Lyrical Wizardry
-Chapter 5: Leo! Leo!-
HOGWARTS IN ISOLATION
After a string of disturbances, Hogwarts has fallen remarkably quiet as security is beefed up for the protection of the students there. The new security measures are nothing short of draconian, with all contact from the outside world forbidden except for that which is completely necessary. As a result, worried parents have been locked out of contacting their children, which was rather hard on some of the parents involved.
"When we send our children off to Hogwarts, we don't expect to be in constant contact, but this blockade of communication with my son is beyond anything that we are willing to accept," said Draco Malfoy in a statement today to the prophet.
With regards to this issue, Head Auror, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had this statement to make.
"We understand that this is a particularly distressing turn of events. However in light of two recent incidents regarding security, it has been deemed necessary to increase our vigilance."
-LYRICAL WIZARDRY-
[Three days later]
"Looks like everything is in order," said Reina. "I guess we're lucky our client doesn't mind the delay."
"You took your time to put on your makeup," said Simmons sarcastically.
"I will take that as a compliment," replied Metatron. "The programming is still evolving, but I am confident that I am stable enough to succeed during any combat scenarios which may arise during the mission."
"That's good to hear," said Reina quickly. "So, lets go over this one last time before we initiate drop. First, check out each of the areas with anomalous magical signatures on that island. Using information gathered from there, we'll continue to wherever Jaeger is hiding." Reina paused for a second. "Then, usual kill/capture routine."
"Amemiya," said Simmons, as Reina stared out of the viewport down towards Earth. "You are going to go through with it, aren't you?"
"OF COURSE!" snapped Reina, breathing heavily. "Negotiate first, then... if nonlethal capture is too dangerous, then terminate him..."
"... prepare for deployment," said Simmons.
-I've come here to save you-
[Encrypted Transmission]
Hello, Client 246. We are about to initiate your mission request to: Kill or Capture Altima Jaeger from U97. Unit 001 - R. E. Amemiya has been dispatched for your mission request. We apologize for the delay.
Thank you for choosing Divine Intervention Enterprises for your private military intervention needs.
-And I can already taste the kill-
The speed at which Reina was falling was astronomical. She knew that they had wanted to test a new deployment method which would be needed should DIE expand to include larger teams, but for now, this was purely academic.
Right at this moment, she was loaded inside a huge container, which was hurtling through space, and towards Earth.
-Like caressing an angel-
"I have to say, this is a rather novel way to deploy quickly and precisely onto a planet. Any particular reason we couldn't use a transfer?"
"Well, considering that the TSAB are around, they'll pick up on your transfer immediately. This method at least won't be picked up by magical sensors. As far as the natives of U97 are concerned, this is just generic space debris."
"Yeah? Well, let's hope I don't end up joining the ring of junk floating around U97 eh."
-Burning up in the atmosphere-
The shaking intensified as the massive container hit the atmosphere. Though the start of re-entry was rather violent Reina merely felt like she'd been punched in her entire body at once. That feeling soon passed and the descent continued.
'That's the first obstacle breached. Now all I have to worry about is the impact with the water.'
-And with the blood of a dying star above-
"Your landing point will be approximately ninety miles off the coast east of the first target area. After breaking the surface of the water, the container will split apart to allow you to leave. Once you surface, Metatron should be able to re-orient your location. To be safe, activate Metatron during freefall."
"Roger."
The speed of the fall was astronomical. However it would still take several minutes for Reina's unusual drop mechanism to eventually connect with the Earth's oceans.
-My true aesthetic's unwinding-
"Sixty seconds to impact."
"IWS Metatron!"
The inside of the spacious container glowed with a pale blue light from Reina's body as she changed out of her casual clothes into the armoured bodysuit that was her barrier jacket. The spike shaped blade still rested on the underside of her right forearm, and the hexagonal shield generator was still on her left shoulder. And the thin pale blue lines continued to flow out from the gem set in the centre of her chest. But there were new features. Her feet were no longer encased in metal boots, and instead both of her lower legs were covered in a sort of armour that covered her calf and shin, and ended in a point. Her feet were pointed downwards to fit inside the spike shaped lower leg armour. Her hands were covered in thin gauntlets, which also ended in a point on all the fingers and thumbs.
"Good morning. Ready for combat operation."
