"What were their names again?" Fate yawned once more and a mug of coffee appeared in front of her. She rubbed her eyes and a sweet smile was returned. "Thank you." She gladly took it from her.
"Subaru Nakajima and Teana Lanstar."
Fate looked down at the mug after she took a sip and back to Nanoha. "Mm, you put something in this. Cinnamon?"
"Like?"
"Its not Christmas yet." Fate joked, "How old were they?"
"They are both 10 years old, but I have great expectations."
"Mm." Fate smiled and took another sip.
---
The training field had more students this time around. Nanoha took it upon herself to combine sessions. She turned to the young protege with two guns at the ready. "Teana, you will watch how I deal with a close ranged opponent whom relies on speed, agility and power."
"Yes, Ma'am!" Teana beamed. Subaru grinned. She loved watching the older Privates fight. Even so, it was the teacher she was in love with.
Privates Seabring and Tempest hurried onto the field. Hana was out of breath, but in good spirits. Fury was grinning ear to ear. "Hey kids!"
"Welcome, I am so glad you could make it on time, Private Fury Tempest." Nanoha smiled. "You have two warnings, but I'll overlook them, for the moment. Raising Heart." Her device shimmered.
"Yes, Sir."
"Set Up." Nanoha transformed and stood before them. She blinked.
Fury was laughing. Hana was blushing. All Hana could think of was to elbow the girl. "Shh, please."
"OK, OK," Fury tried to calm down.
Nanoha sighed, she knew she'd understand this better in time. "I am a long range air assault mage. Private Fury Tempest, in this city we have here, can you think of any way to deal with that?"
"Jump?"
"Contact Detonations are easy to spot."
Fury actually thought for a minute, "I'll just try it again."
"Thought as much," Nanoha nodded. "I also understand you've chosen to ignore your shields. Despite your speed and tenacity, I doubt this will serve you on the battle field. You will encounter enemies far more powerful than a drone. For this you must be prepared. I will start by shooting you." Nanoha smiled.
"Alright." Fury bared her teeth and clenched her fists.
Nanoha rose into the air and raised her staff. "Axel Shooter."
Fury dashed into the city and used her leg gauntlets to blast herself upwards. Soon, she was on the roof of a building and then another. A dozen pink balls of energy slammed into where she once stood at each jump. Another nearly knocked her off the building. "Alright!" Fury blasted off the building directly at her.
"Heh." Nanoha rose higher into the air and Fury missed completely. She impacted with the ground to break her fall. "I see you are trying to manage your energy better. Still, you've cratered the training field."
"It's not a real training field!" Fury whined.
"The actual battlefield might be on base. Those dorms and those shelters. You will protect them."
"Of course!" Fury was ready for more.
"Axel Shooter. Fury, use your shields."
Fury had been charging her leg gauntlets while they talked. She blasted straight up into the air. Nanoha blinked and dashed sideways. Fury flailed her arms and plummeted back to the ground. One more crater. "Not sure Teana-chan there is learning from this." She sighed. "Shoot."
The energy blasts radiated outwards and one at a time they shot down upon Fury. She gritted her teeth and dashed away to the nearest building. She burst through the window.
"Inside?" Nanoha smiled. "Raising Heart?"
"No problem." Nanoha closed her eyes and watched as the energy balls traveled around her. She asked one to enter the building. An explosion in the top floor distracted her.
She frowned and put up a shield. The wall burst outwards and collided with her shield to no effect. Amidst the explosion was a fist already charged for a detonation. The blast reamed off the shield and blew Fury back into the building into a far wall. The dust cleared.
Fury sat there in the rubble watching. "I need to work on this more."
"You do, but that's what you are here for."
Nanoha had them gather again into a line. She looked to Teana first. "Have you any thoughts?"
Teana smiled, she had considered herself well read, "Always be ready for sneaky moves."
Fury blinked, "Brat." She was elbowed.
Nanoha smiled, "Very good. Subaru, any ideas?"
"Me? Ah, hmm. Getting in close as fast as possible?"
"Yes, that is what you should see in this. I'm proud of you." Nanoha patted her on the head. "Hana?"
Hana smiled, she like Subaru didn't expect to be called on, but she had an answer. "Use decoys."
Nanoha smiled again, "Certainly, Fury's attack would of hit me from behind if it had been at the same moment as that explosion, but that is not a skill Fury has, yet. Fury?" She turned to her now.
"What they said?"
"Come now, you should have the easy answer having tried it yourself."
Fury tapped her foot and crossed her arms. Thinking was never a strong suit. "I don't like to waste energy. I use it to charge my detonations, which are always ready." She held up a glowing gauntlet.
