Endless Waltz
By: Daishi Prime
-28 – The Fall of Hong Kong-
East of the city, over the old airport, a Guard mage deflected Ichigo's first strike with a shield over his hand, then rolled around Ichigo to use him as a block against Toushiro's Fire Arrow spell. A second later, the man plummeted out of the sky before dodging away, while Ichigo was forced on the defensive by a rain of light buster spells from over the harbor. None were powerful enough to do more than damage his barrier jacket, but there were a lot of them, and he had to break off or risk getting hurt. Again.
Truth be told, Ichigo was getting more than a little frustrated. Almost two hours they had been fighting, and he and Toushiro had managed next to nothing, as far as he could tell. They had covered several retreating platoons, stopped one attempt by a lone Guard mage to get at Mariachi, and managed to pin down the range and effectiveness of Mariachi's disruption effect – about two kilometers. The problem was, neither of them was fast and tough enough to stand up to a Seed, and the Guard were not obliging enough to engage the duo.
The Guard had been playing it very cagey. Each time Toushiro or Ichigo moved to help a Circle mage in trouble, the Guard mages harassing him would get in one more volley, then break and retreat under covering fire from a third mage further out. By the time Ichigo and Toushiro were able to engage them, another Circle mage in the other direction was in trouble. If they moved to engage the supporting Guard mage, as the two of them just had, said support mage would evade and attack a Circle mage, while one of his fellows took up support from a safe range. Aside from the one Guard who had gone after Mariachi, and subsequently had an unfortunate encounter with Toushiro's exploding shield, the Guard refused to engage any of them.
It made sense, from a coldly logical perspective. The Circle mages were easy targets, relatively speaking. Aside from a few long-time comrades, the Circle mages were pathetically inept at working together. Yussef had explained to the Myrmidons the night before that the Circles were too used to the calm cooperation of a ritual circle or political maneuvers to adjust to the rapid stress of combat. Seeing the boss proven right would have been pleasant, if not for the cost. The wolfpacks made the Circle mages powerful, but only a couple had any idea how to use that power, certainly nowhere near the level of the Guard. Each of them insisted on using their power separately, leaving them vulnerable. Ichigo was honestly wondering why the wolfpacks had given them such trouble the year before, and why they did not try to combine wolfpacks into a second, more powerful wolfpack.
'Hey, Berry-kun,' Toushiro said, 'I've got an idea.'
Sighing at his new nickname, Ichigo replied, 'You're never going to forgive me for telling the first years to call you Shiro, are you? What's your grand idea?'
'A Husker Hail Mary.'
Ichigo actually stumbled in mid-air, and caught a nasty buster spell for it, enough to punch through his armor and give him a bit of a burn. 'A what?'
Toushiro, proving himself an uncaring bastard, ignored Ichigo's new injury and chuckled. 'You need to watch more sci-fi. A Husker Hail Mary. Teleport in, launch your strike at zero range, teleport out before the back-blast hits you.'
While Toushiro explained, they turned on the woman who had tried to blindside Ichigo. Two Buster Cannons, one from each of them, reminded the errant Guard mage to why she had kept her distance previously, but neither boy managed more than a glancing hit. 'Um, minor point, Hayate-sensei hasn't taught us to teleport yet.'
'No, but Natalia and I found a method, reading ahead. It's complicated, but mostly just the math, which Daikyu and Masamune can handle, especially for such short ranges. The plan is, you teleport yourself in to zero range, like arm's reach, of a Guard mage and nail him with an exploding shield – it's quick and simple and if he breathes on it, it'll go off. While you're doing that, I pull you out, timing it to just after your attack launches. Those two strikes should bring down his shields, then while he's recovering, we can both hammer him with Buster Cannons from a nice safe distance. Sound good?'
'It sounds insane,' Ichigo complained. 'Send me the teleport data.'
Ichigo barely noticed the packet of information, the devices handled it on their own. Masamune wormed the information he needed into the back of his mind a moment later, and Ichigo shook his head. 'This is going to hurt, Toushiro. But, whenever you're ready.'
Toushiro did not respond, and when Ichigo glanced at him, his friend was floating in mid air, gawking like a tourist at the foot of Tokyo Tower. Turning in the direction Toushiro was staring, Ichigo could understand the shock. The sight of a dragon coiling in the air over downtown, Seed falling away from it in painfully long falls, was awe-inspiring. "Megan's playing, I see," he said aloud, then reached over to poke Toushiro between the eyes. "We're supposed to be doing something other than staring at exhibitionist girls."
Toushiro blinked, then glared and swatted his hand away. "She's not a... gah, pervert."
"I wasn't the one staring at her," Ichigo shrugged, "I'm going, feel free to do your part any time."
Putting together his first teleport was not easy, but the Guards' tactics worked in his favor. So long as he and Toushiro did not do anything to aggressive, the Guard tended to ignore them alone to focus on the Circles. That is going to come back to bite them, Ichigo thought, as he and Masamune figured out how the teleport would work. At this short range, it would be very fast, and that massively simplified the calculations necessary.
He was a little nervous about his first teleport, more nervous about relying on Toushiro's first teleport to get him out of what he was about to do, but Yussef had taught all of them that sometimes you had to take a risk to win. So he focused on his target, someone who was not moving much – the 'support' mage for the nearest Guard triad was perfect – and threw himself into the unknown.
He arrived just a little off, too close for the Blast Shield – his and Toushiro's still somewhat unpredictable reactive shield – so he swung Masamune in a short sharp arc, snapping, "Backblast." The spell was simple, power channeled into the turbulence of the blade, amplifying the turbulence to jet-engine levels. It worked, mostly, knocking the Guard mage sideways and opening him up for the Blast Shield.
Before Ichigo could cast the spell, as Toushiro's teleport was just taking hold of him, Ichigo felt a lurching sensation, and then a wavering white wall washed over him, and the magic vanished.
It felt like standing inside a bell as someone rang it. The whole world vibrated, not going crazy but shimmering and loosing focus. His magic simply cut off, vanishing, Masamune collapsing into storage mode and his armor fading back into the shorts and t-shirt he had woken up in. Then his stomach was in his throat, as he plummeted out of the sky.