-And I'm about to come undone-
The impact was nothing like the atmospheric impact earlier. The collision between metal and water was so violent that the container broke apart and splintered into pieces. Before Reina herself was thrown into the icy cold waters with extreme speed, she had managed to erect a barrier around herself to dampen the impact further. As she began to sink, the flight spells on her back and knees activated, giving her four pale blue wings on her body, and they began to apply thrust.
Less than a minute after impact, the four winged combat mage burst out of the water, spraying droplets everywhere, forming a small rainbow as she ascended out of the water. In the sunlight, there were new features that were apparently visible on the barrier jacket. On the black triangle shaped visor that covered Reina's eyes, and on the outside of her left shoulder pad was text in white which read 'R. - DIVINE INTERVENTION ENTERPRISES 001'.
"Simmons, I've landed," said Reina.
"Good. Fly towards the mainland."
"I'd recommend maintaining low level flight. During descent, I detected what appeared to be some sort of RADAR."
"The response if they found me would be token though," said Reina. "And from what we've seen the magical population don't employ any kind of RADAR."
"Regardless, we should avoid antagonizing the locals too much. The only reason we're going with this plan is because we're behind schedule."
"Riiiiight," said Reina sarcastically.
"Unit 001, you're in the operation area."
Reina was quiet afterwards.
"Understood. Mission start."
From above, all that would have been seen was a dashing blue blur, with four pale blue light trails following an unidentified flying object.
-LYRICAL WIZARDRY-
Harry was tensing up as he intently watched an enchanted mirror. Though he didn't agree with this plan, the fact that they had used the last few days to prepare this particular countermeasure was beginning to pay off.
Well, it wasn't all of the nonmagical population; just the ones in charge of defending Great Britain. He was watching the view through the eyes of one such man.
First of all, the HMS Argyll's captain was focusing on a blue blur that was speeding past his vision, about four miles out, and less than three hundred feet above sea level. It emerged after a fireball crashed into the ocean less than a minute earlier, and it was moving too fast to be any kind of aircraft that originated on Earth. His first instinct was to scramble the Lynx that the ship carried on board, but it soon became clear that not even that helicopter could catch the blue blur. It couldn't be anything else. Going by the reports, the Gringott's Intruder was back.
"Captain, what do we do?" asked the Radio Officer.
"I... I don't know," he replied.
Or to be more specific, he replied as directed by a team of obliviators that had discretely apparated above the ship and had imperused him through the walls from the back of a broom. Seconds later, all nonessential electronic devices on the ship had been disabled.
"Mr Potter," said Harry's aide. "We've tied up the ship and we know where this was sighted. We can wipe the memories of the crew at any time."
"Prepare Leo Team," said Harry. "I'll lead them in with Jaeger's prototype. We're going to end this crisis in one fell swoop."
Within minutes, four aurors had assembled inside Harry's office. These were the best fliers in the entire ministry, and they all had years of experience fighting. Some of them even fought in the second wizarding war. Harry himself was ready. He had a pair of flight goggles around his neck, and in his left hand was an unrecognized model of black broom, which in addition to stirrups to place the feet, seemed to have four spindly looking wings pointing backwards towards the floor in a symmetrical dual layered A formation. The other aurors kept flicking their eyes to it. Of course, they knew what it was - Altima Jaeger's latest design for Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes - the Viper.
"Follow my lead. We're going to be taking down the Gringotts intruder. Remember, stay as a team. No heroics, and we'll all be back here in one piece."
With that, Harry and the rest of the Leo team turned on the spot, and apparrated to their destination with a crack. The sensation of being pressed through a rubber tube hit Harry, but it had become more or less routine by now. Even so, it was a routine Harry would have liked to do without. The team appeared over the North Sea.
-LYRICAL WIZARDRY-
"I detect six additional teleportation spells. Targets are on an intercept course. Contact in sixty seconds."
"I can confirm this," said Simmons. "I've got them on visual, and they are definitely approaching."
"Looks like they mean business," said Reina.
"The response is much more confident than last time. I'm guessing that they've prepared for you," said Simmons, barely masking his annoyance at this fact.
"It's not like I'm an infiltrator unit anyway."
"Contact in thirty."
Reina could see six specks over the horizon, in a V formation, two on either side of the flight lead. They were approaching rapidly...
