It Began with a Twist of Fate
Homura gripped the railing in front of her with white-knuckled tension as she, Sayaka, and Hitomi stood together in their school uniforms on the observation platform overlooking the simulated urban landscape of the training ground. Lindy Harlaown stood a short distance away, surrounded by holographic screens, as explosions and flashes of pink light flared through the simulated buildings.
This was Madoka's test, to earn S-rank. Even potential S-rank mages were rare enough that they'd gone all out for the event. Admiral Harlaown coordinating. Lieutenant Takamachi and the knight Signum. A full squad of domestic infantry.
"Look! She's going for it!" Sayaka exclaimed. "Woo! Go Madoka!"
Homura watched with baited breath as the screens showed Madoka weaving between buildings, pink ribbons of light trailing from her back in the shape of wings. A wall of fire rose in front of her and Madoka thrust out her hand. A twisting ripple forced the flames to part as she shot through them, only to smash right into massed shooting from a line of infantry.
"Oh no!" Hitomi gasped as Madoka was blasted into and through an office building.
The metal railing creaked in protest under Homura's grip. The TSAB's advanced regeneration clinic did good work. Homura didn't notice, intent on the screens.
Suddenly, a series of pink bolts streaked into the infantry line from the side, each one blasting through hasty barriers to send the staff wielders sprawling into unconsciousness. Madoka flew passed, and Homura remembered to breathe.
Stopping to hover over an intersection, Madoka held out Galvan Soul. It quickly changed from a bow to a scepter, and a Circle appeared as Madoka cast a search spell.
"She's doing well," a voice said from Homura's right.
Slightly startled, Homura glanced over at the owner of the voice. A girl in her mid-teens, wine red eyes, long golden blonde hair, black Enforcer uniform. Homura did a double-take. Even if she hadn't seen the movie based on this girl's childhood adventures, Homura recognized her description.
Fate smiled and offered a hand. "Fate Harlaown. You must be Miss Kaname's friends."
"Ack! Behind you!" Sayaka shouted at the screen.
Homura forgot all about her outstretched hand and snapped back to the screens. Madoka was still hovering, while behind her several entire cars quietly floated off the street and hurtled towards Madoka's back. The view shifted, revealing them to be in Nanoha's telekinetic grip. At the same time, a containment ring flared into being around Nanoha's wrist and a Circle unfolded under her feet.
At the last second, Galvan Soul shifted into a quarterstaff and Madoka spun around, swinging the staff hard. Galvan Soul cleaved through the first car, splitting it into two crumpled halves. Madoka ducked under the second car, smashed the third car aside with a backhanded staff blow, and caught the fourth car in mid air, pitting her own telekinesis directly against Nanoha's.
The car warped and stretched as the two opposing imbuements of kinetic energy failed to remain perfectly even across the body of the vehicle. Distracted, Madoka almost missed the pink glow as the multiple pink beams of the Crossfire Shooter split apart to flow around tearing car.
The compound shooting spell engulfed Madoka in a colossal explosion.
"Madoka!" Homura blurted in dismay.
"She's okay," Fate murmured. "Nanoha missed."
Indeed, on the screen Nanoha was already charging another shot as she flew upwards and looked around for her target. Then, as Nanoha crested the edge of rooftop the glow of a Circle caught her attention. Nanoha spun around in time to shatter the pink ribbons of light that tried to bind her limbs, but that was when Madoka came flying out of a window of the opposite building in a shower of broken glass.
Madoka slammed a glowing palm into the back of Nanoha's head, and Nanoha went rigid as Madoka ripped through the telepathic protections of Nanoha's Barrier Jacket. Madoka was apparently resorting to invasive telepathy. She threw her mind against Nanoha's mind, but that was clearly when Madoka realized her mistake. Namely, that she'd gotten into a direct battle of wills with Nanoha Takamachi.
And that was when Signum came out of nowhere and cut through Madoka with a blade of fire. Crying out in pain, Madoka glanced off the side of the building and tumbled to the street below, where the remaining infantry were gathering.
The infantry took aim with their staves, but just before they shot, they swayed dizzily, staves turning to aim at each other. With a multitude of small explosions, the rest of the infantry was out of the fight.
