Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

-17 – Diplomatic Intervention-

Chrono blinked in surprise as his screen full of force availability reports flashed a priority command conference warning, then his door locked and the screen refreshed, revealing First Admiral Theonides from Investigations. The older man was seated at his own desk, and his normally expressionless face – the model for Chrono's own 'command face' – was set in a deep frown.

"Ah, Admiral Theonides," Chrono managed, "my apologies, I wasn't expecting to hear from you today. What can I do for you?"

Theonides' frown deepened slightly, "I'm afraid, Chrono, that I have some rather unpleasant news."

The combination of expression and statement would have been enough, in most cases, to send their recipient fleeing to the nearest border to avoid Investigations' charges. Chrono had no idea what he might have done wrong, however, and had known Theonides for years, long enough to recognize the understatement. "What's wrong?"

Theonides' expression shifted to one of distaste, before settling back into an approximation of his normal blankness. "I have just signed off from a meeting with the entire High Command. My own presence was required to initiate an internal investigation to determine how certain non-Bureau parties acquired information on operational planning that should have been held as classified."

"Operational planning? You think I have a spy in my sector?"

Theonides shook his head, "I do not yet know. I have been tasked to begin an investigation covering all levels to find out, but have only the initial orders. I only got that order a few minutes ago. However, the reason I am calling you is, you will shortly be receiving operational orders of your own, directly from High Command." Chrono twitched in surprise at that, for High Command never dealt directly with operational matters beyond general, Bureau-wide directives. They provided over-arching guidance and control, not orders. "Specifically, you are going to be ordered to suspend all efforts to intervene on non-Bureau worlds outside of immediate dislocation crisis, including efforts to support former Bureau officers."

The words were so outlandish, so unbelievable, that Chrono did not actually understand them at first. "They're ordering me to do what?"

"Suspend all efforts to intervene on non-Bureau worlds. Don't be foolish, Chrono, you know precisely what efforts they mean – the shifting of forces to Earth to handle their latest crisis."

Disbelief faded fast, followed quickly by anger, which was just as quickly controlled. "Why? You... They have to know what just arrived on Earth, I disseminated complete copies of the initial reports to all High Command and Sector commanders with my request for assistance! How can we not intervene?"

"Officially," Theonides replied, "as the city has not yet caused a dimensional disturbance, and has in fact sealed one, there is no cause for 'precipitous realignment of forces'. Officially, since the city hasn't exploded yet, High Command feels it would be better to wait and see, especially as the city and the world it is on are outside of Bureau space."

Chrono started to comment on that, but Theonides held up a hand. "Unofficially, and the reason for my investigation, someone leaked word of your initial plan to the member worlds in your sector. You know there have already been some pro-forma and not so pro-forma complaints regarding your handling of your responsibilities. Those were small matters, however, routine ruffled feathers caused by a new sector commander establishing himself. Normally they would be nothing to even bother you with beyond informational warnings. Every new sector commander faces similar issues their first few years. Still, you are too much an Enforcer to really be diplomatic, and you and your policies have ruffled more feathers than normal, in a sector known to be unruly at best, and this incident is an entirely different animal. The diplomatic situation, for want of a better word, exploded. You know the Bureau's relationship with the member worlds in your sector has never been the most solid. Not bad, not as bad as Larsquin Sector, but not as good as Hykon, either.

"The orders you are about to receive are in direct response to the most recent diplomatic incident. All thirty-four systems in your sector have lodged protests about, in general, 'the Bureau's manifest lack of concern for member world security'. As if that were not bad enough, twenty-two worlds have also sent injunctions threatening to consider withdrawing from the Bureau Charter, and three of those worlds included unofficial notice that their various legislatures are already writing proposals to do just that. Member worlds have lodged protests before, Chrono, but never so many all at once, and no member world has ever conducted an actual legislative debate on secession! This is unprecedented, and frankly, High Command panicked."

As Theonides explained, Chrono could feel his blood boiling. There was a drastic situation on Earth. Prompt response could resolve it in a matter of weeks, at the outside. Failure to act now almost guaranteed a major dislocation, possibly even the destruction of Earth or worse, if Al Hanthis contained as many lost logia as Hayate and Aignu claimed. This was the very situation the Bureau was created to contain and control. High Command had to be fully aware of that, yet they were still going to tie his hands, prevent him from acting now, when it could be done easily with minimal risk. The unofficial reasons were almost secondary to the fact of the orders.

Then came the crowning insult. "Finally, Chrono," Theonides said heavily, "there is the matter of your easy relationship with Yagami Hayate. Too many times she has used her personal connections to bypass the procedures member worlds must follow. To the member worlds, you have given personal favor to an outsider, an admitted criminal, however redeemed, and certain members of the High Command have begun to question your fitness for command. The rumors of your relationship with Admiral Testarossa, another former criminal and an officer under your command, are not helping, legal as it may be. The High Command has worries about nepotism, about using emergency situations to gather power to your own hands. There are not enough worries to bring about an inquiry, not yet, but they are growing in number."

