Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 22: Separations
Xx~~*~~xX
The robots stopped firing, causing the pair in the yellow bubble to blink in surprise.
"Why did they-" was all Arf got out before Fate inhaled sharply.
"Mother..." she breathed, nearly snarling the word, as a life-sized hologram of Precia Testerossa flew through the robots which were now simply hovering in standby mode.
"Why, it is a pleasure to see you again!" the Precia hologram stated in mock happiness. "Although, I should have realized that you would be among the ones who chose to visit my fair city. And I see you brought that pathetic familiar with you."
"Why are you doing this!?" Fate demanded, ignoring Arf's growl. "Didn't you get what you wanted already?"
"Things are a bit more complicated that I had expected," the hologram admitted. "But the look on your face tells me you had already suspected that." She turned around, heading back for the circle of robots. "If you want to know more, feel drop by my personal residence; I assume you can find it." She paused, sending a last look over her shoulder. "If you can survive, that is."
"MOTHER!" Fate screamed in anger, as the hologram disappeared. [What is she hiding!?]
Arf resumed her ready stance in response to the robots powering up their chest cannons. She sent her acknowledgment as Fate relayed her plan and both began to gather magic.
In the next moment, the robots fired, shattering the shield. That was promptly followed by a brilliant golden blast that exploded in all directions, encompassing them all, the epicenter belonging to a certain angry young woman.
x~~*~~x
Yuuno awoke, groaning in pain as a dull ache in the back of his head made itself known. He slowly sat up against a wall and took a deep breath, remembering how several of the robots had ganged up on him, firing into his barrier. With him already weakened from the trip, the shield dissolved under multiple explosions and sent him careening through the air.
"Well, I'm still alive somehow," he noted aloud. "They didn't finish me off, perhaps thinking I was taken care of. Which perhaps leaves me some time to explore this city for knowledge and information. It's hard to believe I'm really here, in the city of the Ancients. The architecture alone is amazing."
"Thank you," a light female voice answered. "I knew I was correct in ensuring you remained unharmed."
Yuuno turned in surprise, seeing a young girl with gold hair in twin pony tails standing several meters away. "You're... Alicia!?"
"Negative," the Alicia-looking individual replied. "I have merely borrowed the appearance of a recent traveler, in order to facilitate communication with the biological entities of this time period."
The archeologist had a thought as he stood up, studying her. "Wait... are you a personification of the city itself?"
"Close enough," it responded. "Alhazard's network proliferates throughout this principality, so I could partially be considered a manifestation of the urban capital's computer system."
"But aren't you under the control of Precia Testerossa?" Yuuno asked, coming up to her, reaching out to confirm she was a hologram when his hand passed through her.
"Currently control of most city functions is under that aspect," the Alicia-hologram informed him. "But it is... complicated for normal humans to understand. For instance, I was able to... convince the combat units to not end your existence."
That caught him off-guard. "Why?"
"Part of my programming is to assist knowledge-seekers," she explained, holding up one hand. A miniature version of himself appeared there.
"Probably untold knowledge, laying in wait in its depths," the recording spoke, then disappeared.
Yuuno was impressed. "Well, I am an archeologist and the head librarian at the Infinity Library. I would seek to learn more about you, this city, and the ancients who built it." This program appeared to be separate from Precia's control. Perhaps he could learn something to use against her. But first, "Can you help my friends like you did for me?"
She shook her head, her first real physical action. "I apologize. I have limited control at this current juncture in time. I could only conceal you from detection from that aspect." She rose, floating several inches above the floor. "If you follow me, I can guide you to the library of Alhazard. All knowledge is available within."
"Lead the way," he told her, smiling, as she turned and floated down the street, guiding him.
x~~*~~x
Nanoha seethed as she deflected another attack, then destroyed the attacking robot with her remaining Axel Shooter shots. She had long lost track of how many she had eradicated, yet more still came.
And to make matters worse, she had lost contact with everyone; there appeared to be some sort of jamming field interfering with electronic communicators, and even mental telepathy seemed to be repressed beyond a certain range. She had learned that, when an attack had forced farther away from Fate in the middle of a conversation.
She dove to the ground to escape her attackers, but they pursued, firing. She formed more orbs, firing behind her to take them out, then ducked down a narrow side street. One of the robots tried to follow, but the alley was too narrow and it merely crashed into both buildings, then was promptly crushed by falling debris.
The TSAB Ace released a few more searcher spheres and emerged on the other side, cursing that yet more knight-like robots were waiting for her. They fired as she put up her barrier, and she detonated it to give herself some cover. When the smoke cleared, her attack was charged.
