Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

-41 – Welcome to the Jungle-

Allison was actually looking forward to London, when Nanoha teleported the British Force from the school. She had teleported out of the Protectors' lighter almost the instant it was beyond the city shield's interference, only to be stymied in trying to reach the school by disturbances that kept destabilizing her teleport. The mood on the campus when she finally got home had been murderous, and she had thought it was aimed at her for being late or not communicating earlier, until she found out about the Americans' response to Potsdam.

She had not had much time to add her two cents to that particular issue, before everyone and their brother started debriefing her. In the four days since, the only time she had been able to count on having to herself had been the shower and sleeping, and not always then, given Laura's penchant for appearing in the most random places, and the eagerness of her classmates to make sure she was all right and, oh-so-incidentally, to find out anything they could about Al Hanthis. Allina had been particularly pushy about finding out about 'the imitator', though unlike everyone else she refused to refer to the network ghost as 'Halley'.

None of the debriefing had been hostile, no one thought she was holding anything back, and no one had yet gotten to critiquing her performance. But the constant questioning, constant reviewing, and expert efforts to extract every last thing she had seen, encountered, felt, thought, and possibly imagined was draining. She had thought she was prepared for such things after her many times explaining her latest fight to her father, but this had been on a whole other level.

The people doing the debriefing had been an interesting mix, from Allison's perspective. The two Egypt experts Hughes had sent, along with someone else from the American Embassy in Tokyo, were mostly silent observers. The only one of that group to actually ask questions was the man she had pegged for CIA from the original pair of 'experts'. There was also Vita-sensei, Tai-yu-sensei, and one of the Bureau Volunteers, an A-rank Enforcer named Reus. The Japanese sent a pair of Ground Self Defense Force officers, who brought with them a representative from the Chinese Embassy who was most-definitely-not-military-intelligence-just-ask-him.

But even that determined bunch had yielded to Hayate's insistence that Allison be left alone the day they all left for London, and the night before they left. Hayate-sensei had offered to let Allison stay back and rest after her infiltration. She had been in the midst of strongly suggesting that Allison remain behind, when Allison flatly refused. "You and everyone else are going into harm's way, Hayate-sensei," she had said, "and you need every mage you can get. I'm fine, good to go, and looking forward to doing something other than skulking about and running away." After that, Hayate told her to take the night before they left to relax – no training, no studying, just relax and de-stress. Allison spent most of that night prowling around in the woods, hunting Meghan and being hunted in turn.

Now, as they burst into the air over London, she sighed in happiness. It was two days before the Seed were expected to arrive at London's official city-limits, before the Guard would show up, but now she was going to get to do something. That was worth gold, even if it did mean she would be defending the English.

'Girls, go with Fate to check in to the hotel,' Nanoha ordered. 'Volunteers, Dogs, with me, please. We'll check in with the British commanders and arrange to scout the city and their positions.'

Allison watched the larger force fly off with only a little envy. Unpacking was necessary, but hardly the most exciting task. She also did not quite trust the Circle device-users, who had taken on the 'Black Dogs' moniker for themselves after Laura slipped up and called them 'lambs' to their faces. The Circle mages were behaving, mostly, but their skills with their devices were sub-par, and, like all Hayate's second-years, Allison expected betrayal from the Circles at any time.

Following Fate down and north towards the hotel the British Army had arranged for them, Allison considered what she could see below her. London had much more warning than Hong Kong, but was not as thoroughly evacuated. A lot more of the British population had elected to remain in the city, despite official orders, and the government was having a devil of a time convincing people that their hunting shotguns were not going to help against Seed and Guard mages. Worse, in their way, were those taking advantage of the evacuated city to help themselves to other people's homes, but the Army was putting a stop to that through simple all-pervasive presence.

There were a lot of troops moving about down there, mostly on foot but a fair amount of military vehicles. Unlike Hong Kong, the longer lead time meant there were quite deliberate barricades being built across roads, in parks, against open-work fences, anywhere a kill-zone could be created. Most of those working and walking down below stopped to watch them pass, and a couple of the soldiers pointed weapons in their general direction, but no one actually fired.

Fate got them checked in, and the six of them – Fate, Allison, Juliet, Megan, Allina, and Laura – took a few minutes to get themselves settled in. Signum had decided that, given the Guard's manifest problems with close quarters combat, it made sense to splat their close-quarters combatants into two groups, one in each city. The Wolkenritter would be with Hayate-sensei over New York, while Laura and the girls were assigned to ground support in London under Nanoha and Fate. Signum's plan broke down a little there – the students were all on ground-support duty, not supposed to go after the Guard, but all of them knew that was a polite fiction. The Guard would reach ground level at some point, and the students would be the best bet to face them. Allina was sort of the odd-girl-out, but she had refused to remain behind with Niranjana. Unlike her mistress, Saraswati was mostly repaired, enough to be functional, and Allison had no doubt the two of them had something nasty planned for the Guard that was going to be handled by Allina in London.

The real surprise to Allison, and apparently to Laura, had been Noriko. Looking back, Noriko and Hayate-sensei had given hints all along that Noriko would be remaining at the school, but the day before they left she had finally outright stated it. "I'm the last of my family, Laura," she said, "Emperor of Japan. I cannot put myself at such a risk. Bad enough if I died – my death would be honorable and rouse Japan even further, however difficult it would make things for the government afterwards. But what if I were to be captured? What if Al Hanthis took me prisoner? I can't go. I wish I could, and when the time comes to strike at Al Hanthis itself I will be there, but I can't go for anything less than that."

Laura had just stared at her for a good twenty or thirty seconds, and Noriko had been fidgeting before she actually reacted. Laura had slumped a little, then stiffened and set her shoulders. "All right, then. Juliet, I'm gonna need you for at least an hour, go over my plans for London. You, too, Allison. You two are going to have to pick up the slack…"

"Wait, wait, Laura," Noriko interrupted. "I'm not going, I didn't say anything about you."

Laura shrugged, "I can't protect you from half the planet away. If you're not going, I'm not going."

That actually left Noriko flabbergasted. It had been obvious since Hong Kong that Laura was itching for another go at the Guard, and she had been pushing her impromptu class hard to prepare for London. The fact that she had just let it go, so easily, was as surprising to Allison – and, manifestly, to Noriko – as Noriko's initial announcement had been. But Noriko had recovered quickly, smiling and shaking her head. "Laura, I am going to be here, on the campus, the whole time, helping Tai-yu-sensei with sensors and the teleport systems. There is nowhere in the world safer for me than here, even with all of you off in New York and London. You can best protect me by defeating Al Hanthis, by fulfilling the pledge I made to the world and fighting them wherever they go. You are going to London, Laura, with my blessing."

The conflicting emotions on Laura's face had been something to behold, and Allison honestly wondered if she would ever live down her response. She had burst into tears and tackled Noriko, right in the middle of the dinning hall in front of classmates, Volunteers, Dogs and all.

Now there was none of that, just bubbling excitement and focus. Even Allison could feel it. As she had told Hayate-sensei, she was looking forward to doing more than skulking about, and while they were not supposed to go hunting for the Guard, Allsion had no doubt she would get her chance to rattle their cages.

