Reinforce moved first. It had been quite some time since she was underestimated like this, and she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to take advantage of it. Nacht seemed to be on top of keeping up with her train of thoughts as the device clattered through three cartridges.

I always hated using cartridges... but a limiter would make this too difficult to manage... Her expression was a neutral mask as she flashed behind the android, a crimson sword forged of the concentrated mana forming in her right hand. She didn't make a sound as she thrust forward, the blade's tip flashing towards Sette's spine.

The cyborg's eyes widened as she twisted away, giving a wild slash with one of her own blades to try to force Reinforce back. She wasn't fast enough though, the blade dug deep into Sette's side, missing the incapacitating blow that Reinforce sought.

Ducking easily under the slash, Reinforce twisted the blade forcing a cry of pain from the enemy before drawing it free as she launched into a second attack. She brought Nacht forward in a strike aimed at the woman's chest. Sette seemed to be taking her more seriously though as she gathered power and intercepted Nacht's blades with one sword, the other slashing down to intercept the straight blade that was flashing forward seeking the cyborg's stomach.

Reinforce was enhancing her own strength to the limit trying to break through the twin blades defence, but she felt both of her own weapons being pushed back. She twisted her left arm, using Nacht to slide the curved blade down and away before launching a quick kick, intercepted by Sette's forearm that put some distance between them.

The curved blades proved that they weren't simply for melee as she was forced to dart down under one and deflect the second with a barrier before two more appeared in Sette's hands. Reinforce darted back in, throwing the mana blade towards Sette, detonating it as it impacted the cyborg's barrier.

Nacht cycled through another set of cartridges as Reinforce crafted two swords, one shooting into the smoke left by the previous explosion, the other held in her hand. She could feel the power that Sette was gathering as she heard the phrase spoken.

"IS: Slaughter Arms."

The knight was forced to duck as the two boomerang blades scythed towards her, one taking a few strands of hair, the second being blocked with Nacht's bulky form, sparks flying as she was pushed back up into the air, a third and a fourth blade being launched as the last whisps of smoke drifted away from Sette.

Her mask cracked, her lips turning down in a grim frown as she was forced back. The cyborg had to be at least S-, more likely S based on the amount of power she was having to expend to keep Nacht's body from shattering under the blow. At this rate I'm not going to have enough cartridges to keep up just defending from her attacks, much less attacking myself... Nacht, status on the limiter?

The weapon's reply sounded almost frustrated as a fifth and sixth flying blade headed her way, Sette's face set in concentration as she worked her weapons trying to trap Reinforce into taking a clean hit. [I'm sorry, Mistress. This limiter is proving to be resilient, combined with managing your mana consumption, estimated time to completion, 14 minutes 24 seconds.]

Reinforce winced as she twisted enough to avoid any major strikes as four blades slashed towards her from wildly different angles, she wasn't able to keep one from cutting through her armor spells to cut deep into her thigh. She ignored the blood that was flowing freely in order to dodge the immediate followup by the two blades that were seeking to take her head. Don't worry about mana consumption. Get that limiter taken care of and that won't be an issue, I'll keep things under control, and I still have a few cartridges left.

[Yes Mistress, revised estimate, four minutes.]

The new estimate still sent a flash of annoyance through her as four minutes was a hell of a long time to fight a powerful foe half crippled like she was by the limiter. Snapping Nacht through two more cartridges, she summoned the book, calling up a spell she hadn't used in a long time.

"Versetzen!"

Black Belkan triangles erupted from both hands as she twisted through another bout of whirling death, the one blade that she wouldn't have been able to dodge being intercepted by one and disappearing rather than severing her at the waist.

The smallest hint of surprise showed on Sette's face as the boomerang blade reappeared at Reinforce's side, only slashing down at the cyborg before she managed to regain control of it's trajectory. Reinforce used the momentary hesitation to fly out of the ever shrinking trap to gain a little more time, straining with effort as she parried one of the boomerangs with her sword.