"In simpler words, always be prepared." Nanoha smiled, "I saw the way you ran out there. Each step is a small explosion propelling you forward. You don't use sonic move much, do you?"
"Blast step. Yeah, I tried sonic move against Commander Vita, but it didn't work."
"Practice makes perfect, but never be satisfied with perfect. I train to this day, although I should say even my teachers train to this day." She smiled and walked away from them. "Fury, I want you to learn to use shields. Small blasts will wear you down or throw you off balance. On second thought, the best way to do this is action. Break into teams and spar. Hana you will face Teana. I will watch from a distance, please choose the location within the training area."
"Yes, Ma'am!" they saluted.
"Fury, please be careful with physical damage. I know you have been working directly with Captain Fate at night."
"Understood." She tried to sound serious. She just wanted to fight already.
Subaru was thrilled. Since their strategies were similar, this was going to be a grudge match. Even so she knew her blades were imperfect and there was her age, but she knew wing road would be great and she could punch as hard as Fury could. She just had to avoid getting grabbed.
"Engage!" Nanoha smiled. She watched them with the monitors and the mini cameras spread throughout the area. Fury and Subaru took to the streets with building on either side. They agreed it gave them both advantages. Destruction couldn't be helped here, this was a mock fight.
"Wing Road!" Subaru blasted into the air on the path she drew herself. Fury's mouth was agape as she got away from her.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Fury blasted upwards and tried to knock Subaru off the path, but missed. She landed and cratered the ground. "I see how it is." She grinned. She watched the little one go around her. The path led back to her. She stepped on it and smiled; it could support her weight. "Detonate." Wing Road shattered, but Subaru leaped into the air.
Her gauntlet spun with charged energy, "Divine Buster!"
Fury clasped her hands together. "Detonate!" The blast blew the two away from each other. Fury bounced off the ground while Subaru smacked into her road once again. Her attack hit nothing.
"Attack, attack, attack!" Fury bounded back up and charged forward, "My turn!"
"Ack!" Subaru rolled off the road and onto the ground. Fury punched the road hard and it shattered, then faded away when Subaru ended it. "Wing Road!" a new path appeared and she blasted away from Fury.
"Nice trick!" Fury jumped onto it and went into pursuit. "Don't think I care if you have wheels, shrimp!"
Subaru jumped and reversed her skates. "Stop breaking my road, punk!" Subaru held her eyelid and stuck her tongue out. She then jumped and reversed her wheels again. The path went into a loop and then took a wide arcing turn. Subaru sped through it with ease. Fury used a detonation to break through the loop and blasted herself forward onto the path. She charged her gauntlets again.
"Damn you." Fury laughed, this was fun. Subaru had her gauntlet completely charged.
She had to get her off guard, she smiled. Her path diverged sharply straight for Fury. She rocketed full speed, "Divine Buster!"
"Contact Detonation."
Nanoha sighed and walked over to the two of them. "You OK, Fury?"
"Yeah." Fury was covered in dirt and her clothes were ripped.
"Subaru?"
"I broke a skate, but yeah." She was taking them off. A wheel fell off and rolled away, "Mou."
"Well, using an explosion to blow yourself away from your opponent is quite the dangerous trick in close range combat. Subaru, your wing road is impressive, but yes others can use your road and you need to adjust to that. The loop and the immediate intersection were well thought out."
"Thank you." Subaru smiled.
Fury frowned, "How's Ha-chan doing?"
"Stalemate, I'm afraid. Hana blocked every shot fired on her. Let's go watch." She helped them up and they headed over to the field.
--
"Teana-chan, are you tired yet? I'm not sure how long we should do this."
"Tired? No," Teana almost took it as an insult, but her opponent's smile was genuine. "I'll come up with something."
"OK," Hana smiled. "Maybe I should summon Fenrir, but Commander Takamachi said to practice shields."
"Well she said spar, do as you like."
"OK, round shield. Great mother Gaia, I ask for your blessing. I call forth Fenrir!" A large summon circle appeared before her. The large grey and white wolf reared up and howled. He looked around the field and saw he was in a fire fight. "Please go easy on the little one. We are playing." The wolf turned to her and then back to Teana. Fenrir started panting.
"Nice doggy..." Teana charged her guns, "Cross Mirage, stay with me." She fired off rapid volleys, the wolf dodged and weaved despite its size. The blasts turned and chased it.
Nanoha walked up to them and almost laughed. Fury however started laughing loudly. Subaru joined in and ran over to help her partner. "Tia-tia, are you alright?"
