8. Breakthrough

The Eventide had been patrolling the outside of the Wall for weeks, its sensors powered up to the limits of their design tolerance. Nobody wanted to suggest to Hayate or Fate that they might be pursuing a fool's errand.

They had been used – Nanoha saw that now. Precia had told them that the forces of Chaos could control the Warp, but they hadn't put two and two together. The suspiciously well-timed warp storms couldn't have been a coincidence; they had been dragooned into participating in a war they had no stake in, and then unceremoniously kicked out once they had outlived their usefulness.

She remembered the last proper conversation she had had with Fate. It had been a day after the disastrous expedition down to the unknown planet, and her partner was still in one of the infirmary beds, groggy from Shamal's sedatives.

"Nanoha..." she had asked, "where's Alicia? I want to talk to her."

Exactly what Nanoha hadn't wanted to hear.

"Fate," she said gently, "they did something to her. What we saw wasn't your sister, not any more. Maybe she's still in there, buried deep, but Fate... I saw her eat a man's soul, right in front of my eyes. It was... it was horrible."

Fate stared at her. "No..."

"I'm sorry, my love. I knocked her out, tried to get her out of there. I thought maybe the Bureau could help – we've dealt with this sort of thing before, though rarely this bad. Some soldiers ambushed us, though, and... I dropped her."

"You dropped her? You left my sister to those creatures?" Nanoha had never seen Fate so angry. Spots of red appeared on her pale face.

"There was nothing I could do!"

"Get out." It was said quietly, in a voice quavering with emotion.

"Fate, I-"

"Get. Out."

She had fled. In the past she had faced monsters, dark mages, and diabolical masterminds, but that look on her partner's face was the one thing she couldn't stand. Behind her, she heard weeping.

Since then, they had barely exchanged a dozen words with each other, and then mostly just acknowledgements of replacement at posts. Nanoha slept in the main barracks now, along with the rest of the forwards.

She walked onto the bridge. Hayate was there as always, standing atop the command platform like a statue. There were dark rings around her eyes. Everyone else was busy at their stations, very pointedly not making eye contact with each other.

A movement caught her eye. The sensors officer, another Earthborn with a vaguely Eastern European name nobody could pronounce, had raised his head, his face faintly glowing with cagy excitement.

"Colonel, you're not going to believe this," he said shakily, "but I think I've just found another entrance to the Wall."

Hayate blinked. "I'm sorry, you what?"

"It's an old wound," he explained. "There's even some stratified scar tissue around it, like it's been sealed and reopened a couple of times. The dimensional space around it's pretty calm, too, though I think we won't be able to get in much further than the first universe inside. Given that that's where the disturbance seems to be coming from, though, I'd still say it's worth a look."

"Understood. Helm, take us in."

"Aye-aye, ma'am."

The excitement began to spread. Even Nanoha felt it. The thought that their search might not be in vain...

Hayate stepped down from the platform, almost falling over. Signum rushed to her side, and she draped a grateful arm over her bodyguard's shoulder.

"Sensors, see if you can pick up any more data. Lieutenant Rostov, you have the bridge again. As for me, I'm getting some rest."


The transition into realspace was pleasingly uneventful. The Eventide slid into orbit around what was clearly a parallel Earth with a minimum of fuss, cut its emissions, and went into low-visibility mode. The bridge was just as crowded as it had been when they discovered the daemon-world, if not more so. Everyone wanted to see this.

"The primary source of the disturbance is Nishinomiya City, on the south coast of Japan." Hayate explained. "For the record, we tapped into local communications, and that's what they call it too. Makes things a lot easier for us, I will say. Even the street plans are pretty much the same as our own version. We'll be sending in a small team to the city perimeter – our objective is North High School, which is... well, pretty much where you'd expect it to be."

An image flashed up on the main viewer of a large, walled school facility built on a slight rise, a long path leading up to it on one side.

