(Flashback Start)
"So the newest force that you are trying to make work right now will be focused on recovering lost property, such as the Lost Logia?" Yu asked Hayate as he drank down his cup of coffee on the table as she nodded to him. He could not help but sigh a bit as he looked at her straight in the eye. "Hayate no offense to you or anything but are you really sure you want to bring those kids into it then? You and I know just how dangerous Lost Logia can be at time." As Hayate looked really determined at him now.
"I know but you can't deny that these kids have the potential to do great good for the people and you and I know the dangers of Lost Logia. Which is why I wish to start a task force that focuses on recovering them so they can't cause any more harm!" Hayate said with fire burning in her eyes as Yu just looked at her with eyebrows raised at her now. It was no secret to him why she wanted to start this task force considering that their home was almost destroyed by it about two times in a single year no less as well.
"Okay I can understand your reasoning for it, but that does not explain why you are talking to me about it instead of talking to Nanoha and Fate about it considering the former is some of their teacher and the latter is some of their guardian." Then all of a sudden Hayate looked rather small and sheepish as she started poking her fingers together now. That was never a good thing considering that the last time she did it, he ended up cosplaying as a Roy Mustang from FMA for an anime convention she went to then.
"Well that is why I am here to talk to you about, you see." As Hayate fidgeted a bit before him as he put down his cup of coffee now giving her his full undivided attention now. "The thing is, the whole task force idea is still just a concept you know Yu?" she said laughing a bit weakly as he looked at her now with astonishment. "It turns out that I don't exactly have the support to use TSAB resources or personnel to start my idea and I was hoping to grab a few recommendations to support my idea Yu."
Now everything made sense as he just sighed tiredly at her as he interrupted her now. "And knowing the fact that I am one of the few direct subordinates of the Grand Marshal. You were hoping that that by getting the sponsorship and letter of recommendation you can finally jumpstart your plan to create your newest task force correct?" To which she nodded timidly. He just sighed once again, she could never ask for the simple things now could she? It always had to be the harder option to pick now as always still.
"Hayate we may be friends but you do realize that I can't simply just give you my letter of approval like that." Seeing her downturned face, he quickly began to break that thought. "I mean it is not like I don't want to help you or anything like that but you do realize that our friendship will simply call many other of the Command structure to call it favoritism and no offense but that will reflect the badly on the both of us." Causing Hayate to sadly look at me as her plan to bring about her task force ended in failure now.
"But!" I pointed out getting her attention once again. "There is a way for me to help you and that will be the letter of recommendation." As I then smirked at her. "From the Grand Marshal himself." That caused her to collapse in surprise as I dug through my coat pocket and showed her the letter of approval from the Grand Marshal. Now looking at it and back to me I smiled at her. "The old man does have a good understanding of most timelines and he was going to approve it either way, he wanted me to deliver the letter to you."
Hayate now holding the letter like it was her own baby opened it up and saw that he was not joking with her looked up to him and understandably had tears in her eyes. As she then jumped up to tackle hug him to the ground causing him to lose all the air in his lungs as Hayate tighten her hold on him all the while saying "Thank you!" over and over again. As much as I prefer not to cause a scene at one of my favorite coffee shops I think I will make an exception for this moment just this one time for sure now.
Really now, it was just what any good friend would do to help another. 'Oh you sure about that Yu?' Valkyrie spoke up as she said those words rather teasingly. I just groaned inwardly at the amount of pain that she was going to cause me this time around. 'Oh come now Yu, you know full well that as well as I do that being nice like this is a good way to a woman's heart.' Then she paused rather dramatically. 'Oh no, don't tell me that you are cheating on Fate and Nanoha with your other best friend now aren't you?'
'…I hate you so much at times, you know that Valkyrie? How dare you suggest that I would break their hearts and pursue another woman like that. You know full well that Hayate has got her own thing going on right now. Valkyrie by the time we see each other again your suffering will be legendary to behold and they will tell ghost stories of how you begged for death when I bring about your suffering. You will pay for this quite dearly Valkyrie.'
And instead of quaking in fear of my righteous anger as she should have she only began to start laughing out even louder than before now. Still though I would much rather if Hayate did not cling onto me any longer, my cup of coffee is getting cold and cold coffee is a tragedy on par with stale sprinkled doughnuts. But he can't really blame her for now so with great reluctance he just awkwardly just patted her on the back for the time being until she manages to calm herself again sooner or later, hopefully.
