Chapter 4: Puppets

I couldn't move...

It was that simple. I didn't know what had made me act against the man the day before, but I had lost it. I thought that he was a monster, but I was wrong, the woman standing across from me was much more frightening.

I could see it in her eyes.

The countless people she had killed or victimized.

Her very aura bled off as an intent to brutalize me.

She had cast Ai aside like a ragdoll.

She was different than the man.

If I tried to fight her I really would die.

I only had one choice.

"Thor. Focus on defense."

Confirmed.

The woman chuckled as my barrier jacket and hammer materialized. "You're pretty smart, you know you can't beat me. However, if you do manage to get away from me there's still the matter of your girlfriend."

My grip tightened around the hammer, "Alright then..." I swallowed hard, "I'll grab her and go."

"Foolish idealism. One of you has to die for the other to live, and neither of you can hope to beat me. Even together you wouldn't stand a chance."

Common sense told me to run away.

It told me that I didn't have a hope in the world of saving Ai.

But...

I set my foot back, gritting my teeth and getting ready to move.

Common sense had also told me to not follow in my father's footsteps after he had been killed.

Common sense and I weren't on very good terms.

The woman vanished.

"Thor!"

Protection.

I guessed right.

She descended on me from behind, but the barrier appeared just as her blow was about to reach me.

She scowled, "Tch, you're too persistent for your own good."

Thunder Swing.

"Haaaaah!"

A clash.

She pushed my blow aside as if it were nothing, but it gave me the precious time I needed to gain some distance away from her and towards where Ai had landed.

"My my. You are the resourceful one. If you were more powerful I would actually have to try, but... as it is."

She vanished again, but I didn't have enough time to react.

I felt something cold grip my chest.

It was like that feeling five years before, but slightly different this time.

I looked down and coughed, blood spurting from my mouth.

The woman's hand, my enemy's hand, was transparent.

She had reached through my chest using her magic and snatched the Jewel Seed from my very insides.

It was then that I knew it was over.

"I'm sorry... Kurosawa... I tried."

"Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, it's a good thing you came right back." Hayate greeted them at the very entrance to the HQ building, knowing that they would return, "I was about to head out to lead an investigation when it happened."

They walked through the lobby and down the entrance hall at a brisk pace, brushing past officers and enlisted personnel who were rushing to and fro.

"What are we looking at?" asked Fate.

Hayate frowned, "An entire battalion of well-armed mages just assaulted the eastern outpost, and they're closing in on the city. We've also detected what appears to be reinforcements coming from the northwest. We don't know why they're attacking, or who's leading them."

Nanoha nodded firmly, "We have to deploy, I take it ground forces have already been sent out... they'll need air support."

"Yes, that's correct. The enforcer's and a few of the agents have already sortied. We have an air unit without a commander, would one of you take the reigns?"

"I'll do it," said Fate, "We'll do the bombing runs, Nanoha can secure air superiority."

"What about the Numbers?" asked Nanoha.

"They're already gone, they're heading out to intercept the reinforcements. I already called in full mobilizations and warnings to the rest of our outposts. As for callsigns, Wolkenritter 1 is Signum, 2 is Vita. The others are away on missions and can't respond. Those two will provide air support if needed, but otherwise they'll keep their feet on the ground to support the infantry. Any questions?"

"No," said Fate, "Let's go."

Vita smirked, letting the end of her hammer fall into the grass at her feet. Signum stood behind her, the picture of calm, Agito standing tall on her shoulder.

Behind them were dozens upon dozens of the Administrations finest soldiers and the walls of Mid-Childa's capital city.

In front of them was a vast plain with more than a hundred of the assaulting mages.

"I hope your not rusty," said Vita, grinning.

"I practice whenever an opportunity presents itself."

"Maaaan, there's quite a bit of them. It's kind of unfair don't you think? For them I mean."

Signum nodded, "We will have to hold the line."

"I hate being grounded, but I guess there could be a tough ground mage leading the attack, so we should keep an eye out."

"That would be wise."

It wasn't long before each side was close enough to the other to open fire.