Once the girls had their over-night kits stowed in the two rooms they would be sharing, Laura got Fate's permission and four of them went scouting, leaving Allina to set up her computers in the hotel lobby. Laura and Megan went west, Allison and Juliet went east, flying along just above average roof-top height. Going higher was a bit too dangerous, as the Royal Army or Air Force – Allison was not sure which – was running helicopter exercises over the city, as well as using helicopters to lift in material from the northern half of the city to the at-risk southern half.

At Juliet's insistence, they followed Nanoha's instructions and checked in with the units setting up throughout the city. Where the Chinese had sent a single massive armored infantry force into Hong Kong, and planned from the start to sacrifice parts of the city when and as necessary, the British were taking a more drawn-out approach. Every unit in the British Isles and Europe that could be brought home in time had been activated and deployed south of London. As the French, Swiss, Germans, Italians, and other Europeans had done, the military had deployed small scouting forces and was coordinating with local civilians to locate the Seed infiltrating their way north, though none were on the island yet.

The Royal Navy (they would grudgingly admit, later, that there were some French ships drifting around as well) was having a field-day in the Channel, taking targeting from shore observers to rain fire on any Seed that approached the beaches. The Seed were fast and nimble, but the Navy was deploying trios of destroyers, with rapid-fire cannons to blanket target coordinates. The Navy would have to pull out once Seed started getting in the water in numbers – no one wanted to find out if ships could outrun Seed in confined waters like the Channel – but until then, they were quite enjoying doing their part. As one captain had quipped, "You want me to shell France, with the permission and assistance of the French navy? Who did I bribe to get this assignment and do they want more?"

The city of London itself had been placed into the hands of the five regiments of the Household Division – including the battalions of the Royal Guard Division, as the Queen had 'declined to depart the city at this time'. After watching Noriko in action, and how easily she swayed the Japanese populace, Allison could appreciate the Queen's decision, even if she personally thought it a bit silly – an eighty-nine year old woman was not going to be much help, unless she had something like the Kamikaze under her sleeve. The really funny part was, the Royal Guard Division was still keeping their traditional sentry routine in their red coats and bear-skin hats – and had announced that they would continue to do so through the battle, as a gesture of defiant pride.

The crazy-quilt of battalions, regiments, and divisions, made checking in with each somewhat difficult. They had a procedure, though, thanks to Vita-sensei – land near some troops who weren't going somewhere, walk up all calm and polite like, introduce themselves, show the passes sent to Japan for them, and ask for directions to the nearest unit command. It worked, mostly, especially when Allison let Juliet do all the talking. That lasted until they were nearing the ring-highway around London that was the unofficial cordon for the defenses. Juliet spotted a new unit patch, and they touched down by a traffic-control team, Juliet making the introductions as usual.

The Corporal that responded shocked Allison with his accent. "You lasses are the crazy kids from Japan, then?" The accent was pure Irish, if not the one she was used to hearing when her father took them back to Ireland.

She could not stop herself from saying, "You're Irish?"

The Corporal looked at her, and she finally noticed the black-lettered name-patch on his dark urban cammos – McTavish. "Las' time I went home I was, yeah," McTavish replied.

"Your mother'd disagree wi' that, Paulie," one of the Privates muttered, sounding just as Irish as his superior. The other two privates chuckled, and McTavish grinned.

"Least I know my mother, ya stupid mick. Now let's play nice in front of the kids."

Allison groaned and smacked her forehead when the collection of Irish accents clicked. "Irish Guard. God, I never did get why anyone from Ireland would listen to the English."

"Ah, we only do that on payday," McTavish said, then gave her a funny look. "You're American… You one of those loonies likes to play at IRA?"

Allison glared back at him. "I'm no terrorist. I'm a mage, not a Revenant."

"So what's yer interest in Ireland?"

It took a mental twist, after so long, but she dropped into the light accent she picked up from her father and trips to Dublin, Kildare, and Wicklow. "Name's Caeghlin. Father's from Kildare, 'fore he got a job in Utah. We go back every year or so."

"Don't look it," one of the Privates commented, "not wi' tha' skin, though the hair could work."

Allison rolled her eyes, "Take after me mother. What're you lot doin' guardin' the English?"

"They're not," someone new said, "They're upholding Ireland's honor and traditions. When they're not mouthing off wasting time talking up a couple kids."

The troopers stiffened to attention, but stopped short of saluting. "Sergeant Boyle," McTavish said, holding out Juliet's pass, "The lasses are from the Japanese contingent, Sergeant."

Boyle took the pass, considered it a moment, then looked Juliet and Allison over. "You two look a little young for this." His accent was lighter than the others, but still heavier than Allison's. He was a solidly built plug of a man, with black hair just going grey and a lot of squint lines around his eyes.

"You look a li'l old fer it," Allison shot back. "Sure ya can handle it, old man?"

Boyle's eyes narrowed. "Don't get cocky, lass. Seed'll eat you quicker 'en they will me and mine."

Allison smirked at him, baring her teeth. "Seed can't kill what they can't find."

"And either one of us can pound Seed into paste," Juliet added. "Laura may not be allowed to kill them, nothing says we can't."

Boyle snorted. "Bravado. Ignorant pride. What're you doing walking around down here? Go flitter off somewhere and stay out of the way."

Allison lashed out, swiping their passes back from Boyle. "We're scouting our zones. Yer unit command is where, precisely? We have questions for 'em."

Boyle glared at her a moment longer, then rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. "That way," he said, pointing down a side street and rattling off an address. "Two-story building right on the river, stone with red trim. Be quick, they've got real work to do."

The Irish Guards command staff were roughly between Sergeant Boyle and Corporal McTavish, as far as being happy to see them. They were more polite than Boyle, welcoming even, but not as cheerful and relaxed as McTavish. Allison handled the talking, and would admit that she probably did not manage as good a job of it as Juliet could have.

As they were walking out to resume their scouting, Juliet faded back to Japanese while commenting, "So… you'll be taking this sector, then?"

Allison swatted her shoulder, "Don't make fun of me."

"I wasn't making fun of you. But these boys aren't deployed across all of one of our sectors. You'll have the Coldstream Guards as well, and ten or twelve Circle wolfpacks."

Allison shrugged that off. "I can handle all of that. But I want to see if these boys can live up to standard or not."

Juliet chuckled at that. "Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? A teenage girl passing judgment on the combat capability of one of the premier military units in the British Army?"

Allison could not help grinning back at her. "Yeah, well, still have to make sure. They've got a reputation to uphold. Besides, I'm probably related to some of them. Take the sector south of here yourself?"

"I'd figure you'd rather have Laura for that," Juliet said. "More protection for your Irish boys."

Allison shook her head, "No, Megan's going to need all the help she can get."

"Tche, Megan's going to be a hundred foot long mountain of muscles, scales, and vicious. All she's going to need is someone to clean the mess out of her claws."

"She's a big target, though, and obvious. No, Megan's going to need Laura to keep the Guard from ganging up on her while she cleans up the Seed. You and me, though, we'll be down here in the dirt, where the only Guard that'll spot us are the one's we're taking down. So yeah, I'd rather have you south of me than Laura. Come on, let's go see who's down there."

00000

Signum followed Hayate into the city's Emergency Management Center with more than a little trepidation. Between the Rhode Island's strike, their initial response to Potsdam, and the reaction in the day and a half since Hayate's intervention in Potsdam, Signum was not sure the Americans would not try something as payback. The American media had certainly not been shy about blaming the damage to Potsdam, and the wave of Seed that followed, on Hayate, though the government had been circumspect about it.

