Well, fur balls. It would seem that my fanfic partner and I fell out of contact with each other back in June. As such this story has lagged behind as of late. My other writing has begun to suffer because of it! Now that I'm in a new place with a new job I felt it was high time to get back to these fics that are still awaiting completion. I just couldn't write anything new without at least killing Kyoko!

Anyhow, if my old partner is still out there, I'd always welcome additional collaboration~ that said, we have enough material written down and waiting to at least finish up with Halo 3.


… Hardly the first time Homura had been sent reeling by artillery fire. In the post-impact haze, with Homura's helmet blown off and the soldier crouched and looking pained, a war flashback played out in fast-forward in the lolling, disoriented period before her combat instincts kicked in.

Years before and light years away, the skies over Harvest loomed, darkened by soot. Ash from a heavy Covenant glassing campaign blanketed the ground like snow. It was here at a ruined and rusting shipyard that Homura-117 and Kyoko-239, last of their magical girls squad, were regrouping following a rout.

The Harvest campaign would be won in time – five long years later. For now, looking in the faces of harried marines covered in the glass shards of the UNSC's former colony world, one would be hard pressed to call this opening engagement a victory.

A fleet of covenant cruisers was hurrying down this former farming valley. They would burn everything for miles around with plasma weaponry the likes of which the UNSC could never muster. A battalion of UNSC marines and Homura's Puella Machinae squad had been just been caught in one such barrage. The magical girl limped back to a rendezvous point in a rusting shipyard, armor partially fried.

The young and brash Kyoko sat in the cockpit of a mass driver coil gun. Meant for thrusting cargo into low orbit, the driver now served a new purpose as a high-velocity cannon.

The coil gun sizzled as its cargo discharged. No sooner had the bulbous bow of an alien cruiser broken through a cloud of ash did Kyoko's shot find its mark. The cruiser's shields popped with a hiss and a flash of purple.

"It's wounded. Get these boys out of here, Master Chief. I will cover your escape." From the way Kyoko slurred her words it was obvious she was chewing on pocky.

The plan was not to be, as four Phantoms and three Spirit dropships swooped out of the ash clouds towards their location.

Kyoko cut the first Spirit in half with a tungsten slug. A grazing shot from a second barrage swatted a Phantom into another Spirit, causing both to crash to the ground. Three Phantoms and one Spirit remained, and there was little time to seek shelter.

"Signal the Pelicans!" Kyoko said It would be an agonizing seven seconds between each mass driver shot.

"Those Phantoms will tear our ships apart," Homura surveyed her surroundings. "Everyone, into that foreman's office. We will distract the Covenant—"

"No, no!" Kyoko fired off another round. "Leave it to me, Chief. I don't need your help."

"Do you have a death wish!? You cannot beat them alone," Homura tried to say.

A Spirit was already upon them. Two side doors opened and a hapless grunt jumped within arm's reach of Homura. On this grunt's shoulder was a gold-and-green fuel rod cannon. This would prove useful.

The Master Chief reached out to grab the now-panicking grunt, rested the FRG from its hands and stuck a knife down its alien throat. All Puella Machinae had moderate experience with these alien firearms and Homura was a quick learner besides, so she wasted no time in laying into the exposed Spirit's left cargo bay. The Spirit was forced into retreat, and Homura was free to grapple with other threats. The marines easily handled some now-marooned grunts and jackals.

While her marines were filing into the secure side office mostly unopposed, it was only because the remaining Phantoms had chosen to harass Kyoko at the mass driver.

The younger Spartan destroyed one last Phantom. In the time between shots the remaining two Phantoms dropped off elites in blue, red, and even gold-tinted armor.

One elite leapt onto the coil gun's operating cockpit. It brandished a glowing blue energy sword and prepared to strike. The glass of the cockpit exploded outwards as a spear materialized from Kyoko's soul gem, braining the elite. Kyoko herself emerged to deliver the final blow with a more standard armament: a trusty shotgun.

"Kyoko, watch out!" Homura yelled.

A second elite rushed Kyoko from behind. Her barrier collapsed as an energy sword cut through the girl's blood-red powered armor, just missing Kyoko's fragile soul gem.

The alien lifted Kyoko up with inhuman strength. The Puella Machinae was not done yet, however; she twisted around, summoned a short spearhead, and stuck it into the elite's serrated jaws. Kyoko collapsed with the elite falling on top of her.

The ground shook as Kyoko's soul gem went through its death throes. Spears of all shapes and sizes materialized from the ground. They swarmed a Phantom, utterly destroying it. From the coil gun's mount arose Kyoko riding a particularly large javelin. Her soul gem shone a deep radiant red.

"Homura! Signal that evac!" Kyoko said, and charged.

The javelin hurried forth towards the wounded cruiser. It would have cut clear through the capital ship had the last Phantom not blocked its path in a suicide charge. Kyoko was nowhere to be seen, the Phantom exploded in blue and purple flame, but the cruiser loomed dangerously close.

Homura called in air transport even as she rushed for the mass driver. The marines would survive; Homura would ensure that Kyoko's sacrifice was not in vain.

Homura manned the mac gun, but immediately encountered complications. Kyoko's magic was no longer active. The gun's 'ammo' was simply thick, fat tungsten containers bound for orbit. This was not military-grade armament. It was a blunt instrument, with damage caused by mass and speed alone. She would have to make each shot count.

The cruiser charged its primary cannon. It would roast the valley long before her marines were fully evacuated in the squadron of three pelicans now hovering over the facility. This beam looked to be as good a week point as any, so Homura fired.

… And fired, and did not stop firing until the cruiser was a smoldering wreck. Her marines were safe, and Homura was alone.

It would not be long before more ships came to burn this valley away; the Covenant was burning elaborate runic symbols into the planets they conquered. They would burn Homura away like the rest of her squad. If she ran she would eventually be caught, cornered, and shot the old fashioned way. Either way, it was an ending to things.

Suddenly, the distinct wail of a Pelican's engines was heard overhead. The evacced marines had implored their pilots to turn back and rescue Homura.

And so Homura lived for another day. She would fight again on countless worlds, always surviving when her fellow magical girls would fall.

++2++

Back in the present, Homura came to her senses and began a mad-dash crawl for her helmet. With it secured and on her head, she simultaneously searched the radio channels for sit-reps, checked out her armor's status (all was well, for the most part), and readied her remaining weapons.

High in the savannah's sky, long arcs of burning-blue plasma scorched the sky. The source of that plasma bombardment, most likely. Homura's squad was, once again, wiped, leaving her as the sole survivor. That said, it would seem the battle raged on further along this valley.

With that storm still swirling at Homura's front and Mount Kilimanjaro at her back, Homura climbed out of the glass crater she'd found herself in and surveyed the area. A plasma barrage was approaching fast!

The Master Chief brandished a cylindrical hand-held device and thumbed an ignition button. She threw it down in one fluid motion as the plasma burst fell upon her. A honeycombed barrier emanated from her device just in time, shielding Homura from all harm. Homura broke off into a sprint as the barrier faltered, running towards the source of the barrage and, once more, into battle.


I'll be spending this week laying down a chapter at a time, barring no additional word from the partner. This chapter is actually one of my oldest, I believe, though I've spruced things up to give it greater relevance to this current moment. It's one final flashback to wrap up the cast of PMMM.

If all goes as planned, we'll be done within 5 or so chapters. Best to keep things brief, and certainly best not to leave a fix hanging. Do hope we find fans old and new at least~ welcome back.