19. Moving In

Almost as soon as they arrived back at the central office, the Eventide's crew were abruptly turfed off the ship pending an extensive refit. No-one questioned this – they all knew what was coming. The initial offensive was soon to begin, and the First Expeditionary Force would be at its forefront.

Everyone who had shore leave booked headed to the surface of Mid-Childa immediately, there to meet friends and family, grab a moment's relaxation, and generally enjoy the comforts of civilian life one last time. By the end of the day, though, most of them had returned to settle into their new quarters. The entrance lobby was crowded with mages of all shapes and sizes, uniformed or otherwise.

The first order of business was allocating rooms. The whole point of the move, after all, was giving the First more spacious quarters in deference to its pivotal role in the war effort, and Hayate, Fate, and Nanoha had spent most of the afternoon alongside Quartermaster Krebs, figuring out who would go where. Before heading off to check on his beloved library, Yuuno had conjured an interactive table detailing the arrangements onto one of the lobby walls, and it was this that most of the crew were gathered around. Mostly, they seemed to be satisfied, though there were questions here and there.

"Umm... excuse me," Erio said, "but why are Caro and I sharing a room, please?"

"Most of the officers' rooms were doubles," Hayate explained. "We put several people in those – Fate and Nanoha, me and the Wolkenritter, and a few others – but we still had one left over, and we reasoned that we might as well give our two youngest recruits an alternative to the main dormitory. You don't object, do you?"

"No, no, it should be fine." He saluted, his young face as comically serious as ever. "Thank you for your consideration, ma'am."

Hayate saluted back, struggling to keep the smile off her face. "Not a problem, private."

She turned to the assembled crew. "Starting tomorrow, we will be going into full war footing. All leave is cancelled, and you will be embarking on a comprehensive program designed to prepare you for your first direct confrontation with the enemy. Said program will involve combat simulations and weapons training supervised by Captains Signum and Takamachi, as well as full briefings on Chaos's known equipment, troop dispositions and capabilities administered by Captain Testarossa-Harlaown and Chief Librarian Scrya. Attendance is mandatory. Dismissed."

The crowd dispersed with varying levels of enthusiasm – Hayate noted with amusement that Corporal Nakajima was practically dragging a reluctant Corporal Lanster off to see their new quarters. Once they had left, she nudged Fate in the ribs.

"Did you see that look Caro was giving Erio?"

"No – why?"

"That young man had best watch his back, that's all I'm saying. Or other body parts, as the case may be."

The blonde captain sighed. "They grow up so fast, don't they? Maybe we'd best give them the Talk sooner rather than later."

"I'm afraid I'll have to leave that one to you, Fate," Nanoha said wryly. "Giving it to Vivio was traumatic enough."

"Vivio?" Hayate exclaimed. "Nanoha, she's ten years old!"

"And has a combat form that looks about twenty. Worse, she's picked up a bad habit of changing into it and sneaking out of school. I had to spend an entire weekend getting every bar in the catchment area to put her on their 'evict and report' list, and that's only a stop-gap measure until I can convince Shamal to plant a tracker on her Intelligent Device. At least I know where she got that language from now."

The colonel winced. "Ouch. And here I thought the theological implications of adopting the Sankt Kaiser's reincarnation would be bad enough. Has the school found out yet?"

"No, but it's only a matter of time, I suppose. It's a pity – Sister Hilda is such a nice old lady. She really doesn't deserve that sort of shock."

"She's caused a lot of inconvenience, hasn't she?" Hayate mused. "Vivio, that is."

"Oh yes. Tonnes." Nanoha smiled. "And we still wouldn't give her up for the world. Erio or Caro either. I imagine it's the same for you and the Wolkenritter."

"Hah – you have no idea. For all your kids have put you through, at least they never came up with some cack-handed scheme to restore you to health that involved magical muggings, conjuring the forces of darkness, and endangering an entire planet. Shamal was coming up with excuses for that for weeks afterwards, you know."

They were quiet for a moment, reminiscing.

"When was the last time the TSAB engaged in all-out war, do you think?" Nanoha asked finally.