-LYRICAL WIZARDRY-
Harry and the other Leos flew in formation towards their contact. It wasn't too hard for them to find; it was flying at low level, with an X shaped blue glow behind it. By the fact that it's position in Harry's vision was unchanging despite the fact that he and the other Leos were flying at full speed, he had surmised that they would meet in midair soon.
As they drew closer, he could see that the object was a vaguely humanoid form leaning forward at a sixty degree angle, virtually lying prone in the air, with two arms, two legs that ended in what looked like boots that tapered down to a point ('probably for aerodynamics') thought Harry, and a head covered by a visor. Its flying stance was mostly symmetrical, with the arms out to the sides for balance, and both of its pointed feet parallel. Its four wings happened to be attached behind its shoulders, where the shoulder blades would have been, and on the outside of both knees. They were pointing backwards, outwards and downwards, which gave Harry the impression that they were providing thrust more than lift. As he was analyzing the merits of the enemy, Harry noticed that the object had not reacted to him and his formation. He called out over his left shoulder.
"Leo Two! Leo Four! Prepare to link up!" To his left, the two wizards nodded. He then turned to the right "Leo One and Three, hold position out of the fight and stand by!"
As he said this the entire right wing broke off and began to climb. The other two wizards steered their brown Firebolt IIs behind the black prototype, in rank order. Then a jagged orange bolt of lightning seemed to travel between the tips of the prototype broom's rearward facing wings and the tip of Leo Two's Firebolt II, before passing out of the rear brushes of the broom and connecting Leo Two to Leo Four. The two older brooms glowed with an orange light before settling into a gentle blue glow. Harry then banked left, then right, testing the Prototype's performance. The two Firebolts linked in tandem followed the Prototype in perfect synch, speeding up to keep speed as Harry accelerated.
"Party Connected!" said Leo Two. "We can start any time!"
Now that they were closer to their target, Harry noticed that the humanoid form of the unidentified flying object matched that of a young woman, maybe approaching her twenties, aside from the armour over her bodysuit, the hexagon shaped jewel mounted on her left shoulder, the spike shaped blade mounted on her right forearm, and the lines that spread through her entire outfit like etched blood vessels, with light emanating from the centre of the chest originating from a blue circular jewel. On her head was a black triangular visor, currently raised above her eyebrows, but would probably be able to cover her entire face.
"It matches the reports of the Gringotts break in," said Harry. "We may have to detain her. I'll fly in closer and see if we can talk, but just in case, shield yourselves."
As the three aurors pursued and closed the distance on the blue flying four winged girl, Harry steeled his nerves and silently cast protego on himself. He heard the two behind him cast verbal protego charms as well.
Their target did not show any signs of slowing down, and instead flew straight past and underneath Harry and the two Leos. Harry rolled his broom so that he was flying inverted, and then pulled up in a descending half loop. He vaguely recalled that this move was called a Split S in aerobatics as he re-aligned himself with the retreating form of the girl, then he began to accelerate.
The two connected Firebolts followed through the split S perfectly, and began to accelerate along with the Viper. As the Viper approached the top speed of the Firebolts, a thin orange line began to glow, connecting the three brooms, allowing Harry to accelerate and push the broom further.
'Good to know this works,' thought Harry. 'If we weren't linking up with the other Firebolts and boosting, we wouldn't be closing in on her.'
-LYRICAL WIZARDRY-
"Three targets are continuing pursuit. They're gaining."
Reina took a peek over her shoulder. She could see the incoming broomsticks, and she fought to suppress a laugh. She thought that they looked ridiculous. The man in the lead of the formation shouted at her using what must have been a magically amplified voice.
"Stop, or we will fire upon you!"
She chose not to slow down, and instead continued to fly towards Britain. At least, that was the plan until a warning shot whizzed past her.
'So that's how you want to play huh?' she thought. She stopped flying, spun around and flicked her right arm back, locking the arm blade in the forward position whilst bringing the shield generator on her left arm forward. She stared straight into the lead's eyes, and saw a man in his mid thirties staring right back with a look of determination as he also stopped and hovered in midair in front of her.
"Who the hell are you," said Reina.
"I should be asking you that question," the man in the lead of the party replied. He was obviously the one in charge. The other two were sitting on their brooms, eyeing Reina, keeping up with their flight lead.
"Eva Mitsubishi," replied Reina as she ascended to be level with the man she was speaking to.
"... the same Eva that broke into Gringotts a week ago?"
"Maybe."
"This is serious!"
