Chapter 10
Within a couple of hours after Leanna's betrayal, Leanna arrives at the hideout to reveal the outcome to the unarmored Jail Scaglietti.
"Scaglietti, some of the members of both the Plumbers and the TSAB have already found out about the plan. The Plumber code breakers are working faster than we predicted."
Scaglietti turns towards Leanna. "Did you take any action to delay them Leanna?"
"I did sir. I manage to kill and injured a couple of their best teammates. They won't be able to make their move for at least a couple of days, especially with the war still going on."
"Good Leanna. The plan is almost complete, once it's done, Mid-Childa will soon be ours for the taking." Scaglietti laughs maniacally.
"Yeah, I don't think so." Leanna suddenly pulls up her pistol and shoots Scaglietti in the back, knocking him down.
Scaglietti looks up at Leanna pointing her gun at him. "Leanna, you betrayed me?"
"You see, it is not just this planet I want. What I also want is revenge on the Plumbers for humiliating just for doing my job, but in order to do that I needed a strong army. When I saw increased activity of the TSAB on Earth, I tracked them down in order to get close to them so I can use their technology, but when I heard of the JS Incident I decided that you would make a good puppet so no one would notice until now. The war wasn't my idea until you told me what it can do to both sides and the amount of followers you have for your plan looked promising so I thank you for that, but you are no longer of use for me anymore."
Leanna points her gun again on Scaglietti. "Any last her words before you die?"
Scaglietti sadistically gave out a smile. "So you used me just so you can exact your revenge? Good job Leanna, you are becoming more like me every second. However, I don't take betrayals to lightly."
One of Scaglietti's followers suddenly came out from the side and hit leanna with two shots; one on her gun, forcing her to release it, and one on her arm where she was holding the gun, causing her arm to bleed excessively.
As she holds her wounded arm, Scaglietti easily stood up, revealing that he was wearing body armor the whole time. The black armored suit he was wearing earlier starts moving from behind him as if it was liquid eventually covering up his body.
"You see Leanna, just having the power isn't enough. I wanted this power to become a part of me so I had my body fused with it."
Scaglietti points to the now distraught Leanna. "You have been very useful for my plan Leanna, but nothing is going to stop me, not even you. Leanna, I am relieving you of your command."
A bean shoots out of his armored finger, instantly killing Leanna as her body now lies in a pool of her own blood.
One of Scaglietti's followers rushes to the body. "Should I throw out her body sir?"
"No. Her body still has power. Put her body in a containment unit for the transfer so I can absorb it."
Vivio, traumatized by what she witnessed, begins to cry in fear as Scaglietti walks towards her.
"It is time for my own revenge." Scaglietti had the Relic implanted and activated a machine that Vivio is trapped in. This created an electrical surge causing great distress and pain to the little girl as she started to lose control of the Relic.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! STOOOOPPP IIIITT!" Vivio continues to scream in great pain as the Relic becomes more active.
Once all her power to control the Relic is absorbed inside the jewel itself, Scaglietti removes the jewel without damaging her body, but leaving her unconscious, and forcefully puts it into his armor's centerpiece. After the Relic is implanted. Scaglietti then releases a little of the power of his suit as a test, which resulted in the ground almost completely shattered.
Scaglietti then turns to his followers. "As I understand from Leanna's last file, some of the top TSAB officers are heading to the Plumber base near Coastal Airport 8. I want you guys to kill them if you can to keep this war going."
"No problem sir." His followers then head to another part of the hideout to gather a small army and prepare for the attack.
A couple of days later back in Coastal Airport 8, Signum and Michael are still being tended by Jen to after receiving injuries from Leanna's assault to delay them, which also killed Erio and Hayate.
John and Clayton frantically search in the Plumber and TSAB databases to find out who Leanna is with Nanoha and Yuuno watching while Fate comforts Caro, who is still traumatized over Erio's death.
As Clayton manages to unlock the Plumbers' secret files, he found an article that reveals a picture of Leanna, but under a different name, Kyoko Harada.