She was stalling, and she knew it. She wasn't going to be able to catch the enemy off guard again. And she certainly wasn't going to be able to beat her with the difference in power that she was feeling between them. Not until the limiter was dealt with anyways. Just running wasn't going to buy enough time though, so she spent another cartridge for enough mana to use flash move towards Sette.

Reinforce flashed out with a few thrusts that were easily parried by two more of the blades appearing in hand. At least it seemed that the cyborg couldn't handle as many blades in the air when her attention was elsewhere. Every attack that Sette sent her way was aimed to be lethal though, be it a slash with a blade in hand, or jumping back to let one of the two remaining airborne ones make a run at her.

The explosion that lit the sky behind her, and the bursting of anguished cries over RF6's frequencies let her know that she wasn't likely to have the time to wait for Nacht to release her limiter. As she spun out of the way of a spinning blade, she took in the sight of her home in flames and a plan b came to mind.

Sette launched into a series of slashes in an attempt to put her on the defensive. The strain that Reinforce was showing in dodging and parrying the lightning fast attacks wasn't entirely feigned, and the pained cry that she let out as she purposefully let one through her defenses. The blade dug deep into her side, even as she sent Nacht through two more cartridges, one to strengthen her armor spells to keep the blade from going any deeper, the second for a quick blast that knocked Sette's other blade back as she thrust with the sword, aiming for the cyborg's heart.

For as ruthless as they appear to be... they're quite soft, this sort of sacrifice to land a blow is common enough in war. Quick reactions though. Reinforce gave the cyborg a sad smile as the pink haired woman coughed, a splatter of blood hitting Reinforce on the cheek. "You shouldn't have dodged. It would have been quicker. If you're still alive when I've dealt with this situation, we'll help you though."

With those words she released her blade, letting it remain lodged in Sette's lung in the hopes that she wouldn't bleed out as fast. She winced as she caught the cyborg, setting her gently down on the ground as Sette's blade vanished from her side. She allowed herself a gasp as she pressed a hand to the wound that was bleeding much more profusely than she'd feared it would.

No time... She took back to the skies, simply pressing a hand to it as she flew hard and fast towards the flame-engulfed building. Reinforce knew she was losing speed as she depleted the remnants of her available mana, along with the fact that she felt herself growing more tired as she lost more blood. It didn't stop her from using magical blasts to blast through some twenty drones that were in her path, but she did stumble as she finally landed near the main entrance, panting heavily as she came upon a heavily wounded Zafira, and Shamal doing what she could to patch him up.

The Knight of the Lake's eyes were brimming with tears as she looked up at Reinforce, her eyes going wide at her comrade's bloodstained form. "I'll help as soon as I've stabilized Zafira, he's in bad shape."

"Don't worry about me, Nacht, send her the coordinates of the cyborg. My opponent will bleed out before I do, go help her when you're done here. Where are the other two?"

Shamal hesitated a moment before answering. "You can't fight them in your current condition, you look like you're only just staying on your feet!" She stopped at Reinforce's look though, and gave a quick nod. "You... you're still thinking like the soldiers we once were. Fine, but be careful, Hayate and Rein-chan still need you. The harbor, they dealt with us and headed to the harbor."

She gave a nod before taking back to the skies. She noticed the two Lightning forwards making a desparate, if foolish attack on the retreating foes. Neither of them even noticed the two cyborgs that were approaching and sent them both spiraling into the harbor.

Reinforce was panting as she sent Nacht through the last of her cartridges to summon up another sword, along with some hundred daggers that flashed out towards the short haired cyborg. She was rushing towards the remaining one when she noticed why the Lightning kids had been so desparate, the little girl that was being held by a fourth enemy who looked to be little more than a girl herself was unmistakable.

Vivio... Their target was Vivio. She brought the sword up as she launched into a series of attacks against the number 12 cyborg. Fortunately, this one didn't seem anywhere near as strong as Sette had been, though she was still delaying her. Reinforce snarled as she watched the one with Vivio getting farther and farther away.