"And so am I. Under what authority are you questioning me?"
"I'm Harry Potter, head of the Auror Office for the Ministry of Magic. I'm going to need you to come with me for questioning."
"Oh... so you're actually important," said Reina. "Unfortunately, I can't comply. I have other obligations which are at odds with your instructions."
"This is your final warning," said the man named Harry. "Surrender or we will attack."
"No!" said Reina. Her heart rate began to rise. "This is your final warning. Call off your boys, including the ones above us behind the clouds."
"I guess we have no choice," said Harry.
Reina's visor flipped down in front of her face with a final click. The four flight spells on her body grew in size, and she began to ascend.
-So don't let me become the one you love-
Harry accelerated. He knew that he would build more speed simply by flying forward and that was what he wanted at that point. The other two Leos on the Firebolts were pulled along, adding the power of their thrust spells into the Viper's resulting in more speed. As they pulled away from each other, he heard the two Leos fire back at the woman who probably wasn't even called Eva Mitsubishi.
He pulled up to ascend, using the speed he'd built up to assist his climb, and he turned his head around to look behind him, towards where his target was. She was still climbing, but had evidently slowed down a little to defend against the two spells that Leo 2 and Leo 4 had thrown at her.
-'Cause I'll just take your blood and use you up-
At the apex of his climb, Harry heard a sound that was similar to the cross between lightning striking as he banked back around, and was thankful that Leo 2 and 4 was watching his back. A series of shield charms blocked a series of sixteen curving beams that were tracking the position and flight paths of each individual member of the formation.
"Switching to Cobra formation!" shouted Harry as he pointed the nose of the broom at the target. Leo 2 and Leo 4 were pulled into position by sparks of orange lightning just behind Harry to his left and right respectively, before locking in place again. Undeterred, he steered the broom in towards the woman, who was also flying towards him.
-I know it's tempting to jump off the edge and fly-
As Harry approached his target, she veered off to his left, showing her left side to him, before dashing forward towards his flank, with the spike shaped blade aimed directly at his throat.
"Protego!" shouted Harry. The shield charm were enough to delay the blade's arrival. Harry dived downward and ducked to avoid the attack.
"Depulso!" shouted Leo 4. The banishing charm threw their assailant off about thirty feet so that the formation was able to pass.
As the three of them flew forward, Harry felt his broom shake. It was the first warning sign
'Damn, looks like I have to let their Firebolts' charms recover... good thing I have two more wingmen.'
"Leo 2, Leo 4, disconnect the formation!" shouted Harry. He then fired a blue spark into the air. As he did so, Leo 1 and Leo 3 emerged from behind the clouds above, and banked in towards Harry, whilst Leo 2 and Leo 4 dived away towards the sea.
-But this is not a dream-
Harry took a moment to look behind him. As he suspected, 'Amemiya' was rushing towards him blade drawn. A sloth grip roll managed to avoid the swipe of the blade. As Harry hung from his broom, he pointed his wand at the woman.
"Stupefy!" he shouted. The red spell met the blade, and was sliced in two, deflected out to the sides. The magic bolt couldn't sustain itself, and scattered into the air.
'So that's not just a regular blade,' thought Harry as he righted himself. 'Amemiya' was about to attack, but instead of going in, drew back to block two attacks from the incoming Leos from above. They flew towards Harry's six o'clock.
"FORM UP! Sidewinder formation!" shouted Harry. Leo 1 fell in behind Harry, and the broom linked up with Leo 1's Firebolt II with the same orange lightning that linked them up before. The lightning continued to travel through to Leo 3's broom, and soon, they had all formed up behind Harry.
"Party connected!" shouted Leo 1. The three of them picked up speed, and Harry began to pull them around for another attack.
-So don't let me become the one you love-
The three broom formation circled around 'Amemiya' at speed, with all three wizards aiming spells at her from about fifty yards away. The spells crashed into her blue shield with a resounding buzz. The Leos and Harry continued to stagger their fire as they circled her from above.
'We're keeping her pinned, but I'll have to disconnect the party to let the Firebolt IIs recover eventually.'
