Lyrical Nanoha: Time Destruction

by HimeChaos

A new evil and a new enemy confronts Nanoha and her friends when Scaglietti is found dead in his cell. Elements of time-travel and an addition to the StrikerS timeline for everyone. Action-heavy plus NanoFate, with a wide range of characters to progress the story.

42. Rebellion

Gunfire and pandemonium were ablaze throughout Cranagan within minutes of Chrono's palace being evacuated. As thousands of people flooded out onto the streets, desperate to put as much distance between themselves and the devastation as possible, a distinct change had taken place in the air. Every executor stationed in Mid-childa had felt it: the sudden decline within the operations of the Harlaown Program, causing unexplained disruptions in the system which clashed with their usual orders and put the entire process at a complete standstill. For many of them, the collapse of the Program had come as no real surprise; they had always known this day would come. It had only been a matter of time.

With the realisation that Chrono's lifeforce would no longer sustain the Program and that those already fiercely opposed to the Program would take advantage of this weakness, panic and confusion threatened to break them apart from within their own ranks. Before that could happen, however, new emergency orders came rushing in from the royal executors who had previously served Chrono. All executors were commanded to follow a set, pre-programmed procedure to defend Mid-childa at all costs. If they could not maintain absolute control, then the world as they knew it would already have crumbled.

The voice of the royal executor stationed at Cranagan echoed in the ears of the marching executors as they formed a defensive line around the smoking ruins of the Palace of Harlaown. To an outsider, it seemed that they were protecting the palace even in its damaged state, but the truth was that they were simply using the great citadel as a central focus point.

"We have sufficient numbers to keep control of the city," the royal executor intoned, his voice sounding out to each of their communicators amidst a crackle of static. "Remember that the rebels you see are not a united force like us. They consist of a considerable percentage of the population of Mid-childa, and have been watching and waiting for the Harlaown Program to fall so they can fight back from all sides. Our information tells us that some of them are even previous executors who have defected from our side, making each and every one of the rebels especially dangerous.

"News of riots in Uminari City and other neighbouring cities has already reached our ears. If we can hold Cranagan, as is well within our capabilities, then we will be in a better position to send reinforcements to other cities in need of more support against the uprising. Do not lose any ground. Do not fall back. All executors have been authorised to use their weapons upon armed rebels, and if the situation calls for it, armed civilians as well. Do not hesitate to shoot to kill. The rebels' numbers are vast, but we outnumber them across all of Mid-childa.

"A select group of executors has been temporarily promoted to royal executor status for the duration of this crisis, and you will all take your orders from them. The prime directive is to not let Cranagan fall into the hands of the rebels. It is unlikely that such a thing will happen, but we cannot afford to take any chances. The capital city of Mid-childa is the centrepoint which will decide the tide of the battle. Conflict must be eradicated; control must be re-established. Only then can a reformation take place within.

"Now – march." The resolve in the royal executor's tone tightened into bold determination as it reached the ears of the wave of defending executors steeling for the attack. "March for the glory of Vivio Harlaown and the preservation of Mid-childa. Minimalise casualties to unarmed civilians where possible, but do not spare any who bear arms against you."

With that, the message began to repeat again on alternate frequencies to establish the new orders to every squadron across the city. In the distance, the riot fires had already begin to burn as the rebels took root in multiple locations all over Cranagan. A huge mass of people had formed from the centre and were steadily approaching the palace, accompanied by angry shouting and the sound of harsh gunfire.

The majority of the rebels were fitted with high-profile military combat gear and were armed appropriately, suggesting that they would not be so easily gunned down in the middle of the street. Some of them were dressed as executors themselves, but had marked their armour by a great "H" symbol with a cross over it – signifying that they were enemies of the Harlaown Program, thus differentiating themselves from the executors waiting at the palace. Some people were even marching out to fight without any armour at all, confident enough in the use of their weapons to be a part of this to the end. Men, women, even youths who were ready to risk everything to take down the executors – all were all out there on the streets of Cranagan as they marched in their thousands towards the Palace of Harlaown. The smoke rising from Kagura's attack earlier was like a beacon which attracted them all to the same point.

"Please remain calm," a public announcement rang out loud and clear over the noise of the uprising, addressing the people of the city as a whole. "There is no reason for worry or concern. Due to security breaches occurring within the Program, the city of Cranagan has been placed under martial law. The official curfew has been temporarily extended until military operations are completed.

"All citizens are to remain indoors until the executors have maintained control of the city. Failure to comply will result in arrest and may involve in physical harm to yourself. Do not attempt to approach, resist or attack any executors for the duration of this operation. For your own safety, we strongly advise that you return to your homes and await further developments. Once again, we ask that you remain calm and continue to co-operate with us. Thank you for your understanding."

Many terrified residents were quick to lock their doors and cage themselves inside within moments of hearing the announcement, being only innocent civilians who wanted nothing to do with the uprising. For the rebels marching outside, however, the words fell mainly on deaf ears. Chanting echoed back and forth down their ranks in cries of "Down with the executors!" and "Cranagan for the people!" Before long, some of the more fanatical marchers had begun to incite fervour in their companions, spurring them to bloodlust as they started to smash up shop windows and spring yet more fires around them. Several Molotov cocktails were thrown overhead in the heat of the moment, igniting a string of random houses as their occupants desperately cowered inside, powerless to stop what was happening.

An unfortunate cluster of small executor squadrons had been caught up by the other side of the city when the Program had gone down. Separated from the rest of the armed forces at the palace, they were quickly engulfed by the spreading rebellion and put to death. Their weapons and armour were grabbed up almost immediately, leaving them behind as cold bodies in the gutter as looters trampled them underfoot. Raucous cheers went up from the front rows of the uprising, and the army marched on.

Spurred on by these minor victories, the rebels continued to increase in size, transforming into a huge wave of bitterness and desire for vengeance created by centuries of oppression by the executors. For the people watching fearfully through their windows, it seemed as if nobody could stop them...

By the time they reached what was left of Chrono's palace, the rebels had already consumed a third of the city, with more of their numbers striking out from isolated spots behind the executors. The sight of the smoke pouring from the roof of the citadel seemed to excite them further as they charged forward, coming head-to-head with the executors.

"Get them! Kill the executor scum!"

"For what they did to us and our families! For what they did to Mid-childa!"

"Cranagan for the people!"

Grimly, the executors opened fire as the mass of crazed rebels came straight at them. As the first wave of bullets rang out, the ground exploded under the feet of the attackers with such force that it seemed as if the air itself had ruptured. Hundreds were blasted into the air as dozens of hidden mines were triggered just under the surface, slowing the rush of the rebellion for just a second. With such high numbers, however, it was only a minor setback, and their comrades soon pushed past the deactivated traps to fire wildly at the hated executors, using the bodies of the fallen as cover from enemy fire.

Out in the open, the executors began to march forward relentlessly as they raked the battleground with machine-gun bullets by the thousand, felling countless rebels in their wake. Following their orders exactly to the letter, they kept near-perfect formation and continued advancing forward from the palace.

Under the repeated barrage of gunfire from the rebels, the front line of executors soon crumbled, but those behind them simply stepped over the bodies and took their places to reinforce their ranks. Though such a strategy in war was brutal and perhaps not completely necessary, since it involved sacrificing so many of your own side in the process, it was effective in pushing back the uprising at a very rapid pace. The sheer numbers of the executors meant that they could afford such a sacrifice. Already, new recovery teams were being rushed in from neighbouring cities to support the main force.

More and more attackers rushed out from the side streets of Cranagan, reforming into a new line of defence. The fervour of the rebels had quickly receded after the first chaotic impact and now threatened to slide into a decline of morale. Assembling on the rooftops, a row of snipers crouched in concealment and began to take down executors by the dozen. Confused at the sudden speed of the retaliation attack, the executors' advance came to a complete standstill. Another flood of rebels had taken over a war tank and were steering it right towards the front line.

In the midst of the bursts of laser fire and intense explosions which rocked the city, a red-haired figure silently detached herself from the side of one building with unnatural ease. A double-barrelled shotgun extended from one arm and took out another executor that got too close.

With moderate disgust, Kagura Labinnac slotted two more shells into her weapon for another round. She felt at home in the warzone. The desire to stay here and just mow down enemies like cattle was so intense that she could barely contain it; if she could, she would happily do it all day. Unfortunately, it didn't matter how many executors she killed here. Yagami was only going to be paying her for the death of one person.

