Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

-16 – Opening Gambit-

Shamal managed to get in touch with Noriko's family, and with the phone company while Hayate was gone. Between the two, the volume of calls to Hayate's office faded, and by the time she returned from Al Hanthis, Shamal had managed to reclaim the office for the necessary call to Chrono. She had to promise Hayate would speak to the press herself that evening, but she restored tranquility to Hayate's office, at least.

When Hayate did return, she wasted no time walking, teleporting overhead and flying down rapidly. She released Aignu and her crew from the Sword of Light upon landing in front of the Library, relaying orders immediately. "Signum, please inform the children of what we have found," she ordered, "Vita, assist Commander Tessai in getting their crew back to the Shiva. Admiral Aignu, if you will come with me, please, we'll get in touch with Headquarters."

As they went up the stairs, Aignu asked, "Is there a reason you're telling your students? I'm not criticizing, I'm just curious. They are children, after all."

Hayate smiled and shook her head. "Yes they are, yet at the same time, no they are not. I chose well when I picked them from all the candidates. They are much as I was, much as Nanoha and Fate and Chrono were, at their ages. They are skilled and lucky, but mostly they are good people. People who are used to being involved, being 'proactive' as the personnel officers like to say. If I did not keep them informed, they would find some other way to discover what is going on, and act on that knowledge as best they could. Last year, I thought to keep them safe. This year... I am responsible for protecting them, yes, but I am more responsible for educating them, for teaching them, for giving them the knowledge, space, and support they need to become what they have the potential to be. So... I find myself in the uncomfortable position of having to prepare my kids for the worst. Not that we should be involved, particularly. This is clearly Bureau business, and I will be more than happy to hand it over to you and Chrono."

Getting settled in her office, she used Reinforce to open a communications screen on the wall opposite the door, and signal Chrono she was available. It took him a couple minutes to respond, and the normally unflappable young man actually looked worried. "Sorry for the wait," he apologized, "I've got a few other calls running right now, and Amy keeps sending more in."

Hayate nodded in sympathy, "I couldn't even use my office for a while. I think Shamal disabled the phone in here. But, if you have a few minutes, I have an initial report."

"Oh, you would not believe how glad I am to hear that," Chrono grinned, leaning back in his chair. "Enlighten me, Hayate. What trouble have you gone and woken up this time?"

Relaying what she had found was simple enough, years of pre- and post-battle reports let her subconscious organize the information she had found and present it in a relatively orderly fashion. Looking back over the meeting did not do anything to calm her worries. The more she looked at Al Hanthis, the harder that nut seemed to be. To have survived in the void for so long they had to be both skilled and tough. They were only fifty years from a vicious civil war, and if Yosho was any guide, they still had plenty of veterans left. They were highly organized, already set in a siege mentality, and determined to secure not just their city, but everything they considered theirs – all of Terra.

Aignu's report was a little longer than Hayate's, but she had little to add. She and her crew had been taken into custody by a squad of Yosho's 'Protectors'. The frightening part was, she could confirm that, while they apparently used no devices, they were utilizing a level of power that required devices. Whether that power was being remotely supplied by the city, or they had some other form of device, was unknown, but they had plenty of power available on an individual basis.

Chrono listened attentively, taking their reports calmly enough, though his humor did fade. When Aignu finished he sighed slightly and leaned his head back for a minute, to stare at his own ceiling. "I've got two immediate problems," he said after a minute. "The first and most critical is personnel. To be honest, Hayate, we're still reeling from the crowd you and Fate dumped on us back in February. Just keeping tabs on all those people threw a huge wrench in the works. Fate's little trick of rotating that base into a pocket dimension took a good year off the service life of Asura's engines and shields, six months or more off the ship's very frame. Thanks to that, not that I blame either of you, my ship's been in dock getting repairs. We were getting tight on ships and personnel even before that. So, as of right now, per procedure, the only ship I have available to send is the Shiva, which is already there.

"The second point is more nebulous. I'm not so worried about the fact that the city is outside our official jurisdiction but... what right do we really have to seize Al Hanthis, if all they're looking for is a new home. It comes down to, are they invaders, or refugees? At first glance, they appear to be the first, but that could be a bargaining position taken by the second to make sure they are taken seriously. And if they are the first, can we convince them to become the second? I'm not comfortable asserting 'Bureau Regulations' on... what did you estimate, Hayate, two million people? Not after what they've been through. I'll do it, but I would much rather find some other course."

