The old generation cannot create the future.

Devil Arms: ReturnerS

Amidst the eternal waves of time
From a ripple of change shall the storm rise
Out of the Abyss peer the eyes of a shadow
Behold the Devil, it's wings a black sheath

Chapter 4: Generation of Soldiers

"Are we almost there?" Sakura asked as she peered from behind the back seat.

"Maybe another five minutes," Kasumi, who was wearing the green uniform of the 501st special task force, said from the driver's seat. "And put your seat belt on! I don't wanna get pulled over."

"Umm...so why am I coming too?"

Marika Lowell was sitting in the back next to Sakura, feeling extremely out of place.

"Sakura-chan's mom asked us to bring you along," Subaru, who was sitting at the passenger seat, wearing the same green uniform as Kasumi. "Did Shou-san say anything?"

"Nope. He just got a call from her about three days ago and just disappeared. I guess he's busy with whatever it is they're having him do."

They arrived at the military base that was to be there new headquarters and parked in front of the main building. As they exited the car, the two older girls looked around with a small smile on their faces.

"It's a bit nostalgic, don't you think?" Kasumi asked Subaru.

"It's bee four years since then," Subaru replied with a nod.

"Four years since you first punched him in the face right?"

"Th-that was an accident!"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked as she and Marika walked up to them.

"Subaru's first impression with brother via right hook," Kasumi teased as she made a punching motion with her right hand.

"You punched your boyfriend when you first met him?" Marika asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm telling you it was an accident!"

"Looks like you made it!" a voice called out to them. Nathan Duel was walking out of the building and heading toward them. "Oh, you brought the other two too. Good."

"Good morning, Nathan-san," Sakura said with a small bow.

"Hello, Nathan," Marika greeted him as well.

"So are you going to tell us why you wanted us to bring the kids too?" Kasumi asked.

"In a moment, first the two of you need to report in."

He gestured for them to follow him and they headed into the building.

"W-what the heck is that?" Kasumi shouted as they entered a hanger where a large ship was resting with dozens of engineers running around.

"That is our ship, 'The Spirit of Terra,'" Nathan explained. "We are technically part of the navy so it would make sense for us to have a ship of our own."

"But that looks like the Stargazer," Sakura said.

"I guess Mister Aizawa designed it with that in mind."

"Hah? Shou made that thing?"

"I only designed that thing," Shou said as he walked over to them. He looked a lot happier without the cast on his arm. "Apparently someone thought my blueprints, something I made while in between my classes, was good enough to turn into an actual ship."

"You shouldn't be so modest, Commander," Nathan said as he pulled out his data pad again.

"Huh?" Subaru asked. "What do you mean by 'Commander,' Nathan?"

"He is going to be Captain Kimura's Second-in-Command," Nathan said.

"Huh? You're not going to be it?" Kasumi asked.

"I'm just an assistant," he said with a shrug. "Though I have been familiarizing myself with the ship's weapon systems. Ensign Aizawa Kasumi will be our CIC operator and Corporal Subaru Nakajima will be the captain of our strike team."

"Me, a CO?" Subaru asked, pointing to herself. "I...I don't think I can."

"Don't worry, you'll be working with people you know. Alexander Dalton will be joining us later today and the other two members of your team are right there, if they want to of course."

Everyone looked toward where Nathan was pointing at.

"Where are they?" Sakura asked.

"I don't see anyone behind us," Marika noted.

However, Subaru and Kasumi understood immediately.

"Are you serious?" Kasumi asked as the two younger girls continued to look around for anyone that looked like a combat mages.

"Of course," Nathan said pushing his glasses up. "Both their guardians have already given their consent and some officers wanna see if they have the same talent as others in their family. As for their devices..."

Nathan looked over at Shou who nodded and walked over to them.

"Hey you two, you can stop looking around now," Shou said as he plopped his hands on their heads and they looked up at him. "Do you want your own devices?"

"Heh? Really?" Sakura asked, her eyes positively glowing.