"Agh, Fen..stop ...ack, licking me!" She tried to pull away, but the beast had her pinned.
"Fenrir, come here." Hana smiled. Fenrir happily complied and trotted over to her. "Good Fenrir."
Nanoha wondered what to make of this battle. It was so very different than the last. "Teana your shots will pierce any shield given practice just as Fury could break through any barrier. Those are your positions on the battlefield. However, Hana your summons and your reinforcing magic make for an excellent full back position. Subaru and Fury, you will be a striker. The front line assault mage. Even at your ages you will perform and make me proud."
Nanoha nodded, "That's it for this morning's practice, clean up and I'll see you again after lunch. Oh, Subaru, see Shari, she'll fix that for you. Also make sure you didn't sprain your ankles."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Fury elbowed and teased Subaru. "Lucky little runt." She laughed. Hana cleared her throat. Fury was distracted and hopped over to her, "Hey, how was it?"
"Fine, you?" Hana smiled, but her eyes were on Subaru's thankful expression. Teana was wiping her face off with a towel.
--
"Why didn't I check her sight scores?" Nanoha was furious.
"Ah, wait, what?" Fate made her way across the room quickly. She knew that look. "Sight scores?"
"She has better eyesight than I do. Know how transformations bathe you in light and last for only a couple seconds? She saw me."
"Oh, wow. How clearly?"
"Enough, where are those headache pills?"
"I'll give you a back rub instead."
"Thanks." Nanoha plopped down upon the bed and groaned. "Interested?"
"Mm?" Fate pulled off Nanoha's shirt and undid her bra. No doubt that was a relief, too, at this point. "The training?"
"Yeah. Mm." Nanoha smiled. "New sheets?"
"Yes,"
"Smells nice."
"They do, so, how'd it go?" She started working her shoulders.
Nanoha moaned again, "Sorry, Tempest and Subaru are an even match, but I'm afraid they'll hurt each other trying to get a hit in. They are both fast and reckless. Still, I have high hopes for Subaru. She is able to adapt to her opponent pretty quickly."
"I understand her sister is also skilled."
"Oh, Ginga right?"
"Yes, she is studying for an administrative job like her father." Fate pressed her palms into her shoulders harder. "Like that?"
Nanoha nodded and sighed. Fate was good at back rubs. "He's well respected in the military and has two cute daughters. Oh, that's right, he helped on that mall fire incident."
"Yes, I believe so. The kids were so young, back then."
"They were like ourselves in a way, new to magic, but valiant, brave, foolish."
"Having a teacher and mentor at this age is something special, I think." Fate smiled and tickled under her ribs.
"Hey!"
"Lighten up, if we are unable to teach these forwards, what does that say about us?"
"Heh, we were rebellious, weren't we?"
--
Fury stomped back and forth under a tree. Her brows were furled and her mouth muttered inaudible complaints. Hana ignored this and took a bite of her salad. Fury stopped and plopped down beside her, "I got to thinking."
"Why?"
"Why? I don't know why, I just thought that Subaru pisses me off."
"Fu-chan, she is ten years old. She doesn't understand any better than you do how to fight at Commander Takamachi's level."
Fury fell backwards onto the blanket and kicked her feet, "That's not it." She clenched her fists and relented. "She..."
"Is like you. Rash, hasty, fast, and powerful." Hana turned to her and put a hand upon hers. "She respects you as her superior even if she won that battle."
"What? Won? How?" She sat up and looked her in the eyes.
"You were buried in dirt, Fu-chan, her blast connected. Be glad your auto shields were enough. I think she went easy on you."
"AAGHHH! That brat did not go easy on me! No way, no how!"
"Oh? If she didn't then why are you angry?"
"I can't think about this anymore!" Fury scrambled to her feet and marched off towards the mess hall doors.
"You forgot your sandwich, Fu-chan."
"Oh, right." She was back in an instant and pulled the sandwich out of the basket.
"Silly girl." She pulled out a box of cro?ons and tossed the contents onto the grass beside them. A loud flapping was heard overhead and Hugin landed beside them.
Fury almost choked. "How long was that chicken up there?"
"Hugin, is not a chicken. He is a grand falcon from my home world."
"Mou, I still say its an overgrown chicken." She finished her sandwich in a bite. Hugin walked over to her and stared her down. Hana watched pensively. "What? What do you want?" The bird peeked into the picnic basket and pulled out another sandwich. "Oh no, no way are you doing that to me!" The bird nodded and flew up into the air with the sandwich. "YOU DAMN CHICKEN!" Fury chased after it.
Hana sighed, "Hugin, please don't be too long." She nodded as she heard a confirmation. Perhaps Hugin and Fury were more alike than she thought. Troublemakers.