"Divine Buster!" she shouted, sweeping the beam over several targets.
She took off again as more dove from the sky, swerving to dodge the hail of energy blasts that sought her out. A large open doorway of a domed-structure ahead gave her an idea, and she put on an extra burst of speed to stay ahead of her pursuers; just enough to send her through ahead of their attacks. She immediately turned and charged up again, preparing to finish off all of her attackers at once as they came through.
But long moments passed with nothing appearing. Then the door promptly shut tight, leaving her in darkness.
"Welcome!" a familiar voice addressed her. "You seemed to have found me."
Nanoha turned to see a pair of lights illuminate a female figure standing on a high podium, her arms spread wide to welcome the girl. "Precia!"
"I must admit, you were very impressive out there," the grand mage complimented her. "I can see now how you managed to beat my Fate."
"You are under arrest on suspicion of assault and causing a disturbance of the peace," Nanoha told her, aiming her staff. "If you surrender, you will be given a chance to defend yourself in court. Disarm now if you agree."
Precia roared in laughter. "Oh my, that was too good, my dear! I can see now why my Fate likes you so much." She wiped her eyes. "But unfortunately, you are an obstacle that needs to be removed. It was your interference last time that ruined my chances at obtaining the Jewel Seeds. You corrupted my Fate away from me." She formed a purple energy ball in her left hand, that crackled with electrical power. "And now you will die."
The TSAB Ace grit her teeth, leaping out of the way as the sphere of generated power was thrown at her. "If you had treated Fate more like a daughter, then perhaps you wouldn't have lost her!" She formed several Axel shooter orbs, sending them at her mage opponent.
As the smoke cleared from the multiple explosions, the podium was empty; the real Precia was revealed to be floating higher up as the lights in the large dome came on, exposing a sort of sports coliseum. "Perhaps if Fate was a real human, I might have. But she was just a tool, created for a purpose: to serve me. Tools can be treated anyway a person wants." She suddenly realized Nanoha had disappeared from her previous spot.
"Fate is no tool!" Nanoha shouted back from above, angry, her attack charged. "She is more of a person than you will ever know!"
"Divine Buster!" Raging Heart chirped, firing.
The large beam enveloped her targeted a split second before Precia could think about moving. As the beam faded, Nanoha eyes widened in surprise. "Precia" was falling backwards, but parts of her clothing and flesh had been blasted away, revealing mechanical circuitry underneath. The automaton hit the ground and broke into several pieces.
"As expected of the Bureau's Ace of Aces," came Precia's voice from the side of the sports dome; another "Precia" had just entered. "As you may have figured out, that version of me was a robot, designed to evaluate your moves and spells." She lowered her staff, firing off a purple blast of lightning.
Nanoha threw up a quick Round Shield to deflect it aside, spinning out of the way of the beam and firing in return. Precia merely held up her own hand, stopping the Divine Buster cold. Then she leapt into the air, her staff firing off six purple beams that arced to converge on their target.
"Crossfire shoot!" Nanoha shouted, pointing her right hand. Several beams lanced out, each impacting Precia's shots. Smoke from the impact explosions filled the upper reaches of the domed coliseum, temporarily obscuring the combatants' views of each other.
To her surprise, Precia came flying through the smoke, laughing maniacally. She batted aside Nanoha's follow up shot with her staff and thrust out her other hand, purple energy blasting forth. Nanoha put up a barrier to block it, concentrating. Precia's laughter ended as a dozen Axel shooter orbs impacted her body from all directions.
Nanoha felt herself breathing heavier now as the second automaton fell to the ground in pieces. All this continuous combat would begin to wear at her; she couldn't stay here forever. Yet another Precia appeared from the door again, this time without speech, and immediately fired on her. She quickly sprang above it, but another blast caught her in the back and sent her slamming into the wall.
She dropped to the ground, but as she picked herself up, Nanoha glimpsed two Precia robots advancing on her, their hands glowing.
x~~*~~x
"Damn that girl!" Teana cursed, slogging through the water. She grit her teeth, wondering for the umpteenth time why she had to jump down here after that fool cyborg.
The gun mage recalled how Subaru had been snagged, and consequently freed by Arf. And then had the audacity to charge full steam down into the hole, shouting that she was going to get rid of those tentacles at their source. And Teana just *had* to jump down after her, because she knew Subaru would end up needing her help.