"Signum and Nanoha have volunteered for the mission. You'll be going in undercover, you two, so that means Agito won't be accompanying you – sorry, Agito, but you're barred from covert-ops until I can be sure you aren't going to accidentally burn down someone's house again."

"It was only the one time!" the tiny Unison Device grumbled, rather undermining her point with a petulant burst of flame.

"Anyway," Hayate continued, ignoring her, "we'll pull you out at even the slightest whiff of trouble. I am not going to have a repeat performance of last time. Is that understood?"

Both women nodded.

"Good. Belay callsign on an evacuation is 'Reinforce', but you'd best have a very good reason for using it. Transport in twenty. Dismissed."

As they headed to the transport chamber, Nanoha turned to Signum.

"How's she holding up?" she asked quietly.

"Not well. She misses Vita a lot."

"I think we all do." She gave an encouraging smile. "Don't worry – we'll find her."

"Of course." The tall woman lapsed back into her habitual stony silence.

A few moments later, she glanced at Nanoha again. "Nanoha... you're a good friend to Hayate. Thank you for that."

The younger captain blushed with embarrassment and slight confusion. Signum wasn't prone to such outbursts.

"Um... not a problem." She desperately hunted for another discussion topic. "Oh, look, there's the chamber. Think we should get ready?"

"Indeed."


The transporter deposited them in the middle of a suburban neighbourhood, about half a kilometre from their objective. Hayate had used the MIS to create a temporary barrier around the area which should exclude any normal human witnesses. They deactivated their Barrier Jackets, changing into the ordinary civilian clothes they had elected to wear for the mission. Signum had had to borrow some from one of the galley staff, but neither that nor her bright pink hair managed to do much to prevent her from looking like the very epitome of middle-class respectability.

OK, we're in, she informed Hayate. You can drop the barrier now.

The sky abruptly went from grey to blue, and people appeared around them. Not many – they were, after all, in a residential area in the middle of the day – but enough to mark a significant change.

Sensors, what does the situation look like from up there?

Pretty calm, he replied, though the frequency of dimensional disturbances has risen over the past couple of weeks for some reason. Also changed location a bit – there was a big trail across Canada prior to the upswing. Centred back here now, mind.

Anything more immediate?

No, nothing... wait, yes! Short-range teleport in your vicinity! Holy shit, they're heading straight for you. Transport, get them out of there n-

The link cut off. Ahead of them, a single figure appeared at the end of the street and walked towards them, a bow-wave of silence spreading out before her. Nanoha reactivated her Barrier Jacket, not having to look to know that Signum had done the same. Their visitor was a short, grey-haired girl in a plain school uniform. Somehow, the utter, mundane unmemorability of her appearance made her all the more intimidating.

"Identify yourself!" Signum barked, pointing the tip of Laevantien's blade at her.

The stranger said nothing, merely regarding them with a level, expressionless gaze. She kept advancing, birdsong dying in the trees as she walked past. Nanoha levelled Raising Heart, mentally calculating range and trajectory.

"Miss, I apologise for my colleague's rudeness, but we really don't want any trouble here. Could you at least tell us your name, please?"

No response. The readings from her Intelligent Device spiked; this... person, whoever she was, was the source of a massive disturbance in the space-time continuum, and it was intensifying rapidly.

Just as she was about to open fire, the girl stopped, still calmly staring at them.

"You are not supposed to be here," she said in a flat monotone, and made a sharp gesture with her hand, muttering in an odd, stuttering voice that sounded very little like human speech.

Then there was only darkness.


"... And pop goes the disturbance," said the sensors officer resignedly. "We've lost the ground team's signals, chief."

Hayate gripped the edge of the command desk, her knuckles turning white.

Not again...


When Nanoha opened her eyes, it was in what looked suspiciously like an ordinary classroom, desks arranged into a single large table. At one end was a separate desk with a fancy-looking laptop and a couple of mysterious and frankly sinister ornaments.

Not exactly standard prison design, is it? she commented to Signum.

You would be surprised. Two centuries ago, Zafira and I were confined in a magically-reinforced tannery for a week. Not our finest hour.