"Our own devices?" Marika repeated, while not nearly as excited as her friend, she was almost bouncing on her feet.

"Yep. Since you both wanted to join the TSAB when you get out of school, we're going to do a little, 'internship' of sorts here. So you'll need your own devices to help out Subaru and Alex. Of course you'll have to be trained so we'll start right away."

The group followed Shou onto the ship and they were fairly surprised that the ship did not have the signature blue hue everywhere.

Shou's office had a mix of medical and mechanical equipment. On his metal workbench lay a pair of devices, in their standby states depicting two different hairpins.

"I love being a Device Meister," Shou said as he sat down at his workbench. "You get to try so many different things. Here, one for Sakura, and one for Marika. Sakura-chan's is a dual type like Subaru-san's Mach Caliber. You have the Armed Device Rivet Rail and the Intelligent Device Sound Harken. And as for Marika, you'll get the Intelligent Device Pulsfalken."

He handed the feather pin to Sakura and the bat pin to Marika.

"I created them with your athletic scores in mind, but let's head to the training field to test them out so you can see for yourself."

The training field was very similar to the one at Riot Force 6. A large empty field that can instantly turn into a city with the use of projections.

The two girls stood at the top of a building, admiring the sighs while Shou sat far off to the side at a console with a bunch of monitors keeping track of every location in the city. Behind him stood Subaru, Kasumi and Nathan.

"Okay girls," Shou said through the mic. "Since this will be the first time you are using your devices, we'll start with something easy. "From your starting position, make your way through the city toward the city center, from one of three different paths while taking out any targets in your way. Remember, the targets are marked with an upside down blue triangle and the red right side up ones are not to be destroyed."

"Roger," the two said in unison.

"Do we both have to take the same path or can we each go down one?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm...well all three paths have targets placed so that you two have to work together to take them down easily," Shou replied. "But it's not impossible for either you to take them down solo. It would just be a lot harder, especially since the two of you are still inexperienced, it is better to rely on your partner, understand?"

"Yes."

"Well then, prepare yourself."

"Nice to meet you, Sound Harken," Sakura said as she looked at the pin.

"Ready to help," a female voice responded.

"I'll be in your care, Pulsfalken," Marika greeted.

"Jawohl," a male voice replied.

Sakura became enveloped in a pink light and Marika was enveloped in a violet one.

"Pink? Really?" Kasumi asked tilting her head to the side.

"Someone has a sense of humor," Nathan said with a small chuckle. "Or no sense of taste."

The light faded and the two of them were equipped with their barrier jackets.

Sakura was wearing a black bodysuit with a short outer jacket that stopped just above her stomach, a red scarf wrapped around her neck and a plated skirt around her waist. The Armed Device, Rivet Rail were armored gloves with sharp metal nails and on her feet was the Intelligent Device, Sound Harken, which were something similar to ice skates.

Marika was wearing a purple vest with a gold trim as well as shoulder-less sleeves and a skirt that reached down to her knees. Her Intelligent Device, Pulsfalken, took the form of two pistols with a bladed edge under the barrel.

"Whoa, this is cool!" Sakura said as she looked herself over.

"It really is..." Marika agreed before looking at her friend. "Are you standing okay?"

"Yep, I love ice skating so this is no problem."

"I based the designs off of a lot of people," Shou explained. "Sakura-chan's Barrier Jacket was based off of Aoi-san's jacket. The device's forms were based off of Subaru-san's and Senpai's. Marika-chan's is based off of her parents' jackets and weapons as well."

The two didn't say anything but from the looks on their faces, they were extremely happy about the aesthetics.

"Right now about your devices abilities..."

He had two monitors pop up in front of the girls as he began his explanation.