"It's a nice day out isn't it?" Shamal asked. Signum was seated with her for a change and they had a tea set. It wasn't often that they shared moments like this outside, but the weather simply had to be enjoyed.
"It is." Signum's eyes were fixated on something in the distance. She heard a soft concussion and then saw something flailing in the air. The object fell to the ground only to be flailing in the air once again. Above the object was something about the same size circling over head. It dove down occasionally as if to tease the other object. "How many warnings can an officer receive before action is taken?"
"Four, but on the third strike is grounding to base. What sort of warnings and what officers are distracting you?" Shamal smiled. She had a good idea, but wanted to be impartial.
"Nothing." Signum took a sip of her tea. "Very nice, what is this again?"
"Hana helped me with it. Its a favorite of hers from her home world, but the plants used are not native here."
"Smuggled?" Signum almost smiled. Shamal didn't answer. Cross pollinations and animal introductions were not something that concerned the military, but were very important to certain types of people. They were humored at least.
"You damn chicken!" The bird flew in low over head of the people eating outside. Fury rocketed above the bird, but missed once again. She landed on a table and destroyed it with her next hasty jump. Soon people started fleeing the ruckus. Signum sighed.
"Not going to say anything?" Shamal smiled wistfully.
"If I gave her a direct order, could she hear and understand me?" Signum sipped her tea once more.
"No. I don't believe so."
"She has two warnings from Vita so far." Signum frowned. The two of them were heading their way. "Trust me?"
"If you damage my tea set." Shamal teased. It wasn't special to her and Signum knew it. She kept her special set at home stored away in their old house. They planned to stay there end of the year with Hayate. Signum made sure to finish her tea.
"Damn you bird brain, give me back my sandwich!" Fury rocketed upwards, but the bird weaved out of reach. Fury exploded the area with her arm gauntlets and the shock wave forced Hugin to take evasive actions. The turbulence rattled the tea set below and Hugin opted to drop the sandwich.
"Hmm, ham, cheese, celery, and peanut butter." Shamal observed. Fury collided with the table.
"I'm not done with you, you winged rat!" Fury charged her leg gauntlets without even realizing two officers were seated at the table. Signum grabbed her foot and the table was obliterated. Fury fell to the ground in the shrapnel and got a foot pressed down upon her sternum.
"It is a pleasure meeting you, Private Fury Tempest." Signum grabbed her by the shirt collar and held on tight. "I don't spar with the rookies, but I will administer punishments if provoked. I don't mean warnings." She lifted her up high above her and stared deep into her crimson eyes.
Fury swallowed, she knew the rumors about her, but most of which were girls fawning over her. Her usual approach was not going to work here, "Sorry?"
"Heh, run along before anyone else gets hurt."
"Else?" Fury swallowed again.
"Yes." Signum threw Fury to the ground. Fury cursed and ran away from them.
"Enjoying this?" Shamal started picking up the mess, but found most had burned up. It was a good thing their shields held. "Not much left of the table."
"She's young, but she was driven without distractions." She turned to Shamal, "I had heard she was easily distracted."
"Oh? You seem to be in a good mood today."
"I think it might be what was in that tea." Signum mused.
Shamal laughed, "Could very well be."
--
"Hugin, are you alright?" She patted the falcon. He didn't seem injured. Fury walked by and stopped in her tracks. "Fu-chan, be nice to my friend, he only wanted to play. I'm sure you understand."
"No chicken is getting between my food and my mouth." She blinked. "Unless I'm eating chicken."
"Right, now please be a good friend and pat Hugin. I want you to be friends."
Fury groaned, but knelt down beside her. Hugin blinked and looked at her. Fury went to pat him on the head but almost got her hand bit. "That beak is huge."
"You can relate."
"Hey!" Fury blinked, "Yeah, I guess I can," she laughed. "OK, Hugin, what do you want from me?" Hana smiled. Fury was understanding things a bit better. "If you want me to stop calling you a chicken, forget it!" Hugin cawed at her. Fury almost fell over backwards. "You want me to apologize? I want you to apologize to me! You understand?"
"Fu-chan."
"Fine, OK, OK." Fury sighed. "Whatever, truce?" She held out a hand. Hugin looked at it and turned to Hana whom only smiled. Hugin turned back to Fury and lifted a claw. They shook. "Good, now that I have you." Hugin crushed her hand. "AAHAGGAHA" Hugin flew up high into the tree before Fury could react.
"Bad girl, no kiss." Hana pouted. Fury was crying on the blanket holding her hand muttering chicken again and again.