"Two to three million," Hayate agreed, "most to all with some magical ability, though I did not get a good read on their strengths."

Chrono shrugged, "I'm not comfortable enforcing our laws on two to three million people who's only real crime is being born before our laws existed. There are huge implications here, well beyond the potential for a dimensional dislocation or worse. Even if we do everything right, this could still blow up in all our faces."

"Yes, but if we do nothing, it will blow up," Hayate said. "If it helps, Aria is already putting together a formal request for Bureau intervention and assistance. She should be sending it to Amy shortly."

"Good, that will help shake resources loose," Chrono nodded, rolling upright again. "I'm not trying to tell you I won't do anything, Hayate, that wasn't my point. I was just getting the bad news out of the way. The good news is, Admiral Aignu is already on-site with the Shiva. Fate and the Asura will need three days to button-up for space, but I can have two other ships on their way to you today. They should get there about when the Asura's cut loose, and by then I should also be able to shake loose a few ships from neighboring sectors. I'll also have three more ships in-sector reassigned from less critical missions. I've already prepared an alert for the High Command, I'll be briefing them in a few hours. I don't doubt they'll shake something loose, and they'll certainly give the Bureau's full support to our intervention."

"So, essentially," Hayate mused, "You're going to help, you're getting assistance to us as fast as you can, but we're on our own for a few days?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I appreciate the help, believe me," Hayate said, "but a couple days... I'll be honest, Chrono, I have no idea how the Circles are going to react to this. Given their history and methods, I expect they will pull back and take some time to evaluate this threat, to plan their response. But they know this is the 'Atlantis' they so vilify. They may very well not think, but simply attack. Given what they have been working on with the Black Dogs, they certainly have the capabilities to do so, and realize it."

"I would have to agree with Hayate, sir," Aignu added, shaking her head. "Major Hassed was... less than reasonable, while we were being held. The Al Hanthis mages were very civilized about the whole thing, very polite. Hassed was not. I'm fairly certain that the only reason he did not try to fight his way out was my own threat to bind him and his permanently. If he had thought for a minute that I would not interfere, or that I might aid him, he would have fought. My read is, the Circles will strike as soon as they can, however futile that attack might be."

"Understood," Chrono sighed and shook his head, "Hayate, do what you can to keep them calm. Let them know the Bureau is responding, maybe that will scare them into backing down. Don't take them on, though. If they're determined to attack, stay out of their way and keep me and Aignu informed. Worry about your school, we'll handle the Circles and Al Hanthis on this one."

"Thank you, Chrono-kun."

"Not a problem," Chrono replied, "now, if you don't mind, I've got to see what Amy wants me to tell the High Command about this. Aignu, I'd appreciate a formal report as soon as possible, but make sure your ship is secure and your people all right first."

Aignu nodded with a small smile, "Aye, sir." The screen blanked out, and Aignu chuckled, "You have no idea how hard it was not to say, 'yes, mother,' just then."

Hayate chuckled as well, "Oh, I don't know. You haven't seen my Knights when I'm wounded, or one of my kids has gotten up to something. Chrono has nothing on Shamal. Is there anything we can do to help?"

Aignu shook her head, "Thank you, but no. At the moment, all I really need is to get back to my ship. Ever since that city popped up, I've been feeling rather vulnerable, and would like a nice, solid, armed command deck under my feet."

Hayate saw her out, then watched her and her mages lift of and head for the top of the teleport barrier before disappearing in a flash. When she looked back at her campus, she found her Knights and students standing in the dorm courtyard. Feeling her worries spike again, Hayate headed over. This is going to be a long week, she thought, pray Kami-sama it's only long, and only a week.

00000

Szash looked up from the array of screens when Eri coughed softly. Cocking an eyebrow, she waved her adjutant over, changing stance just enough to focus on Eri instead of the screens. She should have been at her desk in her office proper, but the attached front office, with Eri's and Gali's desks at each end, had more and larger windows, and thus a better view. While she may have grown up with the endless dark of the Void, the sight of reality, a true world, was too precious not to take advantage of.

