Operation Halo, Part 1
The city of Malba is a fairly small settlement located in the southern region of Fiore, housing roughly 30,000 people. A year ago, a dark guild known as Avatar attempted to invade the town and plan to sacrifice the lives of all of its inhabitants to participate in a ritual that would attract the attention of the Black Mage known as Zeref. But thanks to the efforts of Team Natsu, Avatar was quickly stopped and the town and its people were spared from invasion.
But a year later, the Abbey came to accomplish what Avatar couldn't.
The once small and peaceful town that is known for its mixture of urban settlement and lush greenery now serves as an outpost for the Abbey, and it's 30,000 inhabitants live and work in fear under their control.
Inside the building that once served as the town hall, a certain black-haired woman silently stood behind the large glass window of the mayor's office, looking out at the town and watching the praetors patrolling the streets. The civilians would bow down to them as they walk past them out of fear.
Suddenly, her moment of silence was interrupted when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Velvet called out.
The door opened, revealing a woman whose red hair is tied into two ponytails by yellow ribbons with blue flowers on them. She is dressed in a long-sleeved blue jacket, white gloves, and a white dress and long white boots decorated with yellow highlights.
The woman closes the door behind her after stepping in and gave Velvet a salute as she greeted, "Second Lieutenant Eleanor Hume reporting, ma'am."
"At ease. What's to report?" Velvet inquired as she continued staring out the window.
Eleanor looks down at the piece of paper she had been holding in her hand. "Captain Makra and his unit have retrieved a magicless human in Quoi Woods and are escorting him back to HQ." She reported.
"I see. Anything else?" Velvet asked.
"Also, according to Scout Squad 17, the barrier over Halure has been restored." Eleanor said.
"What?" Velvet whirled about and stares at the second lieutenant in shock. "How is that possible? I thought we have weakened that town's source of magic."
"We're not sure, but somehow they fixed it." Eleanor replied as she lowers her paper.
Velvet momentarily grits her teeth. "Do you think it was Fairy Tail? I remember our forces engaged some of their members in battle while attempting to invade Halure."
"Possibly. And with the barrier back up, I don't think we'll be able to commence another invasion on them anytime soon." Eleanor said.
"We won't. Leave Halure for now. Right now, I wish to go to Hargeon." Velvet said flatly as she clenches her fists tightly.
"What for, lieutenant?" Eleanor asked.
"To meet with Second Lieutenant Muruta Azrael and oversee Operation Halo." Velvet replied as she begins walking her way to the door behind Eleanor. As the second lieutenant moves out of the way, Velvet stops beside her for a moment. "At the meantime, Second Lieutenant Hume, you will stay here and serve as acting governor of this town."
"Understood." Eleanor nods her head. "But ma'am, don't mind asking, why do you suddenly wish to go to Hargeon?"
"Hargeon is one of the nearest cities to Magnolia, where Fairy Tail is headquartered." Velvet said, glaring at Eleanor. "If the people at Hargeon start panicking when we begin the operation, they will show up somehow. And if we wish to continue invading Fiore northwards, we must deal with Fairy Tail now."
After hours of walking from their last campsite, Team Natsu, Brave Vesperia, Darren and Sheena arrived at Hargeon Town by evening. The members of Team Natsu vividly remember this place, not only because they have been here a couple of times before, but also because this is the town where Lucy would meet Natsu and Happy for the first time and eventually become a member of the most powerful guild in Fiore, a decision which to this day, she never regret choosing.
Currently, everyone is walking through the town's marketplace which similar to Underwood, is made up of several stalls lined up along the sides of the road. The lights coming from the windows of the buildings and the lampposts installed alongside the pavements help illuminate the streets and bring life to the peaceful port town throughout the night.
One stall in the marketplace that immediately caught Estelle's attention was one that sells all sorts of books. She rushes over to the stall and began searching through the books that are on sale with her eyes grown as wide as saucers. When she found a book that interests her, she picks it up and begins reading it with her eyes gazing upon its pages and analyzing its contents.