They had sustained the fire for a good two and a half minutes before 'Amemiya' made a move. She dodged the last wave of spells by boosting herself to the side, and suddenly began to fly towards him. Harry immediately banked towards her and quickly switched formations. Leo 1 was pulled towards his left flank, and Leo 3 towards his right. They faced her as a full formation, and during the dive fired spell after spell at her. She weaved between the shots, but each dodge was getting closer and closer. Then as they were about to meet, the girl's four wings suddenly increased in size, and all pointed downwards. She ascended whilst flipping backwards to maintain control of the sudden boost of power. The formation of wizards them zoomed past the combat mage with ten feet of room to spare.
Harry felt the broom shake for the second time in just as many minutes. He was thankful that he was diving away from her, because he needed to call up another formation swap.
'I hope these Leos get out OK...'
-Here I come-
After the last pass, Reina received a telepathic transmission from Simmons as she righted herself.
"Finish them or retreat! This battle is a waste of time!" said Simmons.
"Give me more credit than that! I've figured out their capabilities with the battle data!"
"Enemy assessment has been archived for future use."
"Huh?"
"They're about to switch combatants."
Reina was looking at the retreating formation, and right as the man calling himself Harry levelled out about half a kilometre away from her, the other two mages peeled away from him and continued to retreat. Meanwhile, he fired a blue flare like spell into the air, and from above, the first two combatants flew to meet him as he ascended.
"They also probably have no close range mobility," continued Reina as she rushed towards the formation. She saw orange lightning fire between them. "At least, none that can threaten Metatron's at any rate."
"How do you know that?"
"They refuse to take what would be easy shots at close range."
"I think they're just afraid of the blade."
The formation turned around to face Reina. She however, altered her course as she and Metatron both spotted one of her true targets; one of the broom riders that had left the flying formation.
"As I thought. Immediately after the wingmen break their connection, their mobility drops," said Reina. "The leader is keeping the loss minimal, but it's enough to let me close the gap!" Their flight lead tried to catch her attention, but it was not working; Reina was now the one forcing separation, not Harry, and with separation came a massive accuracy drop. This meant that there was only one thing they could do. "Their combat element has to come to me now!"
As she said that, she saw the formation turn towards her, she noticed that they were riding in a line again to catch up with her.
'Hmm, so the different formations give different performance characteristics too.'
"Homing Laser."
Reina fired eight laser like projectiles from her right palm, which arced outwards before turning toward the retreating wizard. She did not wait to see if it had hit, and instead turned to face the combatants as they approached, blade at the ready. It looked like they were no longer willing to attack from range, and instead flew towards points that were just a little off her position to allow the two trailing behind the flight lead to have a clear shot. As she defended against a stream of spells from the wizards, she noticed that the lead was not firing at all; instead his wand was projecting a three metre long beam of concentrated light.
'Hmm? Is that a laser blade?'
"I detect high energy levels coming from the blade. Being hit without defending may lead to serious damage."
They suddenly altered their course to pass right by Reina's left side. As the formation approached, their flight lead drew his arm back, winding up for a backhand slash with the magical blade coming out of his wand.
'Maybe Simmons was right about them being afraid of Metatron's blade...'
Reina brought her left arm forward, and formed the blue spherical shield again. However, the two wizards flying behind 'Harry' slipped out to his left side, just enough so that they had clear shots at Reina. She just about saw them mouth something that sounded like 'Finite Incantem', pointing their wands at her shield, before she felt two invisible projectiles hit her shield, just over her left elbow.
"Shield disabled," said Metatron.
"What the!"
Her shield faded. The formation was rushing towards her. Reina brought her right arm forward from behind her hip whilst bringing the arm blade back so that it was pointing perpendicular to her arm so it was locked in a 'reverse grip' position, whilst flying backwards by bringing her legs forward to point the wings on her knees backward.
She barely managed to bring the blade forward in time to intercept the swing. However, it was a blade comprised of condensed magical energy, not a solid one like hers. Her blade managed to cut across the offending blade halfway down its length, which caused the tip of it to disintegrate as the magic destabilized. However the source of the blade was still going, and it struck her body suit like barrier jacket across the abdomen.
"Son of a bitch..." she said as the blade passed through her. Her flight spells flickered, barely keeping her level in the air for that brief moment. As the other two wingmen flew past her, they both fired spells into her side. She began to fall into the ocean.
"Amemiya what happened?! Metatron's data just stopped! Respond damnit! REINA!"
Songs used in this chapter
A Stranger I remain (Original Version) - Metal Gear Rising Revengeance OST
Vocals: Free Dominguez
Composer: Jamie Christopherson