Eri arrived with a small smile, and a question, "Would you like to know what the Lord Protector has gotten up to now, ma'am?"

Szash frowned, "I'm guessing it's something nefarious, given how happy you seem to be about it."

"He is meeting with another off-worlder," Eri told her. "The man showed up at the edge of the shield and demanded to speak to 'whoever is in charge'. The Protectors got to him first, and are taking him to see the Lord Protector."

"Another local?" Szash turned it over a few times, wondering what the newcomer was doing. That depended greatly on where he was from, and who he claimed to represent. "Do we know anything about him?"

Eri nodded and woke another screen, bringing up an image of an older man in a blue uniform, "He calls himself 'Admiral Kreigsen', and claims to be a shadow operative for the Time Space Administration Bureau."

"Like those enhanced mages Yosho let go yesterday?"

"So it would seem." Eri glanced at the main door to the suite, then her smile widened slightly, "One of our officers managed to get a bug on him, while arguing with the Protector about bringing him here, instead of to Yosho. Should we activate it?"

Szash matched the smile, feeling a thrill of anticipation. Pulling one over on Yosho was always worth it, and a chance to listen in on his conversation with an outsider would be invaluable. "Of course. Our Lord Protector is so overworked, let's save him the difficulty of preparing a special briefing for us. By all means, Eri, activate the surveillance."

00000

Yosho watched Kreigsen carefully as Journeyman Turo escorted the man into his office. Kriegsen presented a mostly average appearance, save for his white hair and age-line face. His stance was far from old, however, beneath the immaculate blue uniform, and his eyes were just as solid as Yagami's had been. There was nothing special in the way the man moved, no obvious sign of implants, but meeting Yagami and her people the day before had disabused him of any notion that implants were as necessary for higher magics as he had always believed. Then there was the fact that Kriegsen shared the same sense of shivering unreality that Yagami had, the feeling of magic just barely under control. Finally there was the manner of his arrival – claiming to be from the Bureau, he had manifestly not come from the vessel the Bureau was maintaining in orbit.

Given all of that, Yosho was not going to trust Kriegsen any time soon, and he saw no reason to be more than minimally polite. Official communications with local authorities had already been established through Yagami, and possibly through Aignu, so Kriegsen had to be doing something unofficial, which meant underhanded and of questionable legality. It was also far too soon for any sort of response to the initial demands Yosho had related to Yagami the day before.

So Kriegsen found no chairs waiting for him, and instead of leaving, Turo merely took up position by the door. Kriegsen studied that for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Good morning, Lord Protector," he said in Japanese after a moment, "I am Admiral Wilhelm Kriegsen, Time Space Administration Bureau, detached duty."

"Good morning," Yosho replied slowly, then fell silent, waiting. Kriegsen came to Al Hanthis, he could state his purpose.

Kriegsen nodded again, smirking slightly in recognition of Yosho's superior position. "I'll come right to the point, then. I am on this world undertaking a covert mission for the Bureau, a delicate matter. Your arrival here has, at one and the same time, destroyed any hope I had of fulfilling my mission by conventional means, yet offered the possibility of doing so by unconventional means. I wanted to speak to you about the potential for an arrangement between us."

"Interesting," Yosho murmured. "Your Admiral Aignu made no mention of your presence, neither did Lady Yagami. Is there some reason for that?"

"As I said, my mission is covert, and delicate. I'm afraid the Yagami woman is one of the obstacles to completing that mission." Kriegsen grimaced momentarily, "I am afraid, Lord Protector, that I am hunting a murderer. A monster who delights not only in death, but in rampant destruction that risks the very fabric of reality. I will be honest, the lost logia I see all over this city are repugnant, and in the absence of other considerations, I would never even consider approaching you with anything other than a demand for surrender. But you appear to have the artifacts under control, for the moment, and I am certain that the Bureau can resolve this situation amicably through normal channels. My own target, however, has never evinced the last concern with controlling or cleaning up his 'experiments', and certainly never showed any concern for the loss of life he causes."

Yosho listened to that speech carefully, noting two things. The first and most obvious was, Kriegsen was not telling him more than half the truth, if that. The second was, whoever this 'target' was, Kriegsen hated him with a passion, a cold, subtle passion normally reserved for the most personal and longest-term feuds. This is no 'covert mission', Yosho realized, this is a personal vendetta. What makes him think we will stoop so low as to pursue it for him? "While that sounds grave, Admiral, I must ask what you expect us to do about it? From your description, Lady Yagami would be the appropriate person to discuss this with."