"She sure loves to read, doesn't she?" Yuri asked Karol as they and Judith stood behind and watched her.
"Back in Zaphias, she rarely gets out of the palace and mostly passes her time away by reading all sorts of books in her library." Karol said to Yuri.
"I guess that's why everything beyond the boundaries of her town amazes her." Yuri said. Karol and Judith nod their heads.
Meanwhile, Sheena, Wendy, Happy and Carla are standing in front of another stall that sells plush toys. A huge smile is plastered across Wendy's face as the sky dragon slayer picks up a teddy bear and holds it up in front of her.
"This one looks really cute." Wendy commented as she and Carla look at the bear. Happy on the other hand continues looking at the other plush animals that are displayed at the stall.
"Yeah, I like the eyes." Carla said with a small smile as she examines the bear her friend is holding.
"I wonder if there's any plush animal that resembles a fish." Happy said as he continues staring at the plush animals on sale.
"What do you think, Sheena?" Wendy asked as she and Carla turn their heads to the older woman. But they notice that Sheena paid no attention to her as she silently gazed at a plush animal on the table that resembles a small yellow fox with black ears, orange hair, brown paws, and three long curled-up tails with green, light blue and dark blue stripes. It also wears a red necklace with a yellow bell around its neck.
The shopkeeper standing behind the table chuckled and asked Sheena, "You like it?"
"Huh?" Sheena snaps out of her thoughts as the shopkeeper picks up the plush fox and holds it up to her.
"Go on." The shopkeeper coaxed her. Sheena takes the plush fox from the shopkeeper and continues staring at it as she holds it in her hands.
After what felt like a few moments of silence, a huge smile finally appears on Sheena's face as her cheeks blushed. She holds the plush fox up to the tip of her nose as she began cooing sweetly, "Who's a cute little fox? Who's such a cutie little adorable foxy, huh?"
Unbeknownst to Sheena, Alicia laughed as she and Darren stood nearby along with Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Erza who are at a stall that sells healing potions and bandages.
"Your friend is actually quite funny." Alicia said to Darren as the two watch her.
"Nah, she just acts funny when she wants to." Darren shrugs.
After taking a bag of potions and bandage rolls from the shopkeeper, Erza hands him some jewel notes. "Here you go, sir." She said.
"Thank you very much." The shopkeeper smiled as he takes the payment from her.
"We appreciate the discount too." Lucy added.
"No problem at all. I'm just glad to see members of Fairy Tail in our town. With the ongoing war against the Abbey, I feel a lot more comfortable knowing that you guys are here." The shopkeeper replied.
"Right. With the Abbey invading several parts of the southern region of Fiore and Hargeon being located in the southeast, it's no wonder why the people in this town have become less lively." Gray said, having noticed that the townspeople in Hargeon are mostly quiet.
"But if an invasion does come to this town, we'll be ready." A voice said.
"Huh? That's supposed to be our line." Natsu said as he arches an eyebrow.
He, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Darren and Alicia turn to their right to see a man walking up to them. He has shoulder-length brown hair, purple eyes and dressed in a long-sleeved red uniform with two white straps over his body. Both at the side of his sleeves are white round circles with a black trident-shaped emblem in them and at the top of his shoulders are two black shoulder marks with white stripes and stars. The right strap has a silver buckle while the left has cobalt and gold badges pinned onto it. He also wore white gloves, red pants, a white belt with a silver buckle and black boots.
"Judging by your tattoos, you guys are from Fairy Tail, right?" The man asked Team Natsu as he places his hands at the sides of his hip.
"Yes, we are." Natsu said as he folds his arms. "My name is-"
"Natsu Dragneel." The man said before he could finish.
"Um, yeah." Natsu replied as he now stares blankly at him.
"And you three are Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet, right?" The man asked the other three members of Team Natsu.
"Yes, you're right." Lucy responded to him dumbfounded.
"Who are you? And how do you know who we are?" Erza asked, frowning at the man questioningly.