When the dust cleared, a battered and singed Madoka stood on a Circle, bow drawn, containment rings already formed. There were gasps all around as Madoka's ploy became apparent. She loosed the Psion Finale, punching a straight line through six blocks of simulated city and obliterating her objective.
"Whoa!" Sayaka gasped.
The simulated buildings began to degrade and sink back into the ground, leaving the various combatants spaced out on a featureless white plain. Homura relaxed her death grip on the railing. Madoka passed. She was an S-rank mage. She was officially valuable. And that meant Homura could be a little less afraid of losing Madoka like she'd lost her parents... right?
Out on the deactivated training ground, Nanoha landed in front of Madoka and said something that made Madoka respond with an embarrassed smile.
"Ah, hello," Hitomi offered as Fate turned to the three girls in school uniforms and reintroduced herself. "Hitomi Shizuki. A pleasure."
"Homura Akemi." A slight pause, a slight expression of wonder. "I'm Madoka's... girlfriend."
Fate smiled just a little wider as they waited for Sayaka to speak, but the bluenette girl was just staring in shock. Hitomi elbowed her, and Sayaka suddenly went into a rigid regulation salute.
"Rescue Corps trainee Cadet Sayaka Miki, ma'am!" Sayaka blurted.
Fate glanced aside. "You're not in uniform," she reminded the other girl gently, "and I'm not in your chain of command. Please, just call me Fate."
Sayaka nodded rapidly. Homura edged away from her.
Meanwhile, on sublevel two of the recently-repaired Altseim Repository and Research Center, Hayate watched the readouts on the holographic screen over Major Carter's shoulder while she fiddled with the innards of the dialing device. Chrono watched with a frown, and the girl from the Center's huntress team, Ruby, was perched on a nearby crate as she watched with unabashed curiosity.
"I've been meaning to ask," Major Carter commented as she switched a crystal out and tapped the floating screen. "Your civilization is by far the most wide-spread advanced human culture my people have encountered in the galaxy. How'd you manage to expand so far without running into conflict with the goa'uld?"
"Who or what are the goa'uld?" Hayate asked.
Chrono was the one who answered. "They're a species of parasitic scavengers who've set themselves up as galactic warlords in the Proxiverse. What they lack in tactics and creativity, they make up in numbers. ProxiChilda maintains a state of cold war with them."
"Oh!" Hayate realized. "So you're not from my Earth after all. That explains a lot."
Major Carter froze. "Your Earth? You're from Earth?"
"An Earth. I was born in Japan," Hayate told her, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Isn't your Earth the one that doesn't have a Japan because of the humongous hellmouth in the pacific ocean that kaiju keep coming out of?"
"Oooh!" Ruby suddenly spoke up from her perch. "I've heard of that planet! Isn't that the place with the building-sized barrier frames piloted by psychic twins? Um... um... Jaegers! That's what they call them." Ruby squeed just a little. "So cool..."
"Kaiju?" Major Carter repeated faintly. "...um, no. my Earth has a Japan, and definitely doesn't have a kaiju problem or any giant robots... that I know about. And the only hellmouth I've heard of is the one in California. I was under the impression we're still in the same reality as the planet you found me on...?"
"Damnit, Hayate," Chrono sighed. "Yes, Major Carter. It seems that you and Investigator Yagami originate on the same world."
Hayate put on an innocent expression. "Oops?"
"Does..." Major Carter shook her head. "Does the government of Japan know about this?"
"It does not," Chrono told her. "Official contact was deemed unwarranted during the incident that the TSAB had to deal with. Now if you'll excuse me, this revelation means I have superiors to confer with and paperwork to do..." Chrono trailed off. "Oh shit. Oh shit."
Hayate grinned. "Wow, Chrono. I've never heard you swear before."
Chrono glared at her. "We've just recieved intelligence that the goa'uld have a presence in the Midverse." He turned away and grabbed Durandal, making the first of several important calls.
Major Carter watched him go and worried her lip. "Well..."
"So, the Americans have been using the Stargate network to travel around the galaxy and fight the goa'uld all this time?" Hayate asked.