He held up a hand to cut off protest, but Chrono almost ignored that. Ever since his father died, he had prided himself on his impeccable self-control, but that was frayed now. How dare they insult Fate like that, or Hayate?! How dare they question me like this?! I've never even come close to breaking procedure! He could feel his temper raging, and just this once, was very tempted to let it loose.

"Chrono, I understand," Theonides continued, "Truly, I do. All of us invited to the meeting defended you and your actions, even Foch." Surprise held Chrono for a second, as Admiral Foch in Personnel had argued long and hard against Chrono's promotion. "We all understand how you feel. Frankly, none of us would be surprised or think less of you if you resigned over this. Lords know, I would consider it. But what you cannot do is let your anger guide you. You never have before, but the stakes are much higher now.

"This order comes directly from the High Command, under unanimous vote. If you attempt to break it, circumvent it, undermine it, you will be removed from command, Chrono. You may not face a Board, but I would not bet on that leniency. The threat of worlds seceding has frightened High Command like I have never seen. But they are not stupid, nor are they blind. They have to balance the possibility of a dislocation against the probability of member worlds seceding, and from their perspective, the decision makes sense. Al Hanthis is not going to explode this second. Even if they do wind up getting into a battle on Terra, Hayate should be able to limit it, if she can't stop it. In a few weeks, a month or two at most, the member worlds will be placated, and you can move in then. Until then, you have to be careful. You cannot break this order, Chrono, not even a little bit. If you do, the consequences, for you and your people, including Hayate, will be far worse."

Chrono recognized the good advice, and the strategist in him accepted it, but... "I won't break the orders, Theonides. I never have, I see no reason to start now. But I cannot speak for my officers and personnel, not on this. This is a slap in the face to all of them, a direct insult from High Command itself, a violation of our very purpose. I'll issue the order, I'll enforce it, but... I am an officer of the Time Space Administration Bureau. We are trained from the beginning to follow our consciences, and I will not deprive my officers of their right to do just that."

"I understand, and I'll cover for you and them as best I can over here at Investigations. Just be careful, Chrono."

"I will be. Is there anything else?"

"I'm sending you a list of the member worlds involved and how far each has gone, my own immediate analysis of where the most critical problems are. It's not exhaustive, and I'm sure you'll have better ideas, but it's a start. I'd focus on Shander's Folly, Oira, and Tadeine, those are the three that have taken up proposals to secede."

"Shander's Folly and Oira are no worry," Chrono replied, "they were never happy to be under the Charter, anyhow. Didn't Shander's Folly join under duress in the first place? But Tadeine... that's a surprise. They're near the Badlands, there's enough strangeness out there that they're fully aware of how much they need the Bureau."

"But they're also stubborn and paranoid, and feeling neglected in the face of all those threats. My guess is this is a publicity stunt on their part, to try and get some more attention and protection from the Bureau. It's an excuse on the part of Shander's Folly and Oira. You know we never really stamped out the black market and illicit magic experimentation in those systems. Their governments, especially Shander's Folly, still turn a blind eye to a trade in lost logia, a trade they only admit to when we catch them. Hell, some of them even participate in the market! They'd love an opportunity to both escape Bureau oversight and make contact with a treasure trove like Al Hanthis."

Chrono nodded, "Still doesn't change the fact of these orders."

"Just don't break them, Chrono," Theonides reminded him one last time. "Remember, you cannot let ships go to Earth. Now, though... I need to go try to find a spy, so I can do some unmentionable things to him before handing him over to High Command. I'm almost sorry for the bastard, actually. Whatever I do to him is going to pale in comparison to what they do. They're livid, and not just about you. Keep it together, Chrono, and try to keep those hellions of yours from destroying too much, this time."

00000

Amy's first hint that something was seriously wrong was when the priority call completely bypassed her to go direct to Chrono. Only a few people could do that, such as Hayate or Nanoha, less because of Chrono's position than because of Amy's skill. Most of them did not use that privilege, if only because they were usually old friends of Amy's as much as Chrono's, and usually callers at least took the time to say hello. This time, however, the call not only bypassed her, but locked his office under a command conference flag.

That was unusual, but not unheard of. Normally such conferences were arranged before hand, but she could recall two incidents where they had not been – a sudden crisis over in Toulion Sector, and the February incident on Earth, both of which required unified response from the Bureau's higher ranks. To be honest, Amy had been half-expecting such a call since the first alert signals came through from Earth, and was actually looking forward to getting back out into space herself. She had no doubt Chrono would take personal command of the response forces, traditions be damned.

