Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 3: Echoes
Xx~~*~~xX
Subaru stepped off the teleporter pad to greet the orange-haired girl in front of her. She had to remind herself that this child wasn't exactly a child.
"I'm glad you could come, Ms. Subaru," Arf told her, bowing.
The mage cyborg chuckled, putting a hand behind her head. "You can drop the Ms. part; it makes me sound old!"
Arf smiled, but Subaru could see that Arf looked worried. Her thoughts drifted back a few hours before...
x~~*~~x
When there was no real emergencies, there was always the minor case files. These were smaller things, that rescue agents could take on case-by-case basis, usually only needing one rescuer. Most were filed as either missing person reports, demolition of dangerous areas or buildings requests, or other fetch or delivery items. Sometimes some extra help was requesting to build something like a dam, or even harvest a field or deliver supplies. Things that weren't urgent, but could help improve the lives of people.
One of those was in front of Subaru's computer screen now. It was a missing person report; someone hadn't checked in when they were supposed to, and couldn't be contacted. It hadn't been quite long enough for an official missing report which would warrant a large-scale search. But Subaru recognized the names listed.
It had been filed by an "Arf" that Subaru knew to be Fate's familiar. Also, the person she was requesting help to find, was one "Yuuno Scrya." Subaru hadn't formally met him, though she knew who he was. He had apparently met Nanoha when they were younger, and now they were good friends. He was also the main director at the Infinity Library.
Subaru decided to use her initiative to take the case.
x~~*~~x
"So why did you filed an official request, instead of asking Fate or Nanoha?" Subaru questioned as the two moved through the air, the cyborg on her wing road with Arf flying beside her.
"Promise to keep this a secret?" Arf asked, then continued when Subaru nodded. "Fate and Nanoha have been busy with their own things lately, and I wanted to be able to do this on my own. I haven't been able to do much for Fate lately; she hasn't really needed me. While I'm happy to do what I can, I wish that I could do more. I even take this smaller child form so that I'm not a drain on her magic."
Subaru could understand that. "I've felt the same way. When I was young, all I could do was cry, while my big sister did all the work. But after Nanoha rescued me in an airport fire, I realized I was just being weak. I wanted to be stronger."
Arf looked away for a moment, then looked back. "While I train a bit, doing too much is a drain on Fate's magic, and she's got some big responsibilities. And even if I trained, I'd never catch up to her strength now. I thought I could make myself more useful if I could at least search for someone, but this planet is too big. The Scrya tribe only gave me a general idea of where Yuuno had gone. I thought an official rescuer would have have a better idea." She smiled. "I'm glad it was you; Fate talked highly of you back in Section Six!"
Subaru's cheeks reddened a bit in embarrassment. "Heh, well, I'll do what I can. For now, we can just head in the direction Yuuno was headed and follow his tracks."
"Well, it's just ahead, then," Arf told her. "I had just barely picked up Yuuno's trail when you contacted me, and informed me you were coming. I haven't had a chance to follow it thoroughly, and he apparently flew quite a bit."
The rescue mage nodded, and the two descended to the forest below.
x~~*~~x
"Operators of the unknown vessel, you are hereby ordered to power down your weapons and engines, and prepare to be boarded," Chrono commanded. "If you comply, you will be given the chance to defend yourself at trial. Disarm if you agree."
"Still no response, Admiral," Lucino Liilie, his ship's navigator and communications officer replied.
Chrono sighed, a bit frustrated. The vessel his ship, the Claudia, was pursuing, had allegedly attacked a research outpost. They had been in the area on maneuvers, and thus were ordered to investigate. Thought it had yet to respond in any other way, then firing weapons and fleeing.
"More energy fire," Lucino reported. "Shields holding, and our weapons appear to be having no effect... wait... confirmed, there is an anti-magic shield around the enemy ship."
"Well, that would explain why we can't teleport over," Chrono concluded. "Yet, there has to be a way...."