Well shit, he thought, I guess Natalia did use her eye on me last night.
He caught sight of motion, to one side, and realized the Guard mage he had been attacking was also falling, that everyone seemed to be dropping out of the sky. Then the world went green, he recognized the feel of the school's teleporters just as he slammed into something that was softer than the runway tarmac he expected, but still far too hard.
00000
Szash recovered from Hayate's first strike with more than a little surprise. The spell from her bodyguard had been impressive, but expected from a major combatant. The dimensional fracture that Hayate had somehow channeled into an attack spell, though, had been an order of magnitude worse.
'Wonder where she hides the generators,' Szash mentioned to Eri as they resumed closing on their target. 'There was nothing big enough at that school of hers, the ships in orbit have trouble powering themselves...'
'Now is not the time, General,' Eri responded. 'She's preparing another spell.'
'Can you block it?'
'Possibly. The body-guard's spells, certainly.'
'Then you handle the body-guard, I'll handle Hayate. Wherever she's getting her power, she can't match Al Hanthis.'
Hayate glowed for a moment, seeming to become slightly larger, and then a cloud of blades appeared around her. Szash noted them, and shook her head bemusedly. A static form, even that numerous, was flashy but wasteful. The energy used in maintaining the blades would be better spent in an attack spell or shield. Then Hayate began closing, rapidly, flitting through the air more like a bird than a mage.
Szash let her come, calling more shields and launching a series of basic attack spells. Nothing too fancy, just the basics every Guard and Protector mage was taught, testing. Hayate proved maneuverable, but given her people's focus on physical combat, that was no surprise. Barbaric combat methods certainly taught them to be quick on their feet. She rapidly scaled up the spells, noting Eri off to her right doing the same, but long before she reached spells more befitting her rank, Hayate was upon her.
The woman was small, and fiendishly fast in spite of those huge glowing wings. The sword in her hands passed through most of Szash's shields like paper, and the cloud of energy-blades battered their way through the rest. But Szash had seen the Battle of Cairo and knew roughly what to expect. She had not figured out how they created custom shields in skin-contact, but she and Gali had put together a Guard version, last-ditch automatics the size of her palm in overlapping plates. Hayate's blades faded as they were used, and the last slashed into Szash's last-ditch shields, taking a few down but leaving the General herself unscathed.
Watching Hayate's people attacking the Five-oh-First had been educational, and Szash thought she was prepared for the same sort of focused insanity. But Hayate did not fight in her subordinates' styles. There was no manic assault, no coldly perfect form, no animal rending. Hayate was smooth, fast, relentless, the end of every motion flowing into the next attack, but oddly flamboyant, always in motion. She relied on her energy-blades to diffuse and degrade Szash's defenses, and focused entirely on keeping too close for Szash to escape. It was a thrilling challenge, avoiding that wicked sword while trying to form a spell or get out of the way.
Forcing herself through motions she had only ever learned for tradition and physical conditioning, improvising shields on the fly to block what she could and redirect the rest, left her panting with effort in seconds. The minute or so she was trapped under Hayate's assault was one of the most thrilling experiences of Szash's life. With her pulse and breath thundering in her ears, just a whisker from serious and painful injury, Szash could appreciate why Hayate and her people chose to fight this way. There was an immediacy and rush that proper combat could not match.
Then Eri finally managed to intervene, a blast of power from one of Hayate's body-guard's spells forcing Hayate to break off and giving Szash precious seconds of breathing room. Hayate immediately circled to renew her attack, but the primitive flight spell she was using required her to circle wider than had been necessary when she was driving Szash in the direction she was flying. Szash watched her go, and tapped into the generators that were hers alone, forming her next spell precisely.
Szash used the moment to reach a telepathic line to her. 'You're very impressive, Hayate,' she said, 'but you can't really handle me, you know. I am the commanding General of the city Guard of Al Hanthis. You're one woman, standing with a few friends. I have the support and power of my city at my beck and call.'
'I have heard such words before,' Hayate answered. 'Strangely, those who said them to me and to my friends were all defeated by, my friends and I.'
'So be it,' Szash had not expected her to back down, but it had been worth the attempt. The thought of someone like Hayate as an ally was too attractive a proposition to abandon. Maybe she just needs to lose to see what I mean, Szash thought, and raised her hands over her head.
Power rushed to her call from Al Hanthis, conduits forming to carry even more energy, her own personal power shaping those conduits to form a single titanic attack spell. 'All Guard,' Szash broadcast, 'Bombardment in ten seconds, clear to my altitude.' Caught up in the moment, seeing Hayate just getting into position to resume her own attack run, Szash released her spell, "l'Arc en Ciel," she saw when Hayate heard her, saw the disbelief on the other woman's face as the ribbon of runes formed in the air and reality itself trembled before her, "fire!"
00000
Hayate had almost had Szash open to a binding, almost managed to end the fight, when Szash's remaining body-guard managed to redirect Reinforce's Ragnarok Breaker.
That had been incredibly aggravating. Szash was not as fast and canny as Signum and Vita, about as quick as Laura, but the General had been almost completely defensive once Hayate closed. The perception, speed and strength enhancements of the Seraph spell had allowed Hayate all the time in the world to see Szash's moves coming and react long before those moves were effective, had let the Sword of Light slice through every barrier with ease. But it had not, quite, been enough.
When Szash started building her attack spell, Hayate and the Sword both began casting counters, a shield in her case, Sunspike in the Sword's case. But when Szash uttered those unbelievable words, Hayate could not believe it. No one could call down a l'Arc en Ciel, the weapon system was a massive construction that required a starship's power plant. Sara's Armageddon spell might be able to match it, through the amplification and resonance effects, but Szash was no Deva mage.
It was possible it was a bluff, but Hayate realized she could not take the chance. She was between Szash and Hong Kong – closely enough, at least, given l'Arc en Ciel's blast radius. Her children were in the strike zone, her family and friends, and thousands of mundane infantrymen who had no concept what was about to happen. Hayate had to find a way to stop that spell, and even as Szash unleashed precisely what she had announced, Hayate put herself squarely in the blast's path.
She reached deep into Sara's bequest, and the Sword's archive responded with its usual instant surety, "Hellgate."