The conference was painfully short however, and Chrono's response was completely unexpected. She was getting up to go see what High Command wanted, when her staid, calm, controlled commander shouted something unintelligible but foul, and – based on the sound and shaking of the panel – threw something at the door hard enough to dent the tough plastic clean through to the outside. For a few seconds, Amy could only stare at the door in shock, even as she could hear Chrono continuing to rant in his office. It was so utterly atypical of him, so completely outside her experience, that she was at a complete loss for how to respond.

She was still standing there when triggered the intercomm, and in a frighteningly controlled voice said, "Amy, please step into my office."

Her reaction to the orders from High Command was rather less violent than his, but actually somewhat louder. Chrono let her rant for a few minutes, before reminding her that he had been over that ground all ready. Then he apologized for his own temper, which made her feel worse, until he distracted her with duty. "The order is for me alone, but I want copies of it distributed to every ship and post commander in the sector, with information copies to the other Sector Commanders. Before you send it out, though... have Nanoha, Fate and Yuuno report to my office. Tell them it's a critical matter about Earth, but not what. I'll tell them."

Amy almost offered to do it, knowing how he already felt like he was betraying Nanoha and Fate. But she also knew he would refuse, so she nodded. "I'll contact them first."

"We'll have to recall the ships we already dispatched as well," he continued, still staring at the order on a small floating screen. "But not the Shiva. According to this travesty, we're supposed to 'monitor' the situation, so Aignu can do that from orbit."

"She won't be happy about that, Chrono-kun," Amy reminded him, "but I don't think she'll break orders. Fate-chan, though..."

"I'll talk to her, though I doubt even Mother could keep her from doing something stupid." He paused, and his eyes went wide, "Oh, crap... Mother. She retired to Uminari City."

"She'll be available to help Hayate, then," Amy said. "I'm sure she'll be fine. They all will be." Chrono nodded, but he was back to brooding at the order. Amy gave him a few moments, before clearing her throat, "Um, Chrono-kun? You're planning something, aren't you?"

Chrono glanced at her, then smiled slightly. "I'm looking for a way around this. Something's teasing at the back of my mind. Don't try to talk me out of it, Amy. You know I'm right."

Amy shook her head, "I would never do that, sir. I just thought you might like some help. I may not be a grand strategist such as yourself, but two minds are better than one, and you still don't really understand politics."

Chrono snorted, then admitted, "True, true. All right what's bugging me is, why was Theonides so focused on the three worlds actively considering seceding? And why Shander's Folly and Olia over Tadeine? There's something there I'm missing, something he was suggesting without saying it."

Amy thought it over herself for a moment, trying to find a common link between the three worlds. All that occurred to her, however, was, "Shander's Folly and Olia were coerced into signing the Charter. Shander's Folly actually took years to convince, even after their crazy experiments caused a second full dimensional dislocation. Maybe something about that? But Olia never had a full dislocation, they were only risking one."

Chrono nodded at first, then blinked and hesitated. "Forced into the Bureau."

"You can't think to force Earth into the Bureau, can you? They don't even have a unified world government, yet!"

"Not force Earth in, no," Chrono shook his head, "but Theonides said, 'you cannot let any ships go to Earth'. Not 'cannot send', 'cannot let'. Where's the file for Shander's Folly, the overview?"

Amy brought up a screen of her own, rifling mentally through the database of inhabited systems quickly, then copied the display so they could both read. "Shander's Folly. Small population, less than three hundred million, mostly miners and farmers. Advanced magic use for such a small world, but with a long history of dislocations and instabilities. Among the ten worst damaged worlds still habitable, with a record number of energy-releasing instabilities, including the third largest permanent instability known. Only the Xirigo Rift and the Badlands are larger. Joined the Bureau fifty-two years ago, under threat of force of arms from the Bureau, after their second dimensional dislocation in ten years wiped out a city of fifty million and almost shattered the planet."

"That's it!" Chrono actually looked excited, almost scary as he started to smile. "That's what he meant. Amy, this has to be official."

She gave him a questioning glance, but he just gestured, so she woke the office's recorders and brought up a Command Directive form on her own display. "Go ahead, sir."

"Captain, you will forward to all Bureau ships and member worlds in this sector for immediate action the following Operational Directive. Due to repeated and willful instances of dimensional instabilities up to and including dimensional dislocations, and given the current deliberate use of known-dangerous lost logia up to and including multiple Tier One artifacts, the planet Earth is hereby placed under full interdict and blockade. Any vessel or personnel attempting to leave Earth is to be seized and held, pending imprisonment and trial of personnel and disposal of vessels and artifacts. Any vessel or personnel attempting to travel to Earth will similarly be seized. Use of force, up to and including full combat status and lethal sanction, is authorized for any vessel enforcing this interdict and blockade. Said interdict and blockade to remain in force until such time as Earth forgoes the use of lost logia, surrenders said artifacts to Bureau jurisdiction, and signs the Bureau Charter as a full member world. End directive."