"What the fuck have you people done with my bike?" the assassin muttered, taking off the head of another executor almost as an afterthought. Her method of escape was missing from the scene.

She ducked down as another tank rolled down the street, crawling with rebels and machine-gun fire. Another mine went off in the distance, this time devastating the executors' ranks, and the increased sound of marching suggested that additional reinforcements had arrived. It was going to get even more bloody from here on out.

Retreating to one of the few areas of Cranagan which wasn't filled with tank fire and petrol bombs flying overheard, Kagura flipped open her phone and dialled the first of the three numbers displayed there. Whatever happened, family always came first. She crouched down into the alcove of a dilapidated building for better volume, perking up as the person on the other line picked up.

"It's me," she said into the phone breathlessly. "Elsie, are you okay?"

"Kagura onee-chan!" The voice was that of a sweet little girl, keen and excited. "Onee-chan, where aaaare you? I really could do with some food, but they said we have to stay inside. Do you think I should do as the executors say?"

The red-haired army girl could hear similar explosions at the other end of the line. So it was true that the same kind of rebellion was also taking place in Uminari City. If that was the case, it was probably the same all over Mid-childa. Nowhere was safe anymore.

"You're not hurt, Elsie?" she asked, her voice filled with concern for her sister. "The rebels and executors haven't given you any trouble?"

"No way. Why should they?" Elsie sounded pretty cheerful about the prospect, though a shade of discontent was also present in her voice. "Kaguuuura...I want food. When are you coming home?"

Another bomb exploded halfway down an adjacent street to where she was, and the assassin huddled down deeper into the alcove as shrapnel peppered the ground on both sides. She waited until the noise had died down again before speaking again.

"I'm going to be a little late, sister," Kagura said. "I have to get payment from Yagami first before I can feed you. But I'll be there, all right? Don't you worry about a thing. You just sit tight and wait for me like a good little girl."

Elsie sighed. "Fiiiiine," she pouted. "The executors keep saying I can't leave the house. But they're wrong. I can leave the house. I could get my own food for once."

"No. Don't do that." The army girl pushed a note of urgency into her tone. "No matter how hungry you get, Elsie, don't go outside. Don't eat any human food, because they don't know about your diet. Just wait for me. Listen to your big sister, okay?"

"Sticks and stones may break my bones - " The voice of her sister seemed to break off momentarily before returning to normal again. "Okay, onee-san," she said reluctantly. "I'll wait. But I can't wait forever..."

"I won't be too long. I promise." Kagura had to stop speaking again for a few moments as another mine exploded a few roads away. She had to go, but any conversation with her sister never failed to take hold of her heart, where nothing else ever would. "You know I'd want to be home to celebrate your birthday with you, Elsie. True, Felicity isn't with us anymore, but we can still keep the legacy of Labinnac burning a little longer. I'm still your Feeder, remember?"

"Sure," the little girl on the other end said with a small laugh. "It's okay. I just want you to come home. I love you, onee-san."

"I love you too." Kagura stepped out onto the main street, breaking into a run as she talked. "Be careful, Elsie."

She shut the phone off, bringing the shotgun up in both hands as she caught sight of a squad of executors concealed in the shadows of a dark alleyway just up ahead. The telltale signals being communicated through the tracking device within her jacket pocket were pointing her straight towards them.

As Kagura approached them at a hard sprint, the familiar dark red furnish of a mobile vehicle leaning on the building behind them came into her vision. The squad of executors turned slightly in surprise at her appearance, moving to block her path towards the chained motorbike.

Baring her teeth viciously, the army girl felt herself boil with rage at the sight. That was her property.

"Get the fuck away from my bike, you bastards!"

She shot the first man through the chest, blasting him hard against the wall of the ruined building they were using for cover. The house shuddered with the impact of his body and began to fall apart one step at a time, stealing the attention of some of the other executors and dividing them for just a few seconds.

As the dead man's companions slowly turned to fire on her, Kagura didn't bother to reload with fresh shells; there wasn't time. She threw the large metal weapon like a javelin at the next executor and speared through the soft flesh of his neck, watching the mixture of shock and agony on his face as he dropped to the ground in front of her. Before the rest of the squad could react in time, the assassin pulled two scythes from her belt and slashed through the bodies of the executors behind him, going through three at a time.

After that, her path to the bike was clear. With a few simple strikes, Kagura had cut through the chains restraining the vehicle and wrapped her fingers around the handlebars. The motorbike's internalised settings instantly reacted to her fingerprints, permitting her access as it roared to life. Thanks to her initial preparations, the vehicle was in working order. It was fortunate that the executors had not harmed it in any way, but they had probably been deserters seeking to sell it for a good price.

I was born for this, the assassin thought with a smile. You better be expecting me, Yagami. This is the last job I will be doing for you, for today is the last day of Mid-childa.

She slammed her foot down and accelerated away from the burning city of Cranagan, heading in the direction of Uminari City. The rebellion would surely be raging even worse over there, in a place where the three Houses of Mid-childa were all located. The executor presence would surely be tripled if anything.

Steeling herself for what she might find, Kagura focused on the road ahead. The executors would try to stop her leaving the city, but as she had already proved long years ago, there was nobody in the world that could stop her.

---

Yagami watched the girl in the mirror, tracing her eyes over every crack and broken shard present along the surface of the glass. She had been staring at her reflection for long minutes now without blinking, sitting there silently within the confines of her wheelchair as Suzuka brushed her hair lovingly from behind. Every morning, at exactly the same time – she had never once broken her routine, not ever since she had become the mistress of the most powerful House in Mid-childa. If circumstances ever attempted to drive her to alter her schedule, she would simply change those circumstances until they suited her.

At this time of the morning she would always feel withdrawn from the world, numb and oblivious to anything that was going on around her. Even now, she could barely tell if Suzuka was brushing her hair or not. All she saw, all that existed for her or mattered, was the cold reflection of the blue-eyed young woman in the mirror, scarred and broken. Yagami burned the image into her mind every night before she went to bed with a need that was almost obsessive, unsure if the girl was even her anymore. It was becoming more and more difficult to tell the difference as the years went by.

Sometimes she wondered if she really was looking at that pretty young woman in the mirror, that girl in the wheelchair with the haunted, empty eyes...or if she was just staring at the cold surface of the glass. If she was really only seeing the glass, then did that mean her reflection wasn't there anymore?

Yagami remembered staring into the same mirror in the dead of night, waking up almost without reason and taking herself down here to look at her reflection for hours on end. She was usually very, very sleepy on such occasions, barely able to focus on anything. And when she looked into the mirror then, where nobody else was around to see or help her, when she had looked deep into the eyes of her reflection...the girl in the mirror had moved. Just a small motion, easily missed by anyone, but Yagami had known she had seen it despite not having moved at all. It should have disturbed or frightened her, but instead the phenomenon only made her want to see it more.

She wondered if the girl in the mirror was a Sinner. Perhaps she should try asking her once Suzuka had gone; everyone talked to themselves every once in a while...

The mistress of the House of Yagami blinked suddenly, realising that Suzuka was wheeling her away from the mirror. As she came back sharply to reality, Yagami felt a strange feeling inhabiting her body, one that did not come by very often. Pain?...No, it was more like a lack of it. Could it just be that she was simply in a positive and optimistic mood? Yagami had learned to interpret her own mood swings over the years, and she knew that the only way she could be in high spirits at this time in the morning was as a direct causation from something else. Somehow, something else had happened to make her feel happy, even if she didn't know what it was yet.

The mistress of the house leaned back thoughtfully into her wheelchair as Suzuka gently wheeled her down the main ramp of the antechamber. In the distance, Yagami thought she could hear the sound of gunfire and explosions, though it was strangely subdued as if she were listening to it underwater. Perhaps the security of the mansion had been compromised, or some of her assassins were undergoing an extensive training session?

In any case, it was probably nothing for her to worry about. Nobody would dare to launch an attack on the House of Yagami; a whole army would struggle to get past the North Keeper alone, and so there was no reason to have any safety concerns. Nevertheless, Yagami often found that the sound of war was quite pleasant to her ears. Maybe that was why she was in such a good mood today...the pain of others always helped to bring peace to her own soul...

"Yagami-sama," Suzuka said to her in a kindly tone, "Arisa has just sent word that she will shortly be arriving to deliver the morning report as usual. However, she is being accompanied by two other members of the household who wish to discuss some important matters with you. They are asking that permission be granted for them to speak with you personally."

