Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

-24 – Hava Nagila-

Hughes was less than happy to be returning to Washington, especially under these circumstances. He had known before he was fifteen that he would be going in to the Army – beyond family tradition, and despite political and propaganda claims otherwise, the military was on the forefront of science, where he wanted to be. Not the pie-in-the-sky musings on what it all meant, but the practical how-to of advanced technology. Based on that desire, even before he graduated from West Point, Hughes had known that time spent in DC was time wasted, and to be avoided at all costs.

He had been somewhat more ambitious with regards to the Circles, though even there he had elected to focus on the small and usually-marginalized Research and Development Division. He had still reached the rank of Master Adept, and collected quite the array of connections and an enviable reputation, most of which had been critical to saving what he could of the Circles after Operation Nimrod. He preferred research and experimentation to politics, but had, over the years leading up to Hayate's arrival, resigned himself to practicing the latter to achieve the former.

Now, thanks almost entirely to Hayate, he had no time for science, for research, for experiments. The move to DC, practical and reasonable as it was, much as it would simplify his responsibilities, was hateful just for that. Being in DC was a permanent reminder that he was now too damn busy trying to save his people and his world to do what he loved.

"It's your own damn fault," he muttered, glaring at the Capitol Dome and his own reflection as the Pentagon car weaved its way through DC's late evening traffic. "'Admirably proactive', Wallace called you, 'exceptional initiative'. Can't leave well enough alone, in other words."

Getting through the Pentagon's maze of security was aggravating, but Hughes had experienced it before, and was relatively prepared. Being summoned on an emergency basis by the Joint Chiefs themselves was almost the perfect way through, but the Navy Lieutenant that met him at the door probably helped more.

"Colonel," the young woman saluted sharply enough, for a Pentagon native. "The corporal will take your bags to your quarters, ACES set you up in one of their guest houses. For now, if you could please follow me, Admiral Dahvid is waiting in the Chiefs' situation room. There's been another incident."

Fishing out his ID and passes as he followed her into the building, he asked, "How bad?"

"I don't know, sir. The situation was developing when I was sent to meet you. I do know the USS Ruben James is assisting an Indian Navy frigate on some sort of ASW mission. There's a submarine involved, at least, but I was not privy to the precise nature of the incident before I had to leave to escort you."

From that it was not hard to determine what had happened. Another submarine had been attacked, and there was another search-and-rescue mission on-going. Following the Lieutenant through the warren of passages and stairways, Hughes began turning the two incidents over. It was patently ludicrous that the submarines had been the targets of the attack. While he did not know the second boat, the first, the San Jose, had been an attack-boat, a dedicated ship-killer. The few surface attack weapons it carried – cruise missiles with conventional warheads – would not even annoy an Al Hanthis mage, let alone the city itself. A missile-boat, with its arsenal of nuclear warheads, would be another matter, but even that would probably not be all that much a concern for Al Hanthis.

The Seed had to be after something else. It was possible they were searching for any remnant artifacts from before the Cataclysm – the earlier Seed attacks had all come from the oceans, after all. But mages would be far better for such a search, not Seed. Seed were weapons, aimed at a target and set loose to destroy. So the Seed were on their way to a target somewhere, a target Al Hanthis considered valuable, or dangerous. "What is dangerous enough to dispatch that many Seed to kill it? And why were they sent alone? Not even Al Hanthis would let enough Seed to sink a submarine loose without some sort of control."

"I couldn't say, sir," the Lieutenant interrupted his thoughts, "but we're here. ID please?"

He had to present his whole ID set again, before being ushered into a large darkly lit room. Two large screens were set in one wall, with a stack of other screens on either side. A number of chairs were placed, stadium-style, facing the screens, with a trio of workstations between seats and screens. More comfortable chairs than any theater ever boasted, though. The workstations were populated, and there were four people present, three of them who definitely out-ranked him, and one foreigner whose presence seriously disturbed Hughes.

The first to speak was Hughes' direct superior, General Bergheim, United States Army. He was not welcoming, sneering, "About time you got here, Colonel. Angels clogging up the air-lanes?"

Hughes regretted it, but the hostility was not really a surprise. None of the Joint Chiefs were Circle members, and they did have cause to question his loyalty. They had not been vociferous about it, but it was present. This was, however, the most abrupt and personal attack he had so far suffered. "I saw no angels, General, and the Air Force pilot has thoroughly earned his ground-crew's ire. An F-15 with throttles to the firewall makes very good time, but it still takes time. Sir."

"Not now, Raul," the Admiral seated in the middle commented as he rose. "Colonel Hughes, welcome back to the Pentagon."

"Thank you, sir," Hughes answered.

"You know General Bergheim and General Smith, of course." Hughes nodded to both, but only got a response from the Marine. "General Earlicher is out of town, unfortunately," Dahvid continued, "but this is Colonel Huan, Defense Attaché to the Chinese ambassador. He had some information relevant to the current situation, and we're working on a bit of a quid pro quo."

Hughes studied the small Chinese officer for a moment, then carefully held out a hand. "Adept."

Everyone in the room froze, save for Huan, who merely smiled politely, and shook hands. "Master Adept Hughes. You are shorter than I expected. From the stories my fellows share, you are a towering monster."

"You match your file perfectly, Adept," Hughes countered. "How is your circle?"

"Missing me, I'm afraid," Huan answered. "You know how it is, long-term relationships strained by distance and duty. Mages and officers must both make sacrifices, that is doubly true for those of us who are both."

"Excuse me," Admiral Dahvid interrupted, "but you're a Circle mage?"

"Ah, yes, Admiral," Huan said, still smiling politely, "my apologies, but keeping that to myself is a life-long habit."

Dahvid did not look the least bit reassured. "You're Circle, you make Hughes nervous, and you're from China. You're one of those Revenant terrorists."

Huan's smile faded to a flat look. "I am many things, Admiral. I am no mad bomber. I and my circle disagree with Master Adept Hughes on many issues. The Yagami witch is one of the lesser items, actually. As for my circle, we most strongly object to his sole control of the Circles. No one man should have such power."

"Mostly I agree," Hughes said. "In counter, however, show me some Master Adepts I can trust not to stab me in the back and force Hayate to slaughter all of us, I'll gladly go back to my lab. Until then, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt, Adept, and trust that you are here to help deal with Al Hanthis, not hinder our efforts?"