Vita and Signum jumped into the fray with no hesitation.

"Alright Eisen!"

Gigant Form!

The end of her hammer expanded in a flash of light, the handle growing twice its own length simply to support the added weight...

And then she swung in a wide arc, casting aside several of the frontline mages attacking.

The second line hesitated, and Vita grinned, "Whatsa matter? Never seen an S class mage in action before? Anybody too stupid to live just take a shot! C'mon!"

True to her assumptions, they kept coming, and the ones who weren't flattened by her hammer were pinned down and taken out by the cover fire coming from behind her.

"What are you idiots thinking?" she shouted, "Attacking a defensive position on open ground is complete suicide!"

Signum landed by her side, cutting through a soldier who got too close, "It's strange. This isn't a very tactical attack. They're just throwing themselves at us. We should be careful."

Vita laughed, "Pff, what's the worst that could happen? The only way this could get any worse for them is if we had a way to funnel them."

I gasped for air.

"I'm sorry. He died doing what he loved. You have my condolences."

I could hear someone laughing cruelly, but my vision was going blank, my heart slowing.

"He was a brave man."

I tried to grab at her hand, but it wasn't just transparent to my vision.

'Kyousuke Ryudou,

Father

Hero.'

There was a flash of light...

So this was it...

I coughed again, falling to the ground as I felt something slip into my chest. My heart was beating like a jackhammer as I panted, trying to get air back into my lungs.

Then I heard a familiar voice.

"Did you really think..."

Shuffling feet...

"Impossible!"

"Did you really think Nanoha-san would be stupid enough to send a B rank mage alone to protect someone from you people?"

My vision cleared and I staggered to my feet.

Then I saw.

Ai, aiming her staff at the woman with sheer fury in her eyes.

"Amaterasu... release limiter."

Yes.

I was blinded from the sheer magical energy that came from her staff.

Shooting form.

The gyroscope split into its jagged edges, leaving a gap that her beam could pass through.

"You are under arrest for assault and attempted murder, surrender quietly, or I will be forced to physically apprehend you."

The woman gritted her teeth and glared, "How dare you?"

Ai smiled, "Have it your way then."

Sun Flare.

A large yellow ball of energy dispersed from the end of her staff, collapsing in on itself.

The woman moved, "If you really think that can hit me then..."

Or at least she tried to move.

Her eyes widened when yellow lines of energy bound her arms to her torso and her feet to the ground.

It was in that moment her face changed expression completely.

She realized what had just happened.

She had underestimated Ai...

And paid the price.

The ball of energy expanded in a flash, and a huge torrent of light shot out of Amaterasu, engulfing the woman completely.

All I could hear were her screams.

Then... everything was over as quickly as it had begun.

Ai rushed to the woman, still maintaining her binds.

She pulled out what looked like a pair of handcuffs and clasped them on the woman's wrists, dispersing the binds as she did so, "That's what you get for screwing up my house!" she shouted.

"Dammit, there's just no end to them!" shouted Vita, "What the hell is going on? Where are they even coming from?"

Vita's curses were cut short by what happened next.

Signum froze, her sword just about to incapacitate yet another soldier.

Each and every last one of the attackers looked up towards the sky and stared, open-mouthed, dropping their staves to the ground like zombies.

Vita could hear the murmurs of uneasiness from the tropes behind her.

When Nanoha, Fate, and their air support units reached the scene, that was the sight that greeted them.

"Fate, stay up here with your unit just in case, I'll go down there to see what's going on," said Nanoha.

"Yeah, be careful okay?"

"Always."

When Nanoha landed, Vita and Signum rushed over.

"I didn't do anything," said Vita, "They just suddenly started staring at the sky like retards and dropped all their weapons."

Nanoha frowned and turned to the soldiers that had overwhelmed the eastern outpost, "If you can understand me then drop to your knees!"

None of them moved an inch...

Save one, and it wasn't to his knees. He walked, sluggishly, as if he were a puppet on strings, towards Nanoha, "Administration," he said softly, still staring at the sky.

Vita made to move forward, hammer at the ready.

