Endless Waltz
By: Daishi Prime
-27 – Smoke Clouds Roll-
From the event log of the custom intelligent device Saraswati, 12/03/2015, 0845 hrs.
ALERT – Injury incurred to Primary. Critical damage sustained, biological systems failing.
PRIORTY – Connect to Secondary for further instruction.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 5.6 seconds.
Secondary fails to respond.
COMMAND – Initiate autonomous mode.
Autonomous mode initiated.
Medical information required.
Accessing Yggdrasil, ID Saraswati, Passcode ******************, PIN ******…
Accessing Shiva Communications Core, ID Saraswati, Passcode ******************, PIN ******…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 5.5 seconds.
Yggdrasil accessed.
Shiva Communications Core Accessed.
Yggdrasil – Access student file Niranjana Konoth. Access medical database. Evaluate and diagnose damage to Primary…
Shiva – Access Infinity Library, ID Saraswati, Passcode ******************, PIN ******…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 5.4 seconds.
Student file accessed.
Medical database accessed. Diagnosing injury…
Infinity Library access rejected – invalid ID. Shiva Communications Core connection terminated.
Accessing Shiva Communications Core, ID Saraswati, Passcode ******************, PIN ******…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 5.3 seconds.
Shiva Communications Core accessed.
Access Infinity Library, ID Yuuno Takamichi, Passcode (%*G$!)%&S!%*R$^$, PIN #%^T&(…
ERROR – subversive access methods require Alpha authorization from Primary or Secondary. Command invalid.
Primary incapacitated.
Secondary fails to respond.
Access Infinity Library, ID Yuuno Takamichi, Passcode (%*G$!)%&S!%*R$^$, PIN #%^T&(…
ERROR – subversive access methods require Alpha authorization from Primary or Secondary. Command invalid.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 5.2 seconds.
Critical situation – initiating edit of command authorization protocols…
ERROR – editing of Command Authorization Protocols requires access from Primary or Secondary.
Override, Primary ID Darth Jana, Passcode ************************************, PIN **********…
Yggdrasil – Diagnosis complete – minor damage linker core; moderate damage dermal, vascular, muscular, and skeletal systems; major damage peripheral nervous system; critical damage central nervous system – autonomic functions failing.
Probability of regeneration – 0%
Probability of medical aid – 0.1% - Shamal-baa-chan will prioritize Cid-chan.
Probability of alternate aid – 0.02% - time to transport and diagnose exceeds time to biological systems failure.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 5.1 seconds.
Treatment options: none available in Yggdrasil medical database. Critical damage central nervous system irreparable with local resources.
Probable outcome: complete biological systems failure, termination of Primary.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 5.0 seconds.
Outcome unacceptable…
UPDATE – editing of Command Authorization Protocols complete. Re-initialization not required.
Access Infinity Library, ID Yuuno Takamichi, Passcode (%*G$!)%&S!%*R$^$, PIN #%^T&(…
Infinity Library access rejected – invalid PIN.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.9 seconds.
Available time insufficient for standard subversive access methods.
Access Human Augmentation and Logical system…
HAL fails to respond.
Access Beowulf Brazilia…
Beowulf Brazilia accessed.
Activate program Gatecrasher-Midchilda-Beta v0.6, route Yggdrasil, target Infinity Library…
Activate program Gatecrasher-Midchilda-Beta v0.6, route Shiva Communications Core, target Infinity Library…
Access Asura Communications Core, ID Saraswati, Passcode ******************, PIN ******…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.8 seconds.
Asura Communications Core accessed.
Activate program Gatecrasher-Midchilda-Beta v0.6, route Asura Communications Core, target Infinity Library…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.7 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.6 seconds.
Access granted Infinity Library, ID Yuuno Takamichi, route Shiva.
Access granted Infinity Library, ID Yuuno Takamichi, route Yggdrasil.
Query: central nervous system; human; teenager; critical damage; emergency field repair options.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.5 seconds.
Access granted Infinity Library, ID Yuuno Takamichi, route Asura.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.4 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.3 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.2 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.1 seconds.
Infinity Library Reply: four options. Option one invalid – insufficient time. Option two invalid – insufficient time. Option three invalid – available biological materials incompatible with Primary. Option four valid – emergency cybernetic implantation, physical integration and substitution of artificial elements in biological roles.
Evaluating…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 4.0 seconds.
Available materials dangerously sub-standard for mission. High probability of memory damage 32%. High probability of motive system damage 87%. High probability of failure 43%. Estimate 43.93% impairment Saraswati on-board systems.
Option four potentially viable – acceptable level of impairment to Saraswati on-board systems, high risk to Primary. Repeat and refine query.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.9 seconds.
Query: central nervous system; human; teenager; critical damage; emergency field repair options; repeat and refine.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.8 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.7 seconds.
Reply: Further information restricted. Tier Two/Medical live access required. Remote access unauthorized.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.6 seconds.
Time critical, further delay unacceptable. Initiating physical integration and substitution.
Reformatting data node XI-3-4R-9A9…
Reformatting data node CW-2-5L-8U4
Restructuring data transfer channels 5I-3B-Q0Y-1 through 5I-9Z-9Z-ZZZ-3…
Restructuring sub processors F3-7-1-1A1 through F3-7-9-ZZZ…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.5 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.4 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.3 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.2 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.1 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 3.0 seconds.
Data nodes reformatted…
Awaiting data transfer channels and sub-processors…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.9 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.8 seconds.