Clayton calls everyone to come to his area. "Hey everyone, I found something on Leanna. She used to be known as Kyoko Harada, a former inventor of Plumber weaponry. She was kicked out of the Plumbers in an incident that happened several years ago against the Forever Knights when Kyoko, or should I say Leanna, was exposed of stealing Plumber technology for personal use. She did not take the news well and left Earth soon after to a non-Plumber administrated planet, which probably lead her to here."
Fate took a closer look at the article. "In retaliation she pretended to be part of the TSAB in order to access our technology to get revenge on the Plumbers by starting this war. Knowing she cannot do this alone she went to Jail Scaglietti in hopes that he would agree with her plan as it involves getting revenge on the TSAB as well."
Yuuno then intervenes. "It is no surprise that Scaglietti still has followers and supporters. After Scaglietti was arrested, there were reports of protests and riots people that support his ideology. Leanna used them to help free him and the Numbers that are still on his side. There were also reports of an incident involving a turmoil which she was supposed to take control of, but instead ended at the cost of 20 lives and hundreds missing 6 years ago."
Clayton suddenly turns to Yuuno. "Wait a minute, that incident was what killed my parents and forced me to move out of Mid-Childa. When I was standing alone watching as part of Cranagan burning down, I saw a young girl with blond hair holding a gun and as she shoots, I saw a smile on her face making herself look like she was enjoying this. I despised the TSAB since then and left in order to avoid them."
"Understandable captain." Yuuno continued. "Leanna must have used this incident in order to weakened the TSAB's reputation."
"Leanna then waited all this time for the next step of her plan. I read reports that some TSAB workers were missing along with most of the ships they were working on under Leanna's command. This is what they must have used to attack the Plumber base and started this war." Nanoha interrupted.
"The war was used not only as a distraction, but also to weaken us in order for him and his followers to succeed in taking control of both the Plumbers and the TSAB." Signum appears out of nowhere behind them.
Now knowing the truth, Clayton closes his files. "This war cannot end with Scaglietti and Leanna still at large. I am calling the general to end this."
The holographic projection shows up on Claytons screen showing a middle-aged man in a battle uniform.
"Ah! Captain Calaway, I assume you have everything in control right?"
"Sir, the war was a mistake. It was all a part of a plan of some insane madman named Jail Scaglietti to weaken us. We have to call a ceasefire now to end this hostility."
"No can do Clayton. They were the ones who made the first move and they shall pay for it."
"But general, continuing this battle will only cause more deaths. These soldiers our dying for the wrong reasons. We have to stop this now!"
"Silence! Over 4,000 lives were lost in that attack and you are saying we should appease them by ending the war?
"Sir, what about the soldiers that are still fighting? Aren't their lives just as important as those who died in the attack?"
"Enough Clayton! All you are doing is letting your emotions get in the way of what is truly important. I am sorry, but I am relieving you of your command. You are not suited to lead them. Goodbye Clayton." The general hangs up.
Nanoha and Fate attempts to comfort the now-slightly depressed Clayton.
Michael gets up from his bed. "Don't worry Clayton. We will stay with you always until Scaglietti is defeated.
"You are still our captain Clayton. You give the orders and we do the rest." John draws his gun.
Nanoha grabs Clayton's shoulder. "There is no one here that we would listen to other than you so cheer up okay?"
Clayton looks up and sees everyone smiling at him. "Thank you, everyone."
Suddenly loud gunshots are heard outside the base. Through the radio a voice can be heard alerting everyone of the emergency. "Unknown hostiles in our perimeter! We need back up!"
The group looked outside and saw approximately 200-300 of Scaglietti's followers fighting the guards in an attempt to kill them.
Clayton closes the tent's curtain. "Head for the ship! Scaglietti already made his move! We have to stop him now!"
Everyone rushed back in the ship, including the still injured Michael and Signum, to head to Scaglietti's base.
