to the forest floor, legs sprawling out in limp unconsciousness as she walked easily back to the other cadets. One managed to croak out a question, surprisingly more regarding how she managed to withstand the first blow, rather than how she'd rendered the creature unconscious with a single blow.
Reinforce cocked her head for a moment before she let out a little chuckle. "What, that little swipe? I've been hit harder by nine year old girls. This guy's just a big kitten compared to them."
Her companions simply blanched, save for the Valkyrie who simply laughed before responding. "Well, now I understand why you were saying that armor wasn't really necessary for you. You're one of those high level mages that wears whatever the heck they want to battle. You do realize though that this exercise is supposed to be you running away from the creatures, right? Nice punch, though. I haven't seen anything like that since the last time I saw Uncle Negi sparring with Evangeline."
"Ah? Sounds like I'll need to meet this Uncle and Evangeline." Nodoka gives a dark chuckle at Reinforce's reply.
"Uncle Negi has disappeared somewhere, and Evangeline... Well, given that you use dark magic, I'm not sure I'd want you to ever meet the premier dark mage... And she's scary, she might even take a liking to you and try to train you. Now come on, you need to get moving if you want to pass this little test! Quit gaping Cadets, just because she's strong doesn't mean you have to stare, get a move on!"
Holding in a chuckle, Reinforce turned her gaze to the other cadets most of whom looked away quickly in embarrassment before they started scrambling around the downed feline, eager to be out of the forest from the looks of it. It's going to be a long morning.
[Don't worry, Mistress. We can handle any of the creatures that come our way. Just don't get lost, and we'll pass easily.]
She twitched at the voice, chuckling mentally as she realized that she'd likely seem to be neurotic the way she was always twitching. Oi, Nacht. I thought I told you to not speak. We'll work together for now, but I'm not ready to be friends with you just yet. Plus, people will think I'm crazy the way hearing you makes me jump. Just keep it down for now, we'll get things figured out later.
The emotionless tone that followed was surprisingly good at transferring the weapon's resignation. [Understood, Mistress. Though they probably already think you're crazy. Who steps in front of an angry beast many times their size like that?]
She managed, somehow, to keep her growl within the confines of her own mind. [... Sorry, Mistress. I will remain in weapon form for now, communications systems on standby.]
0800 hrs
"Well, this isn't exactly how these exercises usually go."
Nodoka's monotone... is perfect for understatement. She chuckled as she rushed forward, dodging the tree-shattering claws that flashed down upon her. She watched as the Valkyrie, surprisingly nimble for as bulky as her armor looked, rolled forwards out of the way, somehow managing to come up at a dead run. "Oh? Running from dragons is rather good for evasion training, wouldn't you say? Territorial to the degree that they won't let you get away, various abilities to test your will to survive, I'd say they're perfect."
The replying chuckle was drowned out by the angered roar of the two dragons that were close on their heels. Nodoka had summoned a staff that she was using to weave between the trees, while Reinforce had called upon her six black wings and was darting forward at a reckless pace given the thickness of the forest.
Their squad had made it close to the edge of the forest, or so they believed at any rate, when they'd stumbled across two black dragons that had been competing rather fiercely. One of the others had squeaked, surprisingly drawing the attention of both dragons, who had abandoned their contest to chase after the invaders. Nodoka and Reinforce had split off from the rest of the squad to draw the dragons away, but that was as far as their plan had gotten. The trail of destruction being left in the wake of the chase was quite impressive.
What they hadn't expected however, was to stumble into an almost identical scene, though this time with a gryphon dragon and a yellow dragon fighting in another clearing. The ripping claws and gouts of flame were now joined by cutting winds and bolts of lightning.
"Can I start taking these things out rather than running from them?"
Even her shouts managed to maintain the calm monotone. "Go for the horns, break them and they'll run!"
"Understood, you get out of here, go find the rest of our squad and make sure they're safe."
"But!-"
Cutting off the Valkyrie's arguement, she continued. "Just go, I'll be fine. Blutiger Dolch!" She didn't wait for a reply as she rolled back, some fifty red daggers flashing into existence before they slashed out on seemingly random paths to stab into each of the dragons, save the gryphon, whose natural wind barrier blocked them. All of them roared with pain and anger at the damage they inflicted, heads swiveling as they snapped at the source of their agony as Reinforce twisted around and between them before climbing, breaking through the canopy.