"As opposed to just a heavily-armed police action?" Hayate replied. "I don't know. Not in our lifetimes, certainly."

"And now we're responsible," Fate concluded. "Hayate, do you think we're doing the right thing?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I really don't. If only we had time to deliberate, to negotiate... but that's what the Suzumiyaverse and the home of the Stargates both tried, and look where it got them. As is, further hesitation would just put more universes in danger. These 'gods' only seem to view others as either tools to be used or threats to be removed, and you know what that outlook always ends up needing."

"Befriending?" Fate suggested.

The colonel smiled. "Yep. Befriending."

"I wish you wouldn't call it that," Nanoha grumbled.

"Nanoha, dear, when dealing with a proven scientific phenomenon, it's only appropriate that we use the proper terminology." She sighed. "Well, things are what they are, I suppose. All we can do is try to make the best of whatever hand we've been dealt, and right now that means ensuring the kids we're responsible for don't end up getting themselves killed in their first real fight."

The auburn-haired officer chuckled. "You are aware that quite a few of those 'kids' are older than us, right?"

"Commander's privilege. Anyone lower-ranking than yourself is de facto younger. Well, except for Signum. And a couple of the support staff. That's pretty much it, though. Oh, and for heavens' sake don't tell Signum I said that."

"Is this the same 'commander's privilege' that allowed you to access our medical records?" Fate asked, an eyebrow raised.

Aghast, Hayate turned to Nanoha. "You told her about that?"

"And followed your example, Miss Easily-Dehydrated. Don't forget to be nicely-rested for tomorrow's training, and try not to inhale any peanuts during the night, hmm?"

With that the two captains departed, giggling like teenagers. Hayate stared after them, speechless, before turning round and stumping off to her office.

Signum was waiting for her there, a faint smile on her habitually stern face. "I did warn you that that was a mistake."

"You heard. Joy. Look, can we please not talk about it? How's our security, by the way?"

"The technology is good – the design, not so much. I made some temporary patches to the holes that should see us through for the moment, but I will be requisitioning a full refit as soon as is convenient."

"How big are the holes?"

"Significant. To use an Earth-specific comparison, I believe that an intruder up to and including the size of a cockroach could gain entrance with little inconvenience."

"A cockroach? Signum, don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

"Not at all. As we saw during the Scaglietti Incident, that is not an unfeasible size for a surveillance or assassination drone, and we can only assume that technology has advanced in those areas in the years since then."

"Fair enough. Just try not to wreck the entire department, all right? We only just moved in, after-"

Colonel! It was one of the perimeter guards, almost shouting down the link. Colonel, they-

His panicked voice was cut off abruptly. Hayate tried to regain contact, but the link was dead. So was every other she tried. She relayed this information to Signum.

"Nothing for me either, Mistress Hayate." Does the Tome of the Night Sky's internal network still function?

Bit choppy, but it's working. "An attack?"

"That seems the most likely option. By whom, though, and from what direction?"

"I'll check with Shamal – maybe she can help."

Shamal, this is Hayate. Comms are down, and we think we've got intruders – might have taken out a few of our people already. Mind having Klarer Wind take a look?

Of course. Shamal didn't question the orders – they both knew that if Hayate was asking, she had good reason. There was a brief silence. You're right, Hayate. It'll take me some time to figure out precise location and numbers, but we have unknowns inside the perimeter. Human-sized, and moving fast. Shall I prepare the infirmary to receive casualties?

Good idea. Zafira, warn the rest of the crew.

At once, Mistress Hayate.

She turned back to Signum. "Shall we-"

"No. Your magic is not suited for a fight like this – wide-area bombardment will not help us on board a space station. You coordinate the defence while I ensure your safety, is that understood?"

Hayate nodded in acquiescence to her bodyguard. "Understood. Good luck, Signum."

The Wolkenritter simply smiled and walked out.

Mistress Hayate, Zafira's voice said, I am under assault. My previous mission is now impossible. I am retreating to the infirmary – I shall help Shamal set up a fortified position there. My apologies.

Not your fault, Zafira. Did you get a visual on the enemy?