"I apologise for the nature of your greeting," said the familiar robotic monotone from behind them, "but we have been given reason in the past to distrust entities from beyond our designated remit, especially in light of recent events. You are currently being stored in a secure artificial closed space whilst we access your vessel's data to verify your intent."

"'Artificial closed space'?" Signum enquired as they turned around.

"Yes. A technically inaccurate but broadly descriptive colloquial term would be 'pocket dimension'. We estimate this model to be both invisible and unreachable by your associates given their vessel's tech-level, though I will reiterate that this is a temporary measure pending threat assessment."

"So we can return to your planet if you decide that we are not a threat?" Nanoha asked.

"No. We will permit you to return to your vessel, but not to set foot on the planetary body designated 'Earth'. Please be advised that this is not intended as an insult to you and your kind in particular, but rather as an acknowledgement of the uniquely unstable situation on said planet, especially around the area you chose to land in."

"We detected a significant distortion in the fabric of space-time there," Nanoha said. "Does that have something to do with what you're talking about?"

"Yes. For several years now we have been engaged in damage-limitation protocols regarding a powerful unconscious reality-warper there. She is one source of the instability. The other is that our dimension has recently been invaded."

"Chaos," Signum growled.

"You are aware of them?" Was that a flicker of curiosity in that emotionless face?

"Yes. We have encountered them before. The encounter was... not friendly." Internally, Nanoha winced at herself. The girl's peculiar speech-patterns were infectious.

"Likewise. They are using our dimension as an access route for their armed forces, and have managed to subvert a significant number of key actors, including the reality-warper, Haruhi Suzumiya. This is why we contained you – we do not wish the invaders to gain further allies, and if you are not allies, revealing yourself to their agents would likely be extremely hazardous."

"Thank you for your concern," Nanoha replied politely, trying to keep the irony out of her voice. "Incidentally, might I ask who this 'we' is? Or are, I suppose."

"I am Yuki Nagato, a humanoid interface of the Data Integration Thought Entity. My purpose is to gather data on Earth in general and Haruhi Suzumiya in particular."

A sentient program like me and my fellow knights? Signum wondered.

That's my guess, Nanoha agreed. Technobabble isn't exactly my strong suit.

Yuki tilted her head to one side for a moment.

"We have verified that you are not allied with the forces of Chaos," she said. "I shall provide you with access to your vessel."

More of that strange, bubbling code, and they felt the link to the Eventide open once more. No sooner had they done so, though, than Hayate's voice came across. Telepathy made it difficult to hide one's emotions – she was clearly on the edge of panic.

Nanoha, Signum, thank goodness we've found you. Don't worry – the transporter room's spun up and ready to go. What happened down there?

Wait, no! Nanoha yelled desperately. Code Reinforce, I repeat, code Reinforce! They're not hostile!

Nanoha, Hayate said with strained patience, they just kidnapped and imprisoned you.

It was a misunderstanding! They thought we were agents of Chaos! Hayate, please, when was the last time I was wrong about something like this?

Well, there was that one time you swore blind that Inspector Acous's chocolate cake was safe to eat...

Oh, come on, how was I to know you were allergic to peanuts?

Wait, you mean you never illegally accessed the Section Six medical records? Arf told me it was an officer's rite of passage!

I think you've been spending far too much time around Arf of late, young lady.

A psychic sigh came from the other end. Nanoha was relieved to note that the panic had disappeared. Fine, fine, I'll chat to these new friends of yours. I'm keeping the ship on full alert, though, is that understood?

Fine by me. Here's Raising Heart's recording, in case you need some time to prepare.

She turned back to Yuki, who regarded her with the same disconcerting patience as always. "My commanding officer wants to talk to you in person. Is that all right?"

"That is acceptable. I will summon emissaries of two other factions on this world. They will likely wish to be informed."