Ignoring her wounds, Reinforce pulled Nacht up and began to attack with both weapons, the cyborg was wincing with every glancing blow that Nacht or the sword were inflicting, though it was a heavy kick to her stomach that finally ended the exchange, sending the cyborg splashing down into the water.

"Deed!"

The silver haired knight heard the cry from behind her, just as her sword vanished from a lack of mana to maintain it. She turned to see the daggers hadn't been enough to deal with the other one. She saw the anger that flared in the cyborg's eyes as a green beam flashed towards her. Well, at least they're human enough to care for each other...

The shield was weak, it began cracking almost immediately under the onslaught. It used up the remnants of her mana though as it broke through to smash into her shoulder sending her tumbling out of the sky into a rough water landing.

[Limiter release in 10 seconds, Mistress.]

Reinforce shivered at the cold as she tried to gather enough mana to get back into the sky. The power that flooded through her when the limiter was finally lifted helped her, but it was only in time for her to lift out of the water, feeling the effects of her blood loss, her vision blurring as she watched Vivio and her captor disappear in a flash.

Damn it. Why did I not get rid of this limiter earlier... I know full well how to keep my power under control and not cause problems. I could have just acted like I had it still.

She turned, slowly making her way to shore, feeling the exhaustion setting in despite having plenty of mana once more. N-Nacht... I think I'm going to need you to activate a distress beacon. I'm not sure I'm going to make it back... to shore...

She blinked, or at least she thought that's what she was doing, though when her eyes opened once more, she found herself floating in the water, looking up at a massive dragon that was effectively clearing the skies of the remaining drones. Well... if you're going to hallucinate... might as well go for the craziest one imaginable I suppose.

With that last thought she chuckled before surrendering to the darkness.


A groan escaped her as she sat up. The sister that had roused her hurriedly tried to get her to lay back down, but Reinforce ignored her with a simple question. "How long was I out?"

"Fourteen hours, you were seriously wounded and on the verge of hypothermia, and you lost a lot of blood. Now, lay back down before you reopen that wound."

"Thank you for the care, Sister, but I'll be on my way now. I need to get back to my unit."

The nurse's protests were again easily ignored as she slid out of bed, wincing a little as she placed weight on her right leg, but nothing unbearable as she checked herself. The bandages were thick at her waist and thigh, and the uniform that she'd had was nowhere to be found. Not that you'd want to wear it when it'd been for a soak in the harbor and the blood stains would probably be a little difficult to explain to everyone. Nacht, let's go ahead and put up the uniform version armor. And then let's prepare a teleport back to the base. The outskirts so we don't startle anyone if you would please.

[Of course, mistress. Do be careful to not strain yourself though, you were half-dead when they fished us out of the harbor.]

That drew a chuckle from her as light flashed around her to replace the hospital gown she'd been wearing with the brown ground forces uniform. Thank you for the concern, and I'm not planning on starting any fights at the moment. Have you kept track of the rest of the unit?

[Master Sergeant Granscenic, Zafira, Shamal, PFC Nakajima, and Reinforce Zwei were wounded, all will recover fully. Master Sergeant Nakajima was defeated and captured by the enemy, status unknown.]

Reinforce couldn't help the anger that flared up in her hearing her daughter's name amongst the wounded. And the enemy?

[Escaped unharmed with the exception of Combat Cyborg Serial 07, Sette. Captured in critical condition, investigation pending on use of excessive force in her capture.]

That caused her to roll her eyes. Leave it to the bureaucracy of the TSAB to have it's members investigated when a criminal was captured injured. She was limping slightly as she made her way up the stairs to the roof. The sister's squawking was a constant companion until she made it to the roof and waved her back as the triangle appeared beneath her feet as she poured mana into the spell that flashed her out of existance and over to the still smoldering remains of the base.

Bureau members were crawling all over the grounds, picking up the wreckage of the drones or filling in craters. Others seemed to be investigating the damage dealt by the two brunette cyborgs. Seeing Signum overseeing the exterior was a little surprising. Signum had never been much of an administrator, more of a battlefield leader than anything else.