The flash of hatred in Kriegsen's features was minute, but significantly 'hotter' than that for the target. It was more present in his voice, "The Yagami woman is my target's student. She thinks she is learning magic, but he is trying to craft her into another monster, to shape her into his own image. It is a tactic he has used before, both to cover his own activities, and to amplify his 'experiments'. No, approaching her would result only in violence and more people dying needlessly. She would warn the monster, and he would escape again.

"As for what you can do for me... you can do what I have so far been unable to do, and kill Takashi. Despite his nature, or perhaps because of it, he is powerful. I will admit, he is stronger than I am, too strong for me. But not strong enough to face numbers such as you can bring to bear. He survived the Bureau's original efforts to eliminate him by sleight of hand and luck, until the Yagami woman concocted some fairy tail just believable enough to give the Bureau an excuse to drop the public pursuit. Sleight of hand and luck would be insufficient against your forces, given his refusal to leave this world until the Yagami woman has served her purpose."

"Again, I still do not see why we would assist you."

Kriegsen gestured, and a paper folder appeared in his hand with a snap of magical energies. The Admiral ignored the sudden tension in the room to set the folder on Yosho's desk. "A preliminary offering, to prove I have something of value to you. Whatever happens here, it will come to violence, and you will need to know everything you can about your enemies."

Yosho considered the folder for a few seconds before reaching out for it. There were any number of ways it could be trapped, especially as Kreigsen had to have produced it out of a dimensional pocket of some sort, for it to be un-creased after being in his jacket. But a quick scan showed no magic in the folder, only paper, so Yosho flipped it open, and had to work very hard to show no reaction. The upper right corner of the first page was filled with a picture of Yagami, the rest of the page filled with basic information about her, mostly vital statistics and a very brief history.

The second sheet was a picture of a man Yosho did not know, square face and graying hair, wearing some sort of uniform. The caption was definitely interesting – Garreth Hughes, Master Adept (Terran Mage Circles), Colonel (United States Army). Beneath that page were more, an almost even mix of Circles and Yagami's subordinates and... students? Holding up the first, Yosho asked, "Children?"

"Yagami herself was an S-class mage before she was ten," Kriegsen replied, "her students are almost as skilled, and she has no hesitation about sending them into battle for her. More of Takashi's corruption."

"And you are offering full information on them?"

"Everything I have, which is quite a lot. They are skilled in magic, not so skilled in security and espionage. I have also spent the past few years gathering information on them. I'm offering everything I have, for a simple commitment. When Takashi intervenes, you kill him.

"Your situation is simple. For simplicity's sake, Takashi will attempt to resolve the threat you represent peacefully, to save himself the trouble and retain the opportunity to gain access to your technology. The Circles, however, will not wait. They will attack, as soon and as viciously as they can manage. Due to their prior agreements, their attack upon you will force the Yagami woman to act in their support, which will force Takashi to act to support her. Thus, you will wind up having to face them in battle. All I am asking is that you forgo capturing him, in favor of killing him. As for the rest, I don't care. Capture them, kill them, banish them, anything you want. Yagami is not yet lost, but she is not my concern. Her students even less so.

"I am offering you the information, regardless of what you do with it, to dominate and control the situation here on Terra. All the information you need to turn this dilemma however you wish it, to peace or war, to coexistence or dominance. All I'm asking for is the destruction of one monster."

Yosho nodded slowly, "I understand your offer, Admiral. I am only debating taking it. You have to understand, as valuable as this information could be, there are moral implications to what you are suggesting. There is a difference between killing enemies in war, and murdering someone for information. I am going to have to think about this. Not for long, but I cannot make such a decision in haste. Journeyman Turo, if you would, please escort the Admiral to our guest quarters at the top of the tower. I promise you an answer before sundown, Admiral. Other than that, please consider yourself our guest."

Turo escorted Kriegsen out without much difficulty, and Yosho leaned back in his chair, contemplating the offer. The details themselves were simple enough, and despite his comments, he had no compunctions about accepting the offer. What was more questionable was how to go about accepting, and how to go about using the information.