The 'emissaries' turned out to both be in their mid-teens, though this was something that one got used to as a member of the TSAB, particularly if one's first combat experience had been at age nine against an amorphous, befanged monstrosity trying to eat your face, as Nanoha's had. They were unceremoniously deposited from glowing portals in the air, and looked just as bemused as the two mages were.

One was a tall, handsome young man whose faint, slightly puzzled smile seemed to be more a permanent fixture of his face than a reaction to the events around him. The other was a short, doe-eyed, and improbably busty girl who gave an overall impression of a rabbit in the proverbial headlights.

Hayate's arrival was rather more dignified, calmly emerging from the spectacular light-show that was a magical transporter in action. Nanoha couldn't help noticing, though, that she had her Barrier Jacket activated and a blonde tint to her hair that signified she was interfaced with Reinforce Zwei. Given that her brand of magic was effectively useless in a confined space like this, it was probably just a psychological crutch.

Bringing a nuke to a negotiation? Isn't that supposed to be my job? she thought with simultaneous amusement and worry. Everybody's on edge here – probably me as well. No, wait, definitely me as well.

Introductions seemed a good way to break the ice. "Miss Nagato, this is my superior, Colonel Hayate Yagami of the TSAB. I'm Captain Nanoha Takamachi, and my colleague with the big sword is Captain Signum. No surname."

Hayate attempted an awkward smile, whilst Signum simply provided one of her patented grave nods.

"Hayate, this is Yuki Nagato, representative of the Integrated Data... Data Integration... huge alien computer-thingy, and her associates...?"

"Itsuki Koizumi, of the Organisation," said the boy smoothly. They could hear the capital 'O'.

"M-Mikuru Asahina," the other girl stammered. "I'll... umm... just go make the tea, shall I?"

To Nanoha's relief, Hayate's maternal instinct promptly took over.

"A cup of tea would be lovely, thank you." Mikuru gave her a grateful smile and scuttled off. "I'm pleased to meet all of you. I understand you've been having problems with Chaos?"

"It would be more accurate to say that they've taken over," Itsuki replied. "In Hyogo Prefecture and environs, anyway. They have either compromised or fully subverted a significant number of private companies, as well as much of the local government infrastructure. Particular targets are esper factions like my own – we believe that they are attempting to harvest psychic talent."

"Espers?" Nanoha asked. "Are they the local equivalent of mages?"

The smile broadened. "In a manner of speaking, I suppose. Their biggest coup, though, was obtaining the co-operation of the god of this world, Haruhi Suzumiya."

Hayate raised an eyebrow – she'd clearly listened to the recording. "And how did they manage that?"

"Though Miss Suzumiya is undoubtedly powerful, she is also a teenage girl, if an unusually strong-willed one. There are... methods for dealing with those. Deeply unpleasant methods. They replaced someone she cared about with one of their agents. Frankly, she never stood a chance."

Signum was studying him closely. "You sound as if you speak from experience," she stated.

The smile, brittle to begin with, vanished utterly. "I have had... training in such matters. I've never had to use it. I never want to."

A few moments more of that level, searching stare, and the knight lowered her eyes. "Good answer."

There was a pause in the conversation, and Nanoha mulled over the esper's words. 'Someone she cared about'. Was it just me, or was there a bit of hesitation before he used that pronoun?

The tea arrived – it was anyone's guess where Mikuru had found it – and she sipped it gratefully. It was very good indeed, and certainly a vast improvement on Admiral Lindy Harlaown's infamously sugary green tea. By now things had gotten a lot more relaxed; everyone was sitting down at the table, and the TSAB mages had deactivated their Barrier Jackets – except for Signum, who was currently regarding the desk ornaments as if she expected them to go for her vital organs at any moment. Professional paranoia, I suppose.

"Has there been any organised resistance to the invaders?" Hayate asked.

Itsuki nodded. "The Organisation has been engaged in a covert war against them ever since we were alerted to the true extent of their influence. Unfortunately, that was only about a week ago, and we've been comprehensively outnumbered, outmanoeuvred, and outmatched. Heads rolled over that one, let me tell you – mine was nearly one of them. Anyway, once they figure out how to use Miss Suzumiya against us, it's all over. Miss Asahina's people are even more constrained, for their own reasons."