Since their arrival in New York City an hour before, the Americans had been distinctly distant, and there were far too many Circle mages about for Signum's comfort. Even the agreement from their President to allow Hayate's people to defend New York had been stiff, formal, and distant. It had also been less accommodating than the Chinese agreement, restricting them to aiding the Americans' defensive plans.

Now, walking into the headquarters for the defense, Signum could not shake the feeling that there was a trap about to spring. She did not quite think the Circles would do something that stupid this close to a major battle with Al Hanthis, but the Americans had been equally stupid about Potsdam, and there were always Revenant fanatics to worry about. So her left hand rested on Levantine's scabbard at her belt, holding the sword ready to draw, and she scanned the area carefully, visually and magically.

The crowd of people was a disparate lot. Civilians in varying styles occupied about half the seats, but next to most of them was someone in uniform. The main room was a long shallow arc, the longest wall supporting four massive screens, each of which was currently showing six distinct maps of various locations in New York, each covered in markings Signum could not decipher. Permanent work stations were set in two arcs facing those screens, with another third again their number crammed in wherever they would fit. The floor was covered in a dangerous and bewildering array of cables that was only half-covered by clear mats.

Behind the work stations, separated by windows, were two offices and a conference room. Their guide – an Army Captain who had been formally polite so far – took them directly to the conference room. The woman left them there, but promised 'the General' would arrive momentarily. Hayate took a seat at one end of the room's table, and Signum moved to stand at her shoulder. Vita prowled the room, grumbling to herself while she looked over everything, while Shamal settled slowly into a seat to Hayate's left and Zafira parked himself at the door.

Signum was not entirely certain Shamal should be there. She was taking Cidela's predicament far harder than Signum would have expected, given they had known the girl barely a year and a half. Shamal had apparently bonded to Cidela just as thoroughly as she had to Hayate, when Hayate was a child. If that was true, Shamal's reactions to Al Hanthis, especially if Natalia showed up, would be unpredictable. But Hayate insisted, and Shamal had promised to hold herself together, so there was little Signum could do but watch her comrade's back.

Five minutes later, a small horde of Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine officers slipped into the room, headed by a pair of Generals, an Admiral, a quartet of Colonels, and a handful of junior officers playing flunkies. The two civilians – Police and Fire officers, from the uniforms – were almost lost among the crowd. Introductions were made around, mostly people the JSDF had told them were running the defense of New York. The only one Signum was interested in was General Truman, the Army officer with overall command. He was a tall broad-shouldered man, grey-haired and brown-eyed, with a solidly square face just starting to wrinkle. He reminded her unpleasantly of Admiral Graham.

As introductions were passed around and the various officers began questioning Hayate about the Academy forces' roll in the defense, Signum watched Truman. For his part, he returned that consideration, watching all of them in turn, listening with half a mind. It was not until the conversation turned to an argument over air cover that Truman interjected.

"We need the Apaches," Colonel Berwell insisted, "sure the Hellfires aren't much use, but those wing-mounted Bushmasters the Tenth Mountain cooked up make them the most effective Seed-killers we've got! Look how effective they've been against the stragglers!"

"We understand that," Hayate replied, "however they are going to be extremely vulnerable to the Guard. You have already lost five to Seed ambushes, and the Guard will not have to lure the helicopters to ground level to attack them.

"We do not know how many mages Szash will be able to deploy to New York, but my own forces consist of twenty-nine device mages, possibly thirty. Of those, seven are dedicated to ground defense. When your Apaches are flying low, Yussef and his Myrmidons will cover them, but they will be vulnerable to the Seed. Two more of my mages are solely dedicated to protecting the 30th Precinct and my first-year students. Even without attempting to raise a containment barrier this time, we are still going to be badly outnumbered. One or two tasked with defending your aircraft are one thing, but you are talking about an entire regiment of Apaches, some sixty or seventy helicopters, and you insist they will not be flying in amongst the buildings where the Myrmidons will be. Add to that the reconnaissance and observation helicopters, another twenty or thirty aircraft.

"I am not telling you not to use them, I am simply telling you we cannot protect them. To be honest, I am just as glad the Chinese decided not to bring them to Hong Kong. The airspace over the city is going to be very crowded and very chaotic tomorrow."

"What about four aircraft," General Suarez, the Air Force representative, asked, "slow-flying, most of their time orbiting fixed points, couple hundred feet altitude? Could you protect those?"

Hayate nodded, "If they are close together, one or two device mages could provide some protection."

The Circle leader, Wilborough, offered, "We'll have Circle mages aboard them as well. Not wolfpacks, but they can provide some shielding, warn of incoming mages."

"Four Spookies aren't going to make that much of a difference," Berwell insisted.

"Which does not alter our tactical limits," Signum stated, tired of his refusal to accept Hayate's response.

"What tactical limits? I thought those 'devices' of yours give you limitless power?"

"Your media and the Circles have grossly exaggerated our capabilities for mid-scale combat," Signum replied. "If we wished to be indiscriminate in the destruction we unleash, then yes, we could handle Al Hanthis' forces. Also, individually, you are correct – while some Al Hanthis mages can match and even exceed our power, even with devices, most cannot, and none of the Guard we are facing are us. We," she gestured to include Hayate and the Wolkenritter, "are experienced warriors, with well-honed capabilities and instinctive expertise. The Guard are well trained, quick with their spells, but they lack the mentality and experience to utilize those advantages. Individually, we can take any Guard mage short of Szash herself, perhaps short of her immediate subordinates, without too much difficulty. But that takes time, during which time those we are not engaging will be free to maneuver and attack you at will. It is not intransigence on our part, Colonel, it is normal human limitations."

"We will do what we can," Hayate said, "but we are here to stop Al Hanthis and defend New York, not to protect your helicopters."

"Tell me something," Truman rumbled, voice deep and rough, interrupting Berwell's response. "Are the Guard likely to arrive as they did over Hong Kong? In a group behind another of those impenetrable shields?"

Hayate nodded slowly, "Probably. It is a very secure way to teleport into a battle-zone. If the Bureau had the capability to deploy shield generators such as Al Hanthis uses, such would be a standard tactic."

"All right, assuming that then, given your individual superiority and limited numbers, would it be better to scatter the Guard from the start, or to keep them concentrated?"

"Scatter them," Vita answered. "Together they've got backup, and they're pretty good at that. Yussef's boys'll do it better in a couple years, but the Guard does it well enough now. They run in triads for mutual support. Break those up and they're easy to take down. Scatter them all over the city, their initial damage'll be high, but they'll be easier for us to take down."

Truman nodded slowly, then turned to Suarez. "Rafael, get Apollo airborne, make sure they're armed with those warheads Hughes' people put together. We'll go with your initial plan for them. Rich," He turned to Berwell, "make sure Jimmy's got the ground-station radars up and running."

"Done, sir," Berwell replied instantly.

"The birds are on standby," Suarez said while noting down the order, "they'll be in the air in an hour, on station in three. We can keep them there indefinitely with all the tankers the Pentagon sent us."

"Excuse me," Hayate said, "but what plan?"

Truman cocked an eyebrow at her, then smiled slightly and waved to Suarez. "Rafael?"