The lieutenant raised an eyebrow as Reinforce limped over. "Reinforce. You're supposed to be in the hospital unconcious for the next day according to the doctors. I see that they underestimated you."

Reinforce gave a chuckle at that. "Yes. You might be getting a call from the hospital regarding my failure to follow proper discharge procedures. I'll live though, so any effort they spend on me would be wasted when there are other wounded to tend to. Rein... Is she alright?"

Signum chuckled at that. "Worried for your daughter? It seems the both of us have changed quite a lot in the past few years. Rein is expected to wake perfectly fine tomorrow. She protected Vita from an S+ level attack. Graf Eisen was half shattered by it, and Vita might have been killed if Rein hadn't diverted it."

At that, Reinforce held her tongue, though she knew that Signum would be able to read the anger that she was feeling.

The pink-haired knight broke off with a sigh as she glanced at the ruins of the base. "We've both gotten a little soft it seems, me more than you. At least you brought down one of them. I missed my chance to intercept the one that took out Vita and Rein. Ah, and don't worry about the investigation. We've got readings from your duel with her. She was using more than enough force to justify your response. Takamachi might not approve... But she'll understand. And you were nearly killed."

"The limiters are going to get us killed against this enemy. I had to take a serious blow just to land a meaningful strike. And I couldn't even afford to go for a non-lethal one. And even then I still failed. They still got away with their target and all but destroyed our base. How is Takamachi, anyways... I know she was growing attached to the girl..."

Signum gave a dark chuckle before responding. "Scaglietti and his cyborgs have no idea the enemy they've made. Nanoha may not even realize it herself just yet, but she is going to do everything in her power to see that child safe. And if they've done anything at all to harm her? Not even Nanoha might be able to maintain her non-lethal record. For now though, she's devastated, but don't worry. She's blaming herself more than anyone. She'll get her feelings sorted out and you won't bear any responsibility in her mind. I might recommend staying out of her way when we find them though."

Despite the potential grim humor of her last words, Reinforce felt that it was more like good advice than anything else. "I'll keep that in mind. Where's Rein at, and I need to see Hayate... to apologize for adding to her workload regarding me."

"Don't worry about it. Hayate's already working to have us and this case transferred over to the main branch's authority, and after yesterday's attack?" She shook her head. "The Admiralty seems to have lost patience for the Ground Force's... lack of communication. Our headquarters is being transfered to the Arthra. Rein's aboard under Mary's watch. There will be a helicopter that will take us there once the ship is prepared."

"I see... I'll let you get back to work here then. I'm going to see if there's anything I can salvage."

She left Signum, gingerly picking her way through the wreckage that filled the halls and stairwells. Opening the door to the room she'd shared with Rein required a bit of magic to let her force the door with her left hand. Shards of glass and bits of rubble littered the room, but Reinforce was able to salvage uniforms and some of Rein's clothes from the closet, stuffing everything hastily into a bag before she found the pictures, a few of the frames looking worse for wear.

Rein had explained that they were mostly from back when they'd still been living on Earth. Her daughter, Hayate, and even the Wolkenritter looked as happy as she'd ever seen in them though. As much as she hated admitting it, she was a little bit jealous that she hadn't been able to join them for those happy days. Hayate was overworking herself now, she didn't seem very willing to let herself have fun or relax. That was something that she'd have time for soon though. I'm not about to let her spend her life working herself to death. I'm sure the Wolkenritter will help me with that too, at least as soon as this case is taken care of.

As she was making her way back down through the lower floor, she finally stumbled across Nanoha. She found the captain kneeling down, clinging a half-burnt rabbit to her chest, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Enough of that, Takamachi." She limped her way over to the girl whose words had stuck with her for so long. "Tears solve nothing, and you should be saving those feelings for the enemy that took her." She hauled the captain to her feet, pleased that she no longer had to kneel to look one of her saviors in the eye. "She'll be fine. That child is strong. We need to focus on finding the enemy and taking the fight to them, so we can bring the little Takamachi back."