"And those are?"

"I'm from a separate time-plane," Mikuru explained. "The future, specifically. We can't interfere too much for fear of causing damage to the continuum, and if we ever manage to antagonise them too severely, they can simply alter the course of events so that we are erased from the timeline. We're restricted to the odd nudge here and there, I'm afraid."

"On the plus side, though, it sounds like they haven't managed to irrevocably change anything yet," the colonel surmised. "Otherwise you wouldn't exist, right?"

"I'm sorry, but it's not that simple. We're detecting closed-space activity in our time-plane in a manner consistent with impending destruction. We may be doomed anyway." She blushed. "I really shouldn't be telling you this. It's classified information."

"We understand. What about you, Miss Nagato?"

"The Data Integration Thought Entity is undecided on how to act. The invaders are undoubtedly a disruptive influence, but their actions regarding Miss Suzumiya have provided her with a measure of focus, if not in an optimal direction. Consequently, they have created a form of short-term stability. When coupled with their relatively small area of influence, the wide range of countermeasures prepared to deal with the situation, and the fact that hesitation would have little effect other than resulting in the potential corruption or deletion of a few thousand terrestrial life-forms, the prevalent consensus is that detached observation pending further developments would be the wisest course of action at present."

"And yet you have gone to some effort to arrange a meeting between several enemies of Chaos," Signum noted.

"We interfaces do not possess a single, monolithic consciousness. There are some of us who believe the potential costs of inaction to be too high. Indeed, I would request that when you leave, you take these two with you. As observers of Miss Suzumiya, they are in immediate peril. The individual already replaced was in a similar situation to us, and I am... concerned for his safety."

Her face, as always, was expressionless, but those huge grey eyes told Nanoha everything she needed to know. She suddenly felt a tremendous surge of sympathy for this strange, alien girl.

"Don't worry – we'll look after them," she said reassuringly. "Right, Hayate?"

Her commanding officer nodded. "Agreed. Apart from anything else, they should be a useful source of information if we intend a full-scale intervention against Chaos. What you three have said, coupled with our own experiences, has convinced me – it's time to call in the big guns. Dealing with interdimensional invaders is part of the Bureau's job, after all. Mr. Koizumi, Miss Asahina, do you agree to this?"

"I hate to say it, but Nagato's right," Itsuki said. "This isn't a fight we can win on our own, and this seems the best way to shift the balance back in our favour. I'll need to contact my superiors, though – it wouldn't look too good if I vanish without saying a word."

"M-me too," Mikuru stammered. "Breaching protocol is a very serious offence."

"I shall provide them with the necessary information, plus a recording of this conversation," Yuki stated. "It should not present too great an inconvenience."

"Are we to assume, then, that you will not be accompanying us, Miss Nagato?" Hayate asked.

"That is correct. I shall remain to observe the situation and exert what influence I can on the Data Integration Thought Entity's decision-making processes. My direct superior, Emiri Kimidori, will join you once you return to your vessel. She is a neutral party, willing to provide information but no further direct assistance. My own presence would be seen by others of my number as... dangerously independent, particularly given past events."

"Ah, I see. Good luck, then – we'll try to keep in contact."

The edge of Yuki's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. "I would appreciate that."

She cocked her head to one side again.

"Your vessel has been detected. If you wish to leave unchallenged, I would recommend that you do so soon."

"Thanks for the tip," Hayate replied. She turned back to Itsuki and Mikuru. "Will you two need to collect any personal belongings before we go?"

"Um, yes, that might be a good idea," the diminutive redhead agreed. "One moment, please."

There was a brief, eye-hurting flicker, and a large black holdall appeared in her hands. She yelped, and almost lost her balance. Itsuki stared at her.

"How did you do that?"

She smiled sweetly. "That's classified."

"How about you, Mr. Koizumi?" Nanoha asked.