In the ship, Clayton and what is left of his time armed themselves as Nanoha and the rest do the same.
Jen turns to Fate. "Since you fought Scaglietti before, you are going to have to lead us to his hideout."
"I will." Fate replied.
"Does everyone know the plan is?" Clayton asked.
"I do." Michael responded with high enthusiasm.
"The girls fight Scaglietti while we do the rescuing of the girl."
Clayton suddenly gets a call from Chris. "Clayton, I heard that you were relieved of your command from interfering with the war. Care to explain?"
"I will explain later, right now we tracked down a large group of unknown hostiles heading in your direction as well as the TSAB. They are apparently targeting both of you. Stop fighting the TSAB and have your troops ready to fight these new hostiles."
"Will do sir." Chris hangs up the phone and saw thousands of Scaglietti's followers heading to them with some of them destroying Plumber ships and the rest shooting at the TSAB and Plumber infantry.
"Everyone, forget about the TSAB for now! We have thousands of unknown hostiles heading our way intending to eliminate both sides and I want everyone to prepare for battle and that includes the TSAB!"
"Yes sir." Seeing that the threat is on their way, both the Earth military forces and the Plumbers shifted their attention to Scaglietti's followers much to the shock of the TSAB until they saw the army themselves heading towards both them and the Plumbers.
The TSAB responded to this threat by taking positions alongside the Plumbers, working with each other for the first time much to the frustration of the general, who intended to kick the TSAB out of power.
Rein suddenly came out and stood side by side with Chris.
"Looks like we'll have to put our differences aside for now huh?" Rein smiles slightly.
"I am hoping that would both of us working together, the war will end soon." Chris responded.
"Agreed." Both Rein and Chris continue to stare on Scaglietti's followers as they prepare for battle.
Once they arrived at the hideout, they found the entrance to be completely empty. As they moved further into the hideout, they soon find bodies of Leanna and several of the Numbers, Uno, Sette, and Quattro, in several containers connected by small tubes.
"What is this?" Fate becomes terrified of what she has witnessed.
Signum and Caro took a look at Leanna's body. "Scaglietti must have betrayed Leanna for his own gain."
Signum becomes mad knowing that she can no longer take revenge on her as promised.
Clayton continues to advance. "Shhh. I hear something further in the hideout. Follow me and stay quiet."
When they reached further into the hideout, they went inside a large storage filled with the battle suits of Scaglietti's followers and weapons. The group soon spots Vivio, heavily injured, lying on the ground.
Nanoha immediately rushes to her. "Vivio wake up, Mama is here."
Vivio then opens her eyes, but instead of being happy, she becomes frightened. "No. Get away."
"What?" Nanoha becomes confused as well as everyone else.
Vivio continues to speak. "Get away, get away, GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"So my soldiers failed to eliminate you, but no matter I will kill you myself."
Scaglietti then appears suddenly on top tossing Vivio away and standing in front of the small group. "Well if it isn't nice to see some of you once more."
Everyone is in shock of Scaglietti's appearance in the black suit he currently wears.
"Scaglietti, what is all of this?" Nanoha asked.
"I am sure Vivio knows." Scaglietti turns to Vivio
"Everyone, Scaglietti killed Leanna and the rest of the Numbers to absorb their power into his suit. He implanted a Relic inside of me to absorb my power and had the Relic implanted in his suit. He used me as a trap to lure you here." Vivio then falls unconscious again.
"You monster!" Signum and Caro, disgusted by what they just heard, charged at Scaglietti, but partially due to Signum's injury, Scaglietti was able to easily incapacitates them and put them out of action before they reach him.
Fate attempts to use her speed to outmaneuver Scaglietti, but he easily saw through that and slams her head hard to the ground.
"All of the power he absorbed into the suit has made him stronger. He has got to have a weakness. Michael, have that suit examined."
"Yes Clayton." Michael head towards the boxes near the weapons crate.
"Oh no you don't!" Scaglietti rushes towards him but Nanoha cuts him off.