"Nolan." Yuri said as he walks over to the man from behind.
Nolan turns around and his eyes widened. He grins at Yuri as he places his hand on his shoulder. "Yuri, buddy! What a pleasant surprise to see you here! Though, why aren't you in uniform?"
"Long story short, I actually grew tired of being a knight. Guess I wasn't meant to be just like you." Yuri deadpanned.
"Come on Yuri, don't sound like that. Give me a smile, will ya?" Nolan asked. Yuri remains silent as he continues frowning at him. Nolan smirked as he suddenly places his finger at the side of Yuri's lip and pushes it up, managing to form a small lopsided smirk on his face.
"Stop." Yuri said flatly as he gently shoves Nolan's hand away.
Nolan sighs and shakes his head in disappointment. "You're no fun."
"Yuri? You know this guy?" Darren asked as Alicia and Team Natsu look equally surprised.
"Yup, he's a friend of mine back at the Magic Council." Yuri said to them.
Nolan turns back to Darren, Alicia and Team Natsu and places his right fist at his chest as he stood up straight. "My name is Captain Nolan Mathias." He points at the black trident symbol on the side of his left sleeve. "And I'm the leader of the Faction, a commando squad within the Rune Knights."
"A commando squad?" Gray said curiously.
"Oh and speaking of the Rune Knights, it was my brother who told me all about you guys." Nolan said as he lowers his hand.
"Your brother?" Lucy said puzzled.
Nolan holds up his finger in the air and slides it down. Darren and Alicia widen their eyes in amazement as Nolan magically brings up a folder in front of them. Nolan clicks on the folder and brings up several small photos. He clicks on one of the photos and it enlarges. Upon seeing the photo, Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Erza drop their jaws as they see Nolan, dressed in a black suit, pants and shoes, smiling as he stands beside and wraps his arm around a taller man who looks rather annoyed. The man has purple eyes, black hair tied to a bun and wears glasses, a white cape that drapes over his shoulders, white gloves, a long dark blue jacket with a light blue shirt with the Magic Council's symbol on it underneath, a black belt with a gold buckle around his waist, white pants and white shoes.
The four members of Fairy Tail shouted a name upon seeing the familiar person standing next to Nolan in the photo.
"LAHAR?!"
After finishing their shopping at the marketplace, everyone including Nolan head to Hargeon Park where there are people strolling through the area, relaxing and not having a care for the world. Nolan and Erza sat together on a wooden bench while Darren, Sheena and the members of Team Natsu stood in front of them. Yuri and the members of Brave Vesperia stood behind them and the bench.
"It's true that Lahar was my older brother, and also my main inspiration in joining the Rune Knights." Nolan said to everyone around him.
"Was?" Darren asked in confusion.
"Lahar died during an attack on the Magic Council Headquarters by a dark guild known as Tartaros two years ago." Lucy explained to him. Darren nods his head before he and Lucy look back at Nolan.
"Lahar first joined the Rune Knights eleven years ago, and I was only eight back then. I was amazed that he would quickly rise to the rank of Captain within just a single year. But I'm not surprised either because he was always better than me, just like an elder brother who is ten years older than me would. Because of his job and sworn duty to protect the people of Fiore, Lahar and I rarely see each other afterwards, but he would still pay visits to me and my parents at least a single weekend every month. And for nine years straight, every time he finished staying with us and get ready to return to work, I will always tell him before he steps out of our home that one day, I'm going to become a Rune Knight as well, work alongside him and even achieve the same rank of Captain. But my dream of working with him went unfulfilled, as two years ago…" Nolan paused and lowers his head. "It happened."
"Tartaros' attack on the Magic Council Headquarters." Yuri said grimly.