Negative – it was an ambush. I had to retreat in some haste. I can say, though, that they are using both exotic projectile weapons and magic. Assuming that they are working for Chaos, it seems most likely that they learned the latter from Alicia and...

Both knew what other name he had been thinking of. Neither wanted to say it. Understood. Transfer the data you obtained to the other Wolkenritter and keep me updated on further developments.

As you wish.

Hayate stared at the door where Signum had been a moment earlier, feeling the creeping helplessness that was every commander's worst nightmare.

At the moment, I can only speak to three people. Two are trapped, and one is fighting to protect me. What am I supposed to coordinate here? What am I supposed to do?


In the corridor, Signum heard the automatic door close behind her. She stood at a T-shaped intersection, one passageway in front of her and two to her sides. Closing her eyes, she touched the pendant at her throat.

"Laevantien, Knight Armour."

There was a curious flowing sensation as the Ancient Belkan equivalent of the Mid-Childan Barrier Jacket slid over her body, and she drew her sword, swiping it experimentally in the air a couple of times before breaking open the hilt and flipping in a pair of cartridges. It snapped back into shape with a satisfying click and she held it in front of her in the guard position. Whatever threatened her mistress, she would be ready for it.

She didn't have to wait long. Four lithe, black-clad figures appeared, two from the central corridor and one from each flank. They wore scorpion-like helmets and each had a pair of long, dull grey blades protruding from their forearms, flat across the backs of their hands. None of them said a word, simply advancing with inhuman speed across the floor, the walls, and in one case, the ceiling.

She regarded them calmly, mentally calculating distance and timing. The First had not had the time to get their power limiters restored since their return, but the station's dampening field would prove handicap enough, and Agito was undergoing her scheduled maintenance all the way on the other side of the station. Very well. I had best warn them.

"Unknown intruders, you have entered a restricted area. Surrender now and you shall be arrested as criminals against the Time-Space Administration Bureau, with all the legal rights that entails. If you do not, I shall be forced to apprehend you, and the current situation means that I may have to employ lethal force. Which do you choose?"

Their only answer was a barrage of crystalline projectiles and magical blasts.


Fleet Admiral Thundra's first clue that not all was right with the world was when an explosion flowered from the enormous Government Tower, the former army headquarters that dominated the city landscape, lighting up the dimming evening sky and obliterating Mid-Childa's parliamentary chambers. He stared in horror at Naval Command's external monitors, watching as the tower bent in half with slow, terrible grace before the top part detached and fell into the city below.

"Wilson!" he yelled. "WILSON!"

"Sir?" his normally-unflappable aide replied, looking decidedly flapped.

"Get me Disaster Planning and Rescue. Not the main branch – that's in GovCentral. Was, anyway. Try one of the district offices and work from there. We need to clear up that mess, organise an evacuation. Jechter, find out what caused that blast. I'm betting it wasn't an accident."

"You'd win that bet, sir," one of the comms officers replied. "We're getting reports of a full-scale invasion. Creatures matching the description of 'daemons' from the Bloodhaven and Suzumiyaverse files, plus high-tech special-ops backup. They're all over the city, hitting civilian and military targets alike."

Shitfire. "Contact High Command – no, wait, they were in the tower too. What about Army HQ?"

"No response, sir. The wreckage fell right on top of their position. We're trying to patch together some sort of command structure involving the local garrisons and law-enforcement, but it'll take a while. Hours, maybe. The link to Air Command is still operational, but it's patchy. They were amongst the first places the invaders hit, and it sounds like they're barely holding them off."

"Screw patchy. Punch me through, Rodriguez."

"Aye-aye, sir."

"...miral? ...at you?" The voice of the Air Force comms officer was faint and laced with static. They could hear screams, explosions, and the myriad other sounds of magical combat in the background.

Thundra grinned. "Damn right it is. Heard you could use some-"

"Naval Headquarters, come in!" It was another voice on another channel, panicky and desperate.

"What?" the admiral growled, annoyed at the interruption.

"It's Corporal Merak, sir. Perimeter security. We've got an intruder – no, more like a fucking juggernaut. Went straight through my squad – weapons did nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing. Headed your way, sir, if he doesn't- gyaaah!"