Simply accepting would be dangerous, especially given the inevitable questions about where the information came from and how reliable it was. Given his own read of Kriegsen, Yosho expected the information to be accurate, but incomplete. Just as Yagami was honest and seeking to avoid violence but strong-willed enough to meet like with like, Kriegsen was too angry and too involved not to offer real data, but patently too much a manipulator to hand over everything so cheaply. Similarly, if Yosho just suddenly had this information, too many questions would be asked, especially given the publicity with which Kriegsen had arrived.

Yosho could attempt to keep the information to himself. Showing that level of insight into their enemies would strengthen his claim that he was better equipped to resolve their current predicament safely, especially if Szash misread something, or an attack did develop. But again, questions would arise as to where he got that insight. He could claim 'observation', as he normally did and was known for, but that only worked with his fellow Masters and those too inexperienced to know how he did it. Even Szash understood it took more than a single meeting to develop the 'insight' Kriegsen's intelligence would give him.

It basically came down to when and where he wanted the source of his information to get out. Too soon, and he would not be able to put it to use. Too long, and it would lose its value. On top of all that, he would have to have time to assimilate the information, plan how to use it. The use of it would be even more complicated, requiring careful planning and execution.

The timing would be critical. Szash and the Guard may have been sidelined in the Void, but she was making very good arguments in the Conclave already about the limit of the Protectors' authority and power. Simple manpower would give her the upper hand, eventually, but the longer he could retain a superior position, the better his own long-term influence would be. Skilled as she was, Szash had no real experience, especially not in actual combat or leading a war. Yosho had to keep as much of his influence as possible, to balance Szash's youthful exuberance and inexperience. The best way to do that would be to show that he and the Protectors could best handle the survivor governments that the Conclave was even now studying. So he needed Kriegsen's information, and could not keep it secret, and had to be very careful about how to reveal he had it.

"Szash will be the problem," he muttered, drumming his fingers on his desk. "If she finds out too soon, she'll slip it to the Conclave again. But she has her fingers into everything except the Protectors. I could trim her network back, but that will tip her off that something is up. I don't know enough about it to subvert it or use it myself... so I have to make sure she finds out after I am established as the expert. An interesting conundrum."

00000

Szash frowned as the screen blanked, turning to walk to the window and stare out for a few moments. Eri and Gali left her alone to think, and Szash was glad of their restraint. The deal itself was a surprise, but Yosho's response was worrisome.

Young or not, Szash had not become General of the Guard based on her looks or her youth. Both Eri and Gali were her elders, and both had made Adept long before her. They had not made Master, as she had, but she had no illusions about that being due to lack of skill. They were unwilling to put in the grueling hours, or accept the responsibilities, that came with Master's rank, reasons which had almost been too much for Szash herself. No, Szash was General because she had the drive and, more importantly, the ability to put together accurate situational pictures from limited information.

So she saw the same picture Yosho did. Despite his statement about the 'moral implications', she knew Yosho was far too practical not to take the offer. Murder or not, one life was a pittance to pay for the security of their people, especially if the victim was a monstrous as Kriegsen was implying.

But Yosho was being cautious, cagey. His response was calculating, he was looking for something else, or worried about something else. "Yosho will accept the deal," Szash mused, "but he is going to try to keep it secret."

"I do not think we can take this to the Conclave again, General," Gali said. "A second attempt like that would arouse suspicion."

"No," Szash agreed, "this time, I think it's going to be a matter of a underhanded subversion. I don't think we should go directly to Kriegsen – showing disunity in front of an outsider is a bad idea – but..." she trailed off as an idea occurred to her, grinning at the simple beauty of it. "Oh, this is going to be fun. How to get the information from Yosho, when he's going to want to keep it secret? Oh, yes, all sorts of fun. Eri, Journeyman Turo is too firmly attached to Yosho, but some of the other Protectors aren't. See if a couple of our Guardsmen who are cross-posted can reestablish contacts with the Protectors. We'll need a source of information among Yosho's people, and we need to get whatever information Kriegsen provides.

"Yosho is too indirect. He'll try to manipulate and talk his way into a position of power with the locals, but all he'll manage is to give them time. We're going to have to be ready to move, before he is, with information just as good. The Conclave will have to act soon, and we can't afford for Yosho's half-hearted methods to cost us our safety."