The mistress of the House of Yagami was silent for a moment as she mulled this request over. Three people in the same room with her at this time in the morning, each of them convinced that what they had to say was more important than the other? It had been bad enough when Grylmark and Exoria had appeared, both at the same time...oh, that had been a bad time for her indeed.

Usually, Yagami would have denied such a request flat-out without even considering what the people might have to say. After all, it was Arisa who was responsible for managing any issues of importance within the mansion; any queries from outside would have to go through her first. It was quite a demanding job for the head of security, second only to Suzuka's role as personal steward to the mistress itself, but the pay made it more than worthwhile. This request, however...it surely must be very urgent, or Arisa would have dealt with it herself...

"Who is it who wishes to see me?" she enquired. If either of these people were Dr Kaizen, she intended to refuse them point-blank. The doctor's recent failings within the mansion had not escaped her notice, and she did not tolerate mistakes from any member of her Family.

The blue-haired steward adjusted the focus on the camera looking down onto the lower floor. "Wyvern and Lideri, my lady. Lideri in particular seemed very anxious to speak with you...She said that you would understand. Shall I allow them entry, Yagami-sama, or will it just be Arisa with her normal report?"

The old and the young, Yagami thought, turning her face away in disapproval and a small shade of disgust. She had no qualms with anything Lideri might have to say to her, for the ageing librarian was certainly the most knowledgeable member of her staff in the mansion. However, it was with Wyvern that her internal prejudices lay. If not for the boy's special skills and unique abilities, making him completely irreplaceable within the Family, Yagami would have considered removing him a long time ago. His ties to Kagura didn't exactly improve his standing, either.

"Let them pass," she said to Suzuka, not bothering to hide the discontent in her tone. "But remind Wyvern that he must remain behind the threshold of the doorway when he arrives; the principle rules of the House of Yagami must still be upheld. Lideri and Arisa may enter further inside if they wish."

As the steward relayed her message down to the floor below, the mistress of the mansion wheeled herself around and moved closer to the sealed-up windows of the antechamber. Here within her personal chambers, she was unable to see anything of what was happening in the outside world – in this, Yagami was as blind as Hayate surely was. It was partly why she relied so much on her communications with the rest of her Family, trusting them to be her ears and eyes for her. Yagami had always desired solitude away from the society that she had such hatred and disdain for, and cutting off the bulk off her senses had been a huge step in that direction.

Listening intently, the woman in the wheelchair could still make out the sounds of heavy bombing, people screaming, amidst mass shooting and the marching of thousands...It sounded as if a small war was going on out there. The gunfire that she could hear was probably her own security, warding off any threats to the mansion. Yagami closed her eyes, feeling strangely at peace. She'd had dreams at night which involved such vivid imagery and sounds...

"My lady?"

The mistress wheeled around so quickly that the scuff marks were burned into the carpet. "What?" she demanded, irritated at being forced out of her reverie so rudely. Just when she thought she could stay in a good mood for a few minutes... "What is it?"

Arisa and Lideri were waiting for her patiently in the middle of the antechamber, with Wyvern standing just behind the doorway, looking rather disgruntled. Lost in her own thoughts, Yagami hadn't even noticed that they were there.

"Very well," the mistress muttered, pushing forward on her wheelchair towards them. "Wyvern. Lideri. The two of you are aware that I operate on a very strict time schedule. I take it, then, that you both have a very good reason to disturb me like this."

"I would not have come here otherwise, my lady," the silver-haired librarian said beseechingly, her yellow eyes shining. "It is crucial that I inform you of the discovery I have made. If what I fear comes to pass, then the future of the House of Yagami could be changed forever."

Apprehensively, Wyvern raised his voice to make himself heard from the doorway. Under the principal rules of the mansion, males were not allowed into Lady Yagami's inner chambers under any circumstances, and even his high status in the Family did not grant him exemption. With the guards preventing him from moving forward by a single inch, he was probably at the bottom of the mistress' priorities right now.

"Yagami-sama, hear me out first," the young engineer said urgently. "I need to talk to you about a small concern within our security. Arisa advised me to take it straight to you."

Lideri shook her head impatiently, barely glancing at the blue-haired kid. "Our security can wait, my lady. My information regards the current stream of events functioning within a limited medium. It is essential that we act on it."

"This really can't wait," Wyvern said testily, stung by her tone. He hadn't the faintest idea of what the librarian was trying to say, but it was probably nothing that affected him directly. Why did everyone else have to talk over him just because he was a kid? "I'm literally going to be about ten seconds here, and that's it. You can all go back to pretending I don't exist afterwards."

Yagami's eyes flicked over to Arisa, seeing the faint nod of her agreement. She might as well get this over with.

"Out with it, them," she snapped.

The engineer averted his gaze from her, uncomfortable with having her full attention so suddenly. If he said anything out of place here, things would not go well for him at all. Putting on a brave face, Wyvern tensed the muscles of his hand beneath the spiked glove and forced some spirit into his voice.

"The Legion has gone missing," he said. "They've moved off our radar and I can't track them."

The mistress of the mansion looked at him blankly. She was either waiting for him to explain further, or was holding back cold rage at having him waste her precious time. Neither option seemed too hopeful.

Wyvern took a deep breath, trying to convey to her just how important this was. "The Legion is operating independently without any orders or commands issued to them, and that isn't in their programming," he said, beginning to sweat under her continued gaze. "That means they're functioning outside of their programming, which is a sure danger sign. In short, Yagami-sama...you have a combat cyborg on the loose in your own house."

There were a few seconds in which the mistress kept her cold glare fixated on him, saying nothing at all in return. The engineer swallowed uneasily, not daring to look back up at her. He didn't know what else he could say which might help.

"And?" Yagami said in a dangerous voice after what seemed like forever in her presence. "Why are you telling me this?"

Wyvern struggled for words which escaped him. "Be-because - "

"I do not care about any failed creation of yours," the mistress said in a low hiss. "You made them. You choose whether they live or die. You think something like the Legion would present an actual problem to the House of Yagami? There are more than enough guards to protect the entire Family, and Arisa could take down a cyborg with her bare hands whilst blindfolded."

"But...but, Yagami-sama," the boy pleaded, beginning to regret that he had brought it up at a all. "Shouldn't we be safer than sorry? If you gave out the order for the Legion to be destroyed, then our security - "

"I don't have the time or the patience for that," Yagami cut over him. "If the Legion intends to do harm to the Family, they will already have destroyed themselves. I will not tolerate Sinners in my household. Your ten seconds are up."

The mistress was already turning her wheelchair around to face Lideri, having dismissed the blue-haired engineer from her attention without barely a word. It was probably just as well, considering how she had reacted to his news about the Legion. Nevertheless, Wyvern was still left seething after being brushed off so easily, though Arisa had warned him in advance that this might happen. He should have been used to it by now.

After being humiliated like that, Wyvern refused to leave without salvaging some kind of information or compensation for his trouble. Lady Yagami hadn't officially told him to get out or anything, after all; she had just decided to start ignoring him, just like everyone else in the house. He could still remain standing in the doorway and listen in to what Lideri and Arisa were saying.

"Now, Lideri," Yagami was saying in a much calmer voice. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about? It had better not be anything like that trivial nonsense that Wyvern was spouting. I don't have time for such time-wasters."

"It is not, my lady," the librarian said, shuffling forward keenly. "The recent events set in motion in Mid-childa have have had a chaotic effect upon the time-space continuum. Though I have been aware of the danger signs for some time, it is only now that the House of Yagami must prepare for departure. The last day of Mid-childa is upon us, and we must move quickly to avoid total annihilation!"

The mistress of the mansion slowly turned around in her wheelchair to look questioningly at Arisa. The taller woman shook her head in a similar vein of complete incomprehension, having no other answer for her. Lideri was a kindly old woman and well-respected within the Family, but she did have a tendency to rush her explanations.

"I didn't understand a word of what you just said," Yagami said flatly. "Start again. One sentence at a time."

"As you wish, my lady," Lideri sniffed. "I said that as a direct consequence of the recent events in Mid-childa, the time-space continuum has been impacted on in the worst way possible. We must all - "

The woman in the wheelchair raised one hand sharply. "Stop right there. You said "recent events". What events are these?"