Nanoha jerked as if she'd been slapped by Reinforces words. She wasted no time in wiping away the tears though, as she took a deep breath, her eyes still glistening with tears as she regained her composure before speaking. "Reinforce-san... Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital still? And what do you mean, the little Takamachi?"

Reinforce chuckled at that, "None of us are blind, Nanoha. We've seen how you look at Vivio, and how Vivio looks at you. You are a perfect choice for being that girl's mother. As for me? I'm a soldier, I can walk, and teleport out of a hospital. I'm healthy enough for them to not waste any more effort on me. There's work to be done. And you and I are needed to do it, not losing to our emotions or laying in a sick bed. Tears are an unforgivable waste when spent on anguish, you taught me this. Take that to heart. You may not consider yourself as such, but you are a soldier of this era. We fight so that others are not harmed, we must sometimes harden ourselves, ignore the pains and move on. That is what we both must do now. You are young, be open about this with those closest to you, but never let yourself show weakness before those who depend on you, the way they do."

Nanoha opened her mouth to speak, but Reinforce just shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Just don't let the forwards see you like this. Now, finish up here and get some rest. We're going to need to be at our best when we find them. We're going to make them regret ever targetting Vivio, taking Nakajima, and disturbing the peace."

The knight gave a little smile at Nanoha's nod. It was obvious that she wasn't entirely convinced, but that was to be expected. Even as mature as she was, even with the years of service she'd already given the TSAB, some lessons were only learned in the harshest ways. This was simply her time to learn. And given the history between them, Reinforce was willing to bet that she would overcome. And she almost pitied the cyborgs and this Scaglietti for waking the sleeping giant.


Each day that passed caused the coming reckoning to grow as Rein remained unconscious, and nothing had been found regarding the location of Vivio, Ginga, or their captors. Reinforce passed time preparing the much less luxurious room aboard the Arthra. The pictures all found their place, and the little closet was packed with uniforms of three different sizes. Some for Reinforce, some for Rein in her device form, and some for her child form that had become her more common form.

Reinforce's days beyond that were mostly spent keeping an eye on Rein, or patroling the air around the Arthra. She wasn't about to let their base be taken unawares again, and none of the flying was strenuous enough to bother her recovery... Whatever Shamal's opinion on the matter might be. Fortunately she only rarely came across the doctor.

The meeting that she found herself in wasn't surprising though. Both captains and Hayate were present, with Griffith giving a run down of the... typical responsiveness of both the Ground Forces and the main branch itself. While the Navy was much more prone to pragmatism, they still had their moments of remarkable naiveté. The extent of the the forces that the Navy was going to be sparing to deal with criminals with both the strength and the will to commit a daylight raid on Bureau facilities was going to be those already present groundside. And only if their assistance was requested.

The fact that information was being tightly controlled was hardly surprising, but the fact that none at all was being provided to RF6 was unpleasant. Fortunately Hayate wasn't about to be dissuaded from the investigation just because someone didn't want her poking around. Her announcement that the focus on finding Ginga and Vivio was comforting, but Reinforce was already thinking what that would mean. It meant that RF6 would be on the front lines, with next to no support from the Ground Forces... Naval reinforcements hours away at best.

She rubbed at her side, the wound now healed thanks to several days of self-applied healing spells, though the residual soreness remained. She couldn't afford to play with these cyborgs at all. Killing them would be a last resort, but the priority was going to be on recovering the prisoners.

Reinforce held her tongue as Nanoha questioned if Hayate was overreaching, likely having gone through the same mental calculations that had been going through her own mind. Nanoha's concern was likely more for the Forwards, and Hayate's position than herself, which was largely the reason that Reinforce chose not to comment, especially since Hayate's response that their political position had already been cleared by additional backing from the Admiralty. And she wasn't wrong, that RF6 was created to deal with situations like this. And the rest of the Bureau would see just how effective a small team of mages given proper training and the independence to operate freely. It would just take some... nudging later on to make sure that RF6, or the Special Duty Section 6 that it would become would have the strength and support to make it out of the situations that it would inevitably face.

