17. School Trip

The two TSAB officers were being escorted through the Mithril base by Lieutenant Commander Kalinin and a quartet of military-types with very big guns. So far things had been going well, in that nobody had started shooting at them. Not that Nanoha could persuade Fate to adopt such a sanguine attitude, though.

You know, Hayate said we were professionals. Her best combat mages. Remember that? her partner asked acidly.

Look, I've been the Bureau poster-girl ever since I was ten. Am I not allowed a little levity in my life?

Was that an invitation to compare traumatic pasts? Please tell me it wasn't an invitation to compare traumatic pasts. I've got a list, Nanoha. A long list.

OK, bad choice of words there. I'm sorry. It's just that all I did was fulfil the dreams of every Earthborn human since the golden age of Fifties B-movies.

And people wonder why Earth's considered a primitive backwater? Honestly, Hayate's going to blow a fuse.

Hayate? She was the one who first suggested it! Admittedly, we were both twelve at the time, but still...

Nanoha, sometimes I really, really have difficulty believing you're two months older than me. Let's get back to business, all right? Try not to embarrass us any further, please.

They entered a large office, presumably that of the base's commander. Sitting at the desk was a girl with silver hair who couldn't have been more than seventeen years old. Neither of these facts were particularly odd to Bureau mages, but they did seem a bit out-of-place in the relative mundanity of the Mithril base.

She looked up at them and smiled. Her hair was ruffled, and she looked just as flustered as everyone else on the base. I really wish the TSAB would formalise a standard first-contact protocol, Nanoha thought. It would save us no end of trouble.

"Ah, good afternoon. I'm Captain Tessa Testarossa, commander of the TDD-1 and, by extension, the Battle Group as a whole. I believe you wished to speak with me?"

Nanoha smiled back. "We did indeed. I'm Captain Nanoha Takamachi, and this is my partner Captain Fate Testarossa-Harlaown."

"Pleased to meet you. Another Testarossa? I wasn't aware there were that many of us around. Do you think we could be related?"

"Unless your family hails from another planet and has a history of producing mad scientists, it seems unlikely," Fate replied blandly.

Tessa giggled in a very un-captainly manner. "Well, I'm pretty sure we're all from Earth, but we certainly have the mad scientists. I dabble in a little bit of it myself, actually. Most of my family's gone by now, though – well, except for my older brother, but he's a senior member of a high-tech international terrorist organisation, so I suppose he doesn't really count."

"Oh, I've only got a sister myself. Well, sort of a sister. She fell ill when she was young, went into a coma, and our mother cloned me as a replacement. Then things got very, very complicated and unpleasant. Um."

There was a long, awkward pause.

"Ah.," said Tessa finally. "Right. Now, weren't we discussing your reason for coming here?"

Nanoha's knees almost buckled with relief. "Yes. Yes we were. It's about the Lambda Driver – we wanted to have a look at it, see how we could integrate it with existing technology. Obviously, we wouldn't be asking you to do this for free – we'd be happy to share our findings, suggest improvements for the design."

Tessa nodded. "That seems reasonable. I'll have to run it past the General Council, but I doubt they'll object too much. Can I assume you'll be sending down further personnel to help with the analysis?"

"That was the general plan, if you'll permit it. Same place?"

"I see no problem with that. Sergeant Weber, Sergeant-Major Mao, would you please go greet our second set of visitors?"

Two of the soldiers saluted and hurried off.

She leaned back in her chair. "While we're waiting, would you mind explaining more about your organisation? It's not every day I get to meet passing spacefarers."

"We'd be delighted to," Nanoha replied, offering up a silent entreaty to whoever was listening that the science team would behave themselves.


Melissa shook her head. "I really don't see what the captain thinks she's doing. We've only known about these people for about five minutes, and already she's inviting them to take a look at one of our most advanced pieces of equipment?"

They were driving back to the beach in one of the base's jeeps – they'd decided that getting back in their M9s just for a pickup would be far too fiddly and time-consuming. More accurately, Melissa was driving, whilst Kurz was attempting to salvage his expensive haircut from the ravages of the bucket of water.