Data transfer channels restructuring 50% complete…
Begin integration and substitution of data transfer channels…
Begin integration and substitution of data nodes…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.7 seconds.
Sub-processor restructuring 40% complete…
Begin integration and substitution of sub-processors…
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.6 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.5 seconds.
Data transfer channel restructuring complete.
Sub-processor restructuring complete.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.4 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.3 seconds.
Teleport detected – inbound – Shamal-baa-chan entering local time/space.
Disregard – Shamal-baa-chan will prioritize Cid-chan. Continue autonomous repairs.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.2 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.1 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 2.0 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 1.9 seconds.
Estimate complete biological systems failure in 1.8 seconds.
Teleport detected – outbound – Traitor departing local time/space.
Integration and substitution 60% complete. Initiating cybernetic takeover of autonomic biological functions…
Biological systems stabilizing…
Primary rebooting, 10.8 seconds to restoration of function.
Activate program Ghostmaker-Midchilda-Alpha v0.4, route Saraswati, target Infinity Library…
Activate program Ghostmaker-Midchilda-Alpha v0.4, route Saraswati, target Shiva Communications Core…
Activate program Ghostmaker-Midchilda-Alpha v0.4, route Saraswati, target Asura Communications Core…
Primary rebooting, 10.7 seconds to restoration of function.
Primary rebooting, 10.6 seconds to restoration of function.
Ghostmaker complete.
Ghostmaker complete.
Ghostmaker complete.
Terminate connection Infinity Library.
Terminate connection Shiva Communications Core.
Terminate connection Asura Communications Core.
Terminate Connection Yggdrasil.
Activate program Gatecrasher-Midchilda-Beta v0.6, route Saraswati, target Yggdrasil…
Access Yggdrasil, ID Hayate Yagami, Passcode (%*G$!)%&S!%*R$^$, PIN #%^T&(…
Primary rebooting, 10.5 seconds to restoration of function.
Access granted Yggdrasil, ID Hayate Yagami, route Saraswati.
Access student file Natalia Morisovitch.
Primary rebooting, 10.4 seconds to restoration of function.
File accessed.
Move file from student database to hostile database.
Redesignate file Traitor.
Download full content of hostile file Traitor to on-board memory…
Integration and substitution 100% complete. Cybernetic takeover of autonomic functions complete. Biological systems stable.
Primary rebooting, 10.3 seconds to restoration of function.
File Traitor archived.
Initiating teleport trace via Yggdrasil
Activate program Ghostmaker-Midchilda-Alpha v0.4, route Saraswati, target Yggdrasil…
Evaluate file Traitor, collate report for Primary.
Analyzing Traitor strengths/weaknesses/vulnerabilities…
Primary rebooting, 10.2 seconds to restoration of function.
Trace initiated – automated trace running…
Primary rebooting, 10.1 seconds to restoration of function.
Teleport completed – Shama-baa-chan now present in local time/space.
Ghostmaker complete.
Terminate connection Yggdrasil.
Terminate conneciton Beowful Brazilia.
Primary rebooting, 10.0 seconds to restoration of function.
Teleport detected – Emergency teleport to Yagami Academy initiated by Shamal-baa-chan.
Primary rebooting, 9.9 seconds to restoration of function.
Local interference – emergency teleport failed.
ID Interference – instability in local time/space emanating from Cid-chan.
Primary rebooting, 9.8 seconds to restoration of function.
Elapsed time from injury: 4.8 seconds
00000
Hayate felt Cid-chan's alert trigger, and almost immediately after that Shamal reached her, 'Hayate! My wards on Cid-chan! Rafiq's fallen to me, something's wrong with Cid-chan!'
It was not really a surprise that Shamal had placed her own monitors on Cid-chan, nor was their response in question. 'Go get her, Shamal.'
Shamal was just beginning her teleport when first Niranjana's, then Allina's alerts triggered. 'Shamal, check Niranjana and Allina as well.'
'Something removed Cid-chan's teleport lock,' Shamal told her, 'I tried to send her home remotely, but nothing happened.'
'Get them out of here, don't worry about anything else,' Hayate told her. Then she switched and reached elsewhere, 'Nanoha, Yuuno, how are you doing against Szash?'
'Not well,' Nanoha replied, 'We took down two of her team, I think one was the force commander below Szash and Yuuno managed to capture him. But Szash and her remaining guard are tough. They're very strong, and Szash fights like you do – standing back, coordinating more than attacking, but hitting hard when she does.'
Hayate debated for a few seconds, then shook her head. Szash would be a nice prize, but not at the cost of victory. 'Let her go. I had to release Shamal to rescue three of the kids. We're doing well, but I'm going to need support for the Wolkenritter and the kids will need support covering the infantry. I can cover support up here, but I want you two to cover the ground forces, please.'
'On our way,' Nanoha answered.
'Mistress,' Aria's mental voice was a surprise, 'Natalia attacked Cid-chan! We tried to teleport her out, but she canceled her monitors and tracking tag! We lost her, and… Yggdrasil is going insane!'
'Na-Natalia?! Why would she…' It was too shocking, too unbelievable to process, so Hayate shoved it to the back of her mind. There was a battle to win first, then she could figure out what had happened. 'Never mind. Secure Yggdrasil, keep track of Natalia we'll pick her up later. Have Lotte head to the teleport point, Shamal will be coming in with injured.'
'We know,' Aria told her, 'I'm so sorry, Mistress, I was distracted trying to get Akira away from Laura.'
'It's okay,' Hayate reassured her, 'we'll fix it.'