There was a horrible, fleshy sound, and the feed cut off.

Thundra mentally enumerated every oath, curse, and obscenity he could recall. "Sorry, AirCom, but you're going to have to wait a little longer. Do we have this... whatever-it-is on the cameras?"

"That's a negative, sir," one of the security techs replied. "Wait – it's more than that. The security cameras are shutting down – at least, the ones on the most direct route to us are. It's like it's draining the power from them."

"A localised anti-magic field?"

"That's my guess. Powerful one, too. Don't think our patrols have the firepower to punch through it."

"Understood. Pull back everyone with combat training to here. We'll try a concerted assault. I am not retreating from our last operational command post, understand?"

The headquarters swung into action, clerks, technicians, and combat mages alike fine-tuning the security systems, assembling makeshift barricades, and checking their Devices. There was only one person who was not engaged in some sort of frenetic activity, and that was their liaison with the Integrated Data Entity, Emiri Kimidori. She simply stood in a corner, her mild blue eyes watching the proceedings with impassive curiosity.

Knew we couldn't rely on that bloody machine to help us, Thundra thought sourly.

The intruder arrived later than he'd anticipated but sooner than he'd hoped, kicking apart the reinforced steel door with no more than a couple of blows. Immediately, all within opened fire, unleashing a dizzying array of magical blasts, bolts, and other projectiles. Even Wilson had joined in, summoning massive arcs of lightning from a delicate-looking cane. Thundra was already behind his desk, not wishing to put either his fragile shields or his even more fragile eyesight at risk, but even he was frantically pulling the trigger on his massive arbalest-Device, sending shot after shot in the general direction of the enemy and using his farsight to coordinate the barrage. It didn't count as cowardice if hiding actually made you more useful, after all.

Not a single spell reached its target.

The creature was swathed in darkness, revealing only the occasional, contradictory glimpse of what lay within. All they could tell was that it was tall and humanoid, with an enormously large, asymmetrical head of which one feature was prominently visible, though whether it was an oversized eye, mouth, or some bizarre combination of the two was hard to discern. Every attack was absorbed, dissipated, or diverted by the darkness, gouging a plethora of holes out of the already-abused walls and doorway behind it. Thundra's magically-charged iron bolts, meanwhile, simply unravelled in midair, collapsing into sparkling dust.

The admiral poked his head out of cover, his eyes widening in astonishment. "What are you?"

It grinned a disturbingly perfect grin, pearly-white teeth gleaming against the shadows. "That which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear."

There was a scream from the forward barricades, and a combat mage charged at it, raising his axe-shaped Intelligent Device above his head. He brought it down onto the assassin... which caught it with one shadowy appendage. The axe shattered, rust crawling across it with impossible speed, and the mage fell to the floor, overbalanced. The assassin picked him up and punched an arm straight through him, before tossing his mangled carcass aside and turning back to the command room's remaining defenders.

Its eye-mouth expanded and bolts of darkness lanced from it, turning those it hit into withered, desiccated corpses. The survivors scuttled for cover, firing shot after ineffectual shot at the apparition as it inexorably advanced.

Everyone, that was, except Kimidori.

Thundra hadn't even seen her move – one moment she was in her favourite staring corner, the next she was standing in front of the assassin, arms akimbo.

"I apologise, agent of Chaos," she said softly, "but I cannot allow you to continue."

It launched an experimental blast at her, but it passed straight through, impacting on the base of Thundra's podium. She made a strange chattering, bubbling noise, and the darkness vanished, revealing a slim, almost androgynous figure in a black armoured bodysuit. He wore a massive, skull faced helmet, one eye replaced with an enormous, stubby cannon that seemed to be wired directly into his brain.

He cocked his head to one side. "You are no mage."

"I am Emiri Kimidori, a Humanoid Interface of the Data Integration Thought Entity. And I have chosen my side."

She raised her hands, unleashing a wall of flame that hurtled into the assassin. When it dissipated, there was nothing left but twisted, charred wreckage.

She looked back over her shoulder, still calm as ever. "There is still much to do, Fleet Admiral Sagitar Thundra. I would advise that you make haste."