He watched more blue energy beams lanced out from the enemy ship to strike his own. The Claudia shook a bit from the attacks, but he knew she would hold; she was one of the most advanced ships in the TSAB fleet. But watching the weapons fire gave him an idea.
"I'll handle this personally," Chrono stated, rising to his feet, then turned to his second-in-command. "Griffith, you take command from here."
Griffith Lowran, his first officer looked dubious. "Sir?"
"I have great skill in self-teleportation, and I think I know a way to bypass the AMF," he explained. "I'll be in the teleporter room, and will need an audio/visual feed once I'm there."
"Aye aye, sir," came his communication officer's voice as Chrono left the bridge.
He continued to speak to the bridge via communicator as he ran. "Also, when I give the word, I'm going to want you to drop our shields. I know it sounds crazy, but our natural armor should protect us for several hits."
The bridge personnel responded positively; they were a good crew and had known each other a long time. Lucino and Griffith were old hands from Section six, and Alex and Randy had been on his mother's ship. Even though he knew this was going to be one of his craziest schemes, he also knew they had learned to trust his judgment. As he entered the teleportation room, screens came up showing the enemy ship. He brought out his first device, S2U, and tied his magic into the ship's teleportation system, drawing off it to boost his own.
"Okay, drop shields now, for 10 seconds!" he ordered, then watched the screen. His spell complete, he waited for the exact moment an energy beam connected the two ships, and released the spell.
He felt the familiar sensation of his body stretching, occupying an endless part of space and time; and for a moment, felt panic that he may have overestimated himself. His plan was reckless; in the split second when both ships were connected with the energy beam, he had hoped to travel back along that, using it like a bridge past the AMF. But as his insides felt a sharp pain, he wondered if it was all that bright of an idea.
And then he was whole again. Groaning, he picked himself off the floor and looked around, grinning despite the pain. He made made it onto the suspect's ship! Now he just needed to make it stop, or get rid of the AMF field so the enforcers could follow him over.
As he worked his way through the corridors, he felt a peculiar sensation, as if he was alone. He hadn't encountered any other people, and there was no ship-wide communications. Could the ship be on auto-pilot? Had the crew managed to escape somewhere along the line?
A drone coming around the corner partially answered his question.
"Blaze Cannon!" he shouted, pointing his device at the target. "The energy ball formed and fired, impacting the AMF of the type-1 gadget drone. At first he thought it would pass through, but then it fizzled.
Instantly, he realized his mistake. The whole ship was enveloped in an AMF, as well as the drone's own. His magic was weaker as a result. He needed another approach, and fast as he dove through a doorway to avoid return fire.
He returned Sniper to card form and brought out Durandel. Magic attacks might be hindered, but kinetic and thermal ones worked just fine. He brought up the staff as the drone came flying through.
"Ice Coffin!"
The temperature dropped instantly, as Durandel sucked up all the heat in the area. The room froze, as did the drone. It wobbled a bit, then fell to the floor. Chrono walked up to it and pointed the staff at point blank range.
"Azure Spear."
Water gathered and instantly froze into a lance, projecting from the end of Durandel and skewering the Drone. The ice then shattered, and Chrono left the room. Where there was one drone, there had to be more, and odds are, they were controlling the ship.
Passing a computer panel on a wall, he tapped a few keys and was rewarded with a layout of the ship. It wasn't that big, and the major sections were clearly marked, including the main AMF generator. Accessing that panel also probably pointed out his location, as three more drones came down the corridor, firing.
Chrono wasted no time in freezing the drones as they came, working his way to the AMF generation room. Once the guardian gadgets in that room were frozen, he increased the power to Durandel, freezing the generator solid. With the field down, Enforcers were able to teleport over and take control of the ship, finishing off the rest of the drones.
"Good work, Admiral!" Griffith complimented him from the screen, then shook his head in disbelief. "Every day you surprise me."