"Hughes' ACES people put together a sort of mage-chaff warhead," Suarez said, "apparently from rejected output from whatever process they use to make the ammunition the Black Dogs use. They embed the rejects in an explosive matrix, load that on one of the new-model AMRAAMS, and it'll create a short-lived cloud of debris that plays merry hob with you folks' ability to sense magic. I'm guessing you intend to take down the Guard's shield once they come through. If that shield comes down while they're surrounded by that chaff cloud, and everyone's attacking through it, they'll scatter, won't they?"

Signum grimaced, but nodded. "Yes, but we will not be able to see where they are going, either."

"A little confusion on your side for a disrupted enemy is a worthwhile exchange," Truman replied. "So long as your side is prepared for the confusion. Now that that question's out of the way, let's start working our way down in altitude, shall we? Miss Yagami, your people are going to be high-guard fighting the Guard. Could you spare two people to protect the Spookies? If so, please let Rafael know who. From there, what orders did you give these kids of yours? What can the troops on the ground expect to get from them, and how low do the Apaches have to be to share in your kids' protection?"

"We can spare two of the Volunteers," Hayate said, then turned to glance at Signum.

"Bates and Eskijan," Signum replied, "they both have some experience in combat escort roles."

"As for my kids, we brought the first years to assist with medivac – Didier is already talking with the hospitals in the city and your Army medical personnel. The first-years will provide him a wolf-pack, while two of our least experienced device mages guard them." Berwell started to object, but Hayate held up a hand, "that is not negotiable, General. Neither the first-years nor the device mages in question have the experience to be anywhere in open combat. The only reason I brought them at all was that they gave me their word they will evacuate the instant they are targeted by any sort of attack."

"Understandable, and I doubt two more mages will make a difference if they are as inexperienced as you claim. I thought all your device-users had some experience from Hong Kong, though?"

Hayate shook her head, "Not all of them." She had decided to honor the Twins request that she not announce their status. She had her own reasons for doing so, mostly concern that they would lose their father as well as their mother, but the end result was the same – none of them would mention that the 'inexperienced device mages' were first-years themselves. Not even Maunders' fellow Circle trainees were aware the twins had devices, as they never shared classes with any of the students. Someone might notice here in New York, despite the twins' attempts at disguise, but the secret hurt no one and might help in the long run. "As for the second years, given that I have sent all of Maunders' portion of the Black Dogs to London, I kept Yussef and his Myrmidons for New York. They are scouting the city now, along with the Volunteers, to get an idea of the troop deployments. I would like to have them talk to the various unit commanders, but that is not critical."

Signum settled back slightly, relaxing as the briefing and planning carried on. To her surprise, the Americans actually had some insight and valuable planning to add to their suppositions. To her greater surprise, they mostly listened to what Hayate told them, as well. Berwell's precious Apaches were shifted from directly over the city to north-west of it, to harass the Seed while the creatures approached the city. The Spookies were moved north as well, and the planned use of F-22's and Joint Strike Fighters for high-speed passes was tempered, turning the fighters into a harrying element rather than a strike force. As in Hong Kong, the battle of New York would be decided on the ground by the Army and in the air by the mages.

It was several hours later when Truman called the meeting to a halt and started people on fulfilling their new orders. The officers filed out talking amongst themselves, though a few did offer polite goodbyes. When Truman made no move to leave, though, Hayate stayed, which meant the rest of the Wolkenritter stayed. Truman's aide whispered in his ear a moment, then took herself elsewhere with the crowd, closing the door behind her.

"I have to admit," Truman said as he settled back more comfortably in his chair, "I find you rather surprising, confusing, and, to be honest, more than a little insulting."

Signum tensed at the last comment, but Hayate just asked, "Excuse me?"

"You're what, twenty? I was still at VMI when I was twenty, learning how to pretend to be an officer. Hell, my youngest is a year older than you, and she still doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. Not that her older siblings are much better, but still." He huffed, looking both amused and annoyed, and waved a hand at her, "yet here you sit. You're effectively in command of all Allied forces in World War Three, running your own school, and a retired interstellar law officer. Tche, just goes to show, it's never the kids with the starting advantages that do the best."

Hayate smiled slightly at that, "Ah, that. I am afraid I had some shining examples to attempt to live up to, and I was not disadvantaged. Despite being an orphan, I'm afraid I was quite the privileged child, by most standards. Even before my Knights woke. I recommend against judging anyone by the standards I have set. My experiences were a product of unpleasant necessity as much as anything else. I could either join the Bureau or go to prison, and once in the Bureau, I had to excel to ever have any chance of leaving. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time in the Bureau, but I learned early on that it was not what I wanted to do with my life." She giggled a little and waved her hand at the crowd visible in the main chamber, "too much politics."

Truman laughed at that as well, shaking his head. "And now you've gone and landed yourself in several of the worst sorts. My sympathies. But," the humor faded, "you and your people did passably well over Hong Kong, but this is going to be a radically different fight. Atlantis is aware of your capabilities now, and your force is divided. You think they're going to bring the same number of mages here and to London that they brought to Hong Kong, but you have not doubled your own forces, not with Maunders' Black Dogs so far behind on the training curve. So… no politics, no pretty words, no reassuring platitudes… can you stop the Guard?"

"Here? In London? Yes, probably," Hayate replied. "The Circle mages we have been training are not as far behind as you might think. The high skill level the Circles demand is never in doubt, their limitation has always been power and the ability to efficiently utilize that power. The problem is going to be where else they strike."

Zafira continued, "We believe they are going to strike south, seize more of Africa. Al Hanthis' goals appear to be territory and population with which to provide raw materials and supplies for their city. Add to that the fact that the current African nations are less stable than those in Europe, and lack the Europeans' military strength, and a southward move makes the most sense in terms of their demonstrated objectives."

Truman snorted, "What military strength? The Germans and French have the tech, sure, but not the numbers, not against what the Atlanteans have proven are needed."

"They are still better off than most African nations," Zafira said. "We believe they will move south, but Africa is one of the regions the Circles have penetrated the least, and where they have a presence, it is strongly Revenant. Only Japan and Australia have less Circle presence, but Africa has a higher concentration of active mages than anywhere else. Still, those mages we know about are both warned and have coordinated their efforts moderately well. The local governments are on alert as well, and what military forces they have are deploying even now. We cannot be sure of the non-Circle mages, but Al Hanthis' conquest forces will meet far more resistance this time than they did during Hong Kong."

"The problem is if they go elsewhere," Signum said. "They could strike east into Arabia, or north into Europe. Again, we have given what warnings we can and nearby governments are standing to alert, but there are problems there.

"We are fairly certain that Israel, Greece, Spain, and Turkey have all received covert delegations from Al Hanthis, but we don't know what those delegations offered or accomplished. We think more delegations were sent to India and South Africa, possibly to Brazil."

Truman quirked an eyebrow at that. "Has it occurred to you that, except for Israel and Turkey, you have students from those nations?"

Hayate frowned slightly. "Yes, it has. Niranjana's parents are already safely at the school, but Esmeralda's, Mercedes', and Juliet's parents all told us they were warned by their governments to lay low for a while. Juliet's parents took an offer of protection from a local mage, one not associated with the Circles, although Juliet objected to that rather strongly. Esmeralda's and Mercedes' parents both reported no contact with the Al Hantheans, but we are concerned about them nonetheless.

"Unfortunately, given the forces involved, we are basically limited in our options. We can protect New York and London from utter destruction, and allow Al Hanthis to conquer more territory, or we can defend some of the territories from being conquered and allow two cities to be destroyed. We do what we can, and we can defend New York and London from the Guard. Anything else will have to wait until we can strike at Al Hanthis directly, at the city."