(Flashback end)
Yu just sighed to himself as he remembered that day couple months back when he had finally helped Hayate get the necessary clearance to start the task force. Of course to be fair, High Command wanted the task force to be formed but due to increasing terrorist attacks they had to allocate resources and manpower to deal with that. He frowned as he finished cooking the eggs as the TV he was watching had breaking news of Shocker's terrorism once again with the casualties already entering near 50 people.
He frowned at that, since Shocker somehow discovered the larger galaxy at hand they have been responsible for millions of deaths in the last eight years or so. In the last year alone they slaughter over hundreds of thousands of innocent lives and caused more than trillions of credits in property damage. He heard from TSAB Intel that there is a new leader of the Shocker group and that the bounty for the group has reached into easily billions of credits and at least triple that bounty for the leader itself.
In all honesty he never thought that Shocker could grow this fast or destroy that much, now many of the TSAB ground force, which typically don't see a lot of action are now being overworked for the last five years or so trying to hunt down Shocker, but there was only so much that they could do. Last he heard one of the Legendary Admirals was at his wit's end trying to deal with all the action and some swore they heard him wish to have never have this much action now as he is seeing lots of damage reports.
He also remembered many of the search and destroy missions he had been sent on to deal with Shocker too. He had destroyed entire ships filled with them, taken out entire bases, hunt down many of their sponsors, and no matter what he did they just kept popping out like cockroaches. At any rate he and Fate were going to pick up the kids that were supposed to join the Task Force and see how the two girls would do in their supplementary lessons. He just hopes the kids got along well because that would suck if they did not.
Much later at a train station Erio was having a hard time trying to find Fate or Yu until he bumped into a pink haired girl causing them both to fall as Erio was recovering from the fall as he rubbed his head. Ouch." Was the only thing he could say till he realized that someone else was also rubbing their head. "Hey sorry about bumping into you and causing that fall, are you okay miss?" He asked in concern as the girl nodded and looked at him now. "Right sorry about that name is Erio mind if I get your name then?"
"My name is Caro." As soon enough much to his surprise he found the other recruit and saw a small white dragon popping out from underneath her hood squawking at her in worry. "And this is my partner Freidrich, say hello Freidrich." As the baby dragon squawked at him in greeting as well. "Is it safe to assume that like you, you were looking for me as I was looking for you before meeting our superiors?" To which he nodded and the girl beamed at that now. "Excellent! Now we don't have to worry now about finding each other now."
"Got to say that right, you saved me and Fate a lot of time by finding each other and sticking together." A voice interrupted them, to which they shifted their heads and saw a familiar looking man smiling at them. The man that was from Fate's picture of her important people. "Hey there, I am Yu Soma and I am here to pick you guys up." His smile and eyes then just got warmer as well. "It is a great joy to finally meet the kids that Fate has adopted. Also she is waiting outside so come kids let us go now."
The two of them quickly nodded and picked up everything that they had on them before following Yu to the car where Fate was waiting for them. Once she saw them though, she quickly ran out to hug and greet them. Erio had to admit, it felt warm to be hugged by Fate as Yu stood to the side and watched at us with a happy smile and lazy eyes. 'So that is the kind of man that Fate has fell in love with.' He thought to himself as they finally started to pack everything up to go to one of the training facilities.
In which they were supposed to meet another duo of their new comrades. Though for some reason Yu looked rather worried and tensed as I noticed the grip on the steering wheel tightened a bit and his smile became a bit harder to maintain. Guess there was something about the new recruits that did not sat right with him. Though he did wonder what it was that cause him to react as such though. Oh well, it was not going to be that important he guessed. All in all, he was rather excited to meet his new allies.
About Several Hours later.
Okay never mind this was the worst way to get to know your new colleges of sort evert! Nobody ever told him or Caro that they were doing squad practices by getting themselves attack by those machines from earth that are actually quite durable. On the bright side, lighting works really well against them at the very least, so he had an advantage over the machines compared to the others.
Then as soon as they moved into another area those Watermelon Units came out of nowhere and started to push them around then he saw that Subaru was screaming and also being thrown to them as she was fell on top on him and Caro and moaned. This was going to be a very long training session and day ahead of them so far in his personal opinion. As he noticed more of those robotic animals soon.