"The uprising of the people of Mid-childa, of course. The worldwide rebellion against the executors. There have been riots in Uminari City all morning!" The yellow-eyed librarian looked at her in surprise. "My lady, didn't you know...?"

With an embarrassed little cough, Arisa quickly stepped forward to intervene.

"I believe this was part of the report I was to deliver to you, Yagami-sama," the uniformed woman explained. "Less than an hour ago, an attack was launched on the Palace of Harlaown from outside. Although we can't know for certain without further investigation, it is likely that Chrono Harlaown was killed as a result. Minutes later, the Harlaown Program was plunged into disarray and then completely collapsed - "

"Oh, great," Yagami muttered under her breath, holding onto one side of her head and twisting her hair around the fingers of one hand. "Terrific. This is just what we needed." She saw that Arisa had stopped in mid-sentence and waved her other hand at the head of security. "No, go on."

"The rest is as you would imagine, Yagami-sama," Arisa said off-handedly. "The majority of the people of Mid-childa are now part of a global uprising against the executors. Civil war has replaced the Harlaown Program. It's natural that you wouldn't know about it, my lady – your inner chambers are soundproofed and cut off from the outside world in every way possible - "

"By my own command," the mistress of the House of Yagami said challengingly, just to make sure that was clear.

"Of course, Yagami-sama."

She was silent then, turning her wheelchair back to the plastered-up windows where once almost-exuberant sunlight would have flooded into the room. Those were the sounds she had heard before. Constant shooting, explosions, even the rumbling of tanks and jet aircraft from overhead as the executors threw everything they had against the rebels...it was the uprising of Mid-childa itself, raging all across the planet. Many had feared it, some had looked forward to seeing it come to pass, but everyone had known that such an event was inevitable.

How strange that the sound of civil war is what calms my heart on this fateful morning. The world has been ripped apart more times than I care to count, and now it's just going to happen all over again. It's already evident that the executors will emerge victorious, but not before sustaining heavy losses on their side. Society could be destroyed in the process, but I have never cared much about that to begin with.

"Arisa, did your sources tell you who launched the attack on the palace?" she asked. "Do we know who tried to assassinate Chrono?"

She already knew what the blonde uniformed woman was going to say before it came out of her mouth. In a way, Yagami had known who the culprit was all along. There was no one else who had the skill to carry out such a feat, the stamina to see it to the end, the foolishness to do so alone...or the nerve to even contemplate it.

"Kagura," the mistress spat, as Arisa finished describing her. The name left a bad taste in her mouth. "Does anyone know what possessed her to do such a thing? Did she really cause outright anarchy for no reason whatsoever?" She raised her head and looked out towards all of the members of her family gathered before her. "Come on! Any ideas? I would welcome some kind of insight into her warped little brain!"

"With respect, Yagami-sama," Suzuka said rather unexpectedly, smiling off to one side, "you did give Kagura a contract to assassinate Chrono Harlaown some time ago."

"Yes. That was nearly two years ago!" Yagami clenched her fist around her hair furiously, almost yanking the fibres right out of her head. "I gave her very specific instructions on what to do. My own soldiers would be in position to trigger a turnover of power between Uminari City and Cranagan, ready to act when the government was overthrown. Kagura was supposed to kill Chrono at the vital tipping-point. From then on, our agents would be able to expand our circle of influence vastly. I even helped weaken Chrono's own security to make it a little easier for her to understand.

And did she do any of that? Did she?" She rammed her hand down into an open slap onto the arm of her wheelchair. "No! She doesn't know how to work together with anyone. She just thinks she can walk into Chrono's palace, shoot him dead, and then come here and get paid. Have you ever heard of anything so selfish? She didn't even attempt the stealthy approach with the poison and the crossbow..."

Arisa cleared her throat again. "Yagami-sama," she said in a low voice, "we're all aware that Kagura does things her own way. And...she will probably be doing exactly that. She'll probably be headed straight here, expecting you to pay her."

"Then you can keep her downstairs and pay her there. You're the one who handles the accounts."

"Not with Kagura, my lady," the head of security said apologetically. "You know what she's like. She insists on talking to you face-to-face every time she sets foot in here. As I remember, ten guards had to be hospitalised the last time she visited."

There was a shrill buzzing sound from around them, coming from a vibrating phone that Suzuka produced from the inner pockets of her gown. The steward flipped it open to answer it, then hesitated, her smile faltering slightly.

"Yagami-sama?" she said. "It's...it's her."

"Who?"

"The mistress of the House of Testarossa, my lady." Suzuka looked like she would be happier to place the phone as far away from her as possible. The incessant buzzing continued to go on, a reminder that here was someone that wasn't just going to go away. "She's actually been ringing us all night, demanding to speak to you each time. I tried blocking all of her numbers like you said, Yagami-sama, but she keeps coming back again somehow..."

First Kagura causes a worldwide rebellion in Mid-childa, and now Lady Testarossa herself is seeking to harass me? This started off as such a good day. What is it she's calling herself nowadays again? I.C.? I don't care if she's self-appointed herself the most powerful mage on the planet. Power gets you only so far in this kind of climate.

"Let the phone ring," Yagami said darkly. "I'll talk to that psychopath after we've finished our discussion here. The last thing I need is the House of Testarossa interfering with - " An idea struck her in the middle of her sentence as she realised what the perfect solution to all their problems were. "That's it!" the mistress exclaimed, an inner glow lighting up her features. "Instead of having to deal with Kagura over here, why not kill two birds with one stone?...Wyvern! Are you still there, boy?"

Reluctantly, the engineer abandoned his attempt at fading into the shadows and becoming a permanent fixture on the wallpaper. Eavesdropping on Yagami's private conversations had taught him nothing except that Kagura was heavily involved. All things considered, he might have been more content to remain ignorant.

"Yeah?" he said grumpily.

"Tell your sister this," Yagami ordered, not bothering to turn around to face him, but instead calling over her shoulder towards the boy. "If Kagura wants payment, she can go to the House of Testarossa and get it from that madwoman instead. That'll make a change from her walking in here and beating up half of my staff."

Wyvern had been afraid that the mistress might ask him to do something like this. Every time Kagura was involved, every single time...she had to pull him in with it...

"She's not even my real sister," he tried to explain, knowing it was hopeless trying to reason with Lady Yagami from his own standpoint. "Yagami-sama, Kagura isn't going to listen to me whatever I do – I'm not one of the Labinnacs like she is - "

"That's your problem. Not mine." The mistress shifted round to fix him in a powerful glare. "I want Kagura Labinnac kept away from this house. Do you know who else agrees with me on that? Absolutely everyone. That includes you, even if you don't even know it yet. Your sister just started a civil war, and when she gets here she'll probably want to start another damn fight with my own servants just for the exercise." Her mouth tightened into a snarl. "I already have one Labinnac Sister to deal with here without a second one making things worse! I don't care how you do it, Wyvern, but I would appreciate it if you would just do as you were told! Now get out of my sight!"

The engineer didn't need to be told twice. With a frightened yelp, he ran from the antechamber as fast as he could, stumbling down the stairs in his hurry. It wasn't fair: there was no way that Kagura would even talk to him. The two of them were siblings by adoption, but Wyvern had never been happy to have any kind of connection to her. It was partly why he spent so much time around the House of Yagami all by himself, taking to wandering the streets with the few friends he had made himself. He didn't dare go home in case Kagura was waiting for him.

"Right," Yagami said quietly, feeling her inner rage subdue now that any source of ugliness had been removed from the room. It was so much easier to be around other women, she felt. "That should settle that."

"I'm not sure it will, Yagami-sama," Arisa said, a little unhappy at how she had shouted at Wyvern, but equally powerless to do anything about it. Maybe she should never have brought the boy upstairs in the first place, but it was too late to start feeling guilty about that now. "Kagura doesn't listen to anyone who isn't a Labinnac. We may have to expect that she will still show up here anyway, unwelcome as she may be."

"Then we will have to deal with her when that happens," Yagami replied uncaringly. "I will leave that in your hands, Arisa."

The mistress whirled around to the silver-haired librarian, aware that Lideri had been waiting patiently for some time whilst events around her had leaped out of control. I really must be in a good mood, Yagami thought to herself in wonder. By this point, I usually need Suzuka to give me reminders.

"Lideri, you were explaining something to me before we got sidetrack," she said. "Recent events, you said."