Huan nodded, polite smile reappearing. "Of course, Master Adept. We do recognize the priorities of survival, after all. You may be misguided, but you are still a Circle mage."

"Good enough."

Dahvid, however, pressed him. "I'm curious, Colonel Huan, is your government aware of your membership in the Circles?"

"In general," Huan answered easily. "Our government is somewhat less worried about such dual loyalties. They realize, after all, that officers and mages both serve the People."

Dahvid considered that for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. "Well, in that case, Commander McAffee, time to target?"

One of the men at the work stations looked up, "Ten minutes, Admiral. The Indians' ground-based flight is already on-site, but Ruben James' bird is still a few minutes out."

"Very good. Gentlemen, have a seat. Colonel Hughes, if I could speak with you, I have a few technical questions." The other officers took the hint, even Dahvid's nominal equals moving farther back in the seating. Once Hughes was seated, Dahvid leaned over. "Actually, Colonel, I have some advice. You're in a very uncomfortable position, for everyone, and needs must when the devil drives. Frankly, the fact that you are both an Army officer and the commander of the Circles is aggravating a lot of people, and Bergheim's the least of them. People on the Hill are asking questions, officers in all branches are asking questions, Hell, we've even had other nations asking questions. They don't like the idea of some of their officers reporting to some American. The work you've been doing to contain the Revenants has helped keep things quiet, and the fact that the President likes you gives you very good cover, but that won't last forever."

Hughes grimaced at the analysis, but could not fault it. "The timing isn't right to retire, sir," he answered. "The paperworks drawn up, but now is not the time. A surprising amount of my authority over the Ops people is based on my military rank. Other mages in the military follow me because of that, bringing their circles with them. If it weren't for Al Hanthis, in a few months I would have submitted the paperwork and been gone by the end of the year. As it is," he shook his head, "I don't see it happening any time soon. No one can afford for the Circles' leadership to be unstable right now."

"Agreed," Dahvid answered, "and I wasn't telling you to retire, or anything else, actually. Just commenting. No, I have advice. Your official position with the Arcane Confirmation and Evaluation Section is an opportunity to relieve a lot of the questions and concerns about you. ACES is, technically, a civilian operation. It's under military direction, but everyone knows it's a bunch of you Circle people, with some DOD types to keep things focused. We put you in charge of it not because you're an Army officer – there are already seven other officers and twelve enlisted personnel assigned to ACES – but because you're the head of the Circles. So, going forward, it would probably be better if you don't show up in uniform. In uniform, you're an Army Colonel. Out of uniform, you're Grand Master of an independent international intelligence network."

"All due respect Admiral, but that won't work. It sounds nice, mind you, but I am an Army officer."

Dahvid smirked. "Yup. But try coming in here in a suit and tie next time. You'll notice a difference, not just in how Bergheim acts, either, the paranoid old codger. You'll also find it easier to put him in his place. I'll be blunt, Grand Master..."

"If we're being blunt," Hughes held up one hand, "The correct form of address is Master Adept. 'Grand Master' is a label the more vocal Revenants gave me, as an insult. Sort of like the old media complaints about 'King George'. My own people adopted it to spite the Revenants, and over my objections."

Dahvid studied him for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. "Very well, Master Adept. Though that sort of 'first among equals' will only last so long. But, as I was saying, we have no use for Colonel Hughes. We have hundreds of colonels, any of whom could fill your military position. We, not just the US, but the world, needs Grand Master Hughes. The only person we know who could fill that role is the Yagami woman, and we don't know her. We know you, mostly. Give it a try, Master Adept. If I'm wrong, you can always go back to wearing your uniform. Now, however, it looks like our bird is on site."

The Navy helicopter was patently a late arrival. What looked like a Russian Alfa was on the surface, but even Hughes could tell it would not be there for long. It was wallowing badly, rolled halfway over on one side. There were a frightening number of rents in the out hull, and Hughes could see at least one hatch had been ripped open. In the water around the sinking vessel were bodies, most of them immobile. Standing on the wreck were Seed, more than twenty of them.

"Jesus," Bergheim said, "What are they using to do that sort of damage?"

"Their claws," Hughes answered, "and unnatural strength. I doubt they can get through a titanium hull very quickly, but they can find all the cracks and seams, all the weak points. No physical defense can stop a Seed. Only killing one can stop it."

Dahvid was staring intently at the video. "How do you kill them?"

"Pre-Cataclysm, something like that cannon the Revenants used in Egypt a couple weeks ago, only with a physical projectile. These days... we've only got projections, but standard anti-armor weapons should suffice, if they're accurate enough to hit an evading man-sized target. Low probability of hits and kills, though. It's going to take a lot of shots. Do we have any information on how many Seed are in this pack?"

"Approximately a thousand," Huan commented, "according to our people in Egypt."

During that discussion, the Seed began abandoning the submarine. Watching them move was fascinating, in a sickening way. They were smooth, graceful, no wasted motion or unnecessary actions. Then he noticed a trio of Seed, the last ones on the boat, and discrepancies registered.

"Commander McAffee," he said, as the trio disappeared in the water, "are you recording this as well?"

"Um, yes Colonel."

"Can you bring the recording up on another screen, rewind to those last Seed."

"Just a moment, sir."

The second screen switched to earlier, and began repeating the prior scene. "Stop there," Hughes ordered, leaning forward as he stared at the figures extended in dives. "Son of a bitch," he whispered.

"Colonel?"

Hughes acknowledged Dahvid's question, but asked, "Do you see that, Adept Huan? The one on the end, it's too large for a Seed."

"I see it, Master Adept," Huan said slowly, "but I do not know what it means."

"Neither do I, and that's a problem."

"Gentlemen," Dahvid sounded rather annoyed, "what do you see?"

"Ah, sorry, Admiral," Hughes replied, still staring at the frozen image. "The Seed on the left end of the trio, it's visibly larger than the others. Seed don't vary in size. They all fall within an inch or so of height, within a pound or two of weight. The two Hayate autopsied were within a couple millimeters and grams of each other. They aren't grown, they're made, manufactured. A larger Seed argues for something strange."