She blinked, finding Hayate standing next to her as Fate and the Lightning forwards were making their way out of the meeting room. "I'm sorry, what did you say, Hayate?"

Hayate raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Normally even when you're distracted you would have still heard what I said." She waved off Reinforce's apologetic look with a chuckle. "Don't worry about it. I know you'll be focused when it matters. You've been cleared of excessive force charges in the capture of the cyborg Sette. The Ground Forces finally gave up the struggle to have you prosecuted once your own injuries and recordings of the battle were shown to the judge."

"Thank you, and I am sorry for having troubled you with that."

"Oh quit worrying about every little thing. It happens. I'd just much rather not have you pulling stupid maneuvers like taking an attack to defeat an enemy. I would lecture you about that move... But Signum's already told me not to. She tells me that not long ago she would have done something similar to defeat that cyborg. And with the limiters we've had to put on everyone... " She sighed at that. "Still I'd rather not have members of my family thinking like that. You aren't fighting a war anymore. Retreating and finding help is an option that I'd like you to keep in mind in the future. And now that I've gone and lectured you anyways... I want to thank you for your efforts, if Sette had been fighting with the other two, Shamal and Zafira might have been..." She broke off with a shrug.

"I understand, and I'll do what I can... But I won't be making any promises that I'm not certain I'll be able to keep." She gave a smile at Hayate's questioning expression. "You've never fought in war before, and the Wolkenritter have gotten a little soft. I'm going to be the one making the sacrifices to make sure that you don't have to, and that the Wolkenritter may continue as they have. I owe all of you that much."

Hayate's frown spoke volumes on what she thought of that. Reinforce wasn't about to budge on the issue though, whatever Hayate thought about that. She wasn't about to let the girl that she needed to protect dictate how she was going to go about protecting her. Hayate's hands would remain clean, but she would also stay safe. Whatever the cost to Reinforce might be.

"You owe us nothing, Reinforce. You're family. Think what you will... But I won't stand for self-sacrifice amongst my family. We'll break you of that habit soon enough."

"So you say... and yet you're the one sacrificing the most. I'm not blind, Hayate. Neither are your family, or your friends."

The colonel just gave a rueful smile as she turned to walk out. "I know. But just as it won't stop you... It won't stop me. Not until I've made amends."

Reinforce allowed herself a little sigh as Hayate walked away. Her mood brightened a little as she remembered a little thing. Hayate had years beyond this. She survived this case... and that was even without me to watch her back.


She was reading the reports on the abilities that the cyborgs had displayed over the past weeks. The reports were a little sparse on details, but at least the majority showed that they were weaker than Sette had been. With the exception of the Third that Fate had fought, most of them hadn't displayed anything that would make them a major threat. A few of them would likely even prove to be non-combatants, or in pure support roles.

Their use of non-magical weaponry was a little worrying, but the Wolkenritter had done a decent job at preparing RF6 members for defending against mass weapons, or at least those that had been enhanced by magic.

The door hissing open drew her attention. Turning away from the report she smiled as she found a silver-haired missile flying towards her. Unforunately for the residual soreness from her wounds, Rein was her full-sized form, arms clinging tightly around her.

"Mommy!"

Reinforce chuckled at the exuberant little girl returning the hug with one arm whle the other stroked her hair. "You're finally awake I see. Mary's cleared you for transforming and being out and about, yes?"

Rein lifted herself up with a beaming grin as she poked her head up, resting on Reinforce's bosom. "Of course! I've been awake a while though... Sorry I didn't come see you immediately, but Mary wanted my help removing the limiters from the Forward's devices... but I'm told that you checked yourself out of the hospital after teleporting back to the city."