Chrono grinned. "I used to be the #1 Enforcer before I became an Admiral, Griffith." His expression became serious. "Contact the TSAB: We have a problem."
x~~*~~x
12 year-old Erio Mondale had to admit he liked flying.
Of course, it didn't hurt that his partner in flight was the 12-year old girl, Caro Le Rushe, who was sitting behind him on Friedrich's large form. She was currently holding onto his waist; not that she was in danger of falling, although one could never be too careful. That's what she told him, anyway, whenever they went out on patrol. Erio didn't care for the reason, just that it felt oddly comforting.
Fried dipped as he turned, heading towards their targetted location, staying several meters above the treetops. Their mission was to check out a section of the Wildlife Preservation. Some of the creatures there were acting strangely, and it was their mission to find out why.
"Listen," Caro said suddenly.
Erio suddenly realized he hadn't really been paying attention to anything else other than the girl behind him. He strained his ears, but didn't hear anything. He looked back at her questioningly.
"There's nothing," she elaborated. "No birds chirping, no animals growling or roaring. It's quiet, like there's nothing there."
"What is this section of the Preserve supposed to be for?" Erio asked.
"Some of the most magically-attuned or magically sensitive rare creatures are here, such as dragons and sphinxes," Caro explained. "You can usually see at least one or two flying around, but the skies are clear. I hope we aren't dealing with some aggressive poachers...."
Erio could hear the worry in her voice; these animals meant a lot to her. "Don't worry; anyone that could mess with a dragon would require a large operation, and we would have detected one already if that was the case." He looked back at her and gave her a confident smile.
Caro tried to smile back. "You're right. There has to be something else going on here and... Erio?"
The young dragon knight's smile had vanished. "Looks like we got company, hold on!" He flapped Fried's reigns, urging the dragon faster.
The summoner girl glanced back, seeing what caused the change in her partner's attitude: "A pack of wyverns! But why are they after us? And why are so many gathered together like that?"
Both of them knew about wyverns; smaller and more aggressive than dragons, they also roamed in very small packs of 2-4 usually. Larger groups could happen, but only in self-defense or desperation. They also tended to be faster than dragons, which was becoming evident as they slowly gained on Fried.
"Erio, make a sharp left turn, quickly, I'll try to slow them down!"
He knew he didn't really need to direct Fried, as being Caro's dragon, he could understand his mistress quite well. So he wasn't surprised when Fried immediately banked.
"What I seek is that with which to admonish, with which to seize," Caro began to chant, having already activated her barrier jacket and Kerykeion. "Answer to my words, binding chains of steel. Tempered Iron Summon: Alchemic Chain!"
Four Summoning squares appeared in mid-air, chains reaching up to snag four of the wyverns. But there were still five more coming. Erio realized Caro couldn't do more than that, even though she had been practicing. They needed something else and fast, as the wyverns entered firing range and began sending small fireballs at them. They weren't lethal; but too many hits could even bring Fried down.
"Caro, take over, I'll try something," he told her, activating his own barrier jacket and pulling out his spear. "Strada, form two!"
"Don't hurt them," the young summoner pleaded. "They may not know what they are doing, and this is a Preserve!"
Erio flashed her a smile. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!"
And with that, he leapt off of Fried towards the wyverns, engaging the booster to fly straight at them. As he expected, they scattered as he charged into their midst, but he utilized the side boosters to change his flight angle to follow one, landing on it's scaly neck. Before it could shake him, Erio placed the shaft of his spear against it's throat and held onto both ends, hugging the neck tightly.
The wyvern roared as it thrashed in mid-air, unable to dislodge the pest attached to him. From the corner of his eyes, Erio could see the others circling. But would they attack? He got his answer in short order, as a small fireball whizzed past him while another struck near his leg. It appeared that the other wyverns wouldn't hesitate to turn on their own if they sensed weakness.