Nanoha winced as another one of those watermelon units came out of nowhere and punched Subaru hard sending her flying into Caro and Erio as Teana went ahead and just filled the unit with shots before moving on. They were being reckless and despite the supplementary lessons that Subaru and Teana took, nothing has ever improved so far in terms of teamwork and from the looks of it. Yu was not very pleased with the results so far if his narrowing eyes were anything to go by about his impression now.
"…So Yu your opinion so far on our new recruits?" Nanoha asked as Yu finally tore his eyes away from the screen to answer her and what he said both worried her and gave her a little bit of hope.
"They could be so much better than the way they are at their current level. Most of them do not even know each other well or gotten used to each of the other's tactics save for Teana and Subaru. But then again that is mainly because they were partners. Caro and Erio seem to know what they are doing. But unlike you and I, they are still rather green in some parts. So in other words I see a lot of potential but it clearly needs a lot of work before they can become anything truly amazing." Yu concluded easily.
Nanoha bit back a retort as she wanted to defend them but ultimately knew that he had a point. Their teamwork was rather bad so far and that will only be the first of many obstacles in their way. She honestly hoped that Teana and Subaru will be less reckless and more thoughtful unlike her and Yu when they were kids. It would be kind of embarrassing for them as well as life threatening as well if they did not learn. 'Especially if they have to face any of Shocker's actual warriors.' She thought grimly to herself.
When she first heard of them she thought they were the monsters in the closet but now though? They were every bit as unforgivable as her mom and dad made them out to be. She remembers wincing at the amount of scar her dad got from one of the torture sessions that Shocker gave to him during his days as a bodyguard. Not to mention the tears her mom shed when she revealed the loss of her old friend due to using her in a twisted surgery to remake her in a monster, the surgery failed and she died.
She then remembered the first time she actually fought some of Shocker and the fear she felt when facing the Worms was only comparable to the first time she met Phoenix. Truly a terrifying nightmare being able to shapeshift and move at hypersonic speed. Thankfully they were rather predictable with their attack patterns and the fact they did not bother to look at the ground to see if there were traps.
And that was the first of the many encounters that she would soon grow to have in her initial years as a simple fighter before she decided to focus her career on becoming a teacher to the many young mages so they won make the mistakes that she did when she was young. Though she could really do without the nicknames that they gave her. 'The White Devil.' Really? She was certainly no devil... okay she may be harsh in training but that is no reason to be calling her a devil just because she is tough on them at time.
So what if when Yu arrives on certain days to help provide assistance, who care if him helping the new students does not involve blasting them with Divine Buster? So what if the students like his personal and less painful approach? She was still a darn good instructor for crying out loud! So what if many of her new students now want Yu to appear more often to help train them? There is no way that he could do that unless he got reassigned to aid them, which is impossible considering he serves the Grand Marshal directly.
One of the few if not only known subordinate of the Grand Marshal himself. Not even the three Legendary Admirals can claim to be like that. While it is true he has more freedom than most would have. Yu was taught to never abuse his power. Though now that she thought about it there were supposed to be two Grand Marshals but from what the other said. It is most likely that he would not be around at all. To quote. "The Old One of the Jewels has little interest save for things that amuses him so. Therefore, I am the only Grand Marshal around in this reality at the very least for the most part."
From what Yu told her about the other Marshal, was that he felt true fear not because of his power but because he is the biggest Troll in the whole wide world and he would screw with people for the fun of it. Sounds like a really unpleasant person to be around, but his powers are something that cannot be understated at all in the least bit.
From what she heard about the other Grand Marshal from Yu according to the only Grand Marshal right now. The other one was actually a vampire, 'freaking vampires actually exist!' She though in terror originally but the most dangerous thing about the guy was the fact that he has the ability to move through worlds and other realities and also call upon the power of the limitless universes in existence.
Nanoha thought that saw true example of power when she saw the corrupted essence of the Book of Darkness. But hearing all that and the fact that the other one also stopped a meteorite the size of Luna and defeated a supreme alien being that could create such a thing and won made her realize that the world is a very big place. 'There will always be someone stronger and better than you.' She thought to herself as she continued to study the mages that will become a part of Riot Force 6.
She once again could not help but wince as the new mages got swarmed by a bunch of flying machines this time. those things were very brutal if effective in the way they train people up to fight.
