A new picture appeared on the screen projected by Bardiche.
When the radars detected small objects dropped off the escaping Cradle, nobody was particularly interested in them. It was Shari, Fate remembered, who insisted they retrieved them before they burned up in the stratosphere. The picture showed the faces of the returning recovery team, drawn with shock and disbelief. They didn't expect to find what they found. Nobody did.
Click.
The Mid-Childa Main Office morgue. Four bodies lay there, stretched on the tables under white sheets. This way, you wouldn't guess how broken they were. The tags read "Nanoha Takamachi", "Hayate Yagami", "Vita Yagami"… And "Quattro". Vivio Takamachi was not among them.
Click.
Shari and Mariel bent over Rein Zwei's broken little body, completely devoid of life. None of Hayate's Devices have returned to operational state after retrieval. When the tech staff managed to start up the badly damaged Raising Heart and Graf Eisen, there was much rejoicing but the Devices only replayed their masters' last moments and shut down. They had never powered on again.
Click.
Admiral Lindy knocking on the Midori-ya café door. Fate closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The vividness of that memory was still too much, even three years later. Lindy and she chose to deliver the message personally. They expected anger, tears, threats, accusations… but the Takamachis just sat there in silence. When Momoko walked over to her, Fate thought she would hit her, but she just hugged her, pressing her face to her chest.
That was the first and only time Fate cried since that day. Upon returning to the HQ, Lindy filed in her resignation from the Bureau.
Click.
The three officers were given a full military funeral. The Portfall Memorial Garden was sunny that day. From where she stood, Fate could see the Forwards looking at the slowly passing coffins in grim silence. Teana was supporting a wobbly Subaru. Caro was sobbing quietly into Erio's arm. Next to them were Hayate's knights, their faces frozen over. The rest of the Riot Force 6 stood behind them. A number of high-ranking Bureau officials and Church hierarchs were present. The Takamachis' white gown-like clothes struck out among the uniforms and habits. She was glad her Enforcer uniform was black to begin with.
The five Devices were buried along with their masters. When Raising Heart was placed upon Nanoha's chest, Fate believed to have seen it blink gratefully one last time. But that might have been just something in her eye.
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