A bolt of lightning crackled by while a stream of fire flashed past her, singing her side, bringing out a string of Belkan not to be used in polite company. She continued climbing, far faster than the dragons could follow, but summoned her knight armor, glaring down at the dragons with murder in her eyes.
Nacht Klaue was lifted, all four dragons slowing their progress as mana, both hers and ambient gathered before her, shining bright pink. "I summon the light of destruction down upon my foes. Stars, gather, and become the light which pierces everything. Tear through everything in a blaze of light." Reinforce paused taking a deep breath before she shouted, and swung her left arm down to release the spell.
"Starlight Breaker!"
The Gryphon dragon, and the yellow dragon proved nimble enough to avoid the massive beam that flashed down, though the black dragons weren't able to get out of it's path. The resulting shockwave as the beam hit the forest made Reinforce look more than just a little sheepish at the wanton destruction she'd caused, when precision would have been just as effective had she merely gone after the dragon's horns.
When the explosion faded, the black dragons seemed to have ceased to exist while the other two tumbled wildly, trying to maintain a more or less controlled flight. Neither seemed eager to continue attacking the thing that had just blown away several acres of forest, not to mention two of the more hardy species of dragons.
For her part, Reinforce was content to stare the dragons down, as they seemed to mull through an instinctive cost-benefit analysis of continuing to attack. Both reached the prudent decision and dove back into the forest in different directions, but both directly away from her.
"Hey, Nacht."
[Yes, Mistress?]
The train of thought had been derailed by the fact that the weapon had just answered in a way much closer to what she would have expected out the various weapons and devices she'd seen. She recovered quickly, no more than an extra beat before she continued.
"Do you think I used a bit more force than I should have? I figured that this world would have enough ambient mana for a weaker breaker... but I think I added my own reserves to it."
[To vaporize two dragons, you did, Mistress.] Sighing before she looked back down at the crater she'd left she pondered a moment longer.
"Next time, don't let me choose the spell when I'm angry." A quiet chuckle escaped her as the device gave a one word affirmative. The descent was a lazy one, slowly bleeding altitude as she contemplated how much trouble she would be in for the dragons, damage to the forest, as well as the fact that she'd broken the exercise's no flight rule.
There was little worry on her part in regards to the consequences, but she did dislike disappointing people, not to mention the fact that her actions would probably reflect poorly on both her squad and Nodoka. A flash of light appeared below her, a few blinks confirming that this world did indeed have transfer magics of a sort as the space she'd been intending on landing in, where several trees had been uprooted by the force of her spell, was suddenly filled with at least thirty Valkyries and a woman, perhaps thirty years of age at worst. The fiery hair color and the outfit that seemed to have been the result of a drunken night between a dress and a coat with the thigh-covering leggings thrown in for modesty's sake would have drawn attention in the midst of armored valkyries, but it was really the massive sword and the sheer power that was rolling off of her in quite-literal glowing waves that caused Reinforce's eyes to snap to her.
The 'cadet's' gaze was returned by a rather silly grin, with an eager sparkle in her heterochromatic eyes. The woman babbled something off in the language that seemed so common here, to which Reinforce could only reply apologetically in Japanese that she didn't understand a word.
"You must be the Cadet... Eins was it? That the Grandmaster was talking about! Now, where are the dragons? It's been far too long since I've gotten to play with them."
"Two," Reinforce broke off with a sheepish look, "Two of them have been vaporized, and the others were wise enough to stop chasing me."
"... Oh."
Never before had she seen someone look quite so much like a kicked puppy. The hurt expression on the woman's face almost made Reinforce want to apologize for having defended herself against the dragons. Far better to have been eaten than to put that sort of expression on a grown woman's face.
The woman quickly nodded as she forced her disappointment away. "Well, that's alright. There'll be plenty of time for me to go find a dragon... or maybe I'll just restrain myself to Megalomesembrian warships... Ah! Where are my manners, I'm Asuna, Princess of Vespertatia. Just call me Asuna though. I'm not big on formality unless I have to be."
She seems... Formidable. Even if she's got a sort of ditzy aura. Royalty though, never underestimate them. Hoping to make a better impression, she finished her descent, dismissing her wings as she stepped gently to the forest floor before kneeling before the Princess in the traditional Belkan style.