"Any idea when that will be?"

Hayate actually smiled. "Oh, yes. Two months, no more. Noriko and the JSDF are already preparing a training area, and American and Chinese forces are being selected to go there to work up. In two months, barring misfortune, we will have a way past Al Hanthis' shield, and bring this war to an end."

00000

Yussef touched down lightly on the hospital roof a few seconds behind Didier. The younger boy was not as steady in flight as Yussef would have preferred, and his landing was more 'drop the last few feet' than a proper touch-down. Still, Didier had only been flying for a few weeks, and he was passable. More importantly, despite any unsteadiness, Didier was proving to be nimble in the air and very quick for his limits. He would never outpace anyone with a real device, not with just the training device Hayate-sensei had issued to all the first-years, but he was quick enough for the moment, and would be quicker with the wolfpack.

Yussef took a moment after landing to scan the skyline, noting weapons emplaced on every roof he could see except this one. Then he asked, "Got it marked, Didier?"

"Yes, well enough," Didier said. "The street-level sign isn't very obvious, but it's got more entrances than the neighboring buildings. I can find it again."

The two of them were scouting New York, learning the lay of the Big Apple from above and marking positions, just as Yussef had done at Hong Kong. The other Myrmidons were doing the same, but they were not touching down. Unlike the girls in London, Yussef was too uncertain of the Americans' attitude and reaction to Potsdam to attempt that just yet. Once Hayate-sensei had talked to the commanders and had a feel for the military's reaction, he would reassess, but for the moment, he and Didier were the only ones touching down. Even then, they only landed at hospitals and triage centers where Didier would be taking the wounded once the battle began.

It had taken some fast talking on the parts of Mercedes, Kaemon and Werner, but Hayate-sensei had agreed to let them try Mercedes' idea of forming a wolf-pack around Didier. Hayate-sensei had put a lot of conditions on it, including their security, the standards all the first-years would have to meet, and Vita's ability to find a secure spot for them in the city, but she had agreed. Didier had met the training requirements, learning to fly from Aria and Lotte, and learning how to hold a wolf-pack from Tai-yu and one of the new Dogs working with Maunders. The twins had agreed to limit their own role with their new devices to standing guard over their classmates, and the others had demonstrated to Tai-yu's satisfaction that they could provide steady support to Didier.

After all of that, though, Hayate-sensei had told Yussef that he would have the final call. With his Myrmidons covering the low-level battle, she felt that he would be in a better position to keep an eye on Didier, and to determine if the skittish boy would be able to handle it. So he had two more things to determine before deciding if Didier would still be in New York when the Seed and the Guard arrived.

Just after they touched down, a trio of people stepped out of the shelter of the helicopter landing pad, a man and two women walking over to them. Yussef pegged one of the women as a Circle mage, and the other two as hospital types. The man was wearing scrubs under a white coat, and the other woman was in a painfully sharp suit. The Circle mage was in jeans and a button-down shirt, with a black beret bearing a unit patch he did not recognize.

"Your show, Didier," Yussef told him. Didier twitched and gave him a frightened look, but Yussef shook his head and waved him forward. "I've handled the other ones, you just do the same thing. Say hello, be polite, let them know what you'll be doing, what you need to know. Don't let them rattle you – you're here to help them, not the other way around."

Didier swallowed, but nodded once and gamely went to meet the approaching people. Yussef was a step behind him, taking up Marcel's usual position behind and to the right. It felt a little odd, watching from this angle, but Yussef figured Didier needed to learn how to handle people, and this was relatively safe. The hospital staff, even a Circle mage, would be polite and helpful to someone offering help with the wounded, especially given how unpredictable ambulances were going to be. With every Life Flight helicopter in five states staging into New York, Newark, Long Island, or Bridgeport, one more would not make that much of a difference, but Didier could go places in the city the helicopters could not, and he would be far less vulnerable on the way.

Didier did not vary from the standard intro and information request, and despite the adults' attempts to get Yussef to take over and offer them more than Didier did, he managed to keep himself out of it. They toured the hospital's small ER and non-critical admittance entrance, and Didier marked where both those were, and was introduced to the nurses charged with organizing each entrance during the battle. They would be the ones he delivered wounded to, and he spent more time with each of them than Yussef would have. Still, twenty minutes later, they were once more on the roof of the hospital.

"Last one," Yussef said, moving to lean on the railing of the walkway around and beneath the helicopter pad. He noted that the Circle mage was still trailing them, then ignored her.

"Yeah," Didier said as he joined Yussef, staring north as if looking for the Seed.

"So… tomorrow, if the Seed keep up their pace."

"I'll be ready."

Yussef considered Didier for a moment, taking in the tense shoulders, the wide eyes, and wondered if that were true. He understood pre-battle nerves well enough from his own brief experiences, though he thought he was getting better at it. His older brother Omar had told him some stories from his teachers and some troops he had met that made more sense to Yussef now than they had before. The one that came to mind, looking at Didier now, was one about a corporal that never wore a helmet in battle, because however brave he was when the bullets flew, before then the man was always vomiting into the nearest container, which was usually his helmet. The question in Yussef's mind was, would Didier be nervous before and effective during the battle, or nervous before and a wreck during?

"Listen, Didier, about tomorrow…"

"I can do it," Didier protested. Hayate had told him that Yussef had the final say on his presence, and whatever his views on violence, Didier had quietly agreed with Mercedes – sitting in the Library and watching from afar as everyone else went to war was too difficult.

Yussef considered him for a moment, and Didier dropped his eyes in embarrassment at interrupting him. "Maybe," Yussef said, "just maybe. The thing is, tomorrow is going to be difficult, Didier, for all of us. I can just about guarantee it's going to be the hardest thing you've ever done."

Didier shook his head, "Not the hardest."

Yussef ignored his comment, turning his gaze over the city again, "You're going to have to be fast, Didier, pay attention to everything going on around you. You're going to be in and out of the combat zone, you're going to be chased by any Guard mage that notices you and every Seed in existence. And you can't fight back. In fact, that is your one and only unbreakable order – you do not fight, Didier."

Didier blinked at him, confused. "Um… I'm not going to. I… I can't fight."

"You're going to be watching men fight and die around you, Didier. You're going to have Guard mages trying their hardest to catch and capture or kill you. Some of those soldiers down there are going to ask you, beg you, to help them against the Seed. And you can't. You aren't here for combat, Didier, you're here for medevac. That is your job. That's what you've been working on for the last two weeks. You're going to see me and my Myrmidons fighting for our lives and for your life above you, and thousands of soldiers doing the same below you.

"You're going to be facing immense pressure to join in, Didier. Immense. You'd have to be more than human not to feel the temptation. Not to feel the shame of running from battle, of fleeing while the men behind you bleed and fight. I'll be honest, Didier – I couldn't do it, and I don't think you can do it.

"I can do it," Didier protested.

"Can you? It's human nature to fight, Didier, to defend your friends and allies, to protect those who will in turn protect you. It's human nature to feel shame at fleeing from a battle, especially one that you think you can win. The men on the ground are going to be begging you to help, and cursing you when you don't.