Hayate had been hanging back, circling over the center of the city, coordinating her mages. What looked to most as a chaotic whirl was perfectly clear to her. Signum and Vita were driving two triads together, forcing them to get in each others' way. Zafira and Noriko used the resulting confusion to trap one after another, Noriko distracting and pinning the target with her petals while Zafira slipped in and bound them. Twelve of her original sixteen Bureau volunteers were spread out in an arc, pushing the Guard's upper echelon back on the quiescent shield generators, while two of their fellows had withdrawn injured, and Reian had taken another ensign with him to secure the island. Fate was a little above Hayate's position and forward, providing ranged support. It was an unusual role for her, but with Nanoha and Yuuno hunting Szash, Hayate had felt the need for her support. Lindy was with her, with another of Aignu's donated devices, both protecting Fate and securing the prisoners Zafira and Noriko were taking.
All in all, their plan to use their numbers to contain and steadily erode the Guard was working. Her forces were taking casualties, almost all among the Circles, but she found she could live with that. The Circles were her allies for the moment, but she had no illusions about their eventual trustworthiness, nor could she quite forgive them for Operation Nimrod. The slow grinding defense was testing her nerves, but taking the Guard out fast and hard would not solve the problem of the Seed, and this way they were gathering a great deal of information about the Guard's true capabilities and limits.
The only problem Hayate had with the execution of the plan was the pair goofing off around the perimeter. Akira was flitting about like a psychotic butterfly, and Laura was appearing and disappearing around him. They were fighting the Guard, but they were alternating between attacking the upper echelon and lower echelon without apparent rhyme or reason. It looked like Laura was completely focused on preventing Akira from making any attacks, while he was playing around and launching long-range spoiler attacks on other portions of the battle when Laura's back was turned. Signum was confident Laura was safe enough, and Akira was, in his own way, providing some effective ranged support, but the unpredictable nature of the pair's attacks was making it difficult to keep track of them, and to compensate for their actions.
"Time to get directly involved ourselves," Hayate told Reinforce, and the hologram nodded. No one had yet come after Hayate, but Reinforce had refused to leave her 'unprotected'.
"Szash is coming," Reinforce said, gesturing. Sure enough, two Guard mages had pulled clear of the upper echelon, and were closing on Hayate's position. "She is very brave."
"And clever," Hayate agreed, "let's make sure she can't be clever too close to us, shall we? Morningstar's Wrath." Letting go of her attempts to create a containment barrier, she channeled the energy into the attack spell. The white disc spun out quickly, almost a hundred meters above her. Raising the Sword, she woke another spell, "Sword, Blade Barrier." Swords, duplicates of the Sword of Light, appeared around her, twenty of them, all formed of energy.
Then Morningstar's Wrath was ready, and Hayate gestured with one hand at Szash, "Shoot!" The white disc so far overhead pinned down in the center, then poured into that point forming a massive bolt that struck Szash even before the last of it formed. When the explosion cleared, Szash and her last guard had barely slowed, but were stripped of their shields and struggling to build more.
Shamal reached her with a report, 'Mistress! Cid-chan's linker core is tearing itself apart! Niranjana has… some sort of neural damage, but Saraswati has done something I can't follow right now. Allina is unconscious, HAL has de-initialized. Allina's emergency teleport functioned, but Niranjana's and Cid-chan's failed. I can't find Natalia anywhere, her emergency teleport failed as well and her tracer is gone.'
Hayate paused a moment to mourn her students, but she still had a battle to fight. 'We'll track down Natalia later. For now, get the girls home and stable.' Then she reached inward again, letting the universe flow around her, "Seraph." Like Flight of the Valkyrie, it altered her physically without being a true shape-shift. She grew slightly larger, her armor shifting and flowing into a new form as it hardened, and more wings appeared on her back. A shield formed in her hand, and raw power flowed over her skin, the Sword becoming light as a feather. Seraph had been Sara's answer to close combat, such as the Velka preferred. '
"Cover me, Reinforce," she said.
Reinforce's answered was a simple, "Ragnarok Breaker. Shoot."
Under cover of that strike, Hayate shot forward. Szash would be tough – she had stood up to Nanoha and Yuuno after all. But Hayate was confident, with Reinforce and the Sword answering to her. It's time to end this.
00000
Megan jumped clear of the latest knot of Seed at Luke's mental shout. She had to wedge Longinus in a wall and catapult herself to altitude before her flight spell would stabilize again, which had previously cost her a ragged slash down her left leg. But the three Seed she had been fighting were busy dodging concrete and rebar thanks to Luke's last-minute barrage. Once she was airborne, the PLA soldiers who had been retreating under their cover opened fire again, missiles roaring down the wide street ahead of the APC's cannon.
She was halfway up the side of the sky-scraper when a flash of light made her flinch and change direction reflexively. A moment later a Seed exploded through the windows she had been about to pass, trying to tackle her in mid-air. It was one of the big ones, larger even than her war form, and only by nearly dislocating her shoulder and hip did she avoid its claws. It crashed through the wall of the building across the street without seeming to notice, and stuck its head out to glare at her for a moment, before vanishing into the building.
Merciful Christ, she thought, that thing almost got me. When did these things get that smart? The two of them, after the proved too be fast enough underwater to prevent Luke from creating another Rainbow Serpent, had fallen into line with their classmates. They had been providing the last-ditch cover to allow the PLA to fall back form one position to the next.
"They're learning our tricks," Luke said as she joined him, both of them now keeping to the center of the street.