The buzzing of Suzuka's phone was still going on in the background, running around her head like a mosquito that you wanted to crush on the floor. Yagami had a good mind to grab the phone away from her and smash it to pieces right there, just to stop the noise, but she'd done that in the past before and it only cost more money to replace. Grimly, she gritted her teeth and tried to bear with it.

"Yes, my lady," the librarian said attentively. "As I was saying before, the recent events that happened this morning – by which I am referring to the global rebellion that is sweeping across Mid-childa as we speak – have had a destructive effect on the time-space continuum. The world is crumbling, Yagami-sama. Even the House of Yagami cannot be sustained for much longer."

The mistress tried to concentrate on her words and ignore the annoying sound of Suzuka's phone at the same time. It was only slightly easier than last time.

"I still have no idea what you are trying to say, Lideri," she said. "You're saying that as a result of the rebellion - "

"I am talking about time travel, my lady," Lideri said stiffly, her eyes fixated on her with completely seriousness. "When Grylmark first visited us, he entreated some of his knowledge of time magic to me – but in knowledge and theory only, since I have no contract with Oguba myself. I have been researching the topic in great detail ever since then."

She took a step forward, excitement growing steadily in her yellow eyes. "My lady, history is affected by a series of key events. Changing one such event would change history itself. The destruction of Earth, the actions of Vivio Harlaown, a changed decision in the wars of Mid-childa from centuries ago...you understand what I mean, don't you? Everything can change in the blink of an eye."

The librarian's voice dropped to a whisper. "The collapse of the Harlaown Program is one such event, my lady. When civil war broke out over the world, I felt a great disturbance within the time-space continuum itself. As if this wasn't meant to happen. As if this particular event was changed from an outside source. A traveller through time, perhaps, seeking to change history."

"That's impossible," Arisa said in response, who had been listening just as closely to Lideri's explanation. "Kagura was the one who set the rebellion off, and she isn't even connected to time travel."

"Kagura chose to strike at a very strange time, Arisa," the silver-haired librarian explained. "Why would she attack Chrono now, when her assassination contract was handed out to her nearly two years ago? It's likely that she would have probably forgotten about the job or dismissed it completely. Here's my theory, Yagami-sama. Kagura may not be a time-traveller, but somebody else in this world is. Someone who entered this house just last night."

The mistress' eyes narrowed in response. "Hayate," she breathed venomously. Then she stopped herself, realising just how ridiculous that sounded. "Hold on a second. You're trying to tell me that because of Hayate entering our world, Kagura was somehow triggered into assassinating Chrono and starting a revolution?"

"Not necessarily," Lideri replied. "It's a little more complicated than that. I think that when Hayate entered into our world, there were others with her - perhaps members of the Bureau like herself. I'm not saying that they caused this deliberately, but Kagura acted because of their presence. Think of how close these events are to each other, my lady. A time traveller visits us one night, and then civil war breaks out by the next morning. It isn't a coincidence.

"But that's not what I'm trying to say here, my lady. I'm saying that the act of the rebellion breaking out has changed a vital part of history, causing a major instability in the time-space continuum itself. This wasn't meant to happen. With time travellers entering our world from one side, and the collapse of the Program generating a massive outflow of time energy from the other..."

Slowly, Yagami closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against the sides of her temples. Though she had been mildly fascinated at first, her head was beginning to hurt from all of these constantly complicated explanations. Was it really necessary for her to listen to all of this? The mistress valued Lideri's judgement and age-old experience – unlike how she usually cast aside the opinions of most of the members of her Family – but the way things were going, she could be stuck here for hours. Yagami had succeeded in establishing very little from this conversation, other than that somehow Hayate and her friends were indirectly responsible for sparking off the civil war on Mid-childa, and she wasn't even sure about that.

I don't want to hear this. I already have to deal with this accursed rebellion and Kagura making a bloodbath of the whole thing. I don't have to deal with any of this if I don't want to.

"All right, Lideri, very good," she interrupted, before the librarian could talk her to death. Suzuka's phone was beginning to really drive her up the wall, and if she didn't answer it soon and get that stupid ringing out of her ears..."I still didn't understand anything you said. If you can tell Arisa about it instead, I'm sure she'll be able to translate it into a more coherent form for me."

"My lady," the silver-haired librarian pressed, unwilling to let go so easily, "I have not finished. The forces of time travel have combined to bring forth a new crisis which faces all of us, and I am not just talking about the rebellion - "

"That's great," Yagami said without emotion, grabbing at the phone in Suzuka's hands at long last. "And I'm saying again thatI'll get back to you on that. I don't have time to hear about the end of the world or whatever catastrophe you've decided is going on this time, and I definitely don't have time for time travel." She spun her wheelchair away from Lideri in a deliberately brusque fashion "Arisa, you deal with that," the mistress called over to the head of security. "Make some sense out of whatever Lideri's going on about. I want a full report later complete with feasible solutions."

Yagami raised the communicator up to her mouth, sick to death of the constant buzzing in her ear. If it rang just one more time so close to her ear, she knew that she was going to go crazy. It was simply intolerable for her. "Now clear the room so that I can have my phone call with this damn woman," she snapped angrily, turning her back on all three of them at once.

She made sure she had wheeled herself all the way into the back of the antechamber to get some peace and quiet first, trying to prepare herself before the toxic conversation began. Personally, Yagami would have dearly loved to snap the phone in two and set it on fire, but that would only delay the inevitable. If Lady Testarossa wanted to contact you, she made sure that you couldn't escape her. She always found another way in – another number, another hidden weakness, another method of hassling you somehow – and there was no getting away from it. The mistress had learned that the hard way, a long time ago. The best thing to do was just to answer the phone already and get it over with.

Biting her lower lip slightly, Yagami pressed the button at the top of the phone to accept the call, going against every other survival instinct she possessed. Due to her own harsh mental training each night, she no longer felt fear in any form, but that didn't mean that Lady Testarossa no longer had any influence over her.

"Yagami speaking," the mistress said in as authoritative a voice she could manage. It came out sounding hoarse.

For a second, she could hear nothing on the line except harsh, irregular breathing. In, out, in and out...it was as if the caller was trying to speak through a gas mask. Her muscles tense against the seat of her wheelchair, Yagami fought down the instinct to scream into the phone.

"Good morning, Yagami," said a cool female voice at last, speaking over the sound of the heavy breathing. "How are you feeling? Comfortable? Content? Peaceful? Still clinging onto life?"

The mistress of the House of Yagami felt a thin beat of sweat run down her back, right inside her clothes. Though she had had conversations with Lady Testarossa's before, never had there been such a chilling calmness radiating through her voice before. It hinted of madness, of the kind which Yagami did not dare to venture towards.

"I have a question for you, Yagami," the woman said sweetly before the mistress could answer. "What have you done to my Fate?"

For a few desperate seconds, Yagami's thumb hovered over the disconnect button. Fate. Fate Testarossa. The former heir to the House of Testarossa who had died in tragic circumstances at a very young age. Why...why would Lady Testarossa ask about...? Had she completely lost it?

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Yagami said in a low hiss. "If I ever came across a member of the Family of Testarossa, I would stay well away from them. Your "Fate" is none of my concern, Lady Testarossa."

There was a light peal of laughter from the other line. "Please, Yagami, don't be like that. We're friends, now, aren't we? Great friends. Wonderful friends. I have a real name, Yagami. Don't you want to call me by it?"

"I have no intention of calling you I.C.," Yagami growled. "You've never made sense to me."

"But why should I, Yagami? Why should anything make sense anymore? The only thing that matters is that my beloved Fate is alive and well." Lady Testarossa sighed heavily. "I know, I know...you don't believe me, do you, Yagami? You don't believe in ghosts. But I believe in love, and I believe in death, and I believe that you have taken Fate away from me." The tone of her voice hadn't changed by a single notch, yet the atmosphere of the conversation had turned sinister. "You know I don't like hearing you lie to me, Yagami. You do know that, don't you?"

The blue-eyed woman in the wheelchair swallowed hard, the words dying in a throat. Water. It would be nice to have something...to drink. Water...I should call out to Suzuka to fetch me some...water...

"I'm hiding nothing from you, Lady Testarossa," she whispered in a near-croak. "I didn't even know Fate was alive...If she was here, you would be the first person I would tell...believe me..."

There was silence on the line then, save for the mysterious sound of heavy breathing. The dying breath of a second person. Yagami didn't want to think about what was going on at the other end.