"They already approach the point of diminishing returns, in terms of size and mass versus strength and toughness," Huan added. "Without magic to enhance them, they are bound by physical limits such as the square-cube law, and the materials they are made from become less efficient at larger sizes. I doubt anyone would notice a difference between normal Seed and the one we are looking at now, but much larger and the strength and toughness gains would be off-set by speed reduction and more strength lost just holding itself up. Also, why? Seed are dangerous enough as they are, why make one larger when they have such numbers available?"

"That probably depends on their target," Hughes told him. "Perhaps they need an assault element, or these are some newer version they came up with. If they created an improved Seed in the Void, they may not have the resources to produce many."

"The second option sounds more probable, Master Adept," Huan said, "as there is nothing in Hong Kong that would be any more vulnerable to a larger Seed."

Hughes turned to study Huan for a moment. "You're the second person in as many days to tell me they're going to Hong Kong. What's your reasoning?"

Huan shrugged. "We have representatives the world over. We have been far more active these last decades, and more successful, in Africa than the US has ever been. Some of our people remain in Cairo – they see the opportunities outweighing the risks – and they have overheard Al Hanthis mages talking. Soldiers will complain, when others get choice assignments. We have reliable information that Al Hanthis will strike at Hong Kong within a few days, Seed under cover of mages."

"The Seed course could be headed there, Admiral," McAffee offered. "First strike off the Arabian peninsula, second two days later off the Indian coast. They're moving fast, but not impossibly so. Do you know if they need to stop and rest, Colonel?"

"Think of them as Hollywood's image of sharks," Hughes told him, "always moving, always killing, dangerous just to look at. They probably aren't stopping, swimming from dawn to dawn, eating whatever they catch on the way. The only weakness of the Seed, from Al Hanthis' viewpoint, is controlling them once they're unleashed. It's impossible. You give them a target, and they destroy it. Once that's done, they may or may not go dormant again, and if they don't, they'll go on a rampage. Hong Kong is a long way to send Seed unescorted, but doable. Adept Huan, how are your people going to respond?"

Huan studied him carefully for a few moments, then shrugged. "For myself, I am to request American assistance in the form of intelligence monitoring of the Seed's progression, and supplies of anti-armor weapons. Our projections indicate even your nominally obsolescent LAWS would be useful. My requests are less in expectation of being filled, than in showing China's willingness to work together with the only other superpower to resolve the Al Hanthis situation. For the People's Liberation Army... The Hong Kong Exchange is already being moved to Beijing, on a temporary basis. As many businesses as possible are relocating their work and personnel elsewhere, mostly in Shanghai. The entire city is being evacuated and will be empty within three days from now. A miracle of Chinese organization, yes? At the same time, an infantry division is being moved into the city. We are unwilling to risk our people, but we will not yield the city."

Hughes had never had much respect for the PLA. Sure, it was big, but it was conscript based and a product of China's philosophy of Bureaucracy over Individuals. The PLA relied on numbers, on economic intimidation, and sheer production power, instead of tactics, technology, and human spirit. But listening to Huan, he was reminded that the US Army had been there once before, and those who served in the US armed forces then were still known as 'The Greatest Generation'. "Make arrangements with your government, Adept. I don't know how many, yet, but every Master level and higher circle I can lay my hands on will be en route to Hong Kong shortly. Your superiors will be hearing from Hayate shortly as well, if they have not already. My recommendation is to let her lead. She's smart enough to know her own limits, and more experienced than her age suggests."

"I will be guided by you, Master Adept."

"Admiral," Hughes turned back to Dahvid, "I'm afraid I can only offer a little advice about the Seed. We have myths, legends, and a little information from incidents in Egypt and Kyoto."

"We had an encounter," Huan interrupted, "in Tibet. One Seed. It killed a number of soldiers, but seemed more interested in avoiding contact. We lost it in the mountains. It was headed west, probably towards Egypt."

Dahvid nodded, "What information can you give us?"

"Don't let anything that isn't airborne within miles of the Seed. If you have any ships in the area, and the pack starts to move towards it, have it get out of there as fast as possible. If you track them with helos, don't use the dipping sonar. Seed will climb the cable as easily as Rangers go up a knotted rope. Other than that, track them, find out where they're going, and warn off anything that might be in their path. They have to have encountered other shipping, but the only thing they've attacked have been submarines."

"It's probable that the submarines were tracking them. It's not always obvious which surface ships have sonar capabilities sufficient to track biologicals," Dahvid commented. "So are they trying to keep us from tracking them, or just eliminating whatever gets in their way?"

Long flight or not, figuring out what the Seed were doing, and what the US could do about them, was a beguiling question challenge. Frightening, but beguiling. Almost enough to make Hughes forget that he hated being in DC.

00000

Meghan was a little worried to find herself completely unconcerned when it came to her turn to activate her device. It took her a few days afterwards to figure out why – whether it worked or not, she already had the best part of magic. She could shape-shift, almost at will, into whatever form took her fancy. Each form was easier to learn than the last, though she had not tried any really exotic forms. The craziest she had gotten was the form of a tiger shark, in a tank Lotte-nee-chan had put together specifically for the test. But she could shape-shift into essentially anything.

So activating her device was little different from any other school project. It was important, yes, and her grade depended on it, but she was hardly reliant upon it. This was no more stressful than any of the papers for Vita-sensei, or Aria-sensei. She would have been a little more nervous, except almost everyone else had already gone through this.

Walking up to the dormant construct, she rested a hand on it, and had a few seconds of doubt as nothing occurred to her to say. She had to descend into a full trance before she heard or felt anything, the desire in her heart. "To be the world, free of form and binding, to end the limits of form and rule, Longinus, henshin."

She sensed the impression, the device taking its identity from her, adopting the amorphous self-image Megan reveled in. There was a sense of instability in it, a sense of shifting that she remembered from her shape-shifting. When the device finally stabilized in her hand, she came out of her trance, to find herself holding an eight-foot spear, a deep red in color. The last third was forked, the two tines sharp blades. The haft was two strips, spiraled together. Just beneath the cross-arms was a small blue sphere, wrapped in the spiral.

"Nice," she murmured, running one hand over the separated spiral of the haft. "Hope it shifts with me."

"We'll get to that, Chibi-nee-chan," Lotte told her, "but first things first. You need a barrier jacket."