00000

With Hayate out of the teaching rotation for a couple days, Aria was pulling double duty, teaching both her usual language classes, and the two magic classes. Despite that, the arrival of Al Hanthis loomed too large in everyone's thoughts for much to be accomplished. Whether looking forward to a challenge, fearing a repeat of the Circles' February attack, or worried about Vita's stories of past lost logia going out of control, everyone had something other than class on their minds.

Mariachi was distracted by the sight of the Seed, waiting in their pods, all around the perimeter of the city. Vita's visual surveillance had shown the pods all over the perimeter of the city, with a final count just shy of one million. To Mariachi, those things were far more frightening than enemy mages or Circle traps. While the teachers could handle one Seed easily, or even several, there were so many in that city that it was far too easy to picture the school being over-run. Even worse, there was the thought of all the people between Al Hanthis and the school, people the Seed would roll right over.

Not being one to seek out battle, and uncomfortably unable to sooth his own nerves, he found himself reviewing the recordings of the Seed that had attacked the campus. A day and a half before Hayate was forced to euthanize them left a lot of recordings, all of it monotonously the same. Two Seed, one injured the other not, prowling tirelessly around the chamber. Shamal had been reviewing the recordings as well, until the latest upheaval, but no one was watching them by the time Mariachi took to looking them over.

As was his habit, he was more interested in sound than sight. Yussef had pointed out after the Seed attack, the two creatures worked too well together to be totally independent. They had to be communicating somehow, but there was nothing in the audible or upper sonic ranges. He was tuning lower, looking for something, anything, through a set of wireless headphones, when Rafiq slithered over his lap. Even then, he did not really notice at first, just absently scratching at the snake's head.

Then he realized what he was doing, started slightly and blinked down at the serpent coiled up a chair leg and half in his lap. Pulling off his headphones, he muttered, "Sorry, Rafiq," and reached down to help the familiar the rest of the way up. It was more than a little weird, feeling the scaly weight sliding up his arm and over his shoulders, but he was getting used to it, and gave no sign. Mariachi disliked snakes, but Rafiq was not actually a snake, something Mariachi had to remind himself of every so often.

"It's fine," Rafiq muttered, "Mistress is looking for you."

That was something else that took a mental adjustment. When anyone else on campus spoke of 'Mistress', they meant Hayate, to the point where the two words were essentially interchangeable. Rafiq, and Rafiq alone, meant Cidela. "Where is she now?"

"On the way from a lesson with Okaa-san," Rafiq told him. "Once again, I found myself banished to the cold and wet. Oh, the sufferings of a faithful servant."

Chuckling a little at the emotionless delivery, Mariachi shook his head, "suffering my left foot. You were hunting Megan again, weren't you?"

"With Megan," Rafiq countered. "I was hunting with Megan. She needs to better her skills, if she presumes to share in familiars' skills."

"Elitist."

"Realist."

"Sarcastic," Mariachi countered. "Where did you get that from, anyhow?"

"It appears to be part of being a familiar," Rafiq mused. "We are from our Master, of our Master, yet different from our Master."

Mariachi could see where he was going. "You provide harmony, like lead and backup instruments. We should look into that, actually. See if you can use that for more than just keeping her healing under control."

"Please, not more lessons, Mariachi-kun," Cidela asked as she settled into the chair next to him. "Okaa-san is already occupying most of my time, plus regular lessons, homework, all the worry over Atlantis..."

Mariachi managed to keep his amusement to a smile. "You sound like Laura, Cid-chan. Careful, or Mercedes'll prank you."

"No one will make that mistake, Mariachi-kun." Then she leaned over, looking at the screen, and asked, "What were you checking?"

"Sounds," Mariachi answered, "looking to see if the Seed were talking. I think there is something in the lower ranges."

She gave him a quizzical look, "lower ranges?"

"Below human hearing," Mariachi explained. "If I can find it, I can do something like Cacophony, disrupt them, distract them."

"Why? They are frightening, but not all that much of a threat."

Mariachi shook his head, "They aren't much of a threat to us. But what happens if those things get loose in a city? Or if a couple thousand get dumped on us at once?"

"We stop them," Cidela replied, then blinked. "Oh, yes, I see now."