"Great Leader I bring forth news on our attack on Elysium." An armored man in all silver with green eyes and two crimson sabers hanging on his side. As he kneeled before a throne in a cold dark room in which to behind the throne is the flag of Shocker and to the right of him holds a council of monsters and to the left a line of dark armored warriors with spears that radiated bloodlust and eyes as cold as darkness.
And before him on the throne is a hidden man sitting on it covered by the shadows with only his red clothed hands being visible but the hands are also covered on metal and leather as well. "…Speak now Shadow Moon." The leader said with his dark baritone voice echoing through the chamber in which they are in. As Shadow Moon prepared to give the report in the attack.
"We were successful my lord. We have slaughter over ten thousand lives there and caused massive amount of property damage. The Galactic Police Union are too busy dealing with our other allies and the TSAB have been push to the near limits in terms of both resources and manpower trying to deal with all our major assault. And none of those annoying gnats that we called Riders." Shadow Moon spat out angrily remembering his defeat at the one known as Black RX and eagerly awaits to kill him to end him. "Are now available around the core regions that we are needed to continue the next steps of our plan milord. Not to mention the TSAB are still unaware of the true purpose we need to kill those worthless pigs. The essence and magic of over ten thousand people have now been gathered up and stored away with the essence of the other ones we have slaughter over the years and soon we will finally finish our goal." Shadow Moon concluded as the council murmured to right as the Leader remain silent for now.
Till he spoke again. "You have done well so far Shadow Moon this will greatly aid in our mission to recreate the universe in our own image and the casualties have exceeded expectations as well. You have done well to ensure the completion of the phase is on schedule if not ahead of it so far. But then again I should not have expected any more from the one I personally selected to be the general of Universal Shocker's Grand Army then, am I correct?" To which Shadow Moon nodded while kneeling.
"Perfect now that we know how far our phase goes, how does the doctor fare in reaching his next general quota of sorts goes Shadow Moon? I have yet to hear anything from the good doctor as of the last couple of weeks and it would be annoying if the good doctor got himself discovered or captured now. While we can easily accomplish our goals without him, the doctor does speed up our plans and we would need to spend more time trying to find a new head of science and research that's useful."
Shadow Moon had to restrained himself from speaking of the doctor. Never in his entire life has he met anyone so infuriating and talkative. "The doctor has been making modifications to the cyborgs that he calls the 'Numbers' He has been making great progress on finding the hidden secret of the fallen empire and he is making good headway in developing the perfect puppet key needed to control the secret we need. The only reason why he has to be in contact is because he cannot do it so easily under heavy watch and he is currently making something for that corrupt organization's true heads." He said with a sneer at the thoughts of working with someone who's working with such parasites such as them.
While it may be true that he is no more than a terrorist and the likes. Even he despises the hypocrisy behind the TSAB as they have no actual power to back up their own rules and rights as well. They were no more than abominable parasites just leeching off dregs of humanity and trying to foolishly shape the galaxy in their image. When that right has belonged to Shocker and only Shocker has the right to do so.
'It also seems that their Great Leader also hates the so called secret leaders of the TSAB if by the tightening of his grips were anything to go by.' Shadow Moon noted as he remained silent as the council were now hissing and whispering angrily at the secret leaders of the TSAB for impeding their great and honorable goal of controlling the galaxy just for them and some were muttering death threats for them.
Then everything went silent as our glorious great leader spoke once again. "I see, so that explains the good doctor's absence and failure to communicate with us. But still I want to keep a good eye on him. So Shadow Moon." As Shadow Moon raised his head to look at the leader's shadowed form. "Sent one of our spies and associates to keep an eye on our good doctor to make sure he does keep in contact with us. Take one of the Dark Six to keep an eye on him. Preferably the one that can shapeshift and even copy the magic of you can, assuming that one is not busy of course." The Leader finished then.
Though unknown to him Shadow Moon stiffened at the mention of the Dark Six. The Dark Six were the greatest warriors and monsters they have under their command right now. One of them was a Worm and the one the Leader requested. But that certain Worm mutated enough to copy even magic spells and the like. Another was one using the Gaia Memory of RAGE and remains completely sane while using it. Another was a Fangire that can manipulate electricity with ease and even cast out pure lighting. The fourth was a revived Dark Rider that can use the powers of the Mirror World without consequences. The fifth was a Phantom that's true nature was that of a Devil. And the last was a Roidmude that was incredibly powerful and had a superhuman body that could crush anything in its way whenever it wanted.