Amy could only stare at him after the second sentence, she certainly did not manage to note down the official copy of the order. "Can... can we do that?" She had some vague recollections of previous interdicts, historical records, but had no idea if one had been enforced in her lifetime.

Chrono's smile was positively vicious, which was almost as frightening as his earlier display of temper. "Our orders are quite specific. The second section states that no ship is to approach Earth. The order does not say it is limited to Bureau ships under my orders. It specifically says, 'no ships'."

"But, an interdict... Chrono-kun, those are..."

"It's a stretch, but it's valid," Chrono admitted. "Regardless, it's sector orders, and Aignu will enforce it for us. The hard part is going to be keeping any of our own people from crossing it. In fact... go ahead and write up the order, but don't issue it yet. Give me until after I've talked to Nanoha and Fate. I can't try to keep them from Earth, so we'll issue the order after they've had a chance to decide." He sighed and leaned back in her chair, "get them for me first."

00000

That meeting with his old friends went worse than Chrono expected, though anyone who did not know them would not have thought so. There was no yelling, only a little shouting, and no signs of violence. A lot of tears, but nothing in the way of recriminations. Nanoha was confused and hurt, Yuuno silent and hurt, Fate silent and worried. Fate said nothing at all, which worried Chrono the most, until he realized she was communicating telepathically with Nanoha and Yuuno. Nanoha just kept asking why, in tears over the betrayal and worry for her homeworld. None of them made the least hint of blaming him, or thinking he could have done better or could do anything other than what he had. Nanoha actually told him it was not his fault, and thanked him for taking the time to tell them personally.

He felt like a complete heel when they left, and once again found himself seriously contemplating joining them, walking away from his entire life. There was no question what they were going to do, only a question of timing and method.

Sure enough, two hours later, a trio of high-priority forms were delivered to Amy's desk, and she wordlessly brought them to Chrono's attention. He studied each in turn, then shook his head. "Those three... they never did figure out how to handle paperwork."

Amy sniffed, "like you really know how. Besides, those are final enough."

"Not yet they're not," Chrono smirked as he checked each again, feeling the beginnings of the thrill he usually got as a clever tactical solution occurred to him. "Do me a favor, backdate some leave-of-absence forms for each of them, then hide these."

"Chrono..."

"They only sent them to me, Amy," he said. "They're not official until they get to Personnel. And you're not going to send them to Personnel until you absolutely have to according to the letter of the regs, are you?"

She gave him a small grin, and nodded, "It looks like you're finally learning, sir. That's downright underhanded! I don't think Nanoha, Fate or Yuuno will wait around that long, though."

Chrono shook his head, "No, they won't. I would be willing to bet they're packing their critical stuff right now, and they'll leave messages asking us to handle the final details. So, while they're doing that, do me a favor and put together the proper forms for each of them to request extended leaves of absence. I can approve Fate's and Nanoha's, and I can probably talk Admiral Esoran over in Personnel into approving Yuuno's. I'll need them fast, though, or those three'll slip out of here and be on Earth before I can catch them."

"You have a plan, Chrono-kun?"

He nodded slowly, "the beginnings of one, yes. Three Bureau officers using personal time to observe a situation as 'neutral parties' are hardly my responsibility. And if they run into trouble, well, all Bureau officers are required, by their oath of service and standing regulations, to aid fellow officers, on duty or not, so I can't really stop Aignu from going to their assistance. If the Al Hantheans take it as Bureau-wide action and retaliate as I would expect, well, that's an act of war, now isn't it? It'll take a lot of finagling and fast-talking, especially with the interdict, but it will give me a way around this damn non-intervention order. It may still cost me my job, but it'll be almost impossible for anyone to stop, once it gets going. Go get those forms written up, please."

It took him two hours to track the trio down. By the time Amy had the forms ready for him, they had already left Nanoha's and Yuuno's apartment. Fate had cleaned out her cabin on the Asura in record time, though he suspected she had never actually used it but had cooked up some sort of Midchildan variation on Takashi's 'in-device' pocket dimension. They were literally in the hall to a teleport bay when he came storming up behind them, a scattering of other people around making this far more public than he had intended.

Realizing he was not going to be able to catch them before they were in the bay, he shouted, "Nanoha! Fate! Hold it right there you two!" The trio froze, and he thought they actually cringed. Yep, no doubt there, he muttered mentally, they're trying to skip out without talking to me. Call me vindictive, but I think I'll mention it to Mom, let her read them the riot act.

By the time they turned to face him, somewhat after everyone else in the hall, they were collected and ready, faces set in resolve. Chrono matched that with a glare of his own, before continuing, "Dammit you two, I have told you and told you, you can't leave all your paperwork to Amy anymore! She has her own work!" Shoving the data slate into Fate's hands, he continued right on with the 'lecture' while grabbing Nanoha and Yuuno and pulling the entire group into a seating alcove. "I got your requests, yeah, sure, fine, but you used the wrong forms again! And they're incomplete! Gods above, you two are good, but you're driving me crazy! Amy and I can't keep babying you!"