The sergeant snorted. "Come on, Melissa, you really think those two looked like alien-invader material? You worry way too much about these things. Besides, the decision isn't in Tessa's hands. It'll be up to the Council to figure out whether we want to help or not, and if these Bureau ladies can talk their way past that bunch of geriatric paranoids, then we know they're harmless. She loses nothing by being nice to them – if the Council gives the go-ahead, then everything's fine and dandy, and if they don't, well... she tried to help, right? Not her fault that her superiors weren't so understanding."

She glanced at him in surprise, almost hitting an unfortunate PRT squaddie in the process. "That's... actually pretty intelligent, sergeant."

"Hey, babe, I'm not just a pretty face. Speaking of, did you see the pair on that blonde one? I wouldn't mind initiating first contact with her over a plate of oysters."

"Hah. I knew it couldn't last."

"Look, it's our mandate as human beings to explore the unknown and open up exciting new relationships with the rest of the galaxy. Future generations will thank me."

"That, or point and laugh at the smoking crater that's your sole mortal legacy. Anyway, chit-chat's over – this is our stop."

They got out, Melissa taking point. Unfortunately, Kurz apparently hadn't got the memo about shutting up and concentrating on the mission.

"Hey, I wonder if they're all like that? An entire shipful of hot alien girls... well, that's one more item ticked off my list of things to do before I die." He sniggered. "In more ways than one. I mean, this next lot are scientists – I bet there are a few things I could show them. In the name of research, of course."

The light flared before them in much the same way as before, and two more figures were deposited onto the sand.

"My, but aren't you a handsome one?"

In no time flat the taller of the two, a wiry, vaguely fishlike individual with impressively lurid eyeshadow, was beside them, an arm draped over Kurz's shoulders.

"Why don't you tell me your name, darling? No? The strong, silent type, eh? I can work with that. See, I'm new to this place, innocent as a lamb, and was wondering if a big, brave soldier like yourself could provide me with an escort, maybe show me the sights. Come along now – I can't wait."

Kurz threw her a pleading glance as he was frogmarched away, and the second of the new arrivals shrugged helplessly. She suddenly felt a great deal of fellow-feeling for him.

Reluctantly, they set out after their respective charges.


A day had passed, and Mithril's General Council had given their assent. After their slightly awkward introduction, the two organisations and their representatives had got on surprisingly well. Mithril, as far as Nanoha understood it, was a bit like a shadow UN, using its technological superiority and superbly-trained troops to topple dictators, resolve regional disputes, and generally work towards international peace and stability with efficiency, flair, and a pleasing unwillingness to overly abuse its authority.

Tessa Testarossa had effectively adopted Fate as an older sister, which her partner had been surprised but far from displeased about, and she was only too happy to help when Leeron and Yuuno had requested an interview with the Lambda Driver's operator to supplement their research. Said operator was currently stationed at Jindai High School in Japan, protecting one of the living Black Technology repositories called the Whispered, which was why they, the two captains, Tessa, and Kalinin had just employed the Eventide's transporters to jump to a concealed position just outside the place.

The three mages deactivated their Barrier Jackets and waited patiently for their new guests to get their bearings back. One's first jump was always a bit disorienting, and they'd been given a quick guided tour of the Eventide on their way. Tessa had even started to mutter to herself quite alarmingly, though this was fortunately swift to cease.

That had been the General Council's price for the Lambda Driver information, a naked attempt to covertly study the Bureau's technology, and the mages had happily let it go ahead. It wasn't as if their guests could replicate the stuff anyway, not without magic of their own. All of them were dressed in civilian clothes, either their own or borrowed from someone else, and they'd alerted those on their payroll at the school in advance, which should prevent too many awkward questions.

"So just what is it with Japanese students and the paranormal?" Fate asked. "I mean, there's you, Hayate, the SOS Brigade, and now this. It can't be a coincidence."

Nanoha smiled. "Sorry, I forgot – you were a mid-term transfer, weren't you? Must have missed the Tuesday morning lessons on 'Superpowers and How to Deal with Them'. Very comprehensive – the department got several commendations for it."

Her partner adopted an expression of exaggerated realisation, playing along. "Oh, right, yes! Just before Maths, wasn't it? Didn't the teacher retire after those allegations about her and the tentacle monster in Class 3-C?"