"Your Highness," she gave a little chuckle at the rather pointed look the princess was giving her, "Asuna, I am Cadet Reinforce Eins, though feel free to call me Reinforce, or even just Rein. I answer to both these days." Given the Princess' apparent dislike of formality, she rose up, with a nod of greeting.
"Nice to meet you, Rein! Now then, introductions are nice and all, but I did get orders from the Grandmaster to see to the safety of the cadets. So, off with you! The Valkyries are going to finish rounding everyone up and then we'll make our way back to the city. I'd like to talk more with you later on though, keep your schedule open this evening if you can!"
Without waiting for a reply, the princess darted off. Darting... might not be completely accurate. She just moved faster than Testarossa ever did, perhaps even faster than some of the Sankt Kaisers.
Reinforce shrugged at the princess' action before following the Valkyries who were splitting up to round up the rest of the cadets.
1435 hrs
The journey back from the forest had been an interesting one. Both the Valkyries and the other cadets had been more than just a little interested in how she'd managed to vaporize two dragons while still just being a cadet. The questions had come hard and fast, none of the questioners giving her an opportunity to answer before the next was on her.
Eventually she'd managed to escape with just a simple claim that it was an original spell of hers, one that she didn't have any plans of teaching to anyone. The disappointment on a number of faces was obvious, but it wasn't likely that even any of the Valkyries would have the ability to cast a bombardment spell, even if they proved capable of using Mid-Childan magic at all.
Lunch was a thankfully quick affair, Nodoka doing a decent job of keeping the masses away with a special sort of look. It was the sort of assistance that would probably cost her in terms of having to answer the Valkyrie's questions when they came. Though hopefully they'll just be asked by the Princess and I'll only have to answer them once.
She rolled onto her back, holding the book above her only half paying attention to the treatise on naval combat, written by the Empress Theodora. Naval warfare on Mundus Magicus wasn't quite what it was in the Belkan sense, but it was also exclusively intra-atmosphere, with ships that were generally less maneuverable. Hence the focus on almost planar slugging matches between fleets. Only the smaller vessels were capable of the sorts of rapid maneuvers that could flank another fleet, but they weren't capable of carrying enough ordinance to do real damage to capital ships. Hence the tactics were fairly simple, unless you had a mage capable of dealing real damage to a ship. Fortunately they were few and far between, so it was mostly a case of trying to outnumber your enemy or smashing their formation to break up their overlapping defenses.
Her Valkyrie keeper was sitting at the desk by the window, tapping out a report on a device that clearly wasn't from Mundus Magicus, given that holographic displays and keyboards weren't exactly common from what she'd seen of the area. Technology for the most part was absent, outside of the warships and civilian vessels that came and went on a regular basis through the skies above the city.
When she'd asked, Nodoka had simply said that it had been a gift from one of her aunts for her promotion to sergeant. And that it certainly beat writing reports by hand. She couldn't help but chuckle at that. Magic was so prevalent that technology hadn't really emerged in Mundus Magicus, where the opposite was clearly true of Mundus Vetus. At least a few technological enhancements had made their way into the magical world, but it appeared that no one had bothered attempting to mix them together.
Both of them jumped as a brilliant flash lit the sky like a second sun and set the window rattling violently. Nodoka's eyes went wide as she looked out the window.
"What is it, Nodoka?"
She didn't stop to respond, rising up out of her seat and summoning her armor. "A cruiser's been hit by something, I think we're under attack. Stay here, I'm going to see what's going on."
A second flash followed as Nodoka threw the door open, this one closer as the resulting shockwave shattered the windows rather than simply rattling them. Reinforce wasted no time in summoning her own Knight Armor to replace her uniform, leaving her weapon stored away for the moment.
The intercom let out a piercing warble before a heavily amplified voice followed. "Ariadne is under attack, all cadets fourth year and up are to report to their armories and prepare for combat. Instructors will provide further orders. All other cadets are to evacuate via the tunnels. This is not a drill."
"Go, Reinforce, I'll meet you down at the armory." Nodoka preempted the question that Reinforce had been about to ask. "You won't have to fight, just keep yourself safe. If any of the instructors give you any problems, your exempt from mobilization at the order of the Grandmaster."
Like that'll stop them from trying. Not that such a thing would stop me from doing the same were the positions reveresed. She only nodded and watched as the sergeant darted down the hall before Reinforce turned to go the opposite direction dashing down towards the armory, the shockwaves battering the academy coming only more frequently by the second.