"Hai, sensei. Longinus, Morphic Ward." For a second, she felt the same shivery instability she associated with her shape-shifts, but it was at an odd remove. By the time she figured out it was Longinus altering her school uniform's fabric into the raw material of her barrier jacket, the shift was complete. Instead of the skirt, blouse and jacket she had started with, Megan was now wearing a short-limbed body-suit, under shorts and a ridiculously over-sized bomber jacket. The body suit and jacket were black, the shorts red, and all of them seemed oily and hazy, not quite real, or possibly not quite stable.

"Now that is nice," Lotte-nee-chan commented, running a finger across Megan's shoulders. The 'black' jacket rippled under her touch, only a little, but not at all like fabric should respond to physical contact. "This is similar to Laura's Gaussian Field, avoiding rather than opposing. Should be malleable enough for your shape-shifting as well. Speaking of which... let's start where we began, shall we? Show me a wolf."

Megan nodded, stepping back a bit for room, and began the shift with a thought. It was habit, by now, to simply drop whatever she was holding, and she released Longinus without thinking. Instead of dropping to the ground, however, the twin spiral of the haft unwound, even as her barrier jacket flowed. When the shift was complete, her barrier jacket was now an oil-slick coating on the individual strands of her fur, while the 'staff' was wrapped around her torso, with one of the blades along each foreleg, and the gem core nestled between her shoulder-blades.

Megan studied the changes for a few seconds, shifting in place, then took a few tentative steps. When nothing untoward happened, she went a little faster, a full circuit around Lotte-nee-chan, before looking up at her favorite teacher. 'Everything works fine, sensei,' she said, 'Logninus isn't inhibiting my movements, nor is the barrier jacket.'

"Let's test that, shall we. I know you've been thinking of something special just for today, haven't you? Let's see it."

Megan hesitated, then shifted back to human. "Um.... sensei... that's... not really... real. I'm not sure it'll work."

Lotte blinked at her, then laughed, "Ah, come on chibi-nee-chan! We've worked so long on this one! It'll work. If it doesn't, Shamal-san's right over there. She and I can put you back to right in a moment, you know that. It will work, Megan. Go ahead."

"But it's... Lotte-nee-chan, I'm really nervous about this," Megan admitted softly, "I've never tried anything this complex before, anything this... weird."

Lotte ruffled her hair gently. "You'll be fine, chibi-nee-chan. All your forms are equally complex, this one's just unique. The melding and mergers will be smoothed over by Longinus. Come on, please?"

Megan almost protested again. The 'war form' she had come up with was not something she was entirely comfortable with, even if the original idea had been hers. Lotte-nee-chan had done a lot of the research and biology, but the ideas that drove it were Megan's. The Seed made her too nervous, especially now, and she had wanted a form that could stand up to one. The answer to that was so complicated, though, so totally unique – there were literally no other examples of it anywhere.

"Lotte, don't be pushy," Hayate said. "Megan, what about this form has you so nervous?"

Megan actually flinched at that. She had not precisely been keeping it a secret, not like she had hidden her shape-shifting all last year, but Hayate would not like her taking such a risk. "It's a chimera form, Hayate-sensei. A merger of... several other forms I know."

Hayate frowned thoughtfully at that, but Shamal practically exploded. "A chimera form?! Lotte, what were you thinking suggesting she try something like that?"

Lotte's ears went flat, her expression mulish. "I was thinking that my favorite student is the best shape-shifter I have ever met, and one of the best on record. She's good enough to drive Yuuno-kun up the wall, and we've taken every precaution we can take. Chimera forms aren't impossible, just difficult."

"And dangerous," Hayate said. "Megan, did she explain why they are so dangerous?"

"Different biologies react differently," Megan answered, "like how horses and humans react differently to morphine. Also, chimera forms are easy to get trapped in, confused about what is 'you' and what is the form. I know all that, Hayate-sensei, I'm only nervous because I haven't tried this form on my own yet. It's done, it's just..."

When she trailed off, Hayate nodded, "I understand. You can try it if you want, Megan, I'll trust you and Lotte to have done this carefully. But Lotte, if she says no, drop it. And I want to see the full plan for the form tonight."

"I'll do it," Megan said slowly, clutching Longinus tighter. Then she repeated, more forcefully, "I'll do it. Longinus, Henshin Werewolf."

The shift this time was a little slower, but held none of the drain she was used to. She half-expected it to hurt, or to feel off, but when the flowing sensation faded, it felt no different from her usual shifts. The form itself was ridiculously complicated - Feline eyes for vision, and feline claws on her feet for traction and flexibility; Canine ears and nose for senses and tail for balance; Her fur was more bear-like than wolf-like, for better warmth, and the claws on her hands were bear-claws for greater strength and grip than wolf claws. All of that was layered over the most uncomfortable part – a muscle plan and composition taken directly from the Seed, the most efficient and powerful she and Lotte-nee-chan had been able to find, and the least natural part of the shift.

The only problem was, the wolf-like muzzle full of fangs was totally unsuitable to human speech. 'I think it worked, Lotte-sensei,' she said, turning in place while she studied her new form. 'Nothing feels off, not even as bad as the first time I shifted to a bird.'

"Sounds good, chibi-nee-chan," Lotte replied, "now hold still a second while Shamal-san checks you. I told her you're fine, but she insists." Lotte sighed and slumped theatrically, "Why does no one ever trust me?"

Shamal's scan was quick, in deference to the class, but thorough. Megan could feel the energies of the scan working through her, an unpleasant tingle that was nothing at all like shape-shifting. The school mother stepped back after a moment, frowning slightly. "There does not appear to be anything wrong, the various forms are melded onto a human base biology fairly well. But I'm going to have to study it for a while before I can be certain.

'She almost sounds disappointed there's nothing wrong with me,' Megan complained to Lotte.

'Be nice, she hasn't had any major injuries to fix in months, and she really is worried about you. Chimera forms are dangerous, it's just you're good enough to handle that danger.' "For now, chibi-nee-chan, why don't you shift back to normal and we can move on to my next victim."

Megan shifted back to human form, then submitted to yet another scan by Shamal, before finally letting Longinus collapse into storage mode. Instead of shrinking to some convenient shape, however, the spear unraveled again, draping the blades down her back and wrapping her shoulders and arms in the hafts. The crystal at least shrank, settling into the hollow of her throat like it was a necklace.