They continued to banter back and forth with an ease and familiarity that Nanoha had been missing for weeks, exaggerating the exploits of the fictitious class to quite thoroughly absurd levels until they could both barely speak for giggling. Beside them, Leeron checked out his makeup for the umpteenth time in his omnipresent hand-mirror.

"Why so fussy about your appearance?" Yuuno asked. "We're just visiting a school, you know."

"Correction – a high school, full of teenagers deliciously full of the bloom of youth. Though I am not so degenerate as to seriously pursue them, I can at least grant them a vision of beauty that shall last them to the end of their days. It seems a reasonable gift."

"Amazing. Just when I think you can't possibly get any more disturbing, you somehow prove me wrong."

"I am full of surprises, sweetie."

"You're full of something, I know that. Remember – cross the line, and I'll demonstrate exactly what non-lethal energy attacks can do to a person."

"You keep saying that. Frankly, I'm starting to get a little intrigued."

"Leeron," Fate said wearily, "please stop antagonising the Bureau's leading expert on applied magical theory. I doubt anyone would appreciate a school and its environs getting turned into molten slag."

"Ah. Curiosity satisfied. My apologies, dear boy – hold on, you can do that?"

"Not as well as a dedicated combat mage like Fate or Nanoha, I'll admit," Yuuno replied, his irritation derailed by the opportunity to discuss a subject he loved. "Most of my abilities are centred around defence, utility, and support; binds, shields, teleportation, et cetera. That said, I'm very good at repurposing spells for unconventional means. A bind can cut inanimate objects or even become an energy whip, a shield can be slammed into someone as a blunt instrument or charged to serve as a proximity mine, and as for teleportation... well, it's easier to list the things you can't do with it, really. It isn't as versatile as using a shipboard transporter – you need to be fairly close to whatever you're about to teleport, it's a lot more difficult to move several things at once, and the charging time's a big problem – but that still grants you a lot of leeway."

"Fascinating. Once all this is over, I should really write a paper about you people."

Tessa cleared her throat demurely. "I'm sure it is, but could we please save that discussion for when we're not in the middle of a crowded urban area? Just for the sake of my mental equilibrium, you understand."

Yuuno gave a guilty start. "Right, sorry. Let's head off to the interview, then."


As it turned out, the school had already cleared a room for them – the nurse's office, to be exact. Their interviewee, a quiet, serious-looking young man named Sousuke Sagara, was waiting for them there, and saluted with the sort of crisp precision that would have made a drill instructor weep tears of joy as they arrived.

"Sir. Ma'am. Are these the TSAB personnel you mentioned?"

As Kalinin made the introductions with his typical brisk efficiency, Yuuno mentally reviewed the information Tessa had given them on Sergeant Sagara. Aged seventeen or thereabouts, a former child soldier, and owner of an exemplary combat record that placed him as one of Mithril's finest Arm Slave pilots. He had been on his current bodyguard mission for several months, and a not-insignificant part of the organisation's budget had been spent on compensating for his myriad well-intentioned indiscretions in the furtherance of said mission. The young submarine captain had spoken of him with no little concern, and Yuuno couldn't help but wonder if her feelings towards her subordinate were entirely professional.

Nevertheless, everyone there was at present a very model of stiff, formal military discipline. Further salutes were exchanged, the room was checked for bugs with quite unnecessary gusto, and eventually he, Leeron, and Sousuke were marched into the infirmary. They found seating where they could, and he gave the sergeant a businesslike nod.

"Right then, Mr. Sagara, we're going to be discussing your experiences using the Lambda Driver. How you made it work, its effects and side-effects, that sort of thing. Incidentally, please don't be too alarmed if my associate here starts hitting on you – he does that to everyone, and I mean everyone."

Leeron dismissed him with an airy wave. "Oh, ignore him, honey. For the record, I love what you did with your hair. That half-feral look? Very in at the moment. May I enquire as to who did it?"

Sousuke gazed at the Spiral levelly. "On my person at the moment I have one blackjack, two tasers, a telescoping baton, a garrotte, a holdout pistol, and four concussion grenades. How many of them am I going to have to use?"

"Orrr... we could talk about the Lambda Driver. I'm flexible."

"That's no problem."