The laugh that bubbled up from her was inevitable. Rein's disapproving look needed some work. It was far more comical and more like cute childish pouting than anything else. "Others needed treatment more than me. I'm perfectly capable of healing myself, and once I'd awoken there was no longer any point in me being there for such light wounds. And you... As a knight... I'm proud of you for protecting Vita. But as your mother?" Rein withered slightly under the more refined disapproving glare. "Do try to avoid such risks in the future."

The glare faded to a more somber expression as she continued. "I've only been your mother a few short weeks, and I know I haven't done a very good job of it yet. I don't want to lose you, Rein." She glanced up as any response was cut off by the ship's general quarters alarm. "Well, good to know that the enemy has wonderful timing as always. Shall we?"


How far the Mid-Childans have fallen. I knew the defenses around here wouldn't be as good as they'd been during the Belkan era, but this is pathetic.

From the sounds of the reports and the urgent radio calls for aid, it seemed that just eight of the enemies combat cyborgs had been able to destroy Cranagan's three major defenses, these Einherjar platforms. Sure, the drones were out in force as well, but only eight sentient enemies and already the city itself was in danger? It was a laughable showing, one that would have had the seeds of the Bureau wiped out during the closing days of the Unification wars. A number of the city's batallions were deploying to try to cut off the cyborgs that were now heading straight for the ground forces HQ, but Reinforce wouldn't put money on them being able to do much more than delay or at least keep the gadgets busy.

The appearance of the massive ship only made things worse. Gleaming in the sunlight, the royal purple and gold screaming Belkan arrogance. Not that the Belkans chose the ship's design... they merely decided not to alter it from the original Al-Hazard sense of aesthetics.

Heads turned her way as Reinforce gave a grim chuckle. "So, that's why they felt that they'd be able to get away with bringing the Bureau down upon them with such a small number." When Rein asked her what she meant by that, she elaborated. "I give you the Saint's Cradle. The Belkan's mobile capital. Home to the royal family, thought lost after the unification wars, but evidently not. Hidden away by the early Bureau has moved to the top of my explanations list. Hayate, that thing is going to have to be our priority. If that makes it into orbit to take advantage of the moons' powers, the Bureau would probably lose half the navy destroying it."

There were more than a few incredulous looks at that, though Hayate seemed to be taking it seriously with her next question. "So, how can we stop it?"

Reinforce frowned in thought, observing the ship. "From the outside, it's as good as invulnerable. I wouldn't be able to do much more than dent it's armor even if I poured enough power into a spell to kill myself. If we can get inside through an access port we'd have two options. One would be to destroy the engines, the other... To rescue Vivio. Her blood is what's managed to unlock that monstrosity, if we can get her off of it they won't be able to do a thing with it."

Hayate nodded. "We'll prioritize Vivio then-" She turned to the communications window that opened, revealing the black-uniformed Chrono.

"Hayate, I'm readying the fleet for dispatch, that ship has been determined to be an incredibly dangerous Lost Logia-"

"The Saint's Cradle, Reinforce has told us about it. We can't let it get into orbit, how long until the fleet arrives?"

"Four hours, I'm shaving every second off of that that I can, but we aren't going to be able to supply reinforcements to the Ground or Air Forces until then. Can you deploy?"

"Yes, we're about to determine how best to deploy. I'll report back as soon as we're ready to go."

"Be quick, your unit is one of the few that can slow that ship down."

"Are you really going to need that many cartridges?"

Reinforce looked up to see Rein hovering over her shoulder, wide eyed as cartridge after cartridge was fed into Nacht. "A single cartridge can mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield, Rein. There is no such thing as too many." She proved her point as she began stuffing more of them into pouches on her belt once Nacht's magazines were filled to capacity.

"But... isn't it better to not rely on exterior sources of mana for your spells?"

"My own reserves of mana are just that. Reserves. If I power my spells through cartridges, I don't tire as quickly as if I merely boosted the spells with a cartridge. Running out of my own mana was what did me in the last time, because I was too foolish to maintain a proper supply of cartridges. And while I'd be able to keep up an artillery barrage for quite a while without any limiter... I'd rather not feel the exhaustion along with that. Especially when I'm going to be guarding Hayate at the same time."