It was not until they were in the alcove, with a modicum of privacy, that Fate got herself back together. "Chrono-kun... what is this?" She held up the slate, looking more confused than anything. "We aren't going on vacation."

"Vacation?" Nanoha at least did not sound angry, "we resigned, Chrono! I know we did, we were never that bad at paperwork!"

"We used the right forms," Yuuno added, "since I filled them out for all three of us."

"And you sent them to the wrong person," Chrono told him, "and thank all that's holy for that."

Fate's confusion faded into a suspicious glare, "You're up to something, aren't you?"

He smirked at her, before pulling her in close with an arm over her shoulder. "I'm looking at ways to get myself a nice showy court-martial for humiliating the entire Bureau. Want to help?"

"You should come with us, Chrono," Nanoha said. "You know the High Command's betrayed the charter, betrayed Hayate, betrayed all of us. We could use you, and your mother would be happy to see you."

Chrono shook his head. "The Bureau has screwed up, yes," he admitted, "but it isn't gone yet. It can still be redeemed, but someone has to stay here and do it. You three should go, yes. I wish I could go with you. But I can do more good here finding ways past the High Command's order. One of those is you three. If you leave now, if you resign in protest like you tried to, the Bureau will write you off. If, however, you are simply vacationing on your homeworld – and remember, Fate listed Terra as her homeworld after Mother retired there – well, the Bureau is supposed to go to the aid of officers that get in trouble for no fault of their own.

"Then there's this, if you're on leave of absence, I can at least give you information, take reports, help with planning even if I can't be there physically. If you resign, all I can give you is the PR department. The same restrictions apply to Aignu. I told you, I'm placing Earth under interdict, which Aignu will be enforcing and monitoring. If you're on leave there, she can skate some stuff past the interdict to keep 'on-site personnel' from being 'overwhelmed by local conditions' or something."

"I understand, Chrono," Nanoha said, smiling sadly at him, "but I'm not coming back. If the High Command can do this... they aren't the High Command I swore to serve. I joined the Bureau to protect people, and now they're forcing me to let my friends and family fight, maybe die, for politics. I can't come back."

"I understand," he told her, "and I agree with you. When this is over, I'll see to it that all three of you are allowed to retire with honor. But I need you to stay on now. Please. I'm not ordering you, I'm asking you, as a friend. I know we've betrayed your trust, but I need your help to fix it. Please."

They were silent for a few moments, Yuuno and Fate watching Nanoha. Then she nodded. "All right, Chrono-kun. We'll help. But we're not staying here. Hayate needs our help, even if the Bureau won't provide it."

"Not asking you to," he reassured her, as Fate signed off on the forms Amy had prepared. While Nanoha and Yuuno did the same, Chrono pulled Fate further to one side. "Fate-chan..."

She smiled at him, "Don't worry, Chrono. We'll be fine. We won't let anything happen to Okaa-san, or Hayate, or Earth. It'll be good to have Asura's Pride back together again, though it would be better if you were with us."

"You know I can't, not yet. Just..." he hesitated a second, then pulled her into a hug and asked, "just tell Hayate I'm sorry?"

Fate nodded, then kissed him lightly, and the trio was gone, leaving him to make his way back to his office. It hurt, letting them go, not going with them, but he had told them the honest truth. Someone had to stay here and save the Bureau from itself.

00000

Hayate was rather glad, in the two days following Al Hanthis' appearance, for Aignu's presence. The Admiral took a large amount of the responsibility for talking to the various governments and the Al Hantheans. Given what Hayate had to deal with after that assistance, Hayate was almost afraid of what it would have been like without Aignu's support. Because Hayate was well known and generally considered honest, if not liked, many governments still contacted her, as much to confirm Aignu's position as anything else.

It seemed, at times, that the one person who had not contacted her was the one she most needed to talk to. After that short call following her meeting in Al Hanthis, she had not heard a thing from Hughes. News reports had told her he went to the White House just as he told her, but after that, nothing beyond the US government's – and most other governments' – official position of 'wait and see, it's an Egyptian matter right now'.

She was contemplating the necessity of calling him, when the perimeter wards triggered. It was only the outer wards, and the non-hostile ones, warning beacons, but it was a good excuse to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. So she brought up a screen and patched through to Zafira, who had the watch. "What's happening, Zafira?"

He quirked his eyebrows at her, rotating one ear, "Bored, Mistress?"

She smiled back, "putting off unpleasantness."

"Actually, I think you just failed at that, Mistress. Journeywoman Maunders is standing at the lookout, apparently alone. There is a vehicle parked at the lookout that has no other life-readings in it."