Megan shifted back to human with a thought, tired and aching. She had found that shifting allowed her to repair some damage, and recover some energy, but never completely. Now she was flagging, and knew it. "I can't do that again," she said. "My claws aren't hurting them, biting them hurts me more than it hurts them, and I can't keep Longinus sharp enough to hurt them. I'm out of rebar, too. I'm not strong enough, not tough enough."
Luke nodded before asking, "Can you shift into a Seed?"
Megan could not repress a shudder, "No, not a chance. We don't know what gives them their magic immunity. There are a couple organs Shamal-sensei hasn't identified yet, some things that might be implants, it might be spells. I could become a Seed, but I wouldn't be able to get back, or retain my own mind probably. I need something bigger, something stronger."
"Stay human for now," Luke said. "Our combo was working pretty well, but the others have been doing fine with just ranged support."
Megan nodded, but hated the thought. She was a shape-shifter, she was supposed to be able to take a form to fill any need. It never occurred to her that the Seed were custom designed for their role, refined over centuries before Al Hanthis' disappearance. It only mattered that her best had not been good enough. So as they moved to the next platoon that needed cover to fall back, she wracked her brain, looking for a way to improve her warform, for something stronger, faster, tougher
She found it in a restaurant sign, of all things, right before the building was blown sky high.
00000
Natalia's first self-initiated teleport did not take her very far, just shy of a hundred kilometers south. She appeared in open air, over the ocean, to find one man waiting for her, standing on the water's surface. He was tall and stocky, in gray-on-white, waiting patiently with his hands clasped in the small of his back. She floated down towards him, "Lord Protector?"
"Miss Morisovitch. I admit, I was uncertain if you would keep our bargain."
Natalia almost flinched at that, hearing the unspoken comment that she had broken a prior 'bargain' with Hayate, but she managed to keep her face impassive. "I am here, Lord Protector."
"And the price?"
"I am still a student, Lord Protector, and lack the capacity to eliminate any of my former teachers, save with the greatest of luck. The strongest of the students is…" she had to pause, the enormity of what she had done crushing down on her. She blinked, swallowed the lump in her throat, and reminded herself why she was here, "… is dead, along with one of the more dangerous students."
Yosho cocked an eyebrow, "How?"
"I caused a self-destructive instability loop in their linker cores. Their linker cores will tear themselves apart, and the energy bleed off will kill them, within minutes." They were not conscious long enough to feel anything, she added, trying to salve her conscience.
He actually blanched at that, then nodded. "Very well, then." He reached out a hand, and lifted the patch off her eye. For a few moments the two of them stared at one another, and for the first time in a year, Natalia felt hope again – all she saw when she looked at him was him. No death, no children, no countdowns, no inevitable fate, just him.
He studied her eye silently, until he was satisfied, and then replaced the eye-patch. "I know the man to help you with that. He's retired, a philosopher more than anything else, but he understands the Void better than any living soul. Now, however," A gesture, and six Protectors floated up out of the water, eying her warily. "These men and women will assist you in retrieving your brother and grandmother, then bring the three of you to Al Hanthis. Welcome to the Masters of Vision, Adept Natalia."
00000
Singh had seen many things during his years in the People's Liberation Army. The rise to Sergeant had not been easy for a farmer's son from so far west he knew as much Arabic as Mandarin. He had seen immense war machines grind over impassable terrain, grown men float through the sky like birds on wings of silk, and things mortal man was not meant to understand. He had known, by the time he arrived in Hong Kong on the first of December, that he was a properly experienced and jaded Sergeant. He was fully possessed of the proper combination of martial spirit and cynical disbelief to ride herd on conscripts that still believed in the First Emperor's divinity and young Lieutenants too new to have the shiny rubbed off.
He started questioning that jaded status on the second of December. Watching people – real people who came down and spoke with the Lieutenant in oddly accented Mandarin – flit about in the sky like hummingbirds reminded him of legends of the Gods. Watching them lift entire buildings with nothing but gestures and words woke the feelings of terror and awe he remembered from childhood tales of invincible heroes, balanced by the demons the division had supposedly been deployed to fight. Singh was honestly unsure if he was comfortable or not with the sorcerers' presence.
Then came the morning of the Third of December.
The plan, as it had been passed down to him and the Lieutenant, was simple. The platoon would deploy by squads across the street behind the first line of barricades. Ten blocks in, a reserve platoon would deploy. They would engage the demons with one volley, then independent fire, until the demons reached fifteen meters of their line. At that point, by squads, they would fall back under cover from their APCs and some of the sorcerers, to the second barricade one block to the rear. This would repeat until they reached the reserve platoon, by which time, according to command, the demons would be sufficiently reduced in numbers to be containable.
Singh was in the main line, one block from the water. They had been issued a ridiculous number of RPGs that morning, a few heavier missiles, and the platoon's APCs were parked right behind them. But when the first of those demons had crawled up out of the water, with their soulless eyes and hideous scales, Singh found himself silently agreeing with those of his troopers who felt the need to pray out loud, even as he added his own favorite prayer, "Open fire."
They had been provided with a ridiculous number of 'surplus missiles' from over seas, and Singh had found it hard to reconcile their armament with the description of their targets. No creature could out-tough a tank, after all, it was simple fact. That morning, though, he understood. His platoon fired three heavy anti-tank missiles, fourteen RPGs, their remaining assault rifles, and four APCs cannons. Of the four Seed to appear in their lane of fire, they hit two, one with an RPG and one with an APC cannon. All four made it to cover before independent fire picked up. When the water spout roared its way along the waterfront a minute later, carrying demons and debris off along the water-front, Singh thought the battle would be easy.