"Standard Organisation policy is for compromised agents to destroy any effects that might be traced to them. I think this counts. Nagato, can you open a temporary electronic signal link from here to my house?"

The bizarre mechanical chatter started again. "It is done."

"Much obliged." He pulled a squat, cylindrical object out of his pocket, flipped a couple of switches, and pressed the big red button on its top.

"What did that do?" Hayate asked.

"Gutted the place with fire. It should look like an accident with the gas main. Don't worry – shouldn't be any collateral." He looked down at the detonator with a critical eye. "You know, I do sometimes wish our gadgets department had less of an appetite for the dramatic. A big red button? Really?"

The colonel clapped her hands together. "Right, let's go. Eventide, pickup for five, please."

That's an affirmative, the technician broadcasted. Transport on its way.

The last thing Nanoha saw before the light of the transporter rose up around them was the small, fragile-looking figure of Yuki Nagato, standing alone in the abandoned classroom.


Back on board the frigate, they made an immediate beeline for the bridge. Mikuru didn't have to struggle with the enormous holdall for long – no sooner had they entered one of the more crowded corridors than a small army of male (and some female) crew-members bustled up to help her out with it. Frankly, Nanoha wasn't sure if the girl was pleased or terrified.

She fell in alongside Itsuki, who was regarding the ship with mild interest.

"You seem to be taking this rather well," she commented.

The smile twitched. "In the past week, I've been fighting off things that look like people, had a friend go missing and get replaced with a monster, been dragged through space/time by an inscrutable alien quasideity, got myself pawned off to an extradimensional organisation I've never even heard of, and had to blow up my own base of operations. In the circumstances, looking confident and pretending to know what's going on seems the only reasonable survival strategy."

Nanoha gave a sympathetic wince. "I see. Please try not to worry unnecessarily, though – we don't bite."

"Glad to hear it." He shook his head. "Even Nagato's different. That meeting was the most I've ever heard her speak. Normally she just sits and stares. Kyon's pretty much the only person who can get more than three words out of her. Well, he was, anyway."

"Kyon? Is that the one who went missing?"

"That would be him. Honestly, he was the one who really held the group together, even if he'd never admit it. Maybe that's why he got targeted first. Or maybe not. Diplomacy was never his strong point."

The lanky student clenched his fists reflexively, a dim red glow forming around them. "We discovered that several of the enemy's agents were susceptible to our powers. I would give a great deal to be able to employ them against one of their masters."

The rest of the walk passed in silence.

They found the sensors officer waiting for them on the bridge, clearly agitated. Beside him stood an unassuming green-haired girl, presumably the prophesied Kimidori.

"Colonel, this young lady just teleported in. Never even saw her coming. More importantly, we've got enemy vessels closing on us. Still some way away, but they're big. Really big."

"Don't worry, we were warned on both counts," Hayate replied. "Helm, can we outpace them?"

The helm officer chuckled confidently. "They're fast, but we're faster. Give the word, ma'am."

"Good. Prepare to jump to dimensional space, and set a course for the TSAB headquarters on Mid-Childa. Our mission-profile has changed, ladies and gentlemen. It seems that the forces of Chaos have not been very neighbourly in this region of space, and I believe it's the Bureau's duty to do something about it." And if we can get Vita back in the process, all the better.

The helmsman's grin was echoed across the room as the grizzled officer saluted.

"Aye-aye, ma'am."


Author's Notes: Now, those of you familiar with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya may notice that the three members of the SOS Brigade here are not exactly as they are usually depicted - Itsuki showing actual emotion beyond bland cheeriness, for instance, or Yuki being verbose. Rest assured that this is entirely intentional. They've been under a lot of stress lately - especially Itsuki - and the masks they wear in their everyday lives are starting to slip. Except Mikuru, because, seriously, who knows what's up with her?

Trust me, just as in the original 40K, nobody who encounters Chaos comes out entirely unaffected or unscarred. The question is how, though, and how well they deal with it.