"Not just America," Major Carter said as she shook herself and got back to the task at hand. "But, um, that's classified. Honestly, I don't have any idea how classified applies in this situation, though."
"That's alright," Hayate assured her.
"Can you pull up another readout for this crystal?" Major Carter asked, pointing, and Hayate helpfully complied. "So... how does a Japanese teenager end up a Special Investigator in an alien military?"
Hayate nodded. "That's kind of a long story... but lucky for you, they made a movie about it last year!"
Major Carter's head snapped around. "What."
"It's a pretty good movie too," Hayate continued with affected blitheness. "Dramatized, you know how it is, and Vita-chan can't watch it without getting angry at the costume designers for getting her hat wrong..."
To celebrate Madoka's new mage rank, Nanoha had offered to take her and her friends to lunch. Hitomi and Sayaka had prior obligations, so the outing wound up being Nanoha, Madoka, Homura, and Fate.
Homura was left alone to wait while Nanoha and Madoka cleaned up. She was sitting on a bench looking out at the skyline when Fate sat down next to her.
"You seem troubled," Fate commented.
Homura glanced over at her and fidgeted. "I... I want to ask what happens if Madoka's life is in danger. What happens if someone has to decide between Madoka's life and other peoples?"
Fate studied Homura with kind red eyes. "You care about her a lot."
Homura fidgeted, nodding. "Madoka... she's everything good, bright, and beautiful in the world."
Fate smiled with gentle amusement. "I know the feeling."
"You do?" Homura murmured.
"Nanoha," Fate said. "She reached out to me when I didn't know how to reach back, and she was there for me when I was resigned to die for a futile cause... And she's stood by me ever since. I can't imagine a life without her, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her."
Homura swallowed heavily. "Yes. Madoka is... more important than anything else, to me. I... I want Madoka to be okay, even if a lot of other people have to... not be, to make sure she's okay."
"Mm," Fate agreed. "Do you want to know what helps me?"
Homura nodded.
"I remember what she would want," Fate said, "and I trust myself to put her first."
"I see," Homura murmured. "But... you can fight at Nanoha's side. I'm... I'm too weak to stand at Madoka's."
"Maybe not," Fate told her. "I've read your file, Homura. You made C-rank in a civilian trial before you moved to MidChilda. You did that without a Device."
Homura shut her eyes. "I'd honestly forgotten."
"You've spent the better part of a year badly injured and grieving," Fate gently pointed out. "You decided you were weak, but I don't think you have to be."
Homura almost dared to believe. "Madoka told me something similar when I first met her."
The nearby door swung open and the girl herself emerged, freshly showered and back in plainclothes. Madoka smiled at them and offered Homura her hand.
"Shall we?" Madoka asked.
Homura took her hand and stood, entwining her fingers with Madoka's as they shared one of those simple moments of mutual surety, looking into each other's eyes. Madoka turned to Fate.
"Ah, Nanoha's meeting us out front," Madoka said. "She said you're in charge of our ride?"
"Yes." Fate nodded and followed them. Homura. If you want to fight beside Madoka, I'll help you. I promise you.
Nanoha was grinning when they reached her. "Ready to roll?"
"I installed a new module for Bardiche to help me get around when its not important enough to get flight clearance," Fate explained to Madoka and Homura. "Nanoha and Hayate both insist on calling it Cardiche..."
ROADSTER MODULE, SET UP, Bardiche droned.
The yellow crystal triangle floated out into the street and a conjuration matrix exploded out, settling over the area before bursting to reveal a sleek black car with golden rims, headlights, and accents.
Major Carter stood up, waving one of the screens to float above the dialing device. A series of seven symbols stretched prominently across the display.
"That's it," she announced. "We've got the last address dialed and we're ready to go."
"Good work, Major," Hayate said. "One moment. I'll call everyone in."
(Yep, that was a Pacific Rim cameo. Really, the only way the technology in that movie could or would ever work they way it's shown is if there's magic at play, so why not run with that? Probably won't be more than a cameo, but I couldn't resist throwing it in when I realized how well it fit.)