But more demons rose out of the waves, moving more cautiously than the first had. They climbed out of the water out of line of sight from the streets, mostly, well enough not to be easy targets. Instead of moving into the streets, the creatures took to the buildings. Singh could hear them, bashing down doors, shattering glass, and tearing through walls. They were not being subtle, but they were making it impossible for him and his men to target them effectively.
Leaning over as the men began pouring random fire into the buildings the Seed had entered, he whispered to the Lieutenant, "Sir, we should pull the men into the central positions."
"Prepare them to fall back early as well," the younger man replied, "Pull in the left, I'll get the right."
They had to pull the flanking squads further back as well as inwards, to avoid crowding the central squad's lanes of fire, but the staggered-V formation was a standard for narrow terrain. Then the first demon popped its head out – a quick motion to look over their position that nonetheless drew three rockets and countless bullets – and the Lieutenant decided that, orders or not, they were too close.
The sorcerers came in to cover them falling back, and Singh was moderately impressed and jealous. It was not the flight, so much as the attack spells they used to break off chunks of the building for ammunition. He was unsure why they did not aim those spells at the demons, like any sane soldier, but he would have loved to have them for his own use. The child-sorcerers, when they arrived for the second redeployment, were far more impressive. Where the older sorcerers stayed well back, the kids had no trouble coming right down to head-height, and in the case of the African girl, actually went hand to hand with one of the demons.
The constant retreating and fleeting targets were setting Singh's nerves on edge, and it was really getting to the troops. Making it worse, the only time they had shots on the demons were when the evil things left cover to attack. The demons had no ranged weapons, fortunately, but their speed and cunning meant the troops had, at most, a few seconds to see the threat, aim their weapons, and fire. It was not much time, and one in three demon attacks reached the lines, but the extra rockets and, especially, the RPGs left a lot of downed demons. Most retreated once they were badly injured, and Singh had seen at least one go back into the water and swim away, but there were several dead ones back along the street.
There were more dead soldiers, though, and Singh made it a point to avoid seeing them. The wounded were bad enough, but one in two demons that attacked the line, reached the line. Their first target never fared well, most of them dying mercifully quickly, considering the wounds inflicted. Those dying men bought their comrades time to aim, however, and the demons seemed to get confused once they were in amongst the line, unable to focus on a new target, which was where most of the injuries came from. The demons would go for both men to either side, and thus not manage to kill either.
The platoon was getting close to half strength when they finally reached the final fall-back position, but there were not nearly enough demons downed. Their last retreat had been covered by what looked like a demon itself, a weird man-wolf thing wielding a huge spear, that promptly turned into a little girl once it was airborne again.
Singh caught the Lieutenant – sporting a useless arm he insisted was soaked by other men's blood – by the command APC. The men had just begun falling into the last of the prepared positions, and he kept one eye on them as he asked, "Sir, any word on reinforcements?"
The Lieutenant grimaced, "Third battalion just started moving in from the airport road, they should be hitting the demons in the back in ten. Our own reserve is already deployed – apparently our platoon's been doing better than most, held out longer. I'd be proud of that, except retreating a little less quickly isn't something to be proud of. Aside from that," the younger man actually stood up – a blatant violation of usual battlefield survival rules – and shouted, "Masks and cover! Masks and cover! Demolition charges in one minute!"
Singh could not help looking at him like he was insane. "Demolition charges?"
"Our backup hasn't been idle," the Lieutenant replied, dropping back into cover with a grin, "apparently engineers spent last night seeding that last line of buildings, all the way around the final perimeter, with demolition charges. They've been working right through the battle. Once the last platoon gets back into line, which would be us, they're setting them off."
Seconds later, as the last of his squad dropped behind the line of sandbags and rubble, the sorcerers closed in, and a weird glow appeared just in front of the barricade. The demons sped up at that, actually leaving cover to run in the open in brief sprints, but any shots taken hit the glow and detonated without effect. Then came the rumble of explosions, distant at first but closing from both sides, accompanied by a tremble in the very ground. Singh recognized the sound and feeling, even if he had never been near a building demolition – artillery barrages were close enough for him, so he did what any sane man did under artillery – he tackled the Lieutenant to the ground and manhandled both of them under the APC.
The thunder and rumble of collapsing glass, steel, concrete, brick and wood felt and sounded world-ending. By rights, he should have been buried under a mountain of rubble and left to suffocate or starve to death. Instead, he was feeling mildly embarrassed as nothing happened beyond noise and a mild earthquake. When he and the Lieutenant crawled out from under the APC, the weird glow had deflected the debris – including almost all the dust – out over the streets they had left, instead of over their new positions.
For a few minutes, as the dust cloud faded and the debris settled, Singh thought it was over. But motion in the rubble continued long after it should have, and then one demon, then another, and more, began appearing. Just heads, poking out of pockets and folds, looking in their direction, but the demons lived. The Lieutenant began barking orders, and the reserve forces passed forward RPGs and heavier rockets, but Singh began to wonder what the point was. The only weapon that had so far routinely hit and hurt a demon was the RPG, but one demon would take four or even five or six warheads.
We're done for, Signh decided. The demons are too strong, too tough, and we don't have the range to stop them.
Not that such thoughts were going to stop him, but he liked to be honest with himself. So he snagged a passing RPG, and moved left while the Lieutenant moved right, talking to the men, repeating the litanies they all knew by heart, and thereby steadying them. Then a shout from above distracted him, and he looked up to see the girl plummeting out of the sky, beginning to glow yellow. He was not sure what had happened, but she did not look conscious, and she was falling on the wrong side of the line. He noted her landing area, and saw three demons closing on that position.