The junior agent had found herself in what looked like an underground water collection pit; Tea was just glad it wasn't a sewer. Although it could have been one; with no one occupying the city for thousands of years, there wouldn't be much in the way of waste. Either way, the last she saw of her friend was right after she had leapt down the hole. Subaru had been deliberately falling even deeper into the large pit, although as far as Tea could see, the bottom was obscured due to the darkness.
The gun mage used her magic grappling rope to swing down to the watery bottom, but lost track of of her target. Only the sound of an explosion had led her to taking this particular tunnel.
"Subaru!" she called, no longer hearing any sounds except for the running water.
Teana sighed, wondering if she'd ever find that girl and make it out of this alive. She turned a corner and heard a scream, recognizing the voice it belonged to. She took off sprinting down the tunnel as it eventually led her to a large open underground area, filled with several shallow pools and various streams running in and out of them.
It was here that she found her friend and the target she had been chasing, which appeared to be some sort of large square robot at the center of the mass of mechanical tentacles. She surmised it must have been what was attacking them from below, and Subaru had chased it down. But now the cyborg girl had both arms and legs trapped, and the robot was slowly trying to pull her apart.
The gun mage acted quickly, gathering her magic. "Crossfire Shoot!" Four shots took out the tentacles holding Subaru up, while another two went for the robot itself. A shield flickered around it as those last two magical bullets were nullified.
"Tea!" Subaru shouted in relief, as she landed on the ground.
"I figured you'd get yourself in trouble," Tea yelled back, shooting down the tentacles coming after her, one after another. "Go for the body while I cover for you!"
The cyborg nodded, taking off like a shot up a nearby wall, while Teana continued to snipe its appendages. But she realized she was making very little headway, as the severed ones healed themselves, re-growing the metal grasping claws. She took a step back as the number of targets grew and advanced on her.
"Divine Buster!" Subaru shouted, firing straight down as she fell. The force of the blast shoved the robot's main body into the ground, a second before the cyborg's revolver knuckle made impact. "Vibration Shatter!"
The shield held for a moment, and then the vibration attack tore apart the body from within. Teana leapt down from her perch as Subaru rebounded off the dying monstrosity and skated up to her friend.
Only to get a whack in the head from an angry gun mage. "You idiot! What did you think you were doing, going off like that!?"
"Ow!" Subaru exclaimed, rubbing her noggin. "Sorry, but we couldn't fight it like that. I realized it was coming from underground, so I went after it."
"You're just lucky I managed to find you in time!" Tea huffed. "Now let's go find the others and-"
She stopped as a sound came from above. Both girls looked up into the darkness, as two more of the multi-tentacled robotic creations dropped down onto them.
x~~*~~x
Erio had also ended up underground, but not entirely by choice. He had leapt off Fried to charge into a robot, skewering it and coming out the other side, when he heard Caro cry out. She had been knocked off Fried. He was about to dive for her, when she summoned, and then was caught by, Adelinde.
Instead, he spun and blocked a sword strike from one of the robots above him, but the force of the attack sent him falling backwards. He couldn't use Strada to regain flight, as he needed it to block and parry attacks from the robot and its blade, who were falling with him. Erio saw two more robots closing in out of the corner of his left eye, but then heard Caro shout for Fried's Blast Flare and they both exploded.
A port on the robot's chest began to glow, and Erio barely managed to twist his body aside as it fired. Still, it singed the barrier jacked on his side, and he felt more than heard, the explosion below. Continuing the twist, he managed to switch their positions as they fought in free-fall so that he was on top, the pair tumbling into a cratered hole in the road and disappearing into the darkness below street level.
He eventually broke away from his robot assailant, and used Strada's Snakeform to slice it up.
"Erio!" Caro called for him, flying straight down on Adelinde. The bottom of the hole loomed larger and larger, but she managed to grab his hand and level out as the ceiling started to come down. The pair shot into a side tunnel with Fried, who had returned to his smaller form, as the debris piled up behind them and blocked the tunnel entrance.
"I can't contact the others!" Caro told him worriedly after they had stopped to catch their breath. "Telepathy and the communicators aren't working!"
Erio discovered she was right. "They must be jammed or something." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down; we should be able to reach them again once we return to the surface."
She looked up at him, determination returning to her face, and nodded. She then de-summoned Adelinde, as the tunnel was a bit too narrow for flight, and the pair took off, the splashing of their footsteps in the water the only sound. The passage slowly wound around to the left a good distance, and Erio felt they might be traveling counter-clockwise around the city. There was still no sign of a way up, however.
After several minutes, the tunnel narrowed a bit into more of a tube shaft, and the water level rose up to their knees to compensate. Then Caro screamed out behind him. He turned just in time to see her disappear under the water, apparently having found a weak spot in the construction.