00000
Szash expected anything, up to and including the noble but futile response of trying to block the l'Arc en Ciel. But the spell, a relic of Warlords Era, was the penultimate offensive magic. Only by tapping into the generators in Al Hanthis tasked specifically for her use could Szash cast it. No one but the general of the Guard could slave that many generators together, and she did not even consciously know the spell, it was buried in her implants' programming, triggered by codes she, Gali, and Eri shared, codes they had only released to her moments before teleporting to Hong Kong.
The l'Arc en Ciel formed perfectly, and the power of it blasted out fit to end the city below, and more besides. The beam was huge, larger than any tower in the city, so bright it made the sun seem dark. It left her weak in the knees, being the conduit for energies so far beyond human capabilities. But the spell was cast, the first time she had actually used it, and she started to understand why the Conclave of Masters so feared the General of the Guard. It felt so good, so powerful, casting that spell, like she was unstoppable, untouchable.
Careful, she warned herself, you're starting to sound like Yosho on a bad day.
An oddity in the beam path caught her attention a second later, and then any sense of invincibility faded. The l'Arc en Ciel beam was collecting in a point, drawing in to a smaller and smaller area, but not progressing any further. When the titanic blast finally ended, there was a moment of stillness as the last energies faded into the point.
Standing at that point, held in the air as much by her body-guard and a man in white as by her magic, one hand ending in a whirling blackness that slowly faded, was Hayate Yagami.
'You may have your city behind you,' Hayate told her, 'but I have faith in the universe that loves me. It appears the universe loves me more than your city supports you, General. Who is not up to taking whom, I wonder?'
Szash almost answered, but a wave of white crashed over her, and her implants went berserk. The world went mad around her, whirling insanely, and it took her precious seconds to realize her magic was simply gone, and that the wind in her ears was her falling from over three thousand meters up towards a very rocky looking island.
'Gali!' She could not tell if her mental shout reached him, if anything was working, 'Pull us out, all of us! Emergency retrieval!'
Eri managed to fall close enough to be reassuring, and past the nausea and generalized pain of whatever the hell had just happened, Szash managed to flatten herself out, increasing her body's drag through the air. It would not slow her enough to survive the fall, but it might buy Gali the time to react.
She never felt the teleport take hold, but she definitely noticed the transition from Hong Kong airspace to Al Hanthis retrieval bay when she slammed into the protective shields. They absorbed the impact of her velocity, and sound of more people thudding into the 'soft' barriers at least let her know someone shared her pain.
She took a minute to herself, catching her breath and recovering her wits. The shock of seeing Hayate absorb that blast, then abruptly loosing her magic and connection to Al Hanthis, was quite the depressing counterpoint to how much she had been enjoying the battle. Szash was used to challenges, but this was the first time she had ever faced someone who was her magical equal, but did not outrank her, or have more seniority. This had been the first time she had faced an equal in real combat, and the ending could hardly be called decisive.
She was just thinking of getting to her feet when she realized that the commotion around her was not what it should have been. There should have been calls for healers, groans from the injured and those retrieved so roughly, post-battle grousing and boasting. Instead, the shouting sounded like damage control parties, and there was an acrid stench in the air. Getting her bearings, she found the retrieval room a disaster area, kinetic absorption shields flaring and flickering, circuits arcing under damaged panels, and not nearly enough members of the Five-oh-First picking themselves up off the floor.
She swore once, then dove into the chaos, Eri at her heels. She had to get the people here clear of the drop-routes for incoming survivors, and the faster she got people out, the faster the injured could get to the healers and the technicians could get in to make repairs. Figuring out what had happened could wait.
00000
Natalia's hand was shaking a little as she fit the key in the apartment door's lock, but it was a familiar routine, and she managed to get the door open. Gesturing for the Protector who had accompanied her form the hospital to follow, she walked into the apartment. "Babushka? It's Natalia."
She heard a chair shift in the kitchen, then her grandmother's surprised voice, "Little Natalia? What are you doing here? I thought you were going to Hong Kong?"
"I did, Babushka," Natalia told her, "but plans have changed."
Her grandmother came out of the kitchen, a little unsteady, looking confused, but eyes still sharp. She took a long hard look at Natalia's escort, and confusion faded into a frown. "Natalia? Who is this, and why are you here? Did Hong Kong turn out that poorly?"
Natalia flinched, remembering Cid-chan's collapse, Niranjana's panicked attempt to save herself, but pushed the pain aside. "It turned out about how I expected, worse than it should have. Listen, Babushka, we need to go. You can't stay here anymore, Babushka, it isn't safe. I've made arrangements for us, all of us."
"Go?" Her grandmother actually laughed at that, "Go where? Little Natalia, I'm not going anywhere! I raised your father in this apartment, I raised you in this apartment, why would I want to go anywhere? How could it not be safe? No one comes in this building, no one here has anything worth making trouble over, and even if they did, I've known everyone in this building for decades! You know that."
Natalia shook her head, "Babushka, the people who will come for you soon are not street thugs or government agents. They will float through the walls and take you, no one the wiser. Please. We have to go. I've made arrangements, but we're pressed for time."
Her grandmother's eyes widened slightly, then fixed on her escort. "Made arrangements?" There was no joking in her voice now, just growing fear, "Made what arrangements? Little Natalia, what have you done?"
Natalia flinched, "What I had to do, Babushka, for you and for Sasha. Al Hanthis will help him, better than any of the so-called doctors here, more than Hayate ever tried to. They'll help you, too. But we can't stay here, Babushka. We have to go. The only place safe for us is Al Hanthis. They'll..."
"No."
The abrupt denial hurt, and shook Natalia. "Babushka?"
Her grandmother shook her head, "I am not leaving my home, Natalia. Al Hanthis, that is the city, yes? The fascists who conquered Egypt for being in the way? Why would you have anything to do with them? Sasha? He would never accept this, whatever it is! Why would you think I would want to give up my entire life, just to live a little longer?"
"It's a chance to get him back! To have our family back!"
"At the cost of you? Of the life I've already lived? At the cost of helping these fascists? Natalia this is wrong. Sasha would not want this, not for him, not for you."