Nolan nods his head. "After the attack, my parents and I were informed by the Rune Knights to travel to Era to identify Lahar's body. We went there…and we saw the dead body of my older brother. We were all devastated that we have lost a relative that day, and I lost the person whom I looked up to. I would finally join the Rune Knights when I reach the age of 18, a year after his death. And just like Lahar, I achieved the rank of Captain within a year and even form a squad of my own. And yet…" Nolan lifts his head up, stroking back his hair as he looks up at the clouds in the sky. "I felt so melancholy…knowing that my brother wasn't alive to see how far I've come."
"We and Lahar honestly didn't see eye to eye when he was alive. But you still have our condolences over the loss of your relative." Erza said to Nolan solemnly.
"Thank you." Nolan said as he turns to Erza with a wan smile. "And don't worry," He winks an eye at her. "Unlike my brother, I have no ill-will towards the number 1 guild in Fiore."
"There you are, Captain. We have been looking all over for you." A feminine voice said. Everyone look up or turn around to see two figures approaching towards them. One of them is a girl with blonde hair, tied to two short pigtails and wears a white officer hat, a similar long-sleeved red uniform, tan skirt, white stockings and black boots. She also has two white straps over her body, but unlike Nolan, there is only a single gold badge pinned on her left strap and she only wears one black glove on her right hand.
The other is a tall dark-skinned man with large messy black hair and wears a similar red uniform, white gloves, red pants and black boots as Nolan. But like the woman beside him, there is only one gold badge pinned on his left strap and unlike her and Nolan, his uniform is unbuttoned, revealing a light gray collar shirt underneath it.
"Don't mean to speak out of my mind but as a superior officer, you still know how to slack off from your patrolling duties and hang out with civilians." The dark-skinned man said with a lopsided smirk.
Nolan chuckled as he gets up from the bench while Darren, Sheena and Team Natsu step out of his way. "Well, even I have to relax once in a while, right Lucas?" He responded as he walks over to his fellow soldiers. After placing himself in front of his men, Nolan turns around to the others still gathered around the bench. "Everyone, these are my fellow squad members. They are lieutenants Tryo Eriksson and Lucas Nova."
"Nice to meet you two." Lucy greeted and smiled warmly at the two. But her smile faded when Tryo flinched upon seeing her and Team Natsu.
"Captain, the boy with pink hair is Natsu Dragneel, isn't he?!" Tryo asked Nolan furiously.
"Yes he is." Nolan replied.
"The same mage who brought destruction upon Domus Flau and the Mercurius Palace at Crocus a year ago, right?!" Tryo barked.
The members of Team Natsu cringed while Nolan chuckled nervously as he scratches the back of his head. "Yup, that's him."
Tryo jabs a finger accusingly at Natsu as she yelled, "Listen to me, Natsu Dragneel! You may be pardoned by King Fiore for the crimes you committed back then, but that doesn't mean the Rune Knights will ever forget what you did!"
Natsu snorted and rolls his eyes. "Seriously? You guys are still harping on that?"
"Natsu!" Lucy chided him.
"What?" Natsu asked her in annoyance.
"Anyways…" Nolan interrupted as he turns back to his teammates. "Tryo, Lucas, is there anything you want to report to me?"
"Yes sir." Lucas said as he and Tryo stood up straight. "Tryo and I found a large patch of land at the outskirts of Hargeon, completely burnt and decimated of any plant life."
"All of the grass, bushes and even the trees that were grown in the area were eradicated into nothing but ash and dirt. But the fire didn't spread to the rest of the field. The burning just stopped around the radius. What do you think caused this? A blast of fire magic from a mage?" Tryo asked Nolan.
"Perhaps, but there's only one way to know for sure. Take me to the site where you found this." Nolan said to Tryo and Lucas.
"Yes Captain!" The two said in unison.
"Can we come along?" Erza asked Nolan and his team as she, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Happy and Carla approach them.
"Huh?! After what you guys did at Crocus, no way!" Tryo yelled at her.
"But what if this turns out into something that just the three can't handle on your own?" Lucy asked.
"Right. In case that happens, you will need all the help you can get." Wendy added.