"First off, we'll start with Marika-chan. Pulsfalken is a mid to close range device. They are machine pistols capable of firing in full-auto or in short bursts. Each individual shot doesn't hold much power, but you could fire a lot at once while expending only a little bit of energy and it doesn't take that long for it to cool down. At a distance, it is meant for covering fire but if you fire slowly you can accurately snipe targets too. The barrel blades may be sharp but they are meant to defend against opponents that prefer close range engagements. Use them to block not to attack. As for movement spells, you should be able to hover a bit off the ground which can be used to cushion falls as well as propel you up to the air. Did you get all of that?"

"Yes," Marika replied with a confident nod.

"Good. Now for Sakura-chan," Shou said as he took a sip of water before continuing. "Your device is a bit different than Subaru-san's. Rivet Rail is not an offensive weapon. It's main purpose is to produce chains to restrain and or connect targets. For example, you can connect one point by placing an anchor on the ground in front of you and another point by firing an anchor off to another point, like say the wall behind you."

"Like this?" Sakura asked as she pointed one finger at the ground, and one of the nails shot forward . She then pointed at the wall behind the two of them and a pink beam shot from the nail onto the wall. "Whoa, that's cool!"

"Glad you like it. Now, Sound Harken's blades are your main weapon. Figured you would enjoy them since you been taking a lot of martial arts that specialize in kicks. Anyway, what's special about Sound Harken is that..."

"Um...dear?" Kasumi interrupted him. "I don't think she's listening to you anymore."

Sakura was firing off anchors left and right until all ten of them were locked and placed. She then jumped on one of them and when her blades touched them she began to grind on the chains, moving up and down them with ease.

"Woohoo! This is amazing!"

"Be careful, Sakura!" Marika called from below.

"Why do I even bother?" Shou asked as he shrugged his shoulders, but smiling all the same. While he was slightly annoyed at the fact that they were ignoring him, he was glad Sakura was having fun and was enjoying his handiwork.

The two new agents began to run the obstacle courses, and were doing quite well for their first time. While not perfect by any stretch of the word, each time they ran the course their time and accuracy increased. The main problem was that Marika would hang too far back for her cover fire to actually be useful and Sakura had a habit of running too far ahead, making her an easy target.

"They really are getting better though," Subaru noted as she watched Sakura fire an anchor onto the ground and the other point onto a target and yanked the chain to pull it out the window where Marika fired upon it.

"Not bad for a first day," Nathan agreed.

"Of course," Kasumi began resting her head on top of her husband's. "They would be doing even better if this guy here isn't changing the difficulty every five seconds."

"Hey, nothing on the battlefield is stagnant after all," Shou defended himself.

As the two of them argued, Subaru heard someone walking up behind them. Nathan seems to have heard it as well as he turned around at the same time she did.

"Second Lieutenant Vita," he said as he and Subaru gave a salute. The tiny red aired knight that looked barely older than ten came up to them followed by Alex. "What brings the Knight of the Iron Hammer here?"

"I just wanted to observe," she replied. "It's been a while, Subaru."

"Yes," Subaru agreed as she lowered her hand. "How did you get here?"

"She asked me to show her," Alex answered. "I got permission from the captain so it should be okay."

"Oh, Sub-Captain Vita, it's been awhile," Kasumi said releasing Shou's cheeks.

"I'm not your direct superior anymore so you don't need to call me that," Vita said "So, which one is that guy's sibling?"

"This one," Shou said, pointing to a monitor containing Sakura just as she split a target in half with a magnificent drop kick.

"Hmm...she's not bad at all," Vita said, her hand on her chin. "A little on the reckless side...I wonder if that's a family trait."

"Would you like to spar with them?" Shou asked as the two of them managed to finish the course a few seconds faster than their previous time.

"Hmm..." Vita let a small groan as she thought about it. Her face said that she would really want to but it seems like she decided against it. "I'll pass for today. I dislike holding back so I'll wait until they get a bit more experience before sparring."

"Yes, because the first spar with us went over so well for him," Kasumi muttered under her breath as she used her hand to cover her smile. Subaru could swear she heard the words "Ball Buster" at which she had to stifle a laugh as well.

"Did you two enjoy yourself?" Subaru asked Sakura and Marika as they and Kasumi were in the large women's bath together.