"I repeat, your one unbreakable order is, you do not fight. If I so much as think you're going to join in the battle, I'll have Noriko jerk you and the other first years back to the campus in a heartbeat. You aren't trained for battle, you aren't strong enough for it, you don't have the skills yet. Hell, if I'm being honest, we don't have the skills for it, not really. So, you don't fight, you have to run every time someone so much as threatens you. You'd have to be more than human to pull that off, Didier."

Despite the ostensible direction of his gaze, Yussef watched Didier out of the corner of his eye. Didier's confused look had faded through the speech, replaced by a sort of uncertain mulishness that would have been more familiar on Laura's face when confronted by Signum. But when Yussef finished, Didier just nodded. "I'm not going to fight, Yussef. I won't, ever. I'm just going for the wounded, that's all."

Yussef turned back to him, considering him for a moment longer, then nodded slowly. "Good. Stick to your mission, Didier, and you'll be fine. Vary from it, and you'll be back on campus for the duration. Now that that's out of the way," Yussef shoved off the railing and started for the north face of the building. "Five miles or so north of here is the apex of the American's primary battle line, where the peninsular blocking force and the Hudson shore force meet. It's where the fighting on the ground is going to start getting nasty, and where you're going to be called for first.

"Remember when we scouted positions this morning? Right at the apex, where the blocking force meets the Hudson shore force, is the First Brigade of the First Infantry, the Devil Brigade. Their command staff is expecting you. They've got a volunteer who you are going to go get and bring back here. Fast as you can, Didier. Get there, get him, and get back here. You do it quick enough, do it again on the three other test runs I've got for you, and you're on for tomorrow. You're too slow on even one of them, and you and the other first years go back to Japan. Understood?"

"Understood," Didier replied.

The silver bracelet of Didier's training device glowed momentarily and he lifted off, but Yussef held up a hand. "Keep in mind, Didier… the Myrmidons are out there right now scouting the city." Didier nodded, and before he could ask, Yussef grinned and explained, "They see you, they're going to shoot at you. Those are their orders for today, their training. They need to be able to spot fast-moving targets down among the ground-clutter, both to cover you and to stop any Guard infiltration attempts. You get hit, it's a time penalty, and evading them is going to slow you down. So be careful, and be fast. Go."

Didier paled at the mention of getting shot at, and hesitated a few seconds. Then he visibly steeled himself, and plummeted over the side of the building. Yussef watched him go, and was moderately impressed. Didier was moving fast as he could, but staying very low, lower than Yussef would have been comfortable being in his place. Low and fast was one of the best ways to avoid aerial pursuit, but it was risky and more than a little terrifying.

"You were a little rough on him," the Circle mage commented.

Yussef turned towards her, frowning slightly. "And that is your business because?"

She tried to give him a quelling look, but his mother and Hayate-sensei both did it far better, so he just waited. "We're on the same side here."

"The enemy of my enemy is not my friend," Yussef replied, "simply an enemy with whom I share a common foe. I have no illusions about what the Circles will do once Al Hanthis is dealt with. To be honest, I am rather hoping we can end the war without destroying Al Hanthis – they'll make an excellent counter to you and yours."

The woman looked utterly shocked at that, and Yussef chuckled a little. "What, you think I forgot you people kidnapping my friends and trying to kill my teachers? Trying to kill me? My people remember those who attack them, ma'am, and we do not forgive that easily. Al Hanthis is the greater threat at the moment, but the Circles are not far below."

"We're not all Revenants."

Yussef laughed aloud at that one, amused that she thought he cared about their internal differences. "The Revenants are not a threat, they are an annoyance and a foil against the Circles."

"Yussef." He twitched and looked up, to find Signum dropping out of the sky next to him. "You are being undiplomatic, Yussef. The Circles are not currently a danger to us. And I am curious as well – you were rather hard on Didier, while telling him to do what he would do anyhow."

Yussef took a moment to frame his answer, before explaining, "I was making sure he can actually do it. Didier's got the words down, the outlook, but there is a world of difference between being a pacifist at school, and being one in the middle of a war zone. Men have done it before, I think there's a Medal of Honor winner from World War Two that was refused to kill, a medic out in the Pacific somewhere. Saved a lot of lives, died doing it, but never took a life, never carried a weapon. Thing is, it takes a lot of spine not to pick up a weapon when everyone around you is screaming for you to do just that. I think he can do it, but I wanted to make sure, and to give him some extra reinforcement against that pressure. I'm as sure as I can be, without seeing him during the battle. Plus, this way, he has permission, such as it is. That'll help him stay out of things he has no business in tomorrow."

"Still pretty harsh," the Circle mage muttered.

"Harsh is what he's going to go through tomorrow. You, me, Signum-sensei, we get to hit back, we get to stand up and go down fighting. Didier's going to have to rabbit every time trouble finds him, and that is far harder, especially considering his father's disappearance."

The Circle mage frowned, "His father?"

"Akalé," Signum explained, and the woman winced.

Guillaume Akalé's four-day filibuster in the face of Al Hanthis' conquest had ultimately proven futile in its immediate goal. The Ivory Coast had formally surrendered to Al Hanthis on the President's order, after Parliament had been forcibly dissolved. No one knew what had happened to Guillaume, he had vanished out of the Parliament Building when it all came apart, spirited away by his fellow Members and hidden God knew where.

Whatever the formal legal status of the country, most of the populace of the Ivory Coast and the neighboring nations were following Guillaume's example, to various degrees. Violent resistance was being suppressed quickly and thoroughly by the Guard in urban centers, with Seed patrolling the countryside, but passive resistance was growing by the day. Few people were attacking the Guard or the Seed, but significant portions of the population were ignoring and avoiding them, ignoring and avoiding the puppet governments Al Hanthis was establishing.

Through all of that, the Akalé name and Guillaume's example were getting a lot of air-time and a lot of attention all over the world, and Yussef figured the man would be a folk hero, at least, before this was all over. Guillaume's example was resonating, quite powerfully, but the man himself was nowhere to be found. There were barely even rumors of sightings of him, though it was said Al Hanthis was hunting for him quite diligently.

Yussef could not imagine what that was like for Didier, but the boy refused to discuss it. Didier neither insisted his father was alive, nor mourned his passing, he simply refused to talk about it. It did not feel like denial to Yussef, not quite. He could not put his finger on why, but there was something off in how Didier reacted to conversations about his father, including at least one occasion when, watching a news broadcast touching on Guillaume, Yussef caught Didier smiling at the screen slightly. It could simply have been pride that, whatever happened, Didier's father had remained true to their ideals. But even that felt wrong to Yussef.

"Do not concern yourself with Didier's reaction to his father's predicament," Signum continued. "Though you are correct that tomorrow will be difficult for all of us. Are your men prepared, Yussef?"

"Still scouting the city, but they should be solid by sundown."

"Have them continue their scouting tonight," Signum told him. "The Tenth Mountain's Warriors and Falcons have been reporting fewer contacts with the Seed. They are spreading out and going to ground."

Yussef grimaced at that. The Tenth Mountain Division originally deployed from Fort Drum to Newark as part of New York's defenders, then had moved north as part of the effort to retake Potsdam. When the lead elements of the 4th Brigade Combat Team went in following Hayate-sensei's Armageddon strike, they had immediately run into an insane number of active Seed, and even though those Seed were obviously disoriented, the attempt by the 3rd and 4th BCT to retake the town had failed. After that, the entire Tenth Mountain had rapidly deployed north and east of Albany, then filtered south just ahead of the main Seed force, harassing them and trying to whittle down their numbers. They had been moderately successful, though usually suffering high casualty rates for every Seed they killed. The 4th BCT was still around Potsdam, actually, trying to locate the unknown number of Seed that had, instead of following the main pack, spread out from the town seemingly at random.