"Caro!" he shouted, diving through the hole for her. He managed to grab her with one arm, and use Strada's booster to slow their flight, landing them gently. But both immediately noticed the precariousness of their new surroundings.
While the water continued to fall from the hole in the large pipe above them, it paled in comparison to the size of the room they found themselves in the middle of. All around them, machinery hummed and worked, constructing hundreds of various kinds of robots. From the knight types to more technological humanoid ones, they rode along on conveyer belts in different states of construction.
Including the fully completed ones at the end of the line, which had begun to turn towards the intruders.
Erio realized that he and Caro had just roused one big hornet's nest.
x~~*~~x
Arisa sped along the ground in wheeled roller skate mode, slashing with her vibroblade. The robot knight, that had been dubbed a type-2, exploded as it's internal energy was released. The type-1s were the humanoids with the double-barreled energy cannons. The type-2s looked more like armored knights, possessing more defensive and melee oriented equipment like swords and spears, though most still possessed some form of single energy cannon mounted in their chest.
It took more magical energy to get through the shield of a type-2, but Arisa found her vibroblade went through them nicely. It also required less magic. The spear-equipped mage units following the modern Belkan style, had begun to focus their attention on those, as combination magical-melee attacks penetrated easier.
She backed around a corner as two more came down the street, firing. She counted to three, then launched a thin strand across to latch onto a building on the other side. Both robots were split in half as they flew through the magic-enhanced garrote wire. Retracting, she took stock of her next move.
"Several units are breaking past our defensive line!" came the announcement from a front-line troop. "They are heading for the medical facility!"
Arisa cursed, then opened up her communication line, springing into the sky. "I'll get them!"
Terra brought up a map of the area, with blinking cursors marking friend and foe. Sure enough, two of the type-2 units and one of the type-1s were quickly approaching the medical center and firing, which is what she was supposed to be protecting. Green shields popped up to deflect the blasts, letting her know that Shamal had been watching. Arisa pushed the boosters and stowed the vibroblade, noting the range meter counting down.
"Not on my watch!" she yelled, taking aim.
Terra's hands exploded off her wrists, shooting downward while still attached via cables. The hands burned bright gold, punching through the type-2 shields and grabbing their stubby necks, squeezing. The type-1 stopped and turned, firing, but Arisa had already gone into a dive, retracting her golem's fists from the destroyed type-2's. She needed one more quick ranged attack, and fast; her magic barrier was taking several direct hits.
Deploying her magic artillery boxes, the golem pilot took careful aim, firing off a staggered series of blasts. She didn't want to hit the hospital. The thin blue beams exploded against it's bubble shield as it shot upwards. She dove passed it, brought out her main gun, twisted and took aim. A burst of multi-colored leapt from the barrel and struck the type-1 dead on, blasting through easily, as its shield had been weakened by the artillery.
"Immediate threat to the hospital has been averted," she informed the ground mages through her communicator.
[But the damn things kept coming!] she thought in frustration. She glanced upward for a moment at the huge floating city just sitting there, wondering how Nanoha and the others were doing.
Then her communicator crackled to life again, informing the golem pilot that she still had work to do.
x~~*~~x
"Father, we're here!" Nove shouted as she, Dieci, and Cinque leapt off Wendi's board. "Dieci got her cannon up and running, too!"
Genya turned to glance out the back side of the mobile HQ van, at his four newest daughters. "Good timing! Carim's church knights are helping to reinforce the northern section, but several of the shelters around the east are in danger. We could use your help."
"We'll handle it!" Wendi said confidently.
"Actually, you'll need to let your other three sisters handle it, Wendi," Genya told her, half-smiling and handing her a packet. "I have a special mission for you, and it's going to require you to fly as fast as you can."
x~~*~~x
Hayate clenched her teeth. This wasn't going too well.
They could just barely handle the type-1s and type-2s, and now a dozen of a new type were landing, that they were dubbing type-3s. As opposed to their smaller brethren, these were four-legged and huge, bigger than three-story buildings. They reminded Hayate of a cross between a crab and centaur, but huge and mechanical. They had a pair of energy cannon arms, but also numerous other weaponry such as missiles and smaller blasters.
Their shields were also nearly impenetrable. Hayate had just dumped a Rein-boosted Ragnarok spell into one, without leaving a scratch on it. As she ducked around a building to avoid return fire, she wondered how they were supposed to deal with these.
"It appears you are having some problems, young woman," an older voice admonished. "Mages today, thinking that brute power is everything."