But to send one of the Dark Six to keep an eye on the doctor though? 'It must be that the leader intends to remind the doctor as to who he is truly aligned with.' Shadow Moon thought to himself in that brief moment of silence at the end. "It shall be done milord, the one hidden in the forms of many shall go and keep an eye on the doctor and make sure that no harm comes to him and that he makes sure that he reports." As he said this the Great Leader let out a pleased hum at this and so did the council as well.
Then he soon stood up and called out. "Gryllus Worm!" As a green insectoid looking monster with multiple protrusions appear out of nowhere and Shadow Moon was not surprised by that at all. This is one of the few Worms that have managed to evolve into one of the most powerful Worms in the entire existence of the Shocker since they have signed up to join them in their conquest of the known galaxy.
"You called General?" To which he nodded. "Then how may I be of service to our glorious organization Galaxy Shocker then?" Here Shadow Moon noted that he always spoke with a tone of professionalism and highly cultured as well. A rather useful trait for him when he needed to go blending in when he can.
"You are to make contact with the good doctor and make sure that his loyalty is strictly tied to us and that he keeps in contact with our organization as well. We cannot afford to lose him just yet and he is necessary for us to advance quicker to the next phase as well. Make sure that nothing happens to him and that you help only when the doctor truly needs your help, do I make myself clear?" Shadow Moon told the Worm before him as the Worm nodded and soon left to go rendezvous with the good doctor.
Then he turned his attention back to the Great Leader. "Good, very good indeed we are keeping an eye out on our tool for the time being, now all of you are now dismissed. Do not bother me unless it is something important or something has come to be an obstacle to our path for the time being, do I make myself clear?" Everyone there nodded their heads in reply and soon all but Shadow Moon and the Great leader were left in the chamber. "Is there a reason why you are still here Shadow Moon? It must be rather important if you are here to tell me about whatever problem it is we may soon face in war."
"…Great Leader there may be one who can oppose us soon in the future and he is already causing trouble for us already." This perked the Leader's interest as Shadow Moon continued. "This man has seen fit to destroy many of our bases in resources so far, while it may be paltry in comparison to what we have, his power is strong for sure." Then Shadow Moon took a deep breath. "The one that may soon become a threat to us is none other than a young Rider by the name of Warlock Great Leader."
Soon the Leader's interest were peaked. "Oh? So you believe this Rider may pose a threat to us in the future is what you are saying correct?" To which Shadow Moon nodded. "I cannot fault for that way of thinking considering that it has always been a Rider to ring about the end of us many times before and after. It seems this Rider may need to be dealt with before he becomes a serious threat. Can I leave it in your hands to make sure that this Rider is deal with, general?" To which he nodded once more.
"Very well I shall leave it in your hands Shadow Moon and don't worry." As the Great Leader finally stood up and started walking down the stairs from his throne. "Even if you fail to kill him, I will personally defeat him myself." To which and armored man in pure black armor with sinister blue eyes appearing before the man. "After all if one needs to defeat a Rider then we should counter with a Dark Rider for him general." To which Shadow Moon nodded and the Great leader started laughing at not only the eternal foe of Shocker but at the idea of being able to fight this generation's Rider. He is after all looking forward to the challenge.
In another world in a certain home as young man was cooking dinner before he frowned as he gained an odd shiver going down his spine. Just as he finished putting down the last touches to the dinner he soon wonders to Valkyrie what is going on. 'Valkyrie, do you think it is a bad premonition that I am feeling right now?' As he ate dinner with his housemates while holding up one ear hearing about how their day went and whether or not they will be able to become a true Unit soon enough.
Valkyrie was silent till she spoke up. 'Yu, perhaps it is a bad premonition or maybe just your nerves being shot from all the missions you have done. Either way I would stay alert if I were you. The resurgence of Shocker is something not to be underestimated at all. After all they invaded Earth with another empire and nearly brought down that world if not for the many Rider and Heroes on the world.' He nodded silently as soon enough, Fate and Nanoha were asking about how his day went so far now.
For the time being he will take the time to enjoy what little things of life with his loved ones before putting his thoughts on the premonition. There was something weird about the way Shocker was going on about their business after all. They never dare commit public terrorism till they left Earth to attack as many as they could. There was something bigger going on with the way Shocker is doing their work in terrorizing people.