AN: My best estimate, assuming that Nanoha StrikerS is set in 2014 (the year it would be if The first season was set in 2004) is that in this story it is currently 2018 in earthen years, and 0079 in Mid-childa, you will see in this chapter why this is relevant.

I may also throw some Mai-Otome in this story just to really make things interesting...or difficult to write. One or the other. I'll let you guys decide whether I should or not. Anyone who thinks I should add Mai-Otome into this smorgasbord of Magical Girls, please let me know in your reviews! ... Either way enjoy Chapter 2!

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Chapter 2

New Recruits

Nanoha's lopsided ponytail bobbed up and down as she practically skipped her way down the halls of the base in her excitement. I made no effort to hide the fond smile that was plastered on my face, as I watched her merrily make her way towards where we were to meet up with the recruits, both new and old. My feelings towards the peppy brunette were no secret to anyone, except perhaps to said brunette. So as long as she couldn't see me, I was free to oggle her as I pleased.

Our friends had long since given up on trying to get me to confess, although Hayate and Shari still remained annoyingly persistent.

I had once caught Shari trying to install what she called a 'cupid' program into Bardiche. It was a recent invention of hers that would incorporate with both Bardiche's programing and the design of my Barrier Jacket.

Bardiche would be programmed to repeatedly ask Nanoha to go on a date with 'Sir' whenever he was within ten feet of her.

My Barrier Jacket on the other hand would more or less remain the same… aside from the incorporation of 'Fate Testarossa Harlaown Loves Takamachi Nanoha!' In big bold lettering on the back of my cape.

I had always known Shari to be nosy but this was on a whole new level. After I successfully snatched Bardiche off of Shari's 'operating table,' I asked her just what the hell she though she was doing:

Flashback

"It wasn't my idea!" She protested; the smoking gun that was the monitor depicting Bardiche's internal programming, no more than a few inches away from her face.

"Then who's idea was it?" I demanded, not believing her for an instant.

"Bardiche's." She replied, as if this was the most natural response in the world.

I stared blankly at Shari for a moment or two before I lowered my gaze to blink questioningly at the triangular device in my hand.

"Eh?" was the only word I could think of that could even begin to adequately describe my disbelief over this revelation.

"To be quite frank, it has become quite tedious to watch Lady Takamachi and yourself dance around one another and have nothing come of it." Bardiche explained, a hint of irritation lacing his usually monotone voice.

I stared stupidly at my intelligent device, completely frozen in shock. He could have just morphed into a square and I don't think I'd be as surprised as I was now.

"…Sir." He added after a brief pause. My shock disappeared, as all was once again right in the world.

End Flashba-

THUD!

I was jarred rather rudely from my thoughts as I plowed rather gracelessly into Nanoha, who had decided that now was the perfect time to come to a complete dead stop. So it was not for the first time that day that I found myself on my butt, wondering why it seemed to have such a firm attraction to the ground today.

I took a moment to get my bearings and realized that my daydreaming had led me outside where we were to meet the new recruits. As for flawlessly following Nanoha while my thoughts were elsewhere, that came as no surprise to me. I probably could have been lobotomized, and I'm sure I would still follow her to the ends of Mid-Childa and beyond.

Speaking of Nanoha, I looked up to see that she had an expression of complete shock on her face. Her cheeks were bright red and she seemed to be staring unblinkingly at something straight ahead.

I stood, brushed myself off, and then followed Nanoha's gaze to see just what it was that had struck the fearsome White Devil dumb. Once I saw just what she was staring at, my mouth promptly dropped open. Never in all my years of service had I seen anything quite like this.

It was a girl, about sixteen years old. she had short blond hair cut in a bob-like style with her bangs grown out to frame either side of her face. I could tell from her outfit that she was military, but there were two things about it that made the situation strange. First, while her uniform was clearly earthen, it seemed similar to the military uniforms that German soldiers wore back in World War II, which ended over seventy years ago! (Having attended an earth school until high school meant that I had a fair knowledge of Earth's history.) The second thing was the cause of Nanoha's and my collective shock, and it was simply that it was only half a uniform. There was a crucial part of it missing that I would only be likely to forget on a really, really, really off day.

The girl wasn't wearing any pants.

No Skirt.

No Shorts.

NO NOTHING!

She was wearing panties.

But not pants.

It seemed neither Nanoha, nor I could tear our eyes away from the sight as the girl ran around happily without a care (or coverage) in the world. She seemed fascinated with everything around her, and reminded me of a kid in a candy store... a pant-less kid in a candy store.

"Trude! Trude!" she shouted excitedly, her happy shouting snapped me out of my daze, and I watched as she pointed up at one of Mid's multiple moons. "Look at all the moons!" Her uniform rode up on her body at the gesture, and I was mortified to see that her panties rode down on her butt, giving me a very good view of her-

"Crack!" She laughed happily, unintentionally finishing my thoughts for me. "Look Trude that moon has a big crack in it!"

"No kidding." I muttered dryly to myself, trying not to think about the fact that said 'crack' was actually a long crater that a poorly aimed Starlight Breaker had caused years ago. Mostly because thinking about the moon that I was currently unable to look away from, as having a large crater... just put my mind in places that it wasn't meant to go. Instead I resorted to just staring blankly as the girl continued to parade around in her drawers as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"HARTMANN!" An authoritative voice yelled, causing both Nanoha and I to jump. "This is not how a Karlsland Soldier should behave!"