In the waiting room, things were fairly uneventful. Nanoha was chatting animatedly with Tessa and Lieutenant Commander Kalinin about the workings of Mithril's Arm Slaves, but Fate couldn't really summon much enthusiasm for the subject. The hulking mechs reminded her just a little too much of the silent, murderous guardians that had patrolled the corridors of her mother's fortress, the Garden of Time. That left her with little to do but talk to the other person in the room.

She was a girl of about the same age as Sousuke and Tessa, dressed in the Jindai High School uniform. Fate wasn't quite sure how she had found her way into an area supposedly reserved entirely for them, but seeing as nobody else seemed to be objecting to it, she supposed that it wasn't anything to worry about. Maybe she's that Whispered Sergeant Sagara's supposed to be protecting? That would certainly explain the blue hair.

She leaned over. "Hello. My name's Fate. May I ask what yours is, please?"

The girl looked up from what appeared to be Japanese Literature homework. "Oh, hi. It's Kaname. Kaname Chidori. You're with Mithril, right?"

"Well, sort of. An affiliated organisation, anyway. You know about them?"

"Hey, it was pretty hard for me not to find out, what with the world's most obvious undercover agent hanging over my shoulder all the time. In fact, that's the main reason I'm here – I already had to stop Sergeant Clueless from evacuating everything within a five-block radius to keep the meeting secure, and I wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to have another lapse of common sense halfway through. Seriously, sometimes I have to wonder who's supervising who."

"Oh? All we'd heard said that Mr. Sagara was quite the professional."

"Hey, don't get me wrong, he's good at the whole soldiering business. If you want someone to take an enemy position, pilot a giant battle-robot, or resolve a hostage situation, there's none better. It's just that he sees everything as a military problem. Civilian lives may factor in, but civilian life doesn't, if you follow me. The stories I could tell you..."

Fate smiled. "Well, why not? They're likely to be in there for a while, and it isn't as if there's much else to keep us occupied. Except your work, anyway."

"Doubt I'm going to get much more done of that anyway – it's like walking through a tar pit. Tell you what – I tell you some of mine, and you tell me some of yours. Sousuke isn't exactly the most communicative of people; I rarely get much in the way of stories from the other side of the fence."

"Fine by me. I warn you, though, it might get a little... strange."

"Stranger than a schoolwide biochemical weapon threat caused by clothes-dissolving bacteria?"

"Depends on how you class discovering that your and your long-term girlfriend's new adoptive daughter is in fact a six-year-old custom-made clone of the local religion's male Messiah-figure created to power an invincible, semi-sentient space-battleship."

"Wow, this I have got to hear. Who's first, then?"


Nanoha walked back into the waiting room, accompanied by the two Mithril officers. They'd headed out to Sousuke's safehouse to use the wireless there, reporting on their status and reassuring Commander Mardukas, the Tuatha de Danaan's Executive Officer, that his captain had not been (a) injured, (b) kidnapped, or (c) eaten by feral high-schoolers. Though Nanoha understood the merits of professional paranoia, she couldn't help but feel that sometimes it could be taken a bit too far.

Fate and Kaname were still talking to each other, she saw, though the subject of the conversation had changed rather.

"... so I just don't understand," the blue-haired girl said. "I mean, I know he likes me – the way he accepted half-pay just so he could stay at Jindai High rather than being reassigned was a bit of a hint – but he hasn't acted on it in the slightest, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's not as if he's devoid of initiative, after all. Believe me, my life would be a whole lot easier if he was. So that leaves... what?"

"Well," Fate mused, "you did say that he's very focused on protecting you. Maybe that's it?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Maybe he thinks his feelings are secondary to your safety? That pursuing a relationship might get in the way of doing his job?"

"Secondary... to... my... safety?" Kaname asked slowly, a vein twitching in her forehead. "Oh, that is IT! WHERE IS HE?"

It was Sousuke's grave misfortune that his interview with the two scientists ended at that point. No sooner had they exited the infirmary than he was beset by a horribly-grinning high-schooler.

"Come on, mister. We are going to talk."

The young sergeant was dragged out of the room at lightning speed, his normally-stoic face wearing an expression of utter panic. After a moment of exchanging bemused glances, everyone else decided to follow.

They caught up with them in the school's main yard, where Kaname was busily berating her bodyguard at maximum volume.