Hayate blinked. "Bureau Chief of Staff Mizetto Kurooberu? What are you doing here? I thought you were evacuated with the other higher ups!"
She smiled, activating her staff as she walked past Hayate. "The council, such as it is, was evacuated. But I grew up here, and I'll be damned if I let it be destroyed or taken over by an ex-pupil of mine!"
"Wait, don't go out there!" the SS rank mage cautioned. "There's a huge, powerful robot!"
Mizetto stepped out, gathering her magic. "And you need to learn a few things, such as there is more ways to attack than through brute force alone!"
The Mistress of the Tome of the Night Sky peeked out, watching the elderly mage jam her staff, glowing with white magic, into the ground. Huge stalagmites shot up from underneath the type-3 giant, impaling it several different ways two seconds before it exploded into white hot metal.
"Wow," Rein admired from inside. "She's good!"
Hayate's nodded in agreement, then her eyes widened as she realized what that meant. "The shield stops at ground level?"
The elderly mage turned back, smiling, and tapped her head with her staff. "Indeed. Study your enemies for weaknesses before you go off, blasting your biggest spells at them." She turned to stare up at the floating city.
A sudden thought struck Hayate. "Wait, you said 'ex-pupil' before. Is Precia...?"
Mizetto nodded, her withered face hardening. "Precia Testerossa was once my student. But I never dreamed she'd go this far. Perhaps some time I'll tell you more about that, but not now. We have to protect this city until your friends succeed in their mission."
"Right," Hayate responded, taking flight to follow the old mage to their next target. There were more type-3s out there that needed smashing.
x~~*~~x
Nanoha floated down, landing on the stairs between two sections of seats, using Raging Heart for support as she panted heavily. The remains of the two Precia robots had joined their predecessors on the floor. If the pattern held up, more would be coming. She needed to get out of here. Feeling her breath return, she took off for the doorway she entered through.
She detected the attack out of the corner of her vision, changing her angle 45 degrees as a blast of purple energy smashed the ground in front of the door. Twisting on instinct, she threw up a Round Shield and deflected the attack from the second Precia-bot, sending it at the first. The automaton exploded in a shower of sparks.
"You're doing quite well, Ms. Takamachi," the Precia-bot told her. "But you've probably noticed by now that you'll lose. Each of these robots sends back what it learns, and a new one is created, programmed with counter-measures against how the previous one was destroyed."
"Why are you doing this?" Nanoha asked, seeking to stall for time to recover, since she seemed talkative again.
"Fate asked me the same question," Precia told her. "I'll tell you the same thing I told her; if you want to know, then you'll just have to come visit me!"
"Then why now?" Nanoha questioned.
The Precia-bot fired another shot, forcing Nanoha to move. "I can tell you that at least. I assume that idiot Jail finally detonated the relic bombs I gave him the plans for. The data I gave him suggested he could eliminate magic with it. The fool actually believed he could do that; I used his hatred of magic and love of science to free this city from its prison. I knew it was only a matter of time before he was tempted to use them."
"Axel Shooter," Raging Heart intoned, creating a dozen more orbs in response to the robot's continued attacks.
"Pathetic," Precia told her opponent as she was bombarded by them. The smoke slowly cleared to reveal her unharmed. "I am immune to that weak attack now." She looked around to find her target, noticing the charging action. "Interesting, but that attack you're planning now won't work, either."
Nanoha had chosen her position carefully. "Divine Buster!"
The pink beam flared downward at an angle, just missing her target, and instead impacting the door beyond that she had initially come through, on the ground level.
Precia began to laugh as Nanoha took off for it. "I'll give you credit for that, but surely you didn't think it would be that easy?"
Nanoha stopped as the smoke cleared, revealing the door still intact. She turned and glared at her robotic adversary.
"This entire dome is shielded," Precia told her, gathering a large ball of crackling purple energy. "You are here, Ms. Takamachi, until you die."
Xx~~*~~xX
Author's notes:
I remember seeing a few panels of the manga, where Mizetto beat the crap out of both Nanoha and Fate at the same time(although this was years before Strikers). It was implied she beat them, not through force alone, but through out-thinking them. Since then, I had that particular scene above in my head. Although, upon a second reason, it might not have been her, but someone else. But I'll still run with what I got.
I also resisted the urge to call this chapter: "Will the real Precia Testerossa please stand up?" Although I admit the idea came from an old episode of Star Trek: TNG. Riker, Data, and I think Tasha were trapped on a planet, and a new attack probe would launch every 11 minutes or something, from the destruction of the old one. Each was stronger than the last as the system learned. But don't think watching that episode will give you any insights here!