"Yep!" Sakura replied as she watched Marika float around in the pool sized bath. "This is a really big bath..."

"Floating...floating..." Marika mumbled with a content smile on her face. "Hmm? Where did Kasumi go?"

The three of them looked around for the woman who had been happily washing her hair at the shower heads. A second later there was a loud splash behind Subaru as Kasumi popped out from under the water and grabbed the younger girl intimately.

"Wah!" Subaru let out a small shriek as she began flailing around in shock.

"Hmm...I've been wondering for a while now," Kasumi said as she squeezed Subaru, who let out another shriek. "You're still growing here aren't you?"

"Huh? Wait! Stop touching! Wah!"

"Hmm...and yet there is no extra flab anywhere else...what a nice body you got here..."

The younger two girls simply watched the other two in interest.

"Kasumi-san and Onee-chan are getting along nicely," Sakura said innocently.

"...I'm still growing..." Marika said softly as she patted her chest, staring at the older girls.

"D-don't just sit there! Help me! Wah! Wait wait wait wait wait!"

"Hmm...this is nice and soft too..."

"Nooooooooooooo!"

"Hahaha, good luck, Onee-chan!"

"I won't lose..."

The shrieks and laughter were not completely stopped by the bath house's walls as Shou, Nathan and Alex sat quietly against the wall separating the two baths, their faces were slightly red for a reason other than the heated bath water.

"This is...paradise..." Shou said as he lowered himself deeper into the water as the other two nodded and did the same.

"So in the end, you had her join up did you?" a man's voice came from a "sound only" display in front of Aoi's desk.

"Yes," she answered. "I'm sorry for not consulting you in this."

"Hmm...well if it's what she wants then I really don't want to stop her from doing so," Kimura Shichiro said. "From the sound of things, she's really getting the most out of it."

"Indeed," Aoi agreed, glancing at the replays from the earlier training session. "She's able to move as if she never lost her legs in the first place."

"It's all thanks to those two...has there been any sign of that one?"

"No...I assume finding the original plant would take a lot of work. Space is endless after all."

"I'm too small minded to think that big," Shichiro said with a small laugh. "Just being able to get electricity and running water to all the camps and homes is already a large accomplishment for me down here."

"Don't you think it's time we moved the family house here?" Aoi asked.

"That would be the logical thing to do. But there are quite a few memories back here...I'm a bit reluctant to leave them, both the good and the bad."

Aoi didn't say anything as she thought back to the twenty-three years that she spent on Earth. How she was saved by her husband, the birth of her children, the accident and subsequent falling out with her son only for him to come back thanks to outside help and end up missing again..

"It has been a long run hasn't it?"

"It wouldn't hurt to stretch it for a few more decades could it?"

"I'm in no position to return to that old lifestyle."

"I guess I'm just being unreasonable..."

"No, it's my fault."

There was another long silence before Aoi spoke up again.

"Will you still be able to make it next week?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied. "It's her first birthday with both of us in 2 years. I have to go now, seems like there's some trouble at ration distribution."

As the call ended Aoi sighed as she slouched down in her chair. The past two years had done a number on her marriage. She felt that if it weren't for Sakura, they would have separated the moment she went to jail. But she was going to try for Sakura's sake.

Author's Notes:

Sexy bath time fun? Yeessssssss.

Trouble in paradise? Yes, I also believe so.

This was mostly a fillerish chapter with the only thing notable is the Task Force and new Devices. Will get to the nitty gritty next weel. Unfortunately, being distracted by truly exemplary fics is making it hard. Mostly Zero no Tsukaima ones. I especially recommend The Hill of Swords by Gabriel Blessing, a ZnT and FSN crossover.

Won't be too sad if this chapter doesn't get that many hits compared to the other two, but it seems my canadian readers just reread everything 6 times. I love you guys, really I do =3. Seeing the hits bar so damn high when i have only 4 readers makes me feel so fuzzy inside.