"Maunders?" Hayate frowned at that, "why would she be here without warning? Especially now? The monthly update isn't for another week or so, and Hughes mailed the last one."

"I couldn't say, Mistress," Zafira replied. "I am not her, after all. Would you like me to go meet her?"

"No," Hayate shook her head, then smiled slightly, "Yussef is in Signum's class at the moment I believe, please ask him to escort her down to my office." Zafira's eyebrows went higher, so she explained, "I'm curious how he will handle himself, Zafira. Maunders is a former enemy, and a potential threat. Noriko is too well trained by her family to be anything other than polite and diplomatic, and Laura would not even think to be worried. But Yussef... I am curious how he will handle himself. We'll both keep an eye on it, of course, but have him go up."

Hayate switched the screen to observation, breaking it into two, one following Yussef, the other following Maunders. Until Yussef reached the overlook, Hayate focused on Maunders, studying the woman. The Sergeant looked perfectly relaxed as she stood waiting at the gate, not even tapping her foot, hands clasped behind her back, occasionally looking around. She was carrying a large envelope, but it was too thin to hold more than a few pieces of paper.

Yussef, when he arrived, was a little stiff, but basically polite. He had his device out, but stowed on his back. He did nothing insulting, but did make the mistake of letting Maunders walk alongside him, instead of ahead as he should have as a 'guard'. While he kept a hold of his magic, keeping power ready, he had no actual spell prepared. When he and Maunders finally arrived, he started to join them in her office, then remembered to look to her for direction.

"It's all right, Yussef. Why don't you go back to class, I believe Aria has the language lessons going," Hayate told him. He looked doubtful, and she knew precisely what he was 'doubting'. "I'll keep anyone from troubling Journeywoman Maunders."

Yussef's face shifted slightly, as he realized he was being obvious, but he bowed, "Yes, sensei. I'll see you at class?"

"Most likely."

Maunders waited until the door had closed behind him before relaxing from her 'parade rest' and giving Hayate a sardonic look. "Kid's not bad, but he needs some work. Not quite thorough enough for a dangerous enemy like me, not quite polite enough for diplomatic herd-dog. Close, but not quite."

Hayate returned the smile, "Somewhat what I was thinking, and what I wanted to find out about him. We'll work on it. Have a seat, Journeywoman. I must admit to some curiosity, I would have expected Hughes to contact me directly, and a little sooner."

Maunders took a seat, settling the envelope in her lap. "I'm not surprised he hasn't contacted you, ma'am, even without this," she tapped the envelope. "It arrived for me via FedEx yesterday evening, and my Colonel was good enough to give me the day to come down here. Officially, I'm supposed to pick up some 'sensitive documents' regarding Atlantis' reappearance. Mostly, I'm here to drop this off, since Hughes wanted me to, and to wait for your answer." So saying, she reached out and placed the envelope on Hayate's desk.

Hayate considered it for a moment. It had already been scanned by the perimeter wards, but she performed a second, subtler, scan now, finding only the vaguest hints of magic – just enough to be accumulation from proximity to Hughes. The envelope had not been sealed, and inside were three sheets of paper – a map and two letters. The first was short, to the point, and addressed to her.

--Hayate

--I've been given an opportunity to meet with several Revenant leaders at one of Containment Division's facilities south of Yellowstone National Park, in three days from this note. You'll see the location on the map, though I suspect that is simply a way-point from which we'll be moved to the actual base. It's an attempt to end the civil war in favor of uniting against Atlantis. I can't say how well it will turn out, but I want you there, to discuss the possibility of your own or your Bureau's intervention.

--You and any of your people that you bring will have my personal guarantee of protection, as well as Containment Division's general safe-passage for the duration of the meeting. The second letter is a safe-conduct for you. Containment has usually provided neutral ground for internal Circle disputes, no one will violate their promise of safe passage, and it was quite specifically made 'safe passage to all who might visit our facility'. Patently, Containment would like you there as well, though they did not say as much.

--Hughes.

"Well, this is quite the odd request," Hayate muttered.

"Rather odd, ma'am," Maunders agreed, "but not really surprising, if you think about it. You're bad enough, from our standpoint, but you aren't nightmares made flesh. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all. Keeping his other enemies guessing is probably why this came by such a round-about method. It was part of an official Army packet, so fewer people watching it."

Hayate shook her head, "I am not an enemy of Al Hanthis yet, Journeywoman. So far, the only 'wrong' they have done is seizing Bureau and Circle personnel upon their arrival, which was nothing more than prudence, given their history. They even corrected and apologized for that error."

Maunders grimaced, "They're the Lords of Light, ma'am. They'll be real polite and diplomatic, right up until they shove an enchanted knife in your back and bind your soul."

"Like I would have?"