"I feel sorry for you, Yagami," Lady Testarossa said calmly, after several more heart-stopping seconds had passed. "I feel ever so sorry for you. I really do. Of course you don't have my beloved Fate." The sudden change in her voice made it obvious that she was smiling, and not necessarily in a good way. "Of course not. You know how much I like playing with you, don't you, Yagami? The forces of love playing with the forces of hatred. You want me to play with you again, don't you?"

"Shut up, Testarossa." The voice didn't even sound like her. She could feel the girl in the mirror watching her every move from the balcony.

"But you know how I like my games and my pets, Yagami. I like winning over both of them." A childish giggle came over the line, lapsing into a sigh. "I really thought we'd established that some time ago. But that doesn't matter to me, Yagami. For the first time in so long, Fate is here in the same world with me." All traces of humour had abruptly vanished from the voice of Lady Testarossa, replaced instead by a whip-like and sadistic edge that was sharper than any physical weapon within the real world. "I would do anything for Fate, Yagami. Do you know that? And when I say anything...I mean absolutely anything. I would change and destroy the world to keep her by my side. I would end your life in a heartbeat if it made her life a little bit easier. Isn't that what makes people dangerous, Yagami – the things that they can make other people do, simply out of the goodness of their hearts? Just like you do with your so-called Family?"

Yagami couldn't stand it anymore. The inside of her mouth felt like it had seized up completely as the mistress stabbed at the disconnect button before smashing the phone against the wall, a silent scream bursting out from deep within her. Yagami slumped against the back of her seat, white as a sheet as she tried to stop her hands from shaking. She could still hear her playful voice tormenting her as it ran through her head, again and again...

Why does she do this? Why me?! What did I ever do?

"Yagami-sama?"

She spun her wheelchair around at the sound, her hands clawing out to strangle the person in front of her. The mistress was only lashing out at empty air, however, as Arisa was standing quite some distance away from her, well out of her reach. Upon seeing the face of a faithful member of her Family, Yagami stopped dead in her tracks, the wildness in her eyes fading away. Her arms dropped down to her sides as she began to calm down again.

"Yagami-sama?" Arisa said, her green eyes filled with concern. "Are you...are you okay?"

The mistress bit down hard on her lip until it bled, using pain to force herself back into normality again. She couldn't let Lady Testarossa get to her like this. There was still work to be done.

"What do you want?" Yagami said in an unfriendly tone. She saw that the other woman was affronted by her sudden change in attitude, but she didn't care. "Did you want something, Arisa? What do you want?"

"I, ah - " The head of security quickly regained her composure. "I just wanted to ask you what should be done with Hayate, my lady. She hasn't left her bedroom all morning. Is there any action that we should take? Dr Kaizen has already informed us that Hayate will still be without her sight, and now that Lideri has warned us of the danger she poses to us as a time traveller and a mage of the former Bureau, should we..."

Yagami grunted in response, letting Arisa's words wash over her to erase the memory of the fateful telephone call. It wasn't easy, but she was able to maintain some self-control from within. "Of course," she answered. "You can start by giving her a proper breakfast. Send Noriko up to her room at some point with some food."

"Food?" Arisa had difficulty hiding her surprise. "Yagami-sama, I mean no offence, but perhaps we should not be treating a potential enemy so kindly. Wouldn't it be better if the food was used instead for Felicity's feeding schedule for - "

The other woman's intense glare shifted directly onto her, and the head of security quickly amended her words.

"Food," she said, nodding her head up and down. "Of course, Yagami-sama. Just as you say. I will deal with this right away."

---

In the centre of the damaged Palace of Harlaown, Nanoha knelt next to Chrono's body as she desperately tried to bring him back to consciousness. Her hands had grasped his shoulders and were pressing down firmly in an attempt to ground her own magic through him using what basic restorative powers were available to her. Chrono was still alive, but his breathing was shallow and his pulse was faint; he was only just managing to hold on. With every passing second, more blood spilled out of his wound to form a puddle beneath him. She was in danger of losing him completely.

Within minutes of Kagura's attack, the Ace of Aces had been aware of additional gunfire approaching the palace from all sides. At the time, it hadn't been something she'd been able to give her full attention to, but soon the noise had risen in a blazing crescendo until she could no longer ignore it. The cries of wounded soldiers, military aircraft descending overhead, massive vehicles rolling alongside and firing into the streets...What was going on out there? If she didn't know better, Nanoha would have thought a small war had erupted right on the streets of Cranagan. Could she get an accurate visual image of the scene...? No, not without deserting Chrono.

She reached out with her magic and succeeded in locating a number of executors which surrounded the palace. Concentrated her scope further, Nanoha realised that there had to be thousands of them, all firing away into unknown territory that was out of range for her from her current position. Could the executors be defending the palace? If she or Tiana tried to escape through the main gates, they would undoubtedly be caught up in whatever violence was going on out there...

Chrono! Don't die! You're needed here!

All of her attempts at trying to revive him had failed, one after the other. Basic first aid and stemming the flow of blood had done very little for him considering that at least one of his vital organs had been punctured. The bullets had ripped clean through Chrono's body and out the other side; it was a miracle that he was still breathing at all. His skin felt cold and clammy to the touch as more blood welled up between his lips. Nanoha didn't know what else she could do to help him; her own magic was built primarily for combat and did not come with any high-level healing spells. If only the Bureau was still active in this universe...there would still be a chance to save him...

Why did this have to happen? Why did the Harlaown Program have to exist – why did someone have to want him dead? Why would anyone want this?

"Chrono!" Tears of frustration came to her eyes as she covered his forehead with one hand, frantically trying to coax some life back into his body. "You have to wake up! Please!"

There was the barest sign of movement across his face as the blue-haired man stirred slightly in reaction to her touch against his skin. Blood trickled down from one corner of his mouth as Chrono's eyes opened by the tiniest amount, letting just a slit of light through. His features twisted in agony as he stared up towards her, barely able to speak.

"Chrono?" Nanoha whispered, feeling a rush of relief at seeing him consciousness again. His heartbeat was still very weak, but it was a step in the right direction. As gently as she could, she propped his head up so that he didn't choke to death on his own blood. "You're going to be all right. Can you hear me?" She waved a hand in front of his face, trying not to panic. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Chrono didn't answer her, instead coughing up more fluid as he fought to speak. His eyes were blurry and unfocused; she didn't know if he could even recognise her or not.

"A..." he croaked. "A..."

Two explosion hit the ground around the palace one after the other, causing the entire ground to shake. Fearing that the shockwave would push him into a state from which he could not return from, Nanoha sprang up to shield Chrono's body with her magic. He seemed to gain some small measure of energy from her protective actions, and his eyes opened up fully.

"A...my..." Chrono breathed, so quietly that he could barely be heard at all. "Amy...?"

Oh no, Nanoha thought, going cold inside. Not like this. She crouched next to him as the minor quake finished passing through the area, keeping her voice as calm as possible. Had he gone into shock?

"I'm not Amy," she said. "Can you see me, Chrono? It's Nanoha. Remember me? We spoke together last night – you told me about the history of Mid-childa, and..." His face remained impeccably blank, clearly not taking in a word she was saying. He was fading fast despite her best efforts to keep him conscious. Thinking quickly, Nanoha changed to a less subtle approach. She would be throwing caution to the winds, but they were already out of time. "Chrono! Wake up! I don't know what's going on outside, but it sounds like the city's turned into some kind of warzone! Is this to do with the Harlaown Program?"

His body shuddered with the pain of his wounds, but something in her words had definitely ignited a spark in his eyes. Chrono shook his head slightly, still seeming as dazed as if he'd been hit on the back of the head in addition to being shot through the chest. The haze lifted from his vision, and recognition loomed in his eyes as he looked at her weakly.

"Na...Nanoha," he whispered. "I..." His gaze wandered down to the wound in his chest, then widened in fear as he took in the destruction of the palace all around him. "I'm sorry," he said with pain lancing through his voice. "This is...this is all my fault..."

"It's not," the combat mage said softly, trying to reassure him. "You didn't mean for any of this to happen, Chrono. You didn't cause this - "

"But I did, Nanoha. Listen to the noise outside." Chrono made as if to prop himself up into a more comfortable position, but this small movement almost caused him to retch and he quickly slumped back down again. "You can hear it...can't you? The Harlaown Program has already fallen...and the balance of power in Mid-childa has shifted completely..."