"... And then you set yourself up as some shining, chivalrous knight, standing guard for some fair maiden who is of course far too feeble to do it herself, suffering nobly all the while. Is that it? IS IT?"

Sousuke attempted a faint, futile protest.

"I mean, hello? I took out a trained assassin with a taser and a bathrobe! Does that sound feeble to you, huh? Does it? How many times am I going to have to tell you that I can look after myself? That I don't need some thick-skulled guard dog shielding me twenty-four-seven, but maybe, just maybe, something else?"

She rolled up her sleeves, her expression changing from anger to iron determination.

"Right then, Sergeant Sagara, we are going to resolve this once and for all."

He started to back away, but Kaname was faster. Her arms shot out and grabbed the front of his shirt. There was a brief, frozen moment, and then she kissed him. Hard.

The silence that followed was interrupted by the click of a camera shutter, as a gaggle of students lurking around the corner gave Sousuke's expression the immortality it deserved.

Tessa, meanwhile, was not taking the situation well.

"Blowing his cover, fraternising with the mission objective... oh, he hasn't heard the last of this, not by a long shot. I'm going to bust him so low that he'd going to have to say 'sir' to a private. To the bar staff, even. Then, then I'm going to..." She trailed off into incoherent, outraged mumbling.

Nanoha glanced at Fate. "Tell me, wasn't this precisely the sort of external upset we were supposed to be preventing?"

Behind them, Kalinin laughed. "Oh, don't worry. Most of us were expecting something like this to happen sooner or later anyway. I believe Sergeant Weber was running a betting pool on the subject, in fact."

He leaned in closer, keeping his voice low. "On an unrelated topic, when were you and your ship intending to leave?"

"Quite soon, actually," Fate replied. "A couple of days at most. Our research department is very efficient, you see. Why did you ask?"

"Well, I know that you're considerably in advance of us technologically. More importantly, I know that you can process and collate a planet's worth of information in very little time, and that you can break just about any cipher on the planet."

"This is about Amalgam, isn't it?" Nanoha asked.

"Precisely. I quite realise that you are under no obligation to help us, but we're up against significant opposition with very unsavoury practices, and while we aren't losing yet, we aren't winning either. The data from your ship's scanners could very well turn the tide."

Nanoha considered this. "The Bureau generally prefers not to get embroiled in planetary politics. There are just too many things that can go wrong."

"Of course. I understand entirely – please forget I mentioned it."

"Wait – I didn't say that we couldn't help you, did I? Frankly, we've been rather impressed with how your organisation operates – a high-tech, unaccountable, and heavily-armed secret society staying on the straight-and-narrow for more than an hour or two is practically unheard-of. I would say that if you haven't gone all 'shadow world government' yet, you're unlikely to no matter what we do. The thing is, though, such assistance would have a price. You would have to agree to have your planet relabelled as what we call an 'administered world', granting us the freedom to monitor it and ensure that our intervention hasn't had any unintended consequences. We're fairly hands-off mostly, but it's definitely something to consider."

He grunted. "Hrm. The Council won't like that. I have to admit, it does sound a bit like a deal with the devil."

"Oh, we're perfectly happy to explain what we can, can't and probably will do. We could even provide the legal documents if you so wish. Good communication's important in any diplomatic relationship, after all. Don't worry, though – there's no stigma for turning the offer down. Several worlds have in the past, and it just means less paperwork for us. It's entirely your decision, and we'll do everything we can to make it an informed one."

"Fair enough. I'll run it past the captain and see what she thinks. After she's entirely recovered, of course – I wasn't even aware that she knew about that sort of language."

He started to walk off, but turned around again after a few steps.

"For the record, Captain Takamachi, we don't think of ourselves as being 'unaccountable' as much as 'accountable to ourselves'. It helps, I find."

"Ah? I'll have to remember that one. It'll definitely help with those recruits who think just because they've got an A-rank and an Intelligent Device they're gods among mortals. Whatever you decide, commander, I wish you and your organisation all the best. Incidentally, is Mr. Sagara supposed to be turning that particular shade of purple?"

Kalinin cursed under his breath, and waded away through the gathering crowd to rescue his sergeant.