Maunders twitched at that, started to protest, then shook her head. "I can't really explain it, but you're wrong. Even back then, when you first showed up, we would have ignored you in the face of the Lords. It's not a matter of 'not talking to them', it's a matter of 'long proven history'. Look at the Seed. You don't make something like that if you're planning to be a nice neighbor, especially not in the numbers they have."

"True," Hayate agreed, "and I don't trust them particularly either, especially given their... starting negotiating stance. Remember, they are related directly to Al Hazred, the Bureau's historical version of your Atlantis myths. The Al Hantheans even claim Al Hazred was their colony! No, I don't trust them. But I'm also not willing to simply condemn them all out of hand."

Maunders shrugged, "hope you're right, but I doubt it. At the least, however much they want to make nice, the Revenants will do something stupid. You won't be seeing every faction at that meeting, and even some of those you will see are only there for a chance to bitch at Hughes. Some of them have to be planning something even now. Not the smart ones, not like those bastards that suckered us in Shanghai, but the quicker ones. The one's who don't really care about casualties, like the Italian Ops boys that went Revenant, or some of the South Asians."

"How long do you think it will be before they try something?"

"Any day now," Maunders replied, sounding almost irritated. "I'm almost wishing they would try something, the waiting is getting aggravating. The sooner something happens, the clearer it all becomes, and the sooner we can do something."

"You so expect 'something', that the lack of it is unbearable?" Hayate actually chuckled at that and shook her head, "the sad part is, I feel similarly. A Sword of Damocles hangs over our heads, and I seem to be the only one who hopes it won't fall."

"Hope and expectation aren't the same things, ma'am," Maunders replied. "Call me a pessimist, but..."

"Plan for the worst, yes. In that case, if you be so kind as to let Hughes know I will accept his offer, and will meet him at the site at... dawn?"

"I'll find out the actual meet time, but that sounds likely to me, ma'am."

The two of them spent a short time discussing what Hayate could expect at the meeting, mostly procedures and what to be wary of with the Containment people. Maunders could not offer much beyond, 'be careful, they're really strange', but even that was useful, in its way. Half an hour later, Hayate escorted Maunders back to the overlook, waiting until the woman had driven out of sight before turning back. It was almost lunch time, so Hayate elected to walk back down, and was halfway to the dorm and cafeteria when Zafira contacted her again.

'Mistress? Chrono is on a channel, he says he needs to speak with you immediately.'

Pausing on the path, Hayate asked, 'Can you route it to the Sword? I'll use it to generate a screen.'

A small screen opened next to her, at a comfortable height, and Hayate resumed walking, "Hello, Chrono-kun. It's good to see you again."

Chrono's serious face darkened at that, almost as if he flinched. "I hope you still feel that way in a few minutes. Nanoha, Fate and Yuuno are on their way out to you now, I would be obliged if you could put them up. They'll be more useful to you at the school than at Nanoha's parents' place."

Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Hayate paused, frowning at the screen. "Why would I need to put them up? The Asura..." even as she said the name, she realized Fate would never leave her ship at a time like this, "... isn't coming, is it?"

"No," Chrono whispered, "no, it isn't. I'm afraid all I have for you now is bad news and worse."

00000

Kriegsen was surprisingly generous, for such a nebulous contract. Once Yosho told him the deal was agreeable, and had escorted the former Bureau Admiral to a portal generator, he held up a small data-crystal. "Your files, Lord Protector."

Yosho did not touch the extended crystal, instead letting his aide hold open a case for Kriegsen to drop the crystal in to. If any of them noticed the small flare of magic just as the case closed, none of them commented. It made sense, after all, for the case to be specially warded, and for any traps Kriegsen laid to discharge as those wards sealed.

Half the city away, standing at the open rail of a small park, Szash smiled as the crystal settled into her hand. The portals were routinely monitored, but only but automatic sensors that recorded nothing. Those sensors fed carefully non-sentient programs that parsed the data, determined if a criminal or dangerous activity was under way, and notified the proper authorities of any discrepancies. No one monitored them directly, both for privacy and work-load reasons, but very few people remembered that those sensors could be directly monitored. Only Lord Protector Yosho could do it without the Conclave's approval, except in time of war, a state which may or may not exist at present, as the Conclave had never declared an end to the war against the rebels.

"Very good, Gali, my thanks," she said, "Eri, is your agent ready for the replacement?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good," Szash turned and strolled over to join her lieutenants, "then let's get this copied, modified, and on its way back to its owner, shall we?"

Gali had the portable station set, taking the crystal from her gingerly and fitting it into a universal port. It took the station fifteen seconds – rather longer than usual – to determine proper read/write protocols, and then the data was displayed. The station, connected to the Guard's primary processors deep within the city, quickly sorted the data into usable form, and a minute after Gali loaded the crystal, it was ready.

While Gali initiated the copying process, Eri performed a fast check of the information. "What changes do you want to make, General?"