"Not bad, chibi-nee-chan," Lotte told her once more, "but you probably should figure out a less flamboyant storage form. People might think you're boasting.

00000

Szash stopped on entering her outer office, studying her aides before moving on to her own office. She had final preparations for Hong Kong to see to, but Galli's glance caught her attention. "You need something, Galli?"

"More confused, General," Galli answered. "I've been reviewing the preliminary reports from our scouts. Do you have a few minutes?"

Szash nodded, moving over to perch on the edge of his desk. There were chairs she could have used, but sitting on the desk was one of her long-standing 'fights' with Eri. "Go ahead."

Galli quite deliberately leaned back to clear the line of fire, then explained, "Most of the scouts report just what we expected. The local satellite networks are mostly primitive, but accurate for what they are. No one is trying to spoof us or feed us false information. Not yet, at least. The Yagami woman's network is both more cohesive and more advanced, and someone is actively trying to prevent us from using them, probably some form of adaptive AI. Whoever it is, they're good enough that we can't rely on those satellites and are mostly ignoring them. But the primitive networks are accurate enough, they show about what we expected at this point. A little more activity in some regions, less in others, but really only overhead imagery, none of the human interaction and detailed knowledge we need for accurate predictions.

"What is bothering me, though, is Japan. The satellites all provide the same level of detail over Japan as elsewhere, and a ridiculously high volume of communications traffic. But our scouts can't find the islands."

Szash knew he was playing with her, the statement was just too blatantly ridiculous for him to be serious. But Galli was always serious, even when he was joking. "I'm going to guess that you have some sort of explanation for that statement."

Galli shrugged. "Wish I did, General. The scout teams sent to Japan – and we sent a third team to study the effect after the first two teams got lost – literally cannot find the islands. We know where they are, we even used the local satellites to track the teams in real-time. They insist they fly in straight lines west to east from the China coast, but the closer they get to Japan, the further north or south they turn. Speed doesn't seem to be a factor, though altitude does. The third team is still testing this... effect... but at present, it appears we can't get any closer to the Japanese coast than forty miles."

"Forty miles?"

"Yes, General."

"How close to that is Hayate's school? Can we get visual at forty miles?"

Galli shook his head, "No, ma'am, both due to range and intervening terrain. Not unless we came in from overhead. An orbital bombardment, if we can rebuild or find and reactivate one of the old ZES platforms, would be our best bet to strike her base."

Szash grimaced, "but we can't guarantee a clean kill with an orbital bombardment. Damn. So much for ending the war in one strike." Pushing off Galli's desk, she strode over to the windows, to her thinking spot. "We can't get to her base, and she can't get to ours. We can each withdraw there whenever things get too rough, to rest and recuperate."

"Japan is drastically limited in its resources, General," Eri reminded her. "They have to import almost everything, even basic food supplies."

"So do we," Szash reminded her. "Remember, Eri, we were a decade or so away from running out of some critical resources ourselves, that's part of why the Conclave was so eager to pull through the fracture. A few years of study would have been safer, but... failed spells and all that. Eri, shelve the plans for the Kyoto strike. Don't abandon them, but don't waste time on them either. Galli, while we're hitting Hong Kong, send a full squad of scouts to Japan. I want to know everything there is to know about that barrier or illusion or redirection or whatever that thing is. If we can't get at Hayate in Japan, our strongest opponent is safe from us and we're reduced to a slugging match. I don't like slugging matches, never had the build for them."

00000

Lotte turned from Megan to grin at her 'next victim'. "Natalia?"

Allison was grateful for the distraction, turning away from Megan. Megan was a nice girl, and far from the monster legend described, but her shape-shifting reminded Allison of nothing so much as the skinwalkers of Navajo legend. Indeed, Megan's abilities gave credence to those horror stories, as someone less scrupulous than Hayate's students could abuse that power quite easily. Watching Megan shape-shift, or realizing that the 'critter' she occasionally saw prowling the woods was her classmate, gave Allison a severe case of the wiggins.

Natalia, for all her strangeness, was far less disturbing to Allison than Megan was. The Russian was quiet, withdrawn, and a little too death-happy for Allison, but she was basically understandable. Watching her rest her hand on her device, Allison felt no fear of Natalia, just an impatience for her turn.

"I have stood before the Gates," Natalia said slowly, "and seen my terrors made real. Stand with me, and change this fate, that none need suffer my curse again. Awake and serve me, Koschei."

It was almost boring by now, watching the transition from construct to active device. Natalia's took a second or two longer than the prior examples, but what was really surprising to Allison was how Natalia stumbled and almost fell when it was over. Her eye-patch was gone, and she had a look of utter horror on her face. It was only there for a second, though, as Natalia caught herself with her new staff and screwed her eyes shut. It was black, eight feet or so long, the last two feet separated into a three-pronged grip around a clear crystal cylinder.

"Natalia?" Lotte helped her steady herself, "You all right?"

"Yes, sensei," Natalia replied, "it's just... Koschei... made me prove myself worthy. He is... not the most cooperative of devices, apparently." She gestured with her free hand, "Shroud." The barrier jacket the formed around her was just as dark as Allison expected, a black coat with hood over black shirt and pants, and a new eye-patch, solid black with an Al Hazred character in the center. Only after the patch was in place did Natalia open her eyes again.

Lotte looked her over, poking and prodding at her armor as usual, but did not say anything until she got to the eye-patch. "What's this mean?"

"Bringer of life," Natalia answered. "I'm tired of seeing death everywhere I look."

"Good girl," Lotte actually smiled at that, "and you're barrier jacket's up to my exacting standards. Passable, passable. A little on the light side, but you're not much of a fighter, are you?"

"No, sensei. I'll stick to my libraries, thank you. Knowledge is life, after all."

Lotte accepted that with a nod, "Anything you want to show off before we get to the tedious bits?"

Natalia shook her head, "No thank you, sensei, I'm good. I want to speak with Hayate-sensei before I will risk some of my more unique spells."

"Fair enough. Then, next victim! Allison, dear Allison, it's time to show up your boyfriend!"

Allison felt a spurt of embarrassed anger, "Beanpole's not my boyfriend."