Finally, a superior officer who could talk some sense into this confused recruit.

"Come on Trude, we're on a different planet! don't be such a party pooper" Hartmann whined.

I turned to watch as said superior marched up to her comrade…and immediately my mouth dropped open again.

Well, so much for that theory.

The superior officer in question was taller, and just radiated a strict aura of authority. Her hair was dark brown, and relatively short, held back by two ponytails. She wore a similar German military uniform to her companion (Whom she now had by the collar.) but once again there was a certain lack of any form of lower clothing, that made me wonder just what the military on earth was coming to.

In fact, glancing over at the group that she had stormed out of, it became clear that not a single one of them was wearing any form of pants. I suppose that was not entirely accurate, out of the eleven of them, three of the girls were wearing skin-tight pantyhose, and the smallest of those three was wearing a one piece dress… a very, very short one piece dress. Two of the group were wearing bathing suits underneath their uniforms, and noting else. The rest? Military uniforms from various countries but no bottoms. Just panties.

I twitched.

"Nanoha?" I asked slowly.

"Yes Fate-Chan?" Nanoha replied, confusion and shock evident in her voice.

"Is it a common practice in the military on earth to not wear pants?"

Nanoha turned to stare at me as if I was crazy.

"Of Course Not!" she blurted angrily, sounding deeply offended. "I have never known a single faction of the military on earth that would allow for such a thing! You can't even walk into a strip joint without wearing some form of lower leg wear!"

I raised an eyebrow at the unusual comparison, but given the situation, I suppose it made sense.

"Yeah, I thought not." I replied, returning my gaze to the pants-less superior officer as she dragged her equally pants-less subordinate back to their group. I paused, considering the time frame their uniforms seemed to be from. "…What about back in the mid 1940's?"

"Fate-chan! We Took The Same History Class!" Nanoha exclaimed. "You Were At The Top Of Our Class When It Came To The History Of Both World Wars! You Know That Isn't True!"

"I know." I agreed, sensing that Nanoha was getting understandably frustrated over the whole situation. "But…Well…"

Rather than finishing my sentence I merely gestured at the group of pant-less, clearly military, recruits, in an attempt to get my point across.

Nanoha sighed in defeat.

"Yeah." she admitted, as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I know... but I swear to the gods, if I ever find the general on earth who was perverted enough to allow this kind of dress code, I will shove a Divine Buster so far up his ass, he'll be coughing up Starlight Breakers for a month!"

I laughed nervously, unsure as to whether or not she was serious. It was then that I noticed that one of the recruits was missing.

"Where did she-" I began, looking around for the missing recruit. Just then Nanoha suddenly went stiff. I cut myself off as I spotted something that made my blood run cold.

The missing recruit; a young girl of no more than twelve, was standing behind Nanoha. She was currently in the process of groping Nanoha's chest, a forbidden territory that not even I had dared to enter. I felt an overwhelming jealousy that this young girl had dared to touch my Nanoha in such a way. It was only the fact that she was a small child that kept me from introducing her to Bardiche's Zamber form.

"Hmm!" The girl commented appreciatively as she continued with her shameless fondling. "Not bad, room for improvement, and definitely smaller than Shirley's."

Nanoha's eyes darkened dangerously. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I could practically smell the magical power crackling through the air around Nanoha, as the feared White Devil slowly began to emerge.

"Raising Heart..." She growled through clenched teeth.

'Stand By Ready' Raising Heart replied, shifting immediately into cannon mode.

The young girl clearly did not sense any danger as she switched targets and began to grope my chest instead. At this something seemed to snap in Nanoha's eyes, as the danger level went from a ten to a hundred.

I gulped.

"Oooh!" The girl exclaimed, completely failing to notice the aura of impending doom radiating in the air behind her. "These are much better! Bigger than Lynne's and almost as big as Shirley's!"

It was then that I remembered that Nanoha had no such self restraint when it came to holding back on anyone, child or not. Panic raced through me as I finally realized that I was in the line of fire (which was technically anywhere on the base.) but mostly because the girl was groping me now, I was as much a target as the girl was. Nanoha had become so blinded by rage that she couldn't see anything but her target anymore.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH FATE-CHAN!" Nanoha snarled as her magic energy concentrated at Raising Heart's core. The girl froze at these words, and her face fell as she finally realized that she was in big, big trouble.

"Uh-oh." she squeaked, taking cover behind me.

"STAAAAAAAAAARLIIIIIGHT!"

"Hey!" A tall red headed girl in the group asked. "Has anyone seen Lucchini?"

"Guys." A light sandy blond haired girl added. "I get the feeling that we should duck."

I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself. My last wish was that I provided to be an adequate human shield for the girl, who was way to young to die now.

"I love you Nanoha." I whispered softly, not blaming her for this for an instant. "I always have."

"BREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAKEEEERR!"

And then everything was engulfed in a pink light.

...

Hehe, little bit of a cliffhanger to end this one. I promise you there is an actual plot line in this story... It's just taking it's time forming itself in my brain. I just write what comes to me, rather than planning anything ahead. Hopefully you will be patient with me, as this might turn out to be quite lengthy. Anyway, I'll get Chapter 3 out as soon as I can. Read and Review!