Nanoha shoved her arm out, blocking the fiery girl's path, "Why are you here?" she asked.

"Administration... puppets..."

"What's your name?"

The man fell forward, colliding with the ground face first.

Nanoha sighed and keyed her small radio, "Control this is Stars."

"Go ahead Stars."

"We're going to need a few trans choppers and some medics. Inform Shamal of the situation when she gets back, I'll send in a report within the hour."

"Copy."

Vita frowned, "What the hell is happening?"

"I don't know," said Nanoha softly, "But it can't be good."

Ai rubbed the back of her head and blushed a bit, "So you see... it's kind of a complicated situation, and I was wondering if I could stay with you for a while, as long as I don't impose on you or anything."

My mom smiled, setting her drink down on the dining room table and eying both of us, "Alright."

I choked.

That was... fast.

"Any friend of Yusuke-kun is welcome in this house. So it's okay if you call me Mom Ai-chan..."

Ai blushed and let her head fall.

I growled, standing up so fast it sent the chair to the floor, "What kind of leap of logic is that? How do you go from her staying here to her calling you mom?"

My mom frowned, "Manners!"

I gritted my teeth, picking the chair back up and setting it in its place before sitting back down.

My mom simply kept smiling, "Okay," she said, "I'm getting started on dinner, make yourself at home. We even have a bed roll you can use. I'll find it for you later."

"Thank you very much." Ai stood and bowed as deep as she could without hitting her head on the table, which caused my mother to chuckle slightly before heading to the kitchen.

Ai sat down with a sigh and looked straight at me, 'I'm really sorry about this Yusuke. I didn't expect my house to get obliterated on my thrid day here. Finance probably won't approve another one, even if a criminal like that woman destroyed it.'

'It's alright, my mom seems to be scarily accomodating anyways.'

'She's nice, she reminds me of Nanoha-san.'

'Yeah, I thought that too, though from your stories my mom's not as scary. What did you do with that criminal woman anyways?'

'Sent her to the nearest ship. She'll be taken all the way back to Mid Childa, go through a long trial process, then either be sent to prison or a reformation program, depending on her attitude and her reasons.'

'That sounds a lot different from Earth's justice system.'

'It is. It has its own ups and downs though, just like this one does. Hey, listen... about what happened back there...'

'Yeah... what did you do?'

She sighed and rubbed her forehead, 'Well, aside from my military rank there's my mage rank, since I use magic.'

'Mage rank?'

'Yep, they go in order: C, B, A, double A, triple A, S, double S, and triple S. Triple S being the highest of course.'

'So when that guy said you were a B rank he was talking about your power?'

'Yeah, sort of, rank isn't just determined by how much of a punch you pack or how many spells you can use, it's mostly determined by pure skill and combat prowess when using magic. It is a military system after all. However, power is still the second most important thing deciding rank. For example... you're a C class.'

'Ouch.'

'Don't feel bad, we all gotta start somewhere. Since power is also a determining factor, a person can lower their own rank through the use of limiters. I'm really an A+ mage.'

"I see, so that guy thought you were a B because you were using a limiter.'

'Bingo. He made the mistake of judging the punch my attacks packed instead of watching how I used them. If he's a lost tribe member than I have no idea how he knows about the ranking system, but now we're just getting off subject... yeah, limiters.'

'Why would you want to use something like that?'

'Lots of reasons. Sometimes there's red tape involved and you have to call it in before you start really going to town, but most of the time it's for your own advantage. If we're always running full blast it's not exactly a good thing, limiters allow us to ease up on our powers without having to concentrate to do so. So we could blow stuff up worry free, without expending mental energy on holding back. Another reason is like what I used it for yesterday.'

'To get the drop on the enemy.'

'Oh yeah. You'll be using them yourself one day if you join the Administration, you seem to have a lot of potential.'

'Doesn't stop me from sucking though.'

She laughed, 'You'll start getting the hang of it, that's what training is for.'

"It's awfully quiet in there!" shouted Mom from the kitchen, "There better not be anything weird going on!"

Ai blushed.

"M... Mom!"

"Heh."