Lotte's instant response was, "Who says I was talking about Noah? Why did you jump right to that conclusion, Allison... are you sweet on Noah as well? Poor Toshirou, he's probably so hurt by your..."

"That's enough, sensei," Noriko called a split-second ahead of Hayate. "We know you're just having fun, but please?"

Lotte rolled her eyes dramatically, but she was still grinning, "All right, all right, I'll behave. Careful, Noriko, or I'll start calling you Mistress as well. You sound just like she did at your age."

"Thank you, Lotte-sensei. Allison, my apologies for interrupting."

Allison waved that off. She should have known better than to get into a verbal sparring match with Lotte, there was too much cat in the familiar for her to back down from a challenge. Instead, Allison turned to her own device. "On the hunt or resting quiet, loose with friends or 'gainst enemies vile, I go where I will and none the wiser. Sing me to battle, Gallóglaigh."

The rush of energy was nothing – a little more turbulent than she was used to, feeling almost like Noriko's description of 'an over-active child', but controllable. What she had trouble with was the sudden urge to vanish into her cloak and start stalking Lotte, pay her back for the 'boyfriend' joke. The prank-like impulse was unlike her, but the challenge of her skills was right up her alley. She almost gave in, almost let the fade take her, but restrained herself with the thought of pissing off Vita. Vita hated it when she disappeared, claimed it was cheating.

Once she got over that impulse, found herself staring at a short sword in her right hand, and was, for a moment, a little disappointed. Gallóglaigh was less than four feet in total length, shaped similarly to an over-sized bowie-knife. The hardened disk around the processor core was smaller than the palm of her hand, set slightly 'above' the spine, which was itself almost a half inch thick, just high enough to put its blade-side in line with the edge. There was a short thin cross-guard below it, a textured metal grip under her hand, and a ring pommel.

Flipping the blade around her hand, testing its balance and swing, though, she began to see the utility of its small size. Gallóglaigh was no show-piece, but it balanced perfectly, the blade was sharp enough to shave when she slid it along her arm, and it was functional. The cartridge chamber was beneath the pommel, which rotated out of the way, giving her a smaller magazine than Luke, but plenty for her plans.

"No hunting with that thing," Lotte warned her, breaking her out of her focus. "It's a mage device, not a pocket knife."

Allison just grinned back at her, "But sensei, how else am I supposed to hunt mages?" Lotte blinked in surprise, and Allison realized just how blood-thirsty she must look. Relaxing and chuckling, "Don't worry, sensei, I'm no vigilante. But I'm not putting up with Laura's idea of 'lessons' for nothing."

Lotte relaxed, shivered once, then muttered, "You looked just like Nee-chan when she gets all vengeful, for a second. Don't do that again. Now, barrier jacket please."

"Hai, sensei. Gallóglaigh, Leathers."

Allison's barrier jacket was, in her opinion, much simpler than the others. Just pants and jacket, in mottled shades of brown and gray leather, with leather-strip netting over almost all of it. The fit was a little looser than she would have preferred, but that would keep it from getting in her way. It even came with a leather scabbard for Gallóglaigh, a leather strip around her forehead tying her hair back, and a hood hanging loose off her shoulders.

Sheathing the blade, Allison had to hunt a second for where her pockets went, and just found the test cartridge when Lotte finished poking at her. Unlike with her classmates barrier jackets, Lotte was frowning fiercely. "I was worried about this," she said as she stepped back and crossed her arms. "Your problem with shields extends to the barrier jacket. This will stand up to most mundane small-arms – pistols and most rifles – but even the basic busters the first-years are learning will punch right through this. And there's no redirection, like Laura's and Megan's."

Allison shrugged, having half expected it. She could manage a solid shield by now, but it took far more effort than it was worth, and her shields remained far and away the weakest in her class. "It's not that big a deal, sensei. I'm fast and sneaky. If I'm getting shot at, I've already screwed up."

"Lotte, try sensing her," Hayate said, "magically. Gallóglaigh is playing to her strengths, even now."

Lotte gave her a questioning look, then turned back to Allison, and muttered something under her breath. Allison caught a brief glow to her eyes, like cat eyes in the dark, then Lotte's head rolled almost ninety degrees to the side and her ears went off in different directions. "That is one of the oddest things I have ever seen. Allison's head, floating there in space. She's not quite gone to magical senses, but there's... a haze? Hmm, a nice effect, worth exploring, but we still need to improve the basic toughness. Nothing is truly impossible to find, and you're going to need to be tough enough to stand up to whatever does find you."

Allison almost sighed, recognizing the implicit scheduling of more sessions with Noah and grueling sessions with Lotte, but nodded. "Understood, sensei."

00000

Hughes finally found his new office at roughly noon the next day. On arriving at the Arcane Confirmation and Evaluation Section shortly after seven thirty, Hughes had been given a whirlwind tour, which had mostly consisted of a series of meet-and-greets. There was a single simple work-room, still being finished, in the basement, but most of ACES small building was filled with fairly mundane office spaces. He met his new subordinates, if informally, and was mostly pleased. He had ordered ACES put together back in May, but the actual formation of the consulting company out of various circles had been accomplished by others.

He was dog tired, and still a little uncertain of his precise role – in Washington more than ACES – when he did finally reach his office. Bergheim had been the worst part of the night before, his blatant hostility coloring the entire meeting. The fact that said meeting had not finished until somewhere around two in the morning, and Hughes had arrived at ACES before eight, meant that Hughes was currently very short on sleep.

Business never did wait, though. When Lucius Heller finally showed him into his office, introducing him again to his secretary Jennifer Trudeau, there was a man in a suit waiting for him.

"This is Special Agent DeMauro, sir, FBI," Jennifer told him. "He was scheduled to meet with you back at Fort Tesla the day after tomorrow."

"My apologies for arriving early, Grand Master," DeMauro said, extending a hand, "but since you're in DC now, I have some... moderately urgent matters to discuss with you. Regarding a matter you asked my colleagues to look into a few months ago."

Shaking DeMauro's hand, Hughes needed a few seconds to remember what, precisely, he had asked the FBI for. Tiredness and more urgent intervening concerns had pushed the matter lower in his priorities. When he did, though, he frowned. "Shanghai."

DeMauro nodded, "Yes sir. Do you have some time to speak privately?"

"Heller," Hughes said, "give me half an hour, then we'll start in on those personnel availability reports."

"Understood, Master Adept."

"Come with me, DeMauro."

The FBI agent picked up his briefcase, and followed Hughes into his new and yet-unseen sanctum. It proved to be depressingly bland, lacking any of the personal touches his old office had possessed, and definitely lacking the comfortably worn-in feel of an older building. This was sparkling new, perfectly finished, and utterly boring. "Have a seat," Hughes waved at the chairs arranged around a table to one side, while he took another seat, "what have you got for me?"

DeMauro spoke while pulling several thin files out of his briefcase. "I'm the lead officer on the investigation, which doesn't mean much – I've got one junior field agent helping me, and I may loose him shortly. Kidnapping case is heating up, and the counter-intelligence department is getting short-shrift this year, none of which really matter. The fact of the matter is, the FBI is extremely uncomfortable with this investigation. We are not in the habit of house-cleaning private organizations, don't want to be in that habit, and a number of our agents are of the opinion that we should be investigating you, not your traitors. But your people are not the ones blowing up buildings, so we're mostly willing to help. That will probably be easier, if Atlantis gets any more over-active and the US gets officially involved. Officially, our current involvement is based on the possibility that current or former US military personnel have passed or are passing information to the Chinese.

"As far as the Shanghai incident, however, we've taken preliminary looks at most of the people involved, including you, and reached three major conclusions. The first you already warned us about – the Circles records are atrocious. We're still trying to make heads or tales of some of them, and whoever or whatever came up with your filing and record systems was a world-class schizophrenic. The second is, thanks to the chaos in your records, by our usual criteria everyone involved in the Shanghai mission is equally suspect. You all have some gaping holes in your backgrounds.

"The good news is that by using a little comparative analysis, we've found three people who are stand-out suspicious. In all three cases, they had just enough information to pass your checks – in two cases, exactly enough information. The third, Law, we are less suspicious of. We managed to get some information on him out of Japan – he was one of the mages captured at the Yagami Academy back in February, and officially he's a Red Army infantryman. Apparently he didn't make the jump, but he was part of the Circle security teams on the perimeter. When the Chinese repatriated their troops, he got sent with them, and promptly hopped a flight for the US and your team.

"These two, though," DeMauro slid two folders across next to each other. "These are currently our best bets for your mole, Mister Hughes. Your records of them contain precisely enough information to meet your background checks. Even better, we have tentatively confirmed that both of them died in China, during Yagami's counter-attack. The list of casualties the Bureau provided you shows both of them as 'dead due to burnout', whatever that means. With your permission, Grand Master, we would like to pull both of them in for questioning."

Hughes stared at the two names for a few seconds, then put his elbows on the table and dropped his face into his hands. "I am sick and tired of this politics shit," he muttered. Then he sighed, shoved himself upright, and fixed DeMauro with a steady look. "I'm afraid I can't allow that just now, Agent DeMauro. The Dogs are going to Hong Kong as soon as I can find them an airplane, and I can't afford not to send them. I need the team functional, not doubting each other or thinking of defecting. So, until after Hong Kong, you can't pull in any of the Dogs for questioning. After Hong Kong, though... after that, you and I, and a few of your colleagues, are going to Fort Knox to have a little chat with Schuster and his kids."

00000

As Juliet stepped up to her device, she wondered if she qualified as cheating. For weeks now, she had been meditating at least once a day, searching for her activation phrase, the 'self's vision of the self' Aria had called it. She had spent just as much time forming the image of her completed device, fixing that in her mind as best she could. She was afraid of what she would find in herself, and wanted no surprises, especially not after Marcel's activation.

Having found her phrase, however, she had a new worry – none of the teachers were going to like it, not even Vita-sensei.

"I have dreamed all my futures," she said, remembering the blasted Shaman, "relived my past, and witnessed the destruction at my command. I reject that fate, those futures." She had no doubt she would have to reiterate that time and again, but she would not let that rejection be anything but true. "The world will not tremble at my rage. Rise, my Glaive, stand to my side," the power was rushing through her now, anger and joy and the thrill of limitless strength, "and let us instead shake the pillars of Heaven!"

For a few seconds, she thought she really was making the room shake. It felt like being in an earthquake, as everything shifted and shook, nothing moving the same way as everything else. The energy flowing into Glaive peaked, then cut off abruptly, taking with it the shaking. The weapon in her hands was very similar to Testarossa-sensei's Bardiche, but different enough to be recognizable. The wide blade formed a smooth arc and flat spine, instead of angled lines, set atop the shaft instead of along it. The core was sealed under armor, but still located at the base of the blade. A second tube ran down the back of the haft, halfway to the grip, with a loading port at its lowest point. It would have been perfect, except the entire thing was various shades of dark red, with the blade being the brightest part – the shade of fresh blood.

More than its weight in her hands, Juliet could feel the device's presence. It was not so much in her mind as everywhere, around her, in her, beside her, behind her, Glaive ready and waiting, eager to be used. It was not – quite – bloodthirsty, but definitely more eager than she liked. Even without doing anything, Glaive was tugging at her magic, like a child picking at her pants-leg, looking for attention, for trouble to get into. "Glaive, Plate-mail."

Her barrier jacket was a deeper shade of red than Vita-sensei's, with fewer light points. It was primarily a long high-collared coat, closed by a panel across the front, but the front skirt open over dark pants. Fingerless gloves with metal studs on the knuckles covered her hands, improving her grip on Glaive, and armored boots protected her feet. Despite the use, she could still feel Glaive tugging at her magic, and began to realize that the device would probably never stop.

A sudden jab at her shoulder distracted her, but she managed to keep from doing more than flinch. Lotte was standing there, poking at her in earnest now. Glaive started shivering in her hand, and spells floated into her mind, various ways to get Lotte to stop, most of them surprisingly violent. She had no interest, for instance, in finding out if it really was possible to turn someone inside out.

"Better," Lotte said, "not as good as Noah-kun's, but better. Solid protection, not too restrictive, and Vita'll love the colors. Should've done the hat, though. You'd look cute with rabbits on your head."

"Glaive doesn't like you, sensei," Juliet replied, "thinks you'd look better dodging buster spells."

Lotte flicked an ear and grinned wider. "Do you really think you're good enough to make me dodge?"

"Not me, sensei," Juliet countered, "Glaive. He's... rather forcefully minded. Lot of aggressive suggestions. It's not..." She had to pause to figure out what she meant, for she had not heard a thing from Glaive. "It's not talking to me, not a voice, not sending me pictures, but... I know what it means, what it's trying to do. Like predicting someone you've known for years."

"The device is supposed to be easy for you to know," Lotte reminded her, "its personality is impressed from yours, after all. Though I do worry, now, about just how pushy you are, if your device is so eager. Shall we put it to the test? Girls, back up over here, please." A test course formed through the workroom, similar to but varied from the one the boys had used the day before. "Same test as yesterday, with a twist. Since there are fewer of you, you're going to get to deal with Aria-nee-chan and I at the same time. Megan, you're up first."

00000

Author's Note: The devices are now done (save for the twins, but they'll be along much later). The girls have all had much more established and differentiated devices than the boys, mostly because they're all raging prima donnas.

Longinus: named for the Lance of Longinus, lesser cousin of the Spear of Destiny, according to one SoD mythology. In Megan's case, the appearance and properties are based on the Lance from Evangelion, including the xerox-Lances used by the production Evas. Mostly chosen because the highly morphic presentation in Eva matches Megan's magic.

Koschei: named for a Russian myth of an unkillable monster. It hid its soul in a chicken egg, and so long as the egg was intact, Koschei could not die. Instead it terrorized the surrounding countryside.

Gallóglaigh: The word from which English acquired 'Gallowglass', derived from an Irish term for Scottish mercenaries who formed a major source of soldiers in Scotland and Ireland until the spread of gunpowder. Allison is less concerned with the 'mercenary' connotations, than the 'Gaelic warrior' connotations. A Velka device.

Glaive: named for the type of polearm using in Europe during the Middle Ages. Like most polearms and axe-like weapons, rather brutal if efficient. A Velka device.

00000

pfeil: I actually associate the 9th with homework and writing, since I spent all of high school studying to that symphony. Still glorious, though. The girls' devices were, indeed, activated above. Hope they lived up to your expectations.

Baughn: The repetitiveness bothered me, and I probably should have broken them up into different sections, like this chapter. Unfortunately, I figured that out after posting last chapter. Conventional weaponry will affect the Seed (remember their first appearance, the machinegun made one bleed). But remember what they're made of – skin like Kevlar, scales like titanium, etc. Chapter after next is the battle of Hong Kong itself, where you'll get to see. I'll probably post some of my notes on the Seed after that battle, as there will be no more surprises from them after that.

Kell Shock: The boys aren't as varied as the girls, mostly because I tend to see them as 'Yussef's boys' first and individuals second. The girls are, as noted above, a bunch of prima donnas, much more colorful. The Myrmidon's structure is a little different than you think: Yussef leads, Luke is his lieutenant, Marcel is his aide/second. The difference is subtle, but it's mostly that when Yussef's off somewhere, Marcel would go with him, and Luke would be 'in charge'.

Ray Venn Hakubi: Don't worry about the tropes thing, I'll adjust:). Daikyu's not really all that weak, and Nanoha functions fairly well wit only minimal melee magic. Toushiro's just going to have to rely on the other Myrmidons to keep the enemy off him. I'll have to pass on commenting on your guesses as to the identity of 'the Emperor'. As for the traitor – wait and see, wait and see. There were other people in that following scene, and plenty of other characters it could have been. Imagine a traitor Hayate…

A006: I resent the implication that any Myrmidon would ever where a spandex jump suit or silly helmet. If they went overblown like that, they'd do I in gold and gems. If you're going to kitsch, do it right:). The closest any of them will get to 'combinations' is mutual attacks – Toushiro's shotgun softening an opponent for Marcel's sword, Noah's shields pinning a target in place for Ichigo's buster, that sort of thing. Luke, Toushiro & Ichigo have Velka devices, the rest are standard Midchildan devices. As I told Kell Shock, you don't quite have the roles right – Marcel's more an aide than a lieutenant, but you're otherwise right.

The Sandman: The spell Li used – Judgment of the Fallen – doesn't attack a link, in particular, it generates a cascade overload in the device. But your point about using the device/mage connection is possibly valid – it would be similar to proposals to use the electrical grid for data transmission in place of cable modems and DSL. Very difficult, though, and that connection is both already heavily buffered and safeguard (buffering a mage's linker core is what devices are for, after all), and only indirectly connected to the programming and processing in the device. It would be a good spell for Hayate and Co. to get their hands on, though, useful. As for who would get hurt by Judgment – Bureau mages would lose their device, but be relatively unharmed other than hangover-level backlash. Noriko was only as badly injured as she was because of the deeper than normal connection to her device, which Yussef and Laura would also suffer. Circle mages are, of course, immune, though it could theoretically be tweaked to affect a wolfpack. Al Hanthis mages, though, would be seriously injured and possibly killed by a proper Judgment. Fortunately for the plot, it's a fiendishly complicated spell. Natalia does have some information on the way the Al Hantheans think, but the real question is, would Hayate think to ask? It's not so much a matter of not knowing, as overlooking. Hayate isn't thinking of figuring out Al Hanthis, she's trying to figure out how to avoid and/or win a war with minimal casualties. Natalia's insights will be put to good use, eventually. I hadn't thought of Yuuno's 'reading' spells being useful for Allina and Niranjana, but you are right that they would be useful, properly adapted. It would probably be more of a race, though, to see who could find more info quicker. Glad you're enjoying this, and thanks for the review.

Jack Inque: As I mentioned to Kell Shock, I tend to view the boys as a group before seeing them as individuals. So the boys are 'the boys', and the girls are Laura, Noriko, Juliet, Allina, etc… Here are the last of the girls' devices, barring the twins. Hayate is stepping in on the war right off the bat, because she is constitutionally incapable of not intervening in an unjust situation (such as Al Hanthis' attacks). From there it's not going to be very long before the various factions start making judgments about one another, though I will admit that the prologue's 'future quote' did not list all the call-signs. I can't comment on the wounded/killed student yet, beyond 'no decisions are final', mostly because I haven't made all those decisions yet. Keep reading though, your predictions will be answered eventually.