Meanwhile, the wyvern he was attached to was beginning to sink, tiring out, just as he figured it would. He knew wyverns may have more speed than dragons, but they had much less endurance.
"ERIO!"
The dragon knight leapt off his target at Caro's cry, engaging the boosters to shoot straight up. Looking around, he saw that Caro was seemingly having trouble with Fried. The dragon seemed to be brushing against the tree tops. A quick glance told him the other wyverns were retreating, but why? He didn't have time to think about that, as he sped back towards Caro, returning Strada to watch form after landing. He reached ahead and helped her grasp the reins, trying to pull Fried up.
"What's wrong with him?" Erio shouted against the wind.
"I don't know!" Caro yelled, near tears. "He doesn't feel right, but I don't think he was hit!"
[And we seem to have another problem,] Erio thought glumly, as Fried began to glow under them. "I think he's changing back! Caro, we need to jump!"
"NO!" she cried back. "I won't leave him! He's not well!"
Erio sighed, but he knew he needed to do it. As Fried's large form faded out beneath them, Erio grabbed the teary Caro and leapt, turning in midair to shield her body from the branches as the forest swallowed them up.
x~~*~~x
"That's the ship?" Teana asked, as Fate and her watched the Claudia tow the strange vessel in.
"Yes," the senior agent replied. It wasn't much of a ship; a rounded tin can with two big engines on either side, less than half the size of the Claudia. "Chrono tells me gadget drones were involved, and you know that means."
"Jail Scaglietti," Teana answered back, although she knew she didn't have to. She had read all the intel; while the drones could be set up to act autonomously when released, they could also be controlled. Still, it was thought all the drones had been decommissioned several months ago, shortly after Jail's capture. They all deactivated without anything left to control them.
If that was the case, where did these come from?
"Did someone pick up where Jail left off?" Teana spoke the unanswered questions that were on both their minds, as the pair headed for the loading docks to investigate the ship. "Or did Jail somehow engineer this?"
"That's what we're going to find out," Fate answered as they were teleported aboard.
"Welcome ladies, to the Bucket," Griffith greeted them with a smile.
"Agent Fate T. Harlaown and Junior Agent Teana Lanster, reporting" Fate identified for the both of them, saluting, then smiled. "It's good to see you again, Griffith."
He nodded and smiled warmly. "Likewise. It's been about a year, hasn't it?"
Teana blinked. "Wait a minute, the Bucket?"
Griffith began leading them down the corridor. "It's what the crew nicknamed it. You've seen out the outside looks. Very plain and ordinary, like a bucket with two engines attached. No style or class at all. Minimum functionality."
"Any sign who built or controlled it?" Tea inquired.
"Yes and no," he told her. "It had drones and an AMF, but there's no magical technology present inside it at all." They reached the end of the corridor and a door swished open, revealing a small room with 3 seats and computer panels. "And here's the bridge. Kinda small as you can see. We haven't tried to look into any of the files yet; I gather that's what you ladies are here for. I have to report back to the Claudia while Chrono is away making his report; he sends his regards and apologies he couldn't meet you in person."
Griffith excused himself as the two looked around. Teana realized he was right; the bridge was rather small. As opposed to the TSAB ship bridges, there were exactly three seats and just enough space to walk between them; one seat at the front, and one on each side.
Tea sat down on the right side one and began to tap at the keyboard. As opposed to the translucent hologram keyboards most used, this one used an actual hard keyboard. It made the whole ship seem.... old.
"Fate, this was obviously Scaglietti's work, right?" She asked as she started picking at the keyboard. "Why don't we go down and confront him. He has to know something about this."
Fate shook her head. "That won't do any good. He won't reveal what he knows; it'll be a waste of time."
The junior agent persisted. "But we won't know until we try, right? We have nothing to lose."
"It's a waste of time," Fate repeated more firmly. "We have to focus on leads that actually go somewhere. Which, right now, is figuring out what information we can pry from this ship. Scaglietti will have us going in circles."