The Eventide's barracks was a small, cramped space, really more of a glorified dormitory for those ground personnel not high-ranking enough to have separate quarters of their own. At this point in the evening it was fairly crowded with combat mages trawling through their washing, gulping down pilfered snacks from the galley, and doing all the other things soldiers did when they weren't being required to either shoot at things or fill out the omnipresent paperwork.

For Nanoha, it was quite pleasantly nostalgic, bringing back memories of the days when she, Fate, and Hayate were simply green NCOs finding their place in the service. She'd made an impromptu chair out of her bedclothes and several pillows liberated from empty berths on either side, and was currently reading an enjoyably trashy Mid-Childan romance novel whilst reflecting on the events of the remainder of their visit to the parallel Earth.

It had all gone rather smoothly – Leeron's mental agility and Yuuno's breadth of knowledge had enabled them to gain a great deal of information from the Lambda Driver (most of which they had shared with the Mithril techs), whilst the organisation's Intelligence branch had managed to tidy up the Jindai High School mess with their usual aplomb. Apparently, working with Sergeant Sagara had given them a great deal of experience in such matters. Hayate, meanwhile, had been discussing with the General Council whether or not they wanted to make their planet an Administered World; in the end, they had decided to defer the decision pending further debate and discussion with those few trusted politicians privy to their existence. For her part, the Bureau colonel had agreed to have another ship sent to check up on them in a week's time – or two, if they decided more elbow room was needed.

The door slid open, and Fate walked in, glancing around the room for a second before making a beeline to Nanoha. Everyone else present suddenly took a considerably more pressing interest in whatever they were doing at the moment, Corporal Nakajima in particular sorting her socks with a diligence more suited to open-heart surgery.

Nanoha adopted an expression of forced casualness as her partner approached. She couldn't help but wonder if it was even remotely convincing – it wasn't something she did very often.

"Evening, Fate. How did saying goodbye to Tessa go?"

The blonde captain spread her hands. "Better than it might have. The whole 'sorry I ruined your chances with that boy you liked' thing was a bit awkward, of course, but suddenly-discovered family's a nice thing to have, even if you're probably not even slightly related and one of you just arbitrarily decided that you are in fact family. We've agreed to keep in touch – even if they don't agree to Hayate's proposal, I can still send letters."

"Good to hear. Think we were that bad at her age?"

"I rather doubt that, but it was most likely due to lack of opportunity. Having a stable relationship will do that, after... all..." She trailed off awkwardly.

Before she could open her mouth again, Nanoha held up a hand. "Fate, I know what you're going to say, and you don't have to. You're still the girl I married, and nothing is going to change that, all right?"

Fate shook her head. "Even if I don't have to, I want to anyway. I was upset about what happened with my mother and sister, and I dumped it all on you even though you didn't deserve it. I'm sorry."

"And I forgive you. After all, if you can tolerate me piling on the life-threatening upgrades, trying to solve every other problem by blowing it up, and generally being an overly-aggressive, workaholic ingrate, then I think I can deal with one little row, eh?"

She stood up, put her arms around her partner, and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Come on – let's go to bed."


Yuuno and Hayate watched on the hall monitors as the door to Nanoha and Fate's room went from the 'Occupied' to 'Sleeping' privacy setting.

She turned to him and grinned. "Mission accomplished."

His answering smile was genuine, but she could still see the distant pain in his eyes. "Right. Mission accomplished."

She walked out of the security centre, giving him a gentle peck on the cheek as she went without being entirely sure why.

"You should get some rest too, Yuuno. I think you need it."


In the space above Bloodhaven, the armada of Iruel-class transports began to move, their collective mission finally authorised by their commanders and gods. Deep in their bellies, three million forearm-blades went snikt simultaneously.

Fleshcrafter Allard would have been delighted.


Author's Notes: Well, that was all very nice, wasn't it? Time to start dropping the nukes.

Incidentally, the first person to spot precisely where a fairly normal terrestrial paramilitary organisation managed to pull a fast one on the representatives of a hyper-advanced pan-dimensional civilisation gets a cookie.

I am aware now that the Sankt Kaiser was in fact female. Nevertheless, I decided to keep things as they were in the interests of ensuring that poor little Vivio's back-story was even more impossibly bizarre. A noble endeavour, I'm sure you'll agree.

Join me next week... and prepare for turbulence.