Thundra nodded stoically, refusing to be upstaged by a machine. "Not a problem. What's the situation?"

"Bad, and getting worse," Rodriguez replied once he had returned to his station. "It's not just the city – we're getting distress calls from all over Bureau space, and we've lost contact with several facilities and outposts including the central office itself."

"Understood. Direct nearby patrols to assist the worst hotspots. Are the troops in the city taking and holding ground?"

"Negative, sir – just attacking and moving on."

"Then it's a raid. Good. All we need to do is run damage-prevention until the enemy are exhausted. How are the DPR folks doing?"

"They're badly overstretched. Too few people, too much damage. Hell, they're getting into front-line combat more than our actual soldiers. On the plus side, we're getting reports of survivors from GovCentral – even some of the parliament managed to make it out alive. The Chief Administrator's gone, though, and so are most of the cabinet. It was a full-house session when the bomb went off." Rodriguez's face was grey. His brother worked on the Agriculture Minister's staff, Thundra remembered.

"Message coming in from orbit," Wilson reported. "It's Admiral Harlaown, sir."

"Patch him through," his superior replied wearily. What is it now?

Chrono Harlaown's youthful face appeared on the main screen, looking as professional as ever. "Sir, we have detected a small fleet in the dimensional space near our position. Around a dozen ships of the same configuration as the transports from the scouting mission from a few weeks ago. We believe that they are the source of the invaders, and are moving to engage."

"Roger that, Harlaown. Will you be needing backup?"

"Should be fine, sir, but more ships are always welcome."

"Hrm – you listened during my lectures. Good. I'm sending elements from the Second Fleet to support you. No risks."

"Aye-aye, sir."

"Jechter, bring up a display of the space around Mid-Childa."

"Sir."

A dimensional map appeared, and he watched intently as the symbols representing Chrono's forces crept towards the enemy. Time crawled by, seconds seeming like hours, until the admiral's voice spoke again.

"Sir, we have made contact. Resistance is greater than anticipated – we've already lost the Helena, the Morning Star, and the Charak's Gift. We believe they're employing two or more Q-ships."

"Q-ships?"

"Freighters or transports with their cargo bays replaced by additional weapons and shields – warships in sheep's clothing, so to speak," Wilson explained.

"Ah, I see. Harlaown, what did I tell you about borrowing Earthborn naval terminology? It's habit-forming."

"Sorry, sir. Enemy vessels are well-shielded – point-defence systems and MIS are proving ineffective." There was a telltale flare of green light, and he turned away from the screen.

"The Arc-en-ciel is working as well as ever, though," he added with satisfaction a moment later.

Another few minutes passed, during which the remainder of the command centre's staff returned to their stations. They could clean up the mess from the attack later.

"Enemy forces are retreating," Chrono reported. "We haven't inflicted that much damage on them yet – presumably they have fulfilled their mission objectives."

"Understood. Second Fleet will pursue and intercept. Relay your logs to them, and return to Mid-Childa. Do you have combat mages on board?"

"Armed and ready, sir."

"Glad to hear it. Prepare for immediate ground assault – first objective is to reinforce Air Command, but we'll be providing more as the situation develops. You'll be heading into a populated urban area, so watch your fire."

"Aye-aye, sir. Admiral Harlaown out."

Thundra sat back, allowing himself a moment to gather his thoughts. "Kimidori, you Interfaces seem reasonably effective against those assassin-creatures. Can we rely on you to eliminate the remainder inside the city?"

"Of course, Fleet Admiral Sagitar Thundra."

"Anything more from the central office, Rodriguez?"

"No, sir. Still not responding. Do you think...?"

"I think, lieutenant, that we have an invasion to repel. Get a hold of yourself, and do your job. Is that understood?"

"S-sir."

Thundra went back to surveying the monitors. We can survive this, I know it. But at what cost?


Author's Notes: Again, this was written before ViVid. I liked this version, though, so I'm not changing it. Artistic license, baby.

So what happened in the Stargate universe? Why did the Mid-Childan Ground Forces' HQ get the refurbishment and name change? Why did Kimidori's powers work on the assassin? Fear not, all these questions and more will be answered... eventually.