Mariachi nodded, "Yeah, how do we stop all of them? I don't know if this'll work at all, let alone how well, but..."

When he trailed off, she finished, "but you need to do something. I understand. Here," she gestured slightly, and a holographic screen appeared over the table, which promptly filled with a list of files, "Okaa-san gave me access to the post-mortem studies, maybe I can find something in there."

"Kinda gruesome," Mariachi commented, catching some of the file names which were less than subtle.

"It's interesting," Cidela protested.

"It's gruesome," Rafiq repeated, then slithered off Mariachi's shoulder to Cidela's, "but you wouldn't be you if you were not intrigued, Mistress. I suggest starting with the nervous system. There should be clusters of nerves around all the sensory organs. If the Seed can hear, such a cluster should be identifiable. From there, what they hear can be determined."

They worked in silence for a while, her perusing Shamal's records, him scanning slowly through the recordings. It was not the most comfortable of topics, but it was interesting, and working with Cidela was – he was prepared to admit privately – comfortable. Unlike most of his fellow students, she was not worrying about becoming stronger, preparing for battle, or obsessed with magic, she was just curious, just exploring.

It did not take him very long after that to locate the Seeds' communications, though actually isolating it took longer. The sounds were so far below human hearing he was not sure if they actually qualified as sound, or how it propagated in air. Nonetheless, it was there, regular and modulated just as human speech, though he had no idea what any of the modulations meant.

Cidela had better luck. "The Seed have all the usual senses, including hearing. They hear the normal range just fine, but like the inverse of dogs, they hear lower than humans do better. There's no larynx, though, not in their throat. It looks like these structures inside what looks like their nostrils are designed to vibrate, like a pair of drums. Muscles around the membranes create and control the vibrations. Given how complicated the muscle structure is, we may even be able to communicate with them, perhaps even figure out how to talk them out of attacking us."

"Maybe," Mariachi agreed, "but for the moment, I'll settle for keeping them from talking to each other. Take away that, they're just a bunch of individual fighters. Even better if I can do it without breaking up our own communications while I'm at it."

"Do you think it will take you long?"

He shrugged, looking over the sound-data again. "A basic Cacophony should work now. They hear 'normal' sounds just as well as humans, after all, and Cacophony does a number on humans. Managing something that won't also hurt humans will be difficult. Sound this low, we're looking at ranges that's where sonic weapons work best, according to some theories. I don't want to accidentally implode someone's lungs because they got too close to a Seed."

Cidela grimaced, "That would not be good. Would you like assistance? Perhaps targeted bursts could deafen them briefly?"

"I'd appreciate it," Mariachi agreed, "but I doubt a targeted burst would be efficient. Remember, the point is to disable lots of Seed as quickly as possible over a large area. A continuous harmonic? Something that will carry, will confuse, but won't harm..." He trailed off, then shrugged, "you up for a little workroom practice?"

Cidela made a face, "Normally, yes, but not today. Okaa-san had some complicated exercises for Didier and I this afternoon."

Mariachi chuckled sympathetically, and shut off both his terminal and Cidela's holo-screen. "Come on, then. I need to get some music in, and we can work on your singing." Cidela froze and paled, and tried to shake her head, but Mariachi pulled her up gently. "Come on, Cid-chan. No one's going to make fun of you for this, other than begging for an encore. You remember how bad Laura was, and she didn't care."

"Laura is Laura," Cidela protested.

"And you are a better singer than she is. Come on, it'll be fun. Just the sort of relaxing diversion everyone needs. No one will laugh, I promise."

He was pushing her towards the door by then, ignoring the smirks from Toushiro and Luke, as well as the disapproving frowns from Marcel and Natalia. Cidela resisted, right up until they reached the door, then sighed, relaxed slightly, and whispered, "I'll get you for this, Mariachi-kun."

00000

bloodied cipher: Atlantis/Al Hanthis and Al Hazred are not quite one and the same. Al Hazred was (per my continuity only, I'm afraid) a colony. Atlantis was a city of the world and civilization that founded the Al Hazred colony. There's more that will be revealed in the course of the story, but that's the key point. The Al Hazred that blew up and almost destroyed creation was, in simplest terms, an Atlantean colony.