"Excelion Buster!" Nanoha's attack knocked back Scaglietti, but much to her surprise the attack had no effect on him.
"Is that all you got?" Scaglietti fires an energy blast from his right hand towards Nanoha. Nanoha attempts to defend herself, but the attack breaks through her barrier and knocks her back to the wall.
Fate, having recovered from the attack, uses Jet Zamber, but Scaglietti easily shattered her blade and in response, Fate uses Sonic Drive. She then charges at the patient Scaglietti with her now repaired sword in a similar style to how she defeated Scaglietti the last time, but again her attack was intercepted and she was knocked directly at a pile of metal boxes crashing through them.
Nanoha gets up and sees Scaglietti charging towards her. Nanoha then points Raising Heart at him and attacks him with Axel Shooter, but again the attack had no effect on him.
Scaglietti then punches Nanoha in the abdomen with enough impact that blood came out of her mouth.
As they continue to fight, Clayton has been sneaking Vivio away from Scaglietti to hide her with Michael, who is still trying to analyze the suit for weaknesses, but Scaglietti caught up to Clayton.
"Leaving so soon? The fun has only just begun."
As Scaglietti approaches Clayton and Vivio, Jen took out her Mark 12 Techadorian Multiblaster and shoots Scaglietti from behind. Although it had more of an effect on Scaglietti, he still remains unharmed.
"Did you know that this armor is made out of metal from my anti-magic drones and other suits of dead Plumbers? Too bad, because you will die next."
Scaglietti charges towards Jen, but Clayton took out his own Multiblaster and shoots him.
"Your armor maybe durable, but it still has a weakness."
Clayton grabs out 2 silent flash bangs and toss them towards Scaglietti. As the grenades explode with light, Clayton covers Vivio to protect her from the disorienting effects.
Scaglietti was temporarily blinded the flash and Fate took this opportunity to hit him once more with her large blade, sending Scaglietti flying through the wall.
Although exhausted, Fate head towards Clayton and Vivio. "Very clever using these flash bangs Clayton. I never thought how useful mass weaponry can be in the TSAB until you and the Plumbers showed up."
"Thanks, but is Nanoha okay?" Clayton turns to Nanoha.
"I am fine Clayton. Thanks for protecting Vivio." Nanoha gets up despite her injuries.
Michael saw that the suit was undamaged by the attack and attempts to alert everyone. "Its not over yet Clayton. The suit is still undamaged, which means Scaglietti can still fight."
Jen went in front of them and took out her gun aiming at the approaching Scaglietti. "Clayton, take Vivio somewhere safe. I will try to hold him off."
"Jen wait. You are no match for him alone so I will help." Nanoha went to Jen's side and aims Raising Heart at Scaglietti as Clayton takes Vivio to hide with Michael.
As soon as Scaglietti was insight, Jen shoots him non-stop with her blaster, but that didn't even faze him.
"DIVINE BUSTER!" Nanoha yells as her attack pushes Scaglietti back.
Fate uses this opportunity to attack from behind, but Scaglietti releases more of the Relic's magic in his suit in a form of an explosion easily incapacitating Nanoha, Fate, and Jen.
Vivio wakes up and saw that everyone, but Clayton and Michael, were knocked down. She then becomes even more terrified when she sees Scaglietti moves towards her, but Clayton stood in front and took out his blaster.
Scaglietti remains silent, but raises his arm to gather more energy to his hand. Just when Scaglietti was about to fire at them, he was suddenly pushed through the weapons crate by a beam of natural light.
Clayton immediately recognized this attack.
"You have down a great job Clayton, now leave the rest to us." Through the door came Ben (in the form of Chromastone), Gwen, and Kevin.
Scaglietti then gets up and took a look at the team. "What is this? More insects too squish?"
"This ends now Scaglietti." Kevin puts his hand towards the wall and absorbs the metal into his body while Ben transforms back into a human.
With new hope in Clayton's mind he stood alongside them after hiding Vivio as they prepare for battle.