If the Seed were backing off from their advance, though… "They're delaying," Yussef muttered. "Matching time with the London force?"

"Fate reports the same thing in England," Signum told him. "The Seed crossed the Channel in the face of Royal and French Navy guns, and both countries' aircraft, then went to ground. The British Army is trying to find them and dig them out anyhow, but do not anticipate much success. We think they are planning a night attack, tomorrow evening. It will require moderately close timing, but this far north and at this time of year, both cities can be attacked simultaneously under cover of darkness."

Yussef shuddered at the thought. The Seed had been bad enough in Hong Kong, with the morning sun and a full day to look forward to. Fighting them through a winter night in New York was going to be beyond nightmarish. "That's going to suck," he muttered. "At least the weather's supposed to be clear… ish."

"Not in London," Signum replied, sharing a grim smile with him. "They're already getting rained on, and it's supposed to continue for a few days."

"Lovely," Yussef muttered, looking up as a green light flickered down near street level. He checked his watch, then frowned. "Damn, looks like the kid did it. Right, did you need me for something, Signum-sensei, or were you just checking in?"

"I'd like you to head over to JFK after you finish with Didier," she said. "The Air Force has some planes there, 'Spookies' they call them, that I want your opinion of. A pair of Volunteers will be there talking with the crews, but the Air Force is laughing up their sleeves about something, and I would like to know what before tomorrow night."

Yussef nodded, "I'll had over in… probably two hours. Bring Luke and Marcel with me, they should be good by then. For now, though," he lifted off and waved Didier up to him, "it's time for his second test."

00000

Notes on the military: The military units cited above are all real, current Royal Army and US forces. I won't guarantee that I got all the unit relationships and equipment precisely correct, since both armies don't exactly publish their Tables of Organization and Equipment, but I will claim enough accuracy for my purposes. The only one I'm really doubtful of is the count of Apaches and Kiowas, as I have been unable to find a reliable report on how many of each an air cavalry squadron or combat aviation brigade is equipped with. For clarification's sake, here's some basic info on the units.

The Royal Guards Division – Actually the Guards Division, this is an administrative formation that coordinates the Foot Guards who are responsible for protection of the Royal Family – the guys in the red coats and furry hats that parade around London playing tourist attraction. They're rather more dangerous than the parading about would lead one to expect. The Guards Division (and the Foot Guard) consist of the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, and the Welsh Guards. The three nationally named Guards units are recruited from their respective regions – Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

First Infantry – the 1st Infantry Division, aka the Big Red One, is the oldest division in the US Army, first activated in May of 1917. It has a reputation as one of the hardest fighting divisions in the US Army. Currently based in Fort Riley, KS.

The Devil Brigade – the First Brigade Combat Team of the First Infantry Division. A 'heavy' brigade, it has four regiments and two battalions. The battalions are, respectively, division command and support formations. The regiments consist of one each Armor, Cavalry, Infantry, and Field Artillery. Like its parent division, it is the oldest brigade in the US Army. Despite the similar name, this unit has no relation to the First Special Service Force, the famous 'Devil's Brigade', save being part of the US Army.

Tenth Mountain – The 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, NY. Experts in mountain and arctic warfare, this is a light infantry division. It's a little lightly armed to be fighting the Seed, but was the closest organized force. The 10th Mountain has four Brigade Combat Teams (each of three to six thousand men), plus a combat aviation brigade (helicopter support) and a logistics brigade.

The Warriors – the 10th Mountain's 1st Brigade Combat Team, consisting of two Infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, a field artillery regiment, special troops battalion (the Brigade command, basically), and a support battalion. This is the last major ground force between the Seed and the Hudson, deployed to harass and deplete the Seed, not stop them. The 2nd (Commandos), 3rd (Spartans), and 4th (Patriots) are Brigade Combat Teams with basically the same organization.

The Falcons – The 10th Mountain's Combat Aviation Brigade, where the Division's helicopter resources are concentrated, including Apaches, Blackhawks, Chinooks, and Kiowas.

Military Gear mentioned above:

Spookies – the AC-130U Spooky II, the latest iteration of one of my favorite aircraft. It's a big, slow, unwieldy, ugly beast of a transport plane fitted with a WWII anti-aircraft cannon (40mm Bofors), an artillery piece (105mm), and an anti-tank Gatling gun (25mm), all mounted for ground-attack. The only problem with deploying it against Seed is the probability of encountering Guard mages, whom it could not outmaneuver.

Bushmaster – The M242 Bushmaster is the 25mm chain-fed autocannon mounted in the turret of the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle. It fires smaller rounds than the Apache's chin-gun (the M230 30mm chain-gun) at a lower rate of fire, but at higher velocity. It's also small enough (relatively speaking) to make mounting it on an Apache's stub-wings using both hardpoints a possibility. Two months is plenty of time for Army techs to pull Bushmasters out of Bradleys in other parts of the country, ship them to New York state and figure out how to mount them on Apaches, giving the attack helos three weapons for Seed-hunting instead of one.

Firescout – a largish rotary-wing UAV, the Firescout is an Army/Navy design intended for reconnaissance. The Army's interest resulted in arming the craft, normally with missiles but also with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System – laser guided rockets that, at shorter ranges, will be as effective against Seed as RPGs and Panzerfaust 3s. A Firescout could also theoretically carry a small machine-gun. In New York they will primarily be used for spotting for the Spookies and Apaches.

Kiowa – The standard Army scout helicopter. It's technically unarmed, but carries a lot of sensors and communications gear, so its armament is whoever it can talk to. Most of its sensors are mounted in a big ball on a mast above the main rotor, making it look weird but allowing it to spot enemies without exposing itself. As with the Firescouts, their function will be spotting and observation for Army forces.

Apollo – you'll have to wait and see about that one, since I had too much fun writing the scene.

AMRAAM – Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile. Current range is thirty to forty miles, and the missiles are fairly reliable. Only problem with them is they're big bulky weapons, so most aircraft can't carry very many of them.

Desmond Doss – Yussef's reference to the pacifist Medal of Honor winner is not quite correct, deliberately so. Yussef's military trained, and knows history pretty well, but his memory's not that perfect. The man he was thinking of was Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector (of three to date) to ever receive the Medal of Honor. Never carried a weapon, saved 75 men (officially, estimates vary – he said 50, his commanding officer said 100, the Army split the difference) in one action on Okinawa by lowering them off a cliff under enemy fire. He also survived the war.

00000

Author's Side Note: As I mentioned in a review-reply last chapter, I'm making an attempt at NaNoWriMo. Fifty thousand words in thirty days on a totally new story. I've got a rough outline of a completely original work, with detailed outline of the first half or so, but it's still going to take a lot of writing. I can't work on one thing at a time, so I'll still be working on the next chapter for this, and a Side Story I mentioned, but I probably won't be posting again until late December. On the flip side, once I get the NaNoWriMo story done (tentative title – Step Sideways, and it'll take me more than this November), I'll be posting it chapter by chapter on-line, probably at if I can remember my ID.