The rest of his words were drowned out by the roar of aircraft flying over the palace, and seconds later the ground was rocked by multiple explosions at once. Throwing up the broad shield of magic again to keep Chrono as stable as possible, Nanoha wondered if the planes outside were actually bombing the city itself. Was the situation in Cranagan so dire that the executors were resorting to such extreme measures?

No, she refused to see it that way. This wasn't the end, not by a long shot. She could use her magic to transport Chrono to a safe place which would give him emergency medical attention, and she and Tiana would somehow find a way to stop the rebellion. Somehow. Then they just had to find Fate and the others and determine a way to return to their own world, whilst blasting down any obstacles or enemies in their way. It was possible, wasn't it? Wasn't it?

But how? Never mind everything else – I need a way to move Chrono safely without endangering him further. Could I use support magic? I could really do with the help of the TSAB at this point, but they don't even exist any more in this world!

"Vivio Harlaown's Blood Oath is approaching its end," Chrono mumbled as the last quake passed. "The program...can sense that my life-force is ebbing." His head was bowed towards the floor in defeat. "There's nothing more...that I can do..."

"Don't say that." Nanoha held him up by his shoulders, using the pressure of her magic to keep his body stable. "I'm going to get you through this. In my world, Chrono...you're a close friend to me." Her voice shook with emotion. "I'm not about to just let you - "

"Nanoha." He turned his wrist around to hold her arm for support, his face twisted in agony with every breath he took. The mix of pain between them seemed intertwined together, both internal for her and external for him. "Nanoha...it's fine. I can feel everything falling apart. You're trying to save me...but I can feel it. It's already...too late for me..." Chrono struggled for breath, clamping his other arm against the bullet wounds in his body. He had never felt so powerless as he did now, but for some reason that didn't really bother him. It didn't really seem to matter anymore.

"You...you shouldn't be here any longer, Nanoha," he said weakly. "Not...not trying to help someone like me..."

She didn't want to acknowledge what he was saying, but even Nanoha's own magic was warning her that Chrono's vital signs were continuing to decline and that he had been in the danger zone for too long already. Kagura hadn't shot him intending just to wound him, but neither had she been aiming for an instant kill. No, the assassin had been careful enough to make sure that he would perish slowly and in great pain; too many people in Mid-childa had an overbearing hatred for him to wish otherwise. It was really the Program that they had hated, but Chrono had been the figurehead representing the whole process and so had had to bear the burden of the Blood Oath all by himself...

"Chrono, don't speak any more," Nanoha said, trying to keep him grounded in her magic. She wasn't going to give up; if anything, the effect of her powers would calm down his body enough to try and ease the pain. "Save your strength. It can't be like this - "

"Fate Harlaown," he said, all warmth and colour gone from his voice.

She froze in her tracks, her magic distorting and spreading around her in an irregular pattern as her concentration was lost momentarily. With unease preying on her mind, the combat mage quickly brought everything back under control again.

"What about Fate?" the Ace of Aces said a little defensively.

"You're...looking for her." The blue-haired commander coughed lightly, closing his eyes as he swallowed partially. "I can tell you where she is. When I tracked her records...on the interface of the Program...I saw which facility she was being held in." Chrono closed his eyes tightly; he either didn't trust himself to look at her anymore, or the pain of keeping them open had grown too much. "She could be in trouble, Nanoha. Fate Harlaown...was scheduled for execution this morning. But with the collapse of the Program, she may still be alive..."

Nanoha jaw tightened, and the flow of magic around her grew more intense. "Where is she?"

The commander managed a small smile. "I thought as much," he said. "When it comes between saving me...or saving the woman you love..."

"Don't compare the two, Chrono!" she said angrily. "I'm trying to save both of you if I can! Where is she?"

She was almost immobilised with panic, fearful that she was going to lose him any second now. His voice was so faint that Nanoha had to amplify her own magic to hear him. For him to be the only person who knew where Fate was, lying in a pool of his own blood whilst the rebellion raged on outside the palace walls...

"Uminari City," Chrono whispered. "Fate Harlaown is in Uminari City."

The Bureau mage stared at him in astonishment. Uminari City? For a moment Nanoha was confused at how she was supposed to get there, but then she recalled what Chrono had told her last night about the history of Mid-childa. Vivio Harlaown's ultimate solution to end the seemingly-eternal war had involved transferring every surviving continent of Earth to exist upon Mid-childa instead. The remains of a devastated universe had been condensed into a single world.

"You love her, don't you?" The commander's eyes opened one last time to fix upon hers. "You love her more than anything else in this world...in our world, that is. I can see it in your eyes and from the way you talk about her. Every...single time. I loved someone, too, once...but the Program took Amy from me." The sadness in his voice was only too evident, though his expression showed only emptiness. "I did not want to lead the Program, but...I am a Harlaown. The choice had been made for me from the moment I came into this world...and this is the result. I guess I can take some pride...in being the one who took the Harlaown Program down, even indirectly..."

Chrono forced his eyes to remain open despite lacking the energy to do so, looking up at the Ace of Aces from the cracked ground of the palace. Without her noticing, tears had streaked down Nanoha's cheeks as she knelt by the dying man. The sound of bombs going off in the distance all over Cranagan continued to disrupt the scene, a reminder of the signs of destruction both inside and out.

The commander's hand moved slowly over to the interface of the Program which had fallen to the ground in the midst of the first attack. This simple gesture alone seemed to take him an age to carry out, but the device activated at his touch, spreading out into its individual holograms. Chrono touched a single button on the side, and the whole thing combined into a single screen.

"There," he gasped, blood welling up inside his throat. "The interface of the Program, Nanoha...it has a tracker attached. It will show you the way to Uminari City...and will lead you to Fate Harlaown. This is the only thing that I can do for you anymore, Nanoha...

"Go after her, Bureau mage that you are...Ace of Aces, time traveller..." Chrono's demeanour was fierce despite his severely weakened state. "The detention facility is where you will find her. And when you find Fate Harlaown, when you...find your loved one, as I know you will...don't let her go. Don't lose her like I lost my love to the Program..."

"Oh, Chrono," Nanoha whispered quietly, taking hold of his unresponsive fingers and squeezing them tight. The coldness of his skin conflicted with the burning she could feel inside her. "I'm so sorry. I really am."

He seemed to be gazing past her into a place that only he could see, his voice fading as he struggled to keep going one last time. "Cherish her, Nanoha," the blue-haired commander breathed. "Keep her by your side for the rest of your life. And be...happy, like so many people of Mid-childa could never hope to be..."

His jaw went slack and no further words came in the dark silence which followed. The bombardment of explosions outside the palace had temporarily abated, permitting a kind of peacefulness to fall upon where Chrono lay, kept company by no one else but the Ace of Aces as she held onto his hand even in death. His dark blue eyes continued to stare unseeingly into nothing, kindled with a faint warmth which was surrounded by regret and despair. Chrono Harlaown, last of the heirs to the Blood Oath of Vivio Harlaown and last descendant of the Harlaown Program, had passed away from the world of the living. It was possible that there had been no way to save him from the beginning, but the Ace of Aces could not know for sure. Perhaps she never would know.

She continued to hold onto his cold lifeless hand for longer still as the shootings in Cranagan started up again, the familiar explosive vibrations causing the ground to shake once more. The Chrono of the alternative Mid-childa lay dead before her; for all of the magical power she possessed, Nanoha had not been able to save his life.

A hollow emptiness had opened up inside her heart, and it was all she could do to constantly remind herself that somewhere out there, another Chrono was still living normally in their own world. The body lying before her belonged to a different man completely, and she should feel no such connection to him. And yet...it didn't make any of this right.

I couldn't save you, Chrono. I couldn't help you at all. I...I only met you for one day, and the little we knew of each other was torn apart so savagely. But in the small time that I knew you, you helped me so much...

There were footsteps behind her as Tiana rushed up to join her, panting and out of breath from running all the way up here. The sharpshooter came to an abrupt stop when she saw the scene, eyes widening in shock. The obvious questions were on her lips, but the forward knew enough to keep quiet for the moment.

Slowly, Nanoha released Chrono's hand and reached forward to close his eyes. It was terrible to die alone and forgotten, and the same fate would befall countless ordinary citizens of Mid-childa as they perished in the uprising. This was the least she could do for him. If the palace was breached by the rebels in the near future, they would not give the commander any such respect. It was unlikely that he would even get a proper burial. If she had more resources and time available to her, then maybe she would have considered doing it herself.