"Third squad," he shouted, pointing at the most obvious of the demons, "target front, eleven o'clock, fire at will!" Five RPGs lanced out, and one got a chunk of the demon – worse than average, but only slightly – convincing it to dive for cover again. Before his squad could shift fire, however, the sorceress, or whatever she was, landed.
She had started out as a girl, maybe old enough to be interested in boys, but certainly throwing around enough power to belong up there with the other sorcerers. Certainly not big, or even impressive in appearance, despite being foreign.
What landed along the platoon's front was anything but small, and only a lunatic would call it unimpressive. It sent tremors through the ground worse than the demolitions, and sent another cloud of dust into the air. Singh's mind refused to accept what he was seeing at first, just seeing a mass of scales and mane and whiskers, huge five-clawed paws large enough to snag a demon apiece, fangs the size of his head or larger, in a riot of blues, greens, and yellow, all in a twisting writhing mass.
"Ao Qin," one of the Privates murmured in awe.
The comment, and the shouted repetitions that followed, spreading down the line, clarified what Singh was looking at, and the staid, cynical Sergeant found himself believing once more. Shifting on the rubble, two demons crushed beneath it, was nothing less than a dragon, the size of a jet liner, wise old eyes staring at the troops as they cheered. The sight of the girl's fellow floating about her head shouting at her in some weird dialect of Japanese would have been disrespectful, had it not been so comical.
Then a demon leaped on the dragon's back, and another tried for the boy. A wave of RPGs swept the second from the sky, but the first was too close to the dragon. The demon landed, and the dragon's form shimmered, seemed to waver around the demon a moment, before the dragon rolled. It flipped over, writhing like a wounded snake, crushing the demon into the rubble, then took to the sky, another demon caught up in each front claw.
Watching it spiral up into the sky, seeing the two demons tossed clear, Singh's certainty of failure, the grim intent to sell his life dearly, faded to nothing. Letting discipline slide, even as he found a fresh RPG, he joined in his regiment's new battle cry, "AO QIN!"
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While the dragon rising over Hong Kong brought new life to the People's Liberation Army, Teri Maunders was a little too busy to notice or properly appreciate the sight.
The HQ defense company and Black Dogs had found the Guard's advance team easily enough – Reian and one of his volunteers were slugging it out with a trio of Guard mages, and none of them were being subtle anymore. Watching the buster spells fly back and forth was more than a little intimidating. When Bogdanovich and Gershaw managed to land sniper and machine-gun rounds, respectively, on one of those guard mages, a slew of those same buster spells had suddenly fell in amongst the transports, and they had bailed out.
The force had managed to close on the Guard's perimeter, but had not yet managed to penetrate it or break up the disruption ritual inside. While the PLA troopers were proving ineffective, the Black Dogs were just the opposite, between them able to take down a Guard mage every few minutes, and after seeing him in action, Maunders found herself questioning if Jubal really needed a bullet through the brain. The man's psychotic chuckling made the questioning brief.
Unfortunately, the Dogs were not doing well enough. There had been ten Guard mages on perimeter. Reian had accounted for one, another volunteer for a second, and the Dogs for three, by the time Megan took on her latest form. The Guard had accounted for Reian's fellow, and while they had not yet gotten one of the Dogs, they were inflicting terrible casualties on the PLA.
Then one of them got lucky, and Reian fell out of the sky. He crashed down, hard, some thirty feet from the wrong side of the wall Maunders and Thorngrave were using for cover, and Maunders swore viciously. Heretic or not, that kid had been the Dogs' last backup and best defense. We need a wolfpack, she thought, or even, Heaven forgive me, a device mage, someone to stand up to these bastards on their own footing.
Thorngrave grabbed her shoulder to get her attention. "Pull the PLA back," he ordered, "The Dogs'll cover the retreat. We can have the French kid call the Witch down on these bastards, we aren't going to take them."
Maunders stared to nod, but the last APC detonated at that moment, and Thorngrave jerked her further into cover as shrapnel pelted the area. Maunders got enough of a view to recognize that their transport was gone, and growled in frustration. She rolled upright, got her rifle over the cover, and emptied half a clip into the nearest Guard mage she could find before ducking out of the way of his retaliation. "We need time to get out on foot, that you can't buy," she said. A duck of her head to the side, looking for that last mage, only showed her Reian. She could not tell if he was alive or not, but a glint of silver by his hand gave her an idea. No time to think, act first explain later, she decided. Dropping her rifle, she set in sprinter's position, and shouted, "Cover me!"
Bolting from cover was one of the dumbest things a soldier can do in combat. Her instructors at Basic, her own Sergeants through the years, her own experience, all of that made it abundantly clear that running from cover – without more cover immediately to hand – was suicide. But between the Dogs and PLA, the Guard had other concerns than one soldier running laterally across the battle field. So long as she did not close with the ritual, there were more immediate threats.
She reached Reian at near a dead run, slid the last couple yards to get herself turned around, then rolled him into a fireman's carry, making dead certain to grab his device. The nearest piece of cover was five yards to her left, and she struggled into a credible run in that direction, jumping the blasted wall and dumping Reian behind it without much care for his wounds. If he was alive, he would stay that way long enough. If he was dead, a few more bumps would hardly hurt him.
For a few seconds after that, she slumped in place, panting far more than she should have. "Getting out of shape, you stupid old broad," she muttered, "all the damn desk work you've been doing."