Kell Shock: Laura is creating her own team, yes, but the formation and name will come later, though your guesses, interesting as they are, aren't close, I'm afraid. She included the first years because those are the people she is most familiar with and believes most capable of living up to her standards – the twins have their prior magic training, Kaemon has prior martial arts experience and 'the right attitude'. The Atlanteans have their lost logia under control, but then that's what Al Hazred thought. They may be as good as they think they are, or they may be just as bad as Hayate fears. Which it is will be determined in the story. Yosho's reaction was supposed to be along the lines of 'can't believe Hayate killed them', sort of a short-hand way of explaining that Deva magic is as odd to them as their magic is to Hayate, which differences will of course play their parts going forward. The quote at the end apparently did precisely what it was supposed to do, and confused people as to who is going to come out of this one – though remember, the entire Nanoha franchise has a habit of not killing off villains. Still can't speak for StrikerS, but the only casualties from the first two seasons were Precia (effectively a suicide) and Reinforce (a martyr). Szash's character will become clearer as the story goes on, as will Yosho's. The Akira who is running around should probably be called 'Akira II' – remember, at the end of Path of Vengeance, Takashi explained the original had 'erased himself'. Takashi then recreated Akira in response to the Circles' probes of Hayate's defenses in Academy Blues. It's complicated, and the two are quite deliberately very similar, but not the same. Even if they were the same, it would have been exceedingly difficult for Akira to detect Kriegsen – remember, the renegade Admiral has decades of experience hiding his real emotions and activities, he knows how to hide his magic. The Bureau problem is currently planned for next chapter. I think you'll appreciate it, though I don't know if you'll approve, given how complicated it is.

Ray Venn Hakubi: Your reaction is just the sort I was looking for in Kriegsen's disguise. I originally meant to try and keep it secret longer, but dancing around it was getting annoying. Now I can torture you all with scenes where no one has any idea who he is at what time and what he's actually up to...:). It'll be fun dealing with him, though he has several more parts to play.

Advent000: The Atlanteans are arrogant, but they have reason to be. They're supposed to be like the Chinese when the Europeans arrived, or like the Victorian era British – an old, powerful society that is very sure of itself. As for keeping the Bureau occupied, that should be in the next chapter, as well as some initial responses.

Skyfall v2.0: Glad you look forward to my stories, and sorry for the delay. I claim distraction, this time – inspiration on other stories. Wilhelm is a sneaky, twisted old bastard, and yes, he is still pursuing his 'vengeance' (I do believe you're the first to comment that the old title matches him, as well as Akira/Takashi, thanks!). The conflict between Atlantis' expectations and the modern world will be one of, but not the only driver in this story. There are actually four such conflicts in my notes: Atlantis, Terra, the Circles and Hayate, none of them quite able to deal with one another. Blocking the Bureau is too important to avoid, mostly because given Atlantis' basic technologies and attitudes, an un-hindered Bureau would drop everything to bring Atlantis down. As it is, the 'hindering' is complicated, but believable. As I told Kell Shock and Advent000, it'll start next chapter. You are entirely right about there being officers who would ignore 'trouble' in favor of helping Terra, but that's going to be complicated by several factors. As for the independent factions, meh. I know they're out there, but the Bureau problem would actually cover them, as well, even if they were from As or the original series. As for your reading of the two 'future quotes'... you're right, they can be read to show either an Atlantean or Terran victory. There will be a few more such quotes, all with a similar multiple-interpretation. Partly, it's because I've already got them written out as 'tags' for myself, and thought it would be neat to share. Partly, because the ones I'm sharing add different twists and foreshadowing to the story. With Wilhelm, remember he's been a Bureau officer for decades, and successfully hid his true feelings from Sara and Takashi well enough to officiate at their wedding. He knows how to keep secrets and how to keep himself hidden and disguised. Admittedly, I should have refreshed his physical descriptions in his scene last chapter, but here's a quick cover – Schuster is short, broad, and bald, while Kriegsen is average height and build (i.e. - not short or broad) and has military-short white hair. Akira would not necessarily recognize his magic, because Kriegsen can suppress it, and has both Deva magic on his own, and his old Midchildan magic through Panzerfaust, neither of which this version of Akira is familiar with. Even Takashi and Hayate would have a hard time noticing, so long as Kriegsen refrained from actually casting any spells while they were present.