Tryo tries to speak up but Nolan holds his hand up in front of her face. As Tryo looks at her superior in confusion, Nolan said to Team Natsu, "If my brother was here, no. But since I'm not him…" His lips curved into a small smile. "Yes, you all may join us."
"Mind if we come along?" Darren asked as he and Sheena walks up to Team Natsu and the Faction.
"Yeah, I don't want to stay behind and miss out on the action like back in Halure." Sheena said as she places her hands at the back of her head.
"Sure. We may need your help, Sheena. But are you really sure you want to come along with us, Darren?" Natsu asked.
"If I want to protect my friends, I must have the courage to fight alongside them too." Darren replied.
Erza smiled at Darren and nods her head. "Very well then. You can come with us, Darren."
"Thanks guys." Darren said.
"Sir, one of us would have to stay behind to look after the town." Lucas said to Nolan.
"Yuri, Judith, Estelle and I will stay here and guard the town while you guys are gone." Karol said. Yuri, Judith and Estelle nod their heads as they stand behind Karol while Alicia walks over to the others.
"Karol ordered me to come along with you so that you guys can find your way back to Hargeon." Alicia said to Darren, Sheena and Team Natsu.
"Alright. Thanks." Erza said to Alicia, Yuri and Brave Vesperia.
"Thank you, Lieutenant Lowell." Nolan said to Yuri as the two solemnly nod to each other. Nolan turns back to Tryo and Lucas and commanded, "Alright! Move out!"
Everyone walk through the outskirts of Hargeon at night as Nolan, Lucas and Tryo all hold up their lanterns which they summon when they first departed the town. They walked for fifteen minutes before arriving at the large and wide circular area in the grassy field that was decimated. Darren, Alicia, Sheena and Team Natsu stare at it in awe before they and the Faction slowly walk their way over to the center of it. The entire area has been blackened and not a single leaf or piece of grass can be seen in it.
"As you can see, the area is completely cleared of any plant life." Tryo said before pointing her finger at the grass and lush greenery still growing outside the boundaries of the circle. "And yet if it was caused by flames, it didn't spread to the rest of the field."
When they arrived at the center of the circular area, Alicia kneels down and places her hand on the barren ground.
"Need more light?" Lucas asked as he walks over to Alicia and places his lantern down on the ground beside her.
"Thanks." Alicia responded. She turns her head to the side and notices that the depth of the center of the area is slightly lower than the rest of it. She cups her chin as she continues examining the ground.
"What is it, Alicia?" Darren asked as everyone gathered around her.
"Notice that the center of the area is slightly lower than the rest of it." Alicia said.
"Yeah, you're right. The center of the area is curved like a saucer too." Lucy said, looking down at the ground where Alicia is kneeling on top of.
"Now notice that the surface molecular deformations are curved." Alicia said as she points her finger at the ground below her feet. Nolan kneels down and could barely see several curved lines along the area where Alicia is pointing at.
"I see it. But what could this mean?" Nolan said.
"If it's a blast like Tryo suggested, perhaps the center of this circular area was hit by something." Alicia said.
"Like a bomb or someone punching and landing on the ground?" Natsu implied.
Alicia looks up at Natsu. "Exactly." Everyone gasped. Alicia looks back at the ground and examines the curved lines. "Something must have landed here, then curve around to create such lines."
"Like the blast was going around like a spiral." Darren said, widening his eyes.
"Correct. Then while the center of the blast remains in the middle, its waves kept spiraling round and round until it stops at the boundaries of the area that is demarcated." Alicia lifts her head up again. Everyone turn to the direction where Alicia is staring and sees the greenery growing along the boundaries of the decimated area again.
"So something did drop down here and destroyed this area." Wendy said as Alicia stood up. "But what could it be?"
Natsu looks up and drops his jaw for a moment. "Could it be that?" He said as he points his finger up at the sky.
Everyone looks up and stares in awe when they noticed a small bright object flying across the sky. They slowly turn their heads as they watch the object descends to the ground below. A few moments later, they hear an explosion. Everyone yelp and cover their eyes as they could feel the strong winds caused by the explosion blowing through their hair and clothes.
When the wind died down, Nolan swiftly turns and points his finger at the direction where the object flew from earlier. "Come on! We got to pinpoint where that thing came from!" He said as Lucas picks up his lantern.
Darren, Alicia, Lucas, Tryo and Team Natsu nod to each other before they and Nolan run off.
As Sheena stood within the distance the whole time, she watches Darren, Alicia and Team Natsu running off together with her arms folded and a frown on her face. When Darren noticed that Sheena isn't with them, he stops and whirled about.
"Sheena? Are you coming with us?" He asked as he stares at her questioningly.
"Right, I'm coming!" Sheena replied before running after them.
Everyone soon reached the edge of a hill and they widen their eyes when they realize what is below them in the distance.
On a large grassy field were several rows of praetors, standing alongside together as they are armed with spears, swords and crossbows. Placed behind the praetors is a large and blocky silver tank that has a long, cylinder-shaped black cannon mounted at the upper section of the vehicle. There is also a smaller black turret installed on each side of the tank's upper section. The vehicle has no wheels and treads at the bottom but rather, it is levitating in the air by only a few inches above the ground.
"Get rid of our lights!" Nolan ordered Lucas and Tryo before making their lanterns disappear.
Lucas magically summons his binoculars with his other hand and uses it to take a closer look at the tank. He kneels down and activates the binoculars' night vision to see through the dark. He could see the hatch of the tank opening up. A praetor comes out from the tank, turns to his left and gave a thumbs-up. Lucas looked down to see who the praetor is signaling to and he noticed three figures standing beside the tank.
The first figure is a regular praetor holding up a lantern. The second figure is Velvet and the third is a blonde-haired man with blue eyes and dressed in a gray praetor uniform. Velvet and the man are each holding a pair of binoculars in their hand and they turn to each other. As the two begin speaking to each other, Lucas lowers his binoculars and turns to Nolan.
"I spotted two higher rank praetors standing beside that thing, sir. Looks like they are having a nice chat right now." Lucas said to his superior.
"If only we have someone to go over there and spy on them." Nolan said.
"Gate of Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!" Lucy chanted as she swings down one of her celestial keys. Virgo magically appears in front of them and Nolan, Lucas and Tryo stare at the Celestial spirit in awe.
Virgo kneels down on the ground on a single knee and bows before Lucy. "What is it, mistress?" She asked before looking up at her.
"I need you to go over there and stealthily listen to the two praetors who are standing beside that large vehicle." Lucy said, pointing her finger at Velvet and the man in the distance. Virgo turns around and glances at the two figures before abruptly drilling herself into the ground below her feet.
Virgo swiftly travels through underground as she makes her way over to the tank and the higher ranked praetors. When she dug herself out of the ground twenty seconds later, Virgo finds herself several meters behind the tank and the three praetors. With only her head popped out from the ground, Virgo attentively listened to the conversation between Velvet and the man.
"You can clearly see that not a single piece of grass was left on the ground when the rocket landed on its designated area. This shows that the spiral of fire it created upon its landing is so devastating, I guarantee that an entire village would turn into nothing more than a barren wasteland within seconds." The man explained to Velvet with a smug grin.
"True, Second Lieutenant Azrael. But now it's time for us to see how truly effective this vehicle is on people." Velvet said.
"Oh don't worry, Lieutenant. We'll find out soon enough when we commence our invasion of Hargeon. And with this vehicle that I de-" Azrael cuts himself off when Velvet gave him a scowl. The man chuckled nervously upon realizing his mistake. "We…designed; I believe our invasion will only take five minutes or less to force the town's inhabitants to get down on their knees and surrender."
"And if our attack on Hargeon is successful," Velvet narrows her eyes as she clenches her fist. "Magnolia will be next."
Sovereign: I would like to thank aquabluey for reviewing and Crimson-Tuna-Sub for checking out my story. Thanks guys!
Chapter revised on 26th June 2019