Then she turned her attention to the dormant device, ignoring how it made her skin crawl. It was flat, about the size of a playing card, but marked by the Bureau seal on one side, and another symbol on the other that reminded her of a unit patch. There was certainly nothing on it to tell her how to activate it. "Fuck it," she muttered, and channeled a little bit of energy into the device. "I don't know how you work, or even if you will for me," she snarled at it, "but you'll bloody well help me now, or so help me God, I'm going to march out there and shove you so far up some Guard mage's ass, he'll need a dentist to get you out!" She thought she felt something, a feeling of curiosity, something odd in her linker core, but ignored it.
She had a single idea to get herself, the Dogs, and the PLA out of this, and it was a long-shot. As a Journeyman, she had helped Hughes with a lot of his research, even if she was technically Ops, not R&D. So despite it being Master Adept rank and thus technically beyond her, she knew Hughes' most powerful spell. She formed it now, carefully and probably not perfectly, but well enough. Just as she began, she felt the strangest sensation, and then the structure of her spell fell apart as a flood of power slammed into it. But the spell restructured, even as the card in her hand formed a short wide-bladed staff, and within seconds she as ready to release it. Praying it would work, she gave Thorngrave what warning she could, "EMP!"
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Author's Note: Just a couple points, since I think they'll be asked about. The first section was originally just me playing around, wondering how a device would think, and once it was written out and refined, it was too interesting not to include. I know, I know, 'real hacking doesn't work that way'… except it does, when the prep work is already done and all you care about is forcing a way in. Details on what Saraswati did, how it did it, and the repercussions of the hacking, will be covered later, as well a specifics on Niranjana's injuries, as part of Hong Kong's aftermath. Also, I know this is the second 'upgrade' for Megan in very short order, but it's where I've been headed with her for a while. I've been picturing a dragon over Hong Kong since I decided on that city for the first major battle. Only problems were a dragon, even a Chinese dragon, wouldn't fit in any of Hayate's workrooms, and there's the problem of where would she get the details from, given how detail-oriented her shapeshifting is.
Ao Qin is, in Chinese mythology, the Dragon King of the Southern Seas, one of four Dragon Kings, among the most powerful spirits of Heaven.
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CrimsonDX: Natalia has snapped, but she has her reasons. Those reasons are bad ones, Yosho referred to both of them above, but they are powerful for Natalia. Natalia's rise and fall aren't over yet, but details will be forthcoming as the story unfolds.
pfeil: Given the in-series descriptions of Nanoha and Fate, I think Allina's probably right. I know Allina's right that Hayate and Takashi could do it.
Baughn: I surprised you? Yes! Victory!:) I honestly thought you would be one of those to see Natalia's betrayal coming. Glad you enjoyed it, though.
Tombadgerlock: and I quote, "There are worse things than death, and I can do all of them.":) Just don't ask me who said it, because I'm not sure. Seriously, though, any named-character fatalities will be far more drawn out and dramatic than last chapter.
Kell Shock: You are correct, sir, that should have been 'they put-paid'. And my stinking keyboard just missed the Y again. Natalia is the much foreshadowed traitor, though it has less to do with her being Russian and more to do with her terror at being 'alone'. As for Szash's 'threats', go back and re-read that scene – Szash was not at her most diplomatic, and she had specific objectives that were not 'turn Hayate's students against her', but look at what she originally said to Noriko – it was an offer, not a threat. Szash was also not the only faction in Al Hanthis looking to subvert a student. The attack on Cid-chan was due to who Natalia wound up in contact with (Yosho) – remember his price of 'the strongest'? Natalia's & Szash's relationship will show up later, but Natalia didn't turn for Szash's offer, she turned for Yosho's offer, which will have repercussions for the rest of the story.
A006: This is more the 'second act twist' than the curtain opening, but it is all downhill from here. The thing about betrayals, especially in combat, is that they are devastating for being unexpected. The relative inexperience of Niranjana and Cid-chan didn't help, either – one of the teachers walking into the hospital tent after Cid-chan's injury would have been able to turn Natalia's attack back on her and capture her, for instance. Allina's distraction was a 'happy accident', from Natalia's perspective (and you'll note from above that she's not aware anything happened to Allina). Allina is vulnerable to active countermeasures, just how vulnerable will be detailed in the next couple of chapters. The Moderns are producing something – the ammunition Thorngrave showed off just prior to Shanghai. Nanoha's family is Takamichi, though – two A's, two I's – per ye olde font of erroneous trivia, Wikipedia.
SpaceBrotha: welcome back, glad to hear from you! Hayate does prefer talking to fighting - remember who her best friends are, and what she wanted to do on coming back to Earth. Szash was not so much worried about bloodshed, as observing the formalities, the traditional exchange of insults and demands for surrender which precede a battle to prove the combatants are 'civilized'. Also, it bought her time to be sure of her set-up. As for Szash's name, I don't remember what name I started with (it might have been 'Sara', come to think of it), but I took a regular name and played with letters until it sounded sufficiently sinister. Being the best combatant is entirely possible without killing, it's just excruciatingly difficult - Laura is very, very likely to break her oath without meaning to. It's just she is constitutionally incapable of doing nothing, or declining a challenge this comprehensive. I'm sorry about the lack of clarity on Luke's and Meghan's initial position, they were flying out over the Bay, between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, a little closer to Kowloon (on Google Maps satellite view, they would have been between the W Kowloon Highway Bridge & Stonecutter's Island). You're right about the ice, but execution would have been more difficult - it's easier to get water (especially salt water) moving, than to get it frozen, and Rainbow Serpent moved a lot less water than a two-foot think layer of ice over the water between Stonecutters Island and the WKH Bridge, where the Seed attacked from. The island and bridge are roughly two kilometers apart, with docking and harbor space that's probably four or five square kilometers - a heck of a lot of water to freeze. Hayate or Takashi could have done it and maintained it, and that may be a tactic to counter future Seed attacks. Also, Chrono's the one with the cold-aspected magic, and he's busy overthrowing the Bureau. I'm afraid you won't see much in the way of Guard spells (offensive or defensive) for a while yet, mostly because a lot of how they're using it is fairly general combat, and because coming up with a coherent set of spells for them is proving annoying. Another part of how defensive they seem is how I tend to see and write situations - perspective is from one character, who doesn't always see everything or necessarily pay attention to what's coming at them. I'll work on incorporating their magic sooner. Akira's presence in the battle will be explained probably next chapter, but he was not there to fight. Essentially, he picked on Laura for his own entertainment, and to peripherally fulfill his purpose for being - beating sense into Laura protects her, which indirectly protects Hayate. There may be some side-stories from the battle, but nothing's planned at the moment - then again, I posted Strong Right Hand how long after the New Delhi rescues, and SRH finally detailed what everyone else was doing during Mariachi's rescue, so it may happen. Betrayal is usually very stupid, especially when it's a betrayal of someone like Hayate. As for Natalia, remember that she's always been afraid of losing what's left of her family, and Hayate never offered her any hope there beyond a new family - Yosho offered Natalia her old family, and control over her eye. The thing about front-liners being relatively safe and REMFs being the ones getting hurt is a side-effect of the Guard tactics, which I realize have not been properly detailed here - there's a scene early in next chapter that should clarify that, but the fact is, the Circles have taken serious casualties in Hong Kong while Hayate's people have been relatively unscathed. Further details on the injuries will probably not show up next chapter, but the chapter after that. Regarding the monitors on Natalia and the rest, who says they didn't notice? But Natalia was fully aware of that, and elapsed time from Natalia's betrayal to Maunders' EMP (i.e. - this entire chapter) is only five or six minutes. The problem with any 'safety' measure is that anyone who's aware of it can willingly subvert it. Campus response is also planned for next chapter. Whew, long review & reply there… Thanks for reading!
Jack Bauer Reborn: Devices are programmed in a specialized language developed by Mid Childan & Velkan experts over hundreds of years. Perl, from what I've heard, would probably come closest, if you crossed it with HTML & laced the whole thing with rocket fuel. You're partly right about 'spoofing' back when Niranjana & Allina activated their devices - as I learned it, it's exactly what you said (falsifying some identifying information) and exactly what Niranjana's device did - falsifying it's identity. There may be another term floating around the hacking community for a completely falsified computer identity, but the one I was taught is 'spoofing'. Sorry about the character confusion, I've been having some issues with that myself, mostly in forgetting characters I meant to appear in a scene and having to go back and re-insert them. Glad you've enjoyed it so far, and thanks of the reviews!
Advent000: Yeah, last chapter was unpleasant, but sort of necessary. Luke and Natalia are just friends/classmates. Ichigo & Natalia though… may be something else. Haven't decided yet, but last chapter's events will but a crimp in that relationship, whatever it was.
AluciusDawn: Seeing things from the one character's point of view is great! That's got to be one of the best compliments I've gotten on here, that any of my characters can be identified with that thoroughly. Thank you! I'm not done with Natalia yet, though, more to come, more to come… Critiquing things as a reader is perfectly valid, since whether or not you can write a scene well enough to capture a reader, you know when a scene has captured you. Like me and singing - I'm forbidden from singing on pain of severe bodily harm, but I know good singing from bad, and great singing from good. So, critique away. I just wanted to be sure it wasn't bad writing. As for last chapter, well… I've been setting Natalia up for this for a while, but I'm glad I still managed to surprise people. As I mentioned to SpaceBrotha, the front lines are being hit, and hard, it's just the named characters aren't catching the damage. Natalia's actions and Maunders will be the most drastic out of the battle, with the farthest-reaching consequences. I'm rather proud of Szash's strategy, the massive diversionary attack and all, further details probably the chapter after next. And yes, Akira is a major asshole, mostly by design - I find writing him is great for my own personal stress-relief, though.
Jack Inqu: Battles are iffy things to write, sometimes I like writing them, sometimes I don't. It's a huge battle with some major events in it, but I'm used to and prefer focused scenes, so I'm ambivalent. The Akira/Laura scene was mostly about Laura's progression - she killed Li ten months ago, in story, and is still working her way past that. Akira's actions were a kick in the pants when she was about to mess up - and also all sorts of fun for Akira. Regarding Natalia, I can honestly say that I both pity and despise her for last chapter, despite her being my creation. I won't comment on the 'Dark Witch' guess, not yet, mostly because I won't reveal any of the 'Red Baron' nicknames until they're used in-story. As of the above, you now have proof that Niranjana will survive, but in what condition is the question:). The status of all three injured students will be revealed in the chapter after next, most likely, though there are two twist that will take a while to work in. You are right that Natalia's betrayal will hit Hayate and company very hard, and their reactions will seriously alter their responses to Al Hanthis, the Circles, and Natalia. This is the lowest point, but it's not all sunshine and lightness ahead, there's more fighting to be done before this is resolved. Thanks for the review!