"Nothing too obvious," she said. "Focus on the school. Remove any references to knowledge about us or the colonies except for those they've already demonstrated. The only one who knows our language is the translator-construct. Only the teachers know anything about our technology, and that knowledge is spotty and error-prone. If you have time, extend that lack of knowledge to the rebels, as well. Nothing more than that, though."

"Yes, ma'am."

The two operated in silence for a few minutes, Eri's modifications just behind Gali's copying as she edited the crystal. By the time they were done, the original crystal would be ever so slightly different. Nothing that would stand out, no changes that would make Yosho nervous, just enough that Szash would be able to provide 'over-cautious warnings' that, when they turned out to be true, would slash Yosho's prestige and power considerably.

"General?" Gali looked up and gestured at his display, "I think I've found our three best candidates."

"That fast?" Szash leaned over his shoulder and gave the three synopses a glance. "All students at the school? One of the rebels would be better, don't you think?"

"I'll need to do a detailed analysis, but these look good at the moment. The rebels are fractured, and their deployable power is probably lower than it was before they sabotaged the lifting engines," Gali countered. "Yagami and her people are another matter. If the scans from her visit are accurate, none of them have any implants at all, but their individual potential through-put is actually slightly higher than ours. I'll put together a formal report in the next day or so, but I'm going to recommend we put more emphasis on team-combat than individual, for when Yagami and her people go on the attack. So, given the relative power levels and who's probably going to be leading the rebel's battle-force, the kids are our best bet. Close enough to be knowledgeable, new enough to be vulnerable. These three are all orphans, two of them traumatically, and we all know how these barbarians treat orphans."

"All right," Szash muttered, "give me a full write up each of them and how we go about it."

Eri chimed in, "Edits are done, ma'am."

"Copying is almost finished," Gali added, "ten seconds."

"Eri, get ready for your contact," Szash ordered. The instant the copying was done, the crystal popped out and Szash snatched it, the same motion sending it to Eri in a gentle under-hand. Eri caught it, and a flash of power later the crystal was gone, several floors down and several towers over.

Eri's eyes went unfocused for a moment, then she nodded sharply and smiled. "Done. Contact has the package. Delivery should be in the next five minutes."

"Pass on our thanks," Szash said. She had no idea who Eri's contact was, and never did. It was safer that way, for the contacts and for her, but it made her nervous sometimes, never quite sure if those contacts were safe. She trusted Eri completely, but could not quite trust whoever Eri's contacts and agents were. Still, this felt like a job well done, which required attention to detail. "Gali, make sure the translation protocols for the crystal stays in our local system. We don't want Yosho getting suspicious if the computer reads the crystal instantly."

00000

Kell Shock: Thanks for the corrections, both are fixed. The first was supposed to read 'appeared in his hand', and yeah, 'lose' instead of 'loose'. Kriegsen is obsessed with Takashi (more specifically, destroying Takashi), in a manner that will become clear in future chapters. Thing is, 'obsessed' doesn't mean non-functional. He is roughly that crazy, but also very much that skilled at deception and politics. It's in direct action that he lacks experience and skill.

Advent000: The Bureau's initial problems are detailed above – seriously underhanded diplomatic manipulation and the High Command choosing caution over action. Nanoha's, Yuuno's and Fate's reaction is far from the last or worst, though. I will admit there is more in-fighting in Al Hanthis than I originally planned, but it's the sort of thing a closed society like that would fall into, and it's provided a good explanation for some future events I was having trouble justifying. Mariachi's idea has potential, but each of the kids will have surprises for Al Hanthis and the Circles.

Seaotter: Aignu's sentence is correct, just very convoluted, and I probably should have used Hassed's name in there to clarify. Apologies, it's how I hear her talking. Kriegsen's definitely got some screws loose, and the grudge has gotten worse over the years – being dishonorably discharged and imprisoned after decades of getting away with murder, while your target gets off Scott-free, has to be tough on the mind. Cid-chan's not so much 'interested in gore' and 'fascinated by biology'. I've known one person like her, a biologist-type who couldn't stand the thought of using a scalpel on someone, but had no trouble talking about the grossest diseases and processes over dinner – naturally, said person's one of the bases for Cid-chan:). Al Hanthis is definitely a duplicitous place, for a lot of reasons that should become clear as the story progresses. As for their power levels – note Gali's comments above. Details will be explained in later chapters, but the Al Hantheans gain effects similar to a mage-device from cybernetic implants.

Fidelas: Yep, last chapter was the third step of Mariachi and Cid-chan. Ups and downs to come, there. I'm glad you liked the previous two stories, though I have to admit I'm now unhappy with Path of Vengeance. I can see improvements in my own writing since then, and I've been half-tempted for a while to go back and re-write PoV. The first years are a little bare, but they'll have some more interactions and growth in future chapters. I'll probably have to save any serious work with them for the Side Stories, though. Thanks for the review!