"But...." Tea started again, then stopped, realizing Fate was ignoring her for the moment, tapping away at the keys and watching her own screen. She sighed and returned to her own workstation. Why was Fate so insistent upon avoid Jail? Well, hers was the junior position, supposedly to learn about being an agent from her mentor.
She'd have to accept it for now, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Fate was keeping something back.
x~~*~~x
"That's a golem?" Suzuka motioned, looking up at the big bipedal gray mechanical giant thing in the inspection cradle, then giggled. "It looks like a mecha from my homeworld."
Shari's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "A mecha? You have golems on your planet?"
Suzuka laughed a bit more. "Not exactly. They are only featured in entertainment. I don't think anyone on my planet has managed to build a real one."
The pair climbed up the gantry, heading over to the cockpit where Shari hit a few buttons to open it. "I've only seen a few reports, but this is my first time up close. I've always wanted to get a look into one."
Suzuka smiled, recognizing the eager look on Shari's face. It was the same one she had worn many times herself when looking at new technology: the desire to find out how it works and how to make it better. Pretty much like a kid in a toy store.
Shari settled into the cockpit, fingers dancing over the controls, bringing up various status on the screens. She seemed to be a natural, despite seeing it for the first time. Suzuka remarked on this out loud.
"Well, the control layout is similar to other cockpits I've seen before," the senior tech explained. "I must say it is a piece of work, though. I'd love to meet whoever designed this." She flipped through a few more screens in rapid motion. "Hmm, general motions are initiated via the foot pedals and control sticks, while you let your magic control the specifics. The right stick may start right arm movement, but your magic controls how, and what you do with the fist. It's a combination. There's a large magic battery, too. My, they thought of everything. One fine piece of engineering, indeed."
"Thank you," came a female electronic voice.
"Of course, they'd put an AI into something this complicated!" Shari realized. "What is your name or designation?"
"I am Terra, prototype golem, created to assist and protect my master," the voice responded.
"Who is your master?" Suzuka asked, still somewhat amazed at the AI's this society could produce.
"That information has not been registered, yet."
"Well, we'll take good care of you for now," Shari said, patting the golem affectionately.
Suzuka giggled, then a thought struck her. "If you don't have a master, how were you controlled before?"
"Minimum functionality mode is possible without master registration," Terra replied, answering her question.
A transparent screen panel opened up next to the pair, breaking Shari's mood. "Shari? This is Fate. I need a magic bypass to get into the files of a ship that's pure technology. Can you assist us?"
The device mechanic sighed. "Alright, I'll be by in a few." Fate thanked her, and then signed off. "I guess your inspection and overhaul will have to wait, Terra. But I promise to get back to you as soon as I can!"
"Understood, and thank you," the AI replied with, what Suzuka could almost swear, was a bit of a coo.
Shari lifted herself out of the cockpit and closed it up. "Alright, Suzuka, let's go and teach you something about magic bypasses!"
Suzuka saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"
x~~*~~x
Deep underground, Yuuno was conserving energy as best as he could. He had used up the last of his water, but he was growing hungrier by the moment. To make matters worse, he could almost swear the air was getting a bit thinner. There was a lot of oxygen trapped underground, but if there was no opening to the surface, he could end up suffocating down here. His body could make due without food for awhile, so the oxygen and water were bigger concerns.
For the moment, he converted to ferret form to use up less resources. He needed time to think. Every problem had a solution, every mystery had an explanation; he had been taught this from the Scrya tribe ever since he could remember.
As he curled up to get some sleep, he just hoped the solution was found before he ran out of resources.
Xx~~*~~xX
Author's Notes:
Rewrite of Chapter 3 done. Not much changed here, other than a bit about Arf's dialogue(since I learned familiar's can grow in strength). Reminder that I'm always looking for good C&C.