Natalia had to struggle not to cry, as she realized her grandmother was rejecting her. I should have expected this, planned for it, Natalia realized, but I can't leave her here. The government would hurt her, even if Hayate won't. Calling up her magic, she started to wrap her grandmother in a binding, when her escort's hand clamped painfully on her shoulder.
In surprisingly clear Russian he told her, "She has declined our offer, Adept. She has that right. Your brother has been retrieved, it is time for us to depart."
This time, Natalia could not push the pain and fear aside. Her attempt to save her brother and her grandmother was falling apart. Her grandmother was choosing to die, preferred to abandon her just when she found a way to save everyone...
Natalia did not even notice her stance shifting, her face smoothing into a smirk. She barely noticed the odd shimmer the world took on, that sense of remove, as Precia settled into place. "So be it, Mother Morisovitch. You choose to reject my attempt to save you, so it appears I must let you pass from this world. Thank you for all you have done, I will be sure to remember you to Sasha when he wakes." Then she turned and strolled out the door, ignoring the shocked old woman behind her, and the screaming, sobbing voice in the back of her mind.
There was no time for such histrionics, with her goal so close to hand.
00000
Maunders knew as soon as the blasted machine triggered that the EMP spell was formed wrong. That was not surprising – Hughes had cooked it up, and while she had helped, he was worlds away a better mage than she was. All of the underlying 'why' and 'how' had been beyond her, the subtle details that made it work like it was supposed to. The spell should have left her completely unaffected, but instead had affected her terribly. It may even have fed back on itself.
Flailing weakly on the ground, trying to overcome the aching weakness and nausea left by the EMP spell, the terrifying lack of any feel of magic around her, she knew it had worked partly. The sounds of battle had changed, roar of busters and flaring of shields disappearing while gunfire increased. But the whole point had been to get away, and now she could barely move, while her people were no doubt running for cover. EMP's effects would fade, and she had no idea how quickly given the failed nature of the spell, so Thorngrave was no doubt falling back even then, taking her hope of survival with him.
The scuff of boot on concrete distracted her, from her struggle to move, and she managed to look up. She expected a Guard mage, ready to kill her or worse.
What she found was worse.
Early was scuffed up and a little bloody, but not too badly injured. He had his rifle slung over his chest, his right arm hanging loose at his side, pistol in hand. There was no tension in him, even as he stood well out of cover and stared down at her, just a flat sort of consideration.
Maunders knew precisely what he was there for, and actually laughed, sort of, seeing the irony of being executed by one of the men she had just saved. At least Hughes won't have to shoot me himself, she thought. The old man always was a little soft. "Should... have... shot you... yesterday," she told Early.
Early quirked an eyebrow, then nodded easily. "Yup, probably should've. Not the first time I've heard that, probably won't be the last, either. Sorry, Maunders," he raised the pistol, "at least you got to go out fighting."
Maunders watched the pistol come into line with her eyes, and sheer stubbornness made her reach for her own sidearm. She managed to get her hand moving, spastic twitches that were at least in the right direction, glaring at Jubal the whole time. She watched his eyes, saw only the slightest of emotion in them, and that pissed her off more than anything else. She deserved respect, at least, rage or fear, something, but he was just doing what he did, nothing more, nothing less, enjoying it just a little.
There was a flicker of movement just as Jubal pulled the trigger, and something white-hot snatched at the side of her head, wrenching it around and removing Jubal from her view. When she managed to force her head back around, Jubal was on his knees with his face in the ground, gun-arm twisted around straight up behind him, pistol nowhere in sight. Holding the former gun-hand was a man in solid black.
"That one will be far too useful to my musume for you to be allowed to slake you bloodlust, Early," Takashi stated, then pointed off to his left. "Arlain, you are in charge of this scene. I've got questions for Thorngrave, you can have him back when I'm done with him. I'll be taking Maunders as well. For now, clean up this mess and start sweeping for hold outs and injured. And get this thing," he shoved Jubal sideways, "away from me before I decide to do something permanent to it."
Maunders could not see Arlain, but Law appeared a couple seconds later and dragged an obviously disoriented Jubal off. Takashi sneered at them, then stalked over and crouched next to Maunders just in her line of view. "That had to be one of the most insane stunts I have ever seen," he said. "Congratulations, you impressed me. Jubal didn't, but I expected that. Stupid man, shooting his own comrade for saving his life. That's one of the major problems you Circle types have, you can't even trust each other."
"Should have... let him," Maunders said. "Trial now."
Takashi shook his head, "If the Circles attempt to harm you, Hayate will take you in. You belong to her, now, as well as the Circles."
"Only takes... the willing," Maunders countered. "I'm Circle."
Takashi chuckled and shook his head, "Stubborn crazy. You remind me of me. Come on, I'm putting you someplace safe until Hayate has time for you. You should be up and mobile in a little while, but don't go poking your nose anywhere it shouldn't. I've cleaned up a little since my last visitor, and there are some things in there you aren't qualified to know about."
He put a hand on her shoulder, and with a sickening wrench teleported both of them elsewhere. She expected some sort of hell-dimension, or a secret room in Hayate's school, or the Bureau ships in orbit, all of which amounted to the same things. What she got was a plain stone room, no windows beyond arrow-slits, basic furnishings, and nothing remotely modern, not even a light. Light came from a glowing pinprick floating at the center of the ceiling.
Takashi left her lying on a mattress, and a few minutes later a woman Maunders had never met came in. "Just relax, Miss. My name is Hypatia, Keeper of the Tomes. The Lord asked me to see to your needs while you are here. You disrupted your own linker core, yes? And a gash to the side of your head, I see. You should recover from the instability in a few hours, the head wound should heal well enough once it's been tended, which I'll see to now."
"Where...?"
"The Hellblade. The Lord has been doing some rebuilding recently, and created my sister and I to assist and to keep watch over his old homeworld." She smiled, briefly, "And to help keep an eye on his daughter, truth be told. Miss Hayate is apparently quite the problem child. Just relax, Miss," Hypatia leaned over her head, and began gently checking at the throbbing wound on the side of her head, "We'll take care of you."
Maunders did not really have much choice in the matter. Her head hurt twice over, her neck was screaming, and the arm she had gotten moving was almost as bad. She could feel her magic fluctuating, breakfast kept trying for a rematch, and she was trapped in a monster's sword. She was proud of her strength of will and toughness of mind, proud of her history of completing difficult assignments against tough odds. But she was also smart enough to recognize when to cut and run, and did not resist when Hypatia put her to sleep.
00000
Yosho returned to Al Hanthis in time to join the Conclave for the end of the battle. When the other Masters rose, debating what, precisely, had cut the monitoring feeds, though, Yosho remained seated. The Conclave had officially gathered informally to observe all the Guards' operations that day. Unofficially, everyone was there to see the attack on Hong Kong, eager to see the best the rebels could offer, for the thrill of battle at a safe remove. When Gali informed them that the Five-oh-First had been retrieved and the assault ended, most rose and left, chattering.
Yosho had greater patience, however, and was curious what damage had been done to Hong Kong. It took ten minutes for satellite imagery from the locals' networks to be retrieved and displayed, and longer for analysis to begin and be displayed for the Conclave. It was worth the wait as, whatever had happened to end the fighting, it appeared to have been just as bad for the rebels as for the Guard. By the time he left, Yosho was cautiously optimistic.
Journeyman Turo fell into step behind him as he left, but fell back a little as another Conclave member took up station to Yosho's right. "Disappointing, wouldn't you say? I would have expected better from Szash, especially given that she attempted the l'Arc en Ciel."
Yosho cocked an eyebrow, "Disappointing, Master Willan? How so?"
Willan was one of the more political Conclave members, fingers in every pie but not directly responsible for anything. Because of that, he represented a collection of factions and interests, some of them opposing, and was generally considered a facilitator if not quite a real power in himself.
The older man shrugged, "Well, Szash's plan was to destroy Hong Kong, but the city – looked like several cities, to me – is still there, essentially undamaged. Then there was her failed spell at the end..." Willan actually clucked disapprovingly as he shook his head. "I know she is young, but she has been Master Adept and General long enough to at least manage a proper spell. Some of us are beginning to wonder if, perhaps, it is time to look for a... more seasoned hand, in this time of trouble."
Yosho considered those comments for a few moments, just long enough to make clear he was considering them, then asked, "You believe Szash failed to cast l'Arc en Ciel?"
"Obviously. Had she cast it properly, it would have destroyed that city in the blink of an eye. Admittedly, not something we want to do often, but a demonstration or two would be quite effective. I have wondered why she did not simply employ that spell, now I know – she cannot actually achieve it."
Yosho shook his head, "You were watching Szash, Master Willan, when you should have been watching the Yagami woman. Szash cast l'Arc en Ciel perfectly, better than textbook. I'll admit, I'm not sure I could have managed such a strong casting were I in her place. But did you not see what the Yagami woman did in response?" Willan, eyes narrowing in consideration, shook his head. "Admittedly, it was not obvious, but I was watching the more esoteric sensor readings, not the imagery, trying to get a feel for how her magic works.
"What she did, Master Adept, was open a small, carefully controlled, and time-limited, portal. A portal directly to the Void. Something not even we dare attempt save under the most carefully controlled circumstances, and even then we have difficulty closing those portals. Yet Yagami just... tossed it off, in the heat of battle. No, Willan, Szash did not make a mistake. She was precisely right to attack Hong Kong as she did, to distract our enemies and to learn as much as possible about them. A war is not a matter of battles and victories, it is about knowing enough of your enemy to defeat them before they show up for the battles. Knowing them well enough to eliminate every advantage and strength they have, to exploit every weakness, until they surrender or are eliminated themselves. Hong Kong has given us a great deal of information. As will the next target, and the next. General Szash will retain my complete support, especially given how well her plans have worked to date.
"Besides, it is not wise to change commanders in the middle of a conflict. The rebels would use the delay to damaging effect. Better to leave Szash in charge of the Guard until she truly makes an irrecoverable mistake."
Willan frowned, but nodded slowly. "I think I see your points, Lord Protector, though I am not certain you are correct. Thank you, I had not considered what Yagami had done. L'Arc en Ciel is supposed to be unstoppable, after all. Hmm, yes, that does bear thinking on. Well," he shrugged and smiled, "on to other things, I guess? I understand you have... unique information, on the rebels."
Yosho cocked his head slightly, then allowed, "I may have more information than some."
"That would not include medical information, would it? Genetic information?"
Yosho's curiosity was definitely piqued now. Willan was a political animal, he should not have been interested in information on the rebels unless they had already won the war. "It's possible. May I ask why?"
"Well, an associate was doing some historical research recently, wondering about the last time the Conclave faced war such as this. She came across a few notations from even further back, regarding the Warlords Era, before the Masters of Vision formed the first Conclave. There were some interesting things in there, things we might be able to use, but they rely on what we now know is genetic information."
"You are not thinking of releasing an engineered disease, are you? That has been studied, extensively, and repeatedly rejected by the Conclave. It is simply too difficult to control a virus or bacterium once it leaves the lab. Mutations are too easy, and genetically targeted viruses adapt within days to target other hosts."
Willan waved that aside, "Oh, yes, yes, I know all that, and that wasn't where I was going. Horrible idea, that. No, this is a purely magical tactic, one that could remove a great deal of the rebels' leadership. Blood Penance, it was called."
Relived Willan was not suggesting something that would force Yosho to arrest him on the spot, the Lord Protector asked, "Would you be willing to send me what you have found on this?"
"Certainly Lord Protector. Do you think you have the information necessary, though?"
"I couldn't say until I have seen the specifics for this 'Blood Penance', Master Adept."
"Ah, well," Willan looked mightily pleased, "Then I'll have it sent right over to you. It should be waiting for you when you get back to your office. Good day, Lord Protector."
Yosho watched the other man leave, then gave Turo a questioning look. "You wanted to ask something, Journeyman?" Turo looked uncomfortable, and started to shake his head, so Yosho held up a hand. "Turo, you should know by now that I don't punish people for asking questions. At a guess, you are curious about some aspect of the recent conversation. Ask."
"Well... Lord Protector, I was curious... I thought you wanted General Szash replaced. The two of you... well, sir, you both clash frequently. Would it not be easier to have a General more sympathetic to the Protectors?"
Yosho shook his head, and resumed walking. "No, Journeyman, it would not. The Protectors and the Guard are separate for a reason. No one wants another Warlord, not even Szash and I, for all our frequent mutual accusations. It is for that same reason that the Protectors and the Guard are so often in competition, so often antagonistic, and why no Lord Protector has ever served in the Guard, and no General has ever served as a Protector.
"But in this case... you are right that Szash and I are adversaries, in the Conclave. That is the point, though – in the Conclave. Szash is too young, too straight forward, to understand just how delicate things are in the Conclave, how carefully we must move, how political power works. It's not her fault, the very personality traits which blind her to the Conclave's subtleties make her an excellent General, and she will come to understand the Conclave in a few decades, when she has proper experience.
"The twist is, she is an excellent General. Look at her plan for conquering Homeworld – it's a brilliant exercise of limited resources to achieve maximum results. It is risky, yes, and highly dependent on keeping momentum, but she has already secured enough territory, people, and resources to vastly improve our security and comfort. The Guard loves her, and her going to Hong Kong personally will solidify that loyalty. Then there is experienced.
"I will be honest, she became General mostly because no one else remotely qualified wanted the post. We were stuck in the Void with no way home, who was there to defend against? So she became the youngest General of the Guard in Al Hanthis' history. She's still young for the post, technically, but she has been General for twelve years. The Guard knows her, she knows them, and the entire plan is hers.
"No, as General, Szash has my complete and willing support. It is in the Conclave and matters outside the Guard, such as diplomacy, espionage, and manipulation of our enemy, that I attempt to limit Szash's authority and power. She is an excellent General, but she has yet to develop the skills to be anything else."
"I think I understand, sir," Turo said slowly. "You are letting her be what she is best at, while protecting her and Al Hanthis from her inexperience."
Yosho smiled, glad he had taken the young journeyman on as a protégé of sorts. He was young, and not 'brilliant', but he had the sort of loyal intelligence that was far more valuable. "Precisely, Turo. Now, however, think about this. Why did Master Adept Willan offer to send me the Blood Penance information, instead of asking for the genetic data to use the Penance himself? Something to consider, while we look it over."
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"While many people would claim, in the immediate aftermath, that the battle of Hong Kong was ended with a nuclear exchange, that is patently false. Many pre-War buildings remain in Hong Kong, and there were no lingering radiation effects, not to mention the survivors! The claim is understandable, however. Master Maunders earned her nickname of 'Mad Maudlin' not for claiming a device in spite of her upbringing, but for making her first use of that device a particularly overblown rendition of Hughes' EMP spell. Also for the annoyingly angst-ridden way she publicly reacted to it immediately afterward, but that's secondary to my current point.
"EMP is still not a very widely known spell, because most mages are justifiably terrified of it, and both the Empire and Bureau treat the spell as a Class One Lost Logia in its own right. Hughes' original version would be sufficient to cripple any mage caught in the blast zone for several minutes, even device mages are disabled for several seconds. With a device powering it, instead of an un-enhanced mage, the effect Hughes created to clear a large room or small building was significantly greater.
"From the position half a kilometer from Hong Kong Island's north shore, Maunder's EMP spell reached out in a perfect sphere almost to the old British territorial border. Every mage in that area, every mage, was instantly stripped of their power, most rendered unconscious. While Hayate and Takashi regained their power in mere minutes, and outside sources managed emergency teleports within a few seconds, her friends and students required an average of thirty minutes, and most mages would not regain the ability to call on or control their magic for several hours. For the entire course of the war, Hong Kong would remain the worst day for Circle casualties, simply because of how many in the wolfpacks lost power at altitude, and how many mages generating the wolfpacks were violently severed from the rituals. Beside that, the peripheral damage to the city's electrical grid and the PLA's equipment was negligible, not even to the level of a true, nuclear, EMP."
– the Dark Witch, personal historian to the First Emperor, as quoted in a live-broadcast interview on Founding Day, Year Thirty.
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Author's Note 1: 'Ichigo' means both 'first born son' and 'strawberry' in Japanese, and both are used as names, the former for boys, the latter for girls. Hence, Toushiro's nickname for Ichigo, 'Berry', is calling him 'girlie' and yet is a perfectly legitimate shortening of the name... sort of. Also, don't remember who guessed it, but 'Mad Maudlin' is not Allison, it's Maunders.
Author's Note 2: the l'Arc en Ciel spell Szash used is almost exactly the same as the Bureau cannon of the same name, and fills much the same role – it is Al Hanthis' version of a WMD. While Al Hanthis uses it as a spell, the Bureau built a cannon to replicate it, primarily because no human can generate that much power (except maybe Hayate, Takashi, & Kriegsen). Story-relevant details will be in the next few chapters as Hayate & Co recover from the battle, but the short version is, the Al Hanthis mages' implants grant them extra power not only through their linker cores, but also through power relayed from artificial generators in Al Hanthis.
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Tombadgerlock: Chrono may not be ice-aspected himself, but w/ Durandall he comes closer than anyone else, so... shrug close enough for government work:). As for Hayate & Reinforce-Zwei, do remember that the entire Deva series is based on Nanoha and Nanoha As, almost exclusively. The only parts of StrikerS or the mangas I have or will use is the Bureau's mage-rank structure, and I may (BIG maybe) use the existence of non-intelligent devices. I wasn't entirely sure about the opening scene last chapter, as it felt a stilted and repetitive, but at the same time getting into a device's thought process was too much fun.
Lady Sekhmet Ka: I'm glad you liked Saraswati's PoV, and I was waiting to unleash Megan's dragon form... that one's going to be all sorts of fun.
Baughn: You are right, Natalia's actions are stupid, but then that describes pretty much the entire human race, so she's in good company. Whether or not Yosho can follow through will play a part in the future chapters, though, good and bad. As for the AI controls, call it a personal theory – anyone building an AI with the sort of power the devices display is going to put in safeguards, and take it as given that ALL the devices have similar controls, except possibly the Sword of Light, the Hellblade, and Panzerfaust. The 'command protocols' are similar in purpose to the multi-key coded locks used on nuclear weapons, if not as extreme, and exist for much the same reason. Remember, both the Bureau and the Circles have historical experience (and the Bureau has current experience!) with out-of-control magically empowered machines doing incredible damage. You can talk about making the AI want something or not want something, but AI's by their very nature will grow and change – look at what Raising Heart & Bardiche ask for in As. Whether AI works that way or not is immaterial, in the face of justifiable concerns by those who make & regulate devices, though I will admit that, as I see them, the 'command protocls' are rather basic and brute-force approach. On the other hand, look how well all those safeguards and limiters worked when the AI noticed them... There will be some severe repercussions for Niranjana, though she's not at 'terminator' levels – I honestly don't think she has it in her to actually kill anyone. Allina might, but not 'Jana. I left out airpower due to two roughly equal factors – I am far more familiar with infantry and armored tactics & China's PLA capabilities than I am with air tactics and China's air power, and air-cover was supposed to be provided by the Circles & students. As for a warthog, that's actually not such a good idea in a city given how close they would have to get to go after Seed – flying a helo in between skyscrapers is doable but hideously dangerous when they're almost hovering, doing it with a jet aircraft at a couple hundred miles an hour is asking to crash. Aircraft would also be more vulnerable than infantry to the Guard's mages, as they would make big targets. You will see aircraft later, once the militaries involved can be confident they won't be throwing the aircraft away uselessly. Regarding Cid-chan, I came up with a brilliant plan for what was (and is) going to happen to her, and then remembered how much I picked on her in Academy Blues, so yeah, I feel like a heel. But she made too perfect a target for Natalia's betrayal – not out front where they would be under the teachers' eyes, not a fighter in the usual sense, sweet and kind and the sort of person that everyone likes. I'm not done with her yet, though, and while I will say the Book's linker-core stealing abilities are gone, Shamal has quite a few tricks up her sleeve.
Kell Shock: Saraswati (and HAL, they're programmed almost precisely the same) is the single most powerful device AI in the series. Other devices are not, quite, self-aware (Raising Heart and Bardiche are almost there, in my interpretation), whereas Saraswati and HAL are, with some kinks. On the other hand, Saraswati's 'virtuoso performance' has some serious drawbacks, which are mostly for next chapter. Natalia was already prepping her teleport when Shamal's teleport began, so it was more a matter of lucky timing (for Natalia, at least) than skill. Megan's real issue with her war form is that, for all the work she put into it, the Al Hanthis mages have put much much more into refining the Seed. Her ability to shift into a mythical form does have its drawbacks, but I'm a big fan of dragons of all sorts. Now her and Takashi, that would be an interesting fight. Natalia's rank in Al Hanthis is actually somewhat inflated, due to her device making her magic unique (by Al Hanthis' standards), and also due to the intelligence information she will (hopefully) provide. As for Cidela's strength – all Yosho listed as a price was 'the strongest', which can be interpreted any number of ways. Cidela has the strongest linker core among the students, and is the only student who's raw potential matches Nanohas – but where Nanoha has all sorts of skills and natural aptitude for combat, Cidela doesn't. As for armies – go ahead, exhaust yourself fighting Cidela's defenders, and when you're exhausted from your efforts, Cidela's magic will leave her friends fresh as daisies. When the situation gets critical, Cidela with Hippocrates can roughly double the effectiveness of a combat force. As for Maunders... I have plans for her, yes I do:).
MissGardenia: The Battle of Hong Kong was supposed to be the biggest collection of twists and surprises. There are a couple more coming, related to how this will end but nothing quite as extreme as Natalia's betrayal. Natalia herself I'm conflicted about – I've been planning this since the start of the story (almost made her the Big Bad, at one point) but I positively hate traitors, real or fictional. It's my fault, and I already know the price she is going to pay, but nonetheless she betrayed the heroes. Regarding the computers Saraswati accessed, if you're still confused, here's a short-hand list: Primary is Niranjana, Secondary is Allina; HAL is, obviously, Allina's device; Shiva is the Bureau ship in orbit enforcing the interdict; Asura is Fate's old command which is 'conducting shake-down patrols' in near-by space; Yggdrasil is the AI that runs Hayate's computer systems at the school; the Infinity Library is, naturally, the Bureau's main library that Yuuno ran; Beowulf Brazilia is Allina's pseudo-super-computer in her parents' basement.
CrimsonDX: I was trying to be as subtle as I could with clues of Natalia's nascent betrayal, but was apparently too subtle. You're the only reviewer who spotted anything. The AB chapter 19 comment was from Li, but he was thinking about the student he was overflying at the time (he was airborne over Russia on his way to brief the Circle Lords, during the winter break). The scene I thought would raise everyone's flags was the device activation – everyone else had their device activations presented from their viewpoint, but Natalia's was seen only from Allison's viewpoint. I hope she'll live up to your expectations as an antagonist, though as the above scene shows, she's not entirely comfortable with her new role. There'll be quite a bit of trouble for her before her story is resolved.
Skyfall v2.0: The hints about Natalia were very subtle, but possibly too much so. As I told CrimsonDX the biggest give-away was that her device activation was seen through Allison's eyes, not hers, but I've done the same thing in other scenes as well – shown traumatic events involving her only through others' eyes. Then there's the Precia persona, and her continued use of the Al Hazred/Al Hanthis elements in her magic. The reactions to her are going to be complicated, and she was close to her fellows, if not as close as they are to each other – remember poor Ichigo? Manders' situation is definitely going to be interesting (I've been looking forward to the above exchange for about fifteen chapters now:), especially when her nickname starts spreading around. You'll have to wait a bit longer to find out about Niranjana's injury & Saraswati's repairs, I'm afraid, but the term 'hack job' comes to mind – Saraswati's work is nowhere nearly as pretty as the terminator, or Al Hanthis' implants. As for big fights, here's one fight, and a partial illustration of one reason I'm leery of them – Hayate, Szash, Nanoha, Takashi, and possibly a few others are quite literally throwing around world-shattering power, which is simply difficult to write well. As for the Takamachis vs. Szash fight – just wait, just wait. I admit I probably should have given the fight some space, to build up the competition/rivalry, but had too many other things going on. I've got their last fight planned for the the end of the war. Regarding Laura's disappointing attitude – I'm glad your opinion of her dropped, it was supposed to. Laura's an incredibly gifted warrior and mage, but her fight with Li severely traumatized her, and she did screw up over Hong Kong. While she is mostly better since February, she has issues about taking a life which will probably last throughout her lifetime, much as Hayate and Takashi both have issues about family. It was not that Laura did not realize people were dying, or that death is part of warfare, her problem is a fear of taking a life herself. Remember she wants to be better than that, good enough that she never has to kill again. Akira showed her she is getting there, which is better than the probable outcome had he not interfered. Her 'interfering' with Akira was precisely what she was supposed to be doing, just not quite in the manner or location she was supposed to be doing it.
Taeniaea: Thank you!
Jade Eye's: Saraswati's changes were nowhere close to what I understand Subaru is like – remember, it was mostly nervous system damage, not skeletal or muscle damage. Niranjana's situation is drastic, but details will have to wait for a future chapter:). I also have plans for how people will react to Megan now, but those will be background for the most part, though you are right about Hayate's reaction to any shrines being set up.
MaZe-Pallas: Thanks for the compliment. But I'd bet you went and wrote that wikipedia entry yourself just to win the argument, didn't you? Admit it! It's a conspiracy with you and A Cannon! I'm on to you! /end sarcasm/ Okay, okay, in all seriousness, I'm big enough to admit when I'm wrong, Takamachi it is. I'll have to go back and edit prior chapters, but I may not bother with Path of Vengeance or Academy Blues. Call it a relic of the fan subs. I'm not giving up Velka or Raging Heart, though, I'm deeply and personally attached to both names:).
A Cannon: Glad you've liked it so far, and my apologies about the delays. Artifact of how I write, I'm afraid. The harder I try to focus on one story, the fewer words appear on the screen. You and MaZe-Pallas are conspiring against me, aren't you? I know it, don't try to deny it... /end sarcasm/. Yeah, okay, I hate admitting when I'm wrong, but in this case I'll own up. Takamachi it is.
AluciusDawn: Last chapter was quick because I was trying to work on something else, so naturally all the inspiration and drive was for this story. The Saraswati section last chapter was originally less about saving Niranjana than simply looking at how the devices think, though Saraswati's odd for a device. The three injured students aren't out of the woods yet, and I think some people are going to be angry with me for what I have planned. If Szash wowed you before, how does the above work? There will be a Takamachis vs. Szash battle later, but I have that planned for the climax of the war. As I've mentioned, I don't consider StrikerS to be canon for the Deva series, simply because I don't want to have to go back and re-write Path of Vengeance and the first third of Academy Blues to fit. But Nanoha and Yuuno in As were already ridiculous, and you're right, Yuuno managed it without a device. As for Hayate's power – she essentially created and dispelled a null-space and used it to soak up a l'Arc en Ciel. Admittedly, that was almost it for her, but she did it. The Seed are very tough and smart, their designed to be, as the (probable) next Side Story will show, but they do have severe limitations. There are some repercussions from Megan's new form, physical, magical, and social, but I'm not sure how to work all of them in yet. You are right though, that the support elements of the named characters has been hit hardest, though Maunders' EMP was not fun for any mage caught in it. As for Akira, in spite of my original intentions for him to be Takashi's inexcusable pet monster, he's turned out to be more interesting than I planned, so confusion about liking or loathing him is perfectly understandable. Personally, I dislike him, except when I don't.
elspaco: Glad you've enjoyed the stories so far, and thanks for the review! To take your three points in order, here we go. From Chapter 03) You are right that that Bureau has no real jurisdiction over Terra (it's been mentioned before), but Chrono and Lindy demonstrated in the first Nanoha series that the Bureau will intervene to prevent or contain a dimensional dislocation. The Circles' creation of a massive null constituted one such justification, and Al Hanthis represents, to the Bureau, a cataclysmic dislocation just waiting to happen. So while it is rather dictatorial, the Bureau would intervene, if not for other political considerations. From Chapter 14) The 'outside Nevada' quote is, admittedly, stolen from a friend. He said it almost word for word in an RPG years ago, and is a fond memory (though his punking off resulted in the party being sent up for execution instead of let off with a warning. From Chapter 26) I like Liu as well, and he'll be showing up later when Chinese troops show up again. Yussef's comment about Lanzhou was insulting, yes, but also questionably necessary. Remember there was a Circle Revenant there as well, so the reminder was aimed at both of them. Also, Liu was pretty quick to reject Yussef's assistance out of hand, which was insulting. Could Yussef have done better? Certainly. But he needs experience, like all the students. As for Jubal, well, he's Jubal Early, based on the Firefly character he's named for. I haven't seen or read Generation Kill, and won't. Everything I've heard about it, and its author, tells me it's not something I would be able to stand.
Rathmun: Thanks for the compliment, and the info. Regarding Cidela's name, you may be right, but I've only ever seen Ne/Nee translated as son/daughter of. Then there's the fact that Cidela uses 'Ni', not Ne/Nee. So, call it a faux-similar Velka term meaning 'child of'. As for the Imperial Family's place-holder name, yours is the third (or possibly a repeat of the first) that I found, years ago. Thing is, when I went to back-check it, the name had changed to Ha-something, and then disappeared from Wikipedia completely. Given Wikipedia's reputation on real-world facts, and the fact that I can't find it anywhere else, I came up with the following in my notes for Noriko, though it turned out to be less important than I thought it would: The name 'Asegawa' is a polite social fiction. Noriko is the daughter of Prince Akishino, granddaughter of the Emperor, and a minor member of the Imperial Family. Asegawa Noriko, on the other hand, is the daughter of wealthy parents who chose to send their daughter to a remote private school due to a unique opportunity. This avoids embarrassing the Imperial Family should Hayate's school prove a failure, and protects Hayate's school from the sort of scrutiny and intrusions which follow the Imperial Family everywhere. The media and people of Japan are well aware that Princess Noriko and Asegawa Noriko are the same person, but so long as the Imperial Family maintains the fiction, the media and people are obliged to observe it as well.