00000

Kell Shock: Murders, murderers, what's the difference?:) That's fixed, to be 'murderers'. As for Armageddon seeming unimpressive, there are a couple reasons I did that. For one thing, it is a hideously long range – the only thing in the real world that can match it is a full on ICBM. Compared to that, even long-range sniper Nanoha, in series, was basically a visual-range combatant, and her most powerful attack is a straight-shot. The biggest reason, though, is that Hayate failed in her attempt to cast the spell. It went off, sure, but nowhere near what it should have been, or could have been. You are also right that the casting time is prohibitive. Hayate needed about an hour, though that was also her first attempt and she was complicating the spell by arcing the shot. The best spot to hit Al Hanthis from would probably be high orbit but not directly overhead, altering the line so a straight shot kisses the planet's surface right at Al Hanthis' location, then carries on back into space. 6K Seed on the loose is bad, but part of Seed programming is obedience to the Alphas, and Hayate did not get all of them. Enough Alphas remained (from initial wave and later activations) to get most of the Seed headed in the right direction. As for the Seed headed for Britain, the Guard doesn't bother protecting the Seed for those maneuvers. Travel to target can be accomplished by small groups of Seed, especially in this case, which are quite capable of looking after themselves. Some will be destroyed, sure, but the majority will reach the target. Remember, Seed are fundamentally intended for small unit actions, and at that level they excel. There are Circle mages cooperating with both governments, in varying degrees – remember, the Circles are part of most western governments and militaries, they're just usually a quiet part.

hignum: the details leading up to the combats are proving more difficult than the battles themselves. Most of the research has been making sure I get the units right, and that I get things like river and street names right. Cidela's return is coming, be patient. Natalia is into multiple personality territory now, yes, though I'm not sure her eventual fate will live down to everyone's desires. I think her fate is pretty vicious, but others will probably disagree.

GeshronTyler: Don't forget the Alphas – there may not have been many, but there were enough to keep most of the Seed strike force together. Also, Seed won't 'slaughter large mammals', as such creatures would not be on their threat list. If a bear attacks one, yes the Seed will kill it, but so long as the bear minds its own business, so will the Seed. Humans are another matter, to the Seed, especially mages. The US Army units are about as well equipped, and somewhat better prepared mentally for the Seed (they've been expecting an attack for a month or so, instead of a few days). As referenced above, the 10th Mountain have been equipping Apaches with pairs of Bushmaster cannons, using the three guns for Seed hunting, with (more poor, unfortunate) infantry to flush the Seed out of cover. The problem with cluster bombs (or any bombs, for that matter) is collateral damage – yes, such weapons will probably kill Seed, but it's easier to repair a lot of bullet holes than it is to rebuild a building, a forest, a road… If this was the US Army and US Air Force attacking Seed in, say, the Middle East, then sure such weapons would see wide deployment. But in their own back yard? Where their neighbors and the politicians' constituents live/vote? Not likely. There is a fairly broad stretch of the New York Appalachians that are sparsely populated, but that's a lot of space and you run into the same problem the Europeans face – small groups of hideously dangerous creatures filtering their way through rugged terrain. That makes the Seed hard to find, hard to hit, and hard to kill. 10th Mountain has had two brigades in those mountains for about a week trying to find and pinpoint the Seed for just such strikes. You are correct that all anti-tank weapons will have a great deal of trouble locking onto Seed, which is why the 'primitive' RPG (or Panzerfaust-3) is so effective. That lock-on difficulty is also why Apaches with 3 cannons are proving so popular. I'm afraid the US won't be deploying Spectres to New York, because they're using the newer Spooky II variant. I've long been familiar with the C-130 gunships, and they've been in the plans for the US since I started this. Things aren't done yet, and London and New York will only be high points for individuals, not for either side.

D.K.N.: Hayate's strike on Potsdam won't bite back at her, so much as leave some hard feeling floating around the US (especially with the 10th Mountain). Nanoha and Fate are leading the defense of London, and will play major parts there, though of the two I'll probably focus on Nanoha (she's got someone to 'befriend'). As for the situation with the Bureau, Chrono has a couple more things to do before there's a change there.

Daughter of the Ether: Jun's doesn't actually have a nickname. The format for the entries in my profile is Name – Nickname (if any), Nation, City (if listed), then whatever song or songs I have them matched to in my head, then any affiliations (such as Twilight Paladins, Myrmidons, Black Dogs, etc). Also, Jun's a guy, not a girl:). Natalia's not being taken over, though she might not be willing to counter the Precia personality's efforts, either. You'll have to wait and see what happens to her.

Nijiru: The attack on Potsdam by Al Hanthis was to get the Seed across the Atlantic without getting them nuked again – an uncontrolled release of Seed was never Szash's plan (remember her opinion of the constructs). There'll be a few more scenes from non-mage characters, especially amongst the military forces defending various cities, though I wont' promise where they'll be from just yet.

Templar Prime: The Nanohaverse (minus StrikerS) never struck me as big on summons, the closest to that being familiars like Arf and the Lieze twins. Armageddon is 'simply' a powerful attack spell. Several Alphas did survive, enough to get most of the Seed headed south. The loose ones (roughly a fifth to a third) are going to be persistent problem, especially if Al Hanthis' recall signal fails to retrieve them. I generally dislike time travel as such, mostly because it always seems to either hurt my brain, or use some convenient excuse to bypass half the logic of time travel in the first place. I will say that, while the nature of the Void makes it technically/theoretically possible to travel through time, and communicating across time is possible if difficult, actual 'time travel' as it is commonly understood faces severe practical limitations, so it won't really happen.

NoblesseOblige: Hayate's strike on Potsdam is basically balanced – Al Hanthis pulled back, and won't have the full Seed force they were looking for, but the Tenth Mountain was spared having to face hundreds of Seed backed up by ten or fifteen Guard mages. As for Al Hanthis' plans, they're doing just what they did against Hong Kong – send the Seed by 'conventional' routes, then teleport in just as the Seed attack the target. Minimum exposure for the Guard mages, plenty of warning for the target to get civilians out of the way and concentrate the mages Al Hanthis really wants to take out. Depending on the shield, yes, Al Hanthis can fire out from behind it. The stronger shields can't be fired through, but many of the personal shields are not all-surrounding, or are 'selectively permeable'. The city's primary shield can support 'gun ports' generated by the cannon mounts, similar to the one Hayate entered by when she visited the city right after it came out of the Void. Hayate cannot hover using her usual flight spells, but the energies involved in Armageddon supported her, like floating a piece of steel between several magnets, and yes, that put her under tremendous strain. I won't confirm or deny that Hayate will use the Armageddon spell against Al Hanthis itself, but it is one of the only ways to crack the city's shield. Worse than the consequences of failing, though, are some of the potential consequences of succeeding (collapsing shield generator overloads a power generator and presto – uncontained dimensional instability receiving lots of power all at once, leading to a very unpleasant 'boom'). It was a fine review, and thank you for taking the time to write it.

Haskell: The US failed to retake Potsdam, mostly because there were as many Seed there as soldiers in the 'relief force'. The Seed mostly left the town once the Alphas got them under control, and the Tenth pursued them. The various parts of the US government are unhappy with Hayate, but how much is dependant on which part of the government. It isn't coming into play, particularly, but the military's 'unhappy', while the politicians are 'livid'. It'll play out in the background after New York and London, though. Thanks for the review!