"I see..."

Reinforce chuckled at her daughter's hesitant response. "Don't worry, I know it's different from how you've trained with the Bureau. And I know I even work differently than Signum or Vita, but that's because I tend to use spells more than they do. My methods are pulled from wartime experience like theirs, just different styles. The Bureau might benefit from operating a little different anyways, if this mess is any sort of indication."

Rein couldn't help but nod in agreement with that statement. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by the ship's intercom.

"All hands, prepare for deployment."

"Alright." Reinforce gave her miniature daughter a smile as she landed on an offered shoulder. "Let's be off, and no heroics from either of us today. I don't want to see you in the hospital again."


Hey all who are still reading this story! Sorry this chapter took an extra week to get out... Took a week off from writing and even video games to hang out with the family while they were off work.

At any rate... So this chapter was one of those that made me think it would be better to have a beta, but with my own unpredictability on when (and what) I write, I wouldn't want to wish that position on anyone. So... You'll have to put up with me and my hopefully to this point minor errors... *cough* Sette, I'm looking at you. (Side note, I do apologize for that, she's not exactly silent in the anime, but she does pipe in along with Tre... I'm blaming my error on Tre not being around to do her speaking for her. *cough cough* Hopefully that was fixed a little bit in this chapter though.

So, I have to say, I love the ideas that you guys give me in reviews (and I do apologize, I'm being lazy and not writing out individual replies today, it's this or wait an extra day for me to write those... I figured most would vote for more story.) At any rate... Between having Vivio kidnapped vs. not... I freely admit I went to a friend and had him write kidnapped or not for heads and tails... and flipped a coin. I think I could have written this either way, and it would have worked where I'm going with the story... or at least I would have made it work. So, to those who didn't want to see Vivio strapped to the doom chair... Sorry! I hope that this chapter managed it in a somewhat believable fashion though.

And just so it's clear... Reinforce has not bothered to reapply her limiter. She probably won't either, unless she gets called out on it by someone.

What else... Erm... Oh! Yes, so... if it feels like I'm going pretty fast through the StrikerS material... I kinda am. If I were exploring more perspectives, those 8 ish episodes of the anime that I'm following likely would have stretched into more than the 3 or 4 chapters that it looks like it will. But since I am focusing this story on Reinforce...

Also! I could use some ideas for original spells... There's one in the chapter that I figured plausible given the Belkan era had a thing for physical weapons... A way to divert physical projectiles might be useful, but I admit I'm not horribly creative on my own spells... I'd make a bad mage if magic were real. Also another thing that I'm considering (if anyone reads my notes anyways...) I'm thinking of giving Nacht a second form for use in containing the "boom" factor of Reinforce's battles beyond just using a conjured blade. When I look at that gigantic thing I can't help but think it could split into a sword and shield combo... So... I'm likely to be using that at some point.

And the Negi-verse! It's coming soon. Rein's probably going to be participating in the set up with Chao. And it's where major changes will be occurring to the storyline (Negima's storyline that is). I haven't decided whether or not Vivio will be participating in that particular junction of the story... but it does seem like it could be fun, and if the reviews are anything to go by, you guys would like that anyways.

Lastly... since I've wasted enough time writing notes and not posting this thing. If it's not shown in the story, you can assume that it's going on as it did in canon... I just don't want to bog down the progress of the story with things that we all know and may love, but don't need to see again. That sort of thing. Also... I've been chuckling at the thought of a few years down the road... (story wise years of course) Reinforce stumbling on Sword Art Online and thinking it might be worth checking out as a useful training tool... (And yes, I know that there's the mental training that Nanoha and others do, but *inserting handwavium* intelligent devices for that sort of thing are out of reach for the lower members of Special Duty Section 6... Cue the chaos of Reinforce in a death game! (That might be a little side story to this one, or even possibly part of the main story. Won't happen for a while anyways though!)