"Chrono?" Tiana said, afraid of what to say as she watched Nanoha rise to her feet, bitterness and sadness streaked across the mage's face. "Is he...?"

The Ace of Aces shook her head as she turned her back on the scene. She didn't want to talk about what she'd just experienced. Held tightly in her hand was the interface of the Program that Chrono had entrusted to her with his last words, complete with the tracker which would show them the way to Uminari City.

"Hold onto me, Tiana," Nanoha said, holding out one hand towards the forward. She blinked the last of the tears from her eyes, knowing that now was not the time to grieve. The rebellion wasn't going to wait outside the palace gates forever.

The sharpshooter hesitated and then did so, not entirely sure of the other woman's intentions. "What are we doing?" she asked nervously.

"Don't worry," the Bureau mage replied kindly. "Just hold on tight, make sure you're secure, and you'll be fine. This isn't going to hurt."

Somehow, Tiana didn't feel very reassured by that. Nevertheless she wrapped her arms tightly against Nanoha's waist, a little uneasy at the closeness between them.

"No, seriously," the orange-haired sharpshooter said urgently. "What are we really doing?"

Nanoha wrapped one arm around her body and used the other arm to keep hold of Raging Heart. The build-up of magical power surged through her device in tense preparation.

"Just relax," she said calmly. "We're only going to fly through the palace wall at over a hundred miles per hour."

Tiana twisted her face back towards her. "What?" she spluttered.

A split second later, the breath was squeezed from her lungs as Nanoha kicked off into the air at high speed, eyes fixed determinedly on the damaged lower ceiling of the palace. Kagura's missiles from before had struck right above the second floor balcony at multiple intervals, weakening that part of the structure considerably. The Bureau mage knew she could make it through with her own magic, but Tiana might not be as adequately protected as her. She would need to destroy the surrounding walls at a higher speed than her rate of acceleration.

The Accelerate Charge System kicked in as the two of them shot past the first floor like a bullet, with Tiana looking like she was going to be sick. The dual rocket boosters at the base of Raging Heart's Full Drive form fired up at close to full power, propelling both mages even faster through the air, the wind ripping across them from the opposite direction at an extraordinary speed.

Under the offensive field generated by the Strike Flame at the tip of Raging Heart's Acceleration Charge System, and combined with the explosive thrust of their ascent, the wooden panelling of the surrounding balconies and stairways were blasted into shreds. Everything within the radius of Nanoha's concentrated magical shield was forcefully expelled outwards in a wide circle to rain down onto the ground far below.

As another quake shook the entire palace and Tiana held on for dear life, the Ace of Aces re-calculated the distance remaining to the target to determine whether more force or acceleration would be required to break through safely. At the speed that she was going, it didn't really matter anyway. The ceiling was already being to crack and crumble from the shockwave generated by her approach. Should she use A.C.S. Driver just to be on the safe side? No, Nanoha thought, she might need it later. The presence of the rebellion was a sure indication that there were still some harsh battles to be fought.

I know where Fate is, and I know that she could be in trouble, she thought, surging up towards the critical point. And where Fate's involved, walls like these will never stop me!

The weakened structure of the wall exploded outwards underneath the impact of the implosive shockwave, and Nanoha and Tiana soared out through the gaping hole in the Palace of Harlaown. They were out in the open air again, with the warm sun shining down against their faces, the cool wind sweeping across their hair...They were also smack bang in the middle of a deadly uprising.

Nanoha killed her speed, feeling Tiana slump against her body and gasp for air after suffering through such a high-pressured ascent for the first time, and grimly surveyed the situation below her. At such a high altitude she could see what was going in almost all of Cranagan, both far and wide.

She could see the marching of countless executors and rebels alike, the burning of thousands of homes and residential buildings, tanks rolling down the streets as they crushed anything in their path. She could hear the cries of dying soldiers and the roar of military aircraft sweeping down low as they gunned down their own people. She could smell the smoke pouring from the ruins of buildings destroyed by petrol bombs and grenades thrown by both sides.

Barricades had been set up in an uneven line almost down the middle of the city, and the air was constantly filled with the shouting of armed soldiers, a rout to battle. Though the executors had made significant progress in pushing back the lines of their opponent, more groups of rebels continued to attack from isolated locations through Cranagan to take their enemy by surprise. The executors outnumbered the rebels vastly, but they were surrounded on every front.

An additional regiment of executors were surrounding the palace itself, shooting down anyone who came close. Over on the other side of the city, mines were being triggered by the handful to take down the heavily armoured tanks utilised by both factions. A small gathering of squadrons had resorted to using poison gas and chemical weapons in their attack, using fear to their advantage as mass numbers of the rebels fell by the hundred.

Civil war across Cranagan, Nanoha thought, stricken by the cruel sights all over the city. But the Harlaown Program affected all of Mid-childa. This isn't just happening here – it's happening all over the world! Uminari City, too...

She understood why Chrono had been so terrified at the prospect of dying. It was natural to be afraid of death, of course, but the commander had known the consequences regarding the collapse of the Program itself. She hadn't...she hadn't realised it would quite be like this. To think that less than an hour ago the streets had been completely peaceful and filled with the events of normal everyday life...it almost didn't feel real at all. The entire planet had simply snapped.

Turning around in mid-air, Nanoha saw that a number of combat helicopters surrounded the roof of the palace, possibly to defend against any aerial attacks from the rebels. It didn't seem feasible that the citizens of Mid-childa would be able to mount an attack from the air without a lot of resources, but the executors were obviously covering every possibility.

Three of the helicopters had risen up towards her, machine guns trained directly upon her and Tiana. They probably didn't understand who or what she was – only that she was not an executor. She wasn't one of them, and was therefore being treated as an enemy.

Undaunted, Nanoha flew forward towards them as swathes of bullets clashed against her Barrier Jacket, having no effect. They might as well have been rubber pellets for all the good they did. She stared coldly at the men in the cockpits of the helicopters, watching them as they desperately flushed out magazine after magazine, trying to gun her down. She looked at the people trying so hard to kill her and, despite the bitterness she felt inside, saw only normal people. Normal people who had chosen the side of the executors in this brutal, cataclysmic war which was ripping the world apart.

She raised Raging Heart in one hand, on the brink of considering which spell she could use to blast them all away from her. There were so many spells she could use. So much power at her disposal.

But not like this. A rebellion like this is completely out of control. It won't stop until one side completely overpowers the other. From what I've seen in Cranagan, the executors will probably be victorious...eventually. However, reaching that stage could take a very, very long time.

Nanoha could think of only one other way to stop such a violent uprising. A powerful mage could do it single-handedly by taking out the executors and rebels on their own, whilst being immune to the attacks of both. Someone...like her, or Fate, or Hayate...

Yes, I could stop this. But I won't. Fate and Hayate would say the same thing too. Resorting to mass-murder would be too much for me to bear, and a lot more people could be killed in the process. I don't believe it is something that I could ever bring myself to do.

She had to remember her real purpose here. Chrono's last piece of information to her, the vital link that she needed to be reunited with the one person she needed the most. Yes, it was possible that Fate and the others would be in serious trouble in the midst of the rebellion, but it was equally possible that they would be in exactly the same position as her. In their transformed states, every member of Riot Force 6 would still be able to survive. All she had to do was bring them all together.

Nanoha lowered her device away from the trio of helicopters again. They had stopped firing at her, and their faces were now clouded by fear and terror. They obviously thought that she was going to kill them. This was war: it was kill or be killed.

Without a single word towards her would-be enemies, she turned her back on the helicopters and instead took herself and Tiana towards calmer skies. The executors made no attempt to follow, and Nanoha easily dismissed them from her attention. Chrono's tracker was giving out a series of beeps as she moved forward, turning her in a north-westerly direction.

Uminari City.

"Tiana," she said, still feeling cold inside from what she had experienced. "We're going to Uminari City to find Fate." Nanoha hugged the forward instinctively, knowing that the girl must be at least as shaken as she was. "Keep holding on, now. I'm going to go at full speed, so it's going to be a rough journey."

A/N: Now that the rebellion section has started, it may seem that the genre of this fic may change to one to do with war. This won't be the case though (especially since it's not really connected to the Bureau) but it still plays a key part which affects what the character can and can't do in the chapters to come